A Heart-to-Heart

It was midnight.

Moonlight spilled like water over the still lake, its surface shimmering.

Now and then, a fishing boat or two left the harbor and vanished into the veil of thickening mist.

Inside the cabin.

Chen Jianghe returned his qi to his Dantian and slowly brought his cultivation to a close. He had absorbed and refined seventy percent of the Qi-Nourishing Pill's medicinal potency, the equivalent of a year and a half of arduous cultivation.

The instant a Qi-Nourishing Pill entered the stomach, it released an enormous amount of pure spiritual energy. If it could not all be absorbed and refined immediately, a little would inevitably escape the body with each breath.

His cultivation had still been too low. If he took a Qi-Nourishing Pill now, he should be able to refine eighty percent of its medicinal potency.

That would equal nearly two years of arduous cultivation.

However, he would have to wait another year before taking another Qi-Nourishing Pill, until the pill toxins had been completely expelled from his body.

He could not damage his foundations for the sake of a momentary increase in cultivation speed.

Of course, he did not have the spirit sand to buy a second Qi-Nourishing Pill now anyway. The first had cost him two hundred and ten grains of spirit sand, and the small gathering had cost another grain. He had only sixty-nine grains of spirit sand and some broken silver left.

Even if he saved enough spirit sand to buy another Qi-Nourishing Pill in two years, Xiaohei would have to come first.

Raising his own cultivation was important, but nurturing Xiaohei was equally important.

In a sense, Xiaohei was his Golden Finger. He was not sure whether Xiaohei's sudden death would cause him to drop dead as well.

Most of the aquatic creatures in the outer waters of Mirror Moon Lake were ordinary creatures that posed no danger to Xiaohei.

But what if aquatic creatures from the inner waters entered the outer waters?

If Xiaohei advanced into the ranks of spirit beasts, he would not only break through his lifespan limit and increase the yield of Big Blue Fish, but, most importantly, also gain the ability to protect himself in the lake.

The next day.

Old Gao came to see Chen Jianghe, saying he had something to discuss.

512 Fishing Boat hung out a sign reading "In seclusion, do not disturb." Inside the cabin, Chen Jianghe and Old Gao sat facing each other.

In the Aquaculture Waters, outsiders could not enter anyone else's allotted waters, let alone board their boat.

This was the harbor, however, so those restrictions did not apply.

"Old Gao, what brings you here all of a sudden?"

Chen Jianghe brewed a pot of All-Heaven Star, poured Old Gao a cup, then poured one for himself.

"When you're old, you just want someone to talk to. Jianghe, do you have time to chat with a dying man like me?"

Old Gao had not brought Gao Peiyao with him. He wore a smile, but his voice was forlorn and low.

There was awe toward death.

There was also the unwillingness to accept that, despite stepping onto the Immortal Dao, he had spent his whole life lingering in the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

"The Immortal Dao is hard to find. It has brought countless proud geniuses to their knees," Chen Jianghe offered in consolation.

Even heaven's prodigies and holy sons dared not claim they could reach Foundation Establishment and form a core. They could squander a hundred years only to become a handful of yellow earth in the end, let alone ordinary cultivators like them with a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root.

"Yes."

Old Gao nodded, reminiscence appearing in his cloudy eyes. Looking at Chen Jianghe, he smiled. "When I was young, I knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of the earth. I once dreamed of reaching Foundation Establishment and becoming a Foundation Establishment Ancestor who could summon clouds with one turn of his hand and rain with another."

Chen Jianghe did not reply. Instead, he refilled Old Gao's tea.

When people grew old, they liked to reminisce and tell others about their past, using it to offset their fear of death.

Old Gao's willingness to tell him these things showed that he trusted him and valued their friendship over the years. Chen Jianghe was happy to listen, too.

These were the experiences Old Gao had accumulated along his journey. They were precious and could help him avoid pitfalls in the early stages of his cultivation.

