197: Chapter 197 Obtaining the Recipe

Lin Tian opened his eyes, the curve of his lips impossible to suppress.

The Wanling Seal, this mental Cultivation method he had obtained from Old Man Han, had been pressed under his bed for several months; he had read it over and over, yet had never been able to find the way in.

Who would have thought that today, after a tug-of-war of Mental Energy with two Blood-Bound Beasts, he would stumble into mastering it by sheer accident.

Once he had the basics down, the path ahead would be easy.

Like other martial arts, as long as one mastered the basics, the rest was just practicing over and over again, letting proficiency increase bit by bit.

The stronger the Wanling Seal, the stronger his Mental Energy; the stronger his Mental Energy, the higher the grade of Vicious Beast he could control with his Beast Taming Technique, and the more confident he would be when facing the Demon Sect's Blood Pact Restriction in the future.

He stood up, brushed the dirt off his robes, and sped off in the direction of the Yunhai Fishery.

In the days that followed, Lin Tian's life returned to that familiar rhythm.

The demon-hunting squads organized by the Qixia Sect marched into the Taixuan Mountain Range wave after wave. Several guards from the Yunhai Fishery who had signed up ran into the mountains every few days; when they returned, some would excitedly boast about what Vicious Beast they had hunted, while others would return dejected, cursing the Demon Sect members for being too cunning.

The Demon Sect was also very shrewd. When the demon-hunting squads entered the mountains, they would keep their heads down, recalling all their Blood-Bound Beasts into the deep forests to lie in wait; once the hunting squads returned empty-handed, they would crawl out from their tunnels and resume control of the mountain paths.

Both sides were like they were playing a game of cat and mouse, over and over again.

Lin Tian never participated in these demon-hunting operations.

Every day, he routinely patrolled the fish ponds under his charge, continued to study breeding techniques with Elder Wang, and practiced swordplay and meditation in the courtyard.

The only difference was that his Cultivation list now had one more item — the Wanling Seal.

Every day before sleep, he would circulate the soul-tempering method once, and the Mental Energy in his Sea of Consciousness would slowly grow at an extremely minute rate. Although slow, it had the advantage of being steady.

Half a year slipped by quietly amidst the day-to-day Cultivation and pond patrols. During these six months, his Cultivation remained at the Early Stage of the Fifth Rank, and his growth in Hua Jin was lukewarm.

However, his Mental Energy had increased significantly under the continuous tempering of the Wanling Seal, pushing all the way from the introductory level to the Minor Achievement Realm.

Over at his private fish pond, under his careful care and the nourishment of that bag of special fish bait, the two broodstock had turned into more than fifty.

The reef area around the water origin tree was now as lively as an underwater market, with silver-white Treasure Fish of all sizes swimming in schools between the branches; the smallest were only as long as a little finger, while the large ones had already grown to the size of a palm.

The Black Crocodile faithfully guarded this water area, its amber vertical pupils staring unblinkingly at the school of fish in the water weeds every day. Occasionally, an outsider Vicious Beast fish would wander into this area, and before it could even get close to the water origin tree, it would be swiped away by its tail.

Every time Lin Tian went down into the lake to inspect, those Treasure Fish of all sizes would swim over in a rush to circle around him, their dark, shiny eyes curiously sizing him up, their fish tails brushing against his wrists as if greeting him.

Of course, there were regrets.

The number of over fifty Treasure Fish looked like quite a lot, but they were all small fry born within the last six months; the largest was only palm-sized, not even one year old.

The Treasure Fish supplied by the Yunhai Fishery to Sect Elders and Personal Disciples were at least three-year-old adults, with silver-bright scales, firm meat, and abundant spiritual power, whereas his fry still had immature pale pink scales, and their spiritual power content was more than a grade lower.

But this couldn't be helped — under wild conditions, it took at least two years for a Treasure Fish to grow from fry to three years old. For him to urge two broodstock to spawn and hatch over fifty fry in six months was already the result of him pushing the effects of the special fish bait and the water origin tree's spiritual water to the limit.

If the quality wasn't enough, he would make up for it with quantity. Trading thirty fry for one Breeder's method—this deal was a win for him either way.

That evening, the appointed day arrived.

Lin Tian dove to the bottom of the lake, picked out thirty of the best-looking fry from the school, and put them into a specially made glass fish tank. The fish tank was not large, divided into several compartments by partitions, with three or five small fish swimming in each compartment.

He wrapped the fish tank in several layers of oilcloth, stuffed it into a bamboo basket, carried it on his back, and hurried toward Yunzhou Prefecture.

He entered the city at dusk, did not go to that teahouse, nor did he enter the underground black market again, but instead walked slowly along the quiet street outside the black market.

Most of the shops on both sides of the street had already put up their door panels, with only a few paper lanterns swaying gently in the night wind.

He stood still at an inconspicuous corner of the street, placed the basket by his feet, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes to rest.

He didn't know how much time had passed when a very light sound of footsteps came from the street entrance.

Lin Tian opened his eyes; under the moonlight, a figure was walking quickly along the street.

The person had a slender figure and wore a half-face mask, exposing a chin with young and clean lines. He looked left and right as he walked, as if searching for someone.

Lin Tian flashed out from the foot of the wall, arriving behind the person in a blink. "You've come."

The youth was startled, turned around abruptly, and instinctively placed a hand on the short blade at his waist.

He saw the person's attire clearly—black robe, mask, exactly the same as the mysterious person who had traded Vicious Beast Materials for Treasure Fish feed in the black market half a year ago. He let out a sigh of relief, but his tone still carried a hint of urgency: "It's you. Did you bring the thirty Treasure Fish?"

Lin Tian patted the bamboo basket on his back: "I brought them. What about the thing I wanted?"

The youth pulled a book wrapped tightly in oilcloth from his sleeve and shook it in the moonlight: "I brought it."

Lin Tian nodded, took the basket off his back and placed it on the ground, untied the oilcloth, and revealed the glass fish tank inside.

Moonlight shone through the glass tank wall; thirty silver-white small fry were gently wagging their tails in the water, their scales glowing with a faint fluorescence. Although they were still small, the pure spiritual power fluctuation unique to Treasure Fish was clearly discernible.

The youth's breathing clearly quickened a bit. He squatted down and leaned close to the fish tank, counting them one by one by the moonlight, muttering under his breath.

After counting the last one, he suddenly raised his head, his voice filled with irrepressible ecstasy: "It really is Treasure Fish! Thirty of them, not one less! Great, there is hope!"

He reached out to pick up the fish tank, but Lin Tian raised his hand to stop him. "My item."

The youth came to his senses and handed over the book in his hand. Lin Tian took the book, untied the oilcloth, and opened it—the opening chapter was in neat regular script, systematically introducing the basic theory of a Breeder: water quality identification, medicinal property compatibility, and spiritual power concentration control.

He quickly flipped to the last page, and sure enough, a fish bait formula was attached. He closed the book, tucked it into his robe, and nodded: "Very good. Farewell."

Seeing that Lin Tian was really turning to leave, the youth hurriedly called out: "Can I trade with you again next time?"

Lin Tian did not look back, but just raised his hand and waved, his figure quickly melting into the night at the end of the street.