The Inner Waters

As they spoke, the hundred-zhang ship sailed into the Inner Waters.

Though both were part of Mirror Moon Lake, the Inner Waters and Outer Waters were like two entirely different worlds.

The naturally growing wall of aquatic plants was like a barrier separating those two worlds.

Spiritual mist drifted over the jade-green lake shrouded in misty rain. Lotus petals fell onto the surface, stirring golden ripples. Suddenly, azure scales broke through the mist, and wherever translucent tail fins swept past, the red sun and auspicious clouds in the layered reflections shattered into glittering gold, leaving the water shimmering.

Whoosh~

The rich spiritual energy made the thirty-five newly promoted senior fisher-farmers draw a greedy breath.

Chen Jianghe's eyes lit up, and his heart secretly leaped with joy.

He had heard from Old Gao that spiritual energy was abundant in the Inner Waters, but he had never expected it to be this plentiful.

Cultivating here could not compare to absorbing spiritual energy from spirit stones, but it was at least thirty percent faster than in the Outer Waters.

In other words, he would originally have needed ten years to reach the peak of the qi refining third layer and attempt to break through to the mid qi refining stage.

Now, he would only need seven years.

The spiritual energy concentration in the Inner Waters is merely comparable to a first-tier middle grade spiritual vein, yet it already boosts my cultivation speed this much. I've heard there's a second-tier lower-grade spiritual vein beneath Heart of the Lake Island.

If I could cultivate on Heart of the Lake Island, I'd probably be fifty percent faster than in the Outer Waters.

Chen Jianghe thought to himself.

As for cultivating on Heart of the Lake Island, Chen Jianghe had given up on that idea.

Marrying into the Yun Household was the only way. Otherwise, even an artisan with a first-tier superior-grade craft could not cultivate on Heart of the Lake Island.

Marrying into another household was not what he wanted.

Seeing these fisher-farmers greedily inhaling spiritual energy, Yun San curled his lips, a trace of contempt flashing through his eyes.

He was Yun Bufan's attendant and cultivated on Heart of the Lake Island, where the spiritual energy was even richer.

He continued explaining the precautions for raising small blue fish, as well as the rules for living in the Inner Waters.

The fingerlings used to raise small blue fish were big blue fish weighing four jin and five liang. The senior fisher-farmers' task was to feed these fingerlings immortal spirit rice, dispelling their viciousness and awakening their intelligence.

That would allow them to enter a tier and become spirit beasts.

The rearing cycle lasted three years, meaning they could only receive payment once every three years.

Unlike junior fisher-farmers, senior fisher-farmers had no guaranteed base pay.

Each senior fisher-farmer would receive one hundred fingerlings, and for every tiered small blue fish they raised, they would be rewarded with one spirit stone.

If they failed to raise even one tiered small blue fish after three years, their pay would be calculated according to the average weight.

Eating immortal spirit rice would not only awaken these big blue fish's intelligence, but also shrink their bodies.

The smaller their bodies became, the more their spiritual energy would be contained within, nourishing every part of their flesh.

Their flavor would also become more delicious, and they would aid cultivators in their cultivation.

Thus, for every liang by which the average weight of their small blue fish decreased, they would receive ten grains of spirit sand. It seemed a little meager.

But senior fisher-farmers still counted on raising tiered small blue fish to earn their pay.

That was where the bulk of a senior fisher-farmer's income came from.

Raising one small blue fish meant one spirit stone.

"The Aquaculture Waters are just ahead. Get off the ship when your name is called. The fingerlings and fish feed will arrive in three days."

The ship traveled along the waterways of the Inner Waters. After entering the aquaculture zone, Yun San began assigning waters to these newly promoted senior fisher-farmers.

One name after another rang out from Yun San's mouth, and the fisher-farmers aboard began leaving one by one.

"Chen Jianghe, Sector C, Waters Number Twelve."

Chen Jianghe picked up his belongings and leaped off the ship. Channeling magical power from his dantian to his toes, he stepped across the ripples and boarded a ten-zhang black-canopied boat.

