Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Disregard
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The sun was high in the sky, its light cascading like a golden waterfall, illuminating the lake's surface until it shimmered like the scales of a golden dragon.
Chen Jianghe stepped out of the boat cabin, stretched lazily, and faced the sun as he looked at the bustling port.
He had been docked at Port One for ten days, all for the sake of today's annual Fishery Farmer assembly.
The Fishery Farmer assembly was hosted by the Yun Clan, and all junior Fishery Farmers were required to attend.
Senior Fishery Farmers, however, could choose whether to attend or not.
Stepping onto the port, he could spot one or two senior Fishery Farmers among the crowd of junior ones. They wore the standard silk long robes of Fishery Farmers, with a silver cloud embroidered on the chest.
In the Yun Clan, late-stage Qi Refining guest elders, guest artisans, and senior Fishery Farmers all had silver clouds embroidered on their chests.
It was also very easy to distinguish between senior Fishery Farmers and guest elders.
The Yun Clan had no dress code for its guest elders, but senior Fishery Farmers were required to wear the standard long robes.
This showed that the status of a senior Fishery Farmer was slightly lower than that of a guest elder.
"Brother Jianghe, over here."
Yu Daniu called out, waving to Chen Jianghe from within the crowd.
"Daniu, Old Gao."
Chen Jianghe responded and walked over.
"Young Brother Chen."
Old Gao looked at Chen Jianghe with a kind expression and gave a slight nod.
During their ten days at Port One, apart from a small gathering on the first day, the three of them hadn't met again.
Chen Jianghe had bought some daily necessities and had then stayed cooped up on his fishing boat.
He felt that having two friends like Old Gao and Yu Daniu in the outer waters was enough. Besides, meeting up once a year was fine; there was no need to see each other often.
Before he transmigrated, he already knew that useless socializing was not only a waste of money but also mentally draining, offering virtually no benefits.
In the world of cultivation, useless socializing was even more of a taboo.
It cost spirit sand, after all.
Speaking too much could also displease others, and might even lead to a fatal disaster.
After the three of them exchanged greetings, they didn't say much more, instead listening quietly to the discussions of the Fishery Farmers around them.
"Over one hundred and thirty Fishery Farmers died at the hands of the Lan Clan. I heard there were even several senior Fishery Farmers among them. I really don't know how they managed to trick senior Fishery Farmers into doing short-term work."
"No wonder everyone's saying the Lan Clan stole over eight hundred spirit stones this time. So there were senior Fishery Farmers involved!"
"The Lan Clan is truly devoid of conscience."
"I heard the Lan Clan's patriarch is a great cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining. This massacre of Fishery Farmers to steal spirit stones was all to gather the resources for Foundation Establishment."
"Hmph, to harm over a hundred fellow cultivators for their own selfish gain, the Yun Clan will definitely not let them get away with it."
Listening to these comments, Chen Jianghe felt nothing. He agreed that the Yun Clan wouldn't let the Lan Clan off the hook.
But it definitely wouldn't be to avenge those hundred-plus Fishery Farmers.
The more than eight hundred spirit stones were the real reason the Yun Clan wouldn't let the Lan Clan off.
After about an hour, all the junior Fishery Farmers had gathered in the port square.
Only then did the Yun Clan cultivators make their appearance.
To Chen Jianghe's surprise, the one presiding over the Fishery Farmer assembly this time was actually Yun Bufan.
"Fellow cultivators, greetings. I am Yun Bufan, and I have recently been appointed as the deacon of the outer waters. I will be presiding over this year's annual assembly."
As Yun Bufan stood on the pavilion stage in the square, spouting some respectable platitudes, the Fishery Farmers below began to whisper among themselves about his identity.
Chen Jianghe was quite curious about Yun Bufan, so he couldn't help but focus, straining his ears to catch the scattered, low-voiced rumors.
It turned out that this Yun Bufan was the youngest son of the current Yun Clan patriarch. He was exceptionally talented, possessing a three-element true spiritual root. At only nineteen years old, he had already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining.
He was called a heaven-sent qilin's son by the Yun Clan's Foundation Establishment Ancestor, destined to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage and with hopes of forming a core.
