Chapter 54 - 54 Talking about Fishing
The Cultivation Library in the early morning was, as always, peaceful and harmonious.
Opposite Senior Bai’s usual seat sat a young man with a gentle smile, radiant confidence, a reassuring presence.
Counting from yesterday, today marked Jiang Cheng’s second day of reading at the library.
After his morning run each day, he still had plenty of time to spare.
It was too early to visit Liu Qing at Wuyue Residence, so Jiang Cheng would spend some time in the library instead.
Here, he would take the opportunity to supplement his legal knowledge on matters relating to “forestry and fishing,” “aquaculture,” “animal protection,” “angling,” and so on, within Liang Kingdom, Immortal Sect, and even neighboring countries.
Just like creating the Muscle Relaxation Talisman, Jiang Cheng sincerely hoped that the “Animal Encouragement Talisman” would be a good, reasonable, legal, and compliant talisman.
Under no circumstances would he, Jiang Cheng, engage in illegal activities.
And certainly not become an enemy of the Immortal Sect!
The might of the Immortal Sect was something Jiang Cheng, as a data planner, probably understood better than even the Sect Leader.
Be it the Demonic Tao, the Demon Race, dynasties, or other forces, none were a match for a fraction of the Immortal Sect’s power.
In the settings of “Immortal Gods,” only the Immortal Sect could oppose the Immortal Sect.
But on the other hand.
The last Muscle Relaxation Talisman, after all, was used during a school examination.
Regardless of whether the Muscle Relaxation Talisman was good or bad, the fact that it involved exams meant there would inevitably be dissatisfaction.
However, this time, the Animal Encouragement Talisman was merely a talisman to aid fishermen in their fishing efforts.
Its role was to regulate the frustratingly low “fishing catch rate” for some anglers, bringing their probabilities back to normal.
The function of the Animal Encouragement Talisman was not even to control whether the fish bit the hook, but merely to encourage the fish to learn to struggle and thus make their own choice to bite or not.
The Animal Encouragement Talisman (Fish-Specific Edition) was, after all, just a first-order blessing-type talisman.
How damaging could it be?
The books Jiang Cheng had borrowed included not only those related to “laws” and “regulations,” but also a copy of “Rhythm Introductory.”
The design blueprint for the Muscle Relaxation Talisman was based on a commonly used auxiliary talisman, “Physical Enhancement.”
Whereas the Animal Encouragement Talisman drew inspiration from a Sea Tribe magical treasure called the “Song of Tides.”
The function of the “Song of Tides” was to use rhythm to grant collective buffs to Sea Tribe warriors, enhancing their overall combat effectiveness.
The main idea behind the Animal Encouragement Talisman was to borrow certain rhythms from the “Song of Tides” to achieve the sole effect of encouraging schools of fish.
For instance, if the “Song of Tides” was like: Snowflakes fluttering, the north wind howling, the world a vast expanse of desolation…
The “Animal Encouragement Talisman” would be: At your age, how can you possibly fall asleep?
The commonality between these two pieces of rhythm is that both could touch one’s heart.
However, considering that Zhou Yunshan might fish with other anglers, and to minimize the “rhythm’s” disturbance to others, Jiang Cheng planned to change the spread of the rhythm into the form of infrasound.
Transmitting the rhythm by infrasound was quick, far-reaching, and quiet, killing several birds with one stone.
“Young friend Jiang?”
Bai Wendao’s voice came from the opposite side.
Jiang Cheng looked up and saw his old friend.
“Senior Bai, you’ve finally arrived today.”
Bai Wendao smiled and said, “I’ve been busy with the academy’s affairs recently. I hardly have time for the library, let alone going home.”
Jiang Cheng nodded, saying, “Is the academy’s upgrade to first rank going smoothly?”
“Mhm, not bad. However, Dean Lei plans to hold back on your Muscle Relaxation Talisman. He wants to submit it for certification at the end of September when school starts.”
“That’s fine by me,” said Jiang Cheng.
Having sold the rights, it was all the same to Jiang Cheng.
Bai Wendao, seeing Jiang Cheng again engrossed in strange legal texts, struggled to keep a straight face.
Thinking of the impact of the Muscle Relaxation Talisman, he felt it necessary to ask Jiang Cheng about his motive for reading.
