Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 309: 206: Coercion_2

Chapter 309: Chapter 206: Coercion_2

Amidst the fiery glow, the sword qi gradually dissipated, and a mass of flesh buds sprouted forth, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. The terrifying sword wound that had almost penetrated Xu Yang’s shoulder blades healed in an instant, leaving no trace of injury on the beauty’s jade shoulders.

However…

“Huagh!!!”

Li Suhong opened her eyes, her chest heaving. She could no longer sit still, and she fell to the ground, retching violently. Then she covered her face, letting out a strange mixture of laughter and cries that quickly turned into disturbing sobs.

“Demon Fish?”

“Demon Cultivator?”

“No, no, no, just like this, they still cannot be considered True Demons!”

“Their essence still lies in the Heavenly Earth Prime Spirit, Demonic Qi is not their sustenance but rather a negative contamination.”

“They can only be considered Demon Beasts and Cultivators who are incompletely demonized.”

“They are also aware of the harm of Demonic Qi, hence they are constantly trying to reduce the influence of the demonic nature.”

“This Spirit Fish is one of them. If we use the Demonic Qi in the Heavenly Earth Prime Spirit as a benchmark, where a hundred percent is the Demonic Qi content in one part of Heavenly Earth Prime Spirit, then the Demonic Qi content in these Demon Beasts like the Blackfork Fish would be seventy percent, while the Spirit Fish would only be fifty percent, or even thirty or twenty percent…”

“If nothing goes wrong, then the Spiritual Fish King should be a pure Spirit Beast, not only free from Demonic Qi contamination, but also capable of reversing and neutralizing it. Therefore, for the cultivators of this world, its value is immeasurable.”

“Although this realm is eroded by Demonic Qi, Heaven and Earth’s Creation is infinite; in a desperate situation, there still lies a chance for life. The Spiritual Fish King is just such a chance for life, a self-purifying method for this world and also a lifeline for those cultivators who have been demonized.”

“Has this world not completely fallen into the hands of demons?”

“But what about that Divinity Transformation-level Demon Head? Could it be that the cultivators of this world, contaminated by Demonic Qi, are able to achieve Divinity Transformation without falling into the Demon Path and thus stand against their adversaries?”

On the boat under the black canopy, Xu Yang was fishing while sorting through the information.

During this past month, aside from cultivating, his main task had been to gather intelligence and study the so-called Spirit Fish appearing in Wuzhe Lake.

Though in the end he was still baffled, he had acquired a lot of important information, including characteristics of the cultivators of this realm.

Demonic Qi influence!

The demonic nature of Demonic Qi is dirty and contaminated, an unavoidable problem for the cultivators of this realm.

Not just for cultivating, but also for healing, the cultivators need to draw in Heavenly Earth Prime Spirit.

So…

“The cultivators of this world tend to focus on physical cultivation, drawing sustenance from foods with less Demonic Qi and lower contamination to restore their Yuan Qi.”

“Those martial artists from before were purely physically trained, fighting others with brute force, devoid of True Energy Primordial Power, exhibiting at most concealed or overt strength. Though their combat power was not great, their consumption was relatively low.”

“Only the woman who appeared later, with a fire-based Spiritual Root, cultivating mana, was a Yuan Spirit cultivator.”

“The mental state of these cultivators…”

Xu Yang shook his head, lowered his gaze, and looking at the unconscious Blackfork Fish in the fish hold, he muttered, “Beastliness is more ferocious than humanity, yet human wickedness surpasses that of beasts.”

With that, the fishing rod twitched, and another Spirit Fish was hooked.

Xu Yang, unperturbed, placed the fish in the basket, baited the hook with another piece of fish meat, and cast his line again.

Although an old fisherman, when it comes to fishing, skill is always secondary; what matters most are resources and bait.

There’s no need to say much about resources; with fish everywhere in Wuzhe Lake, if you can’t catch them, that’s your problem, not the lake’s.

Therefore, the focus is on the bait.

