The Ominous Bug Cauldron returned to calm, quietly resting deep within his Sea of Consciousness.
With the refinement and submission of the Dark Water Centipede, a tight bond formed between it and Su Yan. A warm current flowed into his body, driving out the chill soaked in by the mountain rain.
'After months of effort, consuming a hundred jin of beast blood essence, and one exotic bug, it is finally accomplished.'
The moment the Dark Water Centipede was refined and submitted, the tension in Su Yan's heart finally released.
The Ominous Bug Cauldron was an object from his previous life, oddly shaped, looking like a newly made ornament he had bought on a whim. He bought it as a trinket after seeing a new hunt. He never expected it to follow him to this world after his "great misfortune" (crossing over).
Knowing the cauldron's strangeness, he staked everything on it.
He spent almost every copper coin from his months of mountain-trekking income—not even repaying the high-interest debt at home—to buy Beast Blood . Even just beast blood required money, costing over ten copper coins per jin (half-kilogram).
Hundreds of jin of beast blood were refined into essence by the Ominous Bug Cauldron, barely meeting the standard a month ago. All that remained was to find the exotic bug.
Su Yan willed it, and the Dark Water Centipede emerged from the Bug Realm .
The centipede was no longer aggressive; it moved exactly as he willed, without the slightest hesitation, as if it were an extension of his arm.
'With the Dark Water Centipede, I'm at least a little safer. And the fact that activating the Ominous Bug Cauldron can materialize my learned skills is a pleasant surprise.'
'The Dark Water Centipede doesn't look like it's in a juvenile state at this size. Could this "Nascent Stage" mean the Ominous Bug Cauldron reversed its origin, forcing it to grow a bit more to break through its original limit?'
The Dark Water Centipede crawled around Su Yan with a soft shasha sound.
Though he caught it with the net, it was only because he planned it while the bug was distracted. If it had broken free and bitten him, Su Yan wouldn't have made it out of the forest.
Suppressing his joy, he took a few deep breaths and calmed down: 'I still need to be careful. Having a Bug doesn't mean I've become stronger myself. You have to be strong on your own. I must find a way to practice martial arts. Before that, I must act cautiously.'
With this thought, Su Yan threw the net and the basket entirely into the Bug Realm.
Although the Bug Realm is primarily for the exclusive use of the contracted Bug (which can heal inside), it can also store other items.
He tidied up, destroyed his footprints and the centipede's traces, and busied himself for half an hour.
Only then did Su Yan quickly take a different route back. His steps were light, as if a great burden had been lifted, completely different from when he entered the mountain.
Coming out of the mountains, the rain had completely stopped, and it was nearly night.
Cloud-Front Village was dark and surprisingly quiet.
Returning to his house, he closed the fence gate of his dirt yard. He didn't hang his rain cape and hat in the yard but took them off inside the house, afraid of anyone discovering his movements.
He changed into a coarse hemp shirt, hung up his straw sandals to dry, and then sat on the edge of his wooden plank bed. He released the Dark Water Centipede to examine it closely and consider his future plans.
'The Ominous Bug Cauldron is now active. The Bug Realm raises the Bug, and the Bug can produce a thread of Bug Essence daily to nourish the Bug Master. That must be the warm current I felt right after the refinement.'
On his way back, Su Yan had noticed a difference. His steps were lighter, and the feeling of weakness he usually had was lessened.
Although a mountain-man deals with herbs and small game from the mountains, Su Yan was reluctant to eat them. The money he saved wasn't just to support his family; it was also for the "Mountain Tax" to the Lin family and the tax to the Dali dynasty. What little money was left over wasn't enough to afford meat. With little fat in his diet and being a young man, his physical fitness naturally suffered.
However, the nourishment from the Bug Essence, even just a single thread, was like a spring breeze transforming the rain, subtly replenishing his weakened body.
He toyed with the dark purple centipede in his hand, feeling a sense of intimacy, and thought to himself: 'Only by refining an Exotic Bug did the Ominous Bug Cauldron truly awaken. No wonder the previous information was vague.'
A First-Order Bug Master can control a contracted Bug no higher than the First Order. At this stage, he only needs a hundred jin of beast blood essence and a First-Order Bug or an unranked Bug with spiritual characteristics to refine a new one.
However, this was no simple matter for Su Yan.
Forget the rarity of Exotic Bugs; Su Yan searched for a long time just to find a faint trace of one. The hundred jin of beast blood essence alone would cost several or even over ten taels of silver. That amount of silver was enough for a poor family's entire year of expenses.
He had desperately worked as a mountain-man, searching for goods and occasionally hunting small wild animals like rabbits in the mountains, just to accumulate the necessary beast blood.
'A second Bug won't be possible anytime soon. But the Dark Water Centipede is strong on its own and can continue to grow, making it my greatest current asset.'
'The immediate tasks are, first, to quickly strengthen the Dark Water Centipede, and second, to practice martial arts. Relying solely on a single thread of Bug Essence per day, the speed of self-improvement is too slow.'
Over the past six months, Su Yan had gathered some information. The saying "Poor scholar, rich martial artist" was even truer in this world where individual martial power was extraordinary.
