The golden-backed, red-bellied fish in the basket was released. As soon as it jumped out, it transformed into a massive creature in the air, its body growing to several dozen feet long. Its scales glinted like blades, and its fins waved like sharp flags. It spoke in a pitiful voice, begging like a helpless woman: "Senior, I swear I will never harm anyone again. Please spare my life."
The large, fierce fish head bobbed up and down, as if it were bowing in submission.
Li Hao was hit by a strong fishy smell and instinctively pinched his nose, nearly gagging.
This fish… really stinks!
"If I spare you, won't I truly become an air force?" Li Muxiu’s words made the fish demon fall into despair, trembling with anger but too scared to retaliate.
"Into the pot you go!"
Li Muxiu pointed with his hand.
Though the fish demon was pleading, it had already planned to escape as it transformed. Seeing that the old man wouldn’t let it go, it swayed its body, trying to fly away.
But before it could turn completely, it suddenly shook as if struck by lightning. Blood sprayed from its mouth and gills, and its fierce body split apart in the air, as if countless invisible blades were chopping it up.
Strangely, the blood that splattered didn’t hit the ground but was whisked away by the wind, disappearing without a trace.
The remaining parts of the fish demon also vanished, leaving behind only a fist-sized dark purple demon core and a few pieces of white fish meat.
Li Muxiu waved his hand, and the demon core fell into a pot of boiling water. The white fish meat was sliced into thin, translucent pieces in the air, and once the water boiled, it slowly entered the pot.
At this moment, the old man pulled out a salt jar from somewhere, tossed in a couple of spoonfuls, and covered the pot to let it cook.
Li Hao was amazed by this whole process and gained a clearer understanding of the powerful martial artists in this world.
This is a demon, and this is a powerful martial artist!
"Old man, that purple meatball is the demon core, right? Shouldn't it be eaten raw?" Li Hao asked curiously.
"Where did you hear that?"
Li Muxiu glanced at him and replied casually, "Aren't you afraid of the fishy taste? The demon core needs to be mixed with many herbs to be effective, and you can't just throw anything together. Different types of demons have different properties, and that requires professionals to distinguish. Eating it raw… ha, that's like an ordinary person hunting a tiger and making soup with its bones to strengthen themselves. Can you even digest it raw?"
"So what are you doing then?"
"Cooking it as food. Although a lot of its effectiveness will be wasted, I don’t really care about that. I just want to taste it. As for you, just drink some soup and eat a few pieces of fish to fill your stomach. You can't handle this level of demon core yet."
"I see."
Li Hao nodded, feeling no regret about it.
After all, there were countless spirit pills and treasures in the Divine General's mansion. Not to mention this raw demon core, those were all finished products made from refining.
However, after failing to build his foundation, he had tested these spirit pills and found that they could only fill his stomach; their extraordinary effects were completely blocked from him.
Even though spirit herbs were plentiful, the distribution to each courtyard was very restrained.
After all, ordinary medicine has its dangers. While pills can provide quick results, reaching the highest realms still mostly relies on one’s own strength to avoid backlash.
...
The water in the pot boiled again, and the steam made the lid gently shake.
The old man lifted the lid with his iron hand, and hot steam rushed out, carried away by a gentle breeze, not touching the beams of the pavilion.
A fishy aroma wafted out, mixed with some unpleasant smells.
Li Hao frowned slightly. Although he hadn’t tasted it yet, he instinctively felt it wouldn’t be good.
"Come, give it a try."
Li Muxiu pulled out a pair of black chopsticks, wiped them on his clothes, and plunged them into the demon core, taking a big bite.
At the same time, he waved his hand, and a branch swaying outside the pavilion suddenly broke off and flew into his hand.
He handed it to Li Hao: "Peel off the skin, and it’s ready to use."
Li Hao didn’t refuse.
But he wasn’t a stickler either. He sat down casually next to the old man on the top floor of the Rain Listening Pavilion, a sacred place for martial artists, peeled the green skin off the branch, broke it, and stuck it into the pot, picking up a piece of crystal-clear fish meat.
