Chapter 29: The Fish Wasn't Caught, So How Did You Catch This Thing?
There were plenty of items, yet most of them seemed utterly useless.
Especially those pots and bowls—Chu Xingchen half-suspected they might have been made from some "holy monk's ashes."
He had absolutely no intention of eating from someone's skull.
Thus, under his orders, all those oddly shaped pots and bowls were strictly forbidden from entering the kitchen.
As for the rest, he told Li Yingling to keep whatever she wanted in her own room, and to dump everything else into the unused side chamber.
Then there was that so-called wooden fish left behind by an enlightened monk…
Chu Xingchen truly had no idea whether that thing was a blessing or a curse.
He told Li Yingling to handle it herself—mainly because every time he saw the thing, he wanted to pick up the mallet and smack her on the head with it.
After sorting through the mess, only a few items turned out to be remotely useful.
Fortunately, the bedding was nothing special—just plain silk quilts.
Otherwise, he would probably have trouble sleeping at night, feeling like something was pressing on his chest.
Once the sorting was done, the pile was moved to the side room.
With the cleaning already taken care of, the three quickly gathered in Chu Xingchen's bedroom, sitting around as if preparing for a full sect meeting.
Chu Xingchen placed one of the Blood Qi Spirit Stones from his spatial ring onto the table.
"All the spirit stones from that mining site ended up tainted like this."
Li Xingtian frowned. He remembered the stones used for teleportation in that mine—they were the same kind. He had thought there were only a few, and that his master was simply taking them for temporary use.
"What's wrong with it?" Li Yingling picked up the Blood Qi Spirit Stone and examined it from different angles. "It doesn't look like there's a problem to me."
She was, after all, a complete novice in cultivation. Having barely practiced for long, her knowledge of the path mostly came from storybooks.
To her, the stone had merely changed color. She could still sense plenty of spiritual energy within it, so it didn't seem dangerous.
At worst, she thought, it was just an ugly stone.
Chu Xingchen gave a vivid example. "Let's say you take that thing out right in front of the Demon Suppression Bureau. If you manage to crawl out alive afterward, that'll mean every officer there's been eating soft rice for years."
Li Yingling instantly understood.
"So, Master, we came to Yuzhou City this time just to deal with the spirit stone issue?"
"Exactly. I've already asked someone for help with it," Chu Xingchen said, nodding lightly.
"For now, the two of you should stay here and focus on your cultivation. Once the matter with the spirit stones is settled, we'll find another place to move on to."
Li Xingtian nodded, showing he understood.
Li Yingling, however, had something else in mind. She pouted slightly and looked at her master with hopeful eyes.
"Master, the Yuzhou Lantern Festival is coming soon… I've never been to one in my life."
She had been born into a noble household, yet as an unloved concubine's daughter, she rarely left the estate.
Her mother had been ill for years, and Li Yingling had spent most of her time by her bedside. The chance to step beyond the walls of her home had been almost nonexistent.
Back then, during every festival, she would stand by the courtyard wall, listening to the laughter outside, longing to see the dragon dances and shimmering lanterns.
"Alright," Chu Xingchen said after a pause. "When the festival comes, we'll all go out and enjoy a day together."
He agreed without hesitation. He understood her situation well—her childhood had been far from pleasant, and granting her one day of joy was no great trouble.
Besides, Li Yingling wasn't foolish; she rarely caused problems and was often rather considerate.
"Thank you, Master!" Li Yingling beamed, her smile bright as spring sunlight. "Master is the best in the world!"
Having earned the prestigious title of "Best Master Under Heaven," Chu Xingchen allowed himself a small smile.
With that, the sect meeting drew to a close.
The Blood Qi Spirit Stones, however, were deemed unsuitable for Li Yingling's cultivation. The baleful blood energy within them could easily disturb a cultivator's spiritual balance.
For those with strong mental fortitude, it might not matter—but Li Yingling certainly didn't fall into that category.
So Li Yingling was assigned to practice her spiritual techniques extensively, striving to reach the next level.
Li Xingtian, however, could rely on training with the Blood Qi Spirit Stones, since the cultivation method he practiced now seemed somewhat unorthodox.
At the very least, it literally allowed him to absorb others' blood qi—hard to imagine that it had nothing to do with demonic cultivation.
Li Xingtian did not press questions about the cultivation method, and Chu Xingchen naturally did not volunteer an explanation.
The system-granted technique was something Chu Xingchen could not explain anyway.
In any case, as long as it refined properly, the system's heart-methods were supposed to be free of side effects; it ought not to turn one into a great demon.
Although the method might lean toward the unorthodox in practice, its essence should not be too… demonic.
Because Li Xingtian had absorbed the blood qi of a Mysterious Dan cultivator, his cultivation had already risen to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, catching up with his senior sister.
Given the waiting period in Yuzhou City, and that Li Xingtian could train using Blood Qi Spirit Stones, it seemed only a matter of time before he surpassed her.
And Chu Xingchen? Naturally, he would—openly and properly—slack off.
After all, his senior disciple's talent meant her gains were effectively his too, while his junior disciple's diligent cultivation translated into benefits for him as well.
Through the system's rewards, one spirit stone could effectively count as two; if he used spirit stones himself for cultivation, it would be pure extravagance.
So he set up a shielding formation for Li Xingtian's room to ensure no spirit fluctuations would attract attention, finished everything he could do, and left the disciples to their training.
He no longer had to cook to satisfy their appetites; now that they were in Yuzhou City, he could simply eat out whenever he pleased.
He lacked usable spirit stones, but he still had a fair amount of silver and gold.
As an immortal he was desperately poor; as a mortal he was extravagantly wealthy—such was the true picture of Chu Xingchen.
A few days later, with nothing pressing, Chu Xingchen decided to undertake a personal tempering of temperament—fishing.
Fishing was forbidden inside Yuzhou City, so to catch fish one had to travel outside the walls.
Not far from the city, beside a large river, Chu Xingchen slumped in a chair, leisurely holding a fishing rod and angling for fish.
From time to time a finer stream of spiritual energy flowed into his body—feedback from Li Xingtian's cultivation.
It had become fully automated cultivation.
Relying on that feedback, Chu Xingchen could even tell how diligently Li Xingtian was slacking today; it counted as remote monitoring.
To be able to remotely catch a slacking disciple was amusing, though both pupils remained fairly industrious.
Most notably, Li Xingtian had poured nearly all his time into cultivation.
Chu Xingchen frequently received reward feedback from the system.
"Ah… another fruitless day."
When the sun dipped westward, Chu Xingchen prepared to reel in his line and return; these days he had not caught a single fish.
In his previous life he rarely fished, and in this world he had been too busy recruiting a disciple to spare time for fishing.
But an empty-handed return was out of the question.
He could not go home and let his disciples laugh at him for drawing blanks.
Just as he was about to gather his gear and give those uncooperative fish a lesson from a Golden Core master, the rod suddenly grew heavy.
Chu Xingchen's eyes lit up and he yanked the rod upward with force.
At last he had hooked something by fishing!
As the rod lifted from the water, a gigantic shape leapt from the surface.
Chu Xingchen glanced at the enormous catch—and then frowned sharply as he looked again.
Damn! It wasn't a fish at all! It was a huge corpse!
This had to be Li Yingling's fault; that wooden fish must be a cursed object!
Nonsense about a monk's merit—whose merit results in catching corpses instead of fish?
Once home, he would make Li Yingling burn that damned wooden fish.
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