After a month of field testing, Xu Yang discovered a type of bait that Spirit Fish are especially fond of.

That is meat, Blackfork Fish meat!

But it can’t be just any Blackfork Fish meat, it needs to be refined with Mana Thunderbolt to remove the Demonic Qi contamination. Such purified Blackfork Fish meat is greatly favored by Spirit Fish, and it even attracts other Blackfork Fish of the same kind.

Frankly, using such bait to fish can be counterproductive.

After all, the purpose for the cultivators of this world to catch Spirit Fish is by eating them to increase the absorption of Spiritual Energy and reduce the contamination of Demonic Qi.

If one consumes mana to make such bait, the Spiritual Energy gained from eating Spirit Fish might not even cover the cost.

It wouldn’t be worth it, and thus wouldn’t be done.

But Xu Yang is different, with his ability to effectively refine Demonic Qi, he doesn’t care much about the consumption of mana.

Moreover, he’s not catching these Spirit Fish to eat them but rather to raise them.

If those that are demonized cannot be tamed, perhaps those that are spiritualized can be. Regardless, it’s worth a try.

Therefore, Xu Yang began his great endeavor of fishing for Spirit Fish.

The next day, in the chilly early morning, frost-covered mist arose and clouds veiled Wuzhe Lake.

The weather had grown even colder, yet many fishing boats were still braving the cold wind to cast their nets in the lake.

When will the tide of Spirit Fish end?

No one knows, so they cannot lax; they must fish with all their might every day.

Qing was the same, even though she had stayed up all night and was very tired, she still forced herself to go out on the boat.

“There’s frost!”

Beholding the dense frost mist and the sea-like clouds over Wuzhe Lake, Qing’s body shivered with cold, and she had no choice but to unstopper the gourd at her waist and take another sip of strong liquor to warm up.

In Jiangning Mansion, located in the south, snowfall is rare, but frost descends when it’s extremely cold.

In previous years by this time, most fishermen would have already stopped boating and begun to dry their nets, preparing for winter.

But this year…

“The boats still have to go out!”

“Rice has become expensive, salt has become expensive, everything’s become expensive.”

“Only the liquor for warming up has gotten a bit cheaper, but the prices of other fish have been suppressed very low.”

“The Flying Tiger Gang has sealed off the lake and moved a lot of fishermen from other places here. Everyone needs to feed and cloth their families, but they are raising prices like this, clearly forcing people to catch Spirit Fish for them!”

Chapter 310: Chapter 206: Coercion_3

“With this weather, how can anyone fish?”

Recalling the recent changes at the fish market, Qing gritted her teeth and began to cast her net.

Wuzhe Lake was deep with plenty of big fish, but the Spirit Fish were not necessarily among the large ones; on the contrary, many Spirit Fishes were small in size.

Small fish were difficult to catch, and the larger ones only made it harder; in the end, the fishermen had to dive into the water to grab them.

But with the weather like this, was it really safe to just dive in?

Yet, what choice was there?

The Flying Tiger Gang had their so-called rules, and although they didn’t directly force fishermen to sail out at knifepoint, the price of rice and salt kept rising—almost daily—while only the price of fish fell lower and lower each day. Besides the Spirit Fish, no other catches fetched a good price. Fish that used to be bestsellers on a typical day now had to be discarded at low prices.

At this point, many fishermen would rather have an extra meal themselves than waste the effort going to the market to sell their catch.

But people can’t live on fish alone; firewood, rice, oil, and salt are necessities too.

So, even though it was freezing cold, the boats still had to set out.

She was one of the lucky ones, having caught a Spirit Fish the day before, which could sustain her for a while.

Those with lean reserves who hadn’t caught a Spirit Fish were really in a dire situation; they had to sail out and dive into the water.

“Huff!”

Another gust of north wind blew, causing Qing to shiver continuously.

“No good, I’ll need to buy more wine later, otherwise, I can’t withstand this weather at all.”

