Chapter 328 - 321: Over 10 Catties of Qi?

In the quiet of the night, Song Ciwan continued to extend her Spiritual Sense outward.

Meanwhile, Brother Yun kept his vigil on the rooftop for the better part of an hour.

The leather pouch he guarded remained stubbornly deflated. Too much time had passed. The moon had retreated behind the clouds, and the stars, in contrast, were beginning to shine brighter. Dawn could not be far off.

Resigned, Brother Yun carefully put away the still-limp leather pouch.

He took the pouch back to his room, which he shared with other performers from the troupe. However, Brother Yun’s movements were several times more nimble than Little Yao Family’s. His roommates were fast asleep, and no one was roused by his return.

The rest of the night passed without incident, but Song Ciwan transformed into a gentle breeze and slipped out the window.

She drifted above the old Liao Family residence and summoned the Heaven and Earth Scale. With a whirl, its Balance Plate spun, drawing in all the gloomy masses of qi within her sight and absorbing them completely.

[Nether Qi of the Mortal World. Naturally generated, it is strengthened by the seven emotions and six desires of mortals. Weight: Ten catties and eight taels. Available for trade.]

’Huh? Ten catties and eight taels?’

This was the first time she had collected such a heavy mass of qi—a truly pleasant surprise.

She did not linger above the old Liao Family residence. After collecting the mass of qi, she immediately returned to the Gu Family home.

The Big White Goose was still nestled under her bed, acting as her guard, completely unaware that Song Ciwan had already been out and back.

Song Ciwan did not delay. Without hesitation, she sold all of this Nether Qi in one go to see what she would get.

[You have sold ten catties and eight taels of Nether Qi from the Mortal World and obtained the complete Qimen Taoist Skill: Heaven-Stealing Day-Changing.]

Heaven-Stealing Day-Changing: A technique of Shifting Form and Position, the method of stealing heaven and changing the day. Initially, one can swap low-level small objects, perform Taking Objects in the Air, and use Stone Exchange and Gold Movement. As one’s Cultivation improves, the Level of swappable items can be gradually raised until one can Exchange Dust for Stars—this is the true meaning of Heaven-Stealing Day-Changing.

’What a terrifying Divine Skill! Truly worthy of being exchanged for over ten catties of Nether Qi!’

Before Song Ciwan could even rejoice, streams of profound and inscrutable Technique Mantras, like dancing starlight, projected toward her from the endless void.

The profound and arcane spell, carrying with it all sorts of strange and indescribable principles, merged into Song Ciwan’s Heart Soul. She no longer had the luxury of other thoughts, hastily focusing her mind to digest and absorb this spell with all her might.

Gradually, Song Ciwan began to understand.

Compared to all the other spells she had previously learned—from minor ones like the Blazing Flame Technique to major ones like Call Wind and Rain—all of that magic was fundamentally based on Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.

Even the Infinite Power of Divine Communication and Daoist Techniques, which on the surface seemed unrelated to Yin and Yang or the Five Elements, was in reality a Divine Technique that acted upon the human body to alter its fundamental power. And because it acted on the body, it could not be separated from the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.

All of them, whether magic or Divine Techniques, had form and substance; they followed traceable patterns.

The wonder of Heaven-Stealing Day-Changing, however, lay in the fact that this magic was more akin to the power of causality—or perhaps, the power of fundamental principles. It bore some resemblance to the Great Derivation Birth Skill, but its essence was fundamentally different.

This was Song Ciwan’s first time encountering something on this level. For a moment, even with her extremely high comprehension, she still found the technique elusive and difficult to grasp.

It wasn’t until the eastern sky began to pale, the first bright rays of dawn streaked across the dark canopy, and the sleeping mountain village stirred with crowing roosters, barking dogs, and human chatter, that Song Ciwan finally awoke from her state of Cultivation.

As she awoke, the intricacies of the spell flowed through her mind.

Song Ciwan felt a lingering, impulsive urge. She picked up a stray cotton thread from her bed and, riding this impulse, pointed a finger at the Big White Goose resting on the footstool.

