One hundred and twenty li west of Chongmei Mountain.
A string of bubbles rose from the bottom of Yunze Lake, churning up vast swaths of pitch-black mud.
Triangular Golden Pearl Clams the size of millstones were dragged up from the lakebed by underwater pearl divers.
Their surfaces were smooth and bluish-black, while the edges of their openings bore wavelike folds that interlocked like canine teeth.
Chen Mu stood at the front of a bamboo raft, swinging a hay fork to haul the nearest Golden Pearl Clam aboard.
Pearl diver Chai Song stepped forward and deftly pried apart the shell, dissecting the clam flesh. Before long, he dug out five or six golden pearls the size of soybeans.
"If it could've lived another half year, these pearls would've grown as big as longans. At this size, they won't fetch much," Chai Song said regretfully as he looked at the Golden Pearls in his hand.
"There's nothing we can do about disasters, whether natural or man-made," another pearl diver beside him lamented.
More than twenty days had passed since the upheaval. The Earth Spirit Vital Qi blanketing Yunze Lake had rapidly dissipated. Qi Refining cultivators recovered their magical power more slowly, while huge numbers of Golden Pearl Clams raised in Yunze Lake died off.
The Yun Chong Lower Courtyard had no choice but to mobilize every disciple, harvesting all manner of spirit herbs and Golden Pearls as though draining the lake dry to catch its fish.
"Brother Li, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" After putting away the bright white inner shell of the Golden Pearl Clam, Chai Song turned to Chen Mu and asked in confusion.
"Possibly." Wearing Li Moliang's face, Chen Mu nodded solemnly. "I was a pearl oyster farmer and pearl diver for quite a few years. Perhaps we