Treasure Fish

North of Abyss-Facing City, Quicksand River.

The sun had just risen above the horizon, casting glittering ripples across the river.

The river was broad, its muddy waters slowly flowing into the distance.

This great river that ran through the north of the city was the livelihood of several hundred fishing households in Abyss-Facing City.

Autumn had arrived, and a faint chill had begun to creep into the air.

At this moment, a small sampan drifted across the river.

A dark-skinned, middle-aged man in coarse cloth stood at the bow, observing the riverbed.

He seemed to have spotted something. With a powerful swing of his thick arm, he cast out a patched fishing net, which slowly sank into the water.

On the deck, a lanky youth was sorting through another dripping wet net.

Several small miscellaneous fish and some tiny river shrimp lay in the bamboo fish basket beside him.

One fish was somewhat larger, around a foot long, but it was merely a cheap silver carp.

The two were Zhao Xisheng and his father, Zhao Tiegen.

After Zhao Xisheng left the Martial Arts Hall, he had followed his father into fishing.

A fisherman's catch depended heavily on luck.

If luck was good and they caught a "big haul," a single fish could sell for several hundred copper coins.

It was not impossible for one to fetch several taels of silver.

If luck was poor, all they caught would be little fish and shrimp. There would be no money to speak of, and they could only keep them for themselves.

For some reason, father and son had not caught anything worthwhile for half a month straight.

The Fish Dragon Gang, which controlled the Fish Market, was about to start collecting stall fees again.

Zhao Tiegen had begun to worry as well.

Originally, the stall fee had been fairly reasonable—three hundred copper coins a month.

But later, the manager had been replaced by someone named Li San.

The man was insatiably greedy and directly raised the stall fee to one tael of silver a month.

On top of that, he collected an exorbitant fifty-copper docking fee every time.

No matter how much fish they sold, they had to pay that sum.

Some fishermen had refused to accept it, only to be beaten half to death by the gang's thugs.

Even if they were lucky enough to land a big haul, Li San would skim at least half their profits.

When the catch had been good before, Zhao Tiegen had still managed to save some money.

But he had spent part of it to support Zhao Xisheng's martial arts training.

Later, the Fish Dragon Gang had squeezed them dry as well. Coupled with their constant failure to catch fish, they were eating away at their savings.

Their circumstances were becoming increasingly difficult.

Suddenly, the river surface began to churn violently, and the fishing net in Zhao Tiegen's hands snapped taut.

"Father, it's a big haul!" Zhao Xisheng's eyes lit up.

Zhao Tiegen had no time to answer. The fish was too strong, and he could only cling desperately to the net with both hands to keep it from slipping away.

The thing inside the net thrashed wildly, making even the small sampan begin to rock.

Zhao Xisheng hurried over to help his father grip the net and haul it back with all his strength.

At last, a huge white shadow burst from the water and slammed onto the deck.

It was a large fish half a meter long.

Its body was snow-white throughout, gleaming like mutton-fat jade.

A golden line ran along its back from head to tail, sparkling brilliantly beneath the sun.

"Father, what kind of fish is this? It's so beautiful!" Zhao Xisheng cried out.

"Jade Belt Carp!" Zhao Tiegen was equally excited. "This is a Treasure Fish that greatly replenishes Qi-Blood! It's worth at least a hundred taels of silver!"

Treasure Fish were a rare kind of naturally mutated fish.

Their ability to replenish Qi-Blood far surpassed Low-Grade Exotic Beast Meat.

It even approached the level of some Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat.

Their flavor was incomparably delicious as well, which was why they were so beloved by Martial Artists.

"A... a hundred taels?!"

Zhao Xisheng's eyes went wide in disbelief.

Suddenly, the fish began leaping violently, clearly about to jump back into the river.

Zhao Tiegen hurried over and pinned it down with all his strength.

Caught by someone, the fish struggled even more fiercely. It suddenly flung its head and sank its teeth into Zhao Tiegen's calf!

Its mouth was densely packed with sharp triangular teeth, and blood immediately poured from Zhao Tiegen's calf.

"Ah!"

Zhao Tiegen instantly howled in agony.

"Father!"

Zhao Xisheng was frightened by the sudden change and hurriedly bent down to grab the fish, trying to make it let go.

Just as his fingers touched the Jade Belt Carp's slick scales—

Something strange happened.

