Blue Scale Carp

The long beach was frozen into a white ribbon, with only the cold pond still flowing, making it the perfect time to catch the Blue Scale Carp.

"A single Blue Scale Carp is worth a thousand gold."

A thousand taels of gold in Pingding Prefecture could buy six hundred mu of paddy field, or two thousand mu of dry land, enough to turn a poor young man into a middle-class landlord, accumulating three generations' worth of family fortune overnight.

This was enough to change an ordinary person's destiny, yet things that change destiny are often life-threatening.

In the past few years, the best swimmers in Pingding Prefecture would come searching for this heaven-defying opportunity every winter.

Only after paying a terrible price did they remember the last two lines of the folk rhyme, "The fish sinks into the cold abyss, a hundred lives cannot exchange it."

A bonfire was set up on the shore.

Steam rose from the large cauldron, and the aroma of wine filled the air.

Two jars of Drunken Immortal Tower's 'Fire Burn Throat', each weighing twenty catties.

This high-proof white liquor felt like being consumed by flames upon entering the mouth.

Only the most hopeless alcoholics dared to drink two liang at a time, sipping it slowly to savor the pleasure mixed with pain.

Zhang Yu took off his outer clothes and gulped down five or six mouthfuls of 'Fire Burn Throat'.

Blackwood Cliff had issued a new decree from the Cult Master. Saint Aunt had left the main altar to take charge in Luoyang, and the cult's authority had completely fallen into Yang Lianting's hands.

Immediately, Wu Lianjiang was labeled as 'negligent and blind, incompetent in handling affairs, leading to a crushing defeat'. Although he was no longer considered a traitor, his property was confiscated, and his family was sentenced to three years of hard labor.

Then, another batch of old officials and acquaintances who had ties with the former Cult Master Ren Woxing were eliminated.

Prison carts traveled back and forth on the official road daily, without end.

Zhang Yu had not stayed at the Taiping Inn these days. He had built a straw hut to live in at Gorilla Beach, fearing that if anything happened, he would be caught like a turtle in a jar.

The orders issued by Blackwood Cliff had a contradictory nature.

Because of the 'Mourning Decree', the spirit of shared hatred that the cult members had finally gathered dissipated once more in ridiculous internal strife.

"Yang Lianting, that mad dog, is biting everyone he sees now. Tong Baixiong has deep roots, so he can't bite him for now. He might come after me at any moment."

Zhang Yu became even more determined to be assigned to a local post and develop his plans slowly.

Therefore, for the Jiazi birthday celebration, he needed a gift he could present, after which he could approach Tong Baixiong.

It was quite amusing to think about it.

"You have to give gifts to change seats in high school, give gifts for outstanding student awards in university, slip red envelopes to matchmakers on blind dates, and even buy two packs of Lotus cigarettes for the apartment security guard when delivering food. After transmigrating and joining the Sun Moon Divine Cult, I still have to give gifts."

"Where there are people, there is the martial world. Where there is the martial world, there are probably gifts to be given."

Zhang Yu circulated his Internal Energy, igniting the effects of the alcohol, and then plunged into the cold pond.

With the Green Jade Thumb Ring, holding his breath underwater was not a problem. The main issue was resisting the cold. With the enhancement of the strong liquor, even with his current Internal Energy, he could only last eight minutes in the icy water.

The cold water was bone-chilling, like falling into an eternal ice cave. The water was dark and murky, allowing him to see only a few feet ahead. Occasionally, dark shapes would swim by. When he tried to get closer to identify them, they would swim away at lightning speed underwater, like galloping horses.

First attempt, he picked up a hibernating turtle, failed.

Replenished Internal Energy, drank alcohol, and went back into the water...

Second attempt, returned empty-handed, failed.

Replenished Internal Energy, drank alcohol, and went back into the water...

Third attempt, he caught a water snake, still failed. This time, he almost couldn't get back to shore.

Replenished Internal Energy, drank plenty of alcohol, and went back into the water.

By the time it was almost dark, Zhang Yu burst out of the water, his eyebrows and hair covered in ice crystals. He held a fish in his hand, trembling all over, but his face was filled with irrepressible joy.

"Finally succeeded!"

The carp was seven to eight catties heavy, with a slender body covered in blue scales without a single impurity, emitting a faint blue glow. Its teeth were sharp, and even after being pulled out of the water, it struggled, trying to bite the monstrous hand gripping its gill.

This was the 'Blue Scale Carp worth a thousand gold, a hundred lives cannot exchange.'

Zhang Yu walked to the bonfire and was stunned.

The half-pot of strong liquor he desperately needed to warm himself had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few ounces of dregs at the bottom of the pot.

He threw the blue carp into a wooden bucket, his hand trembling as he drew his long sword and shouted into the reeds, "Thief who stole my wine, if you have the guts, get out here!"

