30: Chapter 30 Deep-Sea Giants

On the boat, Lu Hu learned about the situation in the region. This was the depths of the Cold Sea, the breeding ground for the Crimson Molten Fish. The sea surface was icy all year round, and those who were not martial artists could not set foot here.

The Crimson Molten Fish is a type of exotic beast that lives in the Cold Sea. This fish can be of any species, but its only unique characteristic is that its entire body is crimson red, and it feels like a furnace.

The Man Kingdom is cold throughout all four seasons, but the Crimson Molten Fish can influence the temperature within a certain range. Wealthy families generally keep them in their courtyards, acting like furnaces that warm up the entire estate.

The temperatures in the Man Kingdom can freeze people to death. Weak individuals, such as those suffering from serious illnesses, pregnant women, the elderly, and children, could truly freeze to death in the middle of the night.

In order to survive or avoid the suffering of the freezing cold, they have to pay a huge price to rent living spaces near the Crimson Molten Fish.

Therefore, the Crimson Molten Fish is extremely expensive in the Man Kingdom. If ordinary people are lucky enough to catch one, even a small one, it is enough to keep their whole family well-fed and clothed.

Of course, this is not the true value of the Crimson Molten Fish. For martial artists, the Crimson Molten Fish is a supreme medicinal treasure.

Its scales can be used as medicine, its blood can temper the body, and eating its meat can greatly increase one's internal energy and help break through cultivation realms.

An ordinary Crimson Molten Fish has strength comparable to a tiger or leopard, and since it lives on the seabed, it is extremely difficult to find on normal days.

However, in the breeding grounds of the Crimson Molten Fish, every three years, a large number of them gather to reproduce.

Whenever the Crimson Molten Fish reproduce, First-Class martial artists, grandmasters, and other powerhouses from all over the world travel thousands of miles to the Man Kingdom to catch them.

Even spirit beasts from the land, ocean, and sky come to this group to hunt.

When the breeding season approaches and the Crimson Molten Fish arrive in large numbers, the water temperature at the bottom of the Cold Sea gradually warms up.

The cold air on the surface of the Cold Sea is too intense. The Crimson Molten Fish live at least several hundred meters underwater, and even martial artists cannot dive down many times. First-Class and grandmaster-level experts are all waiting for the right moment to dive in and go all out.

And this time period is the opportunity for ordinary martial artists to take the risk of diving into the water to catch fish.

The martial artists on this boat fall into this category. They have no background, no resources, and no aptitude. They might practice martial arts for a lifetime and still struggle to achieve anything. They gathered here, exhausting their family fortunes to take a gamble.

If they catch a Crimson Molten Fish, whether they eat it themselves to increase their internal energy or present it to a large sect or martial arts senior to become a disciple, they can turn their lives around and escape their miserable fate.

After learning about the situation regarding the Crimson Molten Fish, Lu Hu was very curious. What kind of fish could actually influence the temperature of an entire sea?

This is the sea, boundless and endless. Even with his Pure Yang Body at full power, he could only influence a small area. Why was the Crimson Molten Fish's performance even stronger than his? Yet it still gets caught by such weak humans!

"The deep sea pearl is still the most critical thing." Lu Hu continued to ask, wanting to know if there were any pearls in the Cold Sea.

He had wandered on the seabed for so long and had not seen any shellfish that could produce pearls. The purpose of boarding the boat and questioning these people was also for the sake of pearls.

"This..." The people on the boat were distressed. They were not fishermen, and they came from other countries; they only came to the Cold Sea to catch Crimson Molten Fish, so how would they know where to find pearls!

"Lord Mountain Monarch, perhaps you could go and ask the local fishermen." The young man who knew the kun language said cautiously.

Lu Hu wrote down a message, asking this person to act as a translator. "This..." The young man looked troubled, and the others on the boat were also dejected, but they dared not disobey and turned the boat around, heading toward the shore.

The breeding grounds of the Crimson Molten Fish are not places you can come to whenever you want. Second-rate martial artists like them can only stay here for ten days a year.

After ten days, the cold energy enters the body, and it takes a year to recover. If they force themselves to stay, they will be left with injuries and illnesses.

Just the round trip by boat takes three days, and if they go to the seaside to find fishermen, that will waste another three days. The time left to catch the Crimson Molten Fish will be only four days!

With only four days, the chance of catching a Crimson Molten Fish is at least halved, and their desperate gamble, for which they exhausted their family fortunes, might end in failure.

