On the surface of Spirit Mist Lake, Chen Yi found a spot where hardly any fishing boats were in sight for miles. He opened the paper wrapping in his hand and took out the fishing bait the size of a ping pong ball. He crumbled about a fifth of it and tossed it into the lake.
Then he cast his net and, holding a fishing spear, watched the lake's surface intently.
With only a few breaths passing, a splash surfaced as a huge spray of water erupted,
Chen Yi was startled and quickly looked in the direction of the commotion. He saw the tail of a fish barely entering the water; half of its body was already a foot long.
"It must be a large fish of at least a dozen pounds! "
"This bait works!"
Sure enough, not long after, plump fish weighing about a dozen pounds were jumping on the surface of the water.
Nevertheless, these fish were some distance away from Chen Yi's boat, they could not be caught in the net, nor could Chen come close enough to catch them manually.
Watching the water's surface grow gradually calm, Chen Yi thought for a moment, then crumbled another fifth of the bait and sprinkled it delicately across the lake.
Splash, splash, more big fish flipped out of the water.
Finally, one fish got caught in the net.
Stab!
Chen Yi struck with his spear, and as soon as he made contact, he felt an intense resistance coming through the spear.
Despite his near 200-pound strength, he could scarcely hold on to the thrashing fish.
Quickly grabbing the boat's edge with one hand and then bending low to gather his strength, he used his vitality and blood power to violently haul the big fish in.
What Chen Yi hadn't noticed was that, at that moment, a palm-sized black carp with a red stripe running down its center, slipped through the net in a flash, rapidly swimming away.
Chen Yi looked at the large fish skewered on the spear.
Wow!
It was a decently sized silver carp, almost as long as Chen Yi's arm, including its tail.
It probably weighed almost thirty pounds!
Its white scales were reflecting sunlight, and despite being pierced by the spear, it thrashed violently against the boat, causing loud smacks.
After cleaning and gutting the fish, scraping off the scales, heating a pot of water, cutting the carp into slices and placing them in the boiling water, and adding green onions, a bit of pepper, and some salt,
The savory aroma of the fish filled the air.
The milky rich broth and the fresh, tender, and chewy fish slices,
Had Chen Yi indulging.
After finishing off more than half of the fish, along with the broth,
He felt a warmth rising in his stomach. Then that warmth slowly spread throughout his entire body.
Chen Yi felt a burning sensation, a feeling of absolute comfort, as if some high-grade vitality was circulating within his body, constantly stimulating and reviving his vitality and blood.
Taking advantage of this, Chen Yi quickly began to stand like a stake on his boat.
He maximally mobilized the vitality and blood in his body to digest the energy brought by the large fish.
Two hours later, Chen Yi was nearly burning from head to toe, and his vitality and blood were rapidly increasing. Only then did he feel the warmth in his stomach start to lessen.
Looking at the time, he quickly collected only the small amount of fish slices that were left and returned to his original world.
He tossed the slices into the pot while his mother was cooking.
"Xiao Yi, what did you put in the fish soup? Why is it so hot?"
Chen Yi's mother wiped the sweat from her forehead and asked quizzically.
"Just a few fish slices. It's very nutritious. Mom, you should drink more soup."
"Little sister, you should also drink some."
Chen Ran's little face was also flush. Chen Yi did not dare feed them the fish meat for fear it would be too overwhelming for them.
Even so, after Chen Yi's mother and Chen Ran finished this meal, they both felt a newfound strength which surprised them.
Chen Yi just smiled quietly without saying a word. He did not mention that he had eaten an entire large fish and that the increase in his vitality and blood power was even more astonishing.
His plan was to nurse his mother and sister back to health and then find the opportunity to send his sister to learn martial arts.
As Chen Yi, owner of two worlds, it was impossible for him to always stay by their side. But before he left, he must make sure his little sister has enough self-defense capability for him to rest easy.
Indeed, like this fish soup, and perhaps future treasures from the Immortal Cultivation World that could improve their health, Chen Yi planned to carry some of each, subtly improving their physical conditions bit by bit through indirect influence.
....
Days passed swiftly, and another half month went by.
Chen Yi's Vitality and Blood Power had now reached a single arm's force of 250 jin. In terms of his Vitality and Blood intensity and strength, he was no lesser than an average Mingjin martial artist.
Having consumed so many nourishing fish from the Spirit Mist Lake, the depth of Chen Yi's Vitality and Blood was extraordinarily deep.
If he was asked to practice the standing stake now, he could do it day and night without any problems.
The good news was that his growth in Vitality and Blood Power did not make him exceptionally muscular like other martial artists in this world.
Feasting on those fish strengthened his physical body, not his width. The increase in Vitality and Blood Power made him sturdy all over, but it didn't give him the appearance of a muscular bully.
"This is perfect; just by looking at me, people would know I'm a martial arts novice."
In this Martial World, unless one practices up to the Transformation Realm, the strength of Vitality and Blood is largely reflected in one's physique.
Over these days, Chen Yi had exhausted the secret fish bait four times. He succeeded twice, each time he caught a large fish weighing over twenty jin.
Another time, he encountered a gigantic catch weighing over fifty jin. Chen Yi got greedy and speared it, but it broke the fish spear with a twist in the water and escaped.
The last time, Chen Yi saw a palm-sized black fish with a red thread zooming past. He was just about to take action when the fish disappeared through the fishnet.
Chen Yi had a hunch: this must be the legendary Red-Blooded Black Carp. It wasn't the Fish King, but more like the Fish King's sidekick.
Selling this fish could fetch dozens of taels of silver; it has great nourishing effects for physical body practitioners. Chen Yi had no idea what the exact effects would be.
But after eating those three large fish, he gained nearly a hundred jin of strength in his single arm. And such fish were plentiful in this world...
However, catching the Red-Blooded Black Carp was tough, due to its small size and rapid speed. His net and steel fork were of no use. To catch that little creature, he had to come up with something else.
As for the legendary Red-Blooded Carp King, Chen Yi hadn't even seen it.
Perhaps the bait's grade wasn't high enough to attract it?
He made a mental note to get his hands on Li Baitiao's bait recipe if he ever had the chance.
Although he could buy it now, it was meant for catching large fish. Buying too many would arouse suspicion.
He sighed, deciding to take things slow.
...
By now, it had been over two months since he first reported to Iron Fist Hall. Recently, grain prices had been soaring, and the Fish and Dragon gang's tax at the market had increased from 30% to 40%.
This was a sign of the storm to come.
Estimating the timing was about right, and he had a fair control over his Vitality and Blood, Chen Yi did not want to wait any longer. So one day, he went to Iron Fist Hall with three taels of silver.
"Brother Yunhu, I think I've come to grips with Vitality and Blood and want to learn boxing."
"Hmm? Junior Brother Chen, has it been a month since you left the martial arts school? And you've already grasped Vitality and Blood?"
The equally aged young man, Yunhu, looked at Chen Yi with surprise.
On the side, several youths including Wang Hu were also looking at Chen Yi.
Chen Yi nodded, "I was fortunate enough to find a large injured fish in a deep lake. After eating it, I felt warm all over, and my heartbeat became very fierce. Then I started practicing the horse stance and was able to last for two hours, and even felt the flow of Vitality and Blood in my body.
I'm not sure if this is equivalent to grasping the concept of Vitality and Blood, hence I'm here for advice."
"Goodness, you're really lucky! You've certainly grasped Vitality and Blood.
Come, punch me with your full force, don't hold back!"
Yunhu looked at Chen Yi with surprise, thinking, this kid was so lucky. Despite his poor talent, he was able to grasp Vitality and Blood within two months?
Seeing Yunhu's serious face, and a group of youths watching from the side,
Chen Yi didn't want to refuse.
After thinking for a while, he sank his waist and assumed a horse stance, turned half his body sideways, furrowed his brows, his face flushed, eyes wide open, and threw a punch with all his might.
"Ha!!!!"
He used about three tenths of his strength,
Thud! The punch landed firmly on Yunhu's outstretched palm.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud,
Yunhu took five steps back,
He looked shocked, "A fist strength of a hundred jin, infused with the power of Vitality and Blood! You've done it!
What fish did you actually eat?!!!"