Immortality begins with upgrading buildings

Chapter 92 Qiu Qianhai's Letter [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Ji Yuan took the seashell from the thin man's hand, looking somewhat dazed.

How long has it been since I last heard from Qiu Qianhai?

It's been over a year.

Since their parting outside Jingdefang, Ji Yuan had inquired several times but had not heard any news about Qiu Qianhai. At first, Limpy Li would also come to ask.

But after asking several times without getting any results, he stopped coming back.

In addition, the Qin family has become increasingly cautious lately, and rumors have been circulating in Zengtou City that Old Blind Qin has passed away... Ji Yuan estimated that under such circumstances, the Qin family would definitely have even less time to deal with Qiu Qianhai.

So Ji Yuan didn't even bother to inquire further.

He guessed that Qiu Qianhai had gone into seclusion to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, and that Qiu Qianhai would come back to find him after he broke through.

Sure enough, he's finally back!

But then he thought, if he really broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining, then he could come back openly and legitimately. If not, he could just leave a seashell at the door of this house, just like last time.

Why bother having someone else deliver it?

"Who sent you to deliver this?"

Ji Yuan looked up at the thin man, frowned and said in a deep voice.

The thin man shuddered in fright and quickly replied, "Replying to your question, senior, this seashell was placed there by someone two years ago."

"Two years ago?!"

Ji Yuan vaguely sensed something was wrong. He had met Qiu Qianhai a year ago, and two years ago... at that time, Qiu Qianhai had just left Zengtou City and seemed to have gone to Heishuifang.

"Are you from Blackwater Workshop?"

"right."

The skinny man didn't know how this senior in the late stage of Qi Refining had discovered it, but he could only nod and say again, "Two years ago, that person left this seashell with me and gave me twenty spirit stones. He told me that if he didn't come back to collect the seashell after two years, I should take it to house number 36 in Zengtou City, and then... then I should ask the senior to give me another twenty... oh no, ten spirit stones."

"Ten spirit stones will be enough."

"Two years...you mean, you haven't seen that person at all in the past two years?"

"No, he hasn't shown up since he gave me this seashell."

Ji Yuan took a deep breath and vaguely guessed what was going on... This person in front of him was most likely Qiu Qianhai's backup plan.

He probably thought he wouldn't live much longer and was afraid that he wouldn't even be able to send out news of his death.

In other words, he was afraid that no one would know if he died.

That's why I came up with this idea.

Two years... So, since the two parted ways a year ago, Qiu Qianhai has never gone back to Blackwater Workshop to retrieve this seashell.

Could it be that he forgot?

It's unlikely. Although he seems reckless, he is a meticulous person, a fact that Ji Yuan discovered when they were mining together.

If he went into seclusion to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, he would return to Blackwater Workshop beforehand to retrieve the seashell.

He could never forget something like that.

But since nothing happened... that means he's probably in trouble!

"Did he say anything else?"

Ji Yuan pressed for an answer.

"No...that's all. After giving me this seashell, he gave me some spirit stones and then left." The thin man kept mentioning spirit stones in his every sentence.

It seems that he traveled all the way from Heishuifang to Zengtou City for those few spirit stones.

Moreover, Qiu Qianhai had most likely promised him twenty spirit stones, but after seeing him, he changed his mind and only dared to ask for ten.

"understood."

Ji Yuan casually gave him ten spirit stones, "This matter is settled, you can go now."

"Thank you, senior! Thank you, senior!"

The short man thought he had made a wasted trip and would gain nothing.

Unexpectedly, Ji Yuan was even willing to pay spirit stones!

This was truly an unexpected delight.

After watching the thin man leave, Ji Yuan took the seashell and returned home.

Qiu Qianhai is most likely already in trouble, his fate unknown... Who did it?

The Qin family is the most likely culprit, but it's not certain. They could have died from a demon beast, or some other accident. Anything is possible.

But why did he send a seashell back through someone else?

What does sending seashells mean? According to the previous agreement, sending seashells means we're going to meet on Autumn Rain Island.

Of course, it's also possible that he was worried that sending a letter would expose him... In any case, he still had to go to Autumn Rain Island to take a look, since there were no other clues at the moment.

With this thought in mind, Ji Yuan gave another instruction, telling Tu Yue to watch the house.

He then summoned a flying boat and headed straight for Autumn Rain Island.

Half an hour later, Ji Yuan returned to the long-lost island.

He had already checked several times while he was in the sky and there were no outsiders on the island. Now, walking on Autumn Rain Island, Ji Yuan did not find anything unusual.

The sandy shore remains soft, and the reeds on the island remain lush.

Did Qiu Qianhai leave any clues here...? If only I had divine sense, I wouldn't need to search at all. I could just scan with my divine sense and everything would be clear.

Ji Yuanlai circled around several times, almost burning all the reeds on the island clean.

Just as he was about to leave, his gaze suddenly fell on a rock on the shore.

The stone is about the size of a millstone and is quite well-shaped. If someone were to rest here, they would most likely choose to sit on this stone.

Ji Yuan only remembered that when he came last year, this stone was not there.

Moreover, this location... He glanced back in the direction of Zengtou City. This location should be the place where he and Qiu Qianhai parted ways two years ago!

Did he move this stone here?!

Ji Yuan raised his hand and unleashed an instant water arrow technique.

The light blue arrow pierced the stone and then exploded violently.

"boom--"

A water shield flashed in front of Ji Yuan, blocking the rubble from him.

There was nothing inside the stone. It makes sense; no matter how skilled Qiu Qianhai was, he couldn't possibly hide anything inside a stone.

Could it be buried under this rock?

Ji Yuan thought for a moment and then summoned the Hundred Fish Shield. He used the shield to dig, and after digging for a few minutes, he dug out a tightly locked iron box!

