Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

Chapter 77 Hometown Wangjiang Town

The Panlong River, which runs through the entire territory of the Yuanwu Kingdom, has many unique places besides the famous "dangerous shoals".

For example, the section of the river where "Wangjiang Town" where Lin Jingchu was born is located.

The river here is hundreds of miles wide, and occasionally a peculiar phenomenon occurs where most of the river surface is covered.

Occasionally, large amounts of water bubbles containing bone-chilling cold will gush out from the bottom of the river, which locals call "dragon spitting pearls".

The cold air released when the bubbles burst can even freeze the surrounding river water instantly. Under these conditions, the already turbulent Panlong River becomes even more turbulent and unpredictable.

It wasn't that no cultivators had ever ventured down the river to explore, but none of them discovered any treasures or had any extraordinary encounters. Over time, it was regarded as a natural anomaly and no longer paid attention to.

However, for ordinary people, this place holds an immense "opportunity." A rare fish called the snow scale perch is extremely difficult to catch under normal circumstances, but it gathers in large numbers only when the "dragon spits pearls" phenomenon occurs.

This fish has extremely delicious flesh and nourishing properties, making it a delicacy for both ordinary people and martial artists.

Wangjiang Town was born from this fish. The town's residents have made a living by catching snow-scaled perch for generations. They are very familiar with the patterns of the "dragon spitting pearls" phenomenon and know how to catch fish during this unusual occurrence.

However, just as silkworm farmers cannot afford silk, these fishermen cannot afford to eat this precious snow-scaled perch.

On the dirty and messy dock, more than a dozen fishermen with sallow complexions were queuing up with their catch of snow bass.

"How come you only caught this much?" A burly man with a face full of scars spat as he tossed a fish basket that was still emitting wisps of cold air in his hand. "Aren't you, Old Lin, the best expert on 'Dragon Spitting Pearls' in town? Is this all you've caught?"

A dark-skinned boy stubbornly tried to argue, but was pulled back by a middle-aged fisherman with a sorrowful face.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jackal," the middle-aged fisherman said humbly, "the 'Dragon Spitting Pearls' fish were too fierce today; they tore my nets."

"Fine! I'm in a good mood today, so I'll consider it a five-pound debt! You can make it up next time!" The jackal waved his hand impatiently. "Next!"

The middle-aged fisherman, his expression numb, pulled the unwilling-looking boy along and turned to leave the dock.

"Dad! Why should we be afraid of them? There are only about ten of them. If everyone in town attacks together..." the boy said through gritted teeth.

"Shut up!" the middle-aged fisherman shouted sternly. "They have real skills! Besides... they have a master behind them!" As he spoke, he pulled the boy harder and walked towards the low, dilapidated houses at the west end of the town.

The once neat rows of houses with blue-tiled roofs along the street are now not only dilapidated, but many are also abandoned. The eaves are half collapsed, the doors and windows are crooked, and cats and dogs dart about among the ruins.

As the middle-aged fisherman passed by his neighbor's house, now in ruins, he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes—a figure had appeared in front of his own crooked, broken wooden door without him even noticing.

The man was dressed in ordinary linen clothing, looking unremarkable, yet he possessed an indescribable air of authority that he had never encountered before among so-called "masters."

"Why are you...hero, at my doorstep?" The middle-aged fisherman's voice was full of bewilderment and unease.

Lin Jingchu turned around, his calm gaze falling on the other person's face—a face that should have belonged to a middle-aged man, but due to years of labor and weathering, it was covered with wrinkles and his hair was gray, making him look like an old man in his fifties or sixties.

"Cousin Jingfu," Lin Jingchu said calmly, yet with a hint of melancholy, "it's been so many years... since we last met."

In this life, Lin Jingchu's parents both perished at the bottom of the river while fishing for snow perch when he was young, and he was then adopted by his uncle's family.

Although his uncle's family treated him only so-so, they never shortchanged him a meal or a roof tile.

Because it is not far from the famous treacherous rapids of the Panlong River, cultivators occasionally pass through this small town. As a child, Lin Jingchu was fortunate enough to be taken in as a disciple by a passing rogue cultivator.

After the rogue cultivator passed away when his lifespan was exhausted, the Heavenly Star Sect was recruiting disciples. Lin Jingchu, with his slightly superior spiritual sense and his rudimentary understanding of array formations, successfully became a disciple.

"Jingchu!" The cousin was shocked, his eyes widened, and he burst into unbelievable joy.

It took him a moment to react. He grabbed the boy beside him and said, "Jiang Yazi! Quick! Call him uncle! This is your uncle!"

The boy named Jiang Yazi stared blankly at the handsome young man in front of him who bore a resemblance to his father.

