Preparation

The fish in the river were like starving ghosts. After changing fishing rods, it wasn't long before another fish took the bait. Wang Daoyuan's fishing rod was made of Spirit Wood, the line of Spirit Silkworm Silk, and the hook was forged from a type of Spirit Iron. Although they hadn't been refined by an Artifact Refiner, the materials themselves were already very strong, so there was no need to worry about them snapping.

As soon as the fish bit, Wang Daoyuan directly reeled it in. He felt a sudden weight in his hand, and another Clear River Carp was tossed onto the bank.

Wang Daoyuan was a little surprised. Such a valuable Spirit Fish, acting like this, couldn't resist a few grains of Spirit Grain.

Seeing this, the onlookers couldn't hold back either, and many began making makeshift fishing rods and hooks on the spot.

After catching two, Wang Daoyuan waited another half hour. He caught a few more Pseudo Spirit Fish, but no more Clear River Carp took the bait. He then reeled in his line and returned to his cave dwelling, leaving countless cultivators fishing by the riverbank.

Back in his cave dwelling, Wang Daoyuan's Spiritual Sense entered the Spirit Pearl Space. In the Spirit Grain field within the Spirit Pearl Space, he dug out a pit two zhang square. He used a Rain Transformation Talisman, and soon rainwater filled the pit. He then released the Clear River Carp and Pseudo Spirit Fish he had caught into the water pit before withdrawing his Spiritual Sense from the Spirit Pearl Space.

A short while later, Ninth Uncle Wang Zhide arrived at his cave dwelling.

Wang Daoyuan's cave dwelling wasn't large; he could survey it at a glance. Wang Zhide didn't see the Clear River Carp anywhere, so he asked, "Where are the Clear River Carp?"

Wang Daoyuan replied, "I put them in..."

Before he could finish, Wang Zhide interrupted him, "Don't say it. It's best if only you know where they are. Just make sure they stay alive."

"Ninth Uncle, don't worry, the Clear River Carp are absolutely safe and won't die," Wang Daoyuan assured him, patting his chest.

Wang Zhide sighed, "Our Wang family is still too weak. We might not be able to keep the Clear River Carp this time. Prepare yourself mentally. When the time comes to hand them over, don't be reluctant. Otherwise, the entire family will suffer."

Wang Daoyuan was a bit confused, "Since it concerns the family's interests, I naturally won't be reluctant. I just don't understand, are these Clear River Carp that important? Our family can't afford to keep them."

Wang Zhide gave a wry smile, "If it were three hundred years ago, you could have stewed these two Clear River Carp and it wouldn't have mattered. But now, Clear River Carp haven't appeared for over two hundred years. These two might be the last ones in existence.

The intrinsic value of Clear River Carp isn't that high. Eating them can strengthen the physique, consolidate the foundation, and heal old injuries, and they are only effective for cultivators at Foundation Establishment or below.

What makes them valuable isn't their practical benefits, but their taste, which is considered quite useless. In terms of deliciousness, let alone in Qingli Commandery, even throughout the entire Zhao Kingdom, among all sorts of delicacies, there are very few that can compare to Clear River Carp.

The Three Great Sects are not exactly righteous sects. After replacing the Zhao family, they became extravagant. To show off their status, they've been known to spend a fortune on a piece of scrap iron, let alone Clear River Carp, which are already famous as exquisite delicacies.

It is said that over two hundred years ago, the last Clear River Carp was auctioned off by several Golden Core cultivators, eventually selling for a high price of 100,000 Spirit Stones. After reappearing more than two hundred years later, can the price of these two fish be any lower? These two fish are worth at least over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. Such a large sum of Spirit Stones is not something our small Wang family can afford.

I have already sent a message to the clan leader. How to proceed will depend on the family's decision. Our task is to prevent anyone from snatching the Clear River Carp. Wealth stirs the heart, and a value of over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones is enough to make most people lose their minds."

After listening to Ninth Uncle, Wang Daoyuan fell silent for a long time and said, "Ninth Uncle, do you have a Spirit Beast Bag? It doesn't need to be high-grade, just enough to hold two fish."

Wang Zhide asked suspiciously, "What do you need a Spirit Beast Bag for?"

Wang Daoyuan smiled mysteriously, "When false is real, real is false; when real is false, false is real."

Wang Zhide looked enlightened. He untied a bag from his waist, which looked no different from an ordinary Storage Bag, and said, "This is a low-grade Spirit Beast Bag. Take it.

Be very careful. If you can't keep the Clear River Carp, so be it. It was unexpected fortune anyway. If you lose them, just pretend you never caught them. Your life is your own. Once it's gone, you can never get it back."

Wang Zhide took out another Storage Bag and said, "These are the few Talismans I promised you last time. Three Tier Two Low-Grade Golden Blade Talismans, one Tier Two Low-Grade Earth Armor Talisman, and one Tier Two Mid-Grade Divine Movement Talisman. Remember to pay me back the Spirit Stones and contribution points. Use them wisely, and you can preserve your life as long as you don't encounter a Foundation Establishment cultivator. There are also a few Tier One High-Grade Talismans inside; keep them for self-defense.

You can come to my cave dwelling too. It has defensive formations and is safer."

