Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

This fish has a magical quality: it possesses both water and fire attributes. If it were a demon, able to harmonize water and fire, it wouldn't be so strange.

But this fish is clearly just an ordinary aquatic creature, yet it naturally integrates water and fire properties within its flesh and blood, which is truly rare. What's even more remarkable is that this fish isn't a scarce, hard-to-catch creature; a few ordinary people can easily catch many of them.

It seems this Crimson Creek River is extraordinary. I'm afraid that Crimson Cloud Palace took a fancy to this Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish, and that's why they established their mountain gate here.

Meeting Zhang Xuan's expectant gaze, Zhang Yuanjing understood her thoughts. He wasn't annoyed by her calculations; instead, he appreciated her meticulous mind and decisive actions, and immediately said with a smile, "This fish is good, it suits my taste very well."

Zhang Xuan was overjoyed, a happy smile appearing on her pretty face: "If the Immortal Elder likes it, I will definitely catch more for you!"

Zhang Yuanjing nodded and said, "Come with me, let's go to the back to sit down and talk!"

He turned to the left, bypassing the cave dwelling. Behind it was a flat, shady area, about six or seven yards square, with a stone table and stools in the center. Fresh mountain fruits were placed on the stone table, emitting a fragrance.

Around the shady area, he had set up a simple maze formation. Without him leading the way, ordinary people or beasts couldn't enter.

Zhang Xuan glanced sideways at the young man, her second younger brother, Zhang Cheng. He still had a very resistant expression, clearly disapproving of his sister's attempt to curry favor with this "Immortal Elder" of unknown origin.

Zhang Xuan didn't want to say much here, and worried that he would say something foolish and anger the Immortal Elder, so she lightly scolded, "You stay here and watch the buckets, don't run around!"

Zhang Cheng was six years younger than Zhang Xuan, and had grown up under his sister's care. He deeply respected and feared this strong-willed sister, so he didn't make a sound, but stubbornly turned his head away.

Zhang Xuan ignored him, hurried a few steps to catch up with Zhang Yuanjing. After he sat down, she gave a light salute, sat opposite him, lowered her head, and held her breath.

She knew her strategy was working and had moved this "Immortal Elder," but she had no idea to what extent, especially whether she could get the "Immortal Elder" to help her, risking offending Crimson Cloud Palace.

"Haha, girl, you don't need to be so restrained. My surname is also Zhang, so we can be considered to have a connection. You can call me Daoist Zhang, I wouldn't dare to be called Immortal Elder!" Zhang Yuanjing said with a smile.

"So you're an Immortal Elder of the same family, it's truly the blessing of my Zhang family ancestors that I met you!" Hearing this, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but show joy on her face, and stood up to salute again.

Zhang Yuanjing reached out and gently pressed down, using a gentle force to stop her: "I told you not to be so polite, just relax and talk properly.

Let me ask you, are there many Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish in the Crimson Creek River? Are they everywhere in the river?"

Zhang Xuan calmed her mind, sorted out her thoughts, and then said seriously, "Reporting to Immortal Elder, there are many of these fish in the Crimson Creek River, but they are not everywhere. This fish seems to have special requirements for water quality, and not every section of the river is suitable for their survival. It is said that Crimson Creek Lake, tens of thousands of miles downstream, is the most suitable place for Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish to live and breed, but since Crimson Cloud Palace occupied Crimson Creek Lake, the Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish there have drastically decreased due to overfishing. In just over a hundred years, they have become nearly extinct.

"So, Crimson Cloud Palace sent many Immortal Elders upstream, searching along the Crimson Creek River. I heard they have already found dozens of river sections that are rich in Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish. This section of Meng Mountain, about four or five hundred miles up and down, is almost all where Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish appear. I heard that the Zou family happened to encounter an Immortal Elder who came here to look for Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish, and that's how they became affiliated with Crimson Cloud Palace."

Zhang Yuanjing stroked his long beard and nodded, saying, "So that's how it is. This fish is plentiful, and can be seen in many places in the river, why don't others catch them and offer them as tribute to Crimson Cloud Palace?"

"Immortal Elder is perceptive. This fish has several special characteristics. First, ordinary people cannot eat it, or they will explode and die; second, when cultivators like Immortal Elder approach, the fish can sense the danger from far away and will quickly escape, so it's actually easier for ordinary people to catch this fish than it is for Immortal Elders; third, this fish moves like lightning, swimming extremely fast, and it's difficult for ordinary fishermen to catch them. However, those of us who practice martial arts can still catch a few."

