The River Clam Spirit hid in the water.

She watched Anning subdue Bai Rong and Hong Luo with utter clarity.

After Anning left, the River Clam Spirit surfaced with a cold sneer.

As she absorbed the lunar essence, she looked down upon the two Flower Spirits for being naive.

Anning used just a simple illusion technique to scare those two Flower Spirits, proving that they were truly inexperienced and foolish.

What’s all this talk about Netherworld Ghost Fire and Nanyang Li Fire? That’s simply a lie.

Netherworld Ghost Fire is the Soul Separation Fire from the Nine Netherworld Hell, not something mortals can control. And as for the Red Lotus Karma Fire, it burns all sins in the Eighteen Layers of Hell; how could such a delicate Miss from the Yao Family obtain the Red Lotus Karma Fire? The other fires are controlled either by the Phoenix Clan or borrowed from the celestial energies of stars and planets. Even immortals barely encounter them once or twice in a lifetime, let alone a mortal.

The River Clam Spirit boasted that she had a good background thanks to her mother. Naturally, her knowledge was no less than others. She dared to say that no Ten Great Divine Fire had ever appeared in the mortal world up to this day, not a single one.

It was just those two Flower Spirits making a fuss and scaring themselves.

Truthfully, Anning was indeed scaring the two Flower Spirits.

Those two Flower Spirits were very naive and easily frightened.

Anning currently does not have the Divine Fire. When she was on the Primordial Continent, she collected some Divine Fires, but they exist only within her Divine Sense. Some were left for An Xin to keep. If she doesn’t want to break the Law of this world, it would be impossible for her to actually take them out.

If Anning had truly taken out the Divine Fire, those two Flower Spirits would have been burned away long before they had a chance to say anything.

But the River Clam Spirit was also wrong in her thoughts; if they truly encountered an unparalleled great demon, Anning could still use her own power to communicate with the heavens and summon the Ten Great Divine Fires to burn away all evil things in the world.

The River Clam Spirit prided herself on her noble birth and background and looked down upon some spirits without backing in this world, especially the mortals. She did whatever she pleased.

After all, her mother told her that they had backing and support from the heavens; there was no fear of any resultant karma.

As the River Clam Spirit absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, she thought of her mother’s instructions.

Her mother had told her that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was dwindling, and that it was difficult for spirits like them, with poor talent after transforming, to transform, and attaining Dao and ascension was extremely difficult, almost impossible.

And if she wanted to attain enlightenment, she must take a shortcut.

That would be to use the protection of a Dynasty’s favor, gaining deification through faith or the Emperor’s decree.

Because of this, the River Clam Spirit transformed into the likeness of Yao Xuelian to get close to Fu Jun.

Fu Jun bore the aura of great potential, capable of becoming an official. If the River Clam Spirit married him and became his main wife, once Fu Jun rose to high rank, the River Clam Spirit could be conferred the title of Imperial Decree Lady, gaining the protection of the royal spirit of the Dynasty, no longer subject to capture and harm by those foul Taoists. Heaven would be particularly lenient.

If she became an Imperial Decree Lady and did good deeds, perhaps she could write books and receive offerings from the people, subsequently achieving deification through worship. If even the Emperor appreciated her contributions and solemnly decreed her a divine position, she could become a god instantly.

The River Clam Spirit and her mother had planned this carefully and calculated everything, which is why she didn’t leave with her mother after transforming but continued to remain hidden in the lake.

She originally planned to seduce a man from the Yao Family, but after meeting Fu Jun, she developed a liking for his nature and personality, thus focusing her intentions on Fu Jun.

As dawn approached, the River Clam Spirit shut her shell and returned to the lake.

Transforming back to her original form and returning to the lake bottom, she intended to catch some small fish or shrimp to nibble on. However, she had just descended to the bottom when she caught a whiff of an enticing aroma.

This aroma was overwhelmingly enticing. Just the scent made her mouth water. To merely smell it and not taste it would be utterly torturous.

Anning stood by the lake, holding a food box full of a variety of dishes.

Yue Niang, standing next to Anning, asked in confusion, "Miss, what are you doing, cooking so much food before sunrise? Shouldn’t some of it be sent to the Old Madam and Miss Yao, instead of feeding it to the fish in the lake?"

Anning laughed while tossing food into the lake, "It’s for feeding the fish, obviously. Once the fish and shrimp in the river are fattened, I’ll catch them for a feast. Good Yue Niang, I’ll treat you to an all-fish banquet then."

"I won’t eat it, it’s too fishy."

Yue Niang scrunched her nose.

Anning tossed large handfuls of food into the lake.

The River Clam Spirit could no longer hold back and began to float upward to eat the food.

She floated up for a while, snatched a snack to eat, then picked up a rib, and after the rib, ate a fried dumpling.

She had just started eating her fill when, out of nowhere, a big net fell, scooping her up.

By the time the River Clam Spirit realized, the net was already out of the water and being dragged onto the grassy bank.

She tried to escape back to the water, but Anning grabbed her firmly.

"Oh my, I was trying to catch fish, but instead of catching fish, I snagged a little river clam. What a pity, what a pity."

Anning laughed, holding the River Clam Spirit in her hand, raising it up to the sun, she asked Yue Niang, "Sister Yue Niang, I heard that pearls are made from sand in river clams. If you put sand into the clam’s shell over time, they become pearls. How about we put some sand into this little river clam’s shell? If we put in a lot, wouldn’t we get several pearls?"

Yue Niang covered her face, unable to find words.

Anning clenched her fist, "It’s decided.

She instructed Yue Niang to throw the remaining food into the lake, then took the river clam back to her courtyard in the Yao Family estate.

Because Anning often stayed there, the Yao Family set aside a small courtyard for her.

Returning to her courtyard, she had a rough old woman find a large water jar to place in the courtyard. She tossed some water plants inside, then threw in the River Clam Spirit.

The River Clam Spirit no longer panicked.

She thought Anning was unaware she was a spirit; keeping her was purely out of curiosity.

She decided not to move, planning to escape from the jar back to the lake at night.

After tossing the River Clam Spirit into the water jar, Anning began searching for sand. She picked large granules, searching out the whitest ones to bring back, placing the river clam on her palm. The shell opened automatically.

The River Clam Spirit was startled and wanted to close the shell but was powerless to do so.

Anning sprinkled sand inside her open shell, painfully causing the River Clam Spirit to writhe.

Once the sand was sprinkled, Anning closed the River Clam Spirit’s shell, worried that she might try to open it, and had Yue Niang tie it with several strands of red thread, securing it so tightly that it couldn’t be opened.

"Done."

Anning clapped her hands, smiling with great satisfaction, "There, after some days, I’ll cut it open to see if there are any pearls inside. If there are, we’ll use them; if not... This river clam is quite large, we’ll use the meat for cooking."