From Common to Treasure

Splash!

"I got some!"

A jubilant figure emerged from the inner reaches of Water Farm No. 9.

It was Hong Ming!

He took the road less traveled, seeking out places rarely visited by people. With his mastery of the water, he'd come away with a bountiful haul.

The Water Breathing trait didn't improve his pearl-clam harvesting skills, but it maxed out all kinds of supporting abilities.

As a result, he could move with ease through any kind of environment in these waters.

Splash, splash!

Like a loach, Hong Ming slid onto the boat and shook a sheet of lake water from himself.

Then he sat cross-legged, picked up his heavy clam sack, and instead of taking anything out, dumped it straight onto the deck.

A flurry of clattering sounds rang out as pearl clams of all sizes and attractive colors tumbled down like peas.

They piled up in overlapping layers, forming a sand dune that gleamed with a dazzling array of colors.

Hong Ming couldn't be bothered with tools. He pried the shells open one by one with his bare hands, his movements practiced, never lingering over how many clam pearls each held.

Only the sight of a high-grade clam pearl made him pause, but soon he was back to normal.

By the time he finished, he'd paused twice in all, meaning he'd obtained two high-grade clam pearls!

"They're just a little small."

Hong Ming took out the two high-grade clam pearls separately, his face tinged with regret.

These two high-grade clam pearls fit Sun Dazhuang's description of Condensed Light Pearls almost perfectly. They were nearly flawless, their luster full and rich.

They were leagues above the mid-grade clam pearls Hong Ming had harvested before.

But they were only pea-sized, so they could fetch a good price, just not a great one.

Setting the high-grade clam pearls aside, Hong Ming turned to the rest.

There weren't many high-grade clam pearls, but there were plenty of mid- and low-grade ones, not to mention countless flawed pearls.

"If I take them to the Fishery Market and sell them to the Chen Family, they should be worth about five taels."

Hong Ming applied what he'd learned from his past sales, and the result was encouraging.

If he were lucky enough to make this much every day, he'd soon have enough to cover several days' worth of cultivation resources.

After sorting and stowing the clam pearls, Hong Ming rowed his boat slowly back to shore.

As soon as he arrived, he saw crowds surging along the lakeshore, and a commotion reached his ears.

"What happened?"

Not knowing what was going on, Hong Ming drew closer and learned the reason.

The Chen Family Water Farm had produced a Treasure Fish!

The words "Treasure Fish" struck him like a bolt of inspiration, instantly drawing his attention.

He quickly looked toward the middle of the lake and saw members of the Chen Family directing Sun Dazhuang and the others as they tried to catch the Treasure Fish.

"Is that a Black Bass?"

Hong Ming's eyesight had been trained to an extraordinary degree. Even from far away, he could still make it out.

The fish the Chen Family was catching wasn't an Azure Dragon Fish. It was a black fish nearly half the length of a forearm.

"It's not a naturally born Treasure Fish. A Black Bass has become a treasure fish!"

The moment he identified it, Hong Ming reached his conclusion.

Black Bass were common in the waters around Clear River City, unlike innate Treasure Fish such as the Azure Dragon Fish.

Though it was rare for them to become treasure fish, it wasn't unheard of. Every year, a few cases of Black Bass becoming treasure fish surfaced at the Fishery Market.

But for an ordinary fish to become a Treasure Fish was no easier than for an ordinary person to become a martial artist. The road was filled with hardships, like trying to cross a single-log bridge against a thousand troops.

The Black Bass before him had been lucky enough to become a treasure fish, but its transformation was incomplete.

A true Black Bass Treasure Fish would be as long and thick as a martial artist's arm. Anything smaller could only be considered a semi-treasure fish at most.

A semi-treasure fish had already crossed the hardest hurdle. All it lacked was time.

Unfortunately, this Black Bass didn't have that time. It would be extremely difficult for it to escape such a tight encirclement.