Zhang Xuan explained in detail, clearly having done her homework.

Zhang Yuanjing smiled: "Yes, that makes sense. If it weren't so, I'm afraid those Crimson Cloud Palace cultivators would have done it themselves, why would they rely on you martial artists."

Zhang Xuan nodded quickly: "Immortal Elder is right. Since the Zou family became affiliated with Crimson Cloud Palace, our Zhang family has also sent people to specifically inquire about this matter. Crimson Cloud Palace originally only caught fish in Crimson Creek Lake. They specifically recruited martial arts experts, kept them in the palace, provided them with elixirs and medicines, and even collected many martial arts manuals to help them improve their skills. However, regarding the matter of catching fish, they used some immortal methods to keep it secret, so for nearly a hundred years, the news of the Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish has not been leaked.

It was only in the last twenty years or so that they began searching along the Crimson Creek River for places rich in Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish, and were discovered by clever people.

Crimson Cloud Palace rarely uses outsiders to catch fish, but instead uses the martial artists they raise themselves. The Zou family was able to get this job because Zou Biaoguo had immortal cultivation aptitude and was noticed by that Immortal Elder."

Zhang Yuanjing pondered for a moment, guessing that the Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish must be related to some kind of cultivation method of Crimson Cloud Palace, which is why they were so secretive about it. He suddenly remembered that there were only six fish in the two buckets, so he asked, "Is this fish very difficult to catch?"

Zhang Xuan immediately shook her head: "Of course it's difficult for ordinary people, almost impossible to catch. But for those of us martial artists with internal strength, it's not difficult. It's just... it's just that we have few people, just my siblings, so we caught fewer."

As she spoke, she looked up at Zhang Yuanjing, seeing that he still had a serious listening expression, she quickly added, "I am communicating with close relatives in the family, and have already persuaded a few people to help us catch fish. Give me some more time, and I will definitely be able to persuade more people to participate. At that time, the Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish provided will be several times more than now. I just don't know, how many does Immortal Elder need?"

Zhang Yuanjing smiled lightly: "Of course, the more the better!"

Hearing this, Zhang Xuan's expression tightened, then she bit her red lips and said in a firm tone, "Immortal Elder, rest assured, I will definitely gather more people and do my best to meet your needs!"

Zhang Yuanjing tapped his fingers on the stone table, thoughts flashing through his mind. He felt that he couldn't immediately bestow favors on Zhang Xuan and the Zhang family at this time. He had to first observe their abilities and character before making long-term plans, so he said, "Very good. I still need to cultivate in seclusion, so I will send you down the mountain."

Zhang Xuan didn't dare to say more, and quickly stood up, saluting him to say goodbye.

Just then, a shout came from the direction of the cave dwelling: "Sister, save me! Sister..."

"Cheng-di!" Zhang Xuan was shocked, her face losing color, and she quickly ran to the side of the cliff, only to find that the voice was coming from Zhang Yuanjing's cave dwelling.

She immediately understood what had happened. Her second brother must have been reckless, thinking that this Daoist was just a fraud pretending to be a ghost to swindle money, so he broke into his cave dwelling to investigate, wanting to expose him in front of her.

She was both ashamed and angry, and worried. She quickly knelt down to Zhang Yuanjing, who was slowly walking over: "Please Immortal Elder have mercy, forgive him this time for the sake of my second brother being young and ignorant!" She kowtowed repeatedly, not even noticing that her fair forehead was bleeding from the kowtowing.

Zhang Yuanjing didn't stop her, but said coldly, "The cave dwelling of a cultivator is considered a place where anyone who enters without permission is an enemy, and will be killed without mercy!"

Zhang Xuan was shocked, her pretty face turning pale instantly, and she almost collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, although she was a woman, she had experienced major events several times, and her will was quite strong. Her head only swayed for a moment before she immediately steadied herself, and begged with tears in her eyes, "Please Immortal Elder spare him for his first offense, and allow him to catch fish for Immortal Elder to atone for his sin!"

Zhang Yuanjing snorted heavily, thinking that it wasn't worth arguing with an ordinary person, so he waited for a moment, letting the young man suffer a bit, before reaching out and grabbing the six-foot-tall young man from the air amid Zhang Xuan's pleas, and throwing him at Zhang Xuan's feet.

