A Bountiful Harvest (Please Keep Reading)

Wang Mengde waved with a smile.

"Brother Qin, you're too polite. You helped me out today—I'll remember this favor.

"Whenever it rains and you can't go out to sea, just come to my home.

"I'll certainly teach you everything I know, though I can't guarantee the results."

Qin Xiangnan's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

"Good, good, then it's settled." He cupped his fists. "Mengde, many thanks."

Wang Mengde smiled and returned the gesture. "Brother Qin, I'll head back first. We'll talk another day."

"Alright. Be careful on the way."

Wang Mengde said no more and poured spiritual energy into the spirit boat.

The skiff spirit boat trembled lightly, then sliced through the sea surface and shot toward Rosy Cloud Island.

The sea wind howled, making his robes snap and flutter.

Wang Mengde stood at the bow, two talismans clenched in his hand the whole time.

One was a protective talisman.

The other was a lightness talisman.

Spiritual energy flowed quietly into them, making the talismans glow faintly, ready to be activated at any moment.

His Spirit Eye Technique remained active as he vigilantly scanned the sea's surface and depths.

The boat carried two hundred and twenty Golden-Thread Spirit Trout.

Together with the Bloodscale Fish and the other seafood, they were worth over ten thousand spirit sand.

Over ten thousand spirit sand.

Neither the original Wang Mengde nor he himself had ever seen so much spirit sand.

He could not shake the feeling that someone would be tempted to make a move.

He did not dare relax in the slightest.

The spirit boat sped northward.

It carved a streak of white foam across the water.

Now and then, a few scattered fishing boats could be seen on the sea.

The cultivators aboard merely gave him a casual glance before looking away.

No one knew that this tiny skiff spirit boat carried a catch worth over ten thousand spirit sand.

Nothing happened along the way.

Only when Rosy Cloud Island's outline appeared in the distance, along with the cultivators coming and going at the docks, did Wang Mengde finally let out a long breath.

He tucked the talismans back into his robes, slowed the boat, and gradually sailed into the harbor.

He docked, dropped anchor, and jumped ashore.

Wang Mengde glanced back at the two large fish baskets aboard, a glint of chill flashing through his eyes.

The original two hundred and eighty Golden-Thread Spirit Trout had all belonged to him.

Yet Zhao Youming, that bastard, had ruined things.

If he had not reacted quickly and immediately found a backer for the Golden-Thread Spirit Trout, most of his catch probably would not have been spared.

He might even have been beaten to death by the crowd.

Even so, he had still lost sixty Golden-Thread Spirit Trout.

Wang Mengde narrowed his eyes and silently marked down Zhao Youming.

If not for that bastard, how could he have lost sixty Golden-Thread Spirit Trout?

And Zhou Lie as well.

He had threatened Wang Mengde, saying it would be bad if the spirit boat sank to the bottom of the sea. Wang Mengde remembered that.

Wang Mengde added both men to the little ledger of enemies in his heart.

Sooner or later, this debt would be settled.

He gathered his thoughts and swept his gaze across the dock.

There, a gaunt middle-aged cultivator stood before the fish collection point, talking with several fishermen.

Liu Haiwen.

Wang Mengde waved. "Brother Liu."

Hearing him, Liu Haiwen turned around. When he saw Wang Mengde, his face immediately broke into a smile, and he hurried over.

"Brother Wang, how was your catch today?"

Wang Mengde pointed at the fish baskets on the boat. "Not bad."

Liu Haiwen leaned over and lifted the lid of one covered fish basket.

The next instant, his eyes widened sharply.

The basket was packed with blue fish shadows.

Golden patterns glittered beneath the sunlight.

Golden-Thread Spirit Trout.

They were all Golden-Thread Spirit Trout.

There were a full twenty of them.

"Not bad." Liu Haiwen nodded, then swiftly opened another fish basket.

It was filled to the brim.

He opened the third fish basket.

That one was full as well.

His eyes went round as saucers.

"Good heavens..."

Liu Haiwen sucked in a cold breath.

Liu Haiwen said,

"Brother Wang, did you... raid the Golden-Thread Spirit Trout's nest?"

