"The thunder rumbled all night again, but not a drop of rain fell."
Jiang Yi stood in the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back. The cold wind carried a biting frost that pierced straight to his lungs, invigorating him.
’The weather these past few days has been truly bizarre.’
Eight or nine days had passed in a flash since he’d descended from the Qianji Sect to arrive at Sanhe District.
During this ti, Jiang Yi’s life had fallen into a regular rhythm.
Each day, he would ditate and perform his breathing exercises in his room at the Dai Pavilion, supplenting his training by nourishing his body with Spirit Rice.
In his leisure ti, he would stroll through the Marketplace, buying various exquisite trinkets that he supposed could serve as New Year’s gifts for everyone back at the Big Mixed Courtyard.
This leisurely pace nearly gave him the illusion that he had slipped back into his past life.
No longer just a worthless weed in the Demon Dao, a re Mortal Servant of the Dharma Lineage.
’No work to report to, just idle days. The more comfortable the tis, the faster they fly by.’
Jiang Yi ambled along, his thoughts drifting. He roughly estimated that his current Cultivation progress was around fifty-six or fifty-seven percent of the way to the next layer.
’I wonder what changes will happen in my Cultivation once I step into the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer and can use my Primordial Inner Mansion to gather and refine Spiritual Energy.’
He was finally starting to understand why the Immortal-Demon Great Powers in storybooks would go into seclusion for entire sixty-year cycles at a ti.
In the end, so-called arduous cultivation was just this: accumulating Cultivation day after day.
In a way, it was quite similar to the Outer Sect’s Mortal Servants toiling away to earn talisman-coins.
Seeing that the matter of his fated apprenticeship would be decided after today, the string that had been pulled taut in Jiang Yi’s heart for days finally loosened a bit. He decided to go out for so fresh air.
Coincidentally, He the Venerable had ntioned during a chat a couple of days ago that there was a rather famous gambling garden in Sanhe District that was worth a visit.
’Nothing to do today. Ti to hit the pleasure district and listen to so music!’
...
...
"Brother Yi, this is the place."
Before long, an extraordinarily grand garden crashed into Jiang Yi’s view.
Its five-bay-wide, vermilion-lacquered main gate was magnificent, and above the lintel hung a black, gold-gilded plaque. The characters on it, written in so unknown ink, seed to writhe with a life of their own, the strokes dancing like flying dragons and soaring phoenixes.
"Zhizhen Garden."
Jiang Yi read softly.
"This garden is a ti-honored establishnt."
He the Venerable truly lived up to his reputation as a veteran who had spent years rolling around in the dens of Lower Cultivators. When it ca to old stories like this, he was a font of endless knowledge.
"They say that two hundred years ago, a cultivator from the Sanhe District reached the Qi Cultivation Twelve-Story Floors, eventually condensed Gang Sha, and achieved Foundation Establishnt."
"This Foundation Establishnt Upper Cultivator, nicknad ’True Master Sanhe Corpse Lying,’ had once received a life-saving kindness from a noodle shop owner."
"Later, he captured the Five Ghosts to serve him and used a magic spell to whip mountains and drive stones, building this garden for that family in less than half a day."
Jiang Yi’s heart stirred as he listened. A Foundation Establishnt True Master could actually erge from a quagmire like Sanhe District?
It was as unbelievable as a fairy tale!
"Two hundred years! In many places over on Beimang Ridge, two hundred years is enough ti for dynasties to rise and fall several tis over, but this garden is still standing strong."
"The word of a Foundation Establishnt True Master, now that’s a true pillar of support—a golden beam that can cross the seas, a white jade pillar that holds up the heavens! That’s what I call solid!"
Jiang Yi deeply agreed.
A favor from a Foundation Establishnt True Master was still potent even after two hundred years of wind and rain.
It truly lived up to the description ’an imnse show of face.’
"Let’s go. We’ll go inside and take a look."
As he spoke, Jiang Yi paid three hundred talisman-coins for each of them, receiving two Passage Tokens in return. He casually handed one to He the Venerable, and they stepped through the garden gate side by side.
The garden was quite lively inside, bustling with people coming and going.
Jiang Yi walked about a hundred paces deeper inside and saw a spring-fed pond. A crowd of visitors was gathered around its edge, though he couldn’t see what they were doing.
He the Venerable seed worldly and knowledgeable, but it was actually his first ti inside as well. The two of them went over together to get a closer look.
As they drew near and saw it, they imdiately understood.
