Time does not stay; seasons flow like water, and time slipped by in a blink.

It has been a year since Gu An settled by White Mirror Lake. Every day, he tended to the spirit fish, practiced techniques, and cultivated diligently, living at ease.

The income from the Colorful-Feather Chickens had gradually stopped ten months ago. Of the fifty spirit chickens, he had only received thirty-four instances of feedback. The spiritual Qi from the feedback was extremely pure, but not abundant. Gu An estimated it was roughly one-tenth of the total spiritual Qi.

The spiritual Qi from the thirty-four Colorful-Feather Chicken feedbacks, combined with the spiritual Qi from the deaths of some Black Spirit Fish and his own cultivation progress over the year, allowed Gu An to take a solid step forward within the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, nearing the fifth layer.

Calculating it, Gu An had raised them for a year, while outside, others raised them for three months-roughly a quarter of the time.

Gu An calculated the time and felt pained. He silently cursed those sixteen chickens for being ungrateful. "I, the Daoist, worked hard to raise you, yet after just three months, you were dazzled by the outside world and forgot the grace of your upbringing. Truly disappointing."

He hoped these Black Spirit Fish would be more sensible, not learning from those ungrateful chickens, and not betraying his painstaking efforts.

Thinking that these Black Spirit Fish were about to mature, Gu An cheered up again. Over the year, with thin spiritual Qi and no Spirit Pills or spirit stones to assist, his cultivation naturally progressed slowly. This was even with the occasional Spirit Source Feedback.

But good times were coming again. Once he harvested these spirit fish and sold them, he would wait three months. When the buyers sent them to reincarnation, another large batch of spiritual Qi would come in.

Pushing open the door and stepping out of the small courtyard, Gu An channeled spiritual Qi to his feet. With a light tap of his toes, he arrived on the lake.

He clapped his hands rhythmically, and a dark mass of fish emerged from the water. At the front were large fish, about half a foot long, their bodies shimmering with spiritual light. They had already entered the first layer of Qi Condensation, staring with dead fish eyes, mouths open, waiting to be fed.

Behind them followed Black Spirit Fish fry, the size of black sesame seeds, even smaller than the batch Gu An had bought from the Hundred Spirits Pavilion. They trailed behind, eating the leftover scraps.

Gu An counted the spirit fish. There were sixty-eight mature fish. The attrition rate for these spirit fish was high, especially during their juvenile stage. They could die from a bad mood. He had been very careful in tending them, yet thirty-two had died over time. Their corpses were devoured by their own kind, and Gu An didn't even get a piece of fish meat.

That's right, the Black Spirit Fish were omnivores. Gu An had considered this when he put them into the lake. After all, they were spirit fish; catching and eating ordinary fish wasn't a problem. But he hadn't expected them to eat their own kind.

All they left Gu An was thirty-two strands of thin spiritual Qi, which together amounted to the feedback from just two or three Colorful-Feather Chickens.

Whether or not one had stepped into Qi Condensation made a huge difference. Even the Colorful-Feather Chickens were only at the first layer of Qi Condensation, let alone the juvenile spirit fish, which were practically the shame of spirit beasts, carrying only a trace of spiritual Qi, almost none.

Then there were the Black Spirit Fish fry. In recent days, the mature Black Spirit Fish had begun to mate and reproduce spontaneously. Considering how diligently the Black Spirit Fish had been absorbing spiritual Qi every day, the Daoist Gu, in a fit of generosity, allowed them all to leave offspring, not wanting to waste the karmic connection with him.

Initially, there were over three hundred fry. But in just half a month, only two hundred and forty-four remained. These fry were even smaller than the first batch, and their survival rate would certainly be lower. Gu An figured that after they all died, White Mirror Lake would be able to accommodate them, so he gave up the idea of selling them for spirit stones.

Mainly, these fry were hard to sell. The Black Spirit Fish themselves were unpopular. The Cloud Kingdom was mountainous with few waters, so he doubted many fellow cultivators would be willing to buy them.

Still haunted by the Black Spirit Fish eating their own kind, and worried that even these small fry would be eaten, Gu An often came to check on them. He was forced to watch fish slices for a few days. Later, he discovered that the Black Spirit Fish had no interest in their own fry. The fry following behind the mature fish were safe enough, so he confidently returned to his normal routine.

