Chapter 50 Jinjiang First Release: Discovery of the Base

Good heavens, these words have stirred up a hornet's nest. Liu Yuan immediately glared at him: "How can that be the same? Those with good conditions usually wait until very late to get married. It's not uncommon for them to get married at twenty-five. My young master is still young!"

Yao Sisi laughed and said, "I was just kidding. People shouldn't be bothered by marriage. Like me... I never planned to get married before. Let alone twenty-five, I might not even be interested in it at thirty-five."

Qi Mu smiled and didn't care much: "After reading the travelogue that Miss Sisi gave me, I have seen a wider world. I no longer care about the past. Those seniors are still young at the age of 100 and do not have a Daoist partner. I should learn from them."

Yao Sisi nodded, unsure if he had truly come to terms with it, but that didn't stop her from encouraging him: "You're right, it's best if you can come to terms with it. We are cultivators, how can the affairs of immortals be the same as those of mortals, right?"

Qi Mu: "Yes, lifespan increases with cultivation level, and there are many things one can do."

Yao Sisi: "Haha, I was just joking. Even immortals have their flaws compared to mortals. Otherwise, why would they need to undergo trials in the mortal world? Just consider your previous experiences as a trial of your heart."

Qi Mu: "Is Miss Sisi trying to comfort me?"

Yao Sisi: "No, I'm just telling the truth!"

Qi Mu had other thoughts, but he was very careful not to let them show: "By the way, Sisi, do you have any miscellaneous books for me to read? It's inevitable to get bored while flying up there, and I want to read some books to learn more."

Yao Sisi's bookshelf was full of books of all kinds. Seeing that he was interested, she asked, "What are your preferences?"

Qi Mu crossed his hands together, his index finger twitching slightly, as if he were hiding his thoughts. "Herbal medicine, exotic beasts, or notes on spiritual roots, etc., are all fine."

Yao Sisi: "Then I'll look it up for you and give it to you tomorrow."

Flying in the air can be tedious, especially since you often encounter unstable air currents. The clouds fluctuate from time to time, making it unsuitable for doing delicate things. Even meditation requires choosing the right time.

Yao Sisi rummaged through the bookshelf and found several books on herbal medicine, as well as other miscellaneous notes and so on. She put these books in a bag and handed them to Qi Mu.

She picked up a few books herself and started flipping through them. Seeing how enthusiastically they were reading, and Ri Jiu also clamoring to read, like a little kid who was curious about everything others had, Yao Sisi found a few more books for him. Since everyone was reading, it wouldn't be good to isolate Liu Yuan, so she gave him a few books to read as well.

The atmosphere of reading suddenly became much stronger on the entire aircraft. Yao Sisi said, "Let's go for a few days first, then we'll go down and stretch our muscles."

Qi Mu, sitting in a corner of Lingyun, was looking through books. His goal was quite clear, and he read through the books very quickly, focusing on those related to spiritual herbs or spiritual roots.

As he continued reading, one book after another, he actually found the problem with his spiritual root.

The source of spiritual roots comes from the Five Elements, but there are exceptions. His situation was an unexpected one. His spiritual root was disturbed by the outside world when it was still in the embryonic stage, and it grew into a dark spiritual root. Dark spiritual roots are very easy to become demonic and will devour other spiritual roots. Most importantly, there are almost no cultivation methods in the world suitable for dark spiritual roots.

He's just laying the foundation for now. Once he's established the foundation, he'll definitely need cultivation techniques. What will he do then? Will he just let it devour other spiritual roots?

"Dark Spiritual Roots..."

The word "dark" itself sounds ominous, like a source of depravity. He tightened his grip on the book, his brow furrowing slightly. He hated darkness!

On the other side, Yao Sisi put away the books in her hands, counted the food in her storage bag, and said to everyone, "For the past month or so, we have been eating almost all the dry rations we brought before. I estimate that the remaining food can last for at most half a year. We can't just sit around and do nothing. We need to go out hunting occasionally to prepare some other food to supplement our diet."

Having endured a period of hardship, Ri Jiu agreed with her statement: "The Mystic Beast Forest is such a great training ground. The mystic beasts roaming everywhere have turned our time into a picnic."

Yao Sisi pulled out a small booklet from her storage bag. The paper looked brand new. "Ahem, it's inconvenient to draw talismans on Lingyun, so when I was bored, I wrote down a lot of mystical beasts that are suitable to be caught and eaten. They all have delicious meat, which is especially suitable for our current cultivation level. We need to eat well to have the strength to cultivate..."

Qi Mu: "Miss Sisi, can I take a look?"