As soon as he finished speaking.

"I'm coming out. What can you do to me?"

The person walked slowly out of the reeds, dressed in a blue robe, with exquisite features, holding a white jade wine gourd in his hand, exuding an immortal aura. His eyebrows were like painted strokes, his phoenix eyes sharp, and despite being a wine thief, he still possessed an air of looking down on the world.

Zhang Yu was momentarily stunned. In his past life and this one, he had never seen such a beautiful man, and his imposing manner weakened by a third.

"Did you steal and drink my wine?"

The blue-robed man smiled, "Steal? Then I'll return it to you."

He casually threw the white jade wine gourd, which spun rapidly in the air, accompanied by wind and snow, and hurtled towards him.

As the gourd approached, Zhang Yu was greatly alarmed. The immense force was like a moving mountain, incredibly powerful, and definitely not something he could withstand.

He immediately used 'Flowing Clouds and Water' and leaped two steps to the side before the white jade wine gourd hit his chest.

The gourd actually curved and continued towards him. Zhang Yu didn't dare to stop at all, pushing 'Flowing Clouds and Water' to its limit.

A figure continuously leaped and spun on the rocky beach.

Though it seemed extremely perilous and disheveled, he always managed to dodge at the last moment before the white jade gourd got close, his timing astonishingly precise.

With each successful dodge, the momentum of the white jade wine gourd gradually diminished.

The blue-robed man's eyes flickered, and he chuckled, "Interesting. For 'Flying Cloud Divine Skill' to have such a successor, Wu Lianjiang must have used up all his luck for the next lifetime."

After dodging more than ten times, he finally caught the wine gourd, but the remaining force still sent him sitting into the water with a plop.

Upon opening it, he saw golden liquid inside, like nectar. It was Drunken Immortal Tower's 'Fire Burn Throat'.

At first whiff, the wine's aroma was even deeper and richer, extremely enticing, especially in the current freezing weather when strong liquor was needed to warm the body.

Zhang Yu picked up the gourd and took a drink.

Two drinks.

Three drinks.

Zhang Yu stopped.

He only felt the wine liquid enter his mouth, transforming into a powerful Internal Energy that surged through his meridians and poured into his Dantian, instantly turning the unliquefied mist into pool water, gradually filling the pool.

However, only half of that Internal Energy dissipated, and it still roamed erratically within his meridians.

The blue-robed man laughed, "Keep drinking. This is the Hundred Year Golden Monkey Wine that people in the martial world crave. At your level, even with a Golden Pool Dantian, one more sip would cause you to explode."

Zhang Yu was inwardly shocked, wondering how the man could see through his foundation. This person's cultivation must be far above his own, yet he didn't seem malicious.

He quickly circulated his energy to regulate and digest.

The blue-robed man walked over, took the white jade wine gourd, wiped the mouth of the gourd, and looked at him, saying, "Idiot! If you continue like this, your Dantian will burst. Stop filling it with water. Why don't you just lock that Internal Energy in your Lesser Yin Heart Meridian?"

Zhang Yu understood immediately. The Dantian was like the cold pond downstream, and the meridians were like this Gorilla Stream.

The opened Right Lesser Yin Heart Meridian, connected to the Dantian, could originally store Internal Energy, but the Internal Energy would constantly circulate between the meridians and the Dantian, requiring him to endure the painful expansion of his meridians.

The blue-robed man chuckled, "It's just a little pain, you can endure it."

The sky had turned dark, with the stars and moon overhead. Tomorrow should be a clear day.

Zhang Yu opened his eyes, breaking out in a sweat. The chill subsided slightly.

After three mouthfuls of Monkey Wine, he had successfully opened his Right Lesser Yin Heart Meridian and reached the late stage of Dan Energy.

He divided that surge of Internal Energy into two portions, circulating them between his Left and Right Lesser Yin Heart Meridians and his Dantian. This greatly reduced the feeling of painful expansion in his meridians.

Zhang Yu secretly glanced at the man. He looked no older than twenty, and it was unclear how he had cultivated such powerful Internal Energy. It was evident that the martial world was full of extraordinary individuals.

He was sitting by the campfire, leisurely drinking the wine one mouthful after another.

"Thank you for your... Hundred Year Golden Monkey Wine."

"No need to thank me. I drank your 'Fire Burn Throat', so this is only fair."

"Wine, the word itself, depends on the time, the place, the person, and even the mood."

"It never depends on its price or value."

Zhang Yu agreed wholeheartedly. It seemed this person not only had good looks but also a pure and clear heart, possessing a free and easy demeanor. Such a figure would definitely not be an unknown person in the martial world.

"I am Zhang Yu. May I ask your name, brother?"

"Lan Hao!"