"I remember that in my eighteenth year with the Yun Household, my cultivation broke through to the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, and the Big Blue Fish I raised reached an average weight of three jin and eight liang."

"If I'd just kept making steady progress, I could have become a Senior Fisher-Farmer in another five or six years at most. Ah..."

Old Gao let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with endless regret.

Chen Jianghe's mind jolted. He remembered Old Gao saying that he, too, had a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root.

He had come to the Yun Household at fifteen or sixteen and reached the Fourth Level of Qi Refining after eighteen years of cultivation. Reaching the Mid Qi Refining Stage at thirty-three or thirty-four was not slow for a cultivator with a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root.

Most importantly, Old Gao had considerable talent for raising Big Blue Fish.

Chen Jianghe's total Big Blue Fish yield this year might have reached two thousand six hundred jin, with an average weight of three jin and seven liang.

In truth, he had little talent for fish farming. He relied entirely on Xiaohei to urge the Big Blue Fish fry in the lake to eat.

If Old Gao had become a Senior Fisher-Farmer before forty, he would have had a very good chance of breaking through the Mid Qi Refining Stage to become a Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

Judging by Old Gao's regretful expression and the fact that his cultivation was still at the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, something must have happened in between.

Old Gao continued:

"I was young and hotheaded, rash by nature, and too quick to believe what others said. Not only did I become a short-term miner, I also joined Deep Well Development. Each trip down a deep shaft paid ten grains of spirit sand. With the commission for digging out spirit stones, I could earn at least thirty grains of spirit sand."

"I remember that time, three of us went down a deep shaft for Deep Well Development at a spirit ore deposit, and we actually dug out over two hundred spirit stones. Between the reward and the commission, each of us would get nearly one spirit stone on average. Then someone grew greedy and harbored thoughts of murder."

"Because I was at the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, while the other two were both at the Qi Refining Third Layer, I survived that fight."

"Heh. Three spirit stones."

"Yet those three spirit stones cut short my immortal path!"

Old Gao's voice suddenly rose, filled with regret and unwillingness. "My Dantian was damaged, and my magical power kept leaking out. Forget raising my cultivation-I have to take a Qi-Nourishing Pill every five years just to maintain the Fourth Level of Qi Refining."

As Chen Jianghe listened to Old Gao recount the calamity of his youth in detail, he sighed inwardly. He had once had such a bright future, only for a single misstep to become an everlasting regret.

After a quarter of an hour, Old Gao gradually regained his composure. Looking at Chen Jianghe, he said, "Jianghe, you're steady by nature and seasoned in how you handle things. I imagine you won't take the same wrong turn I did, so I won't give you too much advice."

"Thank you for sharing such precious cultivation experience. This junior will remember the lesson." Chen Jianghe cupped his hands and bowed.

At that moment, he became even more determined not to leave the waters of Mirror Moon Lake until he reached the Late Qi Refining Stage.

Although the Yun Household exploited junior fisher-farmers to some extent, it also sheltered them. As long as they remained within the waters of Mirror Moon Lake, their lives would be safe.

He had a long lifespan and would reach the Late Qi Refining Stage sooner or later. There was no need to rush his cultivation for the moment.

"Jianghe, I have a feeling you'll go farther along the Immortal Dao than I have. Unfortunately, my allotted span is nearly over, and there's little I can do to help you."

Old Gao took out a cloth pouch and placed it on the table. "There's one spirit stone in here. I hope it can offer you some help at the beginning of your cultivation journey."

"Old Gao..."

Chen Jianghe frowned.

"I only ask that you look after Xiaoyao a little in the future. Of course, if you encounter something beyond your power, there's no need to force yourself."

With that, Old Gao rose and left the cabin.

Watching Old Gao's thin, stooped figure retreat, Chen Jianghe sensed the loneliness and helplessness of approaching the end of one's allotted lifespan.

(End of chapter)