I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

Chen Qing didn't stay at the fishpond for long. The fish fry had arrived, and he needed to go get the feed.

Chen Qing walked back along the mountain path, through the bamboo forest, and around Xu Gui's courtyard, but instead of heading towards Beast Taming Peak, he turned onto another fork in the road—

The road leading to Lingyunfang Market.

Lingyun Market is located in the valley between Yushou Peak and Jianming Peak, built against the mountain and spreading out over a radius of about one mile.

Although named Fangshi, it is more like a small town. A long street paved with bluestone winds its way out, with shops lining both sides and banners fluttering. There are shops officially opened by Lingyun Sect, as well as stalls set up privately by disciples.

Chen Qing walked down the street, with Qingtian perched on his shoulder and Danyu behind him. He took a few steps and looked at the passersby. Although most of them were wearing the Lingyun Sect's disciple robes, there were also quite a few mortals mixed in.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chen Qing stopped in front of a shop called "Bai Shou Zhai".

Three days ago, he had asked Xu Gui and found out that there were three shops selling spirit beast feed in the entire Lingyun Market. The largest of them was "Bai Shou Zhai," which was dedicated to feeding the spirit beasts and pets of the Lingyun Sect disciples and had the best reputation.

And most importantly, the shop's manager is a "funny" person who allows customers to buy on credit!

Since purchasing the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill, Chen Qing has run out of spirit stones. He obtained 3 spirit stones after selling the Spirit Sheep Chicken, and received 30 annual stipends upon entering the Beast Taming Peak. Afterwards, his senior sister Zhou Ruoqing learned that he planned to raise fish and lent him another 100. After deducting the 25 spirit stones he used to buy fish fry, he now only has 108 low-grade spirit stones left.

This amount of spirit stones is nothing but a pipe dream to support the breeding of 2000 blue carp for a year, so he has no intention of paying today!

Chen Qing stepped across the threshold.

The shop was filled with a faint, refreshing herbal scent. Wooden shelves against the wall were filled with cloth bags, each labeled with words written in cinnabar: Linggu powder, bone powder, fish powder, dried insects, Qingling grass...

A young shop assistant dressed in a gray short-sleeved brown shirt was fiddling with an abacus behind the counter. Seeing Chen Qing enter, he quickly put down the abacus and came to greet him.

"What would you like to buy, Immortal Master? Our Spirit Beast Pavilion's feed is one of the best in the market. Spirit beasts love it and grow quickly from it."

Chen Qing nodded and said without beating around the bush, "I've raised a batch of two thousand carp and I'd like to buy a year's worth of feed."

The waiter's eyes lit up: "Two thousand tails? That's a lot!"

He turned and called into the inner room, "Manager Qian, we have a big customer!"

A moment later, the curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man with a goatee and a large belly walked out. He was about forty years old, wearing a blue disciple's robe, and had a wooden token with the words "Ling Shu" engraved on it at his waist.

He glanced at Chen Qing, then smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "My name is Qian Youfu, a disciple of Ling Shu Peak, and I'm here as the manager. May I ask how I should address you, Junior Brother?"

Chen Qing returned the greeting: "Chen Qing from Beast Taming Peak."

Upon hearing this, Qian Youfu's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer, and his smile became even more enthusiastic: "So you're a junior brother from Beast Taming Peak. No wonder you can unleash two thousand tails in one go. Come, come, sit down and let's talk."

He led Chen Qing to sit down at the square table next to the counter, and the waiter quickly brought over two cups of hot tea.

Qian Youfu didn't waste any time and went straight to the point: "Junior Brother Chen wants to raise carp. Are there any specific requirements regarding the feed?"

Chen Qing shook his head: "I was just about to ask Senior Brother Qian for advice."

Qian Youfu stroked his beard and pondered, "Carp are omnivorous and not picky eaters, but if you want them to grow well and fast, you have to be careful with their feed."

He held up three fingers: "Our Bai Shou Zhai has three kinds of feed suitable for blue carp."

"The first type is the cheapest, called 'Spirit Valley Feed.' Its main ingredients are spirit valley bran, soybean cake, and the residue left over from pressing spirit valley oil at the dining hall. It costs three pieces of spirit grain per pound. Its advantage is that it is cheap, but its disadvantage is that it grows slowly. In a year, it is considered good if the fish can grow to a little over twenty pounds."

A Spirit Shatter is the next level unit of Spirit Stones; one hundred Spirit Shatters equal one Spirit Stone.

Chen Qing silently made a note of it.

"The second type is medium-grade, called 'fattening feed,' which contains fish meal, bone meal, and several growth-promoting herbs. It costs 1.5 jin (0.65 kg) of this feed, and with it, a child can grow to 25 or 26 jin (12.6 catties) in a year."

Qian Youfu paused for a moment, then held up his third finger:

"The third type is the best, called 'refined feed.' Its main ingredient is spirit grain powder, mixed with 30% fish meal, 20% dried insects, and an additional ingredient called 'Green Spirit Grass'—this grass is specially cultivated by Hundred Herbs Peak and can promote growth and increase spiritual energy."

He smiled slightly: "Using this, the carp can grow to over thirty pounds in a year, and the meat will be even more delicious. When sold in the canteen, the price can be half a percent higher than that of ordinary carp."

Chen Qing picked up his teacup, took a sip, and silently made plans in his mind.

A green carp that grows to thirty pounds can be sold for five spirit stones. Two thousand carp, if all live and fully grown, can fetch ten thousand spirit stones.

Of course, this is the ideal situation—

Fish can die of disease, be snatched away by birds, fight each other, and even occasionally suffer from heatstroke. They also have to pay 1,000 yuan in land rent and 40% commission to the Beast Taming Peak.

Of course, this 40% cut is not much, after all, the most important thing in raising spirit fish is spiritual energy!

Moreover, the Beast Taming Peak even reduced the amount by 10% for Chen Qing, one of their own, but even so, there were still about 5,000 left.

Five thousand spirit stones.

Chen Qing took a deep breath, suppressing his eagerness, and looked at Qian Youfu: "How much is a pound of concentrated feed?"

Qian Youfu's smile deepened: "Eight Broken Spirits."

One pound and eight pieces of spirit, just as Xu Gui said.

Chen Qing started calculating rapidly in his mind.

He asked Xiao Chunan, and she said that a half-pound fish fry needs to eat half a pound of its own weight in feed every day, which is about two and a half qian.

As they grow bigger, they eat more and more. On average, a single blue carp eats about 280 kilograms of feed in a year.

280 jin, with one jin equaling eight fragments of spirit, that's 2240 fragments of spirit, equivalent to 2.24 spirit stones.

Two thousand fish would require 560000 catties of feed and 4480 spirit stones.

Chen Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly realized that he had miscalculated.

He calculated it again.

That's right—

It was indeed 4480 spirit stones. In other words, even after deducting most of his cultivation time and working with Qingtian and Danyu all year round, he only made a net profit of 520 spirit stones.

That's a wonderful number.

Fortunately, there was the extra bonus of essence, otherwise Chen Qing would have really wanted to curse.

Chen Qing looked up at Qian Youfu: "Senior Brother Qian, can the price of concentrated feed be lowered further?"

Qian Youfu shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Junior Brother Chen, to be honest, the cost of this refined feed is high. Fish meal has to be purchased from various markets. The dried insects are raised by disciples of the Spirit Insect Valley of the Martial Kingdom, and the Qingling Grass is a unique product of the Hundred Herbs Peak within the sect. We only earn a small fee for running errands."

Chen Qing nodded.

Lingchong Valley is a sect in his hometown, Wu Kingdom, and is partially affiliated with Lingyun Sect. Several of his mother's relatives are in the sect.

However, he suddenly remembered another crucial point he had been considering on the way—

The mature breeding process that Yushoufeng has developed over hundreds of years is that the best results are achieved by combining concentrated feed with spirit sheep and chicken manure.

Xu Gui also recommends this combination, and the chicken poop is free.

To be precise, all that is needed is to give Xu Gui's chicken-raising disciples a symbolic benefit to ensure a long-term supply. In this way, the feed would not require 56 jin, but only about 40 jin, which would cost 3200 spirit stones.

Chen Qing had made up his mind and looked at Qian Youfu: "Senior Brother Qian, if I buy a year's worth of concentrated feed, 40 jin, how much cheaper will it be?"

Qian Youfu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Junior Brother Chen, our little shop can't possibly have that many items in stock."

He thought for a moment and said, "How about this, you take the goods monthly, 30,000 catties per month, at a 5% discount, how about that?"

Chen Qing nodded, then asked, "Could I...buy on credit?"

Qian Youfu paused for a moment with a smile.

Chen Qing quickly explained, "Brother Qian, please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to get something for nothing. I'm just short on cash right now and want to settle the payment after the fish are ready for market next year."

He took out the disciple token of Beast Taming Peak from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"I've dug twenty fishponds at the foot of Beast Taming Peak, and the fish fry have already been released. If you don't believe me, Senior Brother Qian, you can go and see for yourself."

Qian Youfu looked at the token, then at Chen Qing, and suddenly remembered something:

"Wait, you mean... those twenty newly dug fishponds in the valley of Beast Taming Peak, you did that?"

Chen Qing nodded: "Exactly."

Qian Youfu suddenly realized that he had indeed heard people mention it these past few days, saying that someone on Beast Taming Peak had dug twenty fish ponds in one go. He thought it was some Foundation Establishment cultivator trying to do something, but he didn't expect it to be a young disciple at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

He hesitated for a moment, then stroked his chin with difficulty: "Since Junior Brother Chen is from Beast Taming Peak and has a fishpond there, I naturally trust him, but..."

Chen Qing: "..."

Chen Qing coughed, looked around, leaned closer to Qian Youfu, and whispered, "It's still the original price. I'll pay the remaining half to my senior brother separately."

Qian Youfu's eyes lit up, and he waved his hand: "Hey, Junior Brother Chen, you're too kind. Our Ling Shu Peak and Yu Shou Peak are one family. How about this, 95% off sounds too bad, let's go straight for 91% off! I'll send someone to deliver the feed to your fishpond today, and we'll settle the bill in a year."

"Ah! Thank you very much, Senior Brother Qian."

"Hahaha, but Junior Brother Chen, even though the feed is good, you have to be careful how you feed it. Feed it once in the morning and once in the evening. Don't feed it too much or too little. Too much is a waste, and too little will not help it grow."

"Thank you for the reminder, senior!"

"Someone! Send over the feed that Junior Brother Chen requested immediately. Remember, don't spill a single grain!"

"Senior brother, your decisive and efficient actions truly demonstrate the demeanor of a master!"

"..."

Watching the two of them exchanging compliments, Danyu silently buried his head in his wing, indicating that he couldn't hear them.

Meanwhile, the less intelligent Optimus Prime chirped and squawked excitedly.

After a friendly exchange, the two agreed on the specific dates for monthly deliveries. Chen Qing then took his leave and departed with the feed deliveryman.