Chapter 1250: The Grace of a Single Meal
Chapter 1250: Chapter 1250: The Grace of a Single Meal
(Previously: Ning Fan consumed the Ten Revolutions Elixir containing Gluttonous Force, searching for food everywhere. At this time, Ancestor Luoluo came to him, claiming she could help him find higher quality food. As they passed through Partridge Fire Palace, Ancestor Luoluo ordered the residing Flame Devil Tribe to open the seal of Fire Quail Pond...)
"Enough nonsense! I invited Daoist Ning here for serious business! Open the seal quickly, I want to go to Fire Quail Pond!"
With the command from Ancestor Luoluo, Long Yansheng, the leader of the Flame Devils, dared not disobey, and immediately summoned countless Flame Devil tribespeople to begin preparations for opening the Fire Quail Pond.
The so-called Fire Quail Pond is a secret place sealed beneath the desert of Partridge Fire Palace, requiring a special ritual to open each time.
The Flame Devil Tribe busied themselves with setting up a ritual altar and an incense table: while the altar appeared ordinary at first glance, its internal formation principles greatly differed from what Ning Fan knew, likely due to the heritage of Ziwei Xianyu; the incense table seemed nothing special, but the offerings on it were rather peculiar.
Normally, people offering at altars might present fruits or animals, but this incense table’s offerings were earthworms and red worms.
Seeing such offerings, Ning Fan couldn’t help but chuckle: what kind of offerings are these? Clearly they are fish bait. Are you intending to offer fish with such a ritual?
Looking again at the deity card set on the incense table, he found he guessed correctly.
[Taiku True Lord Fire Fish Immortal].
They really are offering fish!
He wondered who this Fire Fish Immortal on the card was and what they had to do with the opening of Fire Quail Pond.
Suddenly, a burst of crying came.
Ning Fan turned his gaze and saw an old divine granny from the Flame Devil Clan leading over a dozen Flame Devil maidens.
All the maidens appeared tearful — their crying seemed more of a pretense than genuine sadness.
The divine granny’s expression was severe as she noticed someone’s fake crying and scolded, "Put some heart into it! Even if it’s just an act, it must appear realistic! Remember ’Crying Fish’ is for precautionary measures. If the crying is unconvincing, those ferocious things will not be intimidated!"
"Really stir up your emotions!"
"Think about sad and upsetting things!"
"...Yes!" The maidens meekly replied, each starting to brew emotion, gradually crying more convincingly.
"Crying Fish?" Ning Fan silently watched everything.
He’d only heard of mortals crying during funerals, never that opening a Fire Quail Pond required crying for the fish inside.
Under the granny’s lead, the maidens lined up on both sides. The granny gestured again, allowing them to pause their crying. Clearly, it wasn’t yet time to cry for the fish and they could rest a bit.
As for the granny herself, she shuffled to the incense table, trembling as she picked up the wooden sword and a handful of yellowish-green talisman paper, throwing it into the air while muttering indistinctly.
"Mammy mammy mwa.... Inviting the Spiritual Fire to shine upon the talisman... Mammy mammy mwa... reveal true phenomena in Fire Quail Pond..."
The granny chanted and hopped about for an unknown duration before the deity card on the incense table finally showed changes, beginning to tremble slightly.
Then, a radiant eight-colored flame flew out from within the card, soaring skyward.
Initially, there was only one light, circling in the air before suddenly trembling and splitting into thousands, illuminating the sky with resplendent hues.
"Invoke the True Lord’s revelation!" The granny pointed the wooden sword skyward, and all the flames fell, amidst which the magma lake sealed beneath the desert slowly rose to the surface, bubbling with magma.
The magma lake spanned hundreds of miles, its shape distinctly resembling a bird poised to fly when viewed from above.
Occasionally, large fish with wings leapt from the lake surface, joyfully swimming through the magma.
These large fish had long bird beaks paired with wings and scales, looking conspicuously awkward; their heads were disproportionately large, their eyes bulging, making their facial proportions odd and grotesque; with their mouths open showing sharp, chilling fangs, they were far from cute, instead appearing quite menacing.
