Gou Zai Qingluo Cave Heaven Cultivation

"By the way, Brother Bao, Master Gan kept you behind alone just now, acting all mysterious. What exactly did he do?"

Zhou Changping's gossip-loving spirit burns brightly.

"It's nothing much. Master Gan has a talisman-making workshop that researches and makes precious talismans. He asked if I would like to help out and also mentioned the Southern Territory Hundred Pavilions Talisman Gathering."

"The Southern Border Hundred Pavilions Talisman Gathering?!"

Zhou Changping's expression changed, first with surprise, then with delight.

"That's the grand talisman festival of the Southern Swamp Kingdom! All the major cultivation families and sects will attend. Just showing your face there, even with a precious talisman, will make you famous overnight! Brother Bao, you're about to soar to the heavens!"

Watching the chubby boy excitedly gesturing, Zhou Baoqing remained perfectly clear-headed.

It's not necessarily true that one can soar to great heights overnight. The Hundred Pavilions Talisman Gathering must be a gathering of hidden talents and geniuses.

I am just a beginner in the art of talismans, so I should be down-to-earth and learn more real skills at Master Gan's workshop first.

He looked at Zhou Changping.

As the saying goes, there are many people in this world who are afraid of their brothers suffering, but even more afraid of their brothers driving Land Rovers. However, Zhou Changping did not have such jealous thoughts at all.

His round face was filled with pride, as if he himself was the one valued by the Master.

This warmed Zhou Baoqing's heart; this chubby guy was indeed a good brother worth getting to know better.

Speaking of this, he thought of Liu Xiaorui and Wang Gou'er.

He also thanked the two of them for what happened at the Jing Si Pavilion yesterday.

Liu Xiaorui blushed and stammered out a few words that were hard to hear before lowering her head and fleeing in a panic. Zhou Baoqing was puzzled and looked in the mirror, wondering why she didn't look scary at all!

In contrast, Wang Qingzhi, upon hearing Zhou Baoqing's thanks and apology for their past argument, was first taken aback, then coldly snorted, "Don't flatter yourself! I'd help even the most insignificant cat or dog, but not you, and I won't forgive you for insulting me!"

This left Zhou Baoqing feeling somewhat helpless. Harsh words hurt people's feelings, and grudges are not so easy to resolve. Therefore, he reflected on himself and resolved that he must never speak harshly as casually as before.

However, he did not feel aggrieved or resentful about Wang Qingzhi's reaction. He thought that just because he thought he apologized sincerely, others would have to forgive him.

There is no such logic in this world.

…………

A whole day was spent practicing and practicing again.

After school, Zhou Baoqing said goodbye to Zhou Changping at the bridgehead and walked slowly along the river bend.

Passing by a shallow beach, he picked up a net, intending to collect some lush green duckweed.

The water in Qinglin Bay is always crystal clear, so clear you can see the bottom. The flowing water gently washes over the pebbles, clean and warm, and carries a faint spiritual charm.

But clear water doesn't necessarily mean it's free of insects. He bent down and carefully rummaged through the duckweed, meticulously cleaning out any organisms it carried.

Ordinary mortal creatures pose no threat, but the aquatic creatures of the cultivation world are born with a certain ferocity.

The leech hidden under the duckweed was several times thicker than the leeches in the mortal world. Its suckers at both ends of its head and tail were covered with fine, sharp barbs, and its mouth contained tiny fangs.

Sensing the commotion, the giant leech suddenly curled up, startling Zhou Baoqing.

If this thing mutates after arriving at the cave and starts sucking the blood of the blue-scaled fish fry, then that would be troublesome.

I quickly threw it away, but then I regretted it. Such a big leech could have been sold for money if dried.

But it's too late to regret it now that it's already been thrown away.

Of course, Zhou Baoqing didn't think he could pick out all the parasites with the naked eye.

For example, there is a kind of worm that grows in the mouth of fish when it is invisible to the naked eye. When it grows up, it will eat the gills of the fish and take over the gills. Although it does play a role in filtering and breathing, most of the fish's nutrients are taken up by this little worm.

That's why Grandpa used the Water Control Technique to control the Blue-scaled Fish that day and carefully examined its gills.

If your fish fry are indeed infected, you can simply check and kill them.

In fact, big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp. Everything has its counter, and the natural order is cyclical.

Zhou Baoqing took such precautions for no other reason than that the Qingluo Cave currently has too few creatures, making it essentially an ecological tank, so it is necessary to strictly control the types of organisms.

If in the future it transforms into one world, with all kinds of living beings and things emerging together, then there will be no need to be so careful.

Once the duckweed was relatively clean, he hurried home.

After entering Zhishui Pavilion and locking the door, he had a thought and placed the newly collected duckweed into the waters of Qingluo Tiandi.

In this world of cultivation, it's best to avoid going in and out of the grotto-heavens unless absolutely necessary.

It's different at home.

Don't underestimate Qinglin Bay just because it's a rural area in a water town. Every household that is an annex of a cultivation family will set up a simple concealment array or thought-blocking array in the foundation of the house when it is first built. This can be used to shield the house from the detection of outside cultivators.

