[Cave Mansion lv2]
[Spirit Effect: +10% spiritual qi concentration during the day, +30% at night, basic Silence Barrier]
[Upgrade requirements: Low-grade Spirit Stones ×50, Clear Spirit Jade ×6 pieces, River-Calming Sand ×10 jin]
No matter day or night, the spiritual qi concentration increased by 10%.
At first glance it doesn't seem much different, but over time, it makes a big difference.
Cultivation is all about slow, steady effort—gaining a bit more progress each day than others leads to impressive results in the long run.
In addition, there's now a Silence Barrier.
This barrier stuff, Ji Yuan figured, is pretty much the same as an array.
The Dust Avoidance Barrier of level 1 [Cave Mansion] is just a simple Dust Avoidance Array.
If he had that level 2 Silence Barrier, no matter how much noise he made in the cave mansion, outsiders wouldn't hear a thing.
That's always safer.
Just a pity no defensive-type barrier came up; he could only hope for it in future cave mansion upgrades.
The upgrade requirements—fifty spirit stones didn't surprise Ji Yuan. It was the Clear Spirit Jade and River-Calming Sand that he'd never heard of, not sure what they were worth. He'd have to ask at Hundred Treasures Tower when the time came.
After upgrading his cave, Ji Yuan felt the air inside his home become much fresher.
Looking around, everything was clean and spotless.
The dull, stagnant atmosphere in the house lifted, turning bright and airy.
'Now this is what it should look like for a cultivator.'
After a short moment of appreciation, Ji Yuan dug out a basin of slightly qi-infused rice from his storeroom... needed to go feed the chickens, and after that, feed the pigs.
Yeah, the cultivator vibe only lasted less than half a stick of incense.
Once his chores were done, Ji Yuan continued studying "Artifact Manipulation Technique" at home. No matter what, he had to be able to control magical artifacts freely.
Otherwise, he'd have all these magical items but couldn't use them properly.
Unconsciously, Ji Yuan's own cultivation kept improving bit by bit.
...
That afternoon.
While cultivating in his courtyard, Ji Yuan suddenly heard the sound of a door opening in the yard to his right—that was... Old Man Huang's house.
Damn, the old bastard's not dead?!
He killed the original host's father; for better or worse, Ji Yuan couldn't just ignore it. Instantly, he stepped out of his courtyard.
His heart thought already hooked onto the Death Needle in his storage bag.
But when he reached the door, he saw outside Old Man Huang's yard stood two middle-aged men in Water Dragon Sect attire.
As soon as Ji Yuan came out, the pair looked over at him.
"Greetings to you both, sirs."
Ji Yuan hurriedly gave them a cupped-fist salute.
They only grunted in reply, not saying anything else. Ji Yuan turned to look at Old Man Huang's yard again, finding two more Water Dragon Sect cultivators inside.
"May I ask, sirs, this is...?"
Ji Yuan couldn't help but ask.
"The fisherman who lived here has died. We are here to reclaim the immortal residence. Are you his relative?" One of the Water Dragon Sect cultivators, wielding a magic sword, turned to ask him.
So, Old Man Huang really was dead... Ji Yuan slowly shook his head.
"No, I'm just his neighbor."
The sword-wielder turned away, ignoring him.
The Lin family's gate opened as well, and Wu Qin, still pale, came out, holding the door frame. "Ji... Brother Ji."
At some point, she'd started calling Ji Yuan "Brother Ji" like Lin Hu did.
But from the look she occasionally gave Ji Yuan, she must still have some vague, hard-to-name feelings about him.
"Mm, where's Lin Hu?"
Ji Yuan looked at injured Wu Qin. If he had a Hundred Herbs Pill, she should've recovered long ago.
Besides, if an injury like this didn't heal early, the longer it dragged out, the more likely it'd leave hidden wounds.
But a single Hundred Herbs Pill cost at least five Spirit Stones. Now, with Lin Youwei and his wife dead, the burden fell on Lin Hu alone, who was only Qi Cultivation level 2.