Qing bit her teeth and began to haul in the net, and unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a single Spirit Fish.

Seeing this, Qing could only sigh, pack up her dripping wet net, and head toward the Fish Market Pier.

Along the way, she encountered many fishing boats, including quite a few familiar fishermen, but there was hardly any greeting.

Silence, silence, it was all silence.

Oppression gradually turned to despair.

“The price of rice has gone up again!”

“Same with the salt, it’s increased by thirty percent!”

“Damn the Flying Tiger Gang!”

“Are they trying to drive us to our deaths?”

“Old man Li passed away last night after diving into the water.”

“A’guang and his brothers encountered the Black Night Fork last night; only one of the three brothers came back.”

“Jiangzhou Mansion, Ningzhou Prefecture, and our Jiangning Mansion have all sealed the roads, not allowing us to leave.”

In just a few days, the atmosphere at the fish market had taken an extreme turn.

Qing didn’t dare say much and instead made her way to the pharmacy, only to find the door firmly shut.

Obviously, Doctor Mo was not opening for business today.

With no other choice, she bought some supplies and quickly left the market.

She felt that the current fish market, the current Wuzhe Lake, was like a furnace whose fire kept burning more fiercely, already beyond control, ready to explode at any moment.

It was very unsettling.

But there wasn’t much she could do except try to stay as far away as possible.

Meanwhile…

“Master!”

“Immortal Master!”

Li Suhong led a group to welcome a young Taoist Man into the hall.

This Taoist was a young and extremely handsome figure, draped in a vermillion robe that blazed like fire, remarkably eye-catching.

Li Suhong went forward with a respectful yet somewhat desolate demeanor.

The group trailed behind, likewise holding back their words.

Seeing this, the young Taoist Man smiled, “I already know what happened. This man and I are of the same path, and you all are no match for him. Let him be for now. When the Fish King emerges, I shall deal with him and settle our karma.”

“Is that so!”

Hearing this, although the others had doubts, they dared not question further and could only respectfully agree.

The young Taoist Man waved them off, “Alright, you may leave. I have matters to discuss with Suhong.”

“Yes!”

They exchanged a fleeting glance and bowed before retreating.

Only Li Suhong stayed in the hall, silent.

The young Taoist Man looked at his disciple and went straight to the point, chuckling lightly, “How badly are you hurt?”

Li Suhong did not speak but silently undid her clothing.

“Hmm!”

Seeing Li Suhong’s flawless shoulder, the young Taoist Man nodded, “Just one move injured you so severely; there’s no doubt this person is a Qi Refiner. The question is, from which sect or faction does he come?”

Li Suhong dressed again, “His Sword Qi was extremely sharp, and his Mana was especially pure and powerful.”

“Hmph, powerful so what?”

The young Taoist Man laughed scornfully, “The old ancestor from Great Xing Mountain will soon achieve Nascent Soul Condensing. The Great Xing royal family is scouring the world for Demon Transformation Spiritual Objects for him, and they are determined to get the Spiritual Fish King of Wuzhe Lake. Can he really compete with Great Xing Mountain?”

Li Suhong nodded, a trace of hesitation in her eyes as she looked at Zhu Yang and said, “Master, the weather is getting colder. The common folk can’t bear it and are beginning to harbor resentment. If we keep forcing them like this…”

“What then?”

The young Taoist Man glanced at her, “A heart of a Bodhisattva, you can’t bear it anymore?”

“No, not at all!”

Li Suhong shook her head, explaining, “It’s just that the disciple thinks this surge of Spirit Fish might not end with just one winter. If too many fishermen die or get injured at this time, it might not be beneficial for future catches. Perhaps it would be better to pause for a while, wait until spring warms up…”

“Once you enter Immortal Cultivation Sect, all beings are but livestock!”

The young Taoist Man scoffed with a chilling smile, “Understand?”

Li Suhong fell silent for a moment, then nodded, “I understand, Disciple understands!”

“Good, as long as you understand, as long as you understand… hahaha!!”