Cultivating immortality in the seas, I created an immortal island of eternal life.

When you're engrossed in something busy, time always flies by.

In one week, different qualities of semi-spirit fish came and went on the island. With the spirit stones left over from paying the Dinghai tax, Gao Yao had enough to upgrade the chicken coop and get 3 Ma Huang chickens, even without selling any new spirit fish.

The biggest expense, of course, is the spirit chickens themselves, each worth two low-grade spirit stones.

Whether it's a spirit fish or a spirit chicken, they are essentially classified as demonic beasts. Their flesh, scales, horns, feathers, or certain special parts of their bodies are all resources related to cultivation.

The Ma Huang chicken is more robust than ordinary domestic chickens, and its feathers are mottled brown in varying shades. In addition to its flesh and blood being more nourishing than ordinary poultry due to their spiritual energy, its core value lies in its ability to lay spiritual eggs.

One spirit egg is worth 5 spirit fragments in the market, and two spirit eggs can be exchanged for 1 low-grade spirit stone.

That being said, there is a reason why the price of the Ma Huang Chicken is much lower than that of the spirit fish of the same level.

The laying of eggs by pheasants is inherently unstable, taking approximately three to seven days. Of the eggs laid in a month, only one pheasant may be found if one is lucky, while there may be no eggs at all if one is unlucky.

Moreover, to maintain the potential of Ma Huang chickens to lay spirit eggs, ordinary feed is not enough; they must be fed food containing spiritual energy, just like the sea tadpoles needed to upgrade the chicken coop.

This crop, which grows in shallow seas and can absorb a small amount of aquatic energy, is a common item for fishermen to aid in their spiritual practice and for baiting and fishing. Although it is not expensive, using it to feed chickens over a long period of time is still a considerable expense.

Therefore, for the vast majority of fishermen, relying on raising pheasants to lay pheasant eggs to get rich is a business with large investment, long cycle, and extremely unstable returns.

Of course, this only applies to fishermen other than those from Gaoyao.

[Unlocked Dojo Facility: Chicken Coop Level 1]

Gao Yao stood on a newly enclosed small open space beside the fishpond.

A gentle morning breeze caresses my face as I look around.

Three glossy-feathered Ephedra chickens were strolling leisurely, occasionally pecking at bits of sea cucumber seedlings.

Her gaze was quite intelligent.

My gaze shifted to the newly built chicken coop beside me, where three spirit eggs lay quietly, gleaming like white jade.

Upon returning to Turtle Reef Island yesterday, he couldn't wait to herd the pheasants into the chicken coop he had built in advance. Today is the day to check the harvest.

Gao Yao suppressed his joy and carefully took out the spirit egg, holding it in his palm.

He returned to his shack and sat down cross-legged.

He did not immediately consume the spirit egg, but instead took out a jade bottle from his bosom.

As soon as the cork was removed, a crisp fragrance filled the room.

The bottle contained the Jade Spirit Liquid, which was produced only once every seven days.

Gao Yao stared at the object in his hand, lost in thought for a long time.

He was abducted to this place a month ago and only then was he taught the techniques to begin his cultivation.

Aside from fishing and accounting, his ability to cultivate from having no foundation to the perfect first level of Qi Refining in a short period of time demonstrates his exceptional talent.

In this world of cultivation, spiritual roots are fundamental.

Those who possess spiritual roots actually have all five elements in their bodies, but one or more of them are more prominent.

Just like building a ladder with planks, the longest plank, which represents the most outstanding spiritual root, determines one's aptitude.

Gao Yao has a mid-grade dual spiritual root of earth and wood, which means that his earth spiritual root and wood spiritual root are the most outstanding, and both can reach the mid-grade level.

Spiritual roots are classified into three grades from low to high: lower, middle, and upper. There are also legendary special spiritual roots such as heavenly grade and sword spiritual root.

Having a mid-grade dual spiritual root is already quite good aptitude. Logically speaking, a cultivation sect like Yunxiang Sect shouldn't just leave him in the fishing village as waste material, even if they don't directly accept him as a disciple.

This question had been troubling Gao Yao for a long time, and he could never figure it out.

After much thought, I realized that apart from being good-looking and having decent talent, I was nothing special.

Perhaps this has something to do with Wang Yao?

Or perhaps the Yunxiang Sect has a deeper scheme?

Thinking of the sect's various eccentric actions, Gao Yao suppressed his wandering thoughts.

Now is not the time to delve into the details; improving our capabilities is the key.

Most of the cultivators in the fishing village were at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, so my strength was still too weak.

The cultivation technique Gao Yao is currently practicing is not the "Azure Sea Tide Arises Technique" most commonly found in fishing villages, but the "Kun Yuan Transformation Technique" given to him by Wang Yao.

He had his doubts about the safety of this technique, but he had no other choice.

Although the "Azure Sea Tide Technique" is reliable, it is a water-based technique, which is not compatible with Gao Yao's outstanding earth and wood spiritual roots. Forcing him to practice it would be counterproductive.

Although the depth of the "Kun Yuan Hua Sheng Gong" was unknown, its operation resonated with the spiritual energy of earth and wood, making cultivation much smoother. Between two evils, he had no choice but to take the risk of cultivating this technique.

Gao Yao tilted his head back, swallowed the Jade Spirit Liquid, and closed his eyes to enter a meditative state.

A cool sensation spread from the throat and quickly flowed into the limbs and bones, eventually returning to the dantian (lower abdomen).

He dared not delay and immediately began to circulate his internal energy.

As the cultivation technique was activated, the pure spiritual energy transformed from the Jade Spirit Liquid was rapidly refined and integrated into his own spiritual energy. The originally thin vortex of energy in his dantian visibly solidified.

