Infinite Professions-Chapter 136 - 57: Ten Years

Time flies swiftly, as if in the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.

In Dongting Lake, smoke and clouds envelop the area.

An island lies hidden in the depths.

The island spans several miles; in this Dongting Lake, it is already a large island.

On the island, houses are built, fields are divided, and canals are dug to divert water, creating a lotus pond in the center of the island.

At this moment, within the house, Shen Hex opened his eyes, sat up, and stretched his body, immediately causing his bones and muscles to resonate, akin to the thunderous sounds of a tiger or leopard.

"Ten years!"

Shen Hex murmured softly, then turned to the bronze mirror, seeing in it a spirited face, thick black hair, full of vitality, a full forehead and square jaws, radiating life from inside out, a stark contrast to his formerly aged look.

It was exactly ten years of arduous cultivation that yielded Gang Yuan, forging Tier Three martial arts.

As a result, his lifespan greatly increased, and youth returned!

However, the fruits of ten years of labor weren’t just this.

Shen Hex stood up and walked outside.

"Screech!!!"

A piercing cry echoed, seeming to pierce the skies, followed by a shadow descending, completely enveloping Shen Hex.

Shen Hex looked up, seeing a fierce raptor approaching with powerful wing beats, its wingspan over three yards, its body covered in steel-like feathers, its talons curved and intimidating.

"Screech!"

Behind the Iron-Feathered Eagle, numerous birds closely followed, settling around the wooden house.

Shen Hex scanned with his gaze, activating the Eye of the Spirit-control.

Iron-Feathered Eagle

Spirit Beast Rank: Tier Three (Elite Species)

Spirit Beast Species: Avian (Eagle Type)

Spirit Beast Combat Skills: Refined Iron Feather, Piercing Clouds and Breaking the Sky, Great Appetite, Momentum of the King...

Watching the approaching Iron-Feathered Eagle and its entourage, Shen Hex shook his head: "I haven’t even begun, and you already have!"

Saying this, he took out several bags of rice, pouring them onto the open space before the wooden house, for the Eagle King and its consorts to peck at.

Dongting is vast, stretching across eight hundred miles, harboring various exotic beasts.

Though most are not high-ranked, they hold considerable cultivation potential, with some even possessing the demeanor of a Monarch.

This Iron-Feathered Eagle is among them, having grown independently in Dongting Lake, becoming an extremely rare Tier Two spirit beast, and an elite species with the potential to be a Lord or even a Monarch.

Hence, Shen Hex captured and contracted it, nurturing it painstakingly; although it has not evolved into a Lord or Monarch, it has reached Tier Three, already extraordinary among the mundane world.

Besides this, it has also gathered a flock of juvenile birds in a "harem-building" manner, forming a flying army for Shen Hex to monitor various movements, ensuring the island’s safety.

For such meritorious allies, there’s naturally no reason for stinginess; a few bags of rice serve as mere appetizers. Shen Hex picked up a wooden bucket and walked to the lake, pulling up several fish traps, quickly filling two large buckets with fish and shrimp, along with a few treasure fish beneath spirit fish, returning to feed the Iron-Feathered Eagle.

"Gul!"

Seeing the treasure fish arrive, the Iron-Feathered Eagle, with folded wings, hurried forward, even shoving aside two of its lovely consorts, monopolizing a bucket of fish and shrimp, burying its head in it, indulging with great appetite.

Witnessing this behavior, Shen Hex could only turn helplessly toward the field.

This island isn’t large, and the cultivated fields are few, only stretching two or three acres.

Yet, these two or three acres are filled with extraordinary flora.

This is also one of Shen Hex’s accumulations over the past ten years.

Dongting is vast, not only harboring exotic beasts but also various rare plants, coupled with the Spirit Fisherman able to fish for Immortal Fate, occasionally acquiring unusual seeds; Shen Hex has accumulated quite a few treasures over the years, some reaching the level of "spirit plants."

Shen Hex transplanted them all to the island; now these three acres are teeming with various extraordinary flowers and herbs, including rice, grains, grass, trees, sealwort, ginseng, and other medicinal plants, each occupying a corner of the field.

