Chapter 20: Change
Ji Yuan's gaze fell on the fish pond.
The spiritual fish that had advanced this time were the "Dog-headed Catfish" and the "Blood Spirit Crucian Carp".
The Blood Spirit Crucian Carp should be worth at least one more spirit stone.
"Two spiritual fish should fetch at least thirty-five spirit stones, and the remaining five semi-spiritual fish combined should bring in another eight spirit stones."
"That’s another forty-three spirit stones earned. Even after deducting the cost of purchasing more semi-spiritual fish, there would still be about thirty spirit stones left."
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but look at the Panel.
The upgrade requirements for Level 2 [Fish Pond] were: thirty lower-grade spirit stones, five jin of Cold Iron Sand, and the inscription of an Ice Condensing Talisman.
Perhaps it was heaven’s favor, or perhaps it was because he himself was a fisherman by trade, but this Level 2 [Fish Pond] didn’t require fifty spirit stones like the [Pigsty] or [Cave Dwelling] to upgrade.
It only needed thirty spirit stones.
The key point was that after upgrading the fish pond, it would produce one drop of Water Essence Dew every day, each worth eight spirit stones… This would provide a stable income, far more reliable than waiting for semi-spiritual fish to advance or spiritual pigs to mature.
Eight spirit stones per day meant eighty in a week, and eight thousand in a month…
As soon as he started calculating, Ji Yuan began fantasizing happily.
Upgrade!
It had to be upgraded!
As for spells, he didn’t lack them at the moment, and learning too many would be pointless since, with his current fourth layer of Qi Refining cultivation, he wouldn’t be able to cast them anyway.
To put it simply, his mana bar was limited.
One "Artifact Manipulation Technique" to manipulate a magic tool, combined with the water droplet finger as his basic attack, was already sufficient.
The same applied to magic tools.
So, at present, the best use for these spirit stones was to upgrade the [Fish Pond] to secure a stable spirit stone income.
This way, no matter what he wanted to do later, things would be much easier.
But the price of this Cold Iron Sand was unknown, not to mention the inscription of the Ice Condensing Talisman… Would simply sticking one onto the pond work?
Or did he have to inscribe it himself?
If he had to inscribe it himself, wouldn’t that mean he needed to learn the art of talisman crafting?
Never mind, he would go to Zengtou Market tomorrow to inquire about this Cold Iron Sand first.
After all, the sky was already growing dark. At night, the spiritual energy in his room would become denser. With such good cultivation conditions, Ji Yuan didn’t dare waste them.
The next morning, after a night of hard cultivation, Ji Yuan got up early.
He casually used two fingers to kill the two spiritual fish and then went to the door. With a thought, he released his white boat—his magic boat—at the shore.
Finally, he no longer had to row the black-roofed boat to sell fish. Ji Yuan couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.
It was, more or less, an upgrade from a bird gun to a cannon.
However, just as he was about to board the boat and release the fish, a middle-aged man came down the small path nearby, yawning.
His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles around them, and his steps were unsteady. Yet, there was no smell of alcohol, as if he had simply stayed up too many nights.
First, the man noticed the magic boat by the lake, and his eyes lit up. Then he saw Ji Yuan holding two spiritual fish and came to a stop.
"Ji… Ji Daoist Friend, are you off to sell fish?"
Deng Yunliang’s eyes suddenly cleared up quite a bit.
While the fine quality of the magic boat made him a little envious, the two spiritual fish in Ji Yuan’s hands fully sobered him up.
In Zengtou Market, anyone who could kill spiritual fish was undoubtedly at least mid-stage Qi Refining.
And it had to be a skilled one at that, not to mention someone like Ji Yuan, who could kill two spiritual fish in one go… A ruthless expert, no doubt about it!
Deng Yunliang had previously tried to curry favor with many mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators in Zengtou Market, but he never expected that one had been hiding right next to him all along.
And such a young one at that!
"Mm, Daoist Friend Deng, did you just return from Zengtou Market?"
Ji Yuan recalled Wu Qin’s inquiry from last time and wondered what Deng Yunliang was up to.
