208: Chapter 208 Making Fish Bait

Lin Tian moved the Materials he had bought into the side room and laid them out one by one on the table.

Spirit Beast bone powder, air-dried minced meat, three types of ground medicinal powder, spiritual grain powder, and the spiritual spring water brought back from the fishery. With all the Materials ready, he rolled up his sleeves and began his first attempt according to the proportions in the recipe.

He mixed the bone powder and medicinal powder in a three-to-one ratio, adding the spiritual spring water in small amounts multiple times. At the same time, he activated the method of the Breeding Technique, transforming his energy into extremely fine spiritual threads that extended from his fingertips, slowly stirring the mixture to evenly fuse the medicinal power and spiritual energy together.

The result of the first attempt was not good. He hadn't mastered the proportion of spiritual spring water; the mixture was too thin to be rolled into pellets, and could only be barely squeezed into a few soft, mushy lumps.

He set aside these unqualified fish baits and readjusted the proportions to try again. The second time, there was less spiritual spring water, and while pellets were formed, their surfaces were covered in cracks after drying, crumbling at the slightest touch.

He was not in a rush. There were still plenty of Materials left, so he continued to try.

The third, fourth, and fifth time—after each failure, he would stop to compare the recipe, recalculate the proportions, and then use the spiritual threads of the Breeding Technique to adjust the heat of the Fusion bit by bit.

By the time the first batch of barely acceptable fish bait was made, the side room was already filled with a peculiar scent, a mixture of medicinal fragrance and the fishy smell of meat.

The quality of this half-bag of fish bait could only be considered mediocre; the pellets were uneven in size, and their surfaces were far from smooth, but at least they had formed, and they wouldn't crumble into powder when pressed firmly between his fingers.

The number for the Breeding Technique on his proficiency panel had quietly increased by a small fraction during this afternoon of repeated attempts.

He tucked this half-bag of fish bait into his clothes and went to the private fish pond under the cover of night. When he sank to the bottom of the lake, the cluster of reefs around the water origin tree was a bit livelier than before.

The previous batch of fry had grown quite a bit, and with the newly hatched batch, there were now about twenty Treasure Fish in the pond.

The silvery-white small fish swam in schools among the branches of the water origin tree. Seeing Lin Tian sink down, they swarmed over and circled around him.

He grabbed the newly made fish bait from the bag, crumbled it, and scattered it into the water. The Treasure Fish immediately darted up to devour it, their tails thrashing as they ate.

Although the quality of this batch of fish bait was not as good as the special feed he had previously obtained from the young man, the Treasure Fish were not picky and ate it with great gusto.

Lin Tian squatted next to the water origin tree, watched them finish eating, and then checked on the Black Crocodile again.

The Black Crocodile was lying on the nearby reef, its amber vertical pupils half-closed, its tail lazily swaying in the water. Over the past six months or so, it had faithfully carried out the fish-feeding task assigned to it by Lin Tian, never slacking off, feeding them on time and in the correct amounts every day.

Lin Tian patted its forehead, left it a small handful of fish bait, and then swam out of the water.

In the days that followed, Lin Tian continued to immerse himself in the side room, wrestling with that pile of Materials. The first batch of purchased Materials quickly ran out. Although the half-bag of fish bait he had made was of average quality, it was enough for the twenty or so fry to eat for a month.

He made another trip to Yunzhou Prefecture and spent twelve thousand taels of silver to buy the second batch of Materials.

Walking out of the city gate of Yunzhou Prefecture, he weighed his mostly empty money pouch and silently did some calculations. With only about twenty fry now, the material cost for one batch of fish bait was already twelve thousand taels of silver.

When these fish grew up, their appetites would grow too, and by then, the cost of one batch of feed wouldn't just be twelve thousand taels. It was simply unrealistic for a private fish pond to rely on quantity; raising fish was too expensive.

The quantity could not be high; it had to be refined.

