Chapter 42: A Leisurely Life, Cultivating Through Fish

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Su Yuan could only silently wish them well in his heart.  They were still going on adventures.  Unlike Su Yuan, they had to fight for their own futures, while Su Yuan—a cheat existence—was destined to walk a different path.  "Hope they return safely," Su Yuan sighed.  Divination arts weren't omnipotent; blindly believing in their results could cost lives!  Little Cai swam up from the lake bottom, blowing bubbles with her mouth open, her big round eyes staring blankly at Su Yuan.  "Hungry again?" Su Yuan's expression stiffened.  Little Cai nodded her tiny head.  Su Yuan chuckled helplessly and tossed out some spirit stones for her to eat.  Immediately, Little Cai happily munched on the stones.  As Little Cai consumed the spirit stones, Mystic Truth Qi continuously surged within Su Yuan's body.  Suddenly, an idea struck him.  He thought of the Yuan Pool—if he cultivated there continuously, it would disrupt his rest time. But if Little Cai cultivated there instead, wouldn't that perfectly utilize the pool's pure spiritual energy?  Plus, it would save the spirit stones used to feed her!  The more he thought about it, the more brilliant the idea seemed. Su Yuan's eyes gleamed as he looked at Little Cai.  Sensing his intense gaze, Little Cai raised her fish head in confusion.  Misunderstanding his intentions, she reluctantly pushed one spirit stone back toward Su Yuan while protectively guarding the remaining dozen or so with her body.  Her food-guarding antics made Su Yuan laugh.  "Get ready. Later we're going somewhere amazing—you'll eat until you're stuffed!"  Su Yuan pondered what else he needed to prepare, feeling like he'd forgotten something but unable to recall what.  "Everything's packed, nothing left in the cave dwelling... I haven't been in the sect long... I'll visit Little Li after she establishes her foundation... What's left?"  Then he remembered: "Oh right, the shop in the market... I think I told Song Cai to hand it over to Niu Bin. Nothing else then! This won't affect me—might even earn some reputation points."  A glance at his system panel showed he still needed two thousand reputation points to level up. Su Yuan remained calm; there was no rush. Once he broke through to Foundation Establishment, reaching the requirement would be inevitable.  "Let's go!"  Su Yuan summoned his fishbowl artifact, stuffing Little Cai and the 49 spirit fish inside before heading toward the Yuan Pool.  Meanwhile, at Seven Extremes Market...  Inside the [Su Yuan's Forging] shop,  Niu Bin was sweating profusely while attending to the endless stream of customers.  "Is this really Senior Brother Su's shop?"  "Absolutely! I had relatives confirm at the market office—Senior Brother Su personally registered it!"  "This is Senior Su Yuan's shop—the one who won first place in the Inner Sect Competition and defeated inner sect geniuses while transcending realms! I'm here to bask in his brilliance!"  "With Senior Brother Su's name behind it, the quality is guaranteed and prices are fair!"  Song Cai and Song Qian bustled about the shop, assisted by low-level attendants rushing to fetch and deliver goods.  Business was booming—unbelievably so!  Su Yuan's sudden rise to fame had caused waves among Seven Extremes Sect disciples, and the market's minor faction cultivators and independents living under the sect's shadow grew intensely curious about him.  As Su Yuan's sole business venture, the shop naturally became the center of attention. Even if only a fraction came to satisfy their curiosity, the crowds became overwhelming.  Wiping sweat from his brow, Song Qian collapsed onto a chair for a brief rest. "Thank heavens Senior Brother Su had us stop selling low-grade items, or we'd be completely buried!"  "That's Senior Brother Su for you—his vision and planning are on another level! You need to observe and learn!" Song Cai patted his brother's shoulder.  "Got it!" Song Qian nodded.  "Speaking of which, Brother Niu, any ideas for handling this crowd?" Song Cai turned to Niu Bin.  Niu Bin approached, confused. "What can I do? I'm just an outer sect disciple!"  "Senior Brother Su assigned you to manage the shop—there must be a reason! Think carefully," Song Cai pressed.  Niu Bin fell into deep thought before hesitantly suggesting, "The only idea I have is... opening branch stores?"  Song Cai blinked. "Would that work?"  