"Yes, yes," Deng Yunliang quickly nodded with a smile.
Ji Yuan responded with a sound and didn’t ask further. He wasn’t curious about others, as long as they didn’t interfere with him. He then returned inside to fetch a few more semi-spiritual fish.
Today, he intended to sell out his entire fish pond.
Deng Yunliang, left standing at the door, seemed to remember something. He clenched his fists and turned around several times but ultimately gave up.
"Never mind, I’ll try again tonight!"
"I can definitely turn the tables!"
As he thought this, another name popped into his mind… Lin Hu.
……
Ji Yuan arrived at the fish market and sold all his fish.
The earnings were even higher than he had expected—forty-four spirit stones in total.
This drew quite a few glances from the surrounding fishermen.
However, this time, Ji Yuan didn’t conceal his cultivation.
The aura of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, even if only at the fourth layer, was enough to make those fishermen calm down.
Everyone was just trying to make a living; no one wanted to risk their life.
Ji Yuan didn’t rush to buy more fish. Instead, he headed to the Baibao Tower first.
"Cold Iron Sand?"
The Water Dragon Sect cultivator on duty looked at Ji Yuan with a half-smile.
"Yes."
"Do you have Cold Iron Sand?" the Water Dragon Sect cultivator countered.
"Uh…" Ji Yuan frowned.
This jerk had a terrible attitude, unlike the kind old man he had encountered when buying spells last time.
"Alright, if you don’t have any, stop making trouble and leave," the square-faced cultivator waved impatiently, and Ji Yuan had no choice but to bow and leave.
Just then, a middle-aged woman in a green robe at the talisman section explained, "Cold Iron Sand is currently in short supply within the Water Dragon Sect. There's not even enough for internal use, so how could any make its way to the market?"
"Recently, Baibao Tower has only been buying, not selling. If you happen to find any, you can bring it here. We’re offering a high price—fifteen spirit stones per jin."
"So expensive?!"
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
At fifteen spirit stones per jin, even if he could buy it, he would need seventy-five spirit stones for five jin.
Adding the thirty spirit stones already required to upgrade the [Fish Pond], the total would be a whopping one hundred and five spirit stones… enough to exchange for a single mid-grade spirit stone!
A mid-grade spirit stone.
That was something only Foundation Establishment cultivators would have.
"What did you expect?"
The square-faced cultivator finally added, "To the northwest of Zengtou Market, in the Cold Water Region called Qingbo Pond, there’s Cold Iron Sand. If you can gather some, no matter how much, the Water Dragon Sect will buy it."
"Understood."
Ji Yuan cupped his fists toward both of them and exited Baibao Tower.
Afterward, he asked around nearby and learned that Baibao Tower had stopped selling Cold Iron Sand as early as six months ago.
Back then, the price had been much cheaper, only five spirit stones per jin. Now, the price had tripled, and there was still a shortage.
'Who knows what the damn Water Dragon Sect is up to, needing so much Cold Iron Sand.'
This unexpected development disrupted Ji Yuan’s plans, so he had no choice but to buy eight semi-spiritual fish and return home.
The path to upgrading the fish pond was temporarily blocked.
Unless he went to Qingbo Pond to search for some himself, but Ji Yuan had no intention of taking such a risk for now.
If he wanted a stable income, upgrading the pigsty would yield the same result, and the blood essence it produced daily would be even more valuable.
However, upgrading the pigsty required fifty spirit stones, plus three Witherbone Flowers, and the inscription of a Filth-Dispelling Rune.
Ji Yuan also inquired about the Witherbone Flower.
But the answer he got was that Zengtou Market didn’t have such an item at all. He would have to search other marketplaces, and even if he found it, it certainly wouldn’t be cheap.
Both the [Fish Pond] and the [Pigsty] were currently out of the question.
So… should he shelve his plans for now?
Ji Yuan glanced at his Panel.
It didn’t seem like that was the case.
The Panel was called the Building Upgrade Panel.
The buildings currently displayed were simply those that the original owner had more or less already possessed.
That didn’t mean the Panel could only upgrade these buildings.
What about things like the [Pill Refining Room] or the [Weapon Refining Room]?