Shen Hex entered the field, first watering and fertilizing them, then extracting several transparent jade stones, burying them at the four corners of the field, forming a small Spirit Array, enhancing the spiritual energy of these acres.

There’s no choice; spirit plants cannot thrive without spirituality.

Without sufficient spiritual energy to sustain them, these extraordinary flowers and herbs simply won’t grow, or grow malnourished, blooming without fruit, herbs with no medicinal value, wasting effort.

But since Dongting Lake is in the mortal realm, spiritual energy is inherently scarce, and with these spirit plants gathered in one place, it’s even harder to sustain them.

Therefore, Shen Hex had to use his spirit stones to set up a Spirit Gathering Array to maintain their growth.

Where did the spirit stones come from?

They are naturally harvested from Immortal Fate; the talent of the Fate Fisher isn’t baseless. Although Shen Hex maintained a low profile over the past ten years, avoiding various forces and the cultivators backing them, missing the chance to earn sudden wealth, relying on the power of fate fishing, he still harvested considerable Immortal Fate, including some spirit stones.

Thus, he sustains these few acres of spirit fields and the various extraordinary herbs in them.

After inspecting the first few spirit fields, ensuring these rare plants, especially the handful of spirit plants, faced no pest or disease disasters, Shen Hex arrived at the last acre to begin harvesting the half-acre of spirit rice.

Three years ago, while fishing, he reeled in a jade box which contained nothing but a small bag of rice seeds. Comparing them, Shen Hex realized it was a type of spirit rice, and immediately cultivated half an acre with it.

Now, it’s harvest time.

Shen Hex entered the field, seeing the stooping rice crops filled with grain.

He peeled open one, seeing the grains full, resembling pearls, and gleaming like jade stones, emitting fragrance even before cooking, provoking a great appetite.

"This must be Pearl Rice!"

Though he had confirmed the variety earlier, seeing the actual produce made Shen Hex very happy, and he swiftly swung his sickle, quickly harvesting the half-acre of spirit rice.

Afterwards, he returned to the front of the house, using a water mill to husk the rice.

"Gul-gul!?"

The Iron-Feathered Eagle immediately approached upon seeing this, watching eagerly nearby, fixing its gaze on the husked Pearl Spirit Rice, already drooling with anticipation.

"Scram!"

Shen Hex didn’t indulge it. With a shout, the creature shrank away, yet still turned back every few steps.

"That damn bird is ruining the family reputation!"

Looking at the Iron-Feathered Eagle, which completely lacked the majesty of a raptor, Shen Hex couldn’t help but miss the Golden-Winged Roc of the Spirit Control Realm.

Soon, all the Spirit Rice was de-husked. The yield wasn’t much, and after setting aside seeds, there were only about five hundred pounds.

But it wasn’t bad, considering you couldn’t ask for too much in this mundane world.

He put the five hundred pounds of Spirit Rice and seeds into the Storage Pouch, then threw the Spirit Rice Husks to the eager-eyed Iron-Feathered Eagle and other birds, ensuring a fair distribution to prevent the Iron-Feathered Eagle from hogging it all.

After completing these tasks, it was already past midday, and Shen Hex hurried to the island center to dig lotus and harvest roots in his self-dug lotus pond.

The lotus roots emerged from the mud unstained, as white as snow and as smooth as jade, exuding a refreshing fragrance, clearly another type of Spirit Plant.

This wasn’t obtained through Immortal Fate but was found by Shen Hex in Dongting Lake and painstakingly transplanted here. He named it White Jade Lotus Root.

Although the White Jade Lotus Root hadn’t reached the level of a Tier One Spirit Plant, it was still considered a rare treasure in the mortal world. Its cool taste can detoxify and has a trace of Water Spirit Qi, benefiting water-attribute Spirit Beasts greatly.

Shen Hex dug up a basket full of White Jade Lotus Roots, gnawed on one himself, and carried the rest to the lakeside, where he struck a Copper Gong. Immediately, there was a stir on the water, and several Tuo Dragons crawled ashore, the most notable being a Copper-armored Tuo Dragon several feet long.

Copper-backed Tuo Dragon

Spirit Beast Rank: Tier Three (Elite Species)

Spirit Beast Species: Crocodile (Dragon Blood)

Spirit Beast Combat Skills: Copper Skin and Iron Bones, Overturning Rivers and Seas, Divine Dragon Tail Swing, Water Manipulation Technique...

After ten years, this ordinary Tuo Dragon leader was also nurtured by him to Tier Three, evolving into an elite Copper-backed Tuo Dragon.

Without the professional bonus of a Spirit Control Master, its ability to evolve was mainly due to White Jade Lotus Roots and various Beast Pills and Medicines created by Shen Hex.

"Huff huff!"

The Copper-backed Tuo Dragon trotted forward with its short legs, its dozens of Tuo Dragon underlings close behind, staring eagerly at Shen Hex.

"Eat, eat!"

Shen Hex smiled and dumped the White Jade Lotus Roots from the basket, tossing a piece to each Tuo Dragon, with the Copper-armored Tuo Dragon greedily enjoying a whole root, gnawing at it in its arms.

Shen Hex set the basket down and turned to the other side, again hitting the Copper Gong. Ripples appeared on the water, and soon, a brilliant display emerged, a breathtaking array of colors.

It was a large school of carp!

The most eye-catching was a Gold Dragon Carp with seven-star spots on its head, the rest all gleaming gold, its body sparkling, with two long golden whiskers near its mouth.

Seven-Star Dragon Carp

Spirit Beast Rank: Tier Three (Elite Species)

Spirit Beast Species: Carp (Dragon Blood)

Spirit Beast Combat Skills: Dragon Race Bloodline, Overturning Rivers and Seas, Calling Wind and Summoning Rain, Good Fortune and Wealth...

The fish gathered at the shore, and Shen Hex took out the remaining half-bag of Spirit Rice Husks, mixed with a bit of Pearl Spirit Rice and ordinary rice, and poured it into the water as feed, instantly sparking a feeding frenzy.

As the Fish King, the Seven-Star Dragon Carp was given a whole White Jade Lotus Root and rice balls made of several pounds of Pearl Spirit Rice, which it eagerly devoured in the water.

As a Dragon-type Spirit Beast, the Seven-Star Dragon Carp, like the Copper-backed Tuo Dragon, faced difficult advancement. Though Tier Three, it was only an elite species, much less than the elite Iron-Feathered Eagle.

However, the advantage of Dragon Blood was undeniable. The current lack of resources just couldn’t support their evolution, but once resources became abundant in the future, they might surpass the Iron-Feathered Eagle.

After feeding the school of carp, Shen Hex wasn’t in a hurry to leave; he watched the Seven-Star Dragon Carp and its underlings eat.

Life as a farmer and fisherman was busy yet uniquely serene.

But unfortunately, this life couldn’t last forever.

This world, ultimately, was the world of humans!

Humans must strive, like sailing against the current, moving forward, or falling back.

So...

Ten years passed, the seasons turned, and it was the harvest season once again.

Autumn above the ground, with bountiful fruits. Autumn in the lake, with fat fish.

Countless black boats sailed over the lake surface, fishers casting nets to catch fish.

Suddenly...

"Boom!!!"

A loud noise burst from the water, with dazzling golden light catching everyone’s eyes.

People nearby stared in horror as a brilliant golden fish shadow darted through the water, patrolling its territory like a monarch, leaving other fish trembling in its wake, even overturning with white bellies, intimidated by its True Dragon majesty.

"This is..."

"The Seven-Star Dragon Carp, the Seven-Star Dragon Carp!?"

Fishermen exclaimed, sounding waves of astonishment.

But soon, they realized something was wrong.

"No!"

"That’s not the Seven-Star Dragon Carp!"

"It’s the Dragon King, it’s the Dragon King!"

"The Nine, Nine, Nine-Star True Dragon Carp!?"

Someone trembled in their speech, causing even more shock and awe.