Looking at the young man again, he was unharmed, but his face was bruised and swollen, his clothes were torn, and he was very disheveled.

Zhang Yuanjing shouted softly: "Remember your words, go down the mountain!" After saying that, he waved his hand and sent Zhang Xuan and the young man down the mountain with a ball of magic power.

The siblings only felt a gust of wind blowing, dizzy and disoriented. When they regained consciousness, they were standing at the foot of the cliff. The surrounding area was a quiet green forest, and the mountain breeze brought a chill.

Zhang Xuan looked at her second brother's face, full of shame, feeling a mixture of sorrow and anger. She wanted to scold him, but worried that the Immortal Elder was above, and that there were many beasts in the mountains, so it wasn't a place to talk. She stomped her foot angrily, and used her lightness skill to fly down the mountain.

The young man also knew that he had made a big mistake, and didn't dare to say anything. He quickly used his lightness skill, exerted force under his feet, and quickly followed behind her.

On the cliff above, Zhang Yuanjing couldn't wait to skin and debone the Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish, condensing clean water to wash it, revealing crystal-clear, tender fish meat. When held in his hand, it was sometimes cold and sometimes hot, shrinking slightly when cold and expanding slightly when hot, which was very peculiar.

Without cooking it, he opened his mouth and swallowed the whole fish.

As soon as the fish entered his mouth, it was transformed into two streams of vital energy by the power of his magic, one hot and one cold, intertwined and entering his meridians and dantian.

He immediately used the Devouring Technique of the Earth Method Eight Arts to direct these two streams of vital energy to the meridians of the Thick Earth Transformation Technique, and then took out the Nine-Leaf Yellow Dusk Grass, absorbing a mouthful of wood energy. The three energies combined, and in an instant, they transformed into a mouthful of thick earth energy, which was more than ten times better than ordinary cultivation. Just this one fish was equivalent to two days of work.

An hour later, after finishing his cultivation, Zhang Yuanjing stood up, a look of joy on his face.

If this fish was sufficient, his cultivation would definitely reach the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment within twenty years, and he would still have a chance to fight for Core Formation.

He thought to himself that if this was the case, the number of Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish he needed would be an astonishing number. He definitely couldn't rely on Zhang Xuan and a few others to catch them, but would need a large-scale, well-equipped, loyal and reliable professional fishing team.

What was even more worrying was that if Crimson Cloud Palace valued this fish so much, then they would definitely not tolerate others snatching it. It was a certainty that he would be at odds with Crimson Cloud Palace.

However, the struggle for the Great Path does not allow for the slightest retreat.

At this time, he had no time to explore other paths forward or find other methods to quickly increase his cultivation. This was the only way. Anyone who blocked him would just be someone to fight to the death.

Zhang Yuanjing had refined the six fish in the two buckets in just half a day.

In the evening, he couldn't bear it any longer, so he took advantage of the night and drove his sword to the Crimson Creek River, searching for fish in the river with his divine sense. After walking a few miles of the river, he found more than ten green-skinned, red-striped fish, ranging from a few inches to over a foot long, playing and swimming in the water several feet below.

However, at the moment his divine sense enveloped them, these fish seemed to be able to sense his "peeping," and suddenly flicked their tails, diving downwards and disappearing into the mud and rocks at the bottom of the water. No matter how he searched with his divine sense, he couldn't find any trace of them.

He couldn't help but recall what Zhang Xuan had said, that this fish was indeed extremely sensitive to cultivators, and he couldn't help but marvel in his heart.

So he changed to another water surface and continued to observe the fish. As a result, it was still the same. As long as his divine sense approached, the fish would sensitively and quickly disappear.

"The peculiarity of creation is truly difficult to recognize even one in ten thousand. There must be a great secret on this Crimson-finned Fire-striped Fish! Perhaps, Crimson Cloud Palace values this fish so much because of this secret.

Anyway, this is not simple!" Zhang Yuanjing murmured, realizing that this was an extremely strong opportunity, but it must also contain great danger.

Judging from what Zhang Xuan said and what he had inquired about in Mengshan Town, Crimson Cloud Palace should only be a small sect, and probably doesn't have the ability to see through this secret.

Behind it, there may be even more powerful forces or people. However, the arrow is on the string and must be fired!