I Can Use Myriad Divine Abilities-Chapter 66: Returning to the Old Home

This life is unbearable!

Zhang Yuan cursed as he packed up his fishing rod—another day without a catch.

In his two lifetimes as a human, he had cultivated his qi quite well.

Unless he couldn’t hold it in, he would normally not be so irritable!

Lately, Zhang Yuan had moved to live in Wu Manor, making his life much more convenient.

Every day, while practicing martial arts and strengthening his body, he would fish by the riverside in the morning and evening.

Catching fish meant not only a meal for himself but also something for offerings.

Yet, after several days, ignoring a few insignificant small fry, Zhang Yuan found nothing but his empty nets.

He hadn’t even caught a single thumb-sized carp.

It was simply absurd!

The reason lay in the fishing vessels scattered across the riverbend.

The commotion caused by the White Dragon Loach had not faded with time but showed signs of intensifying.

Though no one had yet caught this rare and valuable fish,

the temptation of the Qi Storage Pill had drawn nearly all the fishermen in.

Most had no idea what the Qi Storage Pill was,

but they couldn’t resist the exorbitant prices offered for it.

Reportedly, the highest price had reached five thousand taels per fish.

What does five thousand taels mean?

It could allow an ordinary family to live comfortably in the county town for decades.

One could buy three hundred maids like Xiang Xiu!

Thus, with eyes red with desire, the fishermen steering small boats tirelessly cast nets up and down the Celestial Horse River and across this riverbend, day and night.

Fish dwelling in the river met with terrible misfortune.

The Furious Whale Gang, being the dominating force of the Celestial Horse River, should have controlled the situation.

Initially, the Linhai Sub-Branch did just that.

Surprisingly though, their affiliated merchant boats were attacked by unknown forces.

The losses were severe.

Forced to recall all external disciples, the Linhai Sub-Branch reorganized merchant ship transportation,

focusing entirely on the challenges from their enemies.

Naturally, they couldn’t attend to other "minor issues."

Now, with the riverbend left unchecked, some bold fishermen even cast nets close to shore.

Given these circumstances, Zhang Yuan’s continued empty nets were only to be expected.

With a helpless sigh, he packed up his fishing gear and returned dejectedly.

This can’t go on!

In recent days, Zhang Yuan felt his muscles and skin tense, his bones achy, and his Qi and Blood Value showed no increase for three days straight.

This indicated his cultivation had hit a bottleneck, almost preventing further progress.

Unless he could break through to Tier One Light Force and step into Tier Two Dark Force!

Light Force refines the flesh, Dark Force tempers the bones; step by step, it’s the only path to becoming strong.

The problem lay not in the lack of cultivation technique, but in the lack of silver taels.

Previously, Chen Zhize lent him a hundred taels, but it was almost all spent.

In a few days, he’d have no medicinal bath left.

Given Zhang Yuan’s current cultivation consumption, relying solely on his Battle Hall disciple’s stipend was far from sufficient.

He needed to find another way to make money.

Additionally, there was the matter of Source Material.

As Zhang Yuan contemplated, he carried his fishing gear to the dock.

He found Chen Dawang.

Chen Dawang was a survivor from Chen Family Village, who had luckily escaped the massacre and fled outside the city.

He then encountered Zhang Yuan.

Out of consideration for their shared village, Zhang Yuan asked Chen Zhize to arrange a job for him.

Although it was laborious work, for Chen Dawang, who had nowhere else to turn, it was like divine intervention.

So when he saw Zhang Yuan again, he was overjoyed: "Brother Yuan, what brings you to me?"

Zhang Yuan pulled him aside and asked, "Any news from Chen Family Village lately?"

Chen Dawang was taken aback.

Then he bitterly smiled and shook his head, "None."

Everyone knew.

Chen Family Village was completely done for.

The strange calamity was no joke!

For Chen Dawang, his once-home was a painful memory best left unvisited.

He hesitated a moment before adding, "I did hear recently that some people from Wang Family Village and Shanhou Village have returned, and no one from the government office stopped them."

Qianfeng Mountain stretched hundreds of miles, with more than just Chen Family Village near its vastness.

Wang Family Village and Shanhou Village, mentioned by Chen Dawang, were also mountain villages, not far from Chen Family Village.

Although the County Government Office had decreed to forbid entering the mountain,

it hadn’t forbidden the disaster-stricken villagers from returning home.

Thus, some refugees returning to their villages to live was entirely reasonable.

After all, making a living in the county town was genuinely difficult.

As for the strange phenomenon, people naturally feared it.

But with so much time having passed,

unless the mountain village had turned into a Deceitful Realm, they should indeed return to the remote mountains.

"I won’t return."

Chen Dawang’s voice carried a chill: "There’s no one left at home."

Only with family is there a home.

Zhang Yuan had no words to counter that; he took this Uncle Da Wang to a nearby tavern by the dock for a drink.

The next morning, Zhang Yuan, armed with a bow, Yanling Saber, and Da Hu, quietly left Wu Manor.

Walking quickly, he reached the vicinity of Chen Family Village.

In just a few months, the mountain path leading from Chen Family Village to the county town was overgrown with vines.

Nature’s forces were erasing human traces.

Zhang Yuan stood on a hill, gazing down at the distant mountain village—his home for over a decade.

The present Chen Family Village showed no sign of human life, quietly bathed in the morning light.

Some straw huts and mud houses had collapsed, and the village roads were overgrown with weeds.

It wouldn’t be long before everything here was erased!

Woof!

Da Hu, squatting beside Zhang Yuan, barked once.

Zhang Yuan patted its head and headed toward the old burial mound at the eastern end of the village.

The old burial mound was filled with graves, the resting place of the ancestors of Chen Family Village.

Typically, any deceased villagers were cremated, and their ashes buried there.

Finally, their memorial tablets were either placed in the Ancestral Hall or kept at home for worship.

Outsiders like Zhang Yuan’s father, however, were not qualified to be buried in the old burial mound.

Let alone have their tablets placed in the Ancestral Hall!

Today, Zhang Yuan had come to pay his respects to Elder Master Chen.

When he awakened his past life’s memories and sought the world’s knowledge, he had studied under Elder Master Chen to learn to read and write.

Though somewhat pedantic, Elder Master Chen was very upright, and he especially favored the outstandingly capable Zhang Yuan.

This old master had imparted much knowledge to Zhang Yuan.

Unfortunately, good people often have short lives.

Before Elder Master Chen’s grave, Zhang Yuan laid out offerings and then burned incense, candles, and paper money.

Woof woof!

Just as Zhang Yuan finished and was about to leave, Da Hu, who had been sitting obediently next to him, suddenly turned and barked loudly toward a nearby grove.

The Mountain Guard Dog bared its teeth, adopting an attacking posture!

Zhang Yuan’s gaze sharpened, and he immediately gripped the Yanling Saber.

Da Hu was a trained hunting dog and would not bark needlessly.

Unless it sensed danger.

Yet, wherever Zhang Yuan looked,

he saw no wild beasts.

The grove remained silent and still.

Yet at that moment, Da Hu’s demeanor was one of visible tension and fear!