40: Chapter 40 Land, Sea, and Air Assemble, Before the Feast

One day later, Lu Hu's house was built, a courtyard constructed from a mixture of century-old sunken wood and Crimson Molten Beast bones.

That is how all the houses on Ice Island are; only this kind of house can withstand the tossing and turning of the Grandmasters and keep out the cold.

After installing the front door, Lu Hu officially owned a house on the Cold Sea's Ice Island.

It's just that this courtyard has zero security against theft; any normal person could climb right in.

The houses on Ice Island all seem to be like this, especially insecure.

"No one would dare!" Wu Wen said. Every house represents a Grandmaster, and everyone's treasure ships and fishing tools are kept in their courtyards. No one dares to steal; this is a rule tacitly accepted by everyone for thousands of years.

Whoever violates this will face the pursuit and killing of all the Grandmasters on the island.

"Aooo~~" (That's fine.) Lu Hu nodded. He didn't care; anyway, there was nothing in this house.

Over the next few days, Lu Hu roasted a Crimson Molten Beast to thank Black Bull and Golden Eagle for their help.

Rongxiao had not yet returned to the seabed. The Grandmasters were either practicing their cultivation or repairing their fishing nets; no one dared to venture out.

Lu Hu didn't have a fishing net. After eating the Crimson Molten Beast, Black Bull felt he had gotten a great bargain, so he offered to help Lu Hu forge a fishing net. He happened to have a hundred-jin piece of extraterrestrial meteorite iron that could be used to forge the net.

Lu Hu, bored, also watched and helped.

The extraterrestrial meteorite iron was hard and couldn't be melted by fire. Watching Black Bull forcefully hammer the hundred-jin iron block into hair-thin threads, Lu Hu had to admire Black Bull's superb iron-casting technique.

Even with spiritual power, he couldn't manage this kind of craft.

Apart from the newcomers, the Grandmasters on Ice Island basically all knew how to weave fishing nets. After Black Bull hammered out the threads, Golden Eagle and Wu Wen also helped weave the net.

Lu Hu also followed along and mastered the technique of making fishing nets.

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed. Rongxiao finally calmed down, and the Cold Sea returned to tranquility. On Ice Island, a Grandmaster gathered his courage to go out and check the situation.

Upon returning, he disappointedly informed everyone that the Crimson Molten Beasts in the sea had long been scared out of their wits, and there were basically no traces of Crimson Molten Beast activity to be seen.

"Sigh~~" someone sighed. "There's no other way; let's start the Crimson Molten Fish harvest early this year!"

Whenever Dragon Kun and Rongxiao fight in the center of the Cold Sea, the Crimson Molten Beasts rush in from all directions to vie for the blood essence shed by Dragon Kun and Rongxiao.

The Crimson Molten Beasts gather in the center, and this is the time to hunt Crimson Molten Beasts.

After the Crimson Molten Beasts finish vying for the blood essence and leave the central area, and the Cold Sea returns to silence, the next to appear are the Crimson Molten Fish.

What the Crimson Molten Fish vie for is the blood and flesh residue shed after the Crimson Molten Beasts fight. This is a highly nourishing substance; even just a tiny bit can allow them to break through their limits and evolve.

Besides this, this season is also the breeding period for female Crimson Molten Fish. In order to make their offspring more powerful, every three years, all female fish in the Cold Sea with Crimson Molten bloodlines, including the Crimson Molten Fish, gather together to move forward and lay eggs in the depths of the Cold Sea.

The value of a single Crimson Molten Fish is nothing to a Grandmaster; it is not worth the effort to catch.

But biological instinct causes hundreds of thousands of Crimson Molten Fish to gather unconsciously. One Crimson Molten Fish is not worth a Grandmaster's effort to catch, but with so many Crimson Molten Fish gathered, it is worth it for a Grandmaster to set aside their pride and act as a fisherman.

As for blood essence and Crimson Molten Beasts, the former is dangerous and the latter is rare, so Grandmasters might not have a harvest; it involves an element of luck. But for Crimson Molten Fish, which are numerous and not dangerous, Grandmasters can fish without restraint. As long as they put in the effort, they will definitely have a harvest.