The smallest of these fish were the size of an adult ox, while some grew to hundreds of zhang in size.
Their cries were equally strange, neither bird-like nor beast-like, sounding hoarse and unpleasant, resembling crows or pigs grunting.
"This is Fire Quail Pond. The fish in the pond soar in the sky when meeting water, and dive underground when encountering fire, named Fire Quail Fish. Though ugly in appearance, their flesh is extraordinarily delicious and nourishing, better than anything Daoist friend has ever eaten. The only trouble is the fish are highly fiery, even fire cultivators holding control positions dare not eat much; some parts of the fish are poisonous, requiring special processing in consumption... We might as well approach for a closer look at the fish..." Ancestor Luoluo laughed.
As she spoke, she led Ning Fan closer to the magma lake.
As Ning Fan reached the lake’s edge, a mid-sized Fire Quail Fish swam towards him, resembling a high mountain.
This Fire Quail Fish was equally ugly but had very expressive eyes, seemingly filled with countless emotions. Upon reaching the shore, it wagged its tail obediently, slapping the water and looked at Ning Fan pitifully, occasionally swaying its enormous head.
"Legends say Fire Quail Fish are amorous creatures; when encountering a loved one, they swim to the shore to express their affections..." As she came to this point, Ancestor Luoluo suddenly paused, looking significantly at Ning Fan.
"An amorous fish? That’s interesting."
"More interestingly, these Fire Quail Fish are multigendered; each can reproduce offspring alone, meaning they need not form attachments to external things..."
"Multigendered fish? Well, it’s nothing damaging as fish go..."
Ning Fan and the Fire Quail Fish eyed each other.
Facing the Fire Quail Fish’s pitiful gaze, strangely, he didn’t find it ugly, instead considering it somewhat silly and adorable.
He then squatted, stretched his hand, patting the Fire Quail Fish’s large head in a comforting gesture.
Being endowed with Communication with All Things ability, even without intentionally activating it, he could clearly sense the benevolence expressed in the fish’s eyes.
Such a friendly and adorable fish, eating it might be a shame; perhaps keeping one or two as pets would be better...
"...But the way Fire Quail Fish expresses affection is rather special. If it encounters someone it loves, it will inevitably open its giant mouth, truly merging into one with its beloved..." Ancestor Luoluo added.
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the originally friendly and adorable Fire Quail Fish suddenly opened its large, bloody mouth and lunged at Ning Fan to swallow him.
Where is this fish trying to show love?
It clearly wants to swallow Ning Fan whole!
Love him, merge into one with him!
Love him, swallow him whole!
Apparently, the love in the eyes of the Fire Quail Fish is simply because it sees something it wants to eat!
After Ning Fan activated Communication with All Things, in that instant, he could hear the arrogant words of the Fire Quail Fish.
[Foolish human! Become my food!]
"..." Ning Fan was slightly speechless.
Perhaps... possibly... thinking the Fire Quail Fish is adorable might mean he’s a dimwitted fool...
A gulp!
The Fire Quail Fish swallowed Ning Fan whole and burped contentedly!
Almost at the moment the Fire Quail Fish swallowed Ning Fan, countless cries of alarm sounded within the Flame Devils, even the leader, Long Yansheng, was startled.
"Oh no! Ancestor Luoluo’s little sweetheart got eaten!"
Long Yansheng couldn’t help but be shocked!
As the master of Partridge Fire Palace, watching over this Fire Quail Pond for countless years, how could he not know the terror of these Fire Quail Fish?
The Fire Quail Fish is an ancient creature, its stomach acid is unusually potent, even a juvenile Fire Quail Fish can digest a True Immortal within a few breaths with its stomach acid.
The fish that swallowed Ning Fan is clearly an adult, its stomach acid is something even an Immortal Emperor like Long Yansheng would fear.
Long Yansheng assumed Ning Fan was Ancestor Luoluo’s sweetheart and did not expect Ning Fan to be so powerful. Upon seeing Ning Fan swallowed into the fish’s belly, his face turned green from fear!
If Ning Fan were to perish on his turf, the entire Fire Demon Tribe would suffer Ancestor Luoluo’s wrath...
