Listening to the voice from over there, to be honest, if it were just for Feng Yuexiong, Jiang Hai would have been happy to help.
But when this thought crossed his mind, Jiang Hai unconsciously recalled the situation over there...
The mist hung thickly in the air, and a group of young, beautiful girls, their bodies adorned in red and white, were in the hot spring, looking like they were ready to be picked. As this image flashed through his mind, Jiang Hai's hand involuntarily brushed over the part of him that had already become as hard as steel.
But after a few touches, he stopped himself, forcibly reminding himself that the water in the pool was interconnected.
If he indulged here and took care of his problem, what if the water overflowed and caused several of the girls to become pregnant? That would be troublesome. He had recently read about men who did such things in swimming pools, unintentionally making other women pregnant. He didn't want to become a father before even enjoying himself.
In an attempt to rid himself of the tempting image, Jiang Hai shifted his thoughts to other matters.
He began thinking about the construction of his manor.
Jiang Hai had been back for more than a month now, and it was officially the end of July. It was the hottest time of the year in the northern hemisphere, but everything in his manor remained peaceful, and he was living in harmony.
After returning, he spent 20 days building hot springs and rivers, which were now playing a vital role.
The cold groundwater that emerged daily helped to alleviate some of the scorching heat—not just for the people, but also for the cattle.
According to Robbins and the others, this time of year was particularly difficult for both people and cattle. While humans could find shelter from the heat, cattle had no such luxury. Cows needed to eat constantly, and with their large bodies, their appetite was immense. They had to graze in the sun, which led to sunburns, especially with the heat and mosquitoes.
Cows were also more susceptible to illness. But thanks to the river, their lives had significantly improved.
During the hottest parts of the day, the cows willingly took walks in the river. The water was shallow, and despite being a smaller breed, the Angus cattle were strong, with water levels of 1.5 meters not posing a threat.
Walking in the river not only helped them cool off, but also drowned out the mosquitoes, making the cows' smell lighter.
The small fish, shrimp, and crabs in the river took care of the mosquitoes and waste on the cows.
Initially, Robbins and the others had disagreed with Jiang Hai's plan to build the river, feeling it was unnecessary.
But now, they saw Jiang Hai's foresight and the cleverness of his idea. Jiang Hai chuckled, as he had never truly planned it this way, but it was always a pleasant surprise to benefit from such things.
In the month since his return, the court's ship and Wang Yang's jade had finally arrived.
These days, Jiang Hai had been enjoying his new Hetian jade bed, floor, and recliner, which were now ready. Sleeping on the Hetian jades had noticeably accelerated his absorption of spiritual energy. He now gained 24 pieces of spiritual energy every day.
Of course, there was another factor: the increase in the number of creatures in his manor. After introducing creatures from China, Jiang Hai felt his spiritual energy increase once again.
It seemed that the amount of spiritual energy in his body had no upper limit.
He had even specially bought a batch of cattle and salmon fry. However, when these creatures entered the manor, Jiang Hai's spiritual energy didn't rise as he had expected. This led him to realize something. The amount of spiritual energy he could absorb was influenced not just by the number of creatures, but also by the species. The ones he had recently introduced were largely Chinese specialties.
Even those that weren't native to China were not found in North America or the Atlantic Ocean, and their numbers weren't small, which accounted for the increase in spiritual energy.
This made Jiang Hai consider the idea that his spiritual energy seemed linked to collecting creatures from around the world.
However, he knew that continuing to collect creatures in large quantities might cause trouble.
For now, no one had noticed. He was still only collecting domestic creatures, and the numbers were manageable. But if he introduced too many creatures, it could lead to ecological imbalances in North America. The biggest problem with alien species was their lack of natural predators.
For example, rabbits in Australia had no natural enemies when they were first introduced. As a result, they became a plague, eating up vast amounts of grasslands and depriving cattle and sheep of food.
Australia had since worked hard to reduce their rabbit population from 600 million to 100 million.
