This extra Spirit Fish was a bream with a long fish spine protruding from the tip of its mouth.
Just by its appearance, it looked a bit like the sword-yellow fish that sold for around ten Spirit Stones, but this bream was jet-black and covered in dense patterns.
A Spirit Fish evolved from a semi-spirit black bream... Spine Bream!
This Spine Bream, like the sword-yellow fish, was valuable because of its sharp spine.
But the Spine Bream's spine seemed to have some special effects, so it fetched an even higher price. If Ji Yuan managed to keep it intact, he could easily sell it for sixteen or seventeen Spirit Stones at least.
Ji Yuan glanced at the sky—it was still early.
No time to waste; delays would only invite trouble.
He raised his hand and conjured a Water Arrow. With a casual flick, the Spine Bream in the Fish Pond instantly flipped belly-up.
With his neighbors to either side absent, Ji Yuan found it much easier to act.
After a short while, he'd already sold the Spine Bream at the Fish Cage, unsurprisingly for 17 low-grade Spirit Stones.
Adding the 3 he'd previously saved up, Ji Yuan now had a total of 20 Spirit Stones on him!
If this still wasn't enough to break through to mid-stage Qi Cultivation, Ji Yuan could only say... better luck next time.
On his way home, even though he took the water route, he ran into someone familiar he hadn't expected to see.
Qiu Qianhai—one of the original host's few friends remaining. Ji Yuan had no choice but to stop and chat with him for a bit.
Qiu Qianhai had just come back from Maple Island, still bearing traces of blood.
"All I can say is... it was a bloodbath."
Even just recalling it left Qiu Qianhai shaken.
"It wasn't even a battle for opportunity anymore; it was pure chaos. Whoever you saw, you killed. If you didn't kill them, they'd kill you."
"I only made it back because of my Dharma Ship's speed—barely managed to escape."
Ji Yuan couldn't help but think of his own neighbors, wondering how they'd fared.
"You should go home and rest. Let's talk again when we both have time."
Ji Yuan cupped his hand toward him in farewell.
"Alright, take care."
With that, one steered his Dharma Ship, and the other rowed a small boat—each going their separate ways.
Ji Yuan could tell from Qiu Qianhai's urgency that he must have scored something good at Maple Island, which explained his hurried return.
As for this friend... orphaned early on, forced into a disaster at the start, yet by sheer reckless determination, he'd carved out a foothold in Zengtou City.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be at Qi Cultivation Level 4 at such a young age.
He even owned a Dharma Ship.
Ji Yuan's impression of him was quite profound.
When he arrived home, the Lin Youwei family and Old Man Huang hadn't returned yet. Ji Yuan didn't bother worrying; he went straight to the back yard to check on the [Fish Pond].
Unfortunately, there were no newly evolved semi-spirit fish.
Only then did he enter his room, first laying out his 20 Spirit Stones, then stilled his mind, quietly circulating the Jade Sea Tide Generation Skill. Once completely calm, he took out two Spirit Eggs, tapped them together, cracked them, and poured the Spirit Liquid inside into his mouth.
Repeating this process, after refining six Spirit Eggs, night had already fallen.
The world was silent, except for the occasional sound of Cloud Rain Marsh's lake water lapping at the shore. Ji Yuan eyed the 20 Spirit Stones before him, hesitated not, picked up two at a time, held them in his hands, and once again circulated his cultivation technique, absorbing the pure Spiritual Qi within.
Two, four, eight... One Spirit Stone after another crumbled to powder in Ji Yuan's palms, but he wasn't anxious.
After all, time was on his side. As long as he didn't die, the Spirit Stones would only grow in number; breaking through was only a matter of time.
But just as he maintained this calm heart, after absorbing the Spiritual Qi from twelve Spirit Stones—
He suddenly felt as if he'd broken through some barrier.
The thin membrane that had blocked him before was pierced; Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi surged in, seeped into his meridians, and finally sank into his Dantian.
Mid-stage Qi Cultivation!
After a brief surge of excitement, he picked up another two Spirit Stones, absorbed their pure Spiritual Qi to stabilize his cultivation.
It wasn't until the next morning, when sunlight squeezed through the window and woke Ji Yuan, that he stirred.
