Fish Fry

For any power, raising Spirit Bees is a multifaceted endeavor: Spirit Bees consume no resources and instead produce highly valuable Spirit Honey; their pollination of Spirit Grass and medicinal herbs increases yields; and their inherent toxicity makes them formidable allies in combat.

Ever since discovering the Spirit Pearl Space, Wang Daoyuan had entertained the idea of raising Spirit Bees, primarily for the Spirit Honey. Unfortunately, Spirit Bees were exceedingly rare, with only two avenues for obtaining them:

One was to acquire them from a faction that already possessed Spirit Bees. However, no faction would ever sell Spirit Bees, thereby creating a competitor; the only option would be to seize them by force.

The second was to search for wild bees, which typically resided deep within mountainous forests, making them difficult to find. Furthermore, wild bee swarms possessed significant combat strength on their own.

Neither of these avenues was feasible for the Wang family, let alone for Wang Daoyuan alone.

These Spirit Bees were essentially a gift delivered to his doorstep. The unfortunate part was that the Bee King had died. A swarm without a Bee King could not reproduce and would eventually perish. If there were any Bee Eggs within the hive, it might be possible to cultivate a new Bee King.

Regrettably, the hive possessed the ability to block Spiritual Sense detection, preventing him from confirming the presence of Bee Eggs. He also couldn't dismantle the hive, as that would doom any potential Bee Eggs. He could only let the swarm meet its natural end.

However, he had never encountered this particular species of Spirit Bee before. In the family's collection of texts, several common Spirit Bee species were described, but none matched this one. These Spirit Bees had more slender bodies and wings, and their flight speed was considerably faster.

Since he didn't know their species, he decided to temporarily refer to them as "Long-tailed Bees."

If he could cultivate a new Bee King, with the Spirit Pearl Space's tenfold time acceleration, Wang Daoyuan would truly strike it rich.

After inventorying his spoils of war, he withdrew his Spiritual Sense from the space.

Inspired by his recent Spirit Grain Fishing, Wang Daoyuan conceived a solution to the problem of accumulating Spirit Grain: raising Spirit Beasts.

However, he couldn't raise creatures like cattle, sheep, or rabbits that fed on Spirit Grass. If he were to place them in the Spirit Pearl Space, they would undoubtedly wreak havoc on the Spirit Medicine in the Spirit Fields.

The most reliable option was to raise Spirit Fish, as ordinary Spirit Fish could only survive in water and would never venture into the Spirit Fields, let alone damage the Spirit Medicine.

As for the source of Spirit Fish fry, with the Clear Stream and Qingli River at their backs, could they possibly lack fish fry?

After recuperating for over a month, Wang Daoyuan finally recovered. He picked up his fishing rod again and headed towards the Clear Stream behind his cave dwelling.

Upon reaching the Clear Stream behind his cave dwelling, Wang Daoyuan was astonished. The banks of the river at the three-way fork were crowded with cultivators fishing. Among them were several disciples from his own family. Upon seeing Wang Daoyuan carrying his fishing rod, they even greeted him.

Wang Daoyuan walked up to a young man who was fishing and, after casting his hook, asked the youth, "Third Brother, what's going on? Why are so many people fishing today?"

The young man, named Wang Daochang, was third in the "Dao" generation and had a cultivation base at the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation. He was steady in his actions, neither arrogant nor impatient, and impeccable in his dealings with others. He commanded high prestige among his peers and was the designated Patriarch Successor after Wang Shouye.

Furthermore, as he possessed the best talent among his peers, he was also a key focus of the family's cultivation efforts as a Foundation Establishment Seed. Foundation Establishment Seeds were typically arranged to reside on Jade Spring Peak after reaching adulthood, tasked with light duties to focus their energy on cultivation.

This time, the Wang family had acquired another shop, and there was a severe shortage of personnel. All adult family disciples had been dispatched, and even Wang Daochang, a top prospect, was not exempt.

Wang Daochang shot Wang Daoyuan a look and said, "Don't you have any idea why?"

Wang Daoyuan chuckled, "That was purely a coincidence. Are all these people here for the Clear River Carp? With only two appearing every few hundred years, it's hardly a coincidence that you could catch one."

