Chapter 8: Digging a Pond in the Space

Chapter 8: Digging a Pond in Her Space

"Grandma, Grandpa, I'm really strong and healthy." As she spoke, Jiang Yingxue stood up, grabbed the tea table with both hands, lifted it effortlessly, and even gave it a spin in the air.

Seeing her dangerous move, Lu Caiyun stood up in alarm, giving her a scolding look. "You silly child, put that down right now, and gently. Being strong is no use if you're this skinny. You need more nourishment."

Jiang Xianzheng shook his head, a helpless smile in his eyes. This child had been clever since she was little.

Jiang Yingxue wanted to try harder to prove she was healthy and didn't need extra nourishment, but Lu Caiyun based it entirely on her build. So, she conceded.

"Alright, I'll nourish myself." Unable to win against the elderly couple at home, Jiang Yingxue glanced down at her thin arms. Fine, she'd nourish herself then.

She used to have some meat on her bones back in school, but gradually lost weight after starting work. Even during her years of secluded cultivation in the world of immortality, she never got as thin as she was on Blue Water Star. It just showed how draining office work could be.

Over the next few days, Lu Caiyun didn't even set up her little street stall to focus on nourishing Jiang Yingxue. She stayed home, busy preparing delicious dishes and nutritious soups, only letting Jiang Yingxue leave the table after she had eaten what Lu Caiyun deemed a satisfactory amount.

Jiang Yingxue felt like she was back in her student days—woken up by her grandparents every morning, greeted by delicious food as soon as she got up, living a life of being waited on hand and foot, like a pig being fattened up.

While resting and recuperating at home, she didn't forget her rice ball plan.

The well in the courtyard had been secretly swapped out the night she returned home. She had set up a substitution array inside the well, so any water drawn from it became spiritual spring water. Like regular spring water, this spiritual spring water was warm in winter and cool in summer, sweet and pure.

This spiritual spring water shared the same source as the one in Jiang Yingxue's space, but it wasn't exactly the same. The water in the well was diluted spiritual spring water. Because the spiritual spring water inside her space was too rich in spiritual energy, suitable for cultivators but not for ordinary mortals without spiritual power, it had to be diluted for mortal consumption.

The current well water could wash away the mundane essence of crops and imbue them with the spiritual energy from the water, making the food tender and delicious.

Two days later, after finishing a large bowl of chicken soup and washing the dishes, Jiang Yingxue returned to her room.

Under the pretense of taking a nap, she was actually inside her space, digging a hole.

A hole? More accurately, a pond.

She planned to dig two ponds—one for raising fish and one for raising shrimp.

Having sealed most of her spiritual power, she preferred using physical strength for tasks within her capability rather than resorting to spiritual power. So, she was currently swinging a hoe, digging into the soil.

She piled the excavated soil to the side; this soil was meant to replace the soil in the courtyard at home.

Jiang Yingxue's space wasn't particularly large, about the size of a university campus. But though small, it had all the essential features: majestic mountains, dense forests, clear streams, and fertile plains. From a distance, it looked like an exquisitely beautiful ink-wash painting.

There were two structures in the space: one was a wooden house, and next to it stood a stone house. The wooden house was for resting, while the stone house was for storing items.

Don't be fooled by the stone house's mere 100 square meters; it could hold an extraordinary amount. Inside, ten large shelves stood neatly arranged. Each shelf was three meters high with five levels. Most items on each level fell into just two categories: storage pouches and crystal chests. Only things that couldn't or shouldn't be stored in pouches were displayed in their true form on the shelves, such as living creatures. Living beings couldn't be stored in storage pouches.

"The first shelf holds some demon beast meat. The second shelf has Spiritual Plants. This level should be edible spiritual plants, and that one should be medicinal..." Jiang Yingxue browsed through the shelves, finally selecting some spiritual plant seeds and spiritual vegetable seeds.

From the bottom level of a shelf, she took out a new storage pouch and placed the selected items inside.

Satisfied, Jiang Yingxue glanced at the new pouch. Just as she was about to leave the stone house, she suddenly heard a faint sound—so subtle it was almost imperceptible, but she caught it nonetheless.

Following the faint noise, she stopped in front of the last row of shelves.

Here it was.

Her gaze fell upon a white egg. This egg wasn't in a storage pouch; it was alive.

The egg was about the size of a crane egg, white in color with faint, intertwined blue and red patterns on its shell. As the egg wobbled and grew warm, the patterns became more distinct, appearing ancient and mysterious.

"The egg is moving. Is the creature inside about to hatch?" Jiang Yingxue had obtained this egg during one of her training journeys. Intrigued by its mysterious appearance and the life force it still possessed, she had kept it and stored it in her stone house. That was 500 years ago.

If she hadn't come in today to fetch something and accidentally noticed this egg, she might have completely forgotten about it.

Although unsure of the species inside, since it was obtained in the world of immortality and from a training ground, it was undoubtedly a demon beast.

The egg wobbled unsteadily on the shelf. Worried it might fall and break, Jiang Yingxue raised her hand and cast a spell, moving the egg from the shelf to the ground.

Half an hour later, a "crack" sounded—the first fissure appeared on the eggshell. Successfully pecking out a crack seemed to encourage the bird inside. Jiang Yingxue thought she faintly heard a joyful chirp.

"Crack," "crack"—the sounds continued. Before long, the upper half of the eggshell was completely pecked open into a large hole by the creature inside.

Jiang Yingxue stood nearby, watching intently as it hatched.

After 500 years, she was also curious about what kind of demon beast was inside.

Under her intense gaze, a young bird demon beast emerged halfway from its shell. It was covered in pale yellow down, tiny like a chick, looking cute and amusing.

The hatchling wasn't in a hurry to come out completely. Instead, it stayed inside the shell, pecking at and eating the eggshell.

It ate the hard shell with great relish, emitting occasional "crunch" sounds. It ate the shell as easily as if it were a crispy egg roll, showing that despite just hatching, its beak was quite sharp.

After finishing the shell beneath it, it started eating the pieces scattered on the ground. This way, its entire body came into Jiang Yingxue's view.

"One foot? It can't be." Combined with the patterns on the eggshell, the image of a Bifang Bird immediately surfaced in Jiang Yingxue's mind.

Was this little chick before her a Bifang Bird?

The Bifang Bird was no ordinary demon beast; it was an ancient Divine Bird. An adult Bifang Bird resembled a red-crowned crane, with blue feathers dotted with red spots. The Bifang Bird had only one foot. The flames it breathed were divine fire, sharing the same origin as the sun—solar fire—capable of incinerating all darkness and gloom in the world.