Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 926 - 782 Gourmet

Chapter 926: Chapter 782 Gourmet

Gan Yu carried a bamboo basket on his back, trudging with difficulty through the mountain forest.

Thinking back to the "Taoism Scripture" he had borrowed earlier, which expounded on profound truths in simple words, a slight smile couldn’t help but surface on his face.

"Indeed, as the saying goes, ’Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself’... Previously, I only had six volumes of the ’Taoism Scripture,’ and they were not quite coherent. Many of the teachings felt disjointed, but recently, having them connected, everything has become clear as day..." he reflected.

With such thoughts, he naturally became even more diligent in making trips to Mr. Fang’s place.

Moreover, he owed Mr. Fang a debt of gratitude that he had to repay.

Unfortunately, Gan Yu was cash-strapped, but luckily, he had heard that recently, the teacher wanted to eat snake soup.

Suddenly, Gan Yu recalled that at Bull Head Mountain not far away, long snakes were said to be found, and as he often came here to gather firewood, he thought he might as well catch a fat snake to honor Mr. Fang.

Alas, all the easily caught long snakes in the mountains had already been snatched up by village children and were nowhere to be seen these past few days, leaving him with nothing.

Today, he extended the range of his firewood collecting yet again, hoping for a harvest.

Under the fiercely hot sun, Gan Yu, who had been chopping wood since morning, was now drenched in sweat.

He set down the bamboo basket and took out a clay jar of water. Just as he was about to quench his thirst, he suddenly stumbled.

Crash!

Gan Yu exclaimed in surprise, watching as the jar fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces, with water pouring out and instantly seeping into the earth.

Looking at one of his few remaining possessions now gone, he couldn’t help but feel the urge to cry without tears: "As expected... a scholar is useful for nothing."

Feeling helpless and extremely hungry and thirsty, Gan Yu identified his direction, remembering there was a dilapidated temple not far away with a well inside.

He walked on for a while and soon saw a small temple.

This small temple was already in ruins, its signboard and one of its doors having vanished without a trace, its roof broken with a large hole, and its eaves covered in cobwebs.

Where the deity’s statue should have stood, the clay and tile-made golden body was already shattered, missing even its head.

Above the golden body, it seemed as though there were robes, but over the years, their color had faded, making them hard to recognize.

Yet faintly, it seemed as though there were ripples of water, with carp frolicking within.

People of this world respect and fear the gods, and Gan Yu bowed towards the location of the deity’s statue before heading to the back of the temple.

This area was once where the temple keeper lived, but they had long since vanished, leaving no one behind.

In the courtyard, amidst overgrown weeds, there was an ancient well.

The mouth of the well was square, made of green bricks, seemingly quite old.

And the well was not large, only the size of a water tank.

Gan Yu looked into the well mouth and couldn’t help but sigh in distress.

It turned out that the well was very deep, seemingly near dry, and the rope beside it had long rotted away...

"Hm?"

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Gan Yu caught a glimpse of something and was taken aback.

Next to this little well, there was a small pool of water.

The pool was very shallow, not even deep enough to cover the soles of his shoes, with muddy water churning as if something was thrashing about!

Gan Yu’s eyes lit up and he snatched with his hands, feeling a slippery body which then twisted strongly, trying to slip out of his grasp.

In a rush, he flipped his hand back again, clamping it with a piece of the broken clay jar, and quickly turned it over.

Among the muddy water, the back of a loach was intermittently visible.

Its body was covered in tiny black scales, with long whiskers and surprisingly lively eyes.

Gan Yu couldn’t help but praise the catch silently.

As a farm boy, he had often caught snails and loaches as a child, but none of them could compare to this one in terms of appearance!

At this moment, the loach was teary-eyed, seemingly pleading.

It constantly blew bubbles from its mouth, gesturing towards the direction of the well.

"Is this a loach from the well? How did it get out here? Do you want to go back?" Gan Yu looked at the loach, lost in thought...

...

