Chapter 73 - 72: A Small Gathering on Jingzhe

Chapter 73: Chapter 72: A Small Gathering on Jingzhe

"Father, that fellow seems quite familiar with our tactics."

Watching Chen Jianghe steer his boat away, the honest-looking young man’s eyes turned as cold as blades as he spoke to the approaching old man.

"Smuggling one Little Cyan Fish yields a profit of three Spirit Stones, with a broker fee of fifty grains of Spiritual Sand. It’s completely reasonable. How did he see through it?"

The old man took a deep breath and sighed helplessly. "After all these years, he’s become even more cautious."

"I just think that kid is a coward who’s afraid of death. It’s impossible for him to have seen through our scheme." The once-skinny young man had now taken on the appearance of a middle-aged, bordering on elderly, man.

They had previously worked as brokers at Port No.1, engaging in shady dealings and accumulating quite a few Spirit Stones. The old man had then bought his son a Spirit Beast to assist in breeding Little Cyan Fish.

This was exactly why the honest-looking young man had cultivated to the Fourth-Layer Qi Refining at such a young age and become a Senior Fisherman and Farmer.

As for why they didn’t believe Chen Jianghe had seen through their scheme... it was because they had only just concocted this plot, and Chen Jianghe was their very first test subject.

They planned to lure him to Port No.1, find an excuse to leave the port to sign a confidentiality contract, and finally murder him to plunder his Spirit Stones and resources.

"There’s no need to keep an eye on his kind. The time cost is too high."

The old man gave the honest-looking young man a profound look and said earnestly, "Zhuzi, remember this. Crooked ways are not a long-term solution. We can only do this for your generation at most. Once we accumulate enough wealth, we will establish a Cultivation Family and practice Cultivation on the righteous path."

"I’ll remember that, Father."

"What a clumsy trick."

Returning to his breeding waters, Chen Jianghe let out a disdainful chuckle as he reflected on what had just happened at the Jingyue Market Port.

The Yun family maintained extremely strict control over the smuggling of both large and Little Cyan Fish. Anyone caught would have their Dantian crippled, their limbs broken, and then be thrown out of Jingyue Lake.

For the sake of a few Spirit Stones in profit over two years, other Senior Fishermen and Farmers might take desperate risks, but he absolutely would not. Crafting Spirit Talismans was far more profitable than smuggling.

Furthermore, did the other party genuinely just want him to join so they could earn a meager broker fee?

No, what they were truly after was his entire net worth.

Having practiced Cultivation for twenty-three years, he was no longer a naive novice. In the cruel Cultivation Realm, the vast majority of dangers didn’t come from High-Tier Cultivators, but from bottom-tier Cultivators. Because, for the sake of Spirit Stones, they would do absolutely anything, completely devoid of morality.

"Master, you’re finally back."

Little Black’s voice rang out on Chen Jianghe’s Spirit Platform right on cue, obediently calling him master.

"Don’t even think about the Spirit-Encompassing Flower. We’ll talk about it next March," Chen Jianghe said, immediately cutting off whatever Little Black was about to say next.

"What Spirit-Encompassing Flower?"

Little Black feigned anger, sending a telepathic message in a disappointed tone. "I was only worried about when my master would return."

"..."

Chen Jianghe sensed a strong whiff of feigned innocence.

"Master, I will work hard to nurture more Cyan-Scaled Fish into Spirit Beasts. We will earn more Spirit Stones, and then we can exchange them for more Cultivation Resources."

Little Black spoke with sensible maturity.

Chen Jianghe’s mind buzzed. Through the Spirit Platform Mark, he sensed Little Black diving back down to the bottom of the lake. The turtle had shown absolutely no intention of asking for the Spirit-Encompassing Flower.

"Did I misunderstand this cowardly turtle?"

Hearing Little Black’s words, he was deeply moved. Working hard, earning more Spirit Stones, and exchanging them for Cultivation Resources for the both of them... though the words reeked of theatrical innocence, they left him feeling inexplicably comforted and touched.

After thinking it over, Chen Jianghe decided to give Little Black one Spirit-Encompassing Flower first. After all, he had bought eight of them this time. They were all bought for Little Black anyway, so giving one now or later made no difference.

Thus, he circulated his Magical Power, wrapping it around a Spirit-Encompassing Flower, and sent it to the bottom of the lake.

A few days later.

