Chapter 2 - 1: Chen Jianghe

Chapter 2: Chapter 1: Chen Jianghe

Fighting aggressively and being overly competitive was unacceptable. Seeking wealth through danger was equally ill-advised. One had to avoid conflict and strife; steady and prudent management was the true Righteous Path.

Currently, Little Black had not yet developed intelligence or Spiritual awareness, classifying it as a Mortal Turtle. Once its mind awakened, it would be able to absorb Spiritual Qi for Cultivation and become a Spirit Beast. Chen Jianghe guessed that when that time came, Little Black’s lifespan would also increase. Under their shared lifespan, his own life expectancy would once again break through its upper limit.

He had inquired about the price of the Spirit Awakening Pill. The Yun Family sold them at their lakeside Workshop Association for one Spirit Stone. For Chen Jianghe, a single Spirit Stone was not particularly useful. He possessed a Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root, meaning his innate affinity for Spiritual Qi was extremely low. Even if he used Spirit Stones for Cultivation, it would still take him three years to break through to Second-Layer Qi Refining, and he would consume a minimum of five Spirit Stones in the process. If he didn’t use them and instead absorbed the thin Spiritual Qi over the lake, it would only take him five or six years to reach Second-Layer Qi Refining. At merely sixteen years old this year, he still had over two hundred and twenty years left to live, so he could afford to take his time.

Moreover, a single Spirit Stone could not buy a Magical Artifact, Elixirs to improve his Cultivation, or an advanced Cultivation Technique. However, buying a Spirit Awakening Pill with that one Spirit Stone could help Little Black step onto the Immortal Path. For Chen Jianghe’s current situation, this was the way to maximize his benefits.

The Large Cyan Fish he raised were so plump and had such a high survival rate precisely because of Little Black’s tireless, day-and-night supervision. Large Cyan Fish had extremely violent temperaments; it was considered a success if even half of a thousand fry survived. But with Little Black looking after them at the bottom of the lake, the violent tendencies of the fry were greatly suppressed, keeping the survival rate under control.

Even before developing intelligence and Spiritual awareness, Little Black could already suppress the Large Cyan Fish fry. What if it became a Spirit Beast? It would definitely be able to easily suppress the fully-grown Large Cyan Fish. That way, the survival rate would absolutely increase to over seventy percent. With a thousand fry and a seventy percent survival rate, the total yield would reach at least two thousand, seven or eight hundred catties. Earning an extra seven grains of Spiritual Sand each year meant it would pay for itself in fourteen years. More importantly, he would gain a Tier One Spiritual Beast and increase his maximum lifespan.

The fishing boat rested on the water’s surface as Chen Jianghe cast aside his distracting thoughts. Focusing his Heart and Mind, he circulated the Returning Origin True Water Technique, a Water Element Basic Technique provided by the Yun Family. He absorbed the scattered Spiritual Qi from the surface of Jingyue Lake, guiding it through his eight extraordinary meridians and the Heaven and Earth Bridge, before finally converging it into his soybean-sized Dantian Qi Sea.

Before breaking through to Mid-Stage Qi Refining, Chen Jianghe faced no Cultivation bottlenecks. He simply needed to Refine Spiritual Qi to expand his Dantian Qi Sea, allowing him to smoothly Cultivate all the way to Third-Layer Qi Refining. The waters he occupied were in the outermost Outer Waters of Jingyue Lake, where the Spiritual Qi was incredibly thin. After three days of Cultivation, the Refined Spiritual Qi trickled into his Dantian like a gossamer thread—a mere drop in the ocean that produced no visible effect.

Concluding his practice, he stood up and briefly washed himself. Looking at his reflection in the washbasin, his handsome face had long since shed its youthful naivety, leaving only a resolute and steady determination toward the Immortal Path. Stepping out of the cabin, he picked up a bamboo pole and guided the fishing boat to glide toward the lakeshore. The domestic waste accumulated over half a month emitted a pungent smell that choked the nose and stung the eyes.

During the Qi Refining Stage, one could not abstain from food, and thus could not be considered an Immortal in the truest sense. Only upon achieving the Foundation Establishment Dao and fully fasting could one be called a true Immortal. Of course, a Qi Refining Cultivator could also solve the issue of human waste by taking a Fasting Pill, but the price of Fasting Pills was exorbitant—far beyond what a minor figure at First-Layer Qi Refining like Chen Jianghe could afford.

The fishing boat pierced through the gradually thickening morning mist until the port ahead became faintly visible, filled with numerous fishing boats of all sizes. The Yun Family claimed to employ eight hundred Fishermen and Farmers, with over seven hundred being Basic-Level Fishermen and Farmers. Yet, there were only three ports along the lakeshore, and each port served as both a mortal market and a Cultivator Workshop Association.

Chen Jianghe was at First-Layer Qi Refining, so his fishing boat was thirty feet long. Once he broke through to Second-Layer Qi Refining, he could apply to the Yun Family for a fifty-foot fishing boat, at which point his living conditions would improve significantly. After parking his boat in the port, he first went to the latrine pit to empty his waste and garbage before heading straight for the market.

He didn’t greet anyone among the bustling crowds at the port, which consisted of both mortals and Cultivators. They were mostly strangers to one another. Their only connection was that they were all Fishermen and Farmers or agricultural laborers working for the Yun Family. Everyone came to the port with their own business to attend to; no one had the time for idle chatter.