Niu Bin nodded. "Actually, I co-registered this shop with Senior Brother Su. I have authority to open more branches under the same name."  Song Cai's eyes lit up with understanding. "Now it makes sense! You're indeed the only one who could establish branches! Though..."  Niu Bin asked, "Though what?"  "Though we'd be profiting from Senior Brother's reputation, so you couldn't take the majority share. Hope you understand!" Song Cai stated bluntly—words that would be inappropriate coming from Su Yuan but fine from him.  Niu Bin immediately agreed: "Of course! Just being able to work under Senior Brother Su is honor enough—I wouldn't dare ask for more!"  Relieved, Song Cai continued, "Then let's open a larger branch in Seven Extremes Market. With supply from the Zhang, Zhou, and our Song families, plus consignments from sect disciples at low prices, we'll have ample stock. With Senior Brother's fame, sales won't be a problem—his business empire will grow rapidly!"  Song Qian interjected, "Should we expand to other markets?"  Song Cai shook his head firmly. "Don't overstep. Operating here is fine since Senior Brother assigned us here, but expanding elsewhere requires his approval. We'll report this to him later."  After their discussion, Niu Bin took the spirit stones Song Cai provided and hurried to the market office to lease a new shop space.  Meanwhile...  Behind the main peak at the ninth mountain,  Su Yuan cautiously approached a stone valley.  The spiritual energy here felt incredibly rich—almost matching his third-grade cave dwelling, and this was just the entrance!  "Halt! Restricted area!" A shout startled Su Yuan.  He spotted a bald man glaring at him from atop a stone pillar.  Su Yuan produced his true disciple token, channeling spiritual energy into it.  "True Disciple Su Yuan, here to use the Yuan Pool!"  "Oh, you," the bald man nodded. "Go ahead."  "Aren't you going to check, Elder?" Su Yuan asked curiously.  "I'm just the gatekeeper," the man said. "The formation here connects to the sect's grand array—it'll automatically verify and deduct your usage time."  "Understood! Thank you, Elder!" Su Yuan clasped his hands.  The man snorted. "I'm no elder!"  With that, he rolled on the ground, transforming into a blue ox that leaped to a nearby grass patch and began grazing.  Su Yuan stared in surprise, his expression turning peculiar.  He kept glancing at the ox, which responded with an eye-roll and a snort before contentedly continuing to munch on spiritual grass.  Su Yuan noticed the entire area was cultivated with spiritual grass—clearly planted and maintained by sect disciples on assignments.  Still, Su Yuan bowed toward the ox before proceeding into the valley's heart.  Only after Su Yuan disappeared did the ox mutter, "Well I'll be—Old Ox has seen everything now! Letting a measly Qi Refining sixth layer kid into the Yuan Pool? Sure, he won't use much, but still a first! What's his background to pull this off? Should I befriend him? Nah, still just Qi Refining—maybe later."  The ox couldn't bring himself to take Su Yuan seriously—even the grass-tending disciples were Foundation Establishment realm.  Inside the valley, nine paths branched out—five marked as closed, four open.  Su Yuan carefully chose an available path, not fearing danger but worrying whether he could bring Little Cai through.  Midway, a formation ripple scanned him.  His token lit up, displaying "9 years, 11 months, 29 days, 11 hours" before emitting white light that tagged Su Yuan as "approved."  The light extended a thin strand connecting to Little Cai inside the fishbowl artifact.  Confused, Little Cai wriggled, staring at her glowing tail.  Then her light split into 49 finer strands linking to the other spirit fish.  Seeing this, Su Yuan smiled—success!  Proceeding forward while monitoring the fishbowl, he confirmed the formation allowed their entry.  At path's end awaited a hundred-meter square pool!  The surrounding stone was a single massive piece of milky-white spirit stone—at least high-grade from its appearance. Su Yuan gasped, inspecting it closely only to find it protected by formations preventing direct absorption.  The pool itself contained liquid spiritual energy!  "Incredible spiritual liquid!" Su Yuan exclaimed, attempting to scoop some out with a container—unsuccessfully, of course.  Shrugging it off, he observed Little Cai and the fish becoming extremely active.  Little Cai breathed deeply, drawing swirling spiritual energy from the pool into her body.  Simultaneously, Mystic Truth Qi began accumulating within Su Yuan.  The plan was working!