Of course, this formation cannot prevent high-level cultivators, but it is very effective in shielding ordinary early-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Even if these cultivators are flying high in the sky on their swords, they will only see a foggy view of the fishermen below, which is enough to protect the basic privacy of the family.

After releasing the newly collected duckweed, Zhou Baoqing immediately looked at the ice-blue duckweed fixed in the bamboo circle beside the raft.

He couldn't help but smile after just one glance, feeling extremely pleased.

In just one day, the ice-blue duckweed has multiplied, then multiplied again, spreading out in a small patch within the bamboo circle, a truly breathtaking sight.

If they grew into a large area, it would surely be a stunning sight.

"Oh, right, feed the fish."

Zhou Baoqing remembered something important, took out the spirit fish food that Zhou Changping had given him, and grabbed a small handful.

The aroma of the fish food wafted into my nostrils, and I even had the urge to take a bite myself.

He smacked his lips and scattered fish food towards the blue-scaled fish fry not far away.

The twenty-odd green-scaled fish fry had just entered the cave, and their size and appearance had not changed significantly yet. They had not even grown "green scales" yet, so they were the youngest of the young.

The fish food fell into the water, releasing its aroma and making it even more enticing.

To everyone's surprise, the fish fry didn't show much interest in the food. They swam over, pecked at it a couple of times, and then swam away listlessly.

Zhou Baoqing was wondering what was going on when he saw a slightly stronger fry swishing its tail and swimming to the net below the bamboo circle. It kept opening its mouth through the mesh, seemingly drooling over the ice-blue duckweed inside.

"Could it be that this mutated duckweed is even more attractive to them than that secret-recipe fish food?"

Thinking about this, Zhou Baoqing became even more confident in making money by breeding duckweed.

…………

At dinner time, the family sat around the eight-immortal table.

Zhou Baoqing ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, still thinking about the mutated duckweed, and tentatively asked, "Grandpa, if there were a kind of semi-spiritual aquatic plant that grows quickly and fish really like to eat, could it replace those expensive fish food?"

Zhou Changgeng is an experienced fish farmer and knows a lot about the ins and outs of this industry.

Chen, who was serving him food, paused.

"Brother Bao! You're destined to become a noble Foundation Establishment Immortal, how can you waste your time on fish food and aquatic plants? Your task now is to cultivate diligently, you can't end up like us, so unambitious, spending your days wallowing in mud and water as fishermen!"

Chen was a fisherwoman from a young age. Before marrying into the Zhou family, she had been fishing and catching shrimp in the wind and sun, and knew the hardships of the lower-class fishermen who worked hard day and night but could barely make ends meet.

She spoke hastily and angrily, but her eyes welled up with tears, clearly thinking of those tragic times and fearing that her gifted son would suffer the same fate.

Zhou Baoqing never expected that his casual question would touch a raw nerve with his mother.

He put down his chopsticks and looked at Madam Chen with utmost seriousness: "Mother, even if I become a Foundation Establishment Immortal in the future, can I erase my origins as a fisherman's son? Immortals don't care about origins, and besides, I've never felt inferior because I'm a fisherman's child. I feel that being the grandson of my grandparents and the child of my mother is the luckiest thing in my life."

Zhou Baoqing's voice hasn't changed yet, and it's still clear and tender, but his words reveal a firmness that comes from having experienced the world.

The moment these words were spoken, the dinner table fell silent.

Aunt Zhou Yulan and cousin Zhao Fanghua looked up in surprise.

Sitting next to him, his cousin Zhao Yuanqiu was even more inspired, and his eyes welled up with tears.

The older children in the market would bully him and use vulgar language like "cheap, lowly fisherman" to insult him, which made him extremely sad and inferior for a time.

To my surprise, my cousin not only didn't look down on our background, but was actually proud of it. His words were truly inspiring!

Mrs. Chen was stunned; this was the first time she had ever heard her son express such deep affection.

Her eyes welled up with tears, which she couldn't help but slid down her cheeks. She quickly turned her head away and wiped them with her sleeve. Her heart softened completely, so she stopped being so forceful: "Fine, ask away if you want, but you mustn't let it interfere with your serious cultivation."

Zhou Changgeng also looked very pleased.

He patted Zhou Baoqing on the shoulder, surprised that his grandson had not only become more composed but also so interested in the family business.

He explained, "The bulk of the cost of raising blue-scaled fish is actually in the food. Every single one of those secret fish food recipes requires us to exchange for the spirit stones we've worked so hard to save."

If the harvest is bad, we won't even make back the cost of fish food. If there really is such a semi-spiritual aquatic plant as you described, it grows quickly and can even meet the spiritual energy needs of the fish fry...

After thinking for a moment, he said confidently, "Then we can reduce our fish farming costs by more than 70%! Our bluefin fish will not only be plump and healthy, but the profits will be unparalleled in Qinglin Bay!"

Listening to his grandfather's analysis, Zhou Baoqing maintained a calm expression, but his heart was pounding wildly in his chest.

If one can cultivate their own ice-blue duckweed on a large scale, it could be an extremely profitable business!