Jade Sword Fish

<>

Chapter 50: Jade Sword Fish

In the Immortal Alliance, gold was worth little. A single spirit stone could buy hundreds or even thousands of jin of gold. What was truly expensive was purple coral stone.

Purple coral stone was dark violet, its surface covered in fine, rippling patterns and cool to the touch. Found mostly on the deep-sea floor, it was a first-tier water-aspect exotic material.

Long-term consumption could boost a water-type spirit beast's metabolism, nourish its bones, and shorten its growth cycle, so it did not come cheap.

A one-jin piece of purple coral stone cost one Spirit Origin on the Immortal Alliance Official Website, and a young water-type spirit beast needed to swallow at least three pieces a day to accelerate its growth.

By that reckoning, Golden Egg's monthly food bill would come to 90 Spirit Origin, equivalent to half a year of his parents' wages. Ordinary cultivators simply could not afford it.

That was why the vast majority of cultivators chose blue coral gravel as a substitute.

Blue coral gravel was cheap: a thousand jin cost only one low-grade spirit stone.

But this unranked stone was far inferior to purple coral stone. It could neither nourish a water-type spirit beast's body nor shorten its growth cycle. It could barely fill its belly.

"Eat a little more." Chen Beiwu stuffed half a jin of gold and two pieces of purple coral stone into Golden Egg's mouth.

A genius deserved a genius's treatment. How could one piece of purple coral stone be enough for Golden Egg's development?

"Gulp."

Guided by Chen Beiwu's divine sense, Golden Egg activated the innate Spirit Art, Sea Absorption, and a faint golden glow radiated from the scales covering the fish's body.

Soon, a quarter of an hour had passed.

As the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged through the cave abode, Golden Egg's belly bulged high, while the fish's body slowly grew another half a foot before his eyes.

"Not bad. Another year of cultivation gained." Chen Beiwu nodded slightly.

The spirit stones he had spent had not vanished. They had been converted into Golden Egg's cultivation.

This was the power of paying to win!

If he fed Golden Egg blue coral gravel at every meal, never mind gaining cultivation-the fish would probably cry from hunger every day.

Early the next morning.

Chen Beiwu opened his eyes, ended his night of cultivation, and returned to the Immortal Alliance.

He took out his phone and bought a Bixi Train ticket to Anyi County online.

The train journey from Pingchen Township to Anyi County, including a transfer, took two hours.

Anyi County was not in Fallen Dragon Prefecture, but in the southern part of Five Crags Prefecture. It was a well-known spiritual-material growing center in Heavenly Derivation Commandery, producing lingzhi, dragonhead dendrobium, yellowtail dendrobium, and many other spiritual materials cultivated under conditions that mimicked the wild.

After boarding the train, Chen Beiwu took out his phone to pass the time and began browsing the neglected miscellaneous-grade cultivation methods on the Immortal Alliance Official Website.

In the ancient wilderness era, these miscellaneous-grade methods would have counted as rare cultivation techniques.

But in the age of the Immortal Alliance, these methods, which could not be practiced together with a companion beast, were virtually worthless. No cultivator was willing to practice them.

After carefully selecting five relatively ordinary five-element cultivation methods, Chen Beiwu suddenly heard the sound of high heels.

Click!

Click!

Click!

As the sound drew closer, a tall, slender, mature figure suddenly came into Chen Beiwu's view.

She had a slim waist and wore a navy skirt suit, with an identification badge pinned at her neckline. Light beige stockings covered her legs, and she wore matte black heels five centimeters high.

That's the scent of ebony agarwood.

Chen Beiwu's eyes shifted slightly, meeting a pair of phoenix eyes whose outer corners tilted gently upward.

"Would you mind letting me through?" She smiled, revealing shallow dimples.

Chen Beiwu silently stood to make room, watched her sit beside him, then sat back down and continued browsing the miscellaneous-grade cultivation methods on the Immortal Alliance Official Website.

Bzz, bzz! Her phone rang.

"Understood. I'll be there this afternoon."

