Above The Sky
Chapter 35 - 35 33 Picking Up Leftovers

35: Chapter 33 Picking Up Leftovers 35: Chapter 33 Picking Up Leftovers The Bison Mountain Range, at the edge of the Yongji and Pengpai Oceans, stretched nearly a thousand kilometers from the northwest to the south, with a treacherous depression in its midpoint—a canyon torn from the earth’s movements during the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, and also the source of the Ivoke River.

Clouds often shrouded the towering peaks of the coastal mountain range, and towering Redwood trees blanketed the opening of the canyon below, blocking out the sunlight much like wooden mountains.

There lay a somewhat dilapidated port city, surrounded by numerous natural defenses.

Located at the foot of the mountains, beside the sea, the river, and the canyon, Harrison Port was the southernmost human settlement in the civilized world.

It was afternoon, but the dense clouds dimmed the light as if it were early evening.

On the gray stone-paved roads of the port, dockworkers hurried along, and fishermen had already set out to sea before the sun rose and the tide had receded, now still toiling in the distant waters.

The rain had been falling for half a day.

Harrison Port’s rain came in many forms—some like waterfall torrents, others sparse and scattered; some fell like pounding water hammers, while others were light and silky; some oppressively dense, and others refreshing and uplifting.

Today’s rain was rather ordinary, just a swift downpour that the residents of the Southern Sea were accustomed to in July, a view as if countless silver threads were dropping from the gray clouds, connecting with the blue sea.

Elder Prude stood on one side of the street, his brows slightly furrowed.

For the old man, the pale mist kicked up by the drizzling rain did not impair his vision, and he easily locked onto a boy who was slowly strolling through the fish market, looking around curiously.

Then, he was full of doubts.

The elder muttered to himself in confusion, “Why is he here?”

Ian walked through the rain.

This kind of rain meant nothing to the Terra People; unless they were soaked for a long time in ice water around zero degrees, they wouldn’t even get hypothermia.

Even an eight-year-old boy, if indifferent to the feeling of wet clothes, could freely venture out in rainy weather.

In the fish market, the boy glanced curiously at the half-dead variety of sea fish in the buckets and basins of the fish stalls.

After Teacher Hiliad returned home, he brought back a few fish, a bag of potatoes, and half a bag of flour.

He then apologetically informed Ian that he had found information related to his mission on the street and that he must go and investigate it, meaning he would disappear for a while in the afternoon and evening and would not return until late at night.

Ian didn’t need to wait for him to have dinner in the evening; he could stew some potatoes, roast the fish, and boil porridge with the wheat left at home for Alan to eat.

Considering that Ian needed to store a large number of nutrients for embarking on the Path of Sublimation, potatoes and roasted fish might not be enough for his appetite, nor were they nutritionally balanced, so Hiliad also left a bag of local silver coins—a total of thirty-five Talle silver coins.

This was originally meant to be used for negotiations with the locals, for bribes, and purchasing items when necessary.

But now that they had the ‘Ossenna’ identity, acquiring supplies and conducting investigations were much more convenient, and this money was no longer needed, so it was better to use it to boost his student’s health.

Teacher Hiliad’s exact words were, “Buy whatever you want to eat, don’t be stingy, only by enjoying the joys of life can you endure the suffering of cultivation.”

He was not worried about Ian spending money recklessly.

In the old knight’s eyes, his student was intelligent, sharp, patient, and quite self-disciplined, and was therefore trustworthy.

So, after instructing him to be cautious in his training, the old knight left the house once more.

Ian understood this well.

Hiliard had come to Harrison Port because of a “mission” and was lying low there.

The other party certainly had their own matters to attend to, and this kind of sudden disappearance would occur time and again in the future.

He had to learn to adapt, live independently, and train, without expecting someone to always take care of him.

From Hiliard’s expression, it seemed that the old knight was quite pleased.

It appeared that the identity of Osenna was indeed useful, and he had found the clues he wanted in Harrison Port.

