Just as they were speaking, Lei Yi’s expression suddenly perked. He pulled the fishing rod firmly and caught a fish.
“It’s Red-winged Tadpole Fish!” Lei Yi grabbed the small red winged-fish and immediately stuffed it into the black barrel. The small fish was only the length of half a finger.
“Lei Yi’s luck isn’t bad.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi smiled.
Although the Red-winged Tadpole Fish was not as precious as the Rainbow Fish, it was still valuable. It was not an unusable alchemy material.
“Haha!” Lei Yi was proud but maintained a cool facade. “It’s just a Red-winged Tadpole Fish, only half a finger long. It’s much worse than Master’s Rainbow Fish.”
They were extremely lucky today to be able to catch two fish so quickly. They grew excited. In the distance, a group of registered apprentices stared intently at the floats but they did not manage to catch anything. Another half an hour had passed but there were no movements in the lake at all. Even Master Apothecary Xuanyi did not manage to catch any more fish.
Ye Chen felt somewhat impatient and said, “Master, can I try too?”
“Go ahead.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi smiled faintly. “There are many tricks to fishing that you haven’t grasped yet but youngsters are impatient. When you fail several times, you’ll know just how difficult it is to catch fish in this lake. Then, you’ll learn that it’s important to learn modestly.”
Ye Chen touched his head, adopting the appearance of an open-minded student but he was still eager to try.
“Go on, go on.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi waved and chuckled. It would not matter what he said now. Ye Chen would not listen.
“Yes.” Ye Chen happily stepped aside and glanced down. This stone was more than a meter above water and below them was the bottomless lake. He was relatively close to Li Xu, around three to four meters away.
Ye Chen sat down on a flat surface and began to smear the bait on the hook. Master Apothecary Xuanyi gave him fifteen portions worth of bait. Under normal circumstances, fifteen portions would be enough for a day.
Little Tanuki jumped to Ye Chen’s side with a whoosh. Little Wingsy also moved a stone and sat down beside Ye Chen.
“Brother Ye Chen, are these fishes tasty?” Little Wingsy looked at the lake and asked.
Hearing Little Wingsy’s question, Li Xu laughed and said, “No matter if you fry or steam these fishes, they’re extremely delicious. However, it’s too wasteful to simply eat them since the essence will be difficult to absorb. They’ll only be more valuable if they’re refined into pills.”
“Pills aren’t tasty at all. Meat is better.” Little Wingsy pouted.
“When Brother Ye Chen catches a fish, I’ll make fish soup for you.” Ye Chen laughed at Little Wingsy’s words and fixed the bait. Then, he attached some Celestial Chi and threw the line out according to Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s instructions. He murmured, “Take the bait.”
Li Xu shook his head and smiled. Ye Chen was a novice. How would he be able to catch fish? After all, Ye Chen was still young. Some playfulness was unavoidable.
Lei Yi glanced over coldly and sneered derisively. ‘He wants to catch a fish like that. How ridiculous.’
Li Xu and Lei Yi’s gaze suddenly froze when they saw Ye Chen’s float move. A fish was testing the hook. The fishes in the lake were very smart and would not easily bite the bait. When they saw that the fish was testing the hook, they subconsciously held their breaths.
Li Xu also grew nervous. ‘Keep cool. You have to keep cool!’
Ye Chen yanked on the fishing rod.
“No, it’s too soon!” Li Xu was slightly disappointed. The fish would not have bitten the hook that quickly! However, upon looking up, he saw that there was a Red-winged Tadpole Fish the length of a finger flailing wildly on Ye Chen’s hook. Li Xu’s eyes widened. ‘Seriously?’
Ye Chen caught the Red-winged Tadpole Fish with his right hand and put it neatly in the black barrel.
“Master, Ye Chen caught a finger-length Red-winged Tadpole Fish,” Li Xu said incredulously. How did the fish bite the hook so quickly? It went against common sense!
Master Apothecary Xuanyi turned and laughed brightly. “Ye Chen is lucky. Did he manage to catch a fish immediately after dropping the bait?”
‘Luck? This boy’s luck is too unbelievable!’ Lei Yi thought, depressed. He had been sitting for nearly an hour and only managed to catch a Red-winged Tadpole Fish the length of half a finger, but this boy already managed to catch a finger-length one after just sitting down?
“Brother Ye Chen is amazing. We have fish soup to drink tonight,” Little Wingsy said excitedly.
Li Xu remained speechless. A finger-length Red-winged Tadpole Fish was being used as fish soup? That fish soup was expensive!
Ye Chen was also surprised. His luck was too good. He managed to catch a fish as soon as he sat down? After all, even Master Apothecary Xuanyi only caught one fish so far!
At this moment, Master Apothecary Xuanyi also pulled his fishing rod and caught a lively Red-winged Tadpole Fish slightly smaller than Ye Chen’s. Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s fishing skill was indeed much higher than others.
“Master caught another one.” Li Xu calmed himself and started to fish as well. He had not caught anything yet!