"Quick! Quickly cry the fish! If we can save him in time, there might still be hope..." Long Yansheng ordered the Divine Granny.
In fact, there was no need for Long Yansheng’s command, the Divine Granny was already on alert for any accident, almost at the instant Ning Fan was swallowed, she had already ordered the crying fish maidens beside her.
Then, the maidens cried in unison, their cries were heart-wrenching, as if preparing for a funeral for Ning Fan.
Strangely enough.
Clearly, it was just the ordinary cries of the maidens, yet when heard by the Fire Quail Fish, it had an indescribable destructive power.
Whether it was the Fire Quail Fish that swallowed Ning Fan or those happily swimming on the lake’s surface, upon hearing the maidens’ cries, they each felt a splitting headache, screaming and struggling in the magma lake.
The Fire Quail Fish that swallowed Ning Fan... let’s call it the Devouring Mortal Fish, suffered the most, under the Divine Granny’s ritual, most of the cries surrounded it, making it feel like vomiting.
Unbearable, extremely unbearable!
This Devouring Mortal Fish knew, if it didn’t get rid of the food in its belly, these cries would definitely continue to torment it.
In past situations, faced with such a commotion, it might give up and expel the contents of its belly, but this time, it didn’t want to surrender!
Because this time the food (referring to Ning Fan) was simply too nourishing! It was after swallowing Ning Fan that it truly felt the vast cultivation Ning Fan contained within!
If it could digest Ning Fan, its cultivation could absolutely soar, perhaps even surpassing the Fire Fish Immortal...
With greed overtaking it, this Devouring Mortal Fish kept its beak-like mouth tightly shut, refusing to spit Ning Fan out under any circumstances.
This made Long Yansheng even more fearful!
He had never seen such a stubborn Fire Quail Fish, daring not fear even the cry fish ritual, completely violating common sense!
Seeing that Ning Fan had remained too long in the fish’s belly, Long Yansheng feared Ning Fan was already being digested by stomach acid, so he gritted his teeth and made a decision, requesting Ancestor Luoluo’s permission, "Only one solution left! I’ll wield a blade to cut open the fish belly, senior if you could disperse the toxins to save him..."
Cutting open the fish belly to save him was the last resort, but definitely not the best method.
Because the Fire Quail Fish’s body has too many toxic sacs, cutting open the belly would certainly rupture some toxic sacs.
The toxins are even more dangerous than the stomach acid; the ruptured toxic sacs, the splashing toxins, if even a single drop adheres to Ning Fan... Alas, what other solution is there? We can only do it with gritted teeth!!!
Unexpectedly, Ancestor Luoluo remained calm and relaxed, a double-sided embroidered fan in hand appearing without anyone knowing when, covering her mouth with a smile, said, "No rush."
The fan’s embroidered pattern vaguely featured clusters of green Nvluo Grass.
What? How can you not be in a hurry at such a time?
Long Yansheng was baffled, thinking to himself that perhaps this young man was no longer of interest to you elder? Otherwise, why would you remain so leisurely while someone’s life is in jeopardy?
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the sound of sword light was heard.
A sword light entirely condensed from mana abruptly burst out from within the Devouring Mortal Fish, slicing the fish in half in an instant.
The Devouring Mortal Fish met its end so effortlessly, and even in death, its eyes were filled with a greedy longing, unwilling to open its mouth.
Ning Fan flew out from the fish’s belly, and the splattered venom from the shattered poison sacs didn’t even touch him, blocked by an invisible wall of mana.
Longx Yansheng was astonished and speechless.
What an immense power of mana this is!
Just by releasing mana, he blocked the venom of the Fire Quail Fish. This young man, no, this Senior Ning Fan, actually possesses Quasi-Saint level mana!
"Is this fish interesting?" Ancestor Luoluo asked with a charming smile.
"..." Ning Fan looked at Ancestor Luoluo without answering, clearly sensing that she was laughing at him for foolishly stroking the head of such a fierce creature.
"The fish is uninteresting, but the Daoist is indeed an interesting person." Ancestor Luoluo continued to tease.
After waiting for a long time, Ning Fan responded indifferently, "...Two hundred and four poison sacs."