"Splash."

The sound of water came. It was the Black Spirit Fish, seeing that he hadn't produced any feed, slapping the water with their tails, raising a lake wave as if to teach him a lesson.

A small Water Shield formed instantly. Over this year, Gu An had diligently practiced his techniques. The Water Shield Spell and the Entangling Spell could almost be cast instantly, and his casting speed for the Water Spear Spell had also greatly improved. He was no longer the same person.

The small Water Shield wasn't large, but it intercepted all the splashes without a single drop leaking through.

A dark green vine extended from his sleeve, slithering into the water like a spirit snake, binding the leading spirit fish tightly.

"Little troublemaker, still want to eat grain- Today, you'll be on the table with him!"

"And you all, you won't have to wait much longer either."

Humming, he put that Black Spirit Fish into his storage bag, scattered a dozen handfuls of grain, and walked away across the water. The fish school showed no reaction to their companion being taken. They sucked up the grain greedily, the fry gathering around the larger fish, occasionally snatching some broken grains. The water surface was lively.

Gu An planned to go to Cloud City in a few days to collect his salary and sell these Black Spirit Fish along the way. Once mature, the Black Spirit Fish had the cultivation of the first layer of Qi Condensation. After that, unless they encountered a tremendous Fated Chance, they could hardly advance further. Keeping them would be a pure waste of spiritual Qi, useless for the Spirit Source Feedback, so it was better to sell them.

Returning to the small courtyard, Gu An took out the Black Spirit Fish, handed it to Bai Zhi, and instructed, "Steam this Black Spirit Fish today."

Although this Black Spirit Fish could be sold for one spirit stone, Gu An decided to eat it and taste it. As the saying goes, save where you should, spend where you should. Gu An was absolutely unwilling to deprive his own mouth.

Besides, after working hard for a whole year, wasn't the Daoist Gu allowed to enjoy himself a little-

A year had passed. Nourished by the spiritual Qi of White Mirror Lake, Bai Zhi's skin had become even more supple and radiant. Gu An had no other thoughts about her; he remained unmoved by her several hints. Still, just looking at her was pleasing to the eye.

Bai Zhi took the Black Spirit Fish and said in a sweet voice, "Immortal Master Gu, just steam it with scallions and salt as usual-"

Over the year, Bai Zhi and the other had gradually figured out Gu An's taste and cooked well. But this was their first time cooking a spirit fish, and they were quite nervous.

"Just as usual, but steam it a bit longer." Gu An also had some knowledge of cooking. This spirit fish had no gamey or fishy smell, making it suitable for steaming.

Bai Zhi took the spirit fish and left the room. Gu An walked into the inner chamber and sat down cross-legged.

Half an hour later, it was evening. The remaining clouds were like brocade, the clear lake like a ribbon. The old willow tree in the bluestone courtyard shook a few withered branches. Under the willow tree, at the stone table, Bai Zhi and Qingliu had set out the meal. Gu An pushed open the door and came out, approaching to sit down. The two knew that Gu An didn't like to be disturbed while eating, so they took their leave.

The Black Spirit Fish lay in a bronze ice vessel. The fish skin was slightly broken, revealing tender white flesh. Steam carried the fragrance of scallions, and snow-white fat seeped from the fish's belly. A jade chopstick gently poked open the gill. The translucent gill meat bloomed like clouds. Lifting a cluster of gill meat, a clear sweetness exploded on the tongue the moment it entered the mouth.

The second chopstick landed on the fish belly. He peeled back the skin and put it in his mouth. The sensation was noticeably inferior to the gill meat. The fish meat was very firm, or rather, a bit dry. Still, the overall taste was acceptable. At least it was tastier than ordinary fish. If the price was low enough, it shouldn't be hard to sell.

A wisp of cool air seeped into his Dantian. Gu An squinted his eyes, carefully feeling that strand of spiritual Qi. The amount of spiritual Qi was decent, but it couldn't compare to the Colorful-Feather Chickens.

After gaining an understanding of the Black Spirit Fish's situation, Gu An began his meal in earnest. He opened a jar of yellow wine, filled a bowl to the brim, and ate heartily with the spirit fish.