Aunt Gu called Jiang Ning for lunch at noon, but he declined. The mother-daughter duo didn't have much to spare, and since he had a big appetite, he was worried that he might eat them out of house and home.
Jiang Ning looked at the meat he had bought in the morning, a total of three pounds of beef and five pounds of ribs.
He channeled his Spiritual Power, and with a few points of his fingertips in the air, a mysterious white disk-like a constellation appeared on the tabletop.
He released a thread of Spiritual Power, and the disk began to rotate lightly, with wisps of cold air emerging from it.
This was the most basic Array, which could keep a small area cold. Jiang Ning put the beef on it, and this way, it would not spoil and the meat's texture and taste would be preserved, with an effect better than a refrigerator.
The Spiritual Power he casually sent out was enough to maintain the mini Array for a day and a night.
After that, Jiang Ning began to cook the ribs. With a gesture, he drew the water from the bucket into the void, rinsing the ribs.
When cooking, he felt the induction stove was not powerful enough, so he used his Spiritual Power again to create a flame that swirled and flowed from top to bottom in the pot, evenly roasting every part of the ribs.
Once the ribs were fried and roasted to perfection, the fragrance filled the air. Jiang Ning sprinkled the previously prepared spices over the ribs, just like in a barbecue shop in the future.
The only pity was that the pig was an ordinary one, not a Spiritual Beast, which wasn't of much assistance to Cultivation. Once his Cultivation improved, Jiang Ning would have to think of other methods.
He tossed several fruits into the air, where Sword Qi flashed, slicing them as precisely as in a fruit-cutting game, with the seeds sifted out and the flesh gently landing on the plate as if carried by auspicious clouds.
Jiang Ning gestured again, and a fist-sized drop of water gathered in mid-air, then transformed into a flat shape.
He released a flame, and the terrifying high temperature whirled past, instantly boiling the water. The boiled water formed a stream and moistened into the cup.
The only imperfection was that it wasn't purified water. His current means couldn't purify water, which couldn't match industrial water purifiers.
After a simple plating, Jiang Ning's lunch was ready.
Just as he was about to eat, Xue Yuantong came over with a bowl, and her eyes couldn't help but widen at the sight of the big plate of ribs.
Xue Yuantong had come to deliver some steamed buns. Her mother had steamed a large batch yesterday, asking her to bring some to Jiang Ning. She could have delivered them earlier, but she spent extra time browsing on a forum and only came over now.
She had planned to see what Jiang Ning was eating for lunch. If he hadn't eaten yet, she would invite him to her house. After all, she had eaten his snacks in the morning, right?
So, while she was cooking, she had been a bit cunning, warming up three extra buns, ensuring there would be enough even if Jiang Ning came over.
But now, seeing the good meal Jiang Ning was having, Xue Yuantong thought about her own lunch and then at Jiang Ning's sumptuous ribs, her mouth watering uncontrollably.
"Huh? Buns, I was just thinking of eating these," Jiang Ning exclaimed in surprise.
It wasn't a brush-off. Situated in the center of the country, the residents of Yuzhou City ate both rice and flour. Jiang Ning followed the local eating habits, but compared to rice, he had a particular fondness for buns.
There were buns for sale outside, but they often contained additives and didn't taste as good as those steamed at home. Now that he saw the buns Xue Yuantong brought, he was quite pleased.
"Thank your mother for me," Jiang Ning said, as he picked up a bowl of ribs for Xue Yuantong:
"Don't refuse, this is called reciprocity."
"Get out of here!" Xue Yuantong didn't refuse. Lately, she felt that her relationship with Jiang Ning had grown much stronger, which reassured her. Facing such a promising younger brother, she would definitely have to help him with his studies in the future, ensuring him a spot in a 211 university.
With that in mind, Xue Yuantong felt quite justified.
...
Last night, Jiang Ning left with his backpack.
He ran along the dam, his speed extremely fast. He kept running for half an hour, reaching a secluded spot with no streetlights nearby. However, Jiang Ning, with his incredibly sharp Five Senses, could see everything clearly under the moonlight.
The transformer box buzzed with noise, a sign of the high voltage within it. A touch from an ordinary person would be enough to send them lying down, dead on the spot.
Jiang Ning unzipped his backpack and took out two boxes of milk, downing them in one go.
He felt somewhat melancholic. In the past, during Body Cultivation, he would just swallow two Elixir Pills, not like now where he actually needed to drink milk for replenishment.
Jiang Ning released his Divine Sense fully, nothing within a radius of 20 meters escaped his perception. His keen ears detected something unusual - a tributary of the river below was a bit off.
He walked towards the waterflow, this stream being a branch about ten meters wide, perpendicular to the Huishui River. It was blocked by a concrete dam and did not connect to the Huishui River.
This small river was responsible for irrigating the surrounding farmland, its importance self-evident. Under the illumination of Jiang Ning's Divine Sense, by the river's edge, thirty centimeters deep in the water, a pipe continued to discharge water.
He activated his Spiritual Power, shaping it into a large hand, which he stretched into the water, scooping up a clump of it and landed it onto the nearby farmland. Immediately, an unpleasant smell of chemical waste water drifted out.
"Secretly discharging waste water, huh?" Jiang Ning muttered to himself.
He looked up, his gaze extending over hundreds of meters of farmland and settling on a village in the distance.
In recent years, Yuzhou City had caught enterprises secretly discharging sewage nearly every year, and small enterprises like this one, privately discharging waste water, were even more widespread.
It was all for profit.
However, now that Jiang Ning had stumbled upon this, he had to intervene.
Jiang Ning cast a Spell, and his figure slowly started to disappear.
This was the "Concealing Qi Technique," capable of hiding one's figure. It had a similar effect to invisibility magic.
But this was just a minor trick. Jiang Ning also mastered a secret technique to "Void Escape," and with a Concealing Magical Treasure, even someone at Nascent Soul Perfection would fail to detect him.
It was only that he couldn't use it right now.
Using his Divine Sense to identify the sewage pipe, Jiang Ning left the riverbank and after a few dozen steps, he found the pipe covered by only a thin layer of dirt.
Jiang Ning felt lucky the sewage pipe wasn't buried too deep; otherwise, even with his Divine Sense, he would have likely been at a loss.
He locked onto the sewage pipe with his Divine Sense, then followed its direction towards the village.
The village was decrepit. Upon entering, he walked through it to find nothing but uninhabited broken houses. The village seemed like a ghost town straight out of a horror film.
If Xue Yuantong were brought here now, he'd probably faint from fright.
Jiang Ning knew the reason behind this. Yuzhou's industry was far less developed than the Coastal Region's cities. The young and able-bodied in the village went to work elsewhere, and their families either built new houses by the roadside or bought them in Yuzhou City.
After all, two people working in Coastal Cities could live frugally and save tens of thousands a year. Some who had left their homes behind were even wealthier than the working class in the urban area of Yuzhou. Nowadays, with housing prices not too high, working for a few years could afford them a house in the city.
Eventually, most people moved out of the village, leaving only the elderly behind. After they passed away, the village naturally declined, and in a few decades, it might cease to exist.
The current village was one suffering from serious decay.
Jiang Ning crossed the majority of the village before he saw two households still inhabited by the elderly in the western part.
After walking a bit further, Jiang Ning stopped in the northeastern direction of the village. Ahead was a tall, walled courtyard, from within which sounds of machinery were coming.