To Li Hao's surprise, the fish meat didn’t fall apart in the boiling water; it was tender and smooth, like jelly.
He held the lid to avoid splashing soup on himself and slurped it up.
"How does it taste?"
"Not bad, quite good, but a bit fishy."
"Fishy? I don’t smell anything."
"You’re covered in fish smell, so of course, you wouldn’t notice."
"Hey, you little brat, how are you talking to me?"
"Just saying the truth; I’m not wrong."
"Hmph, you only act like this because you met me. If it were someone else, you’d have been spanked long ago."
"I wouldn’t even bother talking to others."
"Wow, you’re quite confident."
The old man and the young boy started eating together, with the old man not acting very senior and the young boy not being overly cautious. After finishing the fish and soup, they both leaned back, legs spread, and sighed in unison:
"That feels good!"
Their postures were surprisingly similar.
"You little rascal..." Li Muxiu glanced at Li Hao and suddenly burst into laughter.
Li Hao smiled slightly, resting his hands behind his head and looking out at the sky beyond the eaves, which was already darkening into night, with faint starlight gradually appearing in the sky.
A gentle breeze blew from the mountains and fields below, giving a refreshing and relaxing feeling.
He suddenly thought that no matter how bustling the world was or how surrounded by servants he was, nothing compared to this moment of freedom and comfort.
As he lay there resting quietly for a moment, Li Hao suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Old man, if you’re fishing, there must be some techniques, right?"
"Now you want to learn?"
Li Muxiu looked at him with interest.
"Tomorrow I want to give it a try. How about we see who catches more?" Li Hao said with a grin.
Hearing this, Li Muxiu couldn’t help but laugh.
He didn’t expect that among the wooden-headed Li family, there would be such a lively and interesting child.
"Great! From now on, you’ll learn fishing from me. I’ll teach you. Fishing is also a form of cultivation. Just like me, when I cast my line, even a top-tier warrior would be pulled off balance!"
Li Muxiu said with a light laugh, his eyes full of pride, not in his cultivation but in his fishing skills.
Li Hao couldn’t help but chuckle, even imagining the scene, bursting into laughter.
A top-tier warrior standing at the peak of countless martial artists being pulled off balance by a fishing hook… it was just too vivid!
"What are you laughing at? Don’t believe me?" Li Muxiu raised an eyebrow, feigning seriousness.
Li Hao laughed, "I believe, I believe, of course, I believe. I just think that scene is too funny."
After saying that, he laughed heartily again.
Li Muxiu thought about it and found the scene indeed amusing, chuckling softly, "Tomorrow when we get there, I’ll teach you how to fish. It’s better to practice first; talking about it now won’t help you understand. Get to bed early tonight; I’ll go get you a fishing rod."
With that, he sat up, patted his backside, and gathered the ashes from the fire and the iron pot into his sleeves, making them disappear.
Then he stepped out and vanished into the night.
The next day.
Early in the morning, as dawn broke, Li Muxiu woke Li Hao.
Fortunately, Li Hao had gone to bed early the previous night and didn’t feel too sleepy. He asked, "Are we going this early?"
"Of course! Morning fishing is best done early; it’s the easiest time to catch fish."
Li Muxiu smiled. Usually, he fished alone with just one rod and one basket, but today, having a little guy with him made him even more excited about fishing.
"This is your fishing rod; hold it well."
The old man pulled out a black fishing rod from somewhere and handed it to Li Hao.
When Li Hao took it, he found it quite heavy, but for his perfected strength, it was nothing. Besides, his strength was ten times greater than that of an ordinary perfected practitioner.
However, Li Hao estimated that this fishing rod would be easy to handle only for someone at the fourth or fifth level of perfected strength.
Seeing Li Hao take it easily, Li Muxiu showed a hint of surprise, saying, "Looks like that Li Fu kid wasn’t wrong. You really have talent in body refinement. Which technique are you practicing? Have you really mastered it?"
Li Hao then realized that the old man had chosen the fishing rod based on his cultivation level, putting some thought into it.
The Bull Strength technique is a low-grade body refinement method. Mastering it means having strength around the sixth level of perfected strength.
(End of Chapter)