The savory fish soup was delicious, putting him in a great mood.
To avoid wasting the Spirit Rice he had eaten, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began to circulate the Breathing and Exhaling Skill.
The Cyan Rice Spirit Rice lived up to its name—the benefits of eating it were immense.
Even when circulating a technique as simple as the Breathing and Exhaling Skill, Lü Zhong's cultivation showed a surprising, noticeable increase.
He completed one Minor Circulation after another. Before he reached his daily limit, the Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Rice was completely exhausted. He had no choice but to start absorbing the ambient Spiritual Qi.
Without comparison, there's no way to tell the difference.
Without the Spiritual Qi from the Spiritual Food, Lü Zhong's cultivation speed immediately plummeted. It took a full ten Minor Circulations just to achieve what a single circulation had accomplished when refining the energy from the Spirit Rice.
This just went to show how powerful the effects of Spiritual Food were.
'Sigh, this Basic Cultivation Technique is a huge problem. Once I've scraped together the rent, I have to save up for a suitable replacement. If I only practice this Breathing and Exhaling Skill, I'll never break through to the Qi Refining Second Layer!'
As this thought crossed Lü Zhong's mind, his expression froze.
Basic Cultivation Techniques were expensive, and they were all priced in Spirit Stones.
Even the worst, most common techniques sold for several dozen Spirit Stones.
'How many Cleaning Talismans would I have to sell to earn that many Spirit Stones?'
Lü Zhong shook his head and pulled the fragrant, sun-dried quilt over himself, resolving to make another trip to Dihua Continent tomorrow.
'No matter what, I have to catch a Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish!'
Until Talisman Making could provide a stable income, his only option was to find a way to get some starting capital.
...
The next day, Lü Zhong was woken by a series of knocks on the door.
Rubbing his drowsy eyes, he opened the door and saw a fat man dressed like a landlord standing outside.
This fat man wore gold and jade, and had the air of a nouveau riche about him.
Lü Zhong knew this person. His name was Wang Dacai, originally a country bumpkin landlord. He had somehow gotten his hands on a Cultivation Method Fragment and, through sheer guesswork, had actually succeeded in introducing Qi into his body.
He had previously competed with Lü Zhong for the right to rent this small, dilapidated hut, but lost because he didn't have enough Spirit Stones.
Lü Zhong had been in a fairly good mood, but the moment he saw this fat Wang Dacai, he felt as disgusted as if he'd swallowed a fly. His tone turned icy. "Why are you knocking on my door? Don't you know I've already rented this place?"
"I know, of course I know!" A sickening smile spread across Wang Dacai's greasy face, revealing a mouthful of large gold teeth. He chuckled, "I heard you're about to be unable to pay the re—"
Hearing this, Lü Zhong assumed the fat man was here just to gloat.
SLAM! He shut the door right in his face.
With people like that, the more attention you give them, the more they carry on.
That's why Lü Zhong couldn't be bothered with Wang Dacai, lest his mood for the entire day be ruined.
Taking out a clean willow branch, he began to wash up.
When he was done, Lü Zhong opened the door again and found that Wang Dacai was, surprisingly, still there.
"Fellow cultivator, wait! We can talk this out." Wang Dacai, perhaps realizing his tone had been wrong, had switched to a fawning expression.
It was still quite disgusting to look at, though, especially paired with those big gold teeth.
Lü Zhong was now curious why the man was so shameless, sticking around even after having the door slammed in his face.
So he glared at the damned fatso and said impatiently, "What is it you want?"
"Hehe, it's like this. How about we make a deal? I'll move in with you, and as for the rent, I'll take a bit of a loss and help you pay for... twenty percent!" As Wang Dacai spoke, an expression of physical pain crossed his face.
His expression perfectly captured the stinginess of a miserly old landlord.
Lü Zhong was so angry he almost laughed. Setting aside the question of whether the small, dilapidated hut could even fit a big pig like Wang Dacai, how did he have the gall to even mention paying a mere twenty percent of the rent?
'To look at him, you'd think it was more painful than cutting off his own flesh!'
Lü Zhong knew he had run into a real piece of work.
A torrent of curses flooded his mind, finally coalescing into a single, perfect word.
"Scram!"
The moment he said it, his mind felt clear and unburdened, and a great sense of relief washed over him.
Lü Zhong didn't care how Wang Dacai reacted and simply locked the door.
'Time to go fishing!'
...
After buying a dozen or so Dragon-beard Loaches, Lü Zhong passed through the center of the street carrying a clay pot. He noticed many cultivators gathered in a corner, discussing something. Seeing their obviously troubled expressions, he feared something big had happened.