Yao Sisi would never refuse. She was counting on Qi Mulu's skills. After all, she and Ri Jiu had no talent for cooking. Even so, Ri Jiu was better than her; at least Ri Jiu could cook a few signature dishes. She... couldn't cook anything...

"Ahem, to make cooking easier, I also made a pot out of the leftover scraps from weapon forging. This pot... is not simple... it's multifunctional..."

Everyone: "???"

This was premeditated; they even finished making the pot.

Ri Jiu watched with curiosity, "Sisi, what other fun things are you secretly making?"

"I didn't refine too many things. Originally, I planned for this pot to become self-reliant and learn the skills a mature pot should have, such as cooking food on its own. But that's a bit difficult, and I can't do it yet. Oh, right, to make it easier to deal with mystical beasts and save me from plucking their fur, I invented a skinning and deboning knife. After injecting energy, it will automatically skin and debon them, which is very convenient."

Himu, who was standing to the side, stiffened, and even tucked his large tail, which was hidden under his clothes, between his legs. "That sounds a bit scary."

Yao Sisi, thinking of his long fur, quickly explained, "It works on dead mythical beasts. Does that make you feel any better?"

Ri Jiu: "..."

No……

Still terrifying!

Qi Mu, standing to the side, sarcastically remarked, "You're so innocent and pure; you wouldn't understand the meaning of your words without careful thought. At least Yao Sisi didn't catch on. He said, 'I've always seen you so calm and collected when you're fighting and killing, but I never thought you'd be afraid of a boning knife.'"

Ri Jiu: "..."

Although he couldn't refute it, he knew there were several layers of meaning in what the man said. He subtly felt that this person couldn't possibly be praising him; he must be mocking him for being timid, pretentious, and putting on airs in front of Sisi.

He gave a heavy "humph".

The group flew on the clouds. After a while, they suddenly felt that the concentration of Xuan Qi had changed. They stood up and looked outside at the same time. Yao Sisi said, "How come the concentration of Xuan Qi has suddenly changed so much? It's two or three times higher than before!"

Ri Jiu also showed a look of surprise: "This concentration of Xuan Qi should be enough to cultivate a Xuan Beast of the fifth rank or higher. Our journey will be much more dangerous than before..."

Qi Mu listened to his words without saying a word, and stood alone on the edge of Lingyun, looking into the distance.

Yao Sisi: "I don't know if it's just this small area we're in that has a high density of Xuan Qi due to other reasons, or if it's the same for the rest of the journey."

Qi Mu suggested, "Why don't we lower Lingyun a bit and survey this area?"

Yao Sisi nodded: "Let's look down a little first."

Fearing they might collide with flocks of mystical beasts if they flew too low, they flew very high in the clouds. After descending considerably, they discovered a river below. Mystical beasts usually congregate near rivers, but in this case, most of them were low-ranking beasts. High-ranking gregarious beasts were rare and preferred to stay upstream.

Yao Sisi was unaware of the specific situation here, so she lowered Lingyun to the vicinity of the downstream. As a result, she actually saw a gathering place for human activities, which looked like a small village with temporary settlements.

"There are people there? Could it be a place where those people who have been training in the field for years temporarily set up a trading post?"

After all, ordinary people couldn't possibly survive in this place.

Qi Mu and the others looked in the direction she pointed. "It is indeed a place set up by our seniors, but I wonder if there are any shady shops there."

Yao Sisi stroked her chin: "There might really be some. After all, it's normal for there to be some monsters and ghosts in a small, desolate place. If we go there without knowing the situation, we might get tricked."

Most importantly, their cultivation level is not high, while those who yearn for this concentration of profound energy must have a cultivation level of around Foundation Establishment to dare to cross such a distant Mystic Beast Forest to come here.

Rijiu: "Aren't we lacking materials for our flying artifact? Maybe we can buy them here."

Yao Sisi: "If only we could draw a teleportation talisman now, we wouldn't be afraid to go down."

Ri Jiu: "Among us, my cultivation level is currently the highest. I can go down and scout ahead first."

Yao Sisi: "No rush. We've been flying up there for a long time, it's time to come down and stretch our legs. Let's find a safe place to camp first, and then slowly scout out the situation."

They chose to camp a few dozen kilometers away from the trading point. Since Lingyun was leading the way, it would only take half an hour to get there without wasting any time. Everyone skillfully set up tents and arranged magic arrays, got a good night's sleep, and then spent a few more days training outside. They also took advantage of the high concentration of Xuan Qi here to cultivate steadily for some time.

