Chapter 1191: 18.29 First Grey Star - Milky Way River
Ye Jieye fed the rest of the group some sweet and sour pork during lunch in order to help them control their body temperature because the air gets thinner and the temperature drops as they go higher up in the mountain range.
Because of the legendary-grade bell peppers, they would not have to worry about their body temperature dropping during the journey and their body"s healing abilities had been enhanced to their advantage.
The party continues on their journey and reaches the summit of the fifth mountain. To reach the next mountain, the sixth, one must ascend even higher. To do so, one must ride the cloud that pa.s.ses through the Milky Way river, which flows upwards under the influence of wind.
The ascent is straightforward, but the creatures that inhabit the Milky Way River are somewhat fierce and have a voracious appet.i.te for meat.
It was a sight to behold, especially with a few exquisite fish that resembled colorful stars. Mo Yuhan identified the galaxy as a river, flowing upstream with its dark, starry color.
"Isn"t this the Milky Way Road? Are we going straight to the Core region?" Mo Yuhan asked.
Mo Xuejing asked, "You"ve been there before?"
"No. I"ve never been in the Core Region of the Tornado Mountain Ranges. But I"ve gone this way before when I went to the seventh mountain with a team. It"s just that all fish on the Milky Way River are carnivorous and ferocious," Mo Yuhan said.
Su Jin looked at the beautiful and colorful jumping fish in the Milky Way River. They look gentle and especially gorgeous, but he didn"t expect that these fish were carnivorous.
"They look pretty though," Su Jin commented.
Mo Yuhan said, "Don"t look at how simple they look. Once you fall into the river, you will surface as bone. They are worse than the Amazon"s piranha."
"But most of these fish are rare-grade. No, it seems that almost all of them are in the rare grade," Lu Shang said as he felt the aura coming to these fish.
Mo Xuejing asked, "One question: Are these fish delicious?"
"It"s a delicacy among the rare-grade ingredients, but... there is something in the river that looks especially delicious—a legendary-grade one," Ye Jieye said as he narrowed his eyes toward the Milky Way River. "We"re lucky that it"s in season."
"Are you talking about the Star Puffer Fish, my Lord?" Leica asked.
Ye Jieye"s first word is his reply to Leica"s question. "Yes. You guys come out, or I"ll throw all of you in the river."
Ye Jieye reserved the rest of his words for the hidden presence on the river bank. After uttering these words, every hunter who had fled after they arrived did so, and the majority of these hunters were at least spade-ranked. This is because the Star Puffer Fish is a special preparation ingredient, a 3rd-cla.s.s, legendary-grade ingredient that is extremely difficult for regular hunters to reach.
Additionally, its poison is extremely lethal, and the number of hunters who can remove it is even smaller.
At least ten hunters with mixed ranks in hearts and spades emerged, and they appeared to be a group. They were going to hunt the Star Puffer Fish when they sensed Ye Jieye"s fearsome aura; he had long since spread his ominousness when they arrived at the road leading to this location, so even when the brats took the lead, they were no longer attacked by beasts en route.
They knew that their group was coming this way for two reasons: either they were going to catch the Star Puffer Fish, as they were, or they were going to use this road to get to the core region. Since they wanted to have conflict with this powerful group, these guys chose to hide themselves. It was just that they were being called out and had to come in the presence of someone like Satan.
There is no denying that Satan is a cruel and merciless hunter who kills those who try to steal away his prey.
"Lord, we aren"t here to ambush you or something. We come to catch the Star Puffer Fish which is in season," the leader of this group of hunters explained.
Ye Jieye said, "I know. That"s the only reason why you guys are still alive."
Not only did the hunters in front of them recoil in natural dread, but they also retreated a few paces, widening the gap between the two groups.
Mo Xuejing sighed and stopped Ye Jieye from scaring the men before them and said, "Stop scaring them, A"Ye."
"Fine."
"Excuse me. Since you are here to catch the Star Puffer Fish then you should have things to help you capture it. Can we borrow it for a while? In exchange, I will give you one Star Puffer Fish," Mo Xuejing said.