A moment later.

Sizzle!

The bonfire lit up, and a loach was skewered on a branch, sizzling and dripping with oil over the fire.

"Although this loach is small, it has a good few ounces of meat... It’s just a pity I didn’t catch a few more to take home for my mother to taste..."

Gan Yu patted his rumbling stomach and muttered to himself.

A full granary leads to knowing honor and disgrace.

He was unable to eat his fill every day, so naturally, he ate the fish he caught. What was the alternative, to release it?

"Huff, huff..."

After a moment, the roasted fish was ready. He blew on it a few times and then took a big bite.

For some reason, this loach tasted incredibly delicious with not a hint of earthiness. Even without added salt, a flavor impossible to put into words lingered between the teeth and the lips.

Even with just a bit of meat, Gan Yu felt satiated for the first time in his life.

He yawned and drifted off to sleep.

In his dream.

Gan Yu was in a daze when suddenly a swirl of red and white qi descended, followed by a young man dressed in a dragon-carved brocade robe and jade crown, with a handsome face, who pointed at him and scolded fiercely, "I am the Well Dragon King! You disrespect the gods and devoured my body; you will surely face great disaster!"

After speaking, the figure transformed into a vicious, black Flood Dragon. However, it was not yet fully formed. A bulge was on top of its head, and instead of claws on its belly, there were only four fins, with long whiskers that made it look like an oversized black loach!

At that moment, the Flood Dragon opened its huge mouth, full of dense, sharp teeth, and bit down towards Gan Yu!

"Ahh!"

Within the dilapidated temple, Gan Yu shouted in horror, falling to the ground with a large bump swelling on his head.

"Don’t eat me, don’t eat me..."

He let out a cry of alarm and scrambled up, touching his forehead, only to pause in bewilderment.

The pain that had been so intense was rapidly fading away; even the swollen bump was slowly subsiding.

After his cry of surprise, Gan Yu felt his hearing sharpen and his vision clear; his mind was refreshed and invigorated. The few volumes of the "Taoism Scripture" that he had not yet memorized were now flowing slowly in his mind, as if he would never forget them after just one glance!

Not only that, it was as if he had suddenly gained enlightenment, understanding the various profound meanings hidden within the scriptures.

"This..."

At this moment, he felt no joy, but instead looked toward the well and the fish bones on the ground with fear in his eyes.

"This temple... did it indeed use to worship a water deity?"

With his improved memory, many deep-rooted memories had begun to surface slowly from the Sea of Consciousness.

Gan Yu walked to the front of the temple, staring at the headless clay statue of the deity, and felt that the figure seemed to be wrapped in the same dragon and carp playing in the water brocade robe.

"Disaster!"

He bit his lip, his face pale as death, and he fled the temple, tumbling and crawling...

...

"This..."

"This is totally not according to the script..."

Fang Xi, who had been silently observing the place with his Divine Consciousness, was also taken aback and blurted out.

According to his script, he had noticed this unlucky loach being punished in some way; it had to enter the well as a common fish to be pardoned.

Fang Xi had deliberately mentioned wanting to eat snake soup in front of Gan Yu to lure him to Bull Head Mountain and secretly cast a spell to knock over his earthen jar.

Gan Yu indeed initially followed the script, coming to the ruined temple and discovering the Well Dragon King.

"What follows should be the release of the Well Dragon King, forming a good karma... then the Well Dragon King returns the favor with fortune and treasures... to sponsor him for the Imperial Examination, right?"

"How did it turn out like this?"

Fang Xi felt a mix of amusement and frustration.

He thought how wronged the Well Dragon King was!

Of course, no matter how convoluted the process, the outcome was still positive.

"Even if the Well Dragon King was just a mere deity and an insult to the title of Dragon King, at least it was a Spiritual Object... Now that Gan Yu has consumed it, he has transformed completely."

"He even acquired a photographic memory, such a talent is extraordinary; he shouldn’t have any problems endeavoring to become a Taoist Child or a selected candidate..."