Ye Chen fixed the bait on the hook again and flung it out. He sat down and stared at the float. After a moment, the float moved again! ‘Oh sh*t, my luck is too great’. Ye Chen jerked the fishing rod. On the hook was another small fish that was larger than the ones before, around the length of one and a half fingers. It was covered with gray scales.
Ye Chen reached out and grasped the small fish in his hands.
Li Xu widened his eyes and stared at Ye Chen. This boy was too lucky. He had managed to catch another fish immediately after throwing the line down?
In the distance, Lei Yi was dumbfounded. ‘Is he human? Why are the fishes only biting his hook?’
“Senior Brother Li, what fish is that?” Ye Chen asked Li Xu while holding the gray fish in his hand. It looked very similar to the Red-winged Tadpole Fish except that its scales were gray.
“It’s a Gray-winged Tadpole Fish. It’s slightly more valuable than the Rainbow Fish. Judging by how large it is, it’s around three or four years old.” Li Xu was almost speechless. He looked at his float that remained motionless in the water and then back at Ye Chen. ‘What skills? Master is sorely wrong. When it comes to fishing, even the strongest technique can’t be compared to natural luck!’
Ye Chen stuffed the Gray-winged Tadpole Fish into the black barrel, lowered his head, and continued to fix the bait.
When Master Apothecary Xuanyi saw that Ye Chen had caught the Gray-winged Tadpole Fish, he was slightly dumbstruck. Ye Chen was not just “lucky”. However, Master Apothecary Xuanyi could only attribute this to luck. Otherwise, with Ye Chen’s poor fishing technique, how could he have caught two fishes so quickly?
Ye Chen once again fixed the bait and was about to throw it out when he saw Li Xu and Lei Yi staring at him in the distance. Ye Chen looked down at himself before asking Li Xu doubtfully, “Senior Brother Li, is there anything on my body?”
“No, no.” Li Xu waved his hand. “Carry on.” However, his eyes were still trained on Ye Chen. He wanted to know just how Ye Chen was catching the fish!
Ye Chen threw out the line and the baited hook splashed into the water. Li Xu and Lei Yi stared intently at the float.
The float did not move. Li Xu thought to himself, ‘As expected, the two fishes Ye Chen caught early was only because of his luck!’
Lei Yi’s mouth curled. His eyes were just about to leave the float when he suddenly saw it move again.
‘F*ck! Another fish bites the bait?’
Ye Chen pulled on the fishing rod and revealed another small red fish flailing on the hook. It was around the length of one and a half fingers. He said excitedly, “Haha, it’s a Rainbow Fish!”
Ye Chen grabbed the fish in his right hand and stuffed it into the barrel. This Rainbow Fish was even larger than the one that Master Apothecary Xuanyi had caught.
Li Xu’s eyes seem to grow lifeless while Lei Yi foamed at the mouth. Lei Yi cried out in his heart, ‘Why? Why are the fishes only biting his hook? What the hell is going on?!’
Even Master Apothecary Xuanyi could not sit still any longer. He looked back at Ye Chen and asked, “Ye Chen, how are you fishing?” Coincidences would not happen thrice. It was not just luck that let him catch three fishes so quickly. Ye Chen might have had a fishing technique and Master Apothecary Xuanyi was not ashamed to ask.
Ye Chen was very happy after catching three valuable and precious fishes consecutively. When he heard Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s question, he answered excitedly, “Master, I found out that fishing is quite simple. Fix the bait and throw it, and the moment the float moves, pull the line and a fish will rise to the bait.”
Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s expression grew odd and he smiled wryly at Li Xu. If fishing were so simple, they would have already caught countless fish! All the fishes in this lake were world treasures. How would they be caught that easily?
“Brother Ye Chen, fishing seems like fun. I want to try too!” Little Wingsy said excitedly.
“Little Wingsy, I only have one set of fishing gear. These fishes are too small. When Brother Ye Chen catches more fish, I’ll make you a big bowl of fish soup tonight.” Ye Chen shook his head. Little Wingsy might not have the same superb fishing skills as Ye Chen did!
Little Wingsy looked disappointed but he was still very happy to have a large portion of fish soup to drink tonight.
Li Xu looked at a gold-armored imperial guard standing nearby and said, “Go fetch another set of fishing gear.”
“Yes, Master Li.” The gold-armored imperial guard quickly ran to get the fishing gear.
“Now, I can fish too. Thank you, Master Li,” Little Wingsy said jubilantly.
Ye Chen continued to fish. After throwing the hook out, the float immediately moved again. He pulled sharply and another fish was hooked. It was a fierce-looking black fish with sharp teeth and was the length of around two fingers.
“What fish is this?” Ye Chen caught the fish and asked Master Li.
Master Li looked at Ye Chen dumbly for a long time and said, “It’s a Black Sturgeon. It’s even more precious than the Rainbow Fish. This fish grows faster. Since it’s around two fingers long, it should be around one to two years old.”
Lei Yi’s eyes darkened. Was this the saying “comparisons were odious”? He sat here for half a day but the only thing that he had caught was a small worm-like fish swimming in the black barrel. However, Ye Chen had just sat down and had caught four already!