But this Mountain Monarch at least possessed the means of a grandmaster. Did they dare to resist? They could only sigh at their bad luck!

If it were an ordinary grandmaster, they might have had the chance to become a subordinate of the grandmaster, and even if not, receiving a few words of guidance from a grandmaster would have been greatly beneficial.

But the one they encountered was a spirit beast! Beasts have different life experiences; how could it possibly guide them?

As for becoming a subordinate of a spirit beast, would they have to help the spirit beast hunt for food? There would be no chance to make any profit at all! How unlucky!

A day later, they approached the shore. Lu Hu's appearance caused a commotion and panic among the local people.

Lu Hu found a nearby fisherman to ask where in the sea pearls could be found. There are many shellfish that can produce pearls, but those that can truly produce pearls are very few and far between; they belong to a precious species, and how could a fisherman easily catch one?

However, precisely because they are precious, once a fisherman catches one, it becomes a topic of conversation among the people. Lu Hu easily found out which area might have pearls.

"Awoo~" Having learned the direction, Lu Hu prepared to depart. Before leaving, Lu Hu asked the people on the boat to find a wooden bucket, and he peed into it to give to them.

'It's too embarrassing. In the future, I must have Lu Dan prepare some medicinal pills to keep on hand.' Lu Hu thought to himself. When big shots bestow opportunities upon juniors, it's either an awesome martial arts technique, a peerless divine weapon, or a miraculous medicinal pill. How prestigious and stylish that is.

When it came to him, he couldn't bear to give away tiger fruit, and spiritual medicine was even more impossible to give away. The other things he had on hand were not very useful. When he calculated carefully, giving urine was actually the most suitable thing for these juniors.

Giving urine—did he, Lu Hu, not care about his reputation? Fortunately, these people mistook him for some Mountain Monarch, so he could just attribute the benevolent act of bestowing urine to that stranger of his own kind.

Lu Hu did not explain why he bestowed the urine; he dove into the sea and set off toward the shellfish area.

After Lu Hu left, the atmosphere among the martial artists on the boat was depressed as they continued to sail toward the depths of the Cold Sea. Originally, they only had seven days of fishing time, and with this delay, only four days remained; the hope of catching a Crimson Molten Fish was slim!

"Holy shit!" Suddenly, a crew member exclaimed. This was the crew member who was just about to pour out the urine the Mountain Monarch had left behind. At this moment, his eyes were fixed on the urine in the bucket, his face full of shock. The others, confused, gathered around and felt a wave of intense heat; the cold energy in their bodies was rapidly dissipating.

This urine could eliminate the cold energy of the Cold Sea! "Holy shit!" Everyone was shocked. The Mountain Monarch's urine actually had such a miraculous effect!

If the cold energy in their bodies could be cleared, then the time they had to catch the Crimson Molten Fish would increase by at least ten more days! Or even more! There was hope for catching the Crimson Molten Fish! Everyone beamed with joy, feeling that they had struck it lucky, and excitedly set off toward the breeding grounds!

...

On the other side, Lu Hu swam through the sea. The temperature eight hundred meters underwater was completely different from the temperature on the surface. The deeper he went, the warmer it became. Lu Hu even suspected that there might be a volcano on the seabed; otherwise, how could it be so warm!

One thousand meters underwater, it was still bright, and the water temperature here was already a bit too high. Lu Hu continued to dive deeper. Strangely, Lu Hu did not see any living creatures.

When he reached fifteen hundred meters below sea level, the water temperature here was already equivalent to a high temperature, similar to boiling water. If ordinary fish swam here, they would be directly scalded to death. After swimming on the seabed for a long time, Lu Hu felt stifled and swam upward, intending to get some fresh air.

Lu Hu surfaced, and the surroundings were shrouded in thick fog, making it difficult to see into the distance. "Woo-woo-woo-woo~~~" At this moment, a lonely, distant, and mysterious sound rang out from afar. The sea surface also began to roll and surge. It seemed as if a deep sea behemoth was nearby, stirring up the seawater.

"Could it be a whale?" Lu Hu became interested and immediately swam toward the source of the sound. The closer he got, the more violently the seawater rolled, and the water temperature was also boiling, billowing with steam. Lu Hu realized that there were giant creatures fighting in the distance!

Lu Hu swam forward for who knows how many more miles, and finally, he saw two behemoths. Like two mountains colliding with each other, one after another, hundred-meter-high giant waves crashed down, churning the sea endlessly. "Awoo!" (So big!) Lu Hu exclaimed, watching the battle from the sidelines!