Chapter 783: The Foodie
Chapter 783: The Foodie
Gan Yu trudged with difficulty through the mountains and forests, a bamboo basket on his back. A faint smile involuntarily appeared on his face as he recalled the profound truths explained in the Daoist Scripture he had borrowed earlier.
"Indeed, 'Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself'. . . Before, I only had six scrolls of the Daoist Scripture, and they weren't very coherent. Many of the doctrines felt disjointed when I read them. But now, connecting the preceding and following parts, everything has suddenly become clear. . ."
With such thoughts, he naturally ran even more diligently to Mr. Fang's place. Moreover, having received such kindness from Mr. Fang, he felt compelled to repay it. Alas, Gan Yu's purse was embarrassingly empty. Fortunately, in recent days, he had heard that Mr. Fang wished to eat snake soup.
Gan Yu suddenly recalled that snakes seemed to frequent Ox-Head Mountain not far away. Thus, he often came here to gather firewood and, incidentally, catch a plump snake to respectfully offer to Mr. Fang. However, the easily caught snakes in the mountain had long since been captured by the village children and were nowhere to be found, leaving him with nothing for the past few days.
Today, he once again delved deeper into the firewood gathering range, hoping to gain something.
The sun above was scorching hot. Gan Yu had spent half the day gathering firewood and was now drenched in sweat.
He set down his bamboo basket, took out the earthenware pot of water, and just as he was about to drink to his heart's content, his foot suddenly stumbled.
*Shatter! *
He gazed at one of his only remaining few possessions now gone, and felt like crying but had no tears. "Indeed. . . a scholar is useless in a hundred ways."
Helpless, and feeling incredibly hungry and thirsty, Gan Yu identified his direction. He remembered a ruined temple not far away, where there should still be a well. He walked for a moment, and not long after, he saw a small temple.
This small temple was long dilapidated; its signboard and one of its main doors had vanished without a trace, there was a large hole in the roof, and many spiderwebs hung from the eaves.
Where the idol stood, the gilded clay and tile statue had long since crumbled into pieces; not even a head remained. A robe seemed to still cling to the statue's form, but with the passage of time, its colors had long faded, making it difficult to discern. Yet, faintly, one could make out what seemed to be ripples of water, with carp playing within them.
The people of this world respected heaven and feared gods. Gan Yu cupped his hands in a bow towards where the idol once stood, before making his way to the back of the small temple.
This was originally where the temple guardian had lived, but the guardian had long since fled and disappeared, leaving no trace of human habitation.
In the courtyard, concealed by a patch of weeds, lay an ancient well.
The well's opening was square, built with green bricks, and appeared to be quite old.
The well itself wasn't large, only about the size of a water vat.
Gan Yu leaned over the edge of the well to look, and couldn't help but cry out in dismay.
It turned out the well was very deep, seemingly almost dried up, and the grass rope beside it had long since rotted away. . .
"Hmm?"
Just then, Gan Yu caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and was startled.
Beside this small well, there was also a puddle of water.
This puddle was extremely shallow, not even deep enough to cover the sole of his shoe. The muddy water within was churning, and something seemed to be flapping about!
Gan Yu's eyes lit up. He grabbed with both hands, feeling a slippery body that twisted with force, threatening to slip out of his grasp.
His heart tensed. He immediately flipped his hand again, using the shards of the earthenware pot, which he had originally intended to use for scooping water, to clamp down and then flip the creature over.
In the muddy water, the back of a loach was faintly visible.
Its entire body was covered in tiny, fragmented jet-black scales, its whiskers were long and slender, and its eyes were remarkably lively.
Gan Yu couldn't help but secretly praise it.
As a farm boy, he had often caught snails and loaches in his youth, but in terms of quality, none could surpass this one!
At this moment, the loach was teary-eyed, as if carrying a pleading expression.
It continuously blew bubbles from its mouth, pointing towards the well.
"Is this a loach from the well water? How did it get out here? Do you want to go back?"
Gan Yu gazed at the loach, falling into contemplation for a moment. . .
......
A moment later.