After a brief pang of envy, another thought occurred to Hong Ming. I've been to the Chen Family Water Farm many times, but never sensed any trace of a Treasure Fish. Where did this Black Bass Semi-Treasure Fish come from?

He began to wonder. Since a Half-Treasure Fish had appeared at the Chen Family Water Farm, there was surely a chance that a true Treasure Fish might be found there as well.

If he could trace its origins, he might be able to profit from it.

Just as he was weighing the idea, the Chen Family fishing team suddenly cried out in panic nearby. "This is bad! The Treasure Fish has broken free of the net! Stop it!"

A Black Bass wasn't as agile as an Azure Dragon Fish, but it was fierce and powerful.

Now that it had become a treasure fish, it was even more formidable. Once it escaped, catching it again would be incredibly difficult.

Chen Hong knew this. Though alarmed at first, he quickly steadied himself and continued issuing orders in an orderly manner.

Rip!

His directions had been sound, but in the end, they couldn't overcome the Black Bass's luck.

As if blessed by fortune, the Black Bass seemed destined to escape from the tiger's jaws.

Under the frantic encirclement, it broke through layer after layer of restraints in the blink of an eye, forcing its way to freedom before fleeing.

"Quick, catch it! Whoever catches the Treasure Fish will be handsomely rewarded!"

Watching the Black Bass break free and leap toward the vast lake, Chen Hong's expression changed dramatically. He shouted again and again, unwilling to accept what had happened.

He knew that no one nearby besides the Chen Family fishing team could hope to contain the Treasure Fish, but he had no choice but to try anything he could.

He didn't expect the scattered fishermen and clam gatherers to catch it. He only hoped they could buy time for the Chen Family fishing team to catch up.

Splash! Splash!

The sight of wealth stirred people's hearts.

As soon as Chen Hong finished speaking, one person after another answered his call,

and in an instant, splashes rang out one after another.

Whether they were members of the Chen Family fishing team or onlookers nearby, they all plunged into the water with feverish zeal, eager to race the Treasure Fish!

Sun Dazhuang and Liang He were among them.

The two men pushed themselves to their utmost speed, their arms sweeping through the waves like oars, moving with lightning speed.

They were less like men than two nimble water snakes, surging forward as they raced after the fleeing Black Bass, each trying to get ahead of the other.

Before long, they had pulled far ahead of everyone else and glimpsed a chance to catch the Black Bass.

But that chance grew dimmer by the moment!

Having narrowly escaped death, the Black Bass's instincts were even more sharply aroused, and its will to survive surged.

That will became an endless source of strength, letting it burst into astonishing speed.

Its back seemed injured, but its tail fin struck the water fiercely. It leaped and darted, its body slipping nimbly through the blue waves.

How could the speed of ordinary people, who had only honed their abilities through hard work, compare with that of a Treasure Fish?

The distance between man and fish didn't shrink. Instead, it visibly widened.

At the sight, Chen Hong clenched his fists, his eyes full of anxiety and reluctance.

As the Black Bass swam farther and farther away, leaving Liang He and the others far behind, all the emotion on Chen Hong's face finally gave way to a helplessness almost tangible.

What a pity!

Though a Half-Treasure Fish wasn't a Treasure Fish, catching it could still have eased the Chen Family's current predicament a little.

Now, it was all for nothing. They'd worked hard in vain!

Chen Hong sighed inwardly, shook his head, and was about to call his men back.

But in that instant, a streak of cold light flashed into view like lightning. It rode the wind and cleaved the waves, striking the Black Bass as it surfaced with unerring accuracy.

Crack!

The sound was faint, but the result was gratifying.

The sharp arrowhead, like a steel nail, burrowed into the Black Bass's back, piercing scale after scale and punching through flesh. A blush of red spread through the dark lake water.

The pale-red blood slowly rippled outward with the waves, blending into the lake.

A moment later, the fish was firmly in someone's grasp!