Paying no attention to the woman's conversation beside him, Chen Beiwu finished choosing his last cultivation method, closed his eyes, and gradually let his mind go blank.

Soon, the train reached its stop. Chen Beiwu got off and found a hotel near Anyi County to stay in.

Outside the Strange Fish Studio in Abysswall Market.

"Senior, here's the phoenix yellow dendrobium you wanted."

At the sight of the familiar figure, Wanwan's eyes lit up. She jogged over and took a burlap sack from her Storage Bag.

Chen Beiwu swept it with his divine sense, and his heart could not help skipping a beat.

Inside the sack, phoenix yellow dendrobium of excellent quality was piled together like cabbages, giving off a delicate, fresh fragrance.

He reached out, snapped the stem of one stalk, then slowly pulled the pieces apart. The strands stretching between them were over a foot long.

Phoenix yellow dendrobium of this quality would easily qualify as dragonhead dendrobium in the Immortal Alliance.

"Very good. Here's the remaining payment." Chen Beiwu nodded in satisfaction and tossed her three spirit stones.

"Thank you, Senior." Wanwan happily caught the spirit stones, then asked tentatively, "Do you still need more phoenix yellow dendrobium?"

Chen Beiwu put the burlap sack into his Storage Bag and said casually, "If I need more,

I'll come to you again."

Hearing that, Wanwan's heart filled with delight.

If Chen Beiwu placed a few more orders, she would be able to save up enough spirit stones to buy the middle volume of the Water Transformation Art.

"Senior, would you like to look around the Spirit Fish Studio?" she asked warmly.

What were strange fish?

Fish that possessed unusual traits and were entirely different from ordinary river fish were known as strange fish.

There were many varieties of strange fish, broadly divided into two categories.

One tasted exceptionally sweet and fresh, was dearly loved by gourmets, and was relatively modest in price.

The other had extraordinary properties that could help cultivators refine qi, and commanded high prices.

Chen Beiwu nodded, accepting her invitation.

Earning spirit stones through phoenix yellow dendrobium alone was too slow. He wanted another way to turn goods into money.

As he followed Wanwan into the Strange Fish Studio, a faint fragrance of osmanthus greeted him. There was none of the fishy stench one would expect from a fish market.

Chen Beiwu turned his head and saw dozens of fish in various colors swimming in the glass tanks on either side of the shop.

"The fish in the tanks on the left are all especially delicious varieties. We have more kinds and greater quantities of those.

The fish on the right are rare varieties that can help cultivators with water spiritual roots improve their Qi Refining cultivation, so there are fewer of them, and they're more expensive," Wanwan explained.

Chen Beiwu swept his gaze over the right side and found that those strange fish were all relatively common varieties in the Immortal Alliance. There was little profit to be made from the price difference. Buying them would be a waste of effort.

Just then, a strange fish in a tank on the left caught Chen Beiwu's eye.

It was an adult Jade-Scaled Fish about two feet long. Its dorsal and tail fins were translucent, and its entire body was covered in silvery-white scales. From a distance, it looked like a crystal-clear jade sword.

[Species]: Jade Sword Fish

[Price]: Twenty spirit stones (per fish)

[Description]: Exceptionally fresh and delicious-a rare delicacy in this world.

Looking at the price tag provided by the Strange Fish Studio, Chen Beiwu froze for a moment.

So cheap. This is the first time I've seen Jade Sword Fish sold by the fish.

In the Immortal Alliance, Jade Sword Fish were called Jade-Scaled Fish and were classified as first-tier spiritual creatures.

Because they were difficult to farm and exceptionally delicious, gourmets considered them a delicacy that absolutely could not be missed. Even Chen Beiwu had heard of their outrageous prices.

It was no exaggeration to say that a wholly wild Jade-Scaled Fish would fetch at least a hundred low-grade spirit stones per jin in the Immortal Alliance.

Some specimens of outstanding quality could even sell for three hundred spirit stones per jin, their value approaching that of second-tier spiritual creatures. Even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators could not afford to eat them.

"Pack this one up for me. I want it alive," Chen Beiwu said without hesitation.

(End of chapter)