Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Let’s Go
Lu Wan?
Wasn’t she still seen today in Zengtou City? Why did she not speak face to face and had to entrust someone to send a message... Ji Yuan suddenly thought of something.
He calmly took the letter from Lin Hu’s hand and instructed, "Remember not to tell anyone about this."
"Don’t worry, Brother Ji, I know, I won’t even tell Wu Qin."
Lin Hu nodded vigorously.
"Hmm."
After sending Lin Hu away, Ji Yuan returned inside and unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was graceful, carrying a faint scent of pear blossoms.
"Qiu Qianhai is now hiding near Qingbo Pond. The Qin Family already knows his location and has dispatched Qin Wei, who is at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, along with two other sixth-level Qi Cultivation guards.
He seems to have other grievances with the Qin Family, far more complex than with Liu Laizi.
If you decide to go, be very cautious."
As expected.
Ji Yuan wasn’t surprised that Lu Wan could learn about Qiu Qianhai’s whereabouts, because she was already a part of the Qin Family, and with her talent in talisman painting, the Qin Family surely wouldn’t treat her poorly.
But what surprised Ji Yuan was why she would tell him this information.
Ji Yuan still remembered when Qiu Qianhai had just fled to Cloud Rain Marsh; when he encountered Lu Wan at Zengtou City, she had advised him to stay away from Qiu Qianhai.
And now... she voluntarily informed him of Qiu Qianhai’s location; something seemed off between the two instances.
After some contemplation, Ji Yuan thought this could be Lu Wan’s way of testing him.
She wanted to see if he was truly a lone traveler on the Dao path or if he was human with flesh and blood.
This was one kind of guess. If it wasn’t a good one, then it could be her sincerely joining and pledging allegiance to the Qin Family.
He was the offering she chose.
She would join hands with the Qin Family to ambush and capture both him and Qiu Qianhai in one go.
Of course, this possibility was extremely low, not to mention Lu Wan wasn’t such a person, and he also had no apparent grudge with the Qin Family.
As for Liu Laizi’s death, even if the Qin Family knew about it now, they would surely understand how to weigh the pros and cons.
Or did she deliberately stir up conflict between him and the Qin Family, hoping to weaken their strength?
Or maybe it wasn’t that complicated, and she simply knew about his good relationship with Qiu Qianhai, so she decided to tell him the information.
There were many possibilities, but the good thing was, he finally knew Qiu Qianhai’s location.
Should he go to Qingbo Pond to find Qiu Qianhai?
He definitely had to go.
If decades or even hundreds of years later, Ji Yuan’s mindset might change, becoming like many cultivators who disregard friendships.
But now, having only transmigrated for half a year, Ji Yuan, who grew up under the nine-year compulsory education system, couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.
Repaying kindness with gratitude is Ji Yuan’s current mindset.
The Qin Family had only sent three people who were at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation... Under the Yin Ghost Array, Ji Yuan felt confident that even if he couldn’t kill them, he would have no problem preserving his life.
Moreover, he had already planned to visit Qingbo Pond because he had never forgotten that it was rich in Cold Iron Sand.
Maybe the opportunity for his Fish Pond to upgrade was here!
After making up his mind, Ji Yuan casually burnt the letter.
He immersed his spirit into his storage bag to analyze his current situation.
He had accumulated quite a few Spirit Stones... not that he was hoarding them, but he had 79 left, even though he used them daily for cultivation.
As for talismans, for Ji Yuan, at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, middle-grade talismans were no longer of much value.
They could only be used for basic attacks.
There were two upper-grade talismans left, one for escape, the Water Escape Talisman, and another for attack, the Golden Seal Talisman.
He had experienced the power of the Golden Seal Talisman firsthand, which is why he bought it.
As for elixirs, there were several Spirit Gathering Pills for cultivation, five Qi Blood Pills for saving lives, and... 20 Spirit Revitalizing Pills for fighting while restoring spiritual power.
The Spirit Revitalizing Pill effect wasn’t too strong, but because they could self-restore spiritual power, they were priced high.
One Spirit Revitalizing Pill cost five Spirit Stones.
Even so, Ji Yuan occasionally bought a few and now had 20 in storage.
The magical artifacts were still the same as before, and Ji Yuan couldn’t handle them even if he bought more.
In that case, he decided to go to Zengtou City to buy two more upper-grade talismans.
