Catching and Selling Fish

Early in the morning, the light of day was still dim.

There were not many figures yet among the streets and alleys, though the shops and workshops of the morning market were busy preparing to open.

Some fully equipped adventurers rose early and headed toward Katheryne, preparing to take on commissions to save up Mora so they could continue drinking their fill at the Angel's Share that night.

Li Qiuzhi mixed in among them as well; he was going to collect his fishing net.

Having spent the entire night out, the harvest depended entirely on luck, as Mondstadt was not a nation with a developed fishing industry.

Although some people did this work, there were not many, and the advantage was that it did not cause the problem of overfishing.

Therefore, Li Qiuzhi did not worry about failing to catch a single fish, especially given that he had used bait.

Stepping on grass-covered ground, he walked along the shore of Cider Lake once more. The damp grass was perhaps due to the heavy lake mist during the night, which caused Li Qiuzhi's shoes to become somewhat moistened by water droplets.

A few minutes passed, and Li Qiuzhi arrived at the spot where he had cast the fishing net yesterday.

A wooden stick was driven into the soil, and the fishing net extended outward along this stick for about fifteen meters or so. It was not very large, and through the clear water surface, fish shadows could be faintly seen.

Li Qiuzhi was slightly excited; what he needed to do at this moment was to pull the fishing net back.

So heavy!

Only when he placed his hands on the fishing net could he feel its weight. It seemed that selling and catching fish really had been the right choice; otherwise, how could an ordinary person like him so easily acquire Experience Points?

He spent some time pulling up the fishing net and placing it on the grass, where many large and small fish were caught within it.

Most of them were common fish species such as Blue-Scaled Crucian Carp, Red-Finned Grass Carp, and Black-Backed Bass, along with a few Sweet Flower Medakas.

[Defeated strong enemy * 13, obtained 65 points of EXP.]

At this moment, they were in a completely defenseless state, judged as successfully defeated by Li Qiuzhi without needing to be killed. If not for the fact that they could only be defeated once, raising and repeatedly farming them would be even more perfect.

Pity, there was no such loophole to exploit.

However, there were still advantages, such as the fact that he did not have to sell dead fish and could sell them more easily.

Taking the fish out of the net one by one and putting them into a wooden bucket, he carefully counted them. There were thirteen fish in total, worth 5 Experience Points each. Added to the 47 points he already had, that brought him to 112 points.

Surpassing 100 points could be used to raise his own level; he was a bit expectant and wondered what it would be like.

Hah~ Li Qiuzhi took a deep breath, opened the character panel, and invested 100 points of EXP into the level column. The operation was completed in an instant of thought, and the number 1 behind the level flickered twice, slowly turning into the number 2.

Name: Li Qiuzhi

Level: Lv.2 (0/200)

Race: Human

Title: None

Innate Talent: Intertwined Affection

Skills: None

Specialty: [Descender]

Experience Points: 12

The changes to the character panel were not large, but a cool and comfortable warm current suddenly appeared inside his body. This energy slowly covered every cell of Li Qiuzhi like radiation, nourishing and strengthening them, and he could feel that he really was getting stronger bit by bit.

The strengthening process was very fast. Li Qiuzhi's body shape and appearance did not change, remaining as ordinary as ever, but he genuinely felt that he had become much stronger.

Strength, agility, resistance, spirit, and even vitality grew stronger comprehensively. On his arm, the scar left from accidentally falling down when he was a child had disappeared completely.

If he faced that water Slime once more, he believed he could defeat it bare-handed in a frontal confrontation without needing to utilize the environment.

This was not merely the strengthening of bodily functions, but also the evolution of his race and the elevation of his life tier. The most direct manifestation was that Li Qiuzhi's lifespan had correspondingly grown longer.

Although he did not know the exact increase, this was indeed what he felt during the body strengthening.

As time went on, perhaps his lifespan might not have a day of ending, and who wouldn't want longevity?

Li Qiuzhi's body was very relaxed, and his mood was excited too. His motivation to acquire Experience Points grew even stronger!

Becoming an adventurer needed to be put on the agenda sooner. Defeating monsters was the right way to gain Experience Points, which meant learning combat skills—but he still didn't know how to get started.

While pondering, he re-cast the fishing net, then scattered the bait, and carried the wooden bucket back into the city. With so many fish, they needed to be taken away and sold.

Since he had arrived early, he found a good spot to set up his stall near the city gate. Fish were food, and fresh fish were always in demand. After all, thirteen fish were nothing compared to Mondstadt City's huge population, and they would sell out in no time.

On average, each fish sold for twelve hundred Mora, yielding a total profit of fifteen thousand six hundred, and all at once the cost of the fishing net was earned back.

When he had a bit more spare cash in a few days, he could return the borrowed Mora to Amber, and then rent a place of his own outside.

The relief shelter was not only remote and small; living there was fine for the short term, but far too uncomfortable for the long term.

After selling the fish, he would have to wait until tomorrow to do it again, but he couldn't let his progress in acquiring Experience Points stop.

Li Qiuzhi went to ask a few restaurants to see if they lacked kitchen utility workers. If he could be responsible for processing livestock and fish, that would be another channel of stable income for EXP points.

Pity, they all said manpower was sufficient and none were needed.

Li Qiuzhi walked until he was tired and sat down to rest on a backrest bench by the street, raising his head to gaze at the blue sky and let his mind wander. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of an uncle dressed as a hunter passing by in front of him.

The uncle carried a hunting bow, had beast-like ears on his head, and had facial hair on both his upper lip and chin.

Li Qiuzhi's thoughts jumped, and some memories recalled themselves. He seemed to be the hunter leader of Springvale not far from Mondstadt, Diona's father--Draff!

Wait, a hunter!

Li Qiuzhi thought of it: if he wanted to become an adventurer, he was still somewhat lacking in terms of combat skills, but wanting to learn skills required someone to teach.

Although he lived in Huaxia previously, he himself did not know any powerful kung fu.

Thinking about it this way, if he went to be a hunter, it would be a very good transition.

He would still need to walk in the wild and would master a formidable hunting technique, only facing beasts instead of monsters.

If he followed Draff to learn and become a hunter, being able to independently survive in the wild in the future would mean he was not far from becoming an adventurer.

And even if they were beasts, the acquired EXP points would surely be quite a lot.

Hunting could also make use of the entire daytime window after catching and selling fish when he had nothing temporary to do. The question then was: could he persuade Draff to teach him hunter experience and techniques, and to follow him on hunts?

Gazing at Draff's increasingly distant figure, Li Qiuzhi pondered slightly and still chased after him.

How would he know if it wouldn't work without trying!

"Mr. Hunter, please wait."

Li Qiuzhi called out to Draff, not showing any appearance of knowing him to avoid being misunderstood.

Draff, who had beast-like ears, stopped in his tracks, unexpectedly turned his body to look at the Liyuan person who had called out to him, and said:

"I already noticed you watching me the whole time just now. With such a hesitant appearance, is there something you need?"

As an experienced hunter, his perception of the environment was very subtle. Draff had discovered the source of the line of sight from the moment Li Qiuzhi cast his gaze toward him.

However, he merely thought Li Qiuzhi was just curious.