Zhao Xisheng felt a cool sensation flow from his fingertips.

It then surged into his limbs and bones, making him feel incomparably refreshed.

He even felt as though he had grown a little stronger.

The fish also quieted down, released its bite, and stopped struggling.

"What is going on?!" Zhao Xisheng was stunned.

But he had no time to think further and immediately went to inspect his father's wound.

The wound was so deep that bone could be seen, with blood continuing to gush from it.

Tears immediately streamed down Zhao Xisheng's face. He hurried into the cabin, pulled out a strip of cloth, and clumsily wrapped it around Zhao Tiegen's leg.

"Xisheng, Father's fine. Hurry and put that fish away—don't let it get away!" Zhao Tiegen said through gritted teeth, clearly in terrible pain.

Zhao Xisheng nodded, placed the Jade Belt Carp in the fish basket, and securely covered it with the lid.

After Zhao Xisheng had touched it, the fish remained obediently still. If it did not occasionally blow bubbles, he would have thought it dead.

"Father, let's hurry to the Fish Market and sell it! Once we have silver, you can see a doctor!" Zhao Xisheng said.

"No! We can't sell it at the Fish Market!" Zhao Tiegen's expression turned grave. "The Fish Dragon Gang squeezes people too hard. If Li San sees it, we might not even get a few taels!"

"Then... what do we do?" Zhao Xisheng worriedly asked.

"I plan to secretly take it into the Inner City and sell it directly to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion! That way, it will fetch at least a hundred taels! If we're lucky, two hundred taels isn't impossible!"

"Father... will that work? The Fish Dragon Gang strictly forbids us from selling fish privately. If we get caught, we're finished! Maybe we should forget it." Zhao Xisheng said anxiously.

Zhao Tiegen patted Zhao Xisheng's shoulder and said,

"Xisheng. You're not young anymore. It's time you married a wife. But Father is useless—I haven't saved much money these past years, and getting married is difficult these days. Without fifty taels, it can't be done."

He paused, his tone gradually becoming urgent.

"But hasn't the opportunity come knocking now? Once we sell this fish, we won't have to fish anymore!

"Will the Fish Dragon Gang still be able to control us then? We can buy ten-odd mu of farmland and become farmers. Our days will surely be far better than this fishing life!"

"But what if we're discovered on the way..." Zhao Xisheng hesitated.

"We won't be. The Fish Dragon Gang may run wild in the Outer City, but they can't control the Inner City! Father knows what he's doing!" Zhao Tiegen said with a smile.

"Mm! Then I'll listen to you, Father!" Zhao Xisheng nodded happily, filled with anticipation for the life ahead.

A month passed without anyone noticing.

Jiang Che still showed his face at the Martial Arts Hall every day before returning home to continue cultivating.

By now, both Layered Cloud Fist and Flying Swallow Steps had reached the Perfection Realm and could no longer improve.

Continuing to practice them would only be a waste of time.

His Qi-Blood had also reached seventy percent.

With the remaining medicinal effects of the Qi-Replenishing Pill, along with his daily meals of Low-Grade Exotic Beast Meat—

In a few more months, his Qi-Blood would naturally be full.

Right now, he did not need to do anything at all. He merely needed to wait.

Thus, he planned to focus on practicing [Body Tempering] and [Calligraphy] during this period.

Both were ordinary skills with no Qi-Blood requirements, so they could be trained directly to the Perfection Realm.

Inside Jiang Che's room.

After writing the final character, he summoned the panel.

[Body Tempering Minor Accomplishment Realm (80/200)]

[Calligraphy Minor Accomplishment Realm (166/200)]

[Body Tempering] had now reached the Iron Rod Stage.

He used nearly all of his Flow State to practice this skill, so its proficiency had risen very quickly.

As for Calligraphy, its progress had gradually slowed as his proficiency increased.

Even when he increased the time he spent writing, it had little effect.

He guessed that it was because he was merely relying on personal insight to improve his Calligraphy.

Rather than studying the works of other great masters.

Calligraphy was, after all, an artistic craft.

It was unlike hard-body martial arts, where one could improve simply by training to the death.

Sometimes, studying and drawing upon the works of masters was also an important part of growth.

"Another day, I'll see whether I can buy some calligraphy or paintings by famous masters. Even imitations will do."