Chapter 75: I Didn't See Anything
Yuntuo River, Lin Jiang sat by the river fishing.
Most of the people who fish along the Yuntuo River are at the Qi Refining Period. People at the Building Foundation Period don't really do this anymore because the rewards are too low. It's more cost-effective to use a fishing boat to catch fish.
However, fishing with a boat requires the approval of the fishing gang, and offerings need to be given to them. Lin Jiang is not interested in that. He fishes for leisure and to provide food for Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao.
After reaching the late stage of the second rank, the appetite of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao increased again. These first-rank demon fish need to eat one or two hundred pounds every day. However, this kind of eating hardly helps with their cultivation.
In order to continue their advancement, they must be fed with higher-level spirit meat or Demon Cores. But the expenses for that are even more terrifying. Demon Cores require at least a third-rank demonic beast, and one core costs at least tens of thousands. Lin Jiang can't afford it, so he can only fish to earn food for them.
As for the advancement of Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, Lin Jiang leaves it to time. Take it slowly. After all, the lifespan of demonic beasts is longer than cultivators. There's no rush. Maintaining the current situation is good enough.
"The fish in the Yuntuo River have become clever, even the stupid fish have all been caught by people."
Lin Jiang's harvest today is not good. He hasn't caught any fish for over two hours, making him miss the feeling of catching many fish before. It was truly satisfying.
The demon fish in the Yuntuo River are much smarter than ordinary fish. They have more than a seven-second memory. If they agree with a certain bait, they will remember it after eating it multiple times. That's why fishermen often change their baits, or else they can just wait for an empty fishing line.
"The fisherman never comes back empty-handed. If he can't catch any fish, he will dive in and catch them."
Lin Jiang put away the fishing rod and took out a harpoon from the storage bag. With a smirk, he jumped into the Yuntuo River.
The Yuntuo River is very deep. It is said to be several kilometers deep at its deepest point, like an ocean. However, the average depth of the river is only a few tens of meters. Lin Jiang used his spiritual power to enhance his vision, and he could see everything at the bottom of the river clearly.
"Splash!"
Lin Jiang saw a huge monster fish and immediately stabbed it, blood gushing out from the fish's body. But instead of dying, the fish fiercely charged towards Lin Jiang.
The battle at the bottom of the river began. Lin Jiang held a spear and fought against the monster fish, which mainly used ramming and biting as its tactics. Lin Jiang's movements were also restricted, but they were still more than the fish could handle. He used a flying sword to poke it a few times and the fish started to flee.
Lin Jiang stabbed the fish with the spear, which was tied to a rope. He let the fish drag him along. Today, he was determined to deal with this fish.
The fish continued to flee until it couldn't go any further after an hour. It was severely weakened from losing so much blood and on the brink of death. Lin Jiang, showing mercy, put an end to its suffering by giving it a physical release, then dragged it ashore.
"Uhh..."
Just as Lin Jiang was dragging the monster fish weighing thousands of pounds to the shore, he witnessed a scene that revealed too much. There was a figure in a black robe searching through the corpses. There were over ten bodies lying next to him, dressed as members of the Giant Wave Fish Gang.
The figure in the black robe turned around. He was completely covered in the robe, with only his eyes visible, staring at Lin Jiang.
"I didn't see anything."
Lin Jiang turned around to leave, but as he did, the figure in the black robe appeared in front of him, blocking his way. His powerful consciousness immediately locked onto Lin Jiang.
Lin Jiang exclaimed in frustration. This person turned out to be at the Golden Core Period, and there aren't many people at the Golden Core Period in Yunzhong City, maybe just a few dozen. He rarely encounters them, but today he collided with one head-on.
"Who are you?"
"I am Lin Wu, an independent cultivator from Yunzhong City."
"Still fishing at the Building Foundation Period?"
"Not fishing, it's spearing fish. The fish in Yuntuo River are too clever, can't catch them with a fishing rod."
"Is there any difference?"
"It seems not."
"Why are you fishing?"
"To eat, I like eating fish."
"Does buying fish cost a lot of money?"
"The store-bought fish doesn't smell as good as the ones you catch yourself."
Lin Jiang honestly said that he really liked eating fish, but ever since the Trident Fish Gang and Giant Wave Fish Gang broke into a big war and threw all the bodies into the Yuntuo River, he stopped eating fish from the Yuntuo River. He only started eating a little bit of fish after he moved to the Yunzhong Mountain Range and caught some fish in the mountain stream.
"You can leave now."
"Ah, you're letting me go just like that?"
"Hmm, your words just reminded me of an old friend. I'll let you go this time, but you should know what to do, right?"
"Understood, I've never been here and I haven't seen anything."
Lin Jiang nodded, he knew the rules, he was a rule-abiding person.
The person in the black robe ignored him and continued to search the bodies. Then, they cast a spell and threw all the bodies into the Yuntuo River. The river water surged and within a few seconds, everything disappeared.
"Walking really fast"
Lin Jiang saw the black-robed figure quickly disappear, sighed, chopped the demon fish in his hand into pieces, and then stuffed them into a storage bag.
"I will never eat fish from the Yuntuo River again."
Lin Jiang secretly vowed that the Yuntuo River was too terrifying. He didn't know how many bodies were thrown in there every day. This reminded Lin Jiang of his older brother. He was really powerful, even more so than Lin Jiang the cultivator.
······
"Let's honestly dig a fish pond."
