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

Three months later.

Half Moon Lake, second floor quiet room.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and deep.

He has been practicing the Soul Nourishing Technique for nearly four years. Although his progress has been slow, his soul has become 30% stronger than when he first learned it.

"At this rate, in at most another year, his divine soul should be able to reach the threshold of contracting a third spirit beast."

Chen Qing was secretly calculating in his mind, and was about to continue circulating his cultivation technique when he suddenly frowned and opened his eyes.

Outside the Azure Water Encircling Spirit Array, someone stopped.

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked out. He saw a blue figure standing with his hands behind his back outside the array's spiritual light. He couldn't see the face clearly, but the blue robe of the Lingyun Sect was unmistakable.

Chen Qing took out the array token from his storage bag, and as he poured spiritual energy into the token, it flashed with light, and the outside world appeared clearly.

The newcomer was about thirty years old, with a round face and a large belly. He stood outside the formation with a smile on his face. He was Yang Ming, whom I had met briefly in Yunzhou Market nine months ago.

"Senior Brother Yang?"

Chen Qing was slightly taken aback.

He had only met this Senior Brother Yang once, and had bought twenty blue carp from him. He had no other interaction with him. Why did he suddenly come to Half Moon Lake?

Just as they were wondering, a sound transmission talisman flew in from outside the formation, its light swirling, heading straight for the second floor.

Chen Qing reached out and took it, probing it with his spiritual sense—

Yang Ming's voice echoed in my mind, his tone extremely enthusiastic: "Junior Brother Chen, I apologize for my intrusion in visiting. I've been craving those twenty carp from last time, so I've made a special trip to buy a few more. Would it be convenient for you, Junior Brother?"

After listening, Chen Qing pondered for a moment.

Since they're already here, we can't just leave them stranded.

He looked down at himself, thought for a moment, circulated his spiritual energy slightly more erratically, patted his robes a couple of times, then picked up the token and walked out of the formation.

The light parted to both sides, revealing a passage.

Chen Qing cupped his hands and smiled, "Senior Brother Yang has come from afar. Please forgive me for not welcoming you properly."

Yang Ming looked him up and down, then his eyes lit up. He cupped his hands and said, "Oh, Junior Brother Chen, you've broken through to the sixth level of Qi Refining? Congratulations!"

"It was just luck, nothing compared to you, Senior Brother," Chen Qing said modestly, stepping aside to make way for him. "Please come in, Senior Brother."

Yang Ming didn't stand on ceremony and stepped inside. He glanced around and exclaimed, "Junior Brother Chen, this place is quite nice. It's surrounded by mountains on three sides and has a lake of clear water. Although the spiritual energy can't compare to that of the sect, it's quiet and elegant. Unlike my Jueyuan County, which is a barren and desolate place with not even a decent spiritual spot."

"Senior brother, you flatter me. Please."

The two walked through the willow trees and arrived in front of the small building. Yang Ming looked up at the three-story building, then at the school of fish faintly visible in the lake, a glint in his eyes. He casually asked, "Junior Brother, how many carp do you raise in this lake?"

"Five or six hundred tails," Chen Qing said casually.

Yang Ming, like him, was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and his spiritual sense was only twenty feet long, so he wasn't afraid that Yang Ming would discover the exact extent of his spiritual sense.

"Five or six hundred..." Yang Ming nodded, his gaze sweeping across the lake. "I ate the twenty last time; they were full of spiritual energy and quite beneficial for cultivation. I'd like to buy a few more this time. I wonder if you'd be willing to part with them, Junior Brother?"

Chen Qing's heart stirred slightly, but he remained expressionless and led Yang Ming into the small building, where they sat down in the hall on the first floor.

He took out a tea set from his storage bag, crushed a few spirit tea leaves and put them into the pot. He activated his spiritual power, and in a short while, a pot of spirit tea was brewed. The aroma of the tea was fragrant and refreshing.

Chen Qing poured Yang Ming a cup and asked with a smile, "How much would you like, Senior Brother?"

One hundred.

Yang Ming picked up the teacup, took a small sip, narrowed his eyes slightly, and praised, "Good tea."

One hundred.

Chen Qing quickly made a mental calculation.

Before September, in Yunzhou Market, twenty blue carp sold for seventy-two spirit stones, an average price of three and a half spirit stones.

But that's the retail price; each one is a carefully selected premium item.

