"I'll come again tomorrow. If you still haven't paid the Immortal Residence fee for this month, you can get the hell out of our Zengtou City."
"Got it."
"..."
Ji Yuan watched as the man in the black robe staggered away on the muddy bank, just about to close the courtyard gate, when someone stepped out from the neighboring courtyard.
It was a balding old man smoking a dry tobacco pipe. He grinned at Ji Yuan, who looked miserable, and said cheerfully:
"Brother Ji, why don't you go borrow a little from Liu the Leper? Just pay the Immortal Residence fee first."
"Otherwise, with your Level 2 Qi Cultivation, leaving Zengtou City would be a death sentence."
Borrow from Liu the Leper?
Damn, that's an eighty percent interest rate. If I borrow from him, the interest will just keep rolling—my life will be ruined… Ji Yuan nodded, "I'll figure something out."
With that, he closed the courtyard gate.
Old Man Huang didn't try to persuade him any further. He'd just said it for the referral fee anyway—if it worked, it worked; if not, it didn't matter.
Ji Yuan returned to his shabby hut, looked around at everything, and couldn't help cursing in his heart: "Damn it, I've transmigrated to a cultivation world, and I still have to pay rent?!"
"With conditions like this, and three low-grade Spirit Stones a month? Why don't you just rob people outright?!"
Ji Yuan, in a fit of anger, just stewed in his fury.
The truth was, as Old Man Huang had said: as a Level 2 Qi Cultivation loose cultivator, if he left Zengtou City and traveled the wilderness, he'd be nothing but a lamb to the slaughter.
Either a Tribulation Cultivator would rob him blind and then silence him,
Or just kill him first and then take everything he had.
Even in Zengtou City, there were sometimes loose cultivators turning rogue and mugging others. Out in the wild? Forget it.
In this world, houses weren't worth anything, and neither was land.
But safety—that was valuable.
Three days ago, Ji Yuan had still been a wage slave on Blue Star, eating hotpot and singing karaoke with friends after work. Who could have guessed, after one night's sleep, he'd awaken on this so-called Cangluo Continent?
He'd even transmigrated into a teenager in Zengtou City, under the Water Dragon Sect, who had the same name as him.
The Water Dragon Sect was near the vast Cloud Rain Marsh, and had set up many markets along the shore, to gather the low-level loose cultivators nearby—to have them catch Spirit Fish and collect Treasures of Heaven and Earth.
These loose cultivators were called "Fishermen."
Zengtou City was one such market, and the original Ji Yuan was one of these Fishermen.
His parents too—but two months ago, they set out and were killed by a mid-level first-rank Spirit Fish.
Both parents dead, about to be thrown out of Zengtou City for unpaid rent… Talk about a hellish start!
But hey, it's not all bad—in times like these, that's usually when cheats show up.
Ji Yuan thought back to the novels he'd read on Qidian in his last life, and in a daze, a glowing panel actually appeared before his eyes…
The panel was covered in words.
[Fish Pond lv0 (Upgradeable)]
[LV1: Spirit Effect: Fish fry growth speed +20%, chance for semi-spirit fish to evolve into spirit fish]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stone ×1, plant Cleansing Reed, clear the waterway (achieved)]
[Chicken Cage lv0]
[lv1: Spirit Effect: Spirit Eggs produced daily, contains trace spiritual qi, enables fasting]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stone ×2, normal rice grain ×50 jin (not achieved)]
[Pigsty lv0]
[LV1: Spirit Effect: Spirit Pig gains 100 jin muscle in seven days, flesh contains body tempering medicine, also accelerates wound healing]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stone ×5, Iron Ingot ×50 jin, coarse salt 10 jin (not achieved)]
[Cave Mansion lv0]
[LV1: Spirit Effect: Self-repairing walls, basic Dust Avoidance Barrier, nighttime spiritual qi concentration +20%]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stone ×5, Glutinous Rice Paste ×3 barrels, repair broken tiles (not achieved)]
[Spirit Field lv0]
[LV1: Spirit Effect: Crop cycle -30%, yield contains faint wood spiritual qi]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stone ×5, plant ash ×50 jin (not achieved)]
[...]
