Chapter 70: Good and Rare

On the eighth day of the fifth lunar month, on Old Birch Mountain, northeast of Jiudaokou County, a person walked along a mountain path, holding a book, yet their peripheral vision and hearing were alert to their surroundings.

The person wore a loose, grey, wide-sleeved robe. A small topknot on their head was adorned with a wooden hairpin, with long hair draped behind and bangs in front. They carried a satchel and an umbrella, appearing to walk leisurely but actually moving at a quick pace.

To avoid getting lost, Ji Yuan had been traveling at a moderate speed for the past few days, asking for directions whenever possible, and making brief stops in various counties and regions to experience the local customs and culture, which he had never seen in his previous life.

His slow pace on Old Birch Mountain this time was naturally intentional.

Although Old Birch Mountain was not as vast as Niu Kui Mountain, it was still sizable, spanning an area of about twenty to thirty li. Don't underestimate this figure; twenty to thirty li in radius is equivalent to a circular area with a radius of over ten kilometers. Coupled with the difficult mountain paths, traversing Old Birch Mountain was no small feat for an ordinary person who wasn't an experienced mountaineer.

There was a deep pool in Old Birch Mountain that was mentioned in a single line in the *Chronicles of Heretical Paths*. Few incidents in the entire Jizhou region over the years had been recorded in this book, so Ji Yuan planned to dedicate a full day to spending time by the deep pool.

What for? Fishing!

The *Chronicles of Heretical Paths* stated: "In Jizhou of the Great Zhen Kingdom lies Old Birch Mountain, and within it a secluded pool. It has no connection to rivers above nor to springs below, yet fish thrive within it, for they are the essence of water."

Ji Yuan wanted to see if these fish were truly the "essence of water" or if they had been brought there by a typhoon or tornado, or perhaps both.

Reaching a corner in a mountain hollow, Ji Yuan finally found what he was looking for. He immediately put away his book, tucking it into his robe, then rose and leapt, darting towards a distant patch of vibrant green.

He used several trees in the forest to propel himself forward, finally landing in front of a bamboo grove.

Looking at the bamboo in the grove, most of the stalks were slender and tall, swaying with the mountain breeze, perfect for Ji Yuan's ideal fishing rod.

He selected a stalk of suitable size and length, bent down, and with a focused mind, lightly tapped its base with two fingers.

"Snap~" The bamboo broke instantly with a smooth cut.

As he walked through the mountain, he used his hand like a blade to swiftly lop off the branches from the bamboo stalk. In no time, a slender, verdant bamboo pole appeared in Ji Yuan's hand.

He grasped it and swung it around, producing a "whoosh... whoosh..." sound as it cut through the air, which was quite pleasant to hear.

"Looks good!"

Ji Yuan was very satisfied with the bamboo.

He had bought fishing line and hooks, which were in his satchel. He wouldn't need a float.

What Ji Yuan found somewhat curious was that the fishing line he bought was also transparent silk thread, and quite tough. After asking the seller, he learned that it was made by extruding and stretching silkworm pulp, meaning each line represented one or several unfortunate silkworms that failed to spin cocoons…

By the time Ji Yuan reached the deep pool, his brand-new, verdant fishing rod was ready. He didn't need any extra processing or reinforcement, because if a fish bit—as long as it wasn't too extraordinary—he could instantly infuse the rod with spiritual energy and simply yank it out of the water.

The deep pool before him was circular, with a diameter of at most a dozen or twenty zhang, much smaller than Ji Yuan had imagined. The water was a deep emerald green, with the deeper parts appearing pitch black, revealing nothing and showing no movement.

"Could there really be fish in this?"

After muttering to himself, Ji Yuan found a shady, suitable spot and cast his line. His bait wasn't an earthworm, but a cooked grain of rice, infused with a trace of spiritual energy.

He threaded the bait onto the fine hook and swung the fishing rod.

The flexible green bamboo swayed with the force.

With a "plop," the hook landed in the pool, creating a small ripple.

Fishing is all about patience. With Ji Yuan's current keen senses, he could immediately feel the slightest unusual movement of the hook and line underwater, so he didn't have to worry about being distracted and missing a catch.