Wang Daochang replied, "Wealth moves people's hearts. You managed to catch two, and others are thinking, 'What if I can catch one?' Even if they can't catch one now, who knows about the future."

Wang Daoyuan asked, confused, "What do you mean by that? What do you mean by being able to catch one in the future?"

"It's because of the two Clear River Carp you caught. After examination by the Great Elder, the female Clear River Carp had just laid her eggs four to five days before you caught her. In a few years, they can be caught." Wang Daochang answered.

Wang Daoyuan's heart skipped a beat. On the morning he caught the Clear River Carp, he had immediately placed them in the Spirit Pearl Space and only took them out at dawn the next day.

Given the Spirit Pearl Space's tenfold time acceleration, the Clear River Carp had spent seven to eight days in the Spirit Pearl Space. Did that mean the Clear River Carp laid its eggs in the Spirit Pearl Space?

He suppressed his excitement and feigned a look of regret, saying, "That's truly a shame. If only I had caught them four or five days earlier, I could have gotten a whole batch of fry."

Seeing his expression of having suffered a great loss, Wang Daochang consoled him, "Nothing is perfect. You catching the Clear River Carp was already incredibly lucky, so don't be greedy for more. Our Wang family has also profited greatly this time. With an additional shop, the clan has decided to open a restaurant.

Oh, and there's also a reward for you. The Patriarch also asked me to bring it."

Hearing this, Wang Daoyuan's interest was piqued, "What reward?"

"Two thousand Family Contribution Points," Wang Daochang said with a mysterious smile. "And the special care from the Patriarch and the Elders."

Wang Daoyuan exclaimed in surprise, "Special care? Third Brother, don't keep me in suspense, what is it?"

Wang Daochang cleared his throat. "Given that Daoyuan has made a significant contribution this time, but has also indirectly offended many people, in order to protect Daoyuan, he is not permitted to leave the clan until his cultivation breaks through to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation.

These are the Patriarch's exact words. Of course, you have other options."

Wang Daoyuan, who had been feeling utterly dejected, unexpectedly found there were other options and quickly asked, "What options?"

"Return to Jade Spring Peak," Wang Daochang replied.

Wang Daoyuan's face darkened. It would be better to be confined; at least escaping would be simpler, and he could secretly sell Spirit Grain to buy some elixirs. Returning to Jade Spring Peak, under the Patriarch's watchful eye, how could he possibly escape?

"Pretend I didn't ask," he said, turning back to his cave dwelling with a grim expression.

Wang Daochang burst into laughter upon seeing his seventh brother, who had been bouncing around since childhood, in such a predicament.

Back in his cave dwelling, Wang Daoyuan's Spiritual Sense immediately entered the Spirit Pearl Space, and he began a thorough search of the fish pond. More than a month had passed since he caught the Clear River Carp. In the space, this equated to over a year. Even if the incubation period for Spirit Fish eggs was long, fry should have hatched by now.

After searching for a while, he discovered ten fry, about the size of a needle, struggling to nibble on a few grains of Spirit Grain. The Clear River Carp, worth one hundred thousand Spirit Stones each, looked so pathetic from hunger.

If anyone knew that Wang Daoyuan possessed ten Clear River Carp, they would surely bury him alive. If they knew he had almost starved them to death, they would dig him up again and beat him severely.

He didn't know what Clear River Carp liked to eat. Since they were nibbling on Spirit Grain, he decided to feed them Spirit Grain.

Wang Daoyuan ground the Spirit Grain into powder and sprinkled it into the water pit. The fry swam from the bottom to the surface, took a bite of the Spirit Grain powder, and quickly returned to the bottom with a flick of their tails. The ten small fish had a considerable appetite; after consuming about an ounce of Spirit Grain powder, they stopped eating.

He then dug a ten-foot-square pit in the Spirit Grain field, threw in several Rain Transformation Talismans, and filled the pit with water, transferring the now-full fry into it.

One reason was his concern that the Pseudo Spirit Fish in the pond would compete with the fry for food. Another was his fear that these fish would eat the fry.

These dozen or so fish were merely ordinary fish that had absorbed a bit of spiritual energy, not even qualifying as Spirit Fish. He couldn't let them negatively impact the healthy growth of the Clear River Carp fry.