He drew closer to listen and learned that the wilderness had been unsafe lately. A group of vicious Evil Cultivators had appeared.
In just two or three months, seven people had already lost their lives at their hands.
It was said that the leader of the Evil Cultivators was an expert whose cultivation had reached the Late-stage of Qi Refining.
A Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator was a prominent figure in Qingliu Ruins, powerful enough to support a luxurious life with three wives, four concubines, and servants galore. As long as one didn't seek the illusory goal of Longevity, they could enjoy at least a hundred years of prosperity.
With such high cultivation, this person had actually chosen to fall into degeneracy and become an Evil Cultivator.
"I heard the leader might be a Demon Cultivator!" someone said in a hushed voice, glancing around.
"Ah, a Demon—" Hearing this, one person cried out in alarm, but someone next to him quickly covered his mouth.
"Careless words bring disaster! Brother, you'd best be careful!"
The man nodded dumbly, but couldn't help adding, "A Late-stage Qi Refining Demon Cultivator... isn't the outside world going to be thrown into chaos? It seems the days ahead for Qingliu Ruins won't be peaceful."
Hearing this, everyone else's faces clouded over with worry.
When a Demon Cultivator rampaged through an area, the disaster they left in their wake was often endless.
Even if they were quickly slain by a high-level expert from a Sect, their Cultivation Techniques would spread like poison, inevitably creating batch after batch of new Demon Cultivators tempted into corruption. Without a period of brutal purges, it would be extremely difficult to eradicate the influence of Demon Cultivators.
When Lü Zhong heard this news, a shadow fell over his heart.
'But what could I do about it?'
The sky was going to rain if it wanted to, and he still had to scrape together the rent.
Thinking back on Wang Dacai, Lü Zhong guessed that the man's desperation to find a place to live was most likely related to this matter.
Since a Demon Cultivator's rampage was imminent, he absolutely could not let himself be kicked out of Qingliu Ruins.
Otherwise, who knew when he might end up as just another soul in a Demon Cultivator's Soul-Refining Banner.
'No, I have to try again, quickly, before the Demon Cultivator's rampage reaches this far!' After thinking it over, Lü Zhong decided to go to Dihua Continent one more time to see if he could catch a Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish.
Otherwise, even if he managed to eke out a meager existence in Qingliu Ruins, he would be kicked out on rent day for not having any Spirit Stones.
Once he was driven into the wilderness, that would be true despair.
He walked quickly to the docks, untied the boat's rope, and after bailing out the water that had seeped through the floorboards, immediately began rowing toward Dihua Continent.
Arriving at the same spot as last time, he mimicked his previous actions and began to fish.
Before long, there was a tug on the line.
Lü Zhong, who had been nervously scanning his surroundings, pulled up the line and could hardly believe his eyes.
A vibrant pink body, with a very distinct peach blossom pattern...
"A P-Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish!"
An expression of disbelief appeared on his face. He never expected to catch a Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish as soon as he arrived.
A single Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish fetched a reward of three Spirit Stones at Jiangwei Pavilion!
Lü Zhong hurriedly placed the Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish into the boat's fish-hold, wrapping it in a piece of old cloth in the process, afraid that he might accidentally damage its scales and affect the fish's sale value.
His heart thumping, he put the baited hook back into the water.
But this time, before the bait even hit the bottom, he felt a jolt like an electric shock!
'Another one!' Lü Zhong's heart leaped into his throat.
He frantically pulled up the line, and unbelievably, it was another Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish.
And this one was even bigger than the last, at least five jin.
'The bigger the fish, the more it's worth. How many Spirit Stones could a five-jin Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish be worth?' Lü Zhong was beside himself with excitement. He quickly unhooked the large fish and carefully placed it in the fish-hold.
Where there's one and then two, there must be a whole school of them down below.
To Lü Zhong, these weren't Peach Blossom Mandarin Fish at all; they were clearly swimming Spirit Stones!
With swift and nimble movements, he lowered the bait again.
This time, there was no electric jolt, but the line suddenly went taut with immense force.
If not for the distinct pull coming up the line, Lü Zhong would have thought he'd snagged it on a reef.
'Did I hook a monster?' His heart suddenly tightened, and he began to haul on the line with all his might.
But the more he pulled, the more something felt wrong.
When he finally pulled the hooked object to the surface, Lü Zhong was horrified to discover that it wasn't a fish at all.
It was a mutilated corpse!