At noon, Aunt Gu called Jiang Ning to eat, but he declined. The mother and daughter weren't living comfortably, and since he could fend for himself, he worried about eating them into poverty.
Jiang Ning looked at the meat he had bought that morning: three pounds of beef and five pounds of pork ribs.
He channeled his Spiritual Power, pointing in the air a few times. A white, mystical disk resembling a starry sky appeared on the table.
With a flick of his Spiritual Power, the disk began to spin gently, sending a stream of cold air outward.
This was the most basic type of Array, one that could create a localized low-temperature zone. Jiang Ning placed the beef on it. This way, the meat wouldn't spoil, and its texture could remain intact—an effect superior to that of a refrigerator.
A casual burst of his Spiritual Power was enough to maintain the mini-Array for a full day and night.
Then, Jiang Ning began to prepare the pork ribs. With a simple motion, he drew clean water from a bucket, cleansing the ribs thoroughly in midair.
While cooking, he found the electric stove's heat insufficient, so he used Spiritual Power again, conjuring a flame. The fire flowed and coiled around the pot, roasting the ribs evenly from all angles.
When the ribs were done roasting, the delicious aroma filled the air. Jiang Ning sprinkled the pre-prepared spices over the ribs, as if it were a skewer grill from modern times.
Unfortunately, the pig was an ordinary one and not a Spiritual Beast, so it wouldn't provide much help for cultivation. When his Cultivation improved, Jiang Ning planned to find better alternatives.
He flicked a few pieces of fruit into the air. Sword Qi flashed, slicing the fruit as precisely as in a fruit-slicing game. The seeds were discarded, and the fruit chunks gently floated down onto a plate, as though carried by clouds.
With another wave of his hand, Jiang Ning gathered a fist-sized droplet of water in midair, which then morphed into a flat shape.
He summoned another flame, and with terrifying heat, the water was instantly boiled. The boiling water collected into a stream and gently poured itself into a cup.
The only downside was that it wasn't purified water. He had no means to purify it yet, unlike industrial-grade filtration systems.
After plating everything simply, Jiang Ning's lunch was ready.
Just as he was about to eat, Xue Yuantong walked in with a bowl in her hands. When she saw the large plate of ribs, her eyes widened involuntarily.
Xue Yuantong had come to deliver some steamed buns. Yesterday, her mother had steamed a batch, and she was told to bring some to Jiang Ning. She could have delivered them earlier, but she had been scrolling through online forums and delayed it until now.
Her plan was to check what Jiang Ning was having for lunch. If he hadn't eaten, she'd drag him to her house. After all, she had snacked on his snacks earlier in the morning, hadn't she?
With that in mind, she had even put some extra thought into cooking and heated up three additional buns, ensuring there would be enough even if Jiang Ning came over.
But when she saw Jiang Ning's lunch, she realized he was eating quite well. Looking at his sumptuous ribs and thinking of her own modest lunch, she couldn't stop herself from drooling.
"Hmm? Steamed buns? Just what I was craving," Jiang Ning said in surprise.
He wasn't just saying it to be polite. Located in central China, Yuzhou had residents who ate both rice and wheat products. Jiang Ning had adopted the local food culture, and though he liked rice, he had a particular fondness for steamed buns.
While steamed buns were sold outside, most contained additives and couldn't compare to the homemade ones. Seeing the buns Xue Yuantong brought made Jiang Ning genuinely happy.
"Thank Aunt Gu for me," Jiang Ning said as he picked up a bowl of ribs and handed it to Xue Yuantong, adding, "No refusing. This is how favors work."
"Fine!" Xue Yuantong didn't argue. Lately, she felt her relationship with Jiang Ning had grown much closer, giving her a sense of peace. Faced with such a considerate younger brother, she decided she must help him with his studies in the future and ensure he got into a 211 university.
Thinking this, Xue Yuantong accepted the offer without hesitation.
...
That evening, Jiang Ning left with a backpack on.
Running along the embankment, his speed was astonishing. After half an hour, he reached a remote area where there were no streetlights. But with his heightened Five Senses, everything under the moonlight was clearly visible.
The transformer box emitted a "buzzing" noise, a testament to its high voltage. For an ordinary person, touching it would mean instant death on the spot.
Jiang Ning opened his backpack and took out two cartons of milk, downing them in one go.
Feeling a twinge of melancholy, he thought back to when he practiced Body Cultivation—taking two Elixir Pills was enough back then. Now, he had to rely on milk for nutrition.
Jiang Ning fully unleashed his Divine Sense, scanning a twenty-meter radius. His keen ears picked up a faint anomaly near a river tributary.
Walking toward the stream, he saw that this tributary spanned about ten meters wide and ran perpendicular to the Huishui River. It was blocked by a concrete dam and didn't connect to the Huishui directly.
This small river irrigated nearby farmlands, making it crucial for local agriculture. With a glance through his Divine Sense, Jiang Ning noticed a water pipe about thirty centimeters underwater continuously discharging liquid.
He channeled his Spiritual Power into a large hand that reached into the water, scooping up a mass of liquid and depositing it onto a nearby field. Immediately, a pungent smell of chemical waste filled the air.
"Illegal waste dumping, huh?" Jiang Ning muttered to himself.
Looking up, his gaze stretched over hundreds of meters of farmland and landed on a distant village.
In recent years, Yuzhou City caught illegal wastewater-dumping enterprises almost every year. Small firms like this, secretly discharging waste, were pervasive.
Why? Because of profit, of course.
But now that Jiang Ning had caught one, there was no way he'd let it slide.
Using a Spell, his body slowly faded from view.
This was the "Concealing Qi Technique," which could hide his presence and function similar to invisibility.
Though it was a minor trick, Jiang Ning also knew the Void Escape secret technique. Combined with a Concealing Qi Magical Treasure, even a Nascent Soul Perfection cultivator's Divine Sense wouldn't detect him.
Unfortunately, for now, he couldn't use that ability.
Jiang Ning used his Divine Sense to locate the pipeline. About twenty steps from the riverbank, the sewage pipe was covered by only a thin layer of soil.
Jiang Ning felt fortunate the pipe wasn't buried deeper. Otherwise, even with his Divine Sense, he might have been at a loss.
Locking onto the pipe, Jiang Ning began following its direction toward the village.
The village was desolate. As he moved through it, he saw nothing but abandoned houses, making the place look like a haunted, desolate town from a horror movie.
If he brought Xue Yuantong here, she'd probably faint from fear.
Jiang Ning knew why this was the case. Yuzhou's industries weren't as developed as those in the Coastal Region. The young and middle-aged villagers had gone to work in other places, leaving behind homes either near the highway or in Yuzhou City.
After all, working in Coastal Cities could let a couple save tens of thousands annually through frugal living. Some of these migrant workers were wealthier than the salaried classes in Yuzhou's urban area. With housing prices still affordable, years of working could allow them to buy a house in the city.
As more people moved away, the village was left with only elderly residents. When the elders passed on, the village naturally fell into decline, and decades later, it might cease to exist altogether.
The village before him was an example of severe abandonment.
Crossing most of the village, Jiang Ning finally spotted two households in the western part, both occupied by elderly inhabitants.
After traveling a bit further, he stopped in the northeastern corner of the village. Ahead lay a high-walled courtyard, from which the noise of machinery could be heard.