“Thank you, Big Brother.”
Jing Yin smiled brightly as she put away all the silver.
“You’re… you’re welcome.”
Seeing Jing Yin accept the silver, Jing Zhao spoke somewhat awkwardly.
As long as Little Sister didn’t blame him, that was enough.
…
When the two returned to their resting place, the porridge was already cooked.
Two full clay pots were filled with thick vegetable porridge. There were plenty of elm leaves in it, along with a little minced meat and roughly two ounces of pearl rice.
The rich aroma made everyone swallow hungrily.
“Grandma, we talked things over with them carefully. They knew they were wrong, so they gave us some salt and food as an apology.”
Jing Yin smiled and motioned for Jing Zhao to take out the salt and millet.
They didn’t have any salt left at all. If they went without salt for too long, they wouldn’t have much strength, which wouldn’t do.
She had just been wondering where they could get some salt.
And then those three men had conveniently delivered some right to them.
“Humph! Those rotten bastards had the nerve to target us. Why doesn’t Heaven send down a bolt of lightning and strike those good-for-nothing bastards dead…”
Grandma Jing didn’t suspect anything. She nodded while cursing under her breath, then carefully took the salt jar and added a little salt to the porridge.
She hid the rest at the very bottom of the bamboo basket.
Jing Da’s shrewd eyes looked the two of them up and down suspiciously, but he didn’t say anything.
If it weren’t for his wife being there, he would have already chopped those bastards down with a knife.
What a bunch of scumbags!
There was quite a lot of food this time, but Grandma Jing still carefully calculated the portions and gave everyone only half a bowl.
Except for Jing Yin, of course.
She got an entire large bowl—the kind so big it could practically cover her face.
“Grandma, everyone has been given their share. We need to eat our fill to have the strength. Otherwise, if we encounter something like today again, we won’t have the strength to deal with them.”
Grandma Jing glanced at the vegetable porridge remaining in the clay pots, her heart aching so badly that the muscles in her face twitched.
Every single person in this family had such huge appetites!
None of them knew how to save food. Without her, they would starve to death sooner or later.
“Little Silver, Grandma is old, so I’ll just eat a little less…”
“Grandma, since you’re old, are you planning to save it for when you’re dead?”
Grandma Jing: “…”
Grandma Jing angrily filled herself a large bowl as well.
Jing Yin also took charge and gave everyone a large bowl.
Erdan was too small, so half a large bowl was enough for him.
After everyone had been served, there was still more than half a bowl left.
Under Grandma Jing’s expectant gaze, Jing Yin poured all of it into a bowl and carried it over to Tangyuan.
“…”
As night grew darker, Jing Zhao and Jing Da took turns keeping watch.
Grandma Jing felt sorry for her son and grandson and was preparing to kick Grandpa Jing awake so he could take a turn keeping watch as well, but Jing Da stopped her.
His father was old. How could he make him stand guard at night?
More importantly, because his father was old, Jing Da didn’t trust him to keep watch.
What if he dozed off while keeping watch and they all ended up becoming food for wild beasts?
Jing Yin wasn’t in a hurry to sleep.
She squatted beside the fire with Jing Zhao and looked at the book they had obtained from the scar-faced man.
“The cover is gone. I don’t know what the book is called.”
Jing Zhao casually flipped through it. It seemed like some kind of storybook, so he handed it to Jing Yin.
The moment Jing Yin took it, the system’s voice rang out in her mind.
[Ding! A low-grade body-tempering manual has been discovered. Would the host like to spend 2 points to transform it into a high-quality body-tempering manual?]
The surprise came completely out of nowhere.
Jing Yin chose to transform it without the slightest hesitation.
In her previous life, she had also practiced body-tempering techniques for some time.
Unfortunately, the manual she had obtained back then was incomplete. She had been forced to practice it simply to survive.
Although the results had been quite good, the internal injuries caused by the incomplete technique had also been considerable.
Now that she had a high-quality body-tempering manual, naturally she wouldn’t practice that incomplete one from her previous life anymore.
It seemed the system’s points were actually quite useful.