Jiang Hai knew that if he tried to introduce too many creatures, the U.S. government would surely intervene. They didn't want North America to become the next Australia.
Once the topic of creatures was concluded, Jiang Hai returned to his manor. Although he couldn't introduce creatures on a large scale, small-scale introductions wouldn't be a problem.
For instance, the chickens, sheep, donkeys, and pigs he had brought over were cleared by U.S. customs without much hassle. After ensuring they were disease-free, they were allowed to enter. The United States was vast, and for Americans, these creatures were no big deal.
Now, Jiang Hai was waiting for his affairs to be settled before leaving again. He hadn't forgotten that Du Famen still owed him an opportunity to buy oil futures. Jiang Hai wasn't particularly skilled at making money, but cattle sales and treasures from shipwrecks were his current sources of income.
If possible, he also planned to introduce some South American creatures for his fishery, believing it would increase his spiritual energy even faster.
Thinking about his spiritual energy, Jiang Hai stood up from the water. After taking a few pictures of himself with his phone, he sat down and began counting the scales on his body. His total number was 1620. After months of growth, the scales seemed almost full, though many of the new ones had been transferred to the fish and animals in his manor.
Especially the yellow croakers, Yangtze River knife fish, and large yellow croakers, which Jiang Hai had high hopes for. In addition to the spiritual energy he had infused into them on the first day, he had been adding energy almost daily, though the number of fry was overwhelming.
He couldn't treat each one individually, but this process had consumed a lot of his spiritual energy.
Despite this, the results were visible. Though the eight yellow croakers had only been in the water for a short time, they had shown growth. As for the Yangtze River knife fish and large yellow croaker fry, they were improving steadily. Once their lives were ensured, Jiang Hai could relax and look forward to collecting profits.
Even with all the energy being used, the scales were still steadily improving. He noticed that there was only one spot left—about the size of a palm—that hadn't been covered by scales. With Jiang Hai's current rate of growing 24 scales a day, he might level up in less than a week. Thinking about this, a surge of excitement filled his heart.
Since acquiring the dragon ball and the tattoo on his body, Jiang Hai had become increasingly interested in his evolution.
At the first level, the python required three scales to turn into a drop of spiritual blood. Jiang Hai had to bleed to improve the organisms' genes, allowing them to grow to their best state. After nearly half a year, he had transformed from a python into a dragon.
Once he became a dragon, the content of one scale became equal to three before, and the best part was that he no longer had to hurt himself to bleed. He could simply mobilize the spiritual energy in his body and inject it into the creatures he touched.
Now, as he was about to evolve from a Jiao to another level, Jiang Hai wondered what would happen after that. If his guess was correct, he would become a dragon. What new abilities would he have once he fully transformed? Physical enhancements were guaranteed, but could there be something else? Would he be able to fly?
The thought of flying made him smile. However, he would need to be cautious—if he was spotted, he might be captured and studied as an alien.
But if he could fly... it would be incredibly exciting!
Thinking of this, Jiang Hai's heart raced with anticipation.
Soon, the warmth in his chest subsided. As he realized, there was no noise coming from next door. It seemed the girls had left. Jiang Hai didn't waste any time. He stood, wiped his body, and walked back to the villa. Then, he returned to his room, lay on the bed, touched the area where his scales were constantly growing, and slowly fell asleep.
The next morning, the weather wasn't looking good. Jiang Hai's manor was near the seaside, and people who lived by the sea knew that while the sea was relatively reliable in the spring, autumn, and winter, it could be quite windy in summer. The sky was unpredictable, much like a woman's face—changing quickly. It had been sunny the previous day, but by morning, the wind had picked up, and rain had started to fall.
With no chance of going out to exercise, Jiang Hai decided to use the gym at his manor. Bernice, too, was in the gym, practicing boxing. Before Jiang Hai finished his workout, Darlene came in to tell him: "Cindy is here."
(To be continued…)