What kind of cheat is this?
Farming cheat?
Before Ji Yuan could consider further, a flood of memories popped into his mind—it turned out this golden finger of his was called the "Building Upgrade Panel." Put simply, as long as he fulfilled the conditions, the panel could upgrade his buildings and bestow special abilities.
For instance, the only building he could upgrade right now was the fish pond at his home.
The condition was one low-grade Spirit Stone, plus planting Cleansing Reed and clearing the waterway.
Every Fisherman in Zengtou City had a little fish pond at home, to store Spirit Fish caught from Cloud Rain Marsh. So as for the Cleansing Reed and waterway, those were already in place.
As for the one low-grade Spirit Stone… all Ji Yuan owned in the world right now was just a single low-grade Spirit Stone.
No wonder he couldn't even afford the rent.
He'd once had more at home, but his parents spent the last savings on elixirs and talismans before their final fishing trip.
Who'd have thought it would all be lost to Cloud Rain Marsh?
Once the fish pond upgrades from lv0 to lv1, its ability would be: fish fry growth speed +20%, and a chance for semi-spirit fish to evolve into spirit fish.
The first part was clear enough. Regarding semi-spirit fish and spirit fish, Ji Yuan had also learned from the original owner's memories.
These Fishermen mainly caught semi-spirit fish and spirit fish. In simple terms, spirit fish were fish demons—demon beasts.
Their flesh, scales, and other body parts were all valuable resources in the Cultivation Realm.
Spirit fish were first-rank demon beasts.
In water, you had to be at least Level 4 in Qi Cultivation to handle a stage-one spirit fish.
The original owner's dad had reached Level 4, but ran into a mid-stage spirit fish, and that was that.
The semi-spirit fish was a species between normal fish and demon beasts—a prime target for newbies like Ji Yuan at early Qi Cultivation.
And right now, there happened to be a semi-spirit fish in Ji Yuan's home fish pond.
It was the Seven-Star Perch the original owner had risked his life to bring back from the marsh three days ago… That trip had resulted in the original's death in the endless Cloud Rain, allowing Ji Yuan to take over cheap.
Ji Yuan took out his last remaining low-grade Spirit Stone from his chest… If he'd had more—say, five—he might have wavered.
But with only one? There's nothing more to hesitate about.
Upgrade!
As soon as Ji Yuan willed it, the Spirit Stone in his hand crumbled to dust. At the same time, his panel displayed the effects and requirements for a Level 2 [Fish Pond].
[Fish Pond lv2]
[Spirit Effect: Produces 1 drop of Water Dew daily, greater chance for semi-spirit fish to evolve, growth speed +30%]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stone ×30, Cold Iron Sand ×5 jin, inscribe Ice Condensation Talisman]
A Level 2 fish pond can actually produce Water Dew?
That stuff's a real treasure—it heals wounds, restores spiritual qi, can even be used for cultivation. Just one drop would sell for eight low-grade Spirit Stones out there.
Before Ji Yuan could savor this good news, rolling water erupted from his backyard fish pond.
"Oh no!"
Ji Yuan rushed to the backyard, where he saw splashes rising from the small pond to the northwest.
Above the fish pond, words only he could see floated in the air.
[Fish Pond: lv1]
Inside, there was an arm-length dark shadow—he could hardly believe his eyes as he stepped closer.
At first, the pond only had a semi-spirit Seven-Star Perch, worth one Spirit Stone.
Now, the semi-spirit fish was gone.
Instead, there was a newly appeared, early-stage first-rank spirit fish—an Iceblood Perch—worth at least fifteen low-grade Spirit Stones.
So this is the effect of Level 1 [Fish Pond]?!