Chapter 250

"The "fleet" continued sailing on the sparkling sea."

Heng Xian sat at the bow, staring at the fish bladder, like an old monk entering meditation.

On the small boat below, over a hundred people looked up, meticulous.

This action had been continued by everyone for a full half hour.

Just then, the fish bladder moved a few times.

"It's really... hooked!"

Among the sect disciples, someone let out a soft exclamation.

"Don't make a sound, see what weird thing is on the hook!" someone reminded.

"I don't know how good this guy's fishing skill is, whether he'll lose the hook," someone thought, feeling strange worry.

At this moment, the fish bladder's movement arc grew larger.

Countless pairs of eyes stared fixedly at it.

Heng Xian was also a bit nervous, counting down three-two-one, then heaved the rod.

It felt very heavy.

With added force, a fish leapt out of the water, lively and jumping.

It really was a fish, not a monster!

Below, a chorus of soft exclamations rose.

Heng Xian flung the fish onto the deck; upon close look, it was a strange fish with a white body tinged with pale green, lacking scales, of unknown species, a bit longer than chopsticks, weighing about four or five catties.

After pondering a bit, he ate it!

He removed the fish hook, washed the fish, gutted it, set it aside, then lit a spirit-fire charcoal stove and placed a pot on it.

Without oil, he could only boil water, then add some salt, directly making a plain water fish soup.

He was busy above, while a group below nervously lifted their legs to watch.

However, the "Giant" was really too high; a group of people in the boat's blind spot, with their spiritual sense suppressed, couldn't see clearly, so they manually rowed, staying close to the "Giant", faintly hearing the "Cat-Faced Man" above muttering something.

"What is he muttering?" Yu Qiuyi asked doubtfully.

"If this is part of the test, it seems important!" Ye Hongxue said worriedly, then looked at Shen Qiong, "I've heard that Luoxia Valley has a technique for listening with the wind; I don't know, Senior Sister Shen, have you cultivated it?"

Shen Qiong nodded: "I'll give it a try!"

Saying this, she formed hand seals, cultivated her energy to open the apertures, forced spiritual power to her right ear, listened upward; after a while, she slightly frowned and said: "I heard it!"

"What is he saying?" everyone urgently asked.

Shen Qiong repeated word by word: "... High-end ingredients often only need to be used with the simplest cooking method..."

This sentence is not hard to understand, but its phrasing is very strange.

Yu Qiuyi immediately turned back and said: "Write it down!"

Beside her, Du Qiyue took out a blank bamboo slip and personally wrote it down.

Shen Qiong again repeated word by word: "After two hours of busy work, Master Chen began making swallow skin, the meat filling resembling mixed soil..."

Du Qiyue recorded it quickly, not missing a single word.

However, Shen Qiong stopped abruptly at this point.

Yu Qiyu asked: "What's wrong?"

Shen Qiong turned back: "Nothing more, just these few sentences, he's been muttering them all along."

Yu Qiyu, Liu Yu, Ye Hongxue and a group immediately gathered around Du Qiyue's bamboo slip.

Liu Yu read it once: "High-end ingredients often only need the simplest cooking method; after two hours of busy work, Master Chen began making swallow skin, the meat filling resembling mixed soil..."

Having read to this point, everyone exchanged glances.

Ye Hongxue frowned and said: "The meaning isn't hard to grasp, but something feels off."

Liu Yu said: "It sounds like they're talking about cooking food, but we don't know which senior master Chen is, or his cultivation level."

"Do any sects have a Chen elder skilled in cooking? We can use this to infer the true identity of the Cat-Faced Man!"

Du Qiyue said: "The Chen surname isn't a major one in the cultivation world; our Spirit Sword Sect does have a Chen elder, but this elder only excels at refining artifacts, and has been abstaining from grains for over seventy years!"

Ye Hongxue said: "My Divine Blade Palace also has a Chen elder, but this elder has mediocre talent; three years ago the sect leader sent him to Tianmo Ridge to sharpen blades, and it's said he spends each day in a drunken stupor, neglecting duties, and has also been abstaining from grains for about fifty years!"

Yu Qiyu said: "I think we don't need to deliberately analyze the literal meaning; perhaps it's just a mantra."

Everyone nodded, and could only understand it that way.

Just then, a peculiar fragrance drifted down.

Everyone sniffed, and Niu Wanli pointed upward: "It's the fish caught by the Cat-Faced Man; its flavor is surprisingly rich and mellow!"

The round and wonderful nun's face slightly changed, and she said: "Spiritual energy; this fish contains pure spiritual energy that can be directly absorbed!"

On the "Giant", Heng Xian looked at the fish soup in the pot—clear and thin, yet it exuded a rich spiritual energy and a fresh fragrance, which also surprised him.

Seeing the fish meat was cooked, he immediately took out chopsticks, lightly picked up a piece, and tasted it.

There was no fishy smell at all; the fish meat melted in the mouth, fragrant and tender, and even with only salt, it was fresh enough to make one's index finger twitch.

After confirming via divination that it was non-toxic and had no side effects, he picked up a stool, sat to the side, and began eating.

Only after eating the whole fish and drinking up the broth did he pat his belly, satisfied.

However, just as he was about to get up and move a bit, a tremendous surge of spiritual energy slowly flowed from his stomach to his limbs and bones.

It can still be like this!!

Heng Xian startled, immediately sat cross-legged, formed hand seals, and circulated his main cultivation method, the "Purple Polaris Eight Wastes Sword God Way".

One cycle after another, until he finally completely absorbed this tremendous spiritual energy.

Then he checked his dantian's Qi Sea.

Only to see in his dantian, the immense "Sea of Qi" slowly rotating, representing the nine "Qi Sea Spirit Rivers" of the Ninth Level of the Qi Hai Realm, which at this moment had split into two colors—a small portion cyan, a large portion white.

As long as I condense that small half of the blue into white, then, following the experience of condensing the Qi Sea from the "Purple Sword Dawn Stone", I will have condensed the Qi Sea for the fifth time!

After four more times, reaching nine condensations, I can form the Fake Pill, then sit the Life and Death Pass, and in one go break through to the Primordial Dan Realm.

This is actually also the main reason he ventured into this Jianhai Guji!

The relic did not disappoint him; in the dense forest, green sprouts kept growing on his head, and after being nourished, his spiritual energy surged greatly. Now arriving at this strange sea, the fish in the sea are also incredibly nourishing; it seems before long he will be able to fully condense the Qi Sea five times!

He couldn't help but feel full of anticipation for the upcoming journey; he wiped his mouth, walked again to the bow, baited the fishhook, cast it out, and continued fishing.

Below, a group of disciples from various sects, looking up eagerly, had their faces turn solemn.

Yu Qiuyi said: "Basically confirmed, the fish in this sea are also part of the relic's trial, similar to the nourishing toxic sprouts on the treetops in the dense forest, providing a large amount of spiritual energy."

"It's a pity we don't have fishing rods and hooks!" Nun Yuanmiao said regretfully.

Yu Qiuyi laughed: "Things are dead, people are alive; do any of you have something like needles, thread, or fishing rods in your storage bags?"

"Yes!"

Over a hundred disciples from various sects remain, among whom there are plenty who love fishing and privately keep fishing gear.

Moreover, everyone's preferences differ, so all kinds of implements are available, even ready-made bait.

So a group of people got to work together.

After half an hour, thirty fishing rods were completed.

Over ten Primordial Dan Realm experts and over ten Qi Hai Realm Ninth Level expert disciples personally supervised, cast the hooks, and began fishing.

Heng Xian looked on in surprise.

The crowd, full of provocation and a bit of pride, also looked up.

Between them, there was somehow some mutual contempt.

Heng Xian shook his head; these guys aren't stupid, following my teachings, they'll definitely not lose out.

Unfortunately, their fishhooks and bait are homemade; I don't know if they can catch any fish.

Just as that thought arose, a loud laugh came from below; only Ye Hongxue's voice was heard: "What a big fish, hahaha……"

Heng Xian immediately looked down, only to see Ye Hongxue really had caught a fish, with a crowd gathering to watch.

This made him involuntarily feel like "paying for gear but still losing to the zero‑dollar crowd," but upon closer look, no, the fish Ye Hongxue caught is different from the one he caught earlier.

It was noticeably smaller, and basically all white with just a hint of blue, completely different from his own half‑blue, half‑white fish!

He simply ignored it and kept fishing on his own.

"Wahaha, I got one too!" Not long after, Liu Yu exclaimed and lifted up a fish.

Likewise, it was almost entirely white and very small.

Next, the disciples' thirty fishing rods each occasionally pulled up a small fish, and they all cheered together—so much fun.

Heng Xian wondered why his swim bladder hadn't moved at all.

Only when approaching noon did his swim bladder finally move; he gave a hard pull and hauled up a fish, still the same as the morning one—just a bit longer than a chopstick, half‑blue, half‑white.

Looking down again, Niu Wanli and his group had already caught a whole basket of small fish.

He simply put away the rod and continued heating the pot to cook the fish.

Seeing this, Yu Qiuyi and her group felt a full sense of accomplishment, followed suit in putting away their rods, and somehow produced three spirit‑fire charcoal stoves and three large pots.

Thus Heng Xian cooked fish above, while the sect disciples imitated him and cooked fish below.

Heng Xian glanced down and saw Yu Qiuyi, Niu Wanli, and Du Qiyue standing before the pot, exhaling and speaking solemnly: "High‑end ingredients often need only the simplest cooking method; after two hours of busy work, Master Chen begins making the swallow‑skin……"

(End of chapter)