In the early morning, milky white mist steamed on the mirror-like lake surface, as if draped in a layer of light gauze. A few white lotuses swayed in the water, and from time to time, newly condensed dew slipped down from them.

It had been three days since Gu An arrived at the shores of White Mirror Lake. Under the Blackrock City Lord's unstinting investment of manpower, a small green stone courtyard had been built on the lake's central island, and today he could move in.

Walking out of the thatched hut by the lakeside, Gu An learned that the small courtyard had been completed. He dismissed all the mortals, leaving only two maidservants, and warned the Blackrock City Lord not to disturb him unless there was an important matter.

Watching the Blackrock City Lord leave with a group of people, Gu An was quite satisfied with his tactfulness and couldn't help nodding slightly.

After the crowd had gone far, Gu An slowly withdrew his gaze. "For one person's need, ten thousand people run about. Is this what it means to be a cultivator- Truly intoxicating!"

"However, a bird in a deep forest needs only one branch; a mole drinking from a river needs only a full belly."

"Attain the ultimate emptiness, abide in stillness and sincerity. The ten thousand things arise together; I shall achieve immortality."

"Still, it is the gradual increase of spiritual power, drop by drop, that is more captivating."

After encouraging himself, Gu An lightly tapped his toes and began to run across the lake surface. If one looked closely, they could see that each time his toes touched the water, a faint blue condensation of spiritual power formed, providing him with leverage.

Gu An lightly clapped his hands, and a patch of black cloud swam out from the lake bottom. It turned out to be Black Spirit Fish. They had dark brown patterns on their bodies, long dorsal fins, and spindle-shaped heads. They raised their heads above the water, opening their mouths to beg for food.

"Ah, another one died." Gu An counted the spirit fish, feeling troubled. These days, the Spirit Source Feedback had been ringing incessantly, so he chose to mute the notification sound.

"Splash."

A spray of water splashed onto Gu An's face. Several spirit fish, seeing that Gu An was slow to bring out the good food, anxiously slapped the water with their tails, splashing water everywhere.

Gu An looked at dozens of dead fish eyes staring at him, appearing somewhat eager to leap out. He quickly took out prepared grains from his storage bag and scattered handfuls into the water, muttering under his breath, "What are you staring at- After a year, I'll sell you all, and then you'll be eaten by who knows who. Only then will you know how good I, your Daoist master, am."

"Whoever performs well, I'll keep as breeding stock, allow them to spawn fry, and then I'll eat them myself."

"This way, you leave behind offspring while avoiding the hardship of wandering. Isn't that wonderful-"

"You'll repay your Daoist master's kindness!"

..

After drawing a pie in the sky for the spirit fish without receiving any positive emotional feedback-the Black Spirit Fish still stared with their dead fish eyes-Gu An suddenly felt bored. He turned around and headed to the lakeside courtyard.

At this time, the morning mist had not yet dispersed. The small courtyard lay on the lake like a damp jade pendant. The newly built courtyard walls were a bluish-gray, not very high, allowing one to see the lake view outside from within.

Half-rolled lattice windows, red wooden doors, and rows of dripping eaves made of green tiles. Morning mist condensed into water droplets sliding down. The courtyard faced east, with a transplanted weeping willow standing on the south side, its branches hanging in front of the window. On the north side were two small rooms. Gu An planned to use one for storing grain and the other for the two maidservants.

Due west was the main house. From outside to inside, the outer room was the largest, used for receiving guests-though Gu An didn't have much use for it. Next was the bedroom, with only a bed and a table. The innermost room was the cultivation chamber, furnished with a meditation cushion and a small table.

The entire small courtyard exuded an air of poverty. The Blackrock City Lord had wanted to send some fancy ornaments, but Gu An refused. They were just mortal objects; there was no need to deliberately pursue them.

"Bai Zhi, Qingliu, you two will live in the first room outside from now on. Every day, sweep the courtyard and tidy up the outer room."

"Do not enter the inner rooms. Also, remember: do not feed the fish without permission!"

Gu An looked at the two maidservants. One dressed in green, the other in white-easy to tell apart. The one on the left had an oval face, apricot eyes like dew, a green jade hairpin, and a light green cloth skirt wrapped around her slender waist. The one on the right had an egg-shaped face, a clean and neat plain white short gown, and neatly arranged black hair.