Therefore, the triennial Cold Sea journey to catch Crimson Molten Fish is what the Grandmasters look forward to the most.

"My Sword Sect has come with three Grandmasters, ten First-Class experts, and a hundred First-Class Martial Artists this time. The outer northern region still belongs to my Sword Sect."

"We of the Daoist Sect have three Grandmasters. The outer eastern region belongs to us."

"The one thousand monks of Le Kingdom are currently preaching Buddhism by the seaside. The northwestern region belongs to us."

"My Tai Kingdom has come with ten thousand soldiers this time, all of them martial artists. We also want a share of the territory!"

The Grandmasters began to divide their respective fishing areas. They were not alone; when they came, they each brought their own troops, all for the purpose of catching Crimson Molten Fish.

After all, fishing for Crimson Molten Fish uses nets, and any martial artist can pull a net. How much could a Grandmaster catch alone? Their biggest role is to lead and occupy territory.

The cold fog region of the Cold Sea cannot be entered by anyone who is not a Grandmaster, so the people brought by the Grandmasters were resting by the seaside.

After the Grandmasters finished dividing the regions, they dispersed. Lu Hu also occupied a large area together with Black Bull and Golden Eagle. Wu Wen also occupied an area with that Grandmaster named Yu De, right next to Lu Hu.

After tidying up a bit, Lu Hu tied up 'Godzilla' in the courtyard, knocked out the two Da Bei, and then hitched a ride on Black Bull's ship to set off.

The Crimson Molten Fish are not in the center of the Cold Sea; the temperature difference there is too great. The fish that were already cooked and floating on the sea surface when Dragon Kun and Rongxiao fought earlier are an example of this.

Not as strong as the Crimson Molten Beasts, if the Crimson Molten Fish run to the center of the Cold Sea, they will either freeze to death from the cold or be cooked to death from the heat.

The Cold Sea is divided into the center, the cold fog, the outer rim, and the seaside.

The center is the area where Dragon Kun and Rongxiao fight. The cold fog is shrouded in cold air all year round, and the area is vast; it cannot be entered by anyone who is not a Grandmaster.

The outer rim, although cold, allows martial artists to stay briefly. The Crimson Molten Fish generally live in the outer rim. As for the seaside, that is where ordinary fish are.

The Grandmasters catch Crimson Molten Fish in the outer rim, which is also the Crimson Molten Fish breeding area mentioned by the ordinary martial artists when Lu Hu first arrived at the Cold Sea.

Lu Hu remembered that the group of young martial artists on that boat even told him that the warming of the Cold Sea water was due to the gathering of Crimson Molten Fish.

Before leaving, he even gifted that boat of martial artists a puddle of Pure Yang Water.

"How would martial artists without backgrounds understand the truth about the Cold Sea's water temperature?" Wu Wen chuckled. The Cold Sea is so large; how could tiny Crimson Molten Fish possibly affect the temperature of the Cold Sea?

The Crimson Molten Fish affecting the Cold Sea temperature! This was just a lie made up by the Grandmasters to prevent the world from knowing about the existence of Dragon Kun and Rongxiao.

An existence like Dragon Kun, if too many people know about it, is prone to causing trouble!

After arriving at the outer rim, Lu Hu saw quite a few ships casting nets and fishing on the sea surface. The people on the ships were the same as the martial artists Lu Hu had seen before—martial artists without backgrounds, taking the risk to grab a haul before the major forces.

In fact, most martial artists choose to fish after the major forces have finished, which is to eat the leftovers of the major forces.

This kind of fishing for Crimson Molten Fish ahead of the major forces is somewhat risky. After all, the outer regions have already been divided up by the Grandmasters, and they are essentially snatching food from the tiger's mouth.

If the major force in that region doesn't care, it's fine; if they do care, the outcome for each of them will be miserable.

At the bottom, survival is just that miserable!

Bang! Golden Eagle suddenly dove from the air, plunging into the deep sea and exploding a large spray of water.