The Ice Demon had a reputation for honoring his word, and because he can even halt Satan right now, it appears that they get along well. His face may be as frigid as the man next to him, but his words are polite.
"Please give me time to talk to my team, first."
"Okay. Take your time," Mo Xuejing said.
After a few minutes, the leader of the other group lent the things that could capture a puffer fish to Ye Jieye"s group and said, "Here are the things needed to capture a Star Puffer Fish. Oh no, is it possible for us to watch how you catch it? We don"t have the confidence to catch one ourselves."
"Sure. You can watch," Lu Shang said as he took over the things that looked like a diving tool, a net, etc.
Ye Jieye said, "Let Shang and Leica go down to catch it. Lu Ming and Mo Yuhan will go down as well to watch. A"Mo leave it to them and wait here with me. Just fish at the side instead."
Mo Xuejing smiled when he heard that and said, "Okay. I will listen to you." Then he turned his head to look at the other group with his smile gone and said, "Some of you can also come down with them. There are extra diving suits and nets after all. We only need four."
"Thank you, Lord Mo and Lord Satan," the leader of the other team said with a bow. They were thankful for the opportunity given to them.
Leica approached Su Jin and said, "You can"t go down the river, Xiao Jin. Just stay here with the lords and wait for us."
"That"s right, Xiao Jin. It"s too dangerous to come with us. You can fish with big brothers," Lu Ming said.
Ye Jieye said, "You can fish with A"Mo. I"m going to prepare something for snacks."
"Come here, Su Jin. Can you help me put the bait on the hook?" Mo Xuejing said.
Su Jin said, "Y-Yes."
As for Ye Jieye, he pulled out a huge oven to bake some snacks; he had everything he needed in his inventory and a single wave of his hand could make a portable kitchen appear anyway; as for Lu Shang and the others, they changed into their diving suits with six from the other group; the group only chose those who had skills that could be used in the water.
Mo Xuejing and Su Jin went to the edge of the river with two fishing poles and intended to fish.
Leica started talking to the other group, "You know that Star Puffer Fish is a special preparation ingredient. Do you know how to catch them? They would immediately die if you tried to catch them by normal means. Do you know how to hide your presence?"
From the other group, only one raised a hand. He seems to be an a.s.sa.s.sin type of hunter.
"I can hide my aura for at least an hour."
"That"s good. While hiding your aura you must sneak near the fish and use a needle to instantly kill it. p.r.i.c.k its brain in an instant. If it turns black you can"t eat it anymore as it becomes completely poisonous. Do you understand?" Leica asked.
The a.s.sa.s.sin hunter, Lu Ming, and Mo Yuhan nod their heads. Though they didn"t know the rank of the hunter in front of them, his instructions were on point. This is the first time they received such guidance when hunting a legendary-grade ingredient.
Lu Shang said, "The other four will help me guard the team."
"Yes, Sir!"
Lu Shang looked at Ye Jieye and said, "Lord, we are going."
"Go ahead." Ye Jieye said as he didn"t even move his eyes from the dough he was working on the table. Su Jin waves his hand at his lover as he sends them to hunt.
The remaining members of the other group watch anxiously from the river"s bank, fearing that their captain and the other companions will perish beneath the water. All nine of them leap into the river.
Mo Xuejing, who was holding a fishing pole said, "Don"t worry about them. Lu Shang and Leica are with them."
"Lord Mo, what is the rank of Big Brother Lu and Brother Leica as a hunter?" Su Jin asked.
Mo Xuejing looked bewildered as he didn"t know but as someone who could serve someone of Ye Jieye"s standing, he knew that these two are top hunters themselves.
"That... I don"t know. Let me ask." Mo Xuejing said to Su Jin before turning a bit to shout at Ye Jieye. "A"Ye what is the hunter rank of Lu Shang and Leica?"
"Hm. Same as yours," Ye Jieye replied.