"We understand, Master. We will not make mistakes." The two quickly knelt to reply.

Gu An nodded slightly, signaling them to rise. "No need to kneel when speaking from now on. What are your backgrounds-"

Although he didn't believe the Blackrock City Lord had the audacity to pull any tricks, one could never be too cautious. This was his first time leaving the sect for garrison duty, so it was better to be careful in all matters.

"I am from the Zhang family of Blackrock City. My father is the City Lord of Blackrock City." Bai Zhi spoke softly, answering first.

"I am from the Zhen family of Blackrock City. My family deals in grain business." Qingliu quickly added.

"Mm, I don't care what your backgrounds are. Since you're here, do your work well." Gu An couldn't detect anything wrong, but he still issued a warning.

"Alright, you may leave."

..

Gu An stepped into the inner quiet room and sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion.

He began to take stock of this trip down the mountain.

"Hmm, I have two spirit stones left. Not good for cultivation, but if there's a fight later, I can use them to urgently replenish Magic Power."

"A low-grade magical artifact, the Emerald Shadow Needle. A yin artifact. Used well, it could be very useful."

"A half-spirit beast, Little Black, for travel. I'll keep it on the lakeside pasture."

..

After tallying his assets, Gu An felt a mix of sorrow and joy. The sorrow was that he only had two spirit stones left. It seemed that only after a year, when he went to Cloud City to collect his salary and sell the Black Spirit Fish, would he have any income. The joy was that he had obtained a new magical artifact, the Emerald Shadow Needle. Although it was only a First-Grade Lower-Tier artifact, it was still his first magical artifact and suited his preferences quite well.

Gu An shook his head and smiled. Thinking of the Black Spirit Fish in the lake outside the door, he felt a surge of hope.

Three Spirit Roots, no resources. Ordinary aptitude, unremarkable background.

In this cold world, only spirit beasts knew gratitude and gave him warmth.

Pushing aside stray thoughts, Gu An began to cultivate.

Indeed, although he had the Spirit Source Feedback, Gu An did not slack off. Not to mention the habits formed over many years, the Black Spirit Fish would take a full year to mature.

Before that, they were in their growth period, easily absorbing spiritual power. Naturally, he couldn't do something as foolish as killing the goose that laid the golden egg. He couldn't waste this idle time either. Better to cultivate, striving to reach Qi Condensation Perfection as soon as possible and seek Foundation Establishment.

As spiritual power entered his body, Gu An immediately felt the difference. White Mirror Lake was a first-grade middle-tier spirit vein. In terms of concentration, it was far inferior to Little Thousand Peak. Although no one competed for the spiritual energy here, the concentration was what it was. The amount of spiritual energy he could absorb each moment was limited, greatly reducing his cultivation efficiency.

So that was why external assignment tasks had plenty of perks but were less sought after than the tasks on Qingyuan Nine Peaks. So this was the reason. If only he could raise spirit beasts near the sect.

Unfortunately, he owed this task to Steward Zhang's favor. The tasks with both good perks and excellent cultivation environments simply weren't available to him.

Suppressing stray thoughts and calming his mind, Gu An focused on absorbing the water spiritual power floating in the air. Tiny blue particles drifted into Gu An's skin and disappeared.

In the days that followed, Gu An would cultivate Qi Condensation every day at the hour of the Mao, facing the purple mist.

After that, he would practice techniques for two hours.

After the noon meal, he would feed the spirit fish, occasionally riding Little Black to run wild.

In the afternoon, he would spend an hour practicing with his magical artifact.

Magical artifacts and techniques were not the key to longevity, but they were means of protecting the Dao and could not be taken lightly.

After the evening meal, he would patrol White Mirror Lake, observing and recording the condition of the spirit fish.

At night, under the moonlight, he would cultivate for four hours. The moonlight and the purple mist were both essences of heaven and earth, temporarily increasing the concentration of spiritual energy.

A True Person from Qingyuan Sect once said that when a spirit vein bathes in purple mist and moonlight, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it can gradually elevate its grade. At such times, spiritual energy overflows, and disciples of our sect should seize the fated chance and diligently cultivate.

Gu An deeply agreed.

Thus, the sun and moon rotated, and Gu An's days passed one after another-full but not busy.