No matter if it was late in the day, Ji Yuan ignored it.
At the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, in Zengtou City, he had nothing to fear.
In the backyard, he looked at the green-yellow chickens running around and the half-grown Spirit Dolphin, while the front yard still had a pond of half Spirit Fish.
On previous occasions when he went out, Ji Yuan would only delay for a few days, and it didn’t matter if these Spirit Fish and green-yellow chickens weren’t fed.
But this time was different.
Regardless of whether he could save Qiu Qianhai, the delay would be long, at least a dozen days.
Without anyone to feed them, it would surely be problematic.
So after some thought, Ji Yuan decided to deal with these creatures, as the green-yellow chickens had been laying eggs for so long, it was time for a change. The half Spirit Fish were easier to handle, he’d just buy more when he returned.
Moreover, Ji Yuan had some ideas if he should keep more actual Spiritual Birds in the Chicken Cage to lay eggs, rather than these half-baked green-yellow chickens.
The little spiritual energy provided by the Spirit Eggs didn’t meet his cultivation needs anymore.
Immediately taking action, under the White Water Flying Sword, all the half Spirit Fish and green-yellow chickens turned into corpses, and even the Spirit Dolphin that he had only raised for a few days was chopped up with one strike.
Without him around, there was no one to take care of them.
It seemed he really needed to quickly find some magic techniques for Puppet refinement, but it was said that the puppet path and artifact refining were somewhat related.
Damn it, he’s spread too thin.
Ji Yuan then went to Zengtou City at night, first selling half Spirit Fish at the Fish Cage, paying the next month’s Immortal Residence fee in advance, and then selling green-yellow chickens to the chicken cultivator.
The chicken cultivator watched Ji Yuan finish off all the green-yellow chickens in one go and was heartbroken, as if his own beloved sons were killed.
It wasn’t until Ji Yuan promised to buy from him next time that the cultivator’s mood improved somewhat.
After handling these matters, Ji Yuan went to the Hundred Treasures Tower and bought an upper-grade Demon Suppression Talisman and an upper-grade Iron Wall Talisman.
With four upper-grade talismans in hand, even if he were to encounter someone at the later stages of Qi Cultivation, Ji Yuan felt confident to fight.
He spent a total of 58 Spirit Stones, with some leftovers for preparing the Yin Ghost Array and restoring his spiritual power.
After leaving Zengtou City, Ji Yuan didn’t return home, instead following the waterway map straight to Qingbo Pond.
Under full speed of the Black Wind Boat, it wasn’t until noon the next day that he saw a peculiar water area in the depths of Cloud Rain Marsh.
The waters of Cloud Rain Marsh were usually green, but the water Ji Yuan now saw was unusually light blue.
The outer area was this light blue, and a few miles further in, there were many densely packed islands, with the inner waters showing a deep blue.
Just approaching, Ji Yuan felt that the temperature here was several degrees cooler.
This was Qingbo Pond, full of Cold Pool Water, and as one went further in, the temperature dropped further. It was said the core waters could freeze those in the middle stages of Qi Cultivation.
Besides the unique Cold Iron Sand, there were also some Spirit Fish demons fond of cold water here.
Their strength generally surpassed those of the same level outside.
In addition, there were fishermen here digging sand; with the Water Dragon Sect’s massive acquisition of Cold Iron Sand in recent years, more fishermen had come, almost forming a small market.
Moreover, Ji Yuan heard that most of these fishermen were fugitives from the markets across Cloud Rain Marsh.
Hmm... like Qiu Qianhai.
So coming here made sense.
Upon entering this dangerous area, Ji Yuan slowed the boat, though he didn’t summon the Dragon Armor Shield, he held a Thunder Strike Talisman in his left hand, and pinched a Golden Armor Talisman in his right, both hidden within his sleeves.
He didn’t rush to deeply explore Qingbo Pond but first maneuvered his boat around the outer area to observe the situation.
However, moments before he could turn a few miles away, he suddenly noticed in the center surrounded by some small islands ahead, a magical combat seemed to be taking place; judging from the spiritual energy fluctuations, two mid-stage Qi Cultivation individuals were involved.
Ji Yuan naturally considered avoiding this place, but just as he thought of leaving, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
Only to hear that person crazily laugh:
"Old Dog Lin, it seems your sixth-level Qi Cultivation is nothing but paper-thin!"