With six spirit bowls and the black medicinal liquid, Feng Ci’s team made a huge profit. In just one day, they harvested a full thirty thousand catties of green-shelled crabs and green-shelled shrimp—ten times more than the previous day.
Feng Shan led the team’s Martial Spirit Masters, happily carrying the haul into the storage room of the flying boat.
Song Yuan stared lovingly at the bowls, a foolish grin plastered on his face.
“Sister, how much of that medicinal liquid do you have left? Will it last us a few more days?” The bowls combined with the black liquid were incredibly effective, but only about a third of the liquid remained. If it ran out tomorrow, even the best bowls would be useless.
The thought suddenly struck Song Yuan, and he grew worried.
Song Liuhua directly pulled another jar of the black medicinal liquid from her spatial bracelet and placed it on the table. Song Yuan, unfazed by the stench, hugged it tightly. “Is this all? If we had more, we could definitely catch every last shrimp and crab in the West River this time.”
Song Liuhua had spent the day watching the excitement outside and was now feeling drowsy. Sitting across from Song Yuan, she propped her chin on her hand and said slowly, “This is enough.”
Song Yuan: “?”
Song Liuhua lifted her eyelids and gave him a faint glance. “These bowls are nearing the end of their lifespan. They’ll only last a few more uses before they shatter.”
Song Yuan nearly jumped. “No way—are spiritual artifacts really that fragile?”
Song Liuhua retorted, “Are you the Artifact Refiner, or am I? If I say they’ll break, they’ll break.” She was frustrated herself—she’d only sensed today that these things were practically disposable. That they’d lasted a few extra days was already a blessing.
It seemed her talent for Artifact Crafting was truly lackluster.
Song Yuan suddenly remembered that his younger sister only had low-grade talent and was practically useless at it. He chuckled awkwardly.
Song Liuhua didn’t mind. Her mind grew increasingly foggy with sleep.
Feng Ci brought over dinner and, seeing her head nearly drooping onto the table, fed her a bowl of seven-colored wild egg soup and a small pot of Blood Spirit Mushroom and green-scale fish soup before carrying her back to her room.
Song Liuhua slept soundly through the night until daybreak.
Feng Ci had already taken the team out to continue catching shrimp and crabs.
After eating the breakfast Feng Yin had kept warm for her, Song Liuhua strolled leisurely to the Feng family’s hunting grounds.
Feng Shan and Feng Yi were controlling one of the bowls when—bang!—it exploded mid-air. The black liquid inside splattered everywhere, and shards of porcelain rained down.
The swarm of green-shelled crabs and green-shelled shrimp charging toward them paused, looking around in confusion, then surged toward the other bowls.
Feng Shan was dumbstruck. He picked up the broken shards, bewildered. “This… how did it break? I didn’t use too much force.”
“Feng Yi, was it you? Did you use imprecise Spirit Power and cause this?”
Feng Yi snapped out of his daze, furious. “I haven’t even accused you, you brute, and you’re blaming me?”
The two snorted at each other and stood apart, ignoring one another.
Song Liuhua had expected this. Tucking her hands into her sleeves, she ambled over. “The bowl reached the end of its lifespan, that’s all.”
Without further explanation to Feng Shan or Feng Yi, she pulled a bamboo bed from her spatial storage, spread soft bedding over it, and lay down on the beach to sunbathe. Feng clan members passing by instinctively softened their footsteps, afraid of waking her.
Song Liuhua was sleeping in a daze when Feng Ci gently covered her with a blanket. The girl’s skin appeared almost translucent under the sunlight, her delicate cheeks revealing fine peach fuzz, while her tranquil eyelashes cast rows of shadows beneath her eyelids. Her small mouth had turned rosy from sleep.
Feng Ci brushed aside the stray hairs tousled by the wind from her face, tucking them behind her ear before stepping away quietly.
Lakeside.
The bowl in Feng Ci’s hand suddenly shattered, causing the swarming shrimp and crabs to instantly retreat.
Having learned from Feng Shan’s earlier experience, the Martial Spirit Masters, though distressed, were mentally prepared. Without excessive surprise, they immediately took out fishing nets to continue harvesting.
With the blue-shelled crabs and green-skinned shrimp lured elsewhere, the lake surface grew calmer without their disturbance. The Martial Spirit Masters set up numerous additional nets along the shoreline.
Feng Ci also retrieved a fishing net from his storage ring, casting it far across the lake reeds directly toward the center.
Clan members nearby watched with admiring gazes.
“As expected of the young master.” Though his cultivation remained at the fourth level – currently the highest in their team, while Feng Shan and Feng Yi had only reached the third level – this was despite his Spirit Abode being injured. Otherwise, what were the Li Family or Wang Family worth in their young master’s presence?
The mere thought of the prey stolen by the Li Family made everyone curse angrily.
Listening to his clansmen’s grumbling, Feng Ci casually secured the net rope to a lakeside stump, a faint smile gracing his lips. These days, his Spirit Abode had shown initial recovery under the green medicinal liquid’s effects, gradually allowing longer daily use of Spirit Power.
Most fissures in his Spirit Abode had been repaired. It wouldn’t be long before he regained his peak cultivation.
Suddenly.
The net rope tied to the stump moved. Feng Ci’s expression sharpened as he quickly pulled the rope shoreward with force.
This pull startled him.
A tremendous counterforce traveled through the rope – even with his fourth-level strength, he couldn’t budge it. Feng Ci frowned, “Several men, come here.”
Immediately, several Martial Spirit Masters rushed to assist.
As they pulled together, initial astonishment gave way to delighted expressions.
“The bigger the fish, the heavier the net – we’ve caught something substantial,” one Martial Spirit Master grunted through clenched teeth, straining with all his might.
But Feng Ci felt the rope’s resistance growing stronger. Forcing it might easily drag them all into the water, so he ordered more Martial Spirit Masters to help.
Soon, except for Feng Shan, Song Yuan, Feng Yi and others still using bowls to catch shrimp and crabs, all Martial Spirit Masters gathered to pull the rope.
The lakeside became bustling with activity.
Roused from drowsy sleep by the lakeside shouting, Song Liuhua slowly opened her eyes, blankly watching the crowd gathered together pulling something.
Yawning, she clasped her hands behind her back and ambled over to see the commotion.
Feng Ci stood at the forefront, his slender hands gripping the rope thicker than her wrist as he strained against it. Veins bulged on both sides of his neck from the exertion, his handsome face glistening with fine sweat.
The Martial Spirit Masters behind him contorted their features with effort, their bronze faces twisting dramatically. Song Liuhua suddenly grew curious about what exactly was in that net.
After prolonged collective effort, the fishing net was finally hauled ashore.
Fish with blue scales as long as arms leaped in the water, while many silver fish half an arm’s length shimmered with rainbow halos under the sunlight, struggling desperately to break free from the fishing net. The lively, jumping fish splashed waves of water onto the shore.
Feng Ci and the others pulled the fishing net ashore. As the net emerged from the water, a dazzling expanse of blue and white appeared before their eyes, startling everyone into gasping sharply.
“Look! So many fish!”
Everyone hastily dumped the fish onto the ground.
As the mass of bluish-gray came into view, the excitement in their hearts cooled considerably.
They let out a chorus of disappointed sighs.