So, Ji Yuan took out a book to read. This time, he was reading *The Tome of Profound Insight*.

Although it was also a heavenly tome, its content was entirely different. Ji Yuan had briefly flipped through it before and knew that *The Tome of Profound Insight* was much more "proper" compared to the *Chronicles of Heretical Paths*.

While it wasn't a true cultivation manual, it did highlight difficulties and dangers at various critical stages of cultivation. Its author likely compiled insights from many cultivators and combined them with their own experiences to summarize the information. The book even included sections on divine beings and spiritual beasts.

In Ji Yuan's words from his previous life, it was a book that could truly benefit cultivators.

But why was *The Tome of Profound Insight* still considered a "miscellaneous book"? Ji Yuan's view was that the author included too many hypotheses and speculations. The proportion of practical information was relatively small compared to the book's overall content, and those few pieces of information were already known to anyone who could read heavenly tomes. Thus, it became a "miscellaneous book."

Ji Yuan, however, was different. Although the content was much drier than *Chronicles of Heretical Paths*, it was still useful knowledge. Theoretically, Ji Yuan couldn't use this knowledge yet because he didn't even have a qi cultivation technique.

"'Cultivating qi to transform spirit, spirit manifesting to generate spells, which are magical or spiritual power... Is the so-called profound gateway to the heart optional or crucial?'"

'Sigh... the road is still long!'

Fishing and reading, an hour passed just like that. There was no movement at Ji Yuan's fishing rod, making him curious enough to pull it up and check. The grain of rice was still there.

'Did the *Chronicles of Heretical Paths* lie? Or have these fish gone extinct over the years?'

He looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky.

'Could it be that they only appear at night?'

Ji Yuan wasn't anxious. Perhaps it was from his time at the mountain god's temple that he had developed excellent composure.

He took a piece of flatbread from his satchel and slowly began to eat it. This bread was bought in Jiudaokou County, as big as two palms pressed together. There were five pieces in his bag, still soft. The bread was slightly sweet with some dried vegetable filling, perfectly suiting Ji Yuan's taste.

As dusk fell, and the evening glow appeared in the sky, with stars gradually emerging overhead, Ji Yuan heard a peculiar sound—not from the deep pool, but from the mountain.

"Hehehe... Green Water Pool is just ahead, we're finally here! Let's go faster, faster!"

"Oh my, you're so energetic! I'm exhausted!"

Clear voices drifted intermittently from afar. As the sounds drew nearer, light footsteps also reached Ji Yuan's ears.

A boy and a girl, both wearing clean, light blue silk robes and appearing to be around thirteen or fourteen years old, nimbly climbed over rocks, jumped across small streams, and passed through trees to reach the most secluded spot on Old Birch Mountain.

"Oh, there's someone there!"

The girl gasped in surprise, and her companion seemed to have just noticed Ji Yuan in the distance as well.

"You're right, it's almost dark. What's he doing? Fishing?"

"Looks like it! Hahaha... He thinks he can actually catch something!"

"Come on, come on! This is rare, let's go tease him a bit!"

"Hehehe!"

The two slowed their steps from a distance, quietly approaching the deep pool. They seemed to want to startle Ji Yuan. When they were about ten meters away, they exchanged glances, smiled, and then, with perfect synchronization, cupped their hands to their mouths.

"Hey~!"

The imagined scene of the fisherman dropping his rod in fright didn't happen at all. Ji Yuan acted as if he were deaf, holding his fishing rod, looking at the book on his lap, and occasionally taking a bite of his flatbread.

"Didn't scare him?"

"Is he deaf?"

"How boring!" "Oh!"

Feeling quite bored, the two children walked towards the edge of the deep pool. Just then, Ji Yuan's calm voice suddenly rang out.

"Was that fun?"

Mid-stride, the two children were startled and jumped.

"You're not deaf?"

"How dare you scare us!"

The boy and girl seemed quite indignant. Ji Yuan turned his head and smiled.

"It's quite rare, isn't it!"

The children's indignant demeanor immediately faltered. They exchanged slightly bewildered glances.