*Sizzle! *
A bonfire was lit, and a loach was skewered on a branch, roasting over the flames until it sizzled and oozed oil.
"Though this loach is small, it still has a few taels of meat. . . It's a pity I didn't catch a few more to give to Mother to taste. . ."
Gan Yu rubbed his rumbling stomach, mumbling to himself.
"When the granaries are full, people learn propriety."
He couldn't even eat his fill every day now, so if he caught a fish, he'd naturally eat it himself. What, was he supposed to release it?
"Whoosh, whoosh. . ."
A moment later, the roasted fish was ready. He blew on it a few times, then immediately took a large bite.
For some reason, the loach tasted incredibly delicious in his mouth. There wasn't a hint of muddy flavor, and he hadn't even added salt, yet an indescribable taste lingered between his lips and teeth.
Even with just this small amount of meat, Gan Yu felt truly full for the first time in his life.
He yawned and fell into a deep sleep.
In his dream.
In a daze, Gan Yu saw a ball of red and white qi descend, followed by a handsome young man in a dragon-carp brocade robe, wearing a jade crown, who was pointing at him and cursing vehemently: "I am the Well Dragon King! You do not respect the gods, you devoured my body! There will surely be great calamity!"
After speaking, he actually transformed into a jet-black, ferocious flood dragon. However, it hadn't fully transformed yet; there was a bulging lump on its head, no dragon claws on its belly, only four fish fins, and long, slender dragon whiskers. It looked more like an oversized black loach!
At this moment, the flood dragon opened its huge mouth, revealing dense, sharp teeth, and bit down towards Gan Yu!
"Ah!"
Inside the ruined temple, Gan Yu screamed miserably, fell to the ground, and a large bump swelled on his head.
"Don't eat me, don't eat me. . ."
He cried out in alarm, scrambled up, and touched his forehead, startled once more.
He felt the original pain rapidly dissipating, and even the large bump was slowly receding.
After his cry of alarm, Gan Yu found his ears keen and his eyes clear, his mind refreshed. The original texts of the Daoist Scripture he hadn't yet memorized slowly flowed through his mind, as if he had a photographic memory!
Not only that, but it was as if his mind had suddenly opened up, and he understood the various profound truths hidden within the scriptures.
"This. . ."
At this moment, he felt not a trace of joy. Instead, gazing at the well and the fish bones on the ground, his eyes were filled with terror.
"This temple. . . it seems it truly did worship a water god before?"
After his memory improved, many deeply buried memories slowly emerged from his sea of consciousness.
Gan Yu walked to the front of the temple, gazing at the headless clay statue of the idol. He vaguely felt that the robe on its form was indeed the brocade robe with frolicking dragon-carp.
"Calamity has struck!"
He bit his lips, his face utterly pale, and scrambled out of the temple. . .
......
"This. . ."
"This f***ing isn't according to the script. . ."
Fang Xi, who had been silently observing the place with his Divine Consciousness, was utterly stunned and blurted out.
According to his script, when his Divine Consciousness first discovered this unlucky loach, it seemed to have incurred some punishment and could only be pardoned by re-entering the well as a mortal fish.
Fang Xi had then deliberately mentioned wanting to eat snake soup in front of Gan Yu, guiding Gan Yu towards Ox-Head Mountain, and secretly casting a spell to knock down his earthenware pot.
Gan Yu had indeed initially followed the script, coming to the ruined temple and discovering the Well Dragon King.
"The next development shouldn't have been releasing the Well Dragon King, forming a good karmic connection. . . and then the Well Dragon King repaying him with karmic luck and treasures. . . funding his imperial examination?"
"How could this happen?"
Fang Xi felt a mix of exasperation and amusement.
He just felt that the Well Dragon King had been truly wronged!
Of course, regardless of how convoluted the process, the outcome was still good.
"Even if the Well Dragon King was just a minor deity, practically an insult to the Dragon King title, it was still a spiritual creature of some sort. . . Now that Gan Yu has eaten it, he's immediately undergone a complete transformation."
"He even gained the ability of photographic memory. For a person of such extraordinary talent to take the exams for Daoist acolyte or be recommended for talent. . . that shouldn't be a problem."
