Infinite Professions-Chapter 124 - 47: Zhong Chuan

His name is Zhong Chuan, a fisherman from Dongting Lake.

His life was ordinary, starting in poverty and ending in poverty.

From Brother Chuan to Brother Achuan, then from Brother Achuan to Uncle Zhong, until finally becoming Old Zhong.

Childhood, youth, adulthood, old age, the four stages of life, he spent mostly at Dongting Lake and its surroundings.

Except for being solitary and never marrying, his life’s trajectory did not differ from that of an ordinary fisherman, born at Dongting Lake, and about to die at Dongting Lake.

But now there’s a slight change, as a soul not belonging to this world transmigrated over, taking over everything.

Shen Hex leaned against the cabin, breathing continuously, adjusting the rhythm, finally restoring some strength to this decrepit body.

Shen Hex dared not slack off, immediately propping himself up, fumbling around in the cabin according to memory, finally finding a small jar.

The rice jar was already empty, only a bit of coarse rice remained at the bottom, Shen Hex tremblingly picked it out, and then took a shredded piece of hemp cloth, shakily cutting off half with a knife, and vigorously rubbing to make it fluffy.

Placing the hemp cloth on the chopping board, Shen Hex then took out a pair of flints, striving to calm his trembling hands, continuously striking against the hemp cloth.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

As the flints were struck, a myriad of sparks flew out, landing in the hemp fluff, igniting it, soon smoke rose up,

Shen Hex lowered his head, laboriously holding it, then carefully blew air into it, intensifying the burning of the tiny ember.

In no time at all, the fire expanded, soon igniting the hemp cloth completely.

Shen Hex quickly moved, placing it into the small stove, and then added dry wood, fully kindling the small stove.

Then he placed an old earthen pot on the stove, neglecting washing, added rice and clear water, then guarded beside the stove, recovering strength while waiting for the porridge to cook.

He hadn’t eaten for a day, no, two days.

In the hazy memory of "Old Zhong," he suddenly felt unwell two days ago, and had been lying in this awning boat, unattended and unable to rise.

Thus half-dead for two days, on the brink of passing away, unexpectedly he transmigrated over, taking everything.

Already aged nearly eighty, without a drop for two days, adding in various ailments from old age, had he not transmigrated over, he would have already expired.

Now, though he barely held on with the power of transmigration, it was just a breath, and if he didn’t eat soon, replenish life energy, he would die just the same.

Gazing at the bubbling rice broth in the pot, Shen Hex tremblingly scooped out a bowl, blowing gently several times, slightly cooling it, then cautiously consuming it.

It wasn’t that he was fussy, about to starve yet fearing scalding, but this decrepit body couldn’t withstand damage, even just a bowl of boiling rice broth.

Which was also why he made a fire and cooked porridge, as his current body couldn’t eat raw rice, nor even drink cold water, or else his gut wouldn’t bear it, diarrhea would directly take his life.

Sipping the rice broth bit by bit, warm liquid flowed through his mouth, into the esophagus, landing in his stomach, ultimately releasing a bit of energy, slightly reviving this weakened body.

"Whew!!"

Shen Hex exhaled heavily, his body relaxed slightly, but he wasn’t satisfied, feeling even hungrier.

Hunger is good, it means there’s hope.

Gazing at the already boiling porridge water in the pot, Shen Hex scooped himself another bowl, cautiously drinking it.

Honestly, this opening wasn’t great.

Though the first world’s little beggar was also starving, freezing to death in a collapsed open, at least Gouwa was a youth, with potential to develop, a future to grow.

As for Old Zhong, life’s at its end, though he forced a continuation through transmigration, how long can he sustain, and how much time to develop this decrepit weak body?

It’s only Shen Hex’s resolute will, had someone else transmigrated like this, they would’ve died from despair.

The most terrifying thing in this world, isn’t an eighteen-year-old body with an eighty-year-old heart, but an eighty-year-old body with an eighteen-year-old heart.

The ruthlessness of time and light, the aging of body and spirit, can destroy any proud ambition.

From ancient times, beauties and famous generals don’t live to see their hair turn white.

Shen Hex sighed, extinguishing the thought of "starting anew."

Zhuang Zhou’s Dream of the Butterfly, isn’t limitless, each transmigration has a cooldown, either wait for time accumulation or consume experience to recharge, if he chose to restart now, it would be months before he could dream the butterfly again.

But in a few months he’d join the Special Bureau, officially launching the purge of the Evil God Sect, no time for uninterrupted leisure to manage the rapid-paced Dream Butterfly World?

Thus he couldn’t easily give up, not only can’t give up but must develop fast.

After all, he only had half a year, within which he must enhance the Dream Butterfly Body’s power to the level capable of "fasting."

That way, he could switch back and forth between the real world and the Dream Butterfly World without fearing mishaps when one is on "auto-pilot."

