[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-don-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult":3,"chapter-don-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult-don-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult-chapter-54":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Don't Mock the Poor Old Man: Gains a Year of Cultivation Every Day!",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2312546,4520,"Chapter 54: Tame It! Watch Yiyi!","don-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult-chapter-54",54,"\u003Cp>\"A variant! Absolutely a variant!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye took a deep breath, suppressing his inner exhilaration, and carefully placed the precious insect into a jade box already prepared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His movements were extremely light and slow, as if he were cradling not a venomous insect, but a rare treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant the jade box lid closed, the fire centipede still slammed wildly against the walls, emitting dull \"thud-thud\" impacts so forceful the box trembled slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It clearly refused to be confined; its hissing could faintly be heard through the jade walls, brimming with rage as if determined to tear the cage apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye tapped the jade box, his aged face filled with smiles:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little thing, don’t rush. From now on, follow Old Man, and I’ll make sure you eat well and drink fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he finished speaking, the impacts inside the jade box grew even fiercer, as if the fire centipede understood human speech and felt profound humiliation, pouring all its strength into expressing its fury and contempt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, quite the temper!\" Feeling the vibrations inside the box, Jiang Ye’s smile widened, \"Looks like we’ve got some fun ahead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the \"Manual of Insect Taming,\" cultivating venomous insects involves three steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, tame it; then, use a secret method to make it recognize its master; only then can you control it to aid in battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for how to tame it in the first step, the method is similar to breaking a hawk—it’s a war of attrition, requiring you to wear down its ferocity first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud-thud-thud...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The impacts inside the jade box grew louder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye sneered, gripped the jade box with his wrist, and suddenly shook it violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, he stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fire centipede inside the jade box, perhaps dazed by the shaking, remained motionless for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Behaving now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye lifted the jade box, ready to inspect it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud-thud-thud...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fire centipede stirred again, slamming against the jade box with even greater force than before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye didn’t coddle it; he channeled strength through his hand and shook the box again, dazing it once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a brief calm inside the jade box, the impacts returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye raised his hand and shook it again...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this tug-of-war lasted half an hour, the jade box finally fell completely still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Trying to play dead, are you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye sneered and opened the jade box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, the fire centipede lay stiff and motionless, as if unconscious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye stared silently at it, a flicker of mockery in his aged eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The motionless fire centipede suddenly surged upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a streak of crimson lightning, it leapt from the box, its grotesque mouth—armed with two pairs of mandibles—wide open, lunging straight for Jiang Ye’s throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tsk tsk.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye had already prepared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sneered, and two sharpened branches shot out like lightning, clamping the charging fire centipede firmly like iron tongs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The insect thrashed wildly, emitting piercing hisses, its mandibles snapping wildly in midair, yet unable to touch Jiang Ye by even a hair’s breadth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Still not giving up!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye flicked his wrist, releasing a surge of force, and swung sharply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fire centipede was flung like a noodle, tracing a crimson arc through the air, stretched rigidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He swung it three times in succession, each swing carrying hidden vibrations that left the insect dazed and numb, its hissing fading to weak, feeble struggles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did he gently place the limp fire centipede back into the jade box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the fire centipede’s hiss was noticeably weaker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye unceremoniously closed the jade box lid again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, he waited a long while—no more impacts came from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Finally settled down. I’ll have you under control yet.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye smiled faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He carried the jade box and patrolled the herb garden once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps the earlier commotion had scared off other insects; this round yielded not a single trace of fire centipede.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t care, turned, and walked slowly back to the wooden hut, placing the jade box carefully beside his bed before sitting cross-legged, closing his eyes to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next morning, dawn light streamed through the window lattice into the wooden hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye rose as usual and practiced the Five Animal Fist on the open ground before his door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once his blood and qi flowed smoothly, he ended the form and turned back inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He first walked through the herb garden, selecting several of the most vigorous Tiankui grasses, plucking a few thick leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leaves were crimson as blood, glowing faintly in the morning light—the very food the fire centipede loved most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in the hut, he picked up the jade box beside his bed and gently opened it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tiny crimson insect still lay limp in the corner, motionless, as if still recovering from last night’s violent shaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Jiang Ye knew this little creature was cunning; nine times out of ten, it was pretending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He held a Tiankui leaf near the fire centipede’s mouth, as if offering food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seemingly lifeless fire centipede instantly surged upward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a streak of crimson lightning, it opened its grotesque, mandibled mouth and lunged at the Tiankui leaf.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, just as its mandibles neared the leaf, two sharpened branches emerged calmly, clamping it firmly and lifting it into the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fire centipede missed its target, snapping its mandibles wildly in midair, biting only air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It thrashed violently, emitting furious, humiliated hisses—sharp and piercing—as if accusing this human of shameless deceit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye remained calm, holding it with the branches, swaying it back and forth around the leaf like teasing a dog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leaf dangled before its eyes, its sweet, fragrant scent wafting into its senses, yet every time it opened its mouth to bite, the two annoying branches effortlessly dodged it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiss... hiss...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fire centipede’s cries grew angrier, its struggles fiercer, yet Jiang Ye’s hand remained as steady as a rock; no matter how it writhed, it could not break free from those seemingly fragile branches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He toyed with it for half an hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fire centipede finally exhausted itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It stopped struggling, stopped hissing, hanging limply from the branches, its two pairs of mandibles slightly open, barely able to close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its black compound eyes fixed on Jiang Ye, revealing a hint of... utter despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did Jiang Ye slowly bring the Tiankui leaf to its mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, the fire centipede no longer cared about biting him; it devoured the leaf in huge gulps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It ate furiously, as if fearing the leaf might vanish the next second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The way it gobbled down the leaf—where was the earlier ferocity and brutality?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Remember this,\" Jiang Ye looked down at it, his voice calm, \"I give you food, only then can you eat.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t care whether the little creature understood; after speaking, he closed the jade box again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, a faint, weak hiss emerged—full of listless grievance—yet no more impacts followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Ye carefully tucked the jade box into his robe, rose, and pushed open the wooden door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dawn light bathed him; he gazed down the mountain, a soft glimmer in his aged eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Time to go see Yiyi.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made simple preparations, turned, and walked slowly down the mountain path.\u003C\u002Fp>",1218,"2026-06-20T12:57:27.461Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6f878251b82be19adc9488ecbd0364098c0261bd978a6441e09fe1c7c310ca44","don-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult-chapter-55","don-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult-chapter-53",268,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fdon-t-mock-the-poor-old-man-gains-a-year-of-cult-cover.jpg"]