"Moreover, now that Gan Yu has offended a deity, he has no choice but to struggle desperately..."

"If he fails to pass the exam this time, not only will he die, but his whole family and clan will suffer!"

Even without using the Fortune Worm, Fang Xi knew that Gan Yu must have obtained a kind of ’deadly fortune’ at this moment!

Deadly fortune, calamity also!

Blessings and disasters follow each other closely; if one overcomes them, one can soar to the heavens; if one fails, one dies and the path fades.

"But that’s none of my concern; it’s just a chess piece I placed casually."

In the mountain village.

Under the Peach Blossom Tree in the fenced courtyard.

Fang Xi carved a chessboard out of stone and slowly placed black and white chess pieces on it.

He pinched a spell with one hand and pulled a green stone piece from beside another piece of green rock.

Another Magic Spell fell, and the stone turned pitch black.

In this courtyard, the Peach Blossom Tree came with an Array. Although it was only the lowest level of the Cover and Confuse Array, that mere land deity could not detect anything unusual here at all.

"Hmm, the magic has also been almost completely transformed..."

Fang Xi played against himself with his left and right hands, enjoying the game immensely.

The Five Elements Skills of the Earth Immortal Realm can be used in this realm, but they need to be transformed.

At the very least, directly manipulating Heavenly and Earthly Spiritual Power is not feasible; it must be activated with Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.

"There is spiritual energy in this realm, but it is not active; it seems to be suppressed by some kind of Rules... is it the God Path?"

Fang Xi muttered to himself.

The nobility of being deities lies in the Rules!

The Taoist Court has Taoist Law, by which it controls the thousands of deities of the world; all must abide by it.

If the Taoist Court is like this, the Heavenly Decrees of the Heavenly Court must be even more terrifying!

"Apart from magic, some treasures have become useless..."

Fang Xi took out the Divine Infant Sword. The sword turned into a three-foot-long blade, with blood light shining on the edge, clearly a remarkable Exotic Treasure.

But in terms of might, compared to a sixth-order Returning to Emptiness treasure, its power was greatly reduced.

Other treasures, like the Mysterious Dark Banner, were the same.

On the other hand, the Five Fires Seven Birds Fan and the Fortune Worm suffered the least reduction in power.

"The former is an imitation of the Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure... Immortal Mansion Rare Treasures come from the True Immortal Realm, which is at least of the Big Thousand World level, ranking higher than the Heavenly Court of the Medium Thousand Worlds, and therefore if it was a real Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure, it could even be unaffected by the suppression and influence of the World’s power..."

"As for the Fortune Worm, it seems to be less weakened because it conforms to the local rules..."

Fang Xi pondered, "Next time I should go to my original self and borrow either the Two-Five Soul-Cutting Gourds or the Green Barley Sword... In this World, only the Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure can exert its maximum power... If that’s not possible, even one of Jianzi’s Flying Swords would do."

Thinking about Immortal Mansion Rare Treasures leveraging the Power of Rules, Fang Xi became even more contemplative.

God Path Rules, if developed to the extreme, are to some extent the Heavenly and Earthly Laws!

Or rather, they are similar to the Heavenly and Earthly Laws!

If I conflict with high-ranking deities of this realm without an Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure to suppress my fortune, it would indeed be difficult to rest easy.

’This Godhood Path, when discussed, also has some similarities to the Way of the Earth Immortal... except that the God Path relies on the Power of Faith, being able to wield just a tenth or two tenths of the power of a region’s land and waters which is not bad, unlike Earth Immortals, who can wield the power of the entire Earth Immortal Spiritual Realm because they are the true masters, while the deities borrow it? Even so, if the Godhood Position is high enough, the range of borrowing can be very broad... even far exceeding the Earth Immortal Spiritual Realm!’

Fang Xi couldn’t help but feel a sense of reverence in his heart; what realm had the Heavenly Emperor of the Heavenly Court reached by now?