Similar to the Muscle Relaxation Talisman, which extremely disrupts balance, “reasonable” talismans, Bai Wendao would definitely not let Jiang Cheng draw anymore.
Some people are afraid he will slack off, like a wallowing mess that can’t stand tall.
But others fear his daunting, intense ambition!
“Friend Jiang, are you looking at these books because… you’ve taken on another task?”
Jiang Cheng didn’t plan to hide anything; he smiled and said, “Senior Bai, you really have a divine intuition.”
Bai Wendao silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cautiously asked, “Friend Jiang, could you possibly share with this old man what task you have taken on?”
When it came to the client’s information, Jiang Cheng naturally kept his lips sealed.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t share anything at all.
“I am creating a talisman related to fishing.”
Upon hearing about fishing, Bai Wendao’s eyes instantly lit up.
Fishing was one of his few hobbies, aside from practicing swordsmanship and reading books.
“Exactly how is it related to fishing? Could you perhaps reveal a bit more?”
Jiang Cheng said, “The client’s fishing gear is broken, and I’m attempting to restore its proper function.”
“I see.”
Bai Wendao felt relieved.
So it was just repairing something, he had thought Jiang Cheng was about to invent something again.
Plus, if it was just fishing gear, it likely wouldn’t cause any more problems. Even if it did, at most it would affect the individual using the gear. The impact would be limited, hardly a concern.
Listening to Bai Wendao’s words, Jiang Cheng felt he might also have a keen interest in fishing.
“Senior Bai, do you also know about fishing?”
Whether in his past life or present, Jiang Cheng didn’t know how to fish, so he urgently needed to gain some basic knowledge about it.
For instance, how many fish a fisherman should catch in a day.
Jiang Cheng needed to set a normal intensity for the Animal Encouragement Talisman, to ensure the fish neither struggled too hard nor grew too sluggish. His purpose was to help Zhou Yunshan regain a reasonable “fishing rate,” not to turn him into a “fishing expert.”
Bai Wendao laughed and said, “Fishing, well, I know a bit, just a bit.”
Jiang Cheng took out paper and pen, his expression turning serious, “Senior Bai, may I ask how many fish or how much in weight you usually catch in a day?”
Bai Wendao pondered for a moment, recalling events from roughly eighty years ago, the splendid image still vivid in his mind. He said with considerable pride, “There was a time outside of Wuyue City when I and several good friends… That night, in about six hours, I caught a whole forty catties of fish!”
Jiang Cheng’s pen flew across the page, quickly figuring out Bai Wendao’s fishing skill level.
Six hours, forty catties.
After some simple calculations, he came up with: twenty-four hours, one hundred and sixty catties.
To be on the safe side, Jiang Cheng asked again, “Senior Bai, do you have any other records? Maybe a little worse?”
Bai Wendao thought for a moment, “Normally, if I fish for a day, I should catch at least ten to twenty catties. It’s definitely impossible to catch nothing.”
Jiang Cheng faithfully recorded this.
Afterward, he also inquired about the communication talisman numbers of Bai Wendao’s fishing friends and conducted inquiries about their fishing results through communication talismans.
Later, in order to obtain more realistic data, Jiang Cheng painstakingly visited the fishing spots around Wuyue City, interviewing fishermen who were actually there fishing.
“I’d say at least ten catties a day. On a good day, catching several tens of catties is possible. It’s certainly impossible to catch nothing at all, that’s for sure.”
“I just do a bit of casual fishing, but I definitely catch three to five fish. Hey, it’s just for fun. Fishing is no big deal, right? My dark circles? That’s from overtime work; it has absolutely nothing to do with fishing.”
“Oh, don’t rush me. The bucket is empty because I haven’t started putting in the effort yet. It’s impossible for me to catch nothing, impossible in this lifetime.”
After extensive research and thorough verification, using the data provided by the fishermen, Jiang Cheng finally concluded the intended fishing strength for the Animal Encouragement Talisman (Fish-specific Edition).
At least one to two fish per hour.
Twenty-four hours should yield thirty to sixty catties of fish.
This data was an aggregate of the experience of dozens of fishermen, and the entire process of gathering information was scientific and standardized, so there shouldn’t be any problems.