Every Treasure Fish had to be raised into a premium specimen to produce the highest Cultivation returns within limited costs.

Having figured this out, he no longer pursued the quantity of fry.

Every time he went to the private fish pond, he would pick out the fry with slightly weaker appearances to bring back for soup, leaving only the strongest, brightest-scaled, and most pure-spiritual-energy ones for focused cultivation.

Another month passed, and Lin Tian's Breeding Technique broke through to the Minor Achievement Realm through repeated practice.

The Breeding Technique at the Minor Achievement Realm was more than a notch stronger than at the proficiency Realm—the spiritual threads were finer and softer, and when fusing medicinal power and spiritual energy, he could precisely control the uniformity of every single particle, resulting in pellets of uniform size with smooth, firm surfaces.

The fish bait newly made in the side room finally had a touch of professional standard; it was dark green in color, the pellets were uniform, and one could smell a faint, bitter medicinal fragrance when pressing it between their fingers.

He went to the private fish pond again that day.

There were only a dozen or so Treasure Fish left in the pond, but every one of them had bright silver scales, clear gill patterns, and well-proportioned bodies, belonging to the top-tier quality among the same batch of fry.

Under his focused feeding, these carefully selected Treasure Fish had doubled in size compared to before, with the smallest now being the size of a palm.

However, growing fast meant having a big appetite. Previously, half a bag of fish bait was enough for a month, but now it would run out in half a month.

Lin Tian scattered a whole new bag of fish bait into the water. Watching this group of silvery-white fish frantically scrambling for food, he silently calculated the expenses again in his heart and shook his head helplessly.

The silver on hand was already spent.

Two batches of Materials had been bought, at twelve thousand taels each, plus the miscellaneous items purchased previously; all the thirty-plus thousand taels of silver notes brought back from the valley had been contributed to these few bags of fish feed.

His Breeding Technique was getting more refined, and the fish bait was getting better and better, but his money pouch was getting emptier and emptier.

If he wanted to make the next batch of fish bait, he would have to find a way to get silver.

He scooped out a Treasure Fish of slightly lower quality from the pond and put it into a specially made crystal fish tank.

Although this fish didn't rank high in his pond, taking it outside to sell would be enough to buy a batch of Materials.

He wrapped the fish tank with oilcloth, carried it on his back, and hurried toward Yunzhou Prefecture.

Lin Tian put on a bamboo hat, covering his face tightly, and made his way into Yunzhou Prefecture.

The signboard of Wanbao Pavilion was in the most conspicuous position on the main street of the market. It was a three-story pavilion with flying eaves and bracket sets, and the attendants welcoming guests at the door were all smiles as they greeted people.

As he stepped into the main hall, a shop assistant came up to greet him. His gaze swept quickly over Lin Tian's half-old gray robe, and his smile faded a little.

"What would you like to see, customer? Medicinal Pills, weapons, or Materials?"

"I want to sell something, something very precious." Lin Tian's voice came through the black veil of his bamboo hat, low and deep.

The shop assistant's smile faded another layer. He looked him up and down, his tone carrying a touch of perfunctoriness: "Selling something? Customer, our Wanbao Pavilion has a threshold for purchasing goods. Ordinary items—"

"Hurry up." Lin Tian's voice suddenly raised half a degree. It wasn't loud, but several customers in the hall who were picking out items turned their heads at the same time. "If you delay things, you cannot afford the consequences."

The shop assistant was choked by this remark, his face turning pale and then livid. Just as he was about to say something, an old man wearing a brocade robe walked down the stairs.

He was the resident Elder of Wanbao Pavilion, surnamed Zhong. He had been in the pavilion for over thirty years and knew exactly what kind of guest or goods he was dealing with at a single glance. Hearing the commotion, he walked over and asked, "What's going on?"

The shop assistant felt as if he had been granted amnesty. He hurriedly leaned over and whispered a few words, which were nothing more than "this person is hiding his face, sounds young, and doesn't look like he has any good goods."