Ancestor Luoluo was slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected that, despite being swallowed by the Fire Quail Fish for only a short while, Ning Fan had counted all the poison sacs within its body.
This kind of perception is truly precise!
"To eat Fire Quail Fish, when slicing the fish, one must avoid the poison sacs; if accidentally cut, the entire fish becomes ruined..." Ning Fan glanced at the Devouring Mortal Fish he had sliced in half, drawing his conclusion.
It was that the fish meat of the Devouring Mortal Fish had splattered onto venom, turning the once snow-white fish meat instantaneously dark and dry, its texture decaying like rotten wood, losing any spiritual essence or edible value.
"What the Senior says is absolutely right! To eat Fire Quail Fish, one must be familiar with the fish’s structure, and the blade must be wielded by the Fire Demon Clan personally. If there’s any mistake, an entire fish would be wasted. I have millions of years of experience in slicing fish, and I am willing to slice the fish for the Senior!" Longx Yansheng said respectfully, bowing towards Ning Fan.
Having recognized Ning Fan’s power, he naturally dared not be disrespectful anymore. And having previously misunderstood Ning Fan as Ancestor Luoluo’s lover, he was worried his words may have been inappropriate, thus he eagerly tried to win Ning Fan’s favor to avoid any resentments.
"Oh? Daoist, you are an Immortal Emperor. How could I let you take on such menial tasks?" Ning Fan politely declined Longx Yansheng’s offer.
The sincerity in his tone was not feigned, allowing Longx Yansheng to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that Ning Fan wasn’t holding a grudge over the misunderstanding.
So Longx Yansheng spoke even more respectfully. "You are a Quasi-Saint; to honor your visit, if I don’t assist, it would be discourteous. Slicing fish should indeed be done by me."
"I’m not a Quasi-Saint, just an Immortal King..." Ning Fan shook his head.
"What? You are only an Immortal King?" Longx Yansheng was momentarily stunned, then slapped his forehead and laughed heartily, "I understand! I understand! You are undoubtedly an Immortal King!"
No, I guess you don’t understand... forget it.
Having grown accustomed to being misunderstood, Ning Fan was long past the point of explanation. Since Ancestor Luoluo had invited him to eat fish, he naturally wouldn’t stand on ceremony.
Inside his belly, he was still hungry.
Ning Fan’s gaze swept over the Fire Quail Pond and finally settled on the largest Fire Quail Fish.
By now, the crying girls had stopped their sobs, and hence the fire quail fish in the pond regained their tranquility, swimming joyfully.
As if sensing Ning Fan’s gaze, the largest Fire Quail Fish turned its eyes toward Ning Fan. Upon seeing him, its eyes were filled with a naturally arising affection.
Confirming the look, it was indeed a delicacy!
Thus, this Fire Quail Fish, oh no, this Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two, learned the previous fish’s posture, cutely swam to the shore, pitifully wagging its tail and shaking its head at Ning Fan, its large adorable eyes showing full emotions.
Meeting the pathetic gaze of Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two, Ning Fan’s expression seemed to soften. He squatted down and reached out his hand to stroke the big fish head of Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two, appearing to comfort it.
Ow!
Upon seeing Ning Fan approach, Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two instantly opened its bloody mouth, attempting to duplicate the accomplishment of Devouring Mortal Fish Number One by swallowing Ning Fan whole.
At that moment, a gleam of illusory art flashed in Ning Fan’s left eye.
And then, Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two kept its wide-open maw, unable to close it, dying with foam bubbling from its mouth.
Directly killed by the illusory art!
"Giggling, I thought Daoist would be swallowed again by this fish, but it turns out you were only playing along, pretending to be fooled by the fish. Such wicked fun, I can’t learn." Ancestor Luoluo laughed.
"..." Ning Fan certainly didn’t have wicked fun.
If Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two had shown a slight change of heart at the last moment and withdrew its attack, his illusory art wouldn’t have activated.
He preferred to adopt a Fire Quail Fish as a pet over eating it. Unfortunately, his criteria for choosing pets were always strict; this fish, though it pleased him visually, failed to comprehend basic cues, lacked retreat in the face of difficulty, and such a stupid fish he wouldn’t accept—a fish dumber than Wu Laoba was absolutely not acceptable.