In half an hour, Chen Jianghe purchased all his daily necessities for the next half month at the market, spending forty taels of silver. One grain of Spiritual Sand could be exchanged for one hundred taels of silver, but one hundred taels of silver could not buy a single grain of Spiritual Sand. Elsewhere, one tael of silver was enough to sustain an ordinary mortal family of three for an entire month, but at Jingyue Lake, forty taels could only cover half a month’s supplies. There was nothing to be done about it; the prices at the Yun Family port were just that high.

Chen Jianghe glanced at a small archway on the eastern side of the mortal market. That was the Cultivators’ Workshop Association, a trading hub for Yun Family Fishermen and Farmers as well as Loose Cultivators. Endorsed by the Foundation Establishment Yun Family, the port’s Workshop Association rarely sold counterfeit goods, and incidents of murder or robbery were practically non-existent. Chen Jianghe had never been to the Workshop Association, but considering he only had fifty grains of Spiritual Sand left in his pouch, he knew he would only be able to stare helplessly if he went. Therefore, he rowed his boat back to his own waters, deciding to visit the Workshop Association to broaden his horizons only after this year’s harvest of Large Cyan Fish.

Cold Dew had just passed, leaving only four months until it was time to sell the fish for the New Year. As soon as he returned to his own waters, he saw a White Egret standing on a lotus leaf, watching the approaching fishing boat as if waiting for him.

"QUACK, QUACK, QUACK."

Flapping its wings lightly, the White Egret landed on the bow and called out to Chen Jianghe. The egret’s cry was not pleasant, sounding much like a duck’s quack, yet its appearance was brimming with an ethereal, immortal grace.

Chen Jianghe stepped forward and removed the bamboo message tube from the White Egret’s leg. He then scoured his waters for a good while before catching a Large Cyan Fish weighing over two catties and tossing it to the bird. In Jingyue Lake, everyone’s breeding waters were strictly demarcated. Basic-Level Fishermen and Farmers were not allowed to visit one another; even if they were in adjacent waters, neither party could cross the boundary. The White Egret possessed a Spiritual nature but had not reached the Entry Tier, making it the perfect messenger for communication among the Fishermen and Farmers of Jingyue Lake. As a reward, both the sender and the recipient of a letter had to feed the White Egret a Large Cyan Fish.

Returning to the cabin, Chen Jianghe pulled out the message tube and inspected the wax seal. He didn’t have many familiar friends at Jingyue Lake. Only two of his neighbors could barely be considered friends. One was Old Gao to the east. Chen Jianghe only knew his surname and not his given name. He was a veteran Fisherman and Farmer of the Yun Family. According to the old man himself, he had come to the Yun Family at the age of fifteen and hadn’t left Jingyue Lake for seventy or eighty years. He had a Fourth-Layer Qi Refining Cultivation. Whenever Chen Jianghe wanted to inquire about any information, he basically always asked Old Gao, who was effectively a know-it-all in Jingyue Lake.

The other friend was Yu Daniu to the west, who was about the same age as Chen Jianghe. He had also been brought by the members of the Yun Family to be a Fisherman and Farmer because he possessed a Spirit Root. However, Yu Daniu was not an orphan; he had parents and younger siblings, and his home was in a village adjacent to Jingyue Lake. His Spirit Root was identical to Chen Jianghe’s—a Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root—and he also Cultivated the Returning Origin True Water Technique. He possessed a First-Layer Qi Refining Cultivation.

Chen Jianghe wiped away the wax seal, opened the tube, and extracted the letter inside. Fixing his eyes upon it, he saw it was written by Old Gao.

"Chen, the September Fish Sleep Stage is fast approaching. When the time comes, someone will definitely seek you out to mine Spiritual Ore to earn Spirit Stones. Under no circumstances should you go.

"Additionally, after the fish are sold, someone might try to borrow Spiritual Sand from you. You must absolutely not lend any out."

After reading the letter’s contents, Magical Power surged in Chen Jianghe’s palm, turning the stationery into dust that he tossed into the latrine bucket. The Fish Sleep Stage for the Large Cyan Fish lasted from September to November each year. During this period, the fish did not need to be fed, so many Fishermen and Farmers would go to the port to find two months of short-term work. Among these jobs, mining was the most popular. When digging Spiritual Ore for the Yun Family, unearthing one Spirit Stone would reward them with one grain of Spiritual Sand. In two months, they could generally earn five grains of Spiritual Sand, and with good luck, they might even earn ten.

Just last year, he had been invited to mine at the port, only to be stopped by Old Gao, who happened to stumble upon the scene. Later, he learned that mining was far from safe, and there was a high probability of encountering a mining disaster. If a miner failed to return, the Large Cyan Fish they had spent a year raising would be unconditionally seized by the Yun Family.

"The Outer Waters see new faces every year, and Fishermen and Farmers die in mining disasters every year. Why do these people still want to go mining?" he murmured.

Chen Jianghe’s current lifespan was twice that of a Qi Refining Cultivator, rivaling that of a Foundation Establishment Ancestor. He would never take such a risk for a mere handful of Spiritual Sand. As long as he progressed steadily, he would certainly be able to Cultivate to Late-Stage Qi Refining and become a Senior Fisherman and Farmer.