Elder Zhong glanced at Lin Tian, ignored the shop assistant's muttering, and politely cupped his hands: "This Young Master, what would you like to sell?"

Lin Tian glanced to the side; there were too many people and ears in the hall. Elder Zhong understood and gestured to the side: "Young Master, please follow me. Let's talk in the VIP room on the second floor."

The shop assistant watched the two walk up the stairs one after the other, his mouth wide enough to stuff an egg into.

The VIP room was filled with the scent of sandalwood, and the mahogany tables and chairs were polished until they gleamed. Elder Zhong closed the door and personally poured a cup of tea for Lin Tian. Lin Tian did not touch the teacup; he directly unslung the bamboo basket from his back, placed it on the table, and lifted the cover.

The silvery-white Treasure Fish in the crystal fish tank was slowly flicking its tail, its scales emitting a layer of pure fluorescence under the crystal lamp.

The moment Elder Zhong's gaze fell on the fish tank, his hand holding the tea stopped in mid-air.

He put down the teacup, took out a magnifying glass from his sleeve, and leaned close to the fish tank to examine it carefully for a long while—looking at the gill patterns, the luster of the scales, and the faint ripple of spiritual energy in the water as the fish tail swung.

When he straightened up, the expression on his face had changed from polite to serious.

"It is indeed a Treasure Fish. It is not very old, but the quality is excellent—the luster of the scales, the purity of the spiritual energy, and the firmness of the fish body are more than a notch higher than those Treasure Fish that occasionally leak onto the market."

He put the magnifying glass back into his sleeve and said solemnly, "Young Master should know that although the market price for Treasure Fish is set, in reality, almost no one will take them out to sell."

"Therefore, the price can be negotiated. The market price for an ordinary three-year-old Treasure Fish is five thousand taels, but there is no supply. I will offer you eight thousand taels for this one."

"Ten thousand." Lin Tian's voice came from behind the black veil, calm and flat.

Elder Zhong's gray eyebrows raised slightly. He was silent for a few moments, then nodded decisively: "Fine, ten thousand. It's a deal." He clapped his hands and instructed the accountant outside the door to fetch the silver notes. Ten thousand taels, notes from the leading silver firm with branches throughout Yunzhou Prefecture, brand new and crisp.

Lin Tian took the silver notes, counted them once, tucked them into his bosom, packed up the empty bamboo basket, and got up to leave.

"Young Master, please stay a moment." Elder Zhong stood up and took a step after him. "If you have Treasure Fish of this quality in the future, Wanbao Pavilion is willing to continue purchasing them at the same price."

Lin Tian's footsteps paused, the black veil swayed slightly, and he only left behind the words "Not necessarily" before pushing open the door of the VIP room, walking quickly down the stairs, passing through the hall, and disappearing into the crowd outside.

Not long after he left, in a quiet room on the top floor of Wanbao Pavilion, Elder Zhong reported the transaction that had just taken place to the Pavilion Master in detail.

The Pavilion Master was an old man with white hair and beard. After listening, he was silent for a moment and said slowly, "High-quality Treasure Fish, mysterious origin, judging by the voice, he is very young—is this some Young Master from a large Family who is short on money, or someone in some Sect secretly peddling resources?"

"The places in Yunzhou Prefecture that can raise Treasure Fish can be counted on one's fingers." He turned his head and looked at Elder Zhong. "Should we send someone to follow him?"

Elder Zhong walked to the window and pushed it open. People were coming and going on the street, and the figure in the gray robe had long since melted into the crowd; not even a corner of his clothing could be seen.

He shook his head: "He's long gone. This person has a very strong sense of counter-surveillance; he changed direction as soon as he stepped out the door." He paused and added, "But as long as he still wants to sell, he will come back sooner or later. Next time we meet, there will always be a way to find out where he comes from."