Chapter 212: Grandfather Wants to Cultivate Too

Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Grandfather Wants to Cultivate Too

"That’s right. It’s because this isn’t a Magic Treasure that ordinary people like us can use it," Gu Nuan Nuan said with a nod.

"How many fish can this thing actually hold?" Zhang Dazhuang asked eagerly.

"Grandpa, Uncle, see for yourselves. Using this is actually just like using a storage bag. Before it’s bound to an owner, anyone can see inside just by touching it and thinking about looking. To store something, you have to make it touch the item."

Gu Nuan Nuan handed the basin to her grandfather, then took out a new one for her uncle. "I don’t know its maximum capacity since I haven’t filled it. The Jade Scroll wasn’t that detailed. But it looks like it can hold a lot. See? There are quite a few fish in here already, but it only looks like a shallow layer on the outside. The most important thing is that it can put live fish into a storage bag." Gu Nuan Nuan emphasized the words "live fish."

Zhang Dazhuang and Zhang Wei Qiang both nodded. Since they didn’t know without trying, they might as well give it a shot.

The two men copied what Gu Nuan Nuan had done, squatting down with their basins and placing them directly into the water. This time, even Gu Nuan Nuan, who was standing to the side, could see with perfect clarity that the water and fish in the Fish Spring were receding at a visible rate.

"Oh no, stop! If we take all the water and fish out of the Fish Spring, will any more appear later?" Zhang Dazhuang and Zhang Wei Qiang had also noticed the change. Zhang Dazhuang cried out, and they both quickly pulled their basins back. Gazing at the half-full containers of water, now teeming with tiny black dots, they both gave wry smiles. ’We can’t just drain the pond to get all the fish.’

"It’s fine, Grandpa, Uncle. This is an underground river, so the water flow won’t stop, and the fish won’t disappear. When you come look again tomorrow, the water level and the fish will surely be back to normal." The words slipped out of Gu Nuan Nuan’s mouth before she could stop them.

"How do you know that?" they both asked, looking at Gu Nuan Nuan quizzically. She froze for a second before quickly recovering. "I read it in a travelogue from one of the Jade Scrolls, of course."

"A travelogue?"

"Yes, a travelogue." Gu Nuan Nuan coughed twice, her mind racing. "It was in a Jade Scroll I was just looking at. It recorded the experiences of a low-level cultivator who had recently ascended from the Mortal World to the Cultivation World and had only been practicing for a short time. It had a ton of information, from descriptions of a Cultivator’s daily tools, which are different from ours, to all sorts of strange and wonderful things he encountered during his adventures.

"He wrote that he had encountered Fish Springs like this not only in the Mortal World, but also quite a few in the Cultivation World, of all different sizes. The large ones could produce thousands of pounds of fish in a single day, while the small ones still put out several hundred pounds. If you scooped all the fish out one day, more would just appear the next."

"He was so curious about this strange phenomenon that he decided to investigate it. He discovered that because these wild fish from the underground river live in extremely pure spring water from birth, their bodies contain a minuscule amount of Spiritual Energy. This makes them exceptionally delicious and particularly beneficial to an ordinary person’s health. That’s why they were highly sought after by the rich and powerful in the Mortal World; common people would never even see such fish. In the Cultivation World, however, these Fish Springs weren’t so rare. Cultivators generally aren’t concerned with gourmet pleasures. When they do eat, they only consume Spirit Food that’s rich in Spiritual Energy. While these fish have a trace of Spiritual Energy, it’s nothing compared to real Spirit Food, so no one gave them a second glance."

"These Cultivators are practically the same as the Immortals from our legends," Zhang Dazhuang said, sighing with a mix of awe and envy. "We’re lucky enough to have gotten our hands on some of their things, and even just using the most basic functions is already this mind-blowing. Imagine if we could practice Cultivation too. How amazing would that be?"

"Grandpa, it’s not that they’re the same. It’s that in the eyes of ordinary people in the Mortal World on a Cultivation Planet, Cultivators *are* Immortals. For the Great Powers among them, riding the clouds, splitting mountains, and parting the seas are all simple feats. I suspect our planet used to have Cultivators, too. Otherwise, where did all those myths and legends come from? It’s just that now, the Spiritual Energy on our Blue Water Star has become scarce, so the Cultivators couldn’t stay and had to leave." Gu Nuan Nuan shared her theory.

"And you saw this in that Jade Scroll, too?" Zhang Dazhuang asked, lost in thought.

"Yes. Oh, and Grandpa, Uncle—the fish in this spring aren’t actually here year-round. The Cultivator wrote in the Jade Scroll that most Fish Springs only appear during the flood season, from April to September." Gu Nuan Nuan nodded with a serious expression. She spoke with such convincing logic that Zhang Dazhuang and Zhang Wei Qiang didn’t doubt her for a second. While Zhang Wei Qiang just listened and nodded, his father’s mind had completely drifted away from the Fish Spring. He grabbed Gu Nuan Nuan’s arm and pressed on, "So Cultivators can start out as ordinary people? Then you should look through those Jade Scrolls again! See if there are any Cultivation Techniques in there!"

"Grandpa, you want to practice Cultivation?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked, startled.

"If I can, of course I’m going to! This is what the old stories call a serendipitous encounter. How could I possibly let it slip by?" Zhang Dazhuang nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But Cultivation requires a certain affinity for it. You have to test for a Spirit Root first, and only then can you practice a Cultivation Method that matches it. Besides, even on a Cultivation Planet rich with Spiritual Energy, Cultivation isn’t easy. Resources are scarce. Unless you have an exceptionally good Spirit Root and are chosen by a Great Sect when you’re young, it’s useless even with a good Spirit Root once you’re past twenty. If you start too late, your progress will be incredibly slow. And if your cultivation level doesn’t advance, your lifespan won’t increase. That’s how it is on a proper Cultivation Planet, so here on Blue Water Star... it’s practically impossible."

"’Impossible’ doesn’t mean we can’t at least try! Does the Jade Scroll say how to test for a Spirit Root?" Zhang Dazhuang was as enthusiastic as ever.

"Dad..." Zhang Wei Qiang said, amused.

"With this. Just cup it in both hands." With Cao Cao’s help, Gu Nuan Nuan had already taken out the Spirit Testing Stone. She demonstrated first, and the stone instantly lit up with an exceptionally pure green glow. Even though she already knew she had a single Wood Spirit Root, Gu Nuan Nuan’s gaze was still captivated by the beautiful, flawless green light.

"So our Nuannuan really has a Spirit Root! No wonder your luck is so good. It’s because you have an affinity for the immortal path... Tsk, tsk. What kind of Spirit Root is it? Is it a good one or a bad one?" Both Zhang Dazhuang and Zhang Wei Qiang were staring, their eyes wide. When he snapped out of it, Zhang Dazhuang was overjoyed.

"A single Wood Spirit Root. It’s considered a pretty good one."

Gu Nuan Nuan answered automatically. Then she heard Cao Cao’s voice in her mind. ’Master, quick! Tell them you can practice Cultivation now! That way you won’t have to hide whenever you use Spiritual Energy or your Magic Treasures in the future.’ She blinked, but instead of following Cao Cao’s suggestion, she turned to the two men and asked, "Grandpa, Uncle, who wants to go first?"