Mo Xuejing mumbled, "Same as mine? Then they are Joker cla.s.s Hunters. No wonder."
He was not at all surprised to learn that Lu Shang and Leica were exactly the same as he was; if they could hunt rare-grade ingredients as easily as picking an ordinary gra.s.s, then hunting Legendary-grade ingredients should also be easy for them.
As for Ye Jieye and Mo Xuejing, well, they were just being cowardly; after all, it is only a Legendary-grade ingredient, and no labor was required to obtain it.
"Joker Cla.s.s!? Isn"t that the peak of all hunters and just below the Heavenly Guardian!"
However, the rest are dumbfounded; Joker Cla.s.s, the Peak Strength of Hunters, is only inferior to the Heavenly Guardian, meaning that they are the next generation of Heavenly Guardians. Ye Jieye and Mo Xuejing, on the other hand, do not seem to care much about what they discuss.
Su Jin stuttered but still asked, "W-What about... Lord Ye?"
"A"Ye is a chef and a hunter. So his rank is under the cla.s.s of a Soloist. If I"m not wrong he should be a five-petalled blossom cla.s.s. The peak of both rank in cooking and hunting," Mo Xuejing said.
While all else in the area was silent, Mo Xuejing"s fishing pole began to move, as if something had stolen a bait from it. The other people in the area, however, were staring at the two men with undisguised shock. They had no idea that they would be facing two hunters of the highest caliber in the world.
Mo Xuejing stood up, "Oh! I caught one. Hahaha~ let me pull you out of the water!" Running from the river"s edge, he tried to draw the string out of the water, but the fish that appeared to have taken a bite out of his bait appeared to be large, capable of dragging humans into the river. However, Mo Xuejing is a top-tier hunter, capable of hunting materials fit for G.o.ds.
Hmp!
"I don"t believe this lord can pull you out of the water!" Mo Xuejing used his qi to cover his body and run it towards his fishing rod to the end of the string.
WHOOSHED!
When Mo Xuejing sensed that the fish was momentarily stopped by his cold qi, he quickly pulled it out of the river and a six-meter-long, milky white electric eel shot skyward from the Milky Way River, leaving everyone else stunned, including Ye Jieye and Mo Xuejing.
"So it"s an eel. I thought I caught a shark or something," Mo Xuejing mumbles.
The electric eel opened its eye in the sky and wanted to electrify all these d.a.m.n humans that dragged him out of the river. Golden streaks of lightning appeared around it
CRIZZZ. CRIIIZZZZ!!
"Annoying."
Ignoring the noise in the background, Ye Jieye, who was busy molding the tart based on the corner, picked up an unopened walnut on the tablet and flicked it towards the head of the electric eel, making it fly like a bullet and even through its head, killing the white electric eel before it could even unleash its most powerful attack and falling lifeless from the sky to Mo Xuejing"s enormous ice bowl.
BOOM!
Mo Xuejing observed the white electric eel and said, "It"s a legendary-grade white dragon eel. Though I heard it lives in the Milky Way River, I don"t think I will catch one. This thing is at least 100 years old."
"This thing isn"t suitable to be eaten in the wild. Store it first, and I"ll cook it at home," Ye Jieye said.
Mo Xuejing blushed a bit and murmured, "That"s right, eels enhance s.e.xual activity. It"s better to eat them at home." He placed the big eels in his storage and walked to where Ye Jieye was to get some fruits. Then he resumed fishing for a lower-grade fish.
Ye Jieye said, "A"Mo, don"t use rare-grade fish bait. Elite-grade should suffice to catch rare-grade fishes."
"Okay,~" Mo Xuejing said.
Meanwhile on the sidelines,
"No wonder another Legendary-grade ingredient was caught. They used rare-grade fish bait. It must be of peak rare grade for it to be able to attract such a rare ingredient."
"They are so powerful. Did you see what killed that huge eel? It"s a single walnut. Just an elite-grade walnut, how can that be?"
"If I didn"t see it myself, I wouldn"t even believe it. Seeing is to believe."