Chapter 57 - 57 Mediocre Effect
The development difficulty of the Animal Encouragement Talisman was far greater than that of the Muscle Relaxation Talisman by more than an order of magnitude.
After testing the encouragement strength of the Animal Encouragement Talisman, Jiang Cheng still needed to select an appropriate “reusable base” as the carrier for painting reusable talismans.
Fortunately, the talisman industry in the Cultivation World was quite developed, and these “base materials” had been tested by others long ago.
Jiang Cheng only needed to specify the parameters, purchase a few materials he needed, and then conduct more experiments.
Even so, it was not easy.
However, compared to the task reward of 20,000 Spirit Stones, this bit of hardship was nothing.
On the 8th of July, after just over a week of intensive development, Jiang Cheng finally completed the upgrade and transformation of the “Reusable Fluorescent Talisman”!
On the original structure of the “Reusable Fluorescent Talisman,” Jiang Cheng added an “Animal Encouragement Talisman,” turning it into the “Reusable Fluorescent Version of Animal Encouragement Talisman.”
This talisman was the size of a palm, mainly composed of an outer shell, a Button Spirit Stone, a Fluorescence Talisman, and an Animal Encouragement Talisman.
With a density lower than water, it could float on the surface, fulfilling its basic function as a “fluorescent fishing float.”
The usage method was exactly the same as the original “Reusable Fluorescent Talisman.” Touch the switch, the fluorescence lights up, indicating the talisman is in effect; the fluorescence goes out, indicating the talisman is temporarily turned off.
As for the most important aspect of this talisman, the strength of animal encouragement, Jiang Cheng had also limited it to a reasonable range through numerous experiments.
Once the talisman was activated, one to two fish would bite every hour. If the fish that bit were smaller in weight, the number of bites would increase accordingly. If the fish were larger, the number of bites would decrease accordingly.
In short, with the use of this talisman, the user’s “fishing explosion rate” could reach the average level of a fishing enthusiast.
After repeated confirmations that there were no issues, Jiang Cheng arranged a meeting time with Zhou Yunshan.
On the outskirts of Wuyue City.
Zhou Family Manor.
Within the manor, there was a special pond.
There were no elegant structures such as pavilions or waterside gazebos around the pond, but there were several specially constructed fishing spots.
Ever since the Fluorescence Talisman “became ineffective,” Zhou Yunshan’s fishing ability had greatly diminished.
Apart from the artificially stocked ponds, he was hardly able to catch any fish elsewhere.
Thinking back to the glory days of frequent catches during wild and night fishing, Zhou Yunshan couldn’t help but sigh.
But all that was about to change because just a moment ago, Jiang Cheng had told him—the Fluorescence Talisman was “fixed”!
Thinking about his soon-to-be-restored fishing ability, how could Zhou Yunshan not be excited?
At his age, he didn’t lack money, had no interest in women, and did not want to dabble in business. If not fishing, then what?
Guessing that Jiang Cheng was about to arrive, Zhou Yunshan was restless, pacing back and forth on the platform of the fishing spot beside the pond.
Finally, seeing a young man approaching across the lawn in the distance, Zhou Yunshan hurried to meet him.
“Jiang, you’ve finally arrived! Is my Fluorescent Talisman truly fixed?”
“It’s fixed.”
“Quick, let me try it out!”
Jiang Cheng took the talisman out of his storage bag and handed it to Zhou Yunshan. Seeing that he was about to attach it to a fish hook to test its effect, Jiang Cheng immediately spoke up to stop him.
“Elder Zhou, please wait a moment!”
Holding the talisman, Zhou Yunshan asked with confusion, “Jiang, is there something else?”
With composure, Jiang Cheng took out the complete contract and an instruction manual for the Animal Encouragement Talisman, saying, “Elder Zhou, you can sign the contract after trying out the talisman, but I must ask you to carefully read the instruction manual before using the product.”
Aren’t Fluorescence Talismans simply about touching to turn on and touching again to turn off?
Is there even a need to read an instruction manual for that?
However, at Jiang Cheng’s insistence, Zhou Yunshan still managed to suppress the urge to fish immediately and began reading the instruction manual for the “Reusable Fluorescent Version of Animal Encouragement Talisman.”
[Name: Reusable Fluorescent Version of Animal Encouragement Talisman (Fish Limited Edition)
Product Category: Reusable Talisman (Belongs to the category of Magical Treasures)
Product Positioning: Fishing Gear
Product Function: To help improve the fishing rate for anglers with a low bite rate
Product Structure: This product mainly consists of three parts…]
Though detailed, Zhou Yunshan didn’t have the patience to read each word of the instruction manual thoroughly.