From now on, this would be his home in the Inner Waters.

The fingerlings would not arrive for another three days.

He had intended to use this time to fetch Xiao Hei, but then thought that leaving immediately after entering the Inner Waters might attract attention.

After all, all thirty-five of them had bought a month's worth of daily necessities.

"I'll wait a month." Chen Jianghe made up his mind. He had already entered the Inner Waters, after all, so there was no need to rush over this one month.

Recalling Yun San's instructions about life in the Inner Waters, a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

"So senior fisher-farmers are allowed onto Heart of the Lake Island."

No wonder he rarely saw senior fisher-farmers and retainers at the harbor at the end of each year.

It turned out that senior fisher-farmers and retainers living in the Inner Waters could visit Heart of the Lake Island every New Year's Eve to buy or sell cultivation resources.

Of course, their time on the island was limited. They could stay no longer than three double-hours and had to leave before the hour of the Rooster.

There were also white egrets in the Inner Waters that could help deliver letters, but their payment was no longer blue fish. Instead, it was one grain of spirit sand. The clever white egrets would take the spirit sand to a Yun Household steward and exchange it for a big blue fish from the Outer Waters.

A single fingerling in the Inner Waters weighed four jin and five liang and was worth a considerable sum.

There were only one hundred fingerlings in total, and there was a prerequisite for receiving the average-weight bonus: the survival rate had to exceed ninety percent.

In other words, when the three-year period ended and the Yun Household collected the fish, there had to be ninety live fish in your aquaculture waters.

Otherwise, there would be no bonus.

If you also failed to raise a single tiered small blue fish, then those three years would amount to working for nothing, without earning even one grain of spirit sand.

Chen Jianghe was puzzled about why the Yun Household raised small blue fish.

If they were merely meant for the dining table, that was far too extravagant. Raising a single small blue fish cost at least three spirit stones.

Then would serving one small blue fish not cost at least five spirit stones?

How many mouthfuls could a small blue fish weighing around a jin provide? Even if it was a dish made from a spirit beast, he still found it somewhat extravagant.

As for whether small blue fish had any use besides being served at the table, he did not know.

Aboard the ship, with Yun San's stern gaze watching them, no one had dared whisper among themselves.

Three days passed.

The Yun Household delivered one hundred fingerlings, along with enough fish feed for half a year, consisting of immortal spirit rice and rice bran.

The immortal spirit rice was to be fed once a month, half a jin each time. At all other times, they were to be fed rice bran.

Immortal spirit rice was even more precious than spirit marrow rice. It not only contained spiritual energy, but could also purify the mind.

For beasts, it could also awaken intelligence.

One jin was worth twelve grains of spirit sand.

After the people from the Yun Household left, Chen Jianghe released the fingerlings into the lake. Immediately afterward, he was stunned.

The instant these fingerlings entered the water, they began biting one another. Their viciousness was intense, their eyes blood-red, and they had the urge to devour their own kind.

"Separate!"

Magical power surged from Chen Jianghe's dantian. Silver threads shot from his five fingers, flinging apart the fingerlings that were biting one another.

But his cultivation was insufficient. He could only fling away five fingerlings at a time, keeping ten fingerlings from biting one another.

Moreover, in the blink of an eye, the fingerlings he had flung away charged back into the school and began biting one another again.

"Three years!"

Chen Jianghe had no shortage of time, but he did not want to work for three years for nothing either.

If he did not stop the fingerlings from biting one another, he really would be raising them without pay.

But he truly had little experience raising fish. Back in the Outer Waters, Xiao Hei had essentially been the one raising the big blue fish.

He had spent almost all his time either cultivating or studying spells.

"Hungry?"

Chen Jianghe picked up a bag of rice bran, sliced it open with magical power, and poured it toward the school of fish.

Splash...

Fingerlings leaped up one after another, fighting to swallow the rice bran. Amid the collisions, several turned belly-up.

(End of chapter)