Chapter 4: Spirit Fish Meat

“Senior Sister, you must be hungry.”
With a gentle smile, Liu Qingqing led Shen Qinghe to the stone table in the small courtyard, brushing away the few scattered bits that had fallen onto the stone stool and motioning for her to sit.
She then produced several dishes from her food box—three dishes and a soup. Though not abundant, every dish was prepared with care.
The green porcelain bowl held white rice, lustrous and plump like jade, each grain exuding a faint fragrance of grain.
Most eye-catching was the plate of golden meat at the center, its surface glistening with oil, dotted with bright green scallions, and giving off an enchanting aroma that made one's mouth water just from the scent alone.
“This is... spirit fish meat!” Shen Qinghe’s eyes sparkled as she looked up in surprise at Liu Qingqing. “Where did you get it?”
Spirit fish grow in streams infused with spiritual springs, their flesh containing pure spiritual energy—a delicacy coveted by cultivators.
Even the most ordinary spirit fish, weighing barely over a pound, would fetch at least a hundred low-grade spirit stones in the marketplace.
Though the piece before them was merely palm-sized, it would still cost a dozen low-grade spirit stones.
As outer sect disciples, they usually scrimped even on scraps of spirit rice. To taste spirit fish once or twice a year was considered an extraordinary blessing.
“Hehe!” Liu Qingqing’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she pushed the spirit fish meat toward Shen Qinghe, as if presenting a treasure. “Senior Sister, you’re injured. I begged the kitchen brother for a long time to exchange for this piece of spirit fish meat, so you could recover!”
She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I heard this spirit fish was freshly caught from the Azure Wave Pool, brimming with spiritual energy!”
“Senior Sister, eat it while it’s hot—the flavor won’t be as good once it cools!” Liu Qingqing urged.
“You little rascal!” Shen Qinghe pressed her onto the stool beside her. “We’ll eat together!”
“But…”
“Enough!” Shen Qinghe cut her off, leaving no room for argument. “If you don’t eat, neither will I!”
Hearing this, Liu Qingqing nodded reluctantly. “Alright.”
Thus, the two began to enjoy their meal.
The spirit fish meat melted in the mouth, transforming almost instantly into a gentle, warm current that slid down the throat.
Shen Qinghe felt a wave of warmth rising from her stomach, spreading like spring rain through her limbs, gradually dissolving her weakness, soothing her exhaustion.
Liu Qingqing’s culinary skills were indeed superb. Aside from the spirit fish, the two other home-style dishes were also beautifully cooked, with perfect color, aroma, and flavor.
This talent likely stemmed from her life before entering the Azure Cloud Sect.
Liu Qingqing had come from a small, impoverished village. From a young age, she managed household chores, mastering everything from washing clothes to cooking.
Had she not been chosen at fifteen when the Azure Cloud Sect recruited disciples from the mortal world, she would have been married off as an ordinary woman long ago.

“Senior Sister, eat more.” Liu Qingqing kept transferring spirit fish meat into Shen Qinghe’s bowl, taking only small portions herself. By the end, the majority of the spirit fish had ended up in Shen Qinghe’s stomach.
“You little rascal…” Shen Qinghe shook her head helplessly.
“Senior Sister needs to focus on recovery. Leave this to me; you should go rest!” Liu Qingqing smiled, swiftly collecting the bowls and chopsticks, stacking the dishes and wiping the stone table clean with a cloth, leaving Shen Qinghe no chance to help.
Her diligent manner reminded Shen Qinghe of a busy little squirrel in the mountains.
Seeing the girl so eager, Shen Qinghe did not insist and returned to her room.
The effects of spirit fish meat were not limited to eating alone.
To make the most of it,
Shen Qinghe followed the cultivation methods in her memory, sitting in meditation to fully absorb the spirit fish’s energy.
She practiced a basic technique called the “Qi Refining Formula,” a common method in the cultivation world. Every new entrant to the Azure Cloud Sect was given a free copy.
As she circulated the technique, she clearly felt the pure spiritual energy from the spirit fish flowing through her body.
This energy was purer than what she absorbed in daily cultivation, requiring little refinement before it could be used.
Carefully, she guided the energy along her meridians, slowly directing it into her dantian.
Her parched dantian greedily absorbed and refined the spiritual energy like a shower of rain.
Shen Qinghe felt her internal spiritual power quickly recovering; the sensation of fullness brought comfort to her whole body, making her feel faintly feverish.
Once the last trace of spiritual energy was refined, Shen Qinghe slowly opened her eyes.
She felt refreshed, her previous weakness and fatigue completely gone.
She rose to stretch, feeling strength suffuse her every limb and bone.
“No wonder it’s spirit fish meat,” Shen Qinghe whispered in awe. “Just a small piece not only replenished my spiritual power, but even advanced my cultivation a bit.”
A hint of longing flashed in her eyes. “If I could eat this regularly, even with my five-elemental root talent, my cultivation speed would greatly increase.”
But as soon as the thought arose, Shen Qinghe shook her head and smiled wryly.
With her current resources, how could she afford such delicacies every day?
She noticed dusk had fallen outside, and that Liu Qingqing, ever considerate, had not disturbed her cultivation.
Still feeling full from the spirit fish, Shen Qinghe paid little mind to supper.
She walked to her dressing table, where the bronze mirror reflected a refined face.

Though not a classic beauty, her features carried a steadfast, cool elegance. Now, thanks to the spirit fish, her cheeks were tinged with a gentle blush, adding to her allure.
Staring at her reflection, Shen Qinghe’s fingers unconsciously touched her cheek.
The warm sensation made her recall memories of the body’s former inhabitant—a woman with the same name as herself, but a fate entirely different.
Scenes flashed before her eyes like lantern slides:
In the deep Shen family manor, a frail girl curled in a corner of the side courtyard.
With a five-elemental root, she was treated as a discarded child, her so-called “upbringing” merely a prelude to being used as a tool for marriage alliances once she came of age.
The elders’ gaze upon her was like appraising merchandise waiting for a buyer.
“Qinghe, remember: your parents died young, the family raised you. You must repay them; your greatest value is to help the family prosper.” In memory, an elder stroked his beard, his cloudy eyes full of calculation as he spoke.
Shen Qinghe unconsciously clenched her fists before the mirror.
She could still feel the original owner’s searing resentment—the stubborn girl who would rather risk escape than accept her predestined fate.
Through cunning, she orchestrated an “accident,” slipping away from her family’s guards, enduring hardship before finally entering the Azure Cloud Sect for protection.
Shen Qinghe knew that in a cultivation family, an escapee like the original would face punishments far worse than an arranged marriage if caught.
“Perhaps the Shen family already knows,” she mused, thinking of Zhao Shi.
Just a plot of spiritual land—even a high-grade one—belonged to the sect. Why would someone like Zhao Shi, a senior disciple, trouble her repeatedly over mere land?
Someone must have offered him a tempting deal to intervene.
After all, the Shen family did have disciples in the Azure Cloud Sect.
As this thought surfaced,
Shen Qinghe felt a stubborn, indignant emotion well up—a lingering obsession from the original owner.
She calmed her surging feelings, her gaze suddenly sharp.
“Zhao Shi, Shen family...”