Damn, there really is something here!

Ji Yuan reached out and grabbed the iron box, then used his object manipulation technique to fill the hole back in.

The tin box wasn't big, only about the size of two palms.

There was also a line of small characters engraved on it.

"It was my grandson who opened this box."

That damned Qiu Qianhai… Ji Yuan didn’t open it here either, but instead piloted the flying boat again. The Thunder Falcon Boat transformed into a streak of purple light and headed straight towards Zengtou City.

After a while.

Ji Yuancai opened the iron box in his own home.

The iron box was empty, containing only a letter. It seemed only Qiu Qianhai would do such a thing. Ji Yuan opened it.

as predicted.

"Old Ji, you must be the only one who could find this letter, right?"

If you can find this letter, you've probably already received the seashells I left. It seems the person I contacted back then was quite reliable; he took twenty spirit stones from me, so he did something worthwhile.

But... I really don't want you to see this letter, because if you do, it probably means something bad has happened to me and I haven't shown up for two years.

Perhaps it's dead, or perhaps it's trapped somewhere?

It's possible that while I was on my way, a peerless master suddenly descended from the sky. He took a liking to me at first glance and shamelessly insisted on taking me as his disciple. He wouldn't let me go if I didn't agree, so I had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

But are you really Lao Ji?

If it's not... but rather someone destined to find this letter, then congratulations, you are a destined person, because this letter contains an opportunity, an opportunity for those at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Haha, Lao Ji, don't blame me. It's just that we don't even have this much understanding between us.

Looking at the contents of the letter, Ji Yuan felt that Qiu Qianhai must have been in relatively good condition when he wrote it, judging from his light and cheerful tone.

It was just a stroke of luck... a stroke of luck during the Foundation Establishment stage.

Damn it, there can be such good stuff?

Looking further down, Ji Yuan understood why Qiu Qianhai's tone was so light and cheerful.

"Old Ji... I'll just assume it was you who saw this letter. I can't care if anyone else saw it."

Lao Ji, you must be curious about when I wrote this letter.

Hey, actually, we just parted ways. Yes, we just parted ways at Jingdefang, and I've come to Qiuyu Island. It's night now, and the moonlight is damn bright.

This time, Ji Yuan didn't stop, but watched it all in one go.

"You must be very curious about what kind of opportunity I'm leaving you with. An opportunity for the Foundation Establishment stage, which I'm sure you've been dreaming of. I won't keep you in suspense any longer, I'll just tell you directly."

This opportunity was left to my father by my grandfather, but my father didn't have the ability to seize it, so it was left to me. I also don't have the ability to seize it, so I can only rely on you.

Techniques.

It's an extremely rare movement technique among magic arts, a second-tier one. Once you master it, your speed will be unmatched even in the Foundation Establishment stage. How about that? Isn't that a great opportunity?

The exact location is also within this Cloud Rain Marsh, but it's in the very depths of the Cloud Rain Marsh, where there are second-tier demonic beasts active. I've already drawn the location for you.

【map】

Make sure you remember the location, because it's nestled among a bunch of small islands, and the area is shrouded in fog all year round, making it easy to get lost. My grandpa was a famous adventurer in Zengtou City back in the day, and only he could find this place.

but!

I strongly advise you not to rush off.

Do you know why my grandfather wasn't capable of seizing this opportunity, and neither was my father?

This is all because there is a second-tier demon beast on this island, which is a toad that can spit poison.

My grandfather guessed it was left behind by that Foundation Establishment cultivator back then. He only managed to sneak onto the island to take a look when the demon beast was fighting with other demon beasts. He thought there was some rare treasure, but it turned out to be a spell. He didn't have time to copy it down, what a pity.

So if you don't have the ability to escape from a second-tier monster, don't even think about taking the risk.

Okay, that's the opportunity.

I'm gone... Sigh, actually, when I wrote those three words, I didn't know what I felt.

Is it like writing your own will?

No, it's not like that, this is a suicide note.

Now that I'm gone, I don't know if the Qin family killed me, but if you want to avenge me, don't rush. There's no need to seek revenge on a scoundrel like Old Blind Qin.

Killing him now would be a relief for him.

You're still young, just outlive him. As long as you don't die before him, I'll feel like you've avenged me, haha.

So please don't be reckless, and don't risk your life because of a dead person like me.

You can deal with the Qin family when you're at the peak of Qi Refining, or even after you've established your foundation. What do you think? Isn't that a good idea?

Old Ji... there's one more thing. Even though I'm gone, as long as you haven't seen my body, it doesn't really mean I'm dead.

because……"

After that, a long line of text was crossed out and completely stained with ink, so Ji Yuan couldn't see what it said. Just when he thought Qiu Qianhai was going to be the riddle teller, he didn't expect him to say it all out loud.

"Fine, I won't dwell on it anymore, I'll tell you everything."

Remember the finger bone I used when I was mining? That finger bone was actually passed down from my grandfather.

According to my grandfather, this finger bone was actually broken off from the skeleton of a powerful being and contained a great secret. At first, I didn't believe it because old people always like to coax children.

But one night, I had a dream in which someone taught me that magical skill...

When I woke up the next day, the finger bone that I had put in my storage bag had inexplicably appeared on my chest. I then realized that what my grandfather had said might be true.

So let me hold on to a sliver of hope. Maybe I'm not dead. Maybe I really have some kind of stroke of luck?

Right?

The letter ends here with a long blank space.

Finally, Qiu Qianhai rewrote three sentences at the end of the letter.

"When I was little, my mother always told me that Yunyuze was very big, so big that she never left it in her whole life."

"But I feel that Yunyuze is too small. Old Ji, our path should not be so small."

"Old Ji, I really, really don't want to die..."

(End of this chapter)