Since he had money, there was no need to shortchange himself.

It had to be said that the thirty-five Taller left by Hiliard was truly a fortune.

The Talle silver coin itself was a special silver alloy, extremely durable, and almost impossible to counterfeit or to be destroyed by civilian methods.

Whether as an additive for inscriptions or for normal smelting and forging, it had its value, which is why Talle was unlikely to depreciate.

One Talle silver coin could be exchanged for twelve Small Bison silver coins, and one Small Silver Coin could be exchanged for ten Pennies of copper.

One Penny of copper could buy more than a pound of wheat, a solid piece of brown bread, and two Pennies could get you a not-too-hard baguette.

Before his mother passed away from illness, Ian had also learned about the local prices…

Because local pastures were scarce, cattle, sheep, and pigs were expensive, whereas fish was extremely cheap.

Thus, one Talle silver coin could buy six pounds of fine beef or fifteen pounds of mutton, or more than twenty pounds of pork.

If you had a relationship with a farm or a fisherman, and chatted about daily life, you could buy four lively hens and a crowing rooster, or a whole barrel of salted fish.

An ordinary farmer, after toiling for a whole year without natural disasters or accidents, could only save up one or two Great Silver Coins, enough to add some new farm tools to the house, raise a few more chickens, or every few years add a small sheep, taking half a lifetime to save enough to buy a calf.

At Osenna’s house, not counting the value of the Sleep Powder, Ian had found a total of twelve and a half Great Silver Coins—most of which were Small Silver Coins and Pennies of copper.

There were only five valid Taller, one of which was secretly given to the boy by his mother before she passed away, as the last resort for saving his life.

This was already an astonishing amount, for Osenna himself was just an ordinary clerk at the docks.

The job wasn’t bad, but it paid at most one Talle and a bit per month, plus some material supplements.

He himself was not frugal, so how could he have saved up an amount that would require almost not eating or drinking for half a year?

It must have been the result of collusion with the Natives.

But Hiliard took out thirty-five Talle!

And all of them were neat, shining Great Silver Coins without a speck of dirt!

This nearly one-pound bag of silver coins could buy a dozen Fine Iron Longswords; seeing it as a wholesale purchase, the blacksmith might even throw in a few wooden shields and daggers.

—This way of using silver coins, it’s like something a noble lord would do.

When taking the purse, Ian wanted to make a quip.

He knew that in the local tales of Harrison Port, a marquis in disguise carried only a hundred Taller for show and face-slapping, and although he was just the emperor’s golden burden, it was enough to illustrate the level of exaggeration.

He and his brother Alan together, in the eyes of the uncle and the Indigenous Priest, were worth at most thirty Taller.

Their teacher had been wanted for who knows how long, yet still carried a bounty of a third of a Marquis’s worth; heaven knows what status he held originally.

“There’s definitely no problem with getting enough to eat.”

Ian shook his head slightly and sighed softly, “It’s just that the teacher’s silver coins are too shiny and new, impossible to spend as is.

They need to be aged in the hearth ashes first.”

After cooking the porridge and feeding Alan, and putting his little brother to sleep, Ian buried the teacher’s silver coins in the still-warm hearth ashes.

Then, with a sense of joy, he took an old Talle and some Small Silver Coins and set out.

He planned to follow the memories in his mind to the fishing market to buy some nutritious seafood.

A single Talle was completely sufficient to buy food ingredients; any more would not suit his current status and identity.

As for the training in the Virtual Primordial Seed that Teacher Hiliad had instructed, Ian was quite confident.

—The most difficult step in condensing the Primordial Seed was creating out of nothing, to mold an organ akin to a second heart that could traverse the life pulse of the entire body.

Ordinary Terra People couldn’t even imagine how to control a second heart, just as ordinary people can’t imagine how to operate a third hand.

Naturally, they cannot successfully condense it, and the failure rate is incredibly high at first attempt.