He had always been cultivating on the Lake Heart Island. Coming to the outer waters now was, one, for experience, and two, to temper his state of mind and consolidate his sixth-level Qi Refining cultivation in preparation for breaking through to the late stage.
Hearing all this, Chen Jianghe couldn't help but sigh with emotion. A three-element true spiritual root was truly enviable.
As far as he knew, a cultivator's spiritual root was fundamentally based on the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—and was classified as a five-element mixed spiritual root, a four-element pseudo spiritual root, a three-element true spiritual root, a two-element earth spiritual root, or a single-element heaven spiritual root.
A five-element mixed spiritual root possessed all five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth simultaneously. It was impure and insufficient, with each elemental root being incomplete. Consequently, cultivation was slow, and there was a minor bottleneck when breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.
Chen Jianghe himself had a five-element mixed spiritual root.
The situation for a four-element pseudo spiritual root was similar to a five-element mixed one, just slightly better, but it also had a minor bottleneck when breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining.
A three-element true spiritual root had abundant spiritual energy for each element. Its sensitivity and affinity for spiritual qi were very high, leading to rapid cultivation speed, and there were no bottlenecks before Foundation Establishment.
Under normal circumstances, a cultivator with a three-element true spiritual root could successfully reach Foundation Establishment.
A two-element earth spiritual root had even higher sensitivity and compatibility with spiritual qi than a three-element true one. Cultivation was faster, and there was no bottleneck for Foundation Establishment. As long as they didn't die prematurely and cultivated step by step, becoming a Foundation Establishment Ancestor was a certainty.
A single-element heaven spiritual root, with its single, abundant, and complete elemental root, had a cultivation speed several times that of an ordinary spiritual root. It was rumored that there wasn't even a bottleneck for Core Formation.
Chen Jianghe had never heard of a heaven spiritual root appearing in Mirror Moon Lake or the surrounding market cities; even earth spiritual roots were rarely mentioned.
Besides these five elemental spiritual roots, there was another type: a mutated spiritual root.
It was a spiritual root formed when two or three of the five elements mixed, mutated, and then sublimated.
Examples included the lightning, wind, and ice spiritual roots. Their cultivation speed was in no way inferior to that of a heaven spiritual root, and they were even rarer.
At this point, Yun Bufan, on the pavilion stage, finished his tired old preamble and began to announce the list of junior Fishery Farmers promoted to senior Fishery Farmers this year.
This meant that this year, there were junior Fishery Farmers whose cultivated waters had reached a total yield of three thousand catties, with an average weight exceeding four catties.
In total, three junior Fishery Farmers were promoted to senior Fishery Farmers: one at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and two at the fifth level.
Afterward, Yun Bufan praised those whose fish-farming skills had improved significantly, calling them the future of the Yun Clan and bestowing great honor upon them.
Chen Jianghe was among them.
This displeased Chen Jianghe greatly. Given his low-key personality, not only was he now in the spotlight, but there was no tangible reward.
It was all just empty promises.
Finally, Yun Bufan encouraged all the Fishery Farmers to redouble their efforts and contribute to the clan, stating that the clan's glory was everyone's honor.
After the assembly ended, Chen Jianghe returned to his fishing boat, a chill growing in his heart. He hadn't expected Yun Bufan to never once mention the Lan Clan affair from beginning to end.
Nor did he mention the more than one hundred Fishery Farmers who had died tragic deaths.
It seemed that in the eyes of the Yun Clan, the life of a Fishery Farmer was less precious than a single great bluefish.
Or perhaps, the Yun Clan simply didn't see the junior Fishery Farmers as human at all.
"The path of cultivation is fraught with hardship, and it's even more difficult for those at the bottom, with every step filled with crisis. Fortunately, I obtained the spirit turtle's lifespan; otherwise, I fear I would have also taken that short-term spirit farmer job that day."
Chen Jianghe felt a lingering fear. With his first-level Qi Refining cultivation, he would have definitely been at the back of the line when others were trying to escape.
"After buying the Spirit Awakening Pill, I need to hurry back to Five-One-Two. It's safer on the lake."