He now wanted to try if his fishing abilities had actually returned.
If they had, all would be well. If not, researching was pointless!
Zhou Yunshan’s eyes slid down to the end of the instruction manual, landing on the boldly printed and enlarged warning.
[Warning: Disassembling or modifying this product is strictly prohibited! Once disassembled or modified, the warranty is automatically voided, and the person responsible for the modification assumes all consequences and legal responsibilities that arise from the action.]
The disclaimer seemed normal enough; after all, who would play around with disassembling a fluorescence talisman?
Zhou Yunshan said indifferently, “I’ve finished reading. Can we try out the effect now?”
Jiang Cheng revealed a smile, “Please, go ahead.”
Insisting Zhou Yunshan read the instructions was Jiang Cheng’s lesson learned from the previous incident with the muscle relaxation talisman. If everyone used the muscle relaxation talisman correctly, how could a teacher have ended up in the hospital?
Jiang Cheng reflected: Sometimes, having too strong a product isn’t a good thing.
Because in this world, there were still too few people who, like him, strictly adhered to the law and liked to follow the rules.
This time, by making Senior Zhou read the instructions carefully, there should be no more problems.
Zhou Yunshan cast his line into the water, and soon enough, he immediately caught a big fish.
The middle-aged cultivator abandoned his usual composure, exclaiming with insane joy, “Awesome! It really works!”
Jiang Cheng watched Zhou Yunshan calmly, his composure stemming from his consistent confidence in his products.
Whether it was the muscle relaxation talisman or the animal encouragement talisman, anything Jiang Cheng delivered was guaranteed to be mature, stable, and withstand the test.
Following the first big catch, Zhou Yunshan’s fishing rod remained still for the next several minutes.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
“Master Jiang, why aren’t the fish biting?”
Zhou Yunshan looked at Jiang Cheng. He was now beginning to suspect that the first catch was due to luck rather than the fluorescence talisman.
Jiang Cheng replied as a matter of course, “Senior Zhou, it’s impossible to catch fish at every moment when fishing. Just wait a little longer, there will definitely be more fish.”
Zhou Yunshan thought to himself: You’re not wrong, but this is my pond! It’s full of fish and anyone could casually catch one.
Ten minutes later, as Jiang Cheng had said, another big fish took the bait!
In the fishing community, the bigger the fish, the more prestigious it was.
Although he was fishing in his own pond, which didn’t count for much, catching two big fish in a row still brought Zhou Yunshan great pleasure.
Time ticked away.
Three hours later, Zhou Yunshan’s bucket duly had three more big fish in it.
Honestly, Zhou Yunshan was a bit disappointed with Jiang Cheng’s new fluorescent talismans because they clearly hadn’t met his expectations — the peak of his fishing prowess from years ago.
But indeed, the talisman did have an effect.
Normally, when fishing in his own pond, he could only catch half the number he did today.
“Master Jiang, can this talisman be made a bit stronger?” Zhou Yunshan ventured to ask.
Jiang Cheng promptly refused, “Senior Zhou, this is the best I can do.”
As someone from Earth, Jiang Cheng inherently understood the importance of sustainable development. It wasn’t advisable to deplete an entire pond’s worth of fish. From the start of creating talismans, Jiang Cheng’s goal was to “restore the fish catch rate to average” rather than “greatly increase the catch rate.”
Zhou Yunshan, hearing Jiang Cheng’s words, couldn’t help but feel it was a pity.
He figured that was the limit of Jiang Cheng’s abilities and that he must have tried his best.
Therefore, Zhou Yunshan, being a reasonable person, signed the contract according to his agreement with Jiang Cheng and notified the Task Hall that the mission was complete and the reward could be paid.
After sending Jiang Cheng off, Zhou Yunshan continued to enjoy his fishing time.
Although his strength had not returned to its peak, it was still pretty good.
At least now he could catch fish at a normal level, which was a vast improvement from before when he couldn’t catch any.
However, fishing alone at home ultimately lacked excitement.
Zhou Yunshan pulled out a communication talisman, ready to gather a few friends for some nocturnal fishing in the rivers outside Wuyue City!
Night fishing was much more challenging than pond fishing.
Where you might catch ten fish in a pond, you might only get one during night fishing.
Zhou Yunshan thought to himself, even if he could only catch one or two fish tonight, even small ones, then the purchase of this new fluorescent talisman wouldn’t have been in vain!