Ever since he could remember, his father often talked about how there was a younger uncle in the family who had "gone to cultivate immortality."

But he never took it seriously. If he really had an uncle who cultivated immortality, how could his family be living in such a poor and miserable state? But the man in front of him was indeed different from everyone else in the town.

"Uncle... Uncle," the boy stammered.

Lin Jingchu nodded slightly. "Let's go inside and talk."

Stepping into the narrow courtyard, the scene of salted fish drying in the yard was exactly as I remembered. Those three houses, which used to be made of blue bricks and gray tiles, are now very dilapidated.

When his cousin saw him looking him over, he rubbed his hands together nervously.

Lin Jingchu didn't seem to care at all. He strode forward familiarly and walked straight into the open hall.

The room was dimly lit and pitifully simple, furnished with only a worn-out wooden table and a few stools. His gaze fell on a simple wooden table against the wall, on which three memorial tablets sat quietly.

His cousin, who followed him in, looked in the same direction, his expression calm and his voice unwavering: "Seven or eight years ago, my parents drowned while hunting snow perch. Jiang Yazi's mother... also died in childbirth."

……

In the dead of night, a streak of blue light silently flew out from the dilapidated house and quickly disappeared into the deep darkness.

The turmoil in the cultivation world of Yuanwu Kingdom eventually reached this mortal fishing town.

As the forces behind the immortal cultivation changed, the fish tyrants also came and went, and the fishing taxes they levied became higher and higher, forcing the townspeople to risk their lives to venture into the dangerous Dragon Spit Pearl.

People keep dying at the bottom of the river, and outsiders, either "voluntarily" or with nowhere else to go, keep wandering here to fill the void.

This cycle continued until my cousin, who was only in his early thirties, became a "veteran fisherman" in the town.

During their conversation, Lin Jingchu naturally understood the meaning behind his cousin's hesitant yet expectant gaze.

He casually tested his nephew Jiang Yazi's spiritual roots. The result surprised him greatly—his family actually had quite a "destiny with immortals".

This dark-skinned nephew possesses the four spiritual roots of metal, wood, water, and fire. Although they are pseudo-spiritual roots, they are still extremely rare among mortals.

However, with such talent, without a great opportunity, it is likely that he will never be able to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining in his entire life.

When Lin Jingchu left the sect, he never expected that someone in his family would possess spiritual roots. Therefore, he only brought some pills to strengthen the body and prolong life, and did not prepare any cultivation methods or resources suitable for beginners.

Although I cannot bring my nephew along on this journey, I can spend some time finding a suitable cultivation technique for him and guiding him into the path of immortality. What happens after that depends on his own destiny and fate.

With this in mind, two days later, Lin Jingchu sailed his Qingyi boat to the famous Panlong River shoals.

This is a vast area of ​​high mountains and deep valleys. The Panlong River, nearly a hundred miles wide, flows into this area and is divided into dozens of winding and rapid waterways by crisscrossing and precipitous canyons, with the roar of the water thundering all year round.

A market town is nestled in a mountain valley. Dozens of feet below the market town lies the surging river.

This place is called Panlongfang, and it is quite famous in Yuanwu Kingdom. It is a trading place that is spontaneously formed by cultivators who come and go to hunt monsters.

Therefore, there was no clear person in charge, only some established rules, such as prohibiting fighting in the market and ensuring that money and goods were exchanged after a transaction was completed.

Lin Jingchu transformed into his previous burly appearance and entered the market. The small street stalls were arranged haphazardly, but there was a considerable flow of people. As far as the eye could see, the lowest cultivation level among them was the late stage of Qi Refining.

The stalls were filled with all sorts of monster resources—fur, scales, bones, teeth… a dazzling array, and one stall was even selling resources from level three monsters.

Lin Jingchu strolled through most of the market, spending more than ten spirit stones to buy a basket of relatively young herbs.

Then he traded a water-based basic cultivation technique called "Mysterious Ice Technique" from an old cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining.

The advantage of this technique is that it makes it easy to break through bottlenecks, making it suitable for those with mediocre pseudo-spiritual roots.

Just as Lin Jingchu turned around, intending to purchase some more first-level demon beast materials to craft a few suitable low-level magic weapons for his nephew.

Three white-robed cultivators, two men and one woman, walked towards them.

Judging from the style of their robes and the spiritual patterns on them, they were clearly from the Yu Ling Sect.

One of the female cultivators had willow-leaf eyebrows and phoenix eyes, a cool and aloof expression, and an air of competence and efficiency as she walked.

Lin Jingchu remained calm as he passed by the other person, but a slight thought stirred within him.

Surprisingly, they met Liu Yu, the future leader of the Luoyun Sect, right here.