Wang Daoyuan shook his head, "It's no use. According to you, the Clear River Carp are so valuable that many Foundation Establishment cultivators will come to snatch them.

The formations in shops and cave dwellings are like paper to Foundation Establishment cultivators. The two of us won't be able to stop them.

Whether we can repel enemies depends on whether I can deceive people."

Wang Zhide sighed and turned to leave.

Wang Daoyuan took the Talismans. He noticed that these Tier Two Talismans, unlike the Tier One Talismans' yellow paper, were all made of purple paper. Purple paper could carry much more spiritual energy, otherwise, it wouldn't be able to withstand the spiritual energy of a Tier Two Talisman.

The power of a Tier Two Talisman when used is said to be comparable to a single strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. With so much spiritual energy injected into the talisman paper, if the paper's strength was insufficient, it would simply collapse.

The runes on Tier Two Talismans were also more complex, but they still shared many similarities with the runes of the same type of Tier One Talismans. The Tier One runes were more like simplified versions of the Tier Two runes.

He carefully placed these Tier Two talisman papers into the thatched hut in his Spirit Pearl Space, ensuring they could be retrieved at any time.

It was still morning, and the day was still young. If anyone intended to snatch the Clear River Carp, they wouldn't do it in broad daylight. Moreover, there were still many cultivators fishing along the banks of the Clear Stream and Qingli River. It wasn't yet certain if more Clear River Carp could be caught, so there was no need to risk robbing the Wang family's shop.

While no one was coming to rob him, he should make more preparations. Although he had Tier Two Talismans as a trump card, more preparation was always better. With Clear River Carp worth over a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, who knew how many desperate individuals it would attract.

Wang Daoyuan took out the talisman paper and Spirit Ink, and began to attempt crafting Tier One High-Grade Talismans.

Crafting Tier One Mid-Grade and Low-Grade Talismans didn't require much Spiritual Sense, but they could only be triggered by spiritual energy. Crafting Tier One High-Grade Talismans, however, required injecting Spiritual Sense. Talismans crafted this way could be triggered by Spiritual Sense, without needing to be held in hand. As long as they were within the range of Spiritual Sense, they could be triggered, making their use more covert.

Generally, a Talisman Master with a success rate of sixty percent in crafting Tier One Mid-Grade Talismans could attempt to craft Tier One High-Grade Talismans. Wang Daoyuan, even with an Inferior Talisman Brush, could reach this level, making him fully capable of attempting to craft Tier One High-Grade Talismans.

Wang Daoyuan focused his mind and calmed his breath, preparing for the formal talisman crafting. He intended to craft a Tier One High-Grade Illusory Cloud Talisman, which was a water-elemental Talisman. It could release a cloud of mist that would last for half an hour, and any cultivator entering it would fall into an illusion.

Anyone daring to rob him would at least be a cultivator in the Late Stage of Qi Condensation. In a direct confrontation, Wang Daoyuan had no chance of winning. Using illusions to stall the enemy was more reliable. Once the enemy was trapped in an illusion, he could use attack Talismans to kill them.

The crafting difficulty of Tier One High-Grade Talismans was much higher, requiring the simultaneous injection of spiritual energy and Spiritual Sense into the talisman brush. Not only did the forces need to be injected evenly, but they also had to avoid conflicting with each other.

Before starting, he took out the Tier One High-Grade Talismans given by Ninth Uncle and carefully observed how Ninth Uncle drew the runes and handled the conflict between Spiritual Sense and spiritual energy.

After half an hour, he finally began crafting. Even so, he failed twice consecutively before finding a slight feel for it. It wasn't until the seventh attempt that he successfully crafted the first Illusory Cloud Talisman.

He then forged ahead and crafted two more Illusory Cloud Talismans, consuming a total of ten sheets of talisman paper. He wanted to continue crafting, but his Spiritual Sense and spiritual energy wouldn't allow it. Without external means to restore spiritual energy and Spiritual Sense, his limit was about ten Tier One High-Grade Talismans per day.

Out of ten sheets of talisman paper, he successfully crafted three. His success rate hadn't reached forty percent, so he couldn't yet be considered a true Tier One High-Grade Talisman Master.

By now, it was dark. Those who wanted to snatch the Clear River Carp could appear at any moment. He had to quickly recover his state. Otherwise, no matter how much preparation he had, it would be useless if he couldn't endure.

Wang Daoyuan took out two more Pseudo Spirit Fish from the Spirit Pearl Space, placed them in a washbasin, and put them into the Spirit Beast Bag.

Then, he bonded with the Spirit Beast Bag and hung it on his waist.

Spirit Beast Bags also had a bonding function, but generally, it wasn't very useful. Cultivators of the same level could break it within fifteen minutes.

If the cultivator's cultivation was much higher, it could be broken in less than half a quarter of an hour.

But this less than half a quarter of an hour was very valuable for Wang Daoyuan's plan.

After the robbers snatched the Spirit Beast Bag, they wouldn't dare to spend half a quarter of an hour verifying its authenticity on the spot.

After making all the preparations, he took a Clear Spirit Pill to restore his Spiritual Sense and sat down to recover his Spiritual Sense and spiritual energy.