The Yun family’s large ship arrived to distribute Little Cyan Fish fry. After tallying the numbers, Chen Jianghe released them into the breeding waters under the watchful eye of the Chief Ship Steward.

Watching the large ship sail away, he couldn’t help but recall the matter of giving Little Black the Spirit-Encompassing Flower. He had a lingering feeling that he had been duped.

Over the past few days, while chatting with Little Black, he realized that the turtle hadn’t called him "Master" even once.

"I fell for his trick."

Chen Jianghe suddenly realized he had been successfully conned out of a Spirit-Encompassing Flower by Little Black.

"Ever since this fellow became a Spirit Beast, his intelligence has been getting higher and higher."

The Black Crystal Profound Turtle already possessed high intelligence by nature, but Little Black’s current intellect was becoming somewhat absurd. It was completely on par with that of a normal adult human. Perhaps even slightly sharper.

"The Third Transformation Demon Ascension Technique can improve bloodline Talent, but could it also enhance Spiritual Wisdom?"

Judging from Little Black’s Cultivation progress, he had already surpassed the vast majority of Spirit Beasts with a Second-Grade Bloodline. Since Chen Jianghe had never seen a Spirit Beast with a Third-Grade Bloodline, he had no basis for comparison.

A Spirit Beast’s Physical Body and Magical Power were much stronger than those of Cultivators in the same Realm. They could also directly consume Exotic Flowers and Herbs, as well as Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, for Cultivation. However, their accumulation of Magical Power to raise their Cultivation was incredibly slow.

The fact that Little Black had managed to advance his Cultivation to Mid-Stage Tier One in such a short period was entirely due to the vast amount of resources Chen Jianghe had spent on him.

But for Little Black to reach Late-Stage Tier One, he would need exponentially more resources. Even if Chen Jianghe gave him all seven remaining Spirit-Encompassing Flowers, it wouldn’t be enough to achieve a breakthrough. He would need at least another twenty or thirty Spirit-Encompassing Flowers.

Several days passed.

Chen Jianghe emerged from the cabin and walked to the bow of the boat. Watching the glints of sword light streaking across the sky, he frowned slightly.

"Why are there fewer and fewer Cultivators coming to the Jingyue Marketplace?"

Admittedly, with the initial hype of the Jingyue Marketplace’s opening fading and the Hundred Treasures Tower’s grand opening discounts ending, a drop in foot traffic was to be expected. But this decrease seemed far too drastic.

He had noticed this trend over the past few days. At the very beginning, over a hundred Cultivators would fly past on their controlled swords every day. There were also many Cultivators using Qi Manipulation Flight to head toward the Jingyue Marketplace.

Now, however, only ten or twenty Cultivators flew past on swords per day. As for Mid-Stage Qi Refining Cultivators using Qi Manipulation Flight, hardly any were to be seen.

This was rather bizarre.

Today was the Awakening of Insects, the day Chen Jianghe had arranged to meet with Yu Daniu and Zhou Miaoyun. He instructed Little Black to dive deep into the lake, then steered his boat toward the Jingyue Marketplace on Huxing Island.

Upon arriving at the port, he found it startlingly desolate. There was only a scattering of a few dozen Cultivators, and merely four or five mortal guides. This was worlds apart from the scene during the Jingyue Marketplace’s grand opening, when thousands of Cultivators and hundreds of mortal guides had crowded the port.

"Just what exactly is going on?"

Brimming with questions, Chen Jianghe made his way to the Jingyue Immortal Tower, their agreed meeting place. Since Yu Daniu was a Steward at the Jingyue Immortal Tower, meeting there was quite convenient.

Upon arriving, an attendant led him into the private room Yu Daniu had prepared. There, he found that Zhou Miaoyun had already arrived.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Fairy Miaoyun."

"I’ve only just arrived myself."

Zhou Miaoyun’s demeanor carried a touch more exhaustion and a touch less arrogance. She offered Chen Jianghe a slight nod.

A few breaths later, Yu Daniu walked in. He was clearly not very busy. He had known Zhou Miaoyun was already there, but intentionally waited for Chen Jianghe to arrive before making his appearance. After all, there was some lingering estrangement between Yu Daniu and Zhou Miaoyun.

After taking his seat, Chen Jianghe asked, "Daniu, why has the number of Cultivators coming to the Jingyue Marketplace suddenly dropped so much?"