Su Ping fished all the way back to East King Temple.
Aside from a fish basket full of river fresh fish caught by physical means, he had nothing else to show for it.
However, all of this was within expectations; without a Fishing Compass, it wasn't easy to stumble upon Fishing spots.
Successfully taming a Spirit Rat army on this trip was quite a fruitful outcome.
Su Ping initially chose Spirit Rats as Spirit Pets simply because he valued their intelligence and their convenient size for operating on Water Blue Star without attracting attention.
Being able to indirectly control a Spirit Rat army on Water Blue Star was a complete surprise.
Although these Water Blue Star Spirit Rats were generally ordinary in all aspects.
Their advantage was that once an investment was successful, subsequent deployments would not require further consumption of magical power!
This was very important for Su Ping, who was still in the Cultivation Qi Training Middle Stage and had limited magical power, which would lead to insufficient endurance on Water Blue Star.
Used properly, it could save a lot of meaningless consumption.
And relatively, that small investment in these Spirit Rats was, for Su Ping, merely an insignificant, idle chess piece.
Upon returning to East King Temple, after leaving three small gold bars on the table, Su Ping took the remaining white sugar and returned to the Cultivation World with Little White and Little Ash.
Zhou Xuan, Taoist Priest meditated all night, and when he woke up to cook, he discovered the gold bars on the table, immediately realizing that the enlightened master had returned.
He quickly ran a lap around East King Temple, then somewhat disappointedly stopped in the storeroom, looking at the largely empty storeroom.
Zhou Xuan sighed, knowing that the master had quietly left.
However, the master had taken white sugar twice in a row.
Could his guess perhaps have some truth to it?
Perhaps true Cultivation requires eating more white sugar to replenish energy consumption!
Thinking of the thousands of words praising the importance of white sugar that he had found online, Zhou Xuan increasingly felt that he had discovered a small secret on the path of Cultivation.
While secretly rejoicing, he decided not to have breakfast, fearing that the master might come at noon, he planned to set off early to restock the storeroom!
...
At Linyue Manor, Su Ping returned to his bedroom with Little White and Little Ash.
To reward the two Spirit Rats, Su Ping also prepared super-small bathtubs and proportionally scaled-down Body Tempering medicinal packages for them.
Then, he forcibly fed them Qi Blood Waste Pills.
Making the two Spirit Rats squeak in pain yet happiness all night.
Afterward, Su Ping checked the condition of the two Spirit Rats and found that both the Body Tempering medicinal packages and the Qi Blood Waste Pills could provide them with a secondary boost.
However, this method, like normal Cultivators taking medicine, would quickly lead to various problems in their bodies, causing subsequent effects to become increasingly worse and ultimately cutting off the possibility of further progress.
In the eyes of other Cultivators, this was a dead end.
However, for Su Ping, who had purification spiritual medicine, this was a broad and open road that allowed even Spirit Pets to advance quickly!
Su Ping checked his System inventory:
Big Green Fish: 9
fishing coins: 70
"The fishing coins are still enough to exchange for three bottles of purification spiritual medicine, which is enough to use before the next Fishing trip."
"Oh, right, I haven't taken out the Big Green Fish caught by Fishing yet, and I don't know what this delicious meat tastes like."
Su Ping muttered, directly taking out a Big Green Fish weighing about three catties from the System warehouse.
[Big Green Fish, Quality: Ordinary, The meat is delicious and has few bones, edible, can nourish yin and tonify kidneys!]
Su Ping's gaze swept over "nourish yin and tonify kidneys" as he silently processed the Big Green Fish in his hand.
He took out pots, bowls, and ladles, and used the fire control flag to make a fire.
He also had Little White and Little Ash go to the kitchen to bring him various seasonings and side dishes.
In just over twenty minutes, Su Ping had prepared a complete fish feast for himself.
Chopped pepper fish head, boiled fish slices, fried fish bones, cold mixed fish skin...
Su Ping ate first, and whatever was left was cleaned up by Little White and Little Ash, ensuring not a single bit of residue remained.
Outside the house.
The aroma of the fish feast had already filled most of Linyue Manor.
The chefs were surprised at what kind of fish could produce such an alluring fishy scent.
Most people were envious, constantly swallowing their saliva, secretly marveling at the wonders of their Inspector.
Perhaps, this was an immortal fish their master had caught in the heavens, which was why it smelled so good?
"The taste is good, leaving a lingering fragrance in my mouth after eating."
"And I can vaguely feel a gentle energy within my body, slowly regulating my internal organs and Meridians, enhancing my vitality."
"Is this what the text describes as nourishing yin and tonifying kidneys?"
"It can completely rival Yao Beast meat... No, my Big Green Fish has a milder medicinal property, making it even safer!"
"It's just that eating one more Big Green Fish means losing five fishing coins!"
"Also, such Ling fish are really too good, so much so that I don't dare to exchange them for Spirit Stones."
"I can only use them myself and benefit these two guys."
Su Ping tapped the heads of the two still-unsatisfied Spirit Rats.
Then he continued to meditate and cultivate.
Thus, he cultivated Qi during the day and Body Tempering at night.
When he felt bored, he would watch dances and listen to music, or go back to East King Temple to scroll on his phone and relax his mind with the entertainment resources accumulated over twenty years.
Several days passed in a flash.
It was almost time for the Fishing spot refresh count.
Just as Su Ping was secretly anticipating this day's arrival.
Suddenly, Su Ping felt his identity token vibrate.
Not daring to delay, Su Ping immediately stopped his chopsticks from the fish hot pot, took out the token, and saw characters appearing on it.
"Hmm?"
"The Immortal Ascension Conference is to be held early?"
"Asking me to prepare for reception?"
Su Ping's expression was somewhat dazed after reading the message.
Then he showed a hint of confusion:
"According to previous practice, the Immortal Ascension Conference is usually held after the beginning of autumn."
"This time it's half a year early. Is it because the Immortal Realm lacks miners, or is the shortage of spiritual farmers too great?"
"Or, is there some unforeseen change I don't know about?"
Su Ping thought for a moment and decided to go to the market to find someone to send a letter to his old acquaintances in the Outer Sect, to see if he could learn anything and make preparations early.
Then, Su Ping finished his fish hot pot before leaving his room, grandly taking a carriage directly to the Jinque City Lord's Mansion.
Inside the City Lord's Mansion, as soon as the Ji Family members saw Su Ping arrive, they immediately rushed to pay their respects.
Other Family members were not surprised by this.
During this time, the Ji Family's determination to pledge allegiance to the Inspector was already palpable throughout the city.
Ji Hu even ran to Linyue Manor every two or three days, and even if he couldn't meet him, he was still happy to do so, as if he was only there to deliver gifts.
Su Ping naturally would not refuse such a person who actively sought allegiance.
However, before they showed results, he would not give them benefits just to win them over.
Su Ping entered the meeting hall, sat directly at the head seat, and after everyone had arrived, he informed them of the news that the Immortal Ascension Conference would be held early.
This immediately caused a stir of whispering.
Some people couldn't hold back their worry that their Family's disciples who were studying abroad wouldn't be able to return in time.
Yet, no one dared to question or even complain about the Immortal Realm's decision.