"Achoo..." Far in the Eastern Heaven, Wu Laoba sneezed for no apparent reason.
[Just saying, where is the cuteness in such an ugly creature, your taste is truly peculiar...] echoed the helpless complaint of the Ant Lord within the divine sense.
The Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two, killed by the illusory art, was handed to Longx Yansheng.
Thereupon, a multi-colored light scattered around Longx Yansheng, standing in front of the chef’s table, his Immortal Emperor’s aura unreservedly emanated, altering the colors of the wind and clouds.
On the chef’s table lay a Several-Hundred-Zhang-long giant fish.
Long Yansheng rolled up his sleeves, with a kitchen knife in each hand—those knives turned out to be his Dao Weapons.
He moved like lightning, the gleam of the knives danced, spreading the powerful Immortal Emperor’s Aura, as if splitting the sky in two.
A mere dead fish could naturally not withstand the slashing of an Immortal Emperor level, its scales fluttered, fish meat kept being sliced off, and amidst the intersecting gleams, every poison pouch hidden within the flesh was perfectly avoided by Long Yansheng.
Truly worthy of being a master with millions of years of experience in slicing fish, simply terrifying!
Watching Long Yansheng slice fish, Ning Fan felt a vague realization, but it was fleeting and hard to grasp.
If he were to slice fish himself, he could match Long Yansheng’s divine skill, but he would have to rely on spirit sense to do so.
Without spirit sense, he absolutely couldn’t achieve the perfect avoidance of poison pouches with every cut.
Yet Long Yansheng did it without using spirit sense, relying solely on his lifelong experience to easily accomplish the task.
"Butcher Ding’s Butchering of the Ox, skill comes with practice... no matter how exquisite a divine skill, it couldn’t compare to the pure and simple Dao... I’ve understood this early on, but seeing this scene with my own eyes is still shocking..."
When it comes to fighting, Ning Fan has a hundred ways to take down Long Yansheng.
When it comes to slicing fish... Well, Ning Fan concedes.
"Senior, would you like sashimi, fish soup, or perhaps try wine-braised quail fish? Grilled fish slices are also good, what’s your preference, Senior?" Long Yansheng asked with a smiling face while swiftly slicing fish.
Grrrr.
Ning Fan, already hungry, felt even hungrier at Long Yansheng’s words.
"Just go ahead and decide," Ning Fan’s expression remained unchanged.
Yet his stomach, embarrassed but not lacking manners, rumbled aloud.
"Hehe, then I shall decide what to do,"
Long Yansheng not only had millions of years of experience in slicing fish but also in cooking fish.
Thus, the fish he made was unimaginably delicious.
Long Yansheng was responsible for cooking, and other members of the Fire Demon Tribe carried the dishes.
Several Yellow Turban Warriors carried bowls as large as houses to Ning Fan. Inside those bowls was a whole bowl of delicious fish soup.
"Please have your meal, Senior," several warriors said respectfully.
"Thank you," Ning Fan replied politely, but wasted no further courtesy.
He reached out, picking up the house-sized bowl, and began gulping down the fish soup.
"Hiss!"
Everyone, including Long Yansheng, was startled by Ning Fan’s actions.
Even Ancestor Luoluo was mildly surprised, clearly not expecting Ning Fan to dare drink fish soup so boldly.
After all, the flame essence within Fire Quail Fish was so dense that even a skilled fire cultivator could only eat sparingly, let alone gulp like Ning Fan. Even Ancestor Luoluo couldn’t manage it.
"This person’s capability exceeds my expectations..." Ancestor Luoluo felt a rush of joy. She certainly hadn’t invited Ning Fan to dinner without reason, but with an intention. The stronger Ning Fan’s skills, the greater the chance her request would be fulfilled, and she was naturally pleased.
Ning Fan isn’t afraid of the flame essence within Fire Quail Fish.
From the Minor Five Elements Constitution, to the Grand Five Elements Body, and then to the Founding Primordial Spirit Body, his physique became increasingly formidable, inherently resistant to fire.