Now Yang Ming is asking for a hundred strips, which is considered wholesale, so the price will naturally be lower.

"Since you want so many, I can't charge you the retail price." Chen Qing pondered for a moment, then held up three fingers. "Three yuan and thirty cents a piece. That's the price the canteen charges me. Any lower and I'd lose money."

Yang Ming put down his teacup and laughed heartily: "Junior brother is straightforward, we'll do as you say."

Chen Qing nodded: "However, there is something I need to clarify first. This batch of carp has only been raised for nine months and is not yet ready for market. The spiritual energy is not sufficient. If you are not in a hurry, senior brother, you can come back to collect them in three months. By then, they will have been raised for a full year, and the meat quality and spiritual energy will be at their best."

"Three months?" Yang Ming thought for a moment, then waved his hand. "No rush, no rush. I can wait. Come back to collect it in three months."

"That's excellent."

The two picked up their teacups and took another sip.

Yang Ming put down his teacup, glanced around the hall, and suddenly sighed: "Junior Brother Chen, you may not know this, but I have been in Jueyuan County for ten years and have never been to your Linyuan County. This time I came for two reasons, firstly to buy fish, and secondly..."

He paused, looked at Chen Qing, and his expression became more serious: "I've heard that there's a Zhao family in Chiyan Mountain in Linyuan County who specializes in growing a spiritual herb called 'Cold Tobacco Grass.' Is that true?"

Chen Qing nodded: "That's true. The Zhao family owns thirty acres of spirit fields on Red Cliff Mountain, where they grow Cold Mist Grass, an auxiliary ingredient for refining several first-tier pills, and it's quite sought after on the market. Why are you asking about this, Senior Brother?"

Yang Ming gave a wry smile, picked up his teacup, and drank it all in one gulp: "I've reached a critical stage in my cultivation, and I really need a pill made primarily of Cold Tobacco Grass to aid my breakthrough. But Cold Tobacco Grass is hard to find outside, and the quality varies greatly. I was thinking it would be better to just go to the Zhao family and buy a batch; the quality is guaranteed, and the price is fair."

Chen Qing picked up his teacup and took a sip. His gaze swept over Yang Ming. The aura of the spirit beast on Yang Ming was even stronger than it had been nine months ago, especially the bloody smell.

However, considering that the other party came from the Dharma Aspect Peak and strengthened his physical body by devouring the flesh and blood of spirit beasts, it was not surprising.

Chen Qing nodded thoughtfully.

Yang Ming continued, "However, I am, after all, an outsider. If I come here rashly, they may not be willing to sell. Junior Brother, you are the garrison disciple of Lin Yuan County, and you collect the Zhao family's annual spirit tax. I suppose you have dealings with them before. I wonder if you could..."

The meaning was already clear before the words were even finished.

Chen Qing pondered for a moment.

In the past few months, things have indeed calmed down a lot among the cultivators in the Qian Kingdom, and there haven't been many Tribulation Cultivators around. The calm and tranquility has made him feel a little uneasy.

He had planned to visit Qingxi Valley and Chiyan Mountain in a few days to check on the situation of the Lin and Yang families, as a way of fulfilling his duty as a disciple guarding the area.

Since Yang Ming was going to the Zhao family to collect tobacco, the two of them happened to be going the same way.

"What a coincidence," Chen Qing said with a smile. "I was just planning to make a trip to Chiyan Mountain in a few days. Since Senior Brother is going to the Zhao family to collect Hanyan grass, why don't we go together today?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Ming's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up and cupped his hands in greeting: "That's wonderful, then I'll have to trouble you, Junior Brother Chen!"

"You're too kind, senior brother."

The two drank two more cups of tea, chatted for a while about the recent situation in various counties, and then got up and left the small building.

Chen Qing stood by the lake, summoned Qingtian and Danyu to put them into his spirit beast bag, and then scattered two handfuls of feed into the lake before walking out of the formation with Yang Ming.

"Let's go, senior brother."

Chen Qing mounted the dragon-scaled horse, tightened the reins, and smiled at Yang Ming, saying, "Red Cliff Mountain is a hundred miles northeast of Lin Yuan County. It's only an hour's ride for a fast horse. If we hurry, we should be able to reach the Zhao family before noon."

"Thank you for leading the way, junior brother."

Yang Ming nodded, then mounted his horse. His gaze lingered on Chen Qing for a moment, and a slight, enigmatic smile appeared on his lips.