The pond looked as if it had been hollowed out from a single, massive piece of naturally ford Cyan Jade. It was filled with clear, cold water, and a few water lilies floated on the surface. Beneath them, a hundred or so Copper Fish swam about.
"So this is the ’Gambling Pool’ they were talking about! I heard that visitors who co here feed them Spiritual Bait. After the Copper Fish eat it, so of them will spit out items from their bellies as a reward—a little prize."
"That’s why it’s called the ’Gambling Pool.’"
No matter where He the Venerable went, he seed to blend in and get the lay of the land in no ti.
’So you buy Spiritual Bait, feed the Copper Fish, and try your luck for a prize.’
His interest piqued, Jiang Yi spent eighty talisman-coins to buy two bags of Spiritual Bait. There wasn’t much—only a dozen or so pellets in total.
Eager for a "prize," He the Venerable circled the pond several tis, searching for the best spot.
He tossed out bait several tis in a row, causing the Copper Fish to swarm and fight for it, kicking up a splash.
Unfortunately, he ca up empty-handed. Although a few Copper Fish leaped from the water and spat sothing out...
...when He the Venerable caught the items and looked, he found they only bore the four small words: "Thanks for your custom."
"Aiyah! Missed the prize!"
He the Venerable stomped his feet and beat his chest as if he’d lost a grand prize. To make matters worse, soone next to him won a Fourth Class prize.
"Hey! I won! I won!"
The man danced with joy and imdiately went to redeem it for five hundred talisman-coins.
This made He the Venerable feel even worse.
"Brother Yi, you should try your luck too!"
Jiang Yi treated it as just a bit of light entertainnt. He casually picked up a few Bait Pills and sprinkled them into the pond without a second thought.
If he had his Celestial Book, he could have begged it for an answer, but for now, he could only rely on his whim.
SPLASH! The Bait Pills hit the water, instantly attracting a swarm of Copper Fish that fought for the food. The clockwork creations were so lifelike they were indistinguishable from real fish.
’I wonder how they’re made.’
Jiang Yi tossed his last few Bait Pills. Suddenly, a slightly larger Copper Fish leaped out, opened its mouth, and shot out a streak of cyan light.
He the Venerable was overjoyed.
"Hey! Brother Yi, you won too!"
Jiang Yi caught it easily. It was a thumb-sized piece of warm, lustrous Cyan Jade.
"Congratulations, guest."
An attendant had already hurried over.
"This is a second-class prize. It can be exchanged for one Yuan Containing Pill!"
Jiang Yi froze. He could exchange it for a Yuan Containing Pill, the very elixir that even Senior Brother Xu from the Inner Peak was eagerly hoping to get a taste of?
Zhizhen Garden was truly generous!
"What’s a Yuan Containing Pill? It must be expensive!"
He the Venerable looked even happier than if he’d won himself, even though he had no idea what a second-class prize was.
「Not long after.」
The attendant returned carrying a Wooden Plate, upon which sat a perfectly round, translucent green Yuan Containing Pill.
"All elixirs from Zhizhen Garden are purchased from the Celestial Communication District of the Zhao You Sect. You need not worry, guest."
The attendant knew that cultivators from Demon Dao Dharma Lineages would never carelessly consu an elixir that had no known origin, no reputable na, and no guarantee, so he made sure to explain.
"Our Zhizhen Garden has been established for two hundred years. We would never ruin our own reputation."
Jiang Yi nodded slightly, his expression calm. He hadn’t been worried about this in the first place; after all, he could just beg the Celestial Book for confirmation.
"A second-class prize! One hasn’t been won in half a month!"
"A single Yuan Containing Pill must be worth tens of thousands of talisman-coins, right?"
"You’re clueless! If you could buy them for tens of thousands of talisman-coins, buy twenty. I’ll eat them like candy!"
"Tsk! A single one costs this much," the person said, making a gesture, "and they’re not always for sale. Every Dharma Lineage is hoarding them..."
Jiang Yi winning the second-class prize had sparked a lively discussion among the crowd.
Even he himself was quite surprised. He had never expected to get his hands on a Yuan Containing Pill, sothing that even Senior Brother Xu of the Inner Peak struggled to obtain.
He stored it in a Jade Bottle and tucked it carefully inside his robes. He planned to have He the Venerable inform Yang Xun later, so he could travel back with his Grandpa.
For a Demon Dao Dharma Lineage, ’steadiness’ must always be the top priority in Cultivation!
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