But the Virtual Primordial Seed allows one to gradually adapt to having a ‘post-natally emerged new organ’ in their body, significantly reducing the failure rate.

Even so, those who manage to condense a Primordial Seed within a few months are still a minority.

But Ian was different.

He didn’t need to adapt.

Or rather, Humans don’t need to adapt.

People from Ian’s era on Earth were all genetically modified, with two hearts, two stomachs, and three lungs; not to mention Ian was a Scholar-type modification, with many more specialized modules.

Controlling such ‘supposedly non-existent’ organs was as simple as breathing for him.

“After all, it’s not an actual genetic organ, but a seed of essence from a different system…

It’s still somewhat difficult to imitate and analyze.”

Muttering to himself, Ian spoke softly, “One week should be more than enough to fully adapt.

But to be safe, let’s make it two weeks, after learning more about The Path of Sublimation, then I’ll try.”

With such thoughts in mind, the white-haired boy walked through the rain-drenched streets toward the fishing market: “Now, I need to do as Teacher Hiliad said.”

“That is, keep a healthy routine, sleep early and rise early, eat and drink plenty, and exercise daily.”

The clamor of the fishing market was already audible.

Located next to a fishing pier in the northeast area of Harrison Port, the market was brightly lit.

On the increasingly dim sea, returning fishing boats arrived here, while many carts, porters, and workers bargaining with each other busied about.

Clerks hired by large fishing fleets were tallying the numbers with the fish sorting workers, and nearby, some workers pulled up huge wooden signs showing each fleet’s catch for the day, for the steward of the merchant convoy and literate citizens to recognize.

“Live sardines, a penny a pan!”

“Sea eels from Odell Reef, delicate and delicious, free ice included!”

“Two oysters for a penny, a bucket for a Bison!”

“Fluorescent Algae from the near sea of Redwood!

A Sanbisen a bunch, five bunches for a Talle!

Algae oil for two Bison a bottle!”

Although it was dusk, the fishing market was still bustling, filled with the cries of fishermen and traders, as well as the smell of the sea.

As the Empire’s largest sea and fishing port in the southern region, Harrison Port’s seafood was enough to cover most of the Southern Province.

Merchant convoys from different towns and cities came here to negotiate with fleets for a stable supply of fish.

Occasionally, some Demon Beast Level big fish would be produced here.

Just as the shouts of the sellers mentioned ‘Odell Reef,’ there once were several giant sea eels, reaching over eight meters long and at max, fifteen meters.

Their spines and muscle tissue met the standards for Magical Medicine Ingredients and were purchased by a wealthy merchant from the Capital Region’s Nauman City, priced a hundred and seventy Talle each.

It is said that beyond Odell Reef, in the deeper waters, reside two gargantuan sea eel Magical Beasts revered by the surrounding Redwood Natives as the ‘Rising Tide Spirit’ and ‘Drum Wave Spirit,’ and the large eels around there are their descendants.

Thanks to these tales and genuine production, a pound of Odell Eel meat costs three Sanbisen, pricier than beef.

Ian was well acquainted with this place; he had worked as a fish sorter before to help support the family, with some familiar fishermen’s aid, and had received quite the positive assessment.

Senan’s boat crew even wanted to hire him as their accountant at the pier once he was older, offering three pennies a day plus two fish.

Of course, this time Ian was here purely as a customer.

And…

to look for potential treasures.

“Let me see…”

Among the crowd, Ian barely stood out as he casually wandered to a corner between two stalls, unnoticed by anyone.

Then, he activated his Foresight View.

Suddenly, the hazy world of rain transformed into an even murkier mix of multi-colored mist.

Grey, white, blue colors merged into a three-hued radiance of fog, reshaping the entire fishing market.

“There’s actually something.”

Raising his eyebrows, Ian tilted his head, looking interestedly toward the place where the blue mists accumulated.

—In the fishing market, there were indeed some ‘rare’ seafoods!