Gao Yao could clearly feel that he was just one step away from reaching the second level of Qi Refining.

He decisively picked up a spirit egg, gently tapped the shell, and swallowed it whole.

Although the spiritual energy contained in the spirit egg is not as great as that in the jade spirit liquid, it is just enough to fill the last gap.

The second level of Qi refinement was completed naturally.

A surge of spiritual power, several times stronger than before, erupted from within him, only to be forcibly contained in an instant.

With the meridians widened and the dantian expanded, the spiritual energy flowing within the body, both in quantity and quality, has taken a leap forward.

Gao Yao slowly opened his eyes, looked at the two spirit eggs remaining in his arms, and instead of continuing to swallow them, he opened the Mountain and Sea Token.

[Spiritual Fish Pond (Tier 2): Fish fry growth rate +50%, produces 3 drops of Jade Spirit Liquid every 7 days, greatly increases the evolution probability of semi-spirit fish, and can awaken spirit fish]

[Spiritual Nurturing Ground: Has a mild nurturing and stabilizing effect on aquatic creatures that are just beginning to develop spiritual awareness.]

[Advanced Requirements: 200 years of lifespan, 120 low-grade spirit stones, 30 pieces of Qingke bamboo, and carving a spirit-gathering array]

[Chicken Coop (Tier 2): Spirit eggs are laid once a day, and spirit fertilizer is laid once every seven days (unlocks the building: Spirit Swamp), can briefly control spirit birds]

[Advanced Requirements: 100 years of lifespan, 60 low-grade spirit stones, 30 rotten spirit herbs, and the ability to inscribe a Qi-boosting array]

Although both are Tier 2 facilities, the Spirit-Nourishing Fish Pond is obviously much more difficult to upgrade than the Chicken Coop, but its benefits are also more significant.

Although the specific effects of the Qiling Fish are unknown, the mere fact that it increases the growth rate of fish fry and the yield of Jade Spirit Liquid is enough to make Gao Yao very interested.

After the chicken coop is upgraded, it not only shortens the cycle of spirit egg production, but also produces spirit fertilizer, which is simply a tailor-made aid for cultivating spirit fields.

The subsequent control of spirit birds reminded Gao Yao of the methods used by the Beast Taming Sect.

However, the resources required to upgrade to Tier 2 facilities were too numerous, so he decided to proceed step by step and prioritize the development of Tier 1 facilities.

After all, having only a first-class fishpond and chicken coop is enough for Gao Yao to develop on the island with peace of mind, without having to risk going out to sea every day to pay the sea tax like other fishermen.

......

The next morning, as dawn broke, the sea was so still that only the soft sound of oars cutting through the water could be heard.

Gao Yao rowed his small sampan not to the market, but towards the reef island where Old Man Ma lived, as he remembered it.

Old Man Ma was one of the few survivors of this incident and the only person Gao could easily contact. Gao wanted to verify some of his conjectures.

The reef where Old Man Ma lives is larger than Turtle Reef Island; from a distance, you can see a similar shack leaning against a huge rock.

As soon as Gao Yao tied up the boat, he smelled a strong, bitter and sour herbal aroma.

At the low entrance of the shack, a hunched figure was mending a fishing net.

It was Old Man Ma.

The person before them was completely different from the lean old man who had been smoking a pipe outside the fish market a week ago.

His face was sallow, his eyes were sunken, and his left leg was bare from the knee down, the cut tightly wrapped in thick coarse cloth.

One arm braced against the ground, while the other hand clumsily manipulated the fishing net, each movement accompanied by a dull rustling sound.

"Uncle Ma!" Gao Yao quickly stepped forward.

Old Ma looked up at the sound, and when he saw Gao Yao, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, which then became cloudy.

"Come in and have a seat! It's a small place, please don't mind..."

Old Ma struggled to straighten up, but the excruciating pain in his broken leg made him sway and almost fall over.

Gao Yao reacted quickly, grabbing Old Man Ma's withered arm and carefully helping him to sit down on a relatively flat stone.

"Don't move, rest quickly." Gao Yao's gaze fell on the broken leg, his brows furrowing. "What is this?"

"Hey, I'm lucky to have escaped with my life!" Old Ma grinned, trying to laugh, but instead managed an expression that looked worse than crying.

He took a few heavy breaths, as if speaking had exhausted his strength, and his gaze drifted towards the sea.

"If you hadn't reminded me to stay away from that turtle corpse that day, I probably would have lost my life in that godforsaken place."

Seeing Gao Yao listening intently, Old Man Ma lowered his eyes and began to speak haltingly.

"We'd only traveled less than ten miles on the return journey when those beasts suddenly appeared..."

"A vast expanse of white, like everything had gone mad..."

"The immortal masters protecting the ship are truly skilled; their sword flashes turned the seawater red, but there were just too many of those beasts!"

"There's no way to kill them all; they specifically target the boats carrying turtle carcasses..."

"The ship was smashed to pieces, people fell into the sea, everything was red, and from a distance I saw a shark charging at me with its mouth open..."

"I swam as far as I could, I don't know how long I swam, and then I knew nothing more..."

"When I woke up, I had been washed onto a rock by the waves, and my legs were gone."

Old Man Ma's broken leg suddenly began to tremble.

After a long while, he finally calmed down as if he had resigned himself to his fate.

"What does losing a leg matter if you can crawl back alive?"

"Uncle Ma is a lucky man," Gao Yao comforted him, then after a brief silence, asked softly, "What about the immortal sect disciples they were escorting on the ship? Are they also...?"

......