Back at his home in the Yunzhong Mountain Range, Lin Jiang looked at a piece of low-lying land and decided to dig a fish pond.
Every day for four hours, Lin Jiang spent a month digging a fish pond that was over ten acres in size. Then he filled it with stream water and bought fish fry from outside, placing them in the fish pond.
"Big Shadiao, Small Shadiao, these fish in the fish pond are mine. No stealing or snatching!"
Lin Jiang held onto Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, teaching them that the fish in this pond don't grow big, at most three to five catties. The fish in the whole pond are not enough for them to have a meal. Lin Jiang prepared for himself, and they can only eat from the Yuntuo River.
"Chirp chirp..."
Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao saw the big fish that Lin Jiang took out and instantly became excited. They don't care if it's the Ganges River or not, as long as it's fish.
"There are fish, chickens, ducks, and even deer. This life is so enjoyable."
Lin Jiang looked at the home he built with his own hands and was very satisfied. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the big city, he prefers this picturesque countryside.
Previously living in Yunzhong City, Lin Jiang rarely went out for entertainment. There is more to Yunzhong City than just Spring Coming Tower, and only those who love to play know how fun it is. But Lin Jiang never went. Now it's nice to have some flowers and grass.
Lin Jiang has always been cultivating, but he never rushes. Not to mention the whole cultivation world, even in Yunzhong City, he is just an insignificant shrimp. As long as you don't cause trouble, how unlucky would you have to be to go out and be killed, especially when he rarely goes out? He's definitely a homebody.
After another month, Lin Jiang received Sun Man's Sound Passing Talisman, and the exchange meeting began again. He went to Sun Man's cave, which is about fifty miles away from his place, not far at all. With the flight speed of the Building Foundation Period, he can get there in a moment.
"Taoist Friend Lin, you're the first one to come."
"Isn't it close to where we live, Taoist friend Sun? What kind of activities will there be in this exchange meeting?"
"It's the same as before, but recently I made a batch of elixirs called the Sanhua Pill. Taoist Friend Lin, are you interested in trying it?"
"I'm fine, I still have over a hundred years of life left. No rush, let's leave it for other Taoist friends. I think Taoist Friend Zhang needed it more."
Lin Jiang shook his head. The Sanhua Pill is also a treasure that extends life, but it only adds five years to it. Plus, the Sanhua Pill cannot be used more than once. After taking the second one, it becomes useless. Lin Jiang thought it wasn't worth it.
"Taoist Friend Zhang has left, he doesn't need it anymore."
"He left, um..."
"No, no. He said he wanted to go out and explore something that appeared in the northern part of Yunzhong Mountain Range, like a hidden place or something. I advised against it, but I couldn't persuade him."
Sun Man quickly explained that "he left" means he physically went away, not that he died. Please don't misunderstand.
"Isn't the northern part Wilderness? How is there still a hidden place?"
Lin Jiang asked. The Yunzhong Mountain Range is very large, with its main range spanning thousands of miles from east to west. The Zhonghang Sect and the Cloud Sword Sect mainly operate in the southern part of the Yunzhong Mountain Range, while the northern part is occupied by several powerful monster kings. The strength of the monsters is stronger than that of cultivators, and it is a wilderness environment.
"Some cultivators like the life in the wilderness and settle deep within it. They may also guard certain genius treasures and set up powerful formations. These formations, when left behind, create independent environments. These are called secret realms, which are different from the secret realms of the major sects."
"I see, I've learned something new."
"However, Taoist Friend Lin is very skilled. It would be beneficial for him to go out and explore the wilderness. There are treasures everywhere in the wilderness. If he can find a high-level spirit medicine, he won't have to worry about resources for dozens of years."
"Yes, Sun the Taoist friend spoke wisely."
"If Taoist Friend Lin has this intention, I can introduce some friends to Taoist Friend Lin. They are talented people with a good reputation in Yunzhong City. If Taoist Friend Lin agrees, they will prioritize selling the elixirs to me at the same price as outside. Taoist Friend Lin won't be at a disadvantage."
"Let's talk about it when I become stronger."
Lin Jiang replied. You're right, but I'm sorry, I won't go on the adventure.
The greatest benefit of an adventure is the chance to become rich. It's the fastest way for an ordinary cultivator to move up in society. But he doesn't want that. With infinite lifespan, he can slowly accumulate wealth. If one year doesn't work, there's always ten years, or even a hundred or a thousand years.
He saves a few hundred spirit stones a year, and in a hundred years, it would be tens of thousands of spirit stones, quite a lot.
Soon, the people invited by Sun Man arrived one after another. Some would leave this small group, but Sun Man would always bring in new people, maintaining a group of about ten people.
Lin Jiang didn't have anything to trade with them, but he quite enjoyed the discussions. Lin Jiang practiced alone without any mentor, so discussing cultivation matters was helpful to him. Therefore, in most cases, Lin Jiang wouldn't be absent.
"Oh my gosh, what's going on?"
"Such strong spiritual energy fluctuations, there must be people battling with magic."
"I can't detect it with my divine sense. Is it a golden core cultivator?"
Towards the end of today's exchange meeting, everyone suddenly felt a strong wave of spiritual energy. Their faces changed and their divine senses couldn't detect it. It must be at least several hundred meters away, definitely not something a Building Foundation Period cultivator could create.
Translator: Book 8 has been translated and published on Amazon (https://amzn.to/4aZTFNi). Book 9 will be translated within 2 weeks.