So, how to develop?

Shen Hex first checked the time flow.

"One to a hundred?"

"This is a Middle Thousand World?"

Seeing the time flow, Shen Hex was a bit surprised.

He had actually transmigrated to a Middle Thousand World this time.

It seems that after his level increased, not only did the Transmigrator gain a new talent, but his original talent like Zhuang Zhou’s Dream of the Butterfly also got enhanced, and now he could reach the Middle Thousand World.

But this Middle Thousand World...

"Martial Artist?"

"Immortal Fate?"

"Chen Kingdom!"

"Is this... a Cultivation World?"

Shen Hex searched through "Old Zhong’s" memory, only to find some scattered information.

First, the Dongting Lake where he was, was under the jurisdiction of Yueyang Prefecture, and Yueyang Prefecture was under the Great Chen Court, where the "Emperor Xuanren" of Great Chen was currently reigning, having passed seventeen generations for more than twelve hundred years.

There’s a problem here!

No feast lasts forever, and no dynasty in the world is immortal. The historical cycle is hard to change; normally, a feudal dynasty would at most last three or four hundred years before it breaks apart due to issues like land annexation and people losing their livelihood.

Thus, one dynasty falls and another follows, reshuffling various forces under the ravages of war. The population sharply decreases, lands become vacant, providing room for development, and then another so-called golden era can be created, continuing the cycle.

This is the historical cycle!

The hearts of people and interests are such, unless changing the relations of production and enhancing productivity to leap out of the feudal era, it’s hard to change, and even stepping out might not change it.

So, how did this Chen Dynasty continue for over twelve hundred years and seventeen generations of emperors still stand firm?

It goes without saying, there must be some trick.

Shen Hex speculated that it was most likely the suppression by some extraordinary power.

What kind of extraordinary power?

Shen Hex also did not know, after all, "Old Zhong" was just a fisherman, an ordinary fisherman who hadn’t left Yueyang Prefecture for decades, not even a hundred miles around Dongting Lake. What extraordinary things could he know?

He had only heard of the existence of Martial Artists and other stories filled with supernatural lore.

Such as... Immortal Fate!

Martial Artists, Immortal Fate, what exactly are they?

"Gurgle gurgle!"

The sound of boiling porridge brought Shen Hex back to his thoughts.

Shen Hex hurriedly pulled out the firewood and submerged it in the nearby water barrel to extinguish it, then picked up a wooden spoon to scoop out the pitifully small amount of porridge rice.

No matter what extraordinary power existed in this world or how Martial Artists and Immortal Fate were entwined, his primary task now was just one: to survive.

If he couldn’t survive, nothing else mattered!

But the difficulty of the world sometimes lies simply in the word "living."

As a widowed and childless person, Old Zhong had no children, no descendants.

Several years ago, he could still rely on the water to eat, barely making ends meet by net fishing, but as time passed, he grew older, and after passing seventy, he gradually didn’t even have the strength to fish anymore. In the end, he could only wait to die in his dilapidated awning boat.

Now switching with him hasn’t improved the situation much, because this body is too weak, too weak to even practice Martial Arts, or he might exhaust himself to death.

Only the Yuan-Devouring Skill could barely take effect, but you need Yuan to devour Yuan.

The old and frail Old Zhong hadn’t fished in the lake for two years because his strength couldn’t withstand the lake’s winds and waves. He could only cast nets among the reeds to catch small fish and shrimp to get by, occasionally catching some turtles, grudgingly maintaining his life.

But it’s just barely maintaining. The awning boat was already in tatters, his belongings aging and frail like him, the barrel was empty, and he had no money, a solitary elder, how could he ask how to survive?

Shen Hex didn’t speak, silently drinking a pot of coarse rice porridge, not leaving even a drop of porridge water.

Even though it’s just a hundred or so grains of rice, cooking it into porridge could slightly fill the stomach; a surge of warmth spread from his abdomen to his limbs, slightly restoring strength to this weak and frail body.

Unfortunately, it’s just filling with water, and in a few trips to the bathroom, it’ll be gone.

If he didn’t want to starve to death, he had to get up and toil for the next meal.

Shen Hex propped himself up and went to the bow to check the fishing gear, and then he was ready to set off.

The deep water areas with strong winds and big waves were naturally inaccessible, but like Old Zhong before, setting nets among the reeds, doing some fishing, catching small fish and shrimp was still doable.

This body, though old, had not yet reached the end of life. As long as there was enough food supply, coupled with the effect of the Yuan-Devouring Skill, it could still be recuperated.

So, his next task was to fish, to catch a lot of fish!

Shen Hex pushed the awning boat laboriously with the long pole, but hadn’t moved much distance when a familiar interface floated up.

"Job Success!"

"Acquired Profession — Fisherman!"

"Acquired Professional Talent — Angling!"