Martial arts knowledge was mostly held by the major families and the upper class in the cities. Family martial arts were never passed down, and entry into the magistrate's office was strict, requiring connections and influence—even bribing wouldn't guarantee a spot. These two paths were absolutely closed.
Poor people who wanted to learn martial arts had only two options.
One was to sell themselves to a powerful group like the Tian Feng Weapon Shop, the Hundred Herb Hall, the Small Mountain Association, or the Fishermen's Gang to work as an apprentice or laborer. After three to five years of hardship, they might get a chance to learn martial arts.
The other path was to join a Martial Arts Academy. Yun Cang Town wasn't large, but it had three such academies: Golden Ape, Seven Blades, and Black Stone . Saving up fifty taels would allow one to join an academy as a registered disciple. Although only registered, they could still learn some genuine skills.
'Apprentices are like slaves; I don't need to endure three to five years of that. That means I have to go through the Martial Arts Academy route.'
'Learning martial arts requires money, and the head tax and the mountain tax are due in just a month or two. I need money quickly; I must go into the mountains again.'
The next morning, the Dark Water Centipede had already produced a thread of Bug Essence, and Su Yan absorbed it early.
It was more noticeable than the warm current of the previous day, feeling like his whole body was soaking in a hot spring.
A feeling of gradual physical replenishment immediately followed. His pale complexion faded slightly; though still fair, it looked healthier.
'My strength seems to have increased a bit, and my physical depletion is gradually being filled. I can start moving around now.'
Stretching, push-ups, crunches, lifting stones.
Su Yan didn't exercise in the yard but practiced the basic movements inside the house. The forms weren't perfect, but he could feel a clear difference in his body.
Before, with his lack of nutrition, the more he exercised, the worse his body would get. Now, with a little replenishment from the Bug Essence, every bit of exercise he did strengthened his body, which was a huge help.
After about two hours, drenched in sweat, his face slightly flushed, Su Yan had a rough idea of his condition.
'My body has strengthened quite a bit. Not only am I no longer frail, but I'm comparable to a strong adult man now.'
His body, at fifteen or sixteen years old, was constantly malnourished. In the mountain-trekking team, he was mostly the one slowing everyone down. If not for Uncle Xie's help and care, he would have starved to death long ago.
'I performed three sets of military boxing, and it didn't materialize. Uncle Xie also taught me a lot about identifying herbs, which I used in daily life, but that didn't materialize either. It seems skills can't just be formed at will.'
Su Yan was a little disappointed. On his mental interface, there was still only one skill, Mountain-Trekking, and one contracted bug, the Dark Water Centipede .
'Nothing in this world is ever perfect, but having the Ominous Bug Cauldron and the ability to control a contracted bug is already more than enough.'
He calmed his thoughts, shouldered his bamboo basket, put the bulk of his wheat cakes into the Bug Realm , and a small portion into the basket. He put his bamboo bow and arrows into the Bug Realm, took his machete, and finally left the house to go mountain-trekking in Cloud Ridge Mountain.
Right as he stepped out, he ran into an acquaintance.
"Ah Yan, wait up."
Su Yan looked at the group. A man in his forties, wearing a straw hat and coarse hemp clothes, strode towards him. He also carried a basket on his back and a machete at his waist, clearly preparing to go mountain-trekking.
"Uncle Xie."
Su Yan greeted him politely. Xie Yuzhu was his neighbor. When Su Yan's previous father was alive, the two often partnered to go into the mountains.
"You should come into the mountain with us. The path is slippery after the rain, and bugs and beasts are unpredictable. It's safer if we look out for each other."
Going into the mountains after the rain was indeed risky. Not only would familiar paths become slicker, but fallen trees, new streams, and mud traps could appear. Poisonous bugs and fierce beasts might also temporarily change their habits, forced out by the rain. With increased unstable factors, the danger naturally increased.
After Xie Yuzhu finished speaking, the other fellow villagers, also mountain-men, frowned.
"No, thank you. My movements are slow, and my knowledge of things is incomplete. I'll only drag down everyone's harvest."
Xie Yuzhu's expression changed slightly, and the other mountain-men looked embarrassed.
"Ah Yan, what are you saying? How could we—"
Su Yan just shook his head and said, "Uncle Xie, you should head out early. The rain always brings out some new mountain goods. Don't let people from other villages get to them first."
With that, he walked toward Cloud Ridge Mountain with his basket, leaving Xie Yuzhu and the others looking at each other awkwardly.
'Uncle Xie is kind-hearted, but every family has its own difficulties. Who is willing to share a benefit for free? Besides, it's not suitable for me to partner with them.'
When mountain-trekking together, there are rules for sharing the harvest. An experienced mountain-man can find many things along the path quickly and efficiently. But a novice would not only slow down the travel speed but also likely miss goods. After being dragged along for three or four months, and without a patron willing to give everyone a bigger cut, they were naturally unwilling.
Su Yan quickened his pace, soon entering Cloud Ridge Mountain via a different path. The tall trees, combined with the half-person-high bushes and weeds, quickly obscured his figure.
About three or four li (roughly 1.5 -- 2 km) into the mountain, he released the Dark Water Centipede, letting it disappear into the undergrowth.