Chapter 211: Jian

Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Jian

"Don’t worry, it’s been on my mind. How could I forget?" Zhang Dazhuang agreed with a cheerful nod.

Zhang Wei Qiang also smiled. "Do you want your uncle to help you? I promise it’ll just be a gentle prick and won’t even hurt."

"No, that’s okay. Isn’t it just pricking my finger for a drop of blood? I can do it myself," Gu Nuan Nuan refused, shaking her head decisively. The truth was, she wanted to avoid her grandfather and uncle because she had no intention of performing the blood-binding ritual on the small storage bag. She was, of course, going to bind the storage ring, the one with the most space.

According to Cao Cao, in the Cultivation World, almost no Cultivator would bother binding a spatial container like a storage bag. The only ones who did were Loose Cultivators who were extremely poor in resources and had no elders backing them.

Cao Cao had sounded very disdainful when it said this. It then muttered to itself that it had been influenced by one of its former masters, so even though it knew it was wrong, it couldn’t shake the bad habit of looking down on Loose Cultivators.

’He was a Loose Cultivator himself. I really don’t know why he looked down on other Loose Cultivators who had no resources.’

Gu Nuan Nuan had to smile, remembering how Cao Cao had looked while saying this to two of its own leaves and branches, its tone incredibly conflicted.

’I actually don’t mind binding the storage bag,’ she thought. ’After all, I’ve never felt like I’m any better than the Loose Cultivators in the Cultivation World. At least they live in places with abundant Spiritual Energy and can find cultivation resources for themselves from time to time. But what about me? I have a good Spirit Root, but it’s completely useless. Here in the Mortal World, on a planet like Blue Water Star that doesn’t even have Spiritual Energy to support Cultivation, what right do I have to look down on them? If those Loose Cultivators knew my situation, they’d probably be the ones pitying me, wouldn’t they?’

Gu Nuan Nuan chuckled at the thought.

The reason she wasn’t binding the storage bag was simple: since she already had a better storage ring, there was no reason to settle for second best, right? She had actually thought about secretly getting her mother to bind this spare storage bag, but she had stamped down on that idea the moment it surfaced.

’If I had Mom bind the storage bag, too, how would I explain it?’

"Alright, then. Just don’t forget to have your uncle help you sterilize the needle in a flame before you draw blood, so you don’t get an infection." Zhang Wei Qiang, on the other hand, had no idea so many thoughts had just run through Gu Nuan Nuan’s mind. He didn’t push her, but he was still worried enough to give her that warning.

"Okay." Of course, Gu Nuan Nuan wasn’t going to refuse that.

Once all three of them had successfully bound their rings, Gu Nuan Nuan set up the Jade table and stools nearby. Then she took out the Moonlight Stone, the Jade Scrolls, all the little bottles and jars, and the Magic Treasures, spreading everything across the table and pretending to "study" it all.

As she "studied," she peeked over at her grandfather and uncle gathering the fish.

Because the fish were living creatures, they couldn’t be placed directly into the storage bags. So, the two men had to scoop them up with empty baskets, set the baskets aside, and wait for the fish to suffocate before they could be collected. The whole process was slow, and their efficiency couldn’t be improved no matter how much they hurried. Gu Nuan Nuan overheard them talking it over:

Zhang Dazhuang frowned. "This isn’t working. It’s too slow. At this rate, we’ll barely collect any fish all day."

"Exactly. I think we should go outside, get some rocks, and build a makeshift pool in here. Then we can just scoop up the fish and dump them inside. That way, we won’t have to tie up the baskets just waiting for them." Zhang Wei Qiang was also getting impatient and shared his idea.

"That’s a great idea." Zhang Dazhuang slapped his thigh. "We should’ve done that from the start! It’s like they say, ’Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the chopping.’ Let’s stop fishing for now and build that pool first."

’This is my chance.’

Before the two men could leave the cave, Gu Nuan Nuan ran to the Fish Spring cradling a container about the size of a soup bowl. She crouched down, submerged the container in the water, and pulled it out a moment later. She then placed it into her storage bag and immediately took it out again. Then, with feigned, over-the-top excitement, she cried out, "Grandpa, Uncle, come quick! Look what I found!"

"What’d you find?" Zhang Wei Qiang asked casually.

"Hey, that thing in your hands is quite good-looking." Zhang Dazhuang looked over, his attention immediately captivated by the antique design of the strange container Gu Nuan Nuan was holding.

"It really is something," Zhang Wei Qiang agreed, also unable to identify it.

"It’s a *jian*, an ancient type of basin." Seeing that her grandfather and uncle were focused on the wrong thing, Gu Nuan Nuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Grandpa, Uncle, I want you to look *inside*. See? The fish are still swimming around in here. I just tried putting the whole thing in my storage bag and taking it out, and they’re still alive and kicking!" Gu Nuan Nuan brandished the container at them.

"From the outside, a little basin like this looks too small to even hold one fish. How... Wait, are all those... fish?" Zhang Dazhuang was dismissive at first, but he was stunned when he got a clear look inside the *jian*. Zhang Wei Qiang leaned in closer and saw countless black dots, each the size of a sesame seed, zipping around in a shallow layer of water. He couldn’t help but gape in amazement.

"Are those really fish in there?" they both asked at once as soon as they snapped out of it.

"Of course they’re fish. If you don’t believe me, watch." Gu Nuan Nuan reached into the water and casually scooped her hand upward. Zhang Dazhuang and Zhang Wei Qiang stared without blinking. As her hand rose, the tiny black dots trickled away until, when her hand was clear of the basin, a single fish lay wriggling in her palm. It gave a flop and quickly slid off her hand, shrinking back into a sesame-sized black dot the moment it hit the water.

"So this is the kind of stuff Cultivators use? It’s just too miraculous!" Zhang Dazhuang reached in and copied Gu Nuan Nuan’s action, feeling the slipperiness of the fish as they slid from his grasp. He clicked his tongue, his voice filled with awe and envy.

"Heh. Grandpa, it’s because this *jian* is empowered by an Array. Almost all Cultivator items are. This thing isn’t even a Magic Treasure. Because of its material, it can only be enchanted with a low-level Array; it wouldn’t be able to handle a High-Level one. So to a Cultivator, this is just a common water container, a run-of-the-mill item. A real Magic Treasure, on the other hand, could be a tiny bottle capable of holding entire rivers and oceans," Gu Nuan Nuan explained with a soft laugh.

"And this is just a run-of-the-mill item?" Zhang Dazhuang couldn’t help but gulp.

"Dad, it’s a good thing it’s just a run-of-the-mill item. Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t be able to use it, right, Nuannuan?" Zhang Wei Qiang had already caught on and asked with a smile.