Coupled with a new treasure he recently acquired, a whole slab of the Land of Ten Directions Supreme Fire, his mastery of fire had soared dramatically. Now, he could even swallow flame attacks from an Immortal Emperor, rendering mere fish flame essence insignificant.
Quickly, the entire bowl of fish soup was consumed by Ning Fan. He drank all the soup and devoured the fish, leaving behind a bowl of oily fish bones.
"Hmm? These fish bones hold some peculiar properties; they might be useful for Fish Master..." Ning Fan intended to give the leftover fish bones to Fish Master.
As for not giving fish meat or fish soup... it still felt impolite to serve fish to Fish Master... but gifting fish bones might also offend Fish Elder, considering they’re both fish...
Oh well, I’ll gather these fish bones first. I’ll ask Fish Elder’s opinion later before deciding whether to gift them.
So all leftover fish bones were collected by Ning Fan into his storage pouch.
After finishing a bowl of fish soup, new dishes were brought forth.
An oval plate, as huge as a ship, inside it laid a piece of golden crispy fried fish.
It had sauce paired with it.
Grrrr.
Ning Fan remained hungry.
In the grip of hunger, Ning Fan took only a dozen breaths to finish off the whole ship, sorry, the whole plate of fried fish.
Then came the third dish.
And then the fourth dish.
The fifth dish.
The ninth dish.
The fifteenth dish.
"Unbelievable! It’s one thing that Ning Fan is not afraid of the flame aura, but how can he not be full yet?" All the Flame Demon Clan members were shocked.
Even Long Yansheng was startled by Ning Fan’s appetite.
It’s important to know that this Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two is the largest fish in the Fire Quail Pond, and even after removing the inedible parts, it still has millions of pounds of fish meat.
After fifteen dishes, only half of Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two remained.
Ning Fan had eaten a million or two pounds of fish meat, yet he still looked unsatisfied.
This appetite is terrifying!
One must know that even the Northern Sea Great Kun, famous for its enormous hunger, could only consume about seven to eight hundred thousand pounds of fish meat at most when it came here.
After all, the medicinal effect of the Fire Quail Fish is extremely strong, and it can easily overfill someone to death. Even the mighty Northern Sea Great Kun couldn’t digest too much at once.
However, Ning Fan could, and he still looked far from satisfied...
"The next dish, boiled fish balls!"
Long Yansheng continued to busy himself.
Dish after dish of fish cuisines were continuously brought before Ning Fan.
Hungry, very hungry.
Even though he had already eaten a large amount of fish meat, the hunger in his stomach showed no sign of easing.
Instead, it grew more intense!
Inside him, only eighty-eight strands of Gluttonous Force remained in an instant.
Then eighty-seven strands.
Then eighty-six, eighty-five, eighty-four...
The Gluttonous Force continued to decrease.
The feeling of hunger in his stomach grew even more intense.
Very soon, Devouring Mortal Fish Number Two was completely consumed by Ning Fan.
Yet Ning Fan still felt no sign of being full.
Thus, he returned to the shore of the Fire Quail Pond to once again attempt to tame a Fire Quail Fish as a pet.
Unfortunately, this attempt also failed.
What he got was the affectionate bloody mouth of Devouring Mortal Fish Number Three.
And then, Devouring Mortal Fish Number Three was brutally counter-killed.
"What a pity..."
While saying it was a pity, Ning Fan still handed Devouring Mortal Fish Number Three’s body over to Long Yansheng for cooking.
Half an hour later, Devouring Mortal Fish Number Three was also completely consumed by Ning Fan.
Then Ning Fan went back to the shore again.
And then, Devouring Mortal Fish Number Four came to court its own doom...
Then Devouring Mortal Fish Number Five.
Then Devouring Mortal Fish Numbers Six, Seven, Eight...
"Perhaps, these Fire Quail Fish are not suitable for raising..." Ning Fan said with some regret.
Long Yansheng was astonished!
If he remembered correctly, Ning Fan was now eating Devouring Mortal Fish Number Seventy-Seven!
Since Ning Fan caught the fish in a sequence from largest to smallest, by the time it was Devