Nine Astra Skies

Chapter 164: Catching a Big Fish

They started to fish again. Li Xu made some progress and managed to catch a finger-long Red-winged Tadpole Fish. Along the way, Ye Chen caught dozens of fishes but they were all small ones. No large ones took the bait and even Little Wingsy did not catch any more Golden-armored Fish. According to Li Xu and Master Apothecary Xuanyi, the Golden-armored Fish was extremely intelligent and was much smarter than the Rainbow Fish and Red-winged Tadpole Fish. Once one Golden-armored Fish had taken the bait, the other Golden-armored Fish would not fall for the same bait again.

After three to four hours, there were no major gains except for a few small fishes. Ye Chen had almost used up all the bait that Master Apothecary Xuanyi had given. Ye Chen pondered. His Celestial Chi energy could not be changed but the bait could and did not necessarily have to remain the same. Perhaps he could use other herbal mixtures.

After some thoughts, Ye Chen secretly made a Soul-amassing Pill and divided it into six portions after crushing it. He added one portion on the hook and added a trace of Celestial Chi before flinging the line into the lake.

Soul-amassing Pills, Soul-consolidating Pills, and the ancient alchemy method were all Ye Chen’s secrets. He would not tell anyone about them for now. He did not know if the herbal mixture made by this Soul-amassing Pill would be able to attract a big fish to take the bait.

Ye Chen was not sure if the Soul-amassing Pill could be used as bait. However, his success rate in refining Soul-amassing Pills was not bad, so he was not afraid of wasting the pills.

After the hook was thrown, Ye Chen immediately felt the float move.

Ye Chen immediately yanked the line, only to find that the bait was still on the hook and no fish had bitten on the hook. What happened? The float did move earlier so a fish should have bitten it already.

Ye Chen threw the hook back into the water but the float remained still for a long time.

The water was extremely calm. It seemed like the fishes had all dispersed.

‘Looks like a herbal mixture made with the Soul-amassing Pill can’t be used as bait. It scared all the fishes away.’ Ye Chen was somewhat disappointed.

Just as Ye Chen was preparing to retrieve the bait and change it into ordinary bait, his Astral Body suddenly felt something. There seemed to be something deep in the lake that was swimming toward him at a very fast speed.

Ye Chen was slightly apprehensive. He did not know what was happening. Suddenly, the float sank into the water. Ye Chen felt a strong pull and the Flameshadow black gold fishing rod instantly bent into an arch.

“A fish took the bait!” Ye Chen was overjoyed and gripped the fishing rod tightly. The fish was extremely fierce. The rod almost slipped out of Ye Chen’s hands.

Little Tanuki jumped up and down on Ye Chen’s shoulder, extremely excited. However, it could not do anything to help.

“Little Wingsy, come help me!” Ye Chen urgently cried.

“I’m coming.” Little Wingsy put down his fishing rod and hurried over. He also quickly gripped Ye Chen’s fishing rod.

The Flameshadow black gold fishing rod was bent out of shape. It was arched even more severely than when Little Wingsy caught the Golden-armored Fish. If the fishing rod was not made from Flameshadow black gold, it would have already snapped.

After Little WIngsy grabbed the rod, Ye Chen immediately felt the pressure on him relieved.

“It’s coming up!” Little Wingsy cried excitedly.

Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu also approached the two. Ye Chen and Little Wingsy had gripped the fishing rod, so they could not help at all. They could only stand by and rub their hands anxiously. The Golden-armored Fish caught earlier had shocked them greatly. They wondered what fish Ye Chen had caught for the fishing rod to bend this much!

Lei Yi, Hao Feng, and Yan Cheng were unable to sit and fish quietly. They stood up and looked at the fishing rod with envy. Their hearts were beating wildly.

If only this fish had bitten their hook instead! They completely forgot that if this fish had bit their hook, instead of them catching the fish, it would end up dragging them directly into the water!

The stone Ye Chen and Little Wingsy were standing on loosened and showed some signs of crumbling.

“The stone won’t hold. Little Wingsy, watch out!” Ye Chen shouted and suddenly pulled.

Beside Ye Chen, Little Wingsy also pulled as hard as he could. With a jerk, a large prune-colored fish was thrown out of the water. It was around a meter long and its fuschia scales sparkled under the sunlight. Its tail continuously shook and it had two long beards that danced in the air. It was even larger than Little Wingsy’s current size.

Seeing this fuschia-colored fish, Ye Chen was rendered speechless. ‘Holy hell, it must weigh at least several dozen catties! It’s several times larger than the Golden-armored Fish!’

“The fishy is up!” Little Wingsy was so excited that he tossed the fish onto the bank and leaped at it like a little tiger.

Li Xu and Master Apothecary Xuanyi watched the fuschia-colored fish swept through the sky, dumbstruck. Purplish-red, bearded, and dozens of catties heavy. ‘Heavens, are my eyes deceiving me?!’ All the thrilling events they had encountered in their entire lives could not compare to what they saw today!

Lei Yi and the others also went blank. They stood there in shock and stared at the large fish.

Little Wingsy pounced on the fish but its tail continued to swing wildly. It almost broke out several times and Little Wingsy’s body was almost flung aside.

Li Xu and Master Apothecary Xuanyi came to their senses and hurriedly jumped to help but Little Wingsy and the large fish tumbled into a ball, so they could only intervene occasionally.

Bang bang bang!

Little Wingsy’s fist and Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s palm hit the fish as if hitting a steel bar but there was no change at all. The fish continued to swing its tail frantically and was approaching the lake. It was about to jump back into the lake.

Little Tanuki was also anxious. It was fine if the fish jumped back into the lake but there would be trouble if Little Wingsy was dragged into it as well.

Ye Chen pulled out the Hell Rupture Sword from the armguard space and thrust it at the fish. With a “slash”, the Hell Rupture Sword pierced the fish’s head and nailed it to the ground.

The fish kept swinging its tail but it slowed down until finally stopping.

Little Wingsy clambered to his feet, looking miserable. He kicked the fish and said, “It’s dead! What an amazing fish!”

“Quick, don’t just stand there. Li Xu, bring a large barrel of Heavenly Pure Water over. Little Wingsy, help me lift the fish. Be careful!” Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Little Wingsy lifted the fish. A large pool of blood on the ground flowed into the lake. Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s heart ached that it could no longer be used.

Soon, Li Xu carried a large basin of Heavenly Pure Water. With Master Apothecary Xuanyi in command, the four people started to clean the fish.

Lei Yi, Hao Feng, Yan Cheng, and a group of registered apprentices gathered around and looked at the fish from a distance. Although it was already dead, its purple scales were still sparkling. Its two beards were more than two meters long.

“Senior Brother Lei, what is that fish?” Xuan Yu asked in a low voice. This large purple fish was caught by Ye Chen? He looked at Ye Chen. ‘Isn’t this seventeen-year-old boy’s luck too good?’

“It looks like a Purple-gold… I’m not sure either.” Lei Yi shook his head. Ye Chen gave him a deep sense of fear. Regardless of how talented Ye Chen was in alchemy, just his skill in fishing alone was enough for Master Apothecary Xuanyi to hold him in special regard.

After spending more than half an hour, they finally finished cleaning the large purple fish. Master Apothecary Xuanyi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that not that much blood was lost.

Master Apothecary Xuanyi weighed the fish and estimated that it was around thirty catties heavy.

“This fish’s blood can’t be wasted!” Master Apothecary Xuanyi laughed. “However, the blood should’ve already congealed after half an hour. Put it away quickly. This fish is more precious than the Golden-armored Fish! You’ll be able to refine it into a medicinal pill after becoming a master apothecary.”

Ye Chen wielded the Hell Rupture Sword and cut the large fish into four clean pieces.

“Ye Chen, why are you cutting it? The fish would be preserved better if it’s intact,” Master Apothecary Xuanyi said with an aching heart.

“Master, these two pieces are for you and Senior Brother Li.” Ye Chen picked up two pieces and handed them to Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu.

Master Apothecary Xuanyi and Li Xu stood frozen.

“Ye Chen, are you sure you want to give this to us? Do you know what kind of fish this is and how precious it is?” Master Apothecary Xuanyi asked. Even he found it difficult to remain calm. This fish was a true treasure. No matter if it was eaten or refined into medicinal pills, it would greatly improve one’s cultivation! A hair-thin strand of this fish’s flesh was worth thousands of Chi-amassing Pills, much less such a large piece!

“It doesn’t matter how precious it is. I wouldn’t have caught it without the help of Senior Brother and Master. It’s only natural I give this to you.” Ye Chen smiled. How would he not know how precious this fish was? However, Ye Chen was not one to forget the well-diggers after drinking from the well. Keeping two pieces for himself was already a big profit!

Master Apothecary Xuanyi pondered and smiled. “In that case, I’ll take a portion and help you refine it into a soul pill and keep ten percent as labor cost.” As a master apothecary, he naturally would not take advantage of Ye Chen. If this fish was refined into a medicinal pill, its value would increase at least several times.

“Ye Chen, you can give one portion to Master but keep the other for yourself. I’m not a master apothecary so I can’t refine it into a medicinal pill,” Li Xu said. He would be lying if he said he was not tempted by the treasure in front of him but he calmed himself down after realizing he could not give any compensation in return.

Li Xu refused to accept anything Ye Chen said. At the side, Lei Yi and the other two scolded him in their hearts. Li Xu was a fool not to accept when Ye Chen was giving him such a valuable treasure. If they got their hands on a hair-thin piece, they would be so excited to the point of being unable to fall asleep, much less a large portion that weighed around eight catties.

Eight catties! Lei Yi felt like he was going crazy. Greed gnawed on his heart bit by bit. How badly he wanted to keep the fish for himself!

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said, “How about this? We’ll let Master refine both portions of the fish into medicinal pills. Senior Brother Li can help from the side and I’ll enjoy the benefits and take seventy percent of the results. Then, Master will take twenty percent and Senior Brother Li will take the remaining ten percent.”

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