Wang Mengde smiled.

"Got lucky. Ran into a huge school."

Liu Haiwen gave him a thumbs-up.

"Impressive."

He stopped talking and directly called over several assistants to begin weighing the catch.

The low-level Rogue Cultivators on the dock had been busy with their own affairs.

When they saw Liu Haiwen personally leading people over, they assumed it was an ordinary catch.

But soon, they saw the blue scales in the fish baskets.

The golden patterns.

Golden-Thread Spirit Trout.

And there were more than two full baskets of them.

"Three Pure Ones above."

"Those are Golden-Thread Spirit Trout?"

"So many?"

"My eyes aren't playing tricks on me, are they?"

The crowd instantly erupted.

Everyone cried out in surprise and gathered around.

Their eyes were round, their mouths wide enough to fit an egg.

Envy.

Jealousy.

All kinds of complicated emotions churned in their eyes.

"So many Golden-Thread Spirit Trout... he's struck it rich."

"One sells for over forty spirit sand. More than two baskets of those..."

"There have to be at least two hundred, right? That's eight or nine thousand spirit sand."

"My heavens, that's worth several years of my income..."

The crowd discussed it heatedly as they looked at Wang Mengde.

There was envy, jealousy, and a faint thread of greed in their eyes.

Wang Mengde remained calm, standing to one side as he watched the assistants weigh the fish.

The assistants worked quickly.

Five minutes later.

The weighing was complete.

Holding the ledger, Liu Haiwen read out the total.

"Golden-Thread Spirit Trout: two hundred and twenty."

"Total weight: five thousand seven hundred and twenty jin."

He looked up at Wang Mengde with a smile in his eyes.

"At one hundred and eighty blood copper coins per jin, for five thousand seven hundred and twenty jin, the total comes to..."

"Ten thousand two hundred and ninety-six spirit sand."

Whoosh...

The onlookers instantly exploded into an uproar.

"Over ten thousand spirit sand."

"My heavens."

"I couldn't make that much in ten years."

"I'd need three years too."

"This luck... this luck is simply heaven-defying."

The crowd was consumed by envy and jealousy, their eyes practically red.

That many Golden-Thread Spirit Trout equaled several years, even more than a decade, of their income.

Wang Mengde had earned it all in a single day.

Not far away, Zhao Youming, who had already returned to the dock, wore an ugly expression. "That bastard actually managed to sell them for so much spirit sand."

Wang Mengde's heart stirred slightly as well.

Over ten thousand spirit sand.

His earnings lately had been high, far beyond those of an ordinary third-level Qi Refinement cultivator.

They had even surpassed that bastard neighbor Zhao Youming's usual haul of a little over one hundred spirit sand per trip to sea.

Today's gain of over ten thousand spirit sand equaled three months of Zhao Youming's income... no, more than half a year's.

After all, it often rained at sea, making it impossible to go out fishing for more than half the time.

Liu Haiwen glanced over the other sea fish—one hundred and ten jin of ordinary fish.

With a grand wave of his hand, he said, "Including these, I'll give you... one hundred and two spirit stones in total."

That was an extra eighty spirit sand beyond the previous calculation.

Wang Mengde cupped his fists. "Brother, you're generous."

"As I should be, as I should be."

Liu Haiwen waved his hand, then an awkward look appeared on his face.

"But, little brother, I didn't bring that many spirit stones with me."

"I only have twenty spirit stones. Wait a moment—I'll go gather the rest."

Wang Mengde nodded. "Please, Brother Liu."

Liu Haiwen turned and hurried toward several other fish merchants on the dock.

He approached a lanky middle-aged man and spoke to him in a low voice.

The lanky man nodded, pulled a cloth pouch from his robes, and handed it to Liu Haiwen.

Liu Haiwen accepted it, thanked him again, then moved on to the next person.

Only after asking four or five people in succession did Liu Haiwen gather enough spirit stones.

He hurried back, carrying a large, bulging cloth sack, and handed it to Wang Mengde.

"Brother Mengde, count them. One hundred and two spirit stones."