That made Ji Yuan think of the previous host; the immortal residence fee was getting hard to pay, let alone buying a Hundred Herbs Pill.
"He... he went out on the boat."
Wu Qin glanced at Cloud Rain Marsh, her gaze wistful.
The Water Dragon Sect cultivators finished sealing Old Man Huang's house, then each mounted their flying magical artifacts and left.
Once they'd gone, Wu Qin finally dared to speak up: "Brother Ji, is Old Man Huang really dead?"
"Yeah, the Water Dragon Sect folks said so."
"Good riddance!"
Wu Qin's voice inevitably carried a hint of delight; her fingers gripping the door frame turned slightly white.
Now that Water Dragon Sect had confirmed Old Man Huang's death, it wouldn't be long before the house was rented to someone else.
Ji Yuan had no idea what sort of new neighbor he'd get next.
But to rent a house on this riverside, the highest you'd get was a Qi Cultivation level 4. Anyone stronger had already moved inside Zengtou City.
As long as it's not a level 5, Ji Yuan wasn't too worried right now.
By evening, Ji Yuan even heard Lin Hu next door laughing and shouting "heavens have eyes" over and over.
Guess he'd just come back from fishing and heard the news of Old Man Huang's death from Wu Qin.
...
Ji Yuan originally thought his new neighbor would take at least three or four days to show up, but unexpectedly, the very next day, the new neighbor knocked on his gate.
The visitor was a middle-aged man in a shabby white robe, Qi Cultivation level 3, lived alone, with sunken, dark eyes—really looked the part of a cultivator.
"Hehe, my name's Deng Yunliang. Used to be a loose cultivator in Yu Kingdom. I've managed to come to Water Dragon Sect's Zengtou City. Daoist friend, I hope you'll look after me from now on."
Ji Yuan returned the bow, introducing himself in turn—neither warm nor cold.
Deng Yunliang offered a small box of mung bean cake as a meet-and-greet gift, just something he bought in Zengtou City, nothing special and didn't cost a spirit stone. Ji Yuan accepted it.
"I'm new around here, still need to visit the neighbors. Daoist Ji, let's chat next time."
"Alright."
"Mhm, since we're neighbors, we'll need to interact more in the future."
Deng Yunliang made another cupped-fist salute, laughed, and left; soon Lin Hu's lively voice could be heard next door.
Compared to Ji Yuan, Lin Hu was much more outgoing.
Made sense: Ji Yuan kept to himself most days, rarely socializing. Now that there was finally a new neighbor, Lin Hu was naturally more hospitable.
Ji Yuan didn't eat Deng Yunliang's mung bean cake, he fed it all to the Spirit Pigs.
The Spirit Pig eats the cake, and then Ji Yuan eats the pig—can't really call it a waste.
Over the next few days, Ji Yuan relied on the level 1 [Cave Mansion] effect—resting by day, cultivating at night.
Luckily, while his spirit root was weak, his talent in techniques seemed pretty decent.
Within a few days, he fully mastered the Artifact Manipulation Technique. Manipulating magical artifacts became as easy as moving his own arm.
Especially the Death Needle—launched from his sleeve, hidden with Water Drop Finger, it could probably hit its target every time.
The Black Gold Saber could be used as a feint.
Even though Ji Yuan hadn't gone out these days, he still heard Lin Hu and Deng Yunliang interacting frequently, dropping by each other's homes from time to time.
But after these few days, on a stroll near his gate, Ji Yuan heard Wu Qin quietly sounding him out.
She said the new neighbor didn't go out boating or fishing—just ran into Zengtou City all day, most of the time seemed to sleep by day and go out at night. Nobody knew what kind of business he was doing.
Ji Yuan really didn't know, and didn't care to find out.
After days of raising fish, he finally hit the jackpot one midnight... two and a half Spirit Fish upgraded at once.
Not only that, the rest of the half-Spirit Fish were just about ready for harvest, too.