After the transformation, the manual in her hands didn’t change at all.
However, a stream of light suddenly shot out from the book and entered her mind.
Jing Zhao beside her seemed to have seen nothing.
In an instant, all the knowledge and insights contained in the high-quality manual appeared in Jing Yin’s mind.
She had obviously never practiced it before, yet at this moment, it felt as though she had practiced it thousands of times.
Once she reached the deeper levels of cultivation, she would even be able to lift objects weighing a thousand jin with ease.
Jing Yin took a deep breath and looked down at the book in her hands.
It was still the same low-grade manual.
Compared with the high-quality manual in her mind, they were worlds apart.
It seemed that the system’s transformation wasn’t an ordinary transformation.
“Big Brother, this manual is only a low-grade body-tempering technique. Practicing it would be bad for the body. But Tangyuan says it will teach me a top-tier manual…”
Jing Yin whispered.
A look of surprise flashed through Jing Zhao’s eyes.
A body-tempering manual?
Was this the kind of martial arts manual described in storybooks?
“Tangyuan wants me to give it a try.”
Jing Yin said no more.
She placed Tangyuan to the side and immediately sat down nearby, beginning to cultivate the technique.
Jing Zhao lowered his head and glanced at the manual in his hand.
After hesitating for a moment, he directly threw it into the fire.
Since it was a low-grade manual, there was no point in keeping it.
It was better to burn it now and prevent it from causing trouble in the future.
As he watched Jing Yin cultivate on her own, a moment of confusion flashed through Jing Zhao’s eyes.
She was cultivating already?
But when he saw Tangyuan beside her, he immediately understood.
It must be because of the Fox Immortal~
Meanwhile, Tangyuan sat on the ground and raised one hind leg to scratch its ear.
It had absolutely no idea what its master was doing…
Dawn gradually appeared.
Jing Yin opened her eyes, and the piece of clothing draped over her body slipped to the ground.
She hadn’t slept all night, yet her spirit was unusually energetic, and faint joy could be seen in her eyes.
This body-tempering manual was completely different from the one she had practiced in her previous life.
It seemed almost otherworldly.
After only one night, she had already gained quite a lot.
[Ding! The Daily Check-In function is now available. Host, would you like to check in today?]
Just as she woke up, the system’s voice sounded as well.
Jing Yin silently checked in mentally.
She now roughly understood how the system worked.
First was the Daily Check-In function, which could provide points or material rewards.
Second were randomly triggered missions based on her activities. Successfully completing a mission would earn points, while failing a mission would still result in a consolation reward.
Finally, there was the ability to spend points to transform and upgrade items.
For example, Tangyuan had originally been an ordinary white fox, but after being transformed, it became a spirit pet. Not only had its strength greatly increased, but it could also communicate with her telepathically.
Then there was the low-grade manual, which had been directly upgraded into a high-quality manual.
The only difference was that the upgraded version existed only in her mind…
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have successfully checked in. You have checked in for two consecutive days. Rewards: 1 point and 1 bottle of Spirit Spring Water.]
Spirit Spring Water?
Jing Yin froze for a moment.
She immediately saw a small white porcelain bottle about the size of her palm appear inside her storage space.
What a good thing!
The transformed manual contained instructions that required Spirit Spring Water.
It could cleanse and refine the body, and its benefits were naturally self-evident.
“Little Sister? Are you feeling unwell?”
Jing Zhao walked over and asked.
Jing Yin smiled and shook her head.
“Big Brother, I feel incredibly energetic.”
Perhaps it was because of the system’s transformation.
Cultivating had been very easy for her.
Without the system’s transformation, it definitely wouldn’t have been this simple.
After some time, she would find a way to have Jing Hao practice body tempering as well and strengthen his abilities.
Having one more person in the family with considerable strength would give them another means of protecting themselves.
“As long as you’re not feeling uncomfortable, that’s good.”
As for his little sister’s fortuitous encounter, Jing Zhao felt nothing but happiness for her.
In these times, being blessed by the Fox Immortal was certainly a great stroke of good fortune.
…