After a while, Golden Eagle suddenly shot out of the sea, gripping a dark red carp over two meters long under its claws. It threw the carp onto the ship, and Lu Hu noticed the carp's large belly.

This was a female fish about to lay eggs, also a Crimson Molten Fish.

The three Grandmasters, Black Bull, Wu Wen, and Yu De, looked at Golden Eagle.

This was to ask about the situation below.

"Chirp~" Golden Eagle nodded and then wrote, informing everyone of the situation it had seen in the sea.

Three hundred meters under the sea, fish were swarming. The number of Crimson Molten Fish was very high, and they were almost gathering into a storm. It was time to start calling people.

"Moo!!" After confirming the situation, Black Bull pointed its hoof forward. The meaning was simple: with the direction it pointed as a line, the left area belonged to their spirit beasts, and the right area belonged to Wu Wen and Yu De.

Black Bull's voice traveled very far. The ordinary martial artists on the nearby ships heard the sound and knew the reason, so they all hurriedly pulled in their nets and retreated!

"Chirp~" Golden Eagle took out a black iron ball from its ship, flew to a high altitude, and detonated the iron ball.

Boom! A shower of fireworks bloomed in the sky!

"How convenient!" Wu Wen, in the area on the other side, exclaimed. This was the signal for Golden Eagle to notify its subordinates to come to the outer rim; it was simple, convenient, and efficient.

Unlike him, who still had to run to the seaside to notify them.

"Chirp~~~" After a long while, the sky suddenly darkened. Thousands of birds flew toward here—eagles, hawks, falcons. Among these tens of thousands of birds, only a few hundred were spirit beasts, each bringing the elites of their tribes, following Golden Eagle, traveling tens of thousands of miles to the Cold Sea, enduring the frigid cold wind, all for the sake of the upcoming Crimson Molten Fish feast.

"Roar!" "Awoo!"... In the distance, giant ships sailed over. Each ship was very huge, hundreds of meters long. The passengers on the ships were not all humans, but wild oxen, yaks, rhinoceroses, elephants, wild horses, foxes, the Wolf Pack, tigers, leopards...

Humans were few and far between; there were mostly animals—some herbivores, some carnivores—yet at this moment, they were surprisingly harmonious, riding the ships together, sailing over in a grand procession.

Countless birds in the sky, led by spirit beasts, landed on each of the ships respectively.

"Roar!" "Moo!" "Chirp~"... Among the birds and beasts, there were two wild oxen, a tiger, an elephant, a wild horse, a gray eagle, a parrot... more than a dozen spirit beasts came treading on the waves.

These dozen or so spirit beasts were all Grandmaster-level. Besides them, there was also a bald, burly man who was extremely robust, with glowing bronze skin; one look and you could tell he was an expert at iron forging.

These Grandmasters came before Black Bull and Golden Eagle's ship to pay their respects to the two Grandmasters, expressing their reverence, and at the same time reporting the situation of their respective teams.

Among these Grandmasters, the two wild oxen and the burly man belonged to Black Bull's subordinates, while the gray eagle and parrot were Golden Eagle's subordinates.

The tigers, elephants, wild horses, and the like also had Grandmaster backers behind them, but these Grandmasters were delayed by matters and could not come or did not want to come, so they were temporarily led by Black Bull and Golden Eagle.

Among the group of Grandmasters, that Grandmaster parrot would chirp like an eagle one moment and moo like a cow the next. She actually understood the languages of various animals, and she acted as a translator to report the situation to Black Bull and Golden Eagle.

That Grandmaster tiger stood on the sea surface, its gaze frequently looking at Lu Hu on the ship. A fellow kind, and sharing a ship with two Grandmasters, it couldn't help but make this tiger think too much.

"Moo~~" (Hu Ben is from Xuan Kingdom, a disciple of Old Mountain Lord.) Black Bull told Lu Hu that the Grandmaster tiger was named Hu Ben, a disciple of Old Mountain Lord from Xuan Kingdom.

Lu Hu had heard the name Mountain Lord many times. He knew that this Mountain Lord was a tiger just like him.

When they were on Ice Island, the old eunuch from Tai Kingdom wanted to conspire with other Grandmasters against him, and Black Bull had said he would invite Mountain Lord to help.