The Big White Goose seemed to sense it and woke with a start.

It flapped its wings and let out a "HONK HONK!"

A small tuft of loose down vanished from its body. The next moment, that same down appeared out of thin air in Song Ciwan’s hand.

Meanwhile, the cotton thread appeared on the Big White Goose, taking the place of the down.

The thread was extremely light, so the Big White Goose didn’t notice that it had lost something and gained something else. After all, the down Song Ciwan had taken was already loose and about to fall off naturally. It wasn’t as if she had violently plucked a feather from its body—

But the Big White Goose did see the small tuft of soft white down appear out of thin air in Song Ciwan’s hand.

It jumped up at once, crying out in astonishment, "GAK GAK! HONK HONK!"

Song Ciwan chuckled at its jumpiness. She casually placed the down into the Heaven and Earth Scale and immediately sold it: [You have sold one tuft of loose down from a Pseudo-Spirit Communication Stage Goose Demon and obtained one Two-star Level Iron Feather Talisman.]

The Big White Goose’s progress was truly significant, advancing from an ordinary goose to an Unworthy Little Demon, and now to the Pseudo-Spirit Communication Stage.

Song Ciwan embedded the Iron Feather Talisman into the Big White Goose. This talisman strengthened its defenses. On a creature like the Big White Goose, as long as it didn’t get into a fight, the protection would last for a full day and night.

Whenever the Big White Goose shed its down, Song Ciwan would collect it and sell it when she had the chance. She now had ten Iron Feather Talismans left from these trades.

Song Ciwan gently stroked its head, then its back, giving the goose a thorough petting. She continued until the wildly honking Big White Goose was completely soothed and grew gentle, and only then did she let it go.

As a result, the Big White Goose turned around and, with a soft PLOP, laid another egg right in front of her.

Song Ciwan: ...

A smile touched her lips as she picked up the egg at the Big White Goose’s urging.

The Big White Goose was proud and excited, urging Song Ciwan to cook and eat the egg, just as it had the very first time it laid one.

Song Ciwan quickly placated it. "Big White, it’s not convenient right now. I’ll put this egg away for now. How about we wait until we’re back in our own home to steam and eat it?"

The Big White Goose was quite obedient. Having received Song Ciwan’s promise, it snuggled against her quietly and stopped its clamoring.

Song Ciwan stored the egg in her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven, then cast a Dust Clearing Technique to clean both herself and the Big White Goose.

Just then, someone called from outside. It was one of the Gu family, letting her know that breakfast was ready and calling for her to eat.

Interestingly, the one calling for her was none other than Mr. Gu’s wife, Little Yao Family.

Song Ciwan exchanged a few casual words with her. Noticing that Little Yao Family seemed rather absent-minded, she didn’t press the conversation.

But with a flick of her finger, she casually sent a speck of dust onto Little Yao Family, swapping it for a single strand of hair from the woman’s shoulder.

The hair contained Little Yao Family’s fundamental aura. With this aura as a link, it would be much easier for Song Ciwan to monitor the woman’s every move.

Song Ciwan did not eat breakfast with the Gu family that day. She wasn’t accustomed to sharing meals with strangers, so she simply told them she was practicing Fasting as part of her Cultivation.

For the entire morning that followed, the Gu family was incredibly busy.

They were preparing a banquet for the Ancient Major Sect’s youngest daughter. The feast was set to begin at noon and continue until nightfall.

When the first guests were seated, the opera troupe would take the stage to perform. The Gu family was spinning with preparations, and many villagers from Gu Family Village had come to help.

Song Ciwan kept a close eye on Little Yao Family, who bustled about with everyone else all morning. On the surface, she did nothing out of the ordinary.

It wasn’t until just before noon, as the banquet was about to begin, that Little Yao Family suddenly found an excuse to go to the room belonging to the Ancient Major Sect and his wife, sending his wife, a woman of the Dai Family, away on a pretext.