Now firmly seated at mid-stage Qi Cultivation, he slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Stepping out to the backyard, he felt the sky bright and clear, the earth full of promise... Hmm, first check the chicken nest. Finished collecting six Spirit Eggs, he checked the Fish Pond again.
Good, still no breakthroughs there.
Only now did he have the time to finally take stock of his surroundings.
After advancing to mid-stage Qi Cultivation, although there wasn't exactly a leap in longevity, his perception of his environment was indeed several times sharper.
As for Spiritual Qi in his Dantian, that went without saying.
At Qi Cultivation Level 2, casting Water Arrow Technique drained all his Dantian's Spiritual Qi; at Level 3, he could cast it five times in a row.
Now, if he only cast Water Arrow Technique—
Ji Yuan guessed he could fire it twenty times without issue... If only his body could keep up like that.
Body Tempering!
Must temper the body!
This breakthrough to Qi Cultivation Level 4 took a total of fourteen Spirit Stones, leaving six left—just enough to upgrade a building.
After some thought, Ji Yuan made up his mind.
Don't upgrade the [Cave Mansion] yet—upgrade the [Pigsty] first.
With all these Spirit Eggs, that 20% nighttime Spiritual Qi boost from the Cave Mansion was basically useless for him.
Useless to eat, a pity to throw away.
It did little to increase his actual strength at the moment.
But the Pigsty was different—raise Spirit Pigs, eat their meat... strengthen muscles and bones, boost physical prowess.
Maybe he could even find a pretty female cultivator for some dual cultivation.
Awash in such beautiful thoughts, Ji Yuan took a while to calm down. These six Spirit Stones were just enough to upgrade the Pigsty.
But what about buying a young Spirit Pig afterwards?
Ji Yuan had looked into it: a piglet cost about two to three Spirit Stones, an adult Spirit Pig about eight to ten.
His Pigsty could put a hundred pounds of muscle on a pig in seven days—in theory, a pretty sweet way to make a fortune.
But he hardly dared try it. The thing was, compared to Cloud Rain Marsh's Spirit Fish business where you could make excuses, selling Spirit Pigs was just too conspicuous.
Others might take half a year to mature a Spirit Pig. You do it in two weeks—anyone would think something fishy was going on.
Of course, it partly had to do with Zengtou City being too small.
If the market were bigger, he could sell elsewhere.
Ji Yuan's Spirit Eggs; losing a Spirit Stone or two here or there... waiting like this wouldn't work, better to sell a few eggs, buy the Spirit Pig first.
But before buying, he had to build the Pigsty.
Ji Yuan looked around and finally chose to build the Pigsty right next to the Chicken Cage.
Compared to the Chicken Cage, the Pigsty took up a lot more space.
By the time Ji Yuan finished building, the Pigsty, the Fish Pond, and the Chicken Cage filled up nearly half his backyard.
Ji Yuan's backyard was now packed solid with these three buildings.
'This house is way too small. When my cultivation is higher, I'm definitely getting a bigger place!'
Ji Yuan grumbled silently to himself, glancing at the building panel in his mind.
[Upgrade Requirement: Low-grade Spirit Stones ×5, Iron Ingots ×50 jin, Coarse Salt 10 jin (not met)]
Pigsty upgrades needed 50 jin of iron and 10 jin of salt. Luckily, those mundane things were cheap in Zengtou City.
All that could be covered with a Spirit Stone or two in broken pieces.
Ji Yuan eyed the [Pigsty: lv0] marker floating above, deciding to finish upgrading it before buying a Spirit Pig.
Soon, after buying the iron and salt from Zengtou City, just as he reached his doorstep, he saw a battered Dharma Ship drifting back from the direction of Cloud Rain Marsh—moving not too quickly.
When Ji Yuan got a closer look, he realized it was the Lin Family's old Black Wood Boat.
And seated on the ship were Lin Hu and Wu Qin—the husband and wife.
Both looked absolutely drained; Lin Hu in particular was deathly pale, his eyes vacant.
Only when the Dharma Ship docked did he snap out of it and notice Ji Yuan by the shore.
At a glance, his face crumpled and he wailed:
"Brother Ji, my father and mother... they're both dead."