In Black Bull's tone, it seemed that as long as Mountain Lord came, they would not fear any danger.

Whether it was Wu Wen or Golden Eagle, they both agreed very much.

They were all very convinced of Mountain Lord's strength, and Lu Hu couldn't help but feel curious about that Mountain Lord.

If there is a chance, he must go to Xuan Kingdom to see that Mountain Lord.

"Aooo" (Junior Hu Ben, greets Senior.) At this moment, after reporting the situation, the Grandmasters left one by one to prepare for fishing, while Hu Ben came before Lu Hu to pay its respects.

Lu Hu was a bit surprised; he could understand the meaning in Hu Ben's voice.

Was it because they were of the same kind and both spirit beasts? Or did Hu Ben have a special ability?

"Aooo" (You are not bad.) Lu Hu nodded calmly.

"Aooo" (Thank you for the compliment, Senior!) Hu Ben replied. "Aooo" (If my teacher knew of Senior's existence, he would definitely be very happy!)

"Aooo" (If I have a chance, I will go to Xuan Kingdom to visit Mountain Lord.)

"Aooo"... Lu Hu was also happy. This was the first proper verbal exchange he had had since becoming a tiger.

It wasn't like Wu Wen, Black Bull, or Golden Eagle, where they had to write to converse.

Lu Hu and Hu Ben exchanged home addresses. Finally, Lu Hu told Hu Ben to bring the other tigers to follow him; he, King Lu Hu, was going to secure benefits for his own kind.

"Aooo~~" (I'll go right now.) Hu Ben was excited and hurriedly went back to notify the other tigers.

All the animals were resting on the ships, waiting for the upcoming feast.

Boom! At this moment, a loud noise came from the cold fog area in the distance, and thick pillars of water gushed up.

"Wooo~~~" In the cold fog, a large number of huge creatures were rushing toward this side.

Black Bull and Golden Eagle were not surprised when they saw this, but instead reminded Lu Hu that the feast was about to begin.

"Aooo" Lu Hu nodded. He looked at the group of giant creatures. After they got closer, Lu Hu saw clearly that it was a dense school of fish, not Crimson Molten Fish, but predators of the ocean such as electric eels, tuna, sharks...

Leading them was a group of whales, over forty of them. Among them was one whale, its body length only over forty meters; its size was not prominent among the group of whales.

But this whale's whole body shimmered with a deep blue light, its eyes were crystalline and brilliant, and its aura was imposing.

This was a Grandmaster-level spirit beast. There is also a difference in combat power between those in the same realm, just like a rabbit and an elephant; even if they are in the same realm, the elephant is still a mountain that the rabbit cannot shake.

And whales push their racial advantages to the extreme. Their size is too large, so large that giant elephants are like young children in front of them.

Even before becoming spirit beasts, their strength is greater than that of a Grandmaster. Once true qi is born within their bodies, its thickness will be dozens or even a hundred times that of an ordinary Grandmaster's true qi.

The unique racial advantage makes whales unrivaled in the same realm.

This Grandmaster-level whale, presumably in the vast Cold Sea, is the third-in-command existence, apart from Rongxiao and Dragon Kun.

This group of ocean predators, like them, brought the elites of their respective tribes to enjoy this Crimson Molten Fish feast!

The land has land spirit beasts, the sky has avian spirit beasts, and the ocean naturally has marine spirit beasts. Moreover, Crimson Molten Fish also belong to the ocean, so marine predators have more of a home-field advantage; the number that came was the largest, and it was still increasing.

Not long after, Wu Wen and Yu De also arrived with more than a dozen ships. The two of them brought a total of over one hundred people; this was the main force for catching Crimson Molten Fish.

In the distance, there were also hundreds of fishing boats, all carrying fishermen from Man Kingdom who made a living by fishing, with plenty of fishing experience.

They were all ordinary people, and the cold air here was still too great, so they could not come over for the time being.

At this moment, the predators of the sea, land, and air forces had all assembled. There was no strife; they rested in their respective areas, waiting for the feast to begin so they could show their skills.