Taking advantage of their time alone, Yao Sisi slipped into the space. She sensed the change in spiritual energy within, which was even more concentrated than outside: "Spirit, the spiritual energy in this space is much higher than before. Did you absorb and convert the nearby Xuan Qi?"

The spirit said, "Hmm, after I sensed the change in the external Xuan Qi, I started to absorb it vigorously. Although the concentration of Xuan Qi is not high, it is still much better than the previous place."

Yao Sisi: "I was wondering why the spiritual energy was so different once we entered the space. It seems that even a small mosquito is still meat. In the past, you would only reluctantly absorb external spiritual energy to convert if I needed to break through. Otherwise, you would not absorb it at all."

The spirit replied listlessly, "The previous amount was really too little; it wasn't even enough to cover the effort required to absorb it all..."

Yao Sisi nodded and walked around the space. She found that the land, which had been wet and muddy, had dried up quite a bit, and the cracks in the dried-up riverbed, which had looked like spider webs, had closed up.

It seems the spring water really nourishes it.

She still had a companion spring in her storage pouch. Why didn't the spirit react at all, or even ask about it?

Could it be that it doesn't know?

Yao Sisi: "When I cut off contact with you, didn't you see what I did?"

The spirit said, "I have a very vague sense of it, but I can't see what my master is doing!"

Yao Sisi: "..."

Oh, I see.

Although the spirit said so, she believed it for the time being, but she didn't completely believe it; she believed herself more.

Yao Sisi didn't rush to leave the space. Instead, she activated a time array that lasted for a month, cultivated inside for half a month, drew talismans for another half month, and even deliberately set aside a day to refine a fishing net.

When she emerged from the space, her cultivation level was much more solid than before.

Yao Sisi arrived at Ri Jiu's tent with a fishing net. She saw him playing with his tail inside in his original form and couldn't help but curl the corner of her mouth, saying, "Aren't you afraid of being seen by others when you transform into this form?"

The little fox spoke in human language: "They've all gone out, what am I afraid of? Besides, I set up an array outside my tent. They only withdrew when they saw it was you, so the others can't see me."

As it said this, it jumped into Yao Sisi's arms and snuggled against her affectionately. "I noticed that you don't like playing with me anymore after they came. You only care about staring at that Qi Mu all day long, hmph!"

Yao Sisi lifted it from her arms by the neck, saying, "How old are you? Why are you still so clingy?"

Ri Jiu blinked: "See? They've become impatient with me since outsiders came, and they even complained that I'm clingy..."

Yao Sisi was speechless: "You're talking nonsense. I never liked you being clingy before either."

Rijiu flicked her big tail. "Hey, I haven't transformed into my original form for so long, and you're pushing me away."

Yao Sisi had no choice but to make an excuse: "It's too hot, and you're still pressing all your hair against me. Are you trying to kill me with heat?"

Ri Jiu's eyes darted around mischievously as she said, "When I was in human form, I didn't have any hair, would you still hug me?"

Yao Sisi: "..."

She shouldn't have come...

"Let's get down to business first. I brought you some talismans. Although I haven't figured out how to make a teleportation talisman, I've managed to create a low-end version that can instantly teleport you ten meters. It's a pretty good movement skill. It will be much safer if you go to explore that place."

Ri Jiu: "So, Sisi has been researching this in the tent these past few days?"

Yao Sisi: "Yeah, I also made a fishing net. We're not far from the river, so we can catch a few spirit fish to try. Speaking of which, it's a real pity that the pot can't cook fish itself, otherwise it would be so much more convenient for us."

Ri Jiu smiled and said, "Sisi, your idea is too interesting. You actually want the iron pot to stew the fish by itself."

Yao Sisi: "Huh? That's to save effort, otherwise, who among us knows how to cook fish? We can't rely on others for the rest of our lives, can we? Besides, mine is multifunctional. It's not just an iron pot; it can also transform into a second form—a clay pot!"

Rijiu didn't care about the pot; he only cared whether the two of them were going fishing alone and whether they would bring those two guys along.

He was cunning; he didn't ask about the two people, but urged, "Let's go now, I'm going to eat soon."

Yao Sisi: "Are we just going to leave like this? What about them?"

Rijiu: "They're out there, and besides, we'll need their help to cook the fish, so let's not bother them with catching the fish."

Yao Sisi thought for a moment and said, "You're right. We can't let others do everything and just take what's readily available. That's not a good idea."

The little fox's plan succeeded, and it stomped its feet happily, "Let's go!"

Yao Sisi thought it was just happy to play in the water and didn't think much of it. "Let's go, I'll leave them another note and hang it in the formation."

For convenience, the little fox didn't transform into human form but followed Yao Sisi in its original form. It was happily playing alone with Yao Sisi when it unexpectedly encountered Qi Mu and the others by the river.

Little fox: "..."

I'm so annoyed!

When Qi Mu saw Yao Sisi arrive, followed by a little fox, he smiled gently. However, he was unaware that he had made a mess of catching fish, with a speck of mud on his cheek. He had touched it carelessly and smeared half of his face with mud, making him look particularly amusing, a stark contrast to his usual meticulous self.

"What brings Miss Sisi here?"

Yao Sisi glanced at him, then casually glanced at Rijiu, concealing its identity, "I wanted to come and fish some fish to take back and try. What about you?"

Qi Mu: "What a coincidence! I was just thinking about the food booklet that Miss Sisi showed me before, so I thought I'd bring back a few fish, but they're too cunning, and I haven't caught any yet..."

Yao Sisi: "These wild fish often encounter danger, and they are all very good at escaping. But it doesn't matter, I made a fishing net, and we will definitely have an extra meal tonight."

Ri Jiu pretends to be an innocent fox, saying and doing nothing, but in her heart she has already rolled her eyes countless times.

Qi Mu glanced at her side and asked, "Where did Miss Sisi get this little spirit fox? It's so cute and innocent-looking. Is it for our evening snack?"

Ri Jiu took a step back, then, as if she understood, bared her teeth at him. If it weren't for Si Si being there, she would have loved to fly up to his face and tear him to pieces.

Yao Sisi couldn't help but laugh. Looking at Ri Jiu's silly appearance, she laughed even more heartily. "It's just a little fox that I met by chance. I just saw it getting tangled in vines. After I untied it, it followed me all the way."

Qi Mu looked at it carefully, especially its defensive posture, as if it were some kind of villain. It was so interesting: "It's so cute and intelligent. It even bared its teeth and acted fierce when it knew I was going to eat it. It's so adorable."

Ri Jiu: "..."

He said I'm cute? He's so annoying! You're the cute one, your whole family is cute.

It should be full of vigor and vitality!

That nasty thing actually slandered its original, carefree and unrestrained self!

Qi Mu continued, "If it weren't for its terrible temper, I would have liked to pat its little head."

Rijiu took a step back, his fox tail almost standing on end. He couldn't help but imagine the scene in his mind, and he almost threw up his dinner from the night before.

This is absolutely intolerable!

And he actually said I have a bad temper? Good grief, he's talking bad about me right in front of Sisi.

Yao Sisi joked, "You just scared it by saying you'd give it extra food, it would be strange if it was in a good mood."

Upon hearing this, Rijiu nodded in satisfaction, still thinking of me.

Qi Mu jokingly added, "Haha, the little guy is quite vengeful."

As Yao Sisi walked towards the river, she chatted with him, saying, "I saw you holding a little animal before. I haven't seen it in a long time. Did you put it in some kind of container?"

Qi Mu nodded in agreement: "Years ago, I obtained a spirit beast ring by chance, and it usually cultivates inside it."

Yao Sisi: "If I want to refine a spirit beast ring, I need to be at least in the late Foundation Establishment stage or the Golden Core stage to sustain it. However, it is much more difficult than a storage bag since it needs to store living beings rather than inanimate objects. When I have the opportunity, I can try to refine a spirit beast bag."

Qi Mu: "Does Miss Sisi want to keep this little fox as a pet?"

Yao Sisi didn't directly say she wouldn't raise it, because there was no guarantee that Ri Jiu would meet him again in his fox form in the future. But she didn't want to keep lying, so she just said, "It's not certain, we'll see!"

But Rijiu took these words to heart. The little fox was unhappy and wanted to throw a tantrum, thinking to herself: Why didn't Sisi say she wanted to take care of me?

When they reached the riverbank, Yao Sisi cast the fishing net onto the water and watched it slowly sink. When a fish took the bait, Yao Sisi could sense the movement of the net, and soon they caught several fish.

Qi Mu said happily, "We caught a Luoshan fish in the net. We're in for a treat tonight."

The Luoshan fish was mentioned in Yao Sisi's booklet. It was delicious and a second-tier fish, weighing over ten kilograms. This one fish was enough for the group of them to eat, and the other fish were just accompaniments.

Yao Sisi and the others returned laden with their spoils, while Ri Jiu, disguised as a fox, ran far away.

Yao Sisi watched the direction it had gone, a worried look on her face. She feared he might be planning to scout out that place before dinner…

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Author's note: I can already imagine the hilarious scene of Qi Mu and Ri Jiu bickering and bringing up old grudges after Ri Jiu's identity is revealed, hahaha!