"Furthermore, now that Gan Yu has offended a god, he won't be able to avoid fighting for his life. . . If he doesn't succeed in this imperial examination, not only will he die, but it will also bring disaster upon his entire family and clan!"
Even without using the Karmic Luck Gu, Fang Xi knew that Gan Yu must have acquired a 'calamitous fortune' at this moment!
Calamitous fortune is indeed tribulation fortune!
Blessings and misfortunes follow one another. Overcome it, and one soars to the heavens; fail to overcome it, and one perishes, with their cultivation obliterated.
"But that's none of my business. I merely placed a chess piece casually."
In the mountain village.
Inside the fenced courtyard, under a peach tree.
Fang Xi had carved a chessboard from stone and was slowly placing black and white pieces upon it.
He formed a hand seal with one hand, pulling off a green stone piece from a nearby green stone.
Another incantation fell, and the stone piece transformed into a jet-black color.
In this courtyard, the peach tree came with its own array. Though it was only the lowest-grade concealing illusion array, a mere Earth God certainly couldn't discover anything unusual here.
"Hmm, the Dao Arts are almost fully adapted. . ."
Fang Xi played against himself with his left and right hands, thoroughly enjoying himself.
The Five Elements Dao Arts from the Earthly Immortal World weren't entirely unusable in this realm, but they had to be adapted.
At the very least, directly using the spiritual energy of heaven and earth wouldn't work; they had to be activated with the primordial qi of heaven and earth.
"Spiritual energy also exists in this realm, but it's not active. It seems to be suppressed by some kind of laws. . . Is it the Divine Dao?"
Fang Xi mumbled.
The nobility of gods lies in their laws!
The Dao Court has its Daoist laws, and with these, it rules over all gods in the world, who all obey without exception.
If the Dao Court is like this, the Heavenly Laws of the Celestial Court must be even more terrifying!
"Besides the Dao Arts, some artifacts have become useless. . ."
Fang Xi took out the Divine Infant Sword. This sword, a three-foot long blade with crimson light blazing on its edge, was clearly a rare exotic treasure.
But in terms of might, compared to a sixth-rank Return to Void treasure, most of its power had been drastically reduced.
The same went for other treasures like the Netherworld Banner.
Conversely, the Five Fires Seven Birds Fan and the Karmic Luck Gu were the least weakened in power.
"One of these is an imitation of an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure. . . Immortal Abode Rare Treasures come from the True Immortal World, which is at least a Great Thousand World level. Their rank is higher than even the Celestial Court of a Middle Thousand World. Therefore, a genuine Immortal Abode Rare Treasure can even remain unaffected and unsuppressed by the power of the world. . ."
"As for the Karmic Luck Gu, it seems to conform to the local rules, so it wasn't greatly weakened. . ."
Fang Xi was thoughtful. "Next time, I should go to my true body and borrow the Erwu Soul-Slaying Gourd or the Qing He Sword (Fifth Generation). . . In this realm, only Immortal Abode Rare Treasures can unleash their maximum power. . . If that's truly not possible, then even the Sword Son's flying sword would be good."
Thinking of how Immortal Abode Rare Treasures utilized the power of the laws of heaven and earth, Fang Xi grew even more thoughtful.
The laws of the Divine Dao, if developed to their extreme, would, to some extent, be the laws of heaven and earth!
Or rather, they would approximate the laws of heaven and earth!
If he were to clash with high-ranking gods in this realm without an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure to suppress his karmic fortune, he truly wouldn't be able to rest peacefully.
'This path of the gods, when discussed, bears some resemblance to the Earth Immortal Way. . . However, the Divine Dao relies on the power of faith. Being able to unleash one or two tenths of a region's power is already good. It's not like the Earth Immortal Way, which can unleash the full power of the entire Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm, because Earth Immortals are the true masters, while gods merely borrow it. Even so, if a divine office is high enough, the scope of borrowing can be vast. . . even far exceeding the Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm! '
Fang Xi couldn't help but feel a great sense of awe. Just what realm was the Celestial Emperor of the Celestial Court currently in?
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