The giant crab was nothing more than a common demon-beast in this vast ocean, unremarkable in both bloodline and strength.
The two fragments of memory it offered, however, contained the only useful things it had.
The first memory contained a complete refinement method for a Life Pattern, described in great detail.
It was the second Life Pattern refinement method Jing Qian had learned, after the Earth Ring:
Life Pattern: Crab Jade
Rank: Whitefang
Effect: Gain the strength of a crab.
Refinement: Carve runes upon the shell of a Whitefang Spirit Crab, fuse it into the palm, and the strength of a crab may be obtained.
Jing Qian carefully studied the refinement of the Crab Jade, cross-checking it with the Earth Ring. The comparison gave him considerable insight.
The Crab Jade itself was not remarkable. It belonged to the most common category of Life Patterns obtained from beasts and demon-spirits, called Fate of Beasts.
Refining this type of Life Pattern could greatly enhance the body's strength and grant the natural abilities of the creature, massively boosting combat power.
They were low-threshold yet high-potential patterns, highly prized by wandering cultivators.
Jing Qian's Soulweaver pattern, strictly speaking, also belonged to the Fate of Beasts, though it carried traits of the Fate of Spirits and Ghosts as well.
Meanwhile, the Earth Ring was of another great category, the Fate of Mountains and Seas, which gathered the power of heaven and earth to strengthen the self.
Among Life Patterns of the same rank, there was no inherent difference in power; it all depended on how the cultivator developed and applied it.
Still, Jing Qian would not fuse either of these Whitefang-rank patterns
s into his own body.
These lowest-rank, acquired Life Patterns might be powerful, but they always carry obvious drawbacks.
The Earth Ring, for instance, granted strength through the earth's power, but over time, it caused the cultivator's body to shrink, eventually becoming dwarfish.
And that bodily transformation was agonizing.
The Crab Jade was no better; refining it would gradually transform a person's hand into a crab's pincer.
Not only was it hideous, but it also destroyed the hand's dexterity.
Thus, Jing Qian treated both as insights to broaden his understanding of cultivation, nothing more.
It was the second memory fragment that held value for him.
The crab's bloodline was weak; it was merely an ordinary sea crab that had, through sheer luck, managed to climb to the Whitefang rank.
Its rise above its kin, its leap in life's essence, was due entirely to extraordinary fortune and opportunity.
Within this memory was a wealth of precious information about the crab's domain: the seafloor's geography, the ocean currents, the marine creatures' secrets forever beyond the reach of land-dwellers.
Absorbing this memory, Jing Qian felt as if he had become the crab, swimming freely through its ocean territory, the entire region laid bare before his mind's eye.
For him, this was invaluable knowledge, immediately useful and life-changing.
For the first time in a while, his bleak prospects seemed to brighten. With renewed vigor, he exited the Stele space.
Back inside his private void, he found strands of pure innate qi drifting about.
This was the excess qi that had spilled out when he absorbed Life Essence. Thanks to the void's barrier, it was no longer wasted.
The membrane of the void pressed so close against his body that an ordinary person would surely have been crushed by the claustrophobic confinement.
But to Jing Qian, it felt like returning to the blanket forts of his childhood, warm, safe, and reassuring.
And in truth, the smallness of the space had its benefits. The qi density could be raised to an extreme, helping to nourish his body all the more.
Adjusting his position, he pulled out the three items that had once been in the pouch, which were now pressed beneath him. He examined them closely.
The first item was a small blackwood box. Opening it, he found it neatly packed with unusual currency.
There were three thumb-sized ingots of Yuan Gold, bright yellow in hue, each weighing over ten jin!
There were also ten ingots of Fate Silver, equally sized, snow-white, and exquisitely smooth, each weighing ten taels.
And at the bottom lay one hundred red copper knife-coins, stacked in precise order, each engraved with fine script.
Picking one up, Jing Qian inspected it carefully. On it was inscribed a line of small characters:
"Issued by the Prefecture Office of Hunzhou."
This Yuan Gold, Fate Silver, and knife-coins formed the current currency system of Hunzhou.
From the memories he had absorbed, Jing Qian also gleaned some information about this monetary system.
The three types of currency, gold, silver, and copper, were all made from rare materials, finely cast, and held stable value. They circulated smoothly between the various Fate Islands.
Jing Qian knew that these currencies were exchangeable at a ratio of one to ten, but he still didn't understand their true purchasing power. That would only become clear once he set foot on land and began exploring.
He stored away the box of money and drew out the second item.
It was a rather thick book!
The text was written in an extremely intricate script, but with the memory he had inherited from the tall, thin cultivator, Jing Qian could easily read it in full.
On the cover were the words: "Morning-Dusk, Dawn-Breaking Fate Scripture."
Flipping through it, he found its contents obscure and archaic, yet filled with a wealth of cultivation knowledge.
This was the ancestral cultivation method of the Jing clan of Jiangzhu Island, the very foundation of Fate Island's legacy!
From now on, Jing Qian would no longer be without guidance in his cultivation.
Even if the grade of this inheritance wasn't particularly high, compared to rootless wandering cultivators, he was already leagues ahead.
The manual itself was woven entirely of spider silk, down to the dense script sewn line by line into its pages. It was impervious to water and flame, resistant to blades and spears, and extremely durable.
Jing Qian carefully put it away, then turned his gaze to the third item.
It was a flawless jade tablet, the width of his palm, with the two characters "Protection" carved into its surface.
The jade's design was simple, with no elaborate decorations, but the few strokes revealed the carver's profound skill.
Jing Qian swept it with his spiritual sense, yet found no unusual qualities.
Still, judging from its inscription, those two characters likely concealed some special privilege or network tied to the Jing family.
Though its exact function was still unclear, his intuition told him this was by no means an ordinary item.
He carefully stored all three treasures, and a deep sense of reassurance welled up in his heart.
A father who loves his son plans for him far into the future.
The pouch prepared for Jing Qian by Jing Sushì had been arranged with great care, paving a solid road ahead for him.
If not for the relentless pursuit of Xizhishi Island, sending even a Dragon-Elephant after him, then with Qingzhuzi's protection, Jing Qian's original body would surely have been able to continue his cultivation path in peace.
But now, Jing Qian had already fused with a new life and embarked on a different road.
Feeling the Sumeru Life Pattern within his sea of consciousness, as well as that unique Fate Stele space, Jing Qian could only think:
The path lies beneath my feet, the Dao within my heart; no hardship or danger can stand in my way!