“This thing is much more powerful than casting nets,” David Warren said excitedly. “Casting nets can catch a lot of fish too, but even a strong fisherman can only cast a hundred nets at most in a day before running out of strength. But this new tool doesn’t require much physical effort or skill. You can have two fishermen take turns working for twelve hours straight, and it’s also safer—after all, the riverbank is much less dangerous than the middle of the river.”

“That’s right, but you’ve overlooked another advantage: replicability,” Charles Warren said, also in high spirits. “Sixth Uncle, tomorrow find some skilled craftsmen from the family and have them refine this simple tool, then gradually promote it. Let’s make the most of this year’s fishing season and earn a bit more.”

“The most important thing is secrecy,” Evelyn Grant added from the side. “Sixth Uncle, don’t blindly expand the workforce. Try to find some reliable helpers from among the collateral family members.”

Everyone chimed in with their own suggestions.

Suddenly!

A huge splash sounded with a thunderous “boom.”

Tommy Warren shouted from over there, “Master Hai, quick, come here!”

The three of them looked over together and saw that the net had caught a huge, long, snake-like creature. Its explosive strength was incredible—even with two adult fishermen pressing down on the net’s frame and lifting it out of the water, the creature, already out of the water, was still thrashing wildly inside the net, shaking the entire frame.

“It’s a Red-Scaled Eel!” David Warren exclaimed with wild joy, but his expression changed in an instant. “Not good, it’s going to break the net!”

The Red-Scaled Eel bit into the mesh with its sharp teeth, its body twisting and spinning furiously. In an instant, it tore a large hole in the net and began wriggling toward the opening to escape.

Without hesitation, David Warren dove straight into the water, swimming rapidly toward the net. Just as the Red-Scaled Eel was about to break free, he reached out and grabbed its neck with one hand, drew the water-splitting dagger from his waist with the other, and stabbed it hard in the head, twisting the blade back and forth.

Even so, the Red-Scaled Eel still coiled around him, thrashing desperately. Its vitality was clearly astonishing. Only after the time it takes to burn a stick of incense did the creature finally weaken and die.

David Warren dragged it ashore and laid it out on the simple dock. The creature was over twenty feet long, thicker than a thigh at its widest, and its whole body was covered in red scales.

“A first-tier aquatic beast, the Red-Scaled Eel. Sixth Uncle, this one should be an adult, right? Does it weigh a hundred jin?” Charles Warren and Evelyn Grant watched curiously.

“Hahaha, more than that! This one is at least a hundred and fifty jin, worth at least thirty to fifty qian gold,” David Warren said, plopping down on the ground, panting, his eyes shining with excitement. “If this beast had gotten back into the water, even your Sixth Uncle might not have been able to handle it. But the Red-Scaled Eel is full of treasures. Family head, it’s all thanks to your good fortune today! Hahaha—tomorrow I’ll take it to Dingpu Ferry to show off.”

……

Chapter 8 Warren's Arcane Manual

……

In these familiar waters, Red-Scaled Eels are rare and hard to encounter. Even if you’re lucky enough to run into one, ordinary fishing nets will be torn apart. Catching one takes both luck and skill.

Of course, if you venture into the wild marshes, Red-Scaled Eels aren’t so rare. But in those untamed and dangerous places, who knows what other fierce beasts are lurking? Even someone at the Spirit Platform Realm would risk their life wandering there.

With David Warren’s catch of the Red-Scaled Eel, the atmosphere reached a peak. After quickly repairing the net, the fishermen eagerly got back to work.

Meanwhile, David Warren personally led Charles Warren and Evelyn Grant back by boat to Dingpu Ferry. After meeting up with a few family guards who had stayed behind, they all returned to the main residence together.

It was already late. After washing up, they went to bed to rest.

That night, Charles Warren began to explore the Xuanwu cultivation state. Thanks to the fusion of memories, after a brief period of familiarization, he quickly got on the right track with his cultivation.

The technique Charles Warren practiced was the Qi Refining chapter of the “Warren's Arcane Manual,” said to be a method passed down from the earliest ancestors.

The Xuan Yuan Qi cultivated by this method is balanced and steady. It doesn’t have any outstanding advantages, but it also has no fatal flaws. However, the further one progresses, the more profound its subtleties become as the Xuan power grows thicker.

Qi Refining Realm!

This is the process by which a Xuanwu practitioner cultivates Xuan Qi, using it to temper and strengthen the body. The pure Xuan Qi flows through the meridians and acupoints, nourishing them. As it stimulates each acupoint, those points generate subtle energy fluctuations in a mysterious rhythm, which then spread throughout the body, causing the blood and energy to surge.

The more acupoints the Xuan Qi flows through, the stronger the surging of blood and energy becomes. When all twelve acupoints are connected in a closed loop, the consumption of Xuan Qi reaches its peak, and the surging of blood and energy is at its strongest.

Suddenly!

A cool sensation spread from the tailbone throughout the body. Charles Warren felt a tingling numbness on his scalp, as if his soul was about to float away, and a misty aura rose from the top of his head.

The whole process lasted for about ten breaths. The intense surging of blood and energy in his body receded like the tide, transforming into an invisible energy that gathered in his lower abdomen.

He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. In the empty sea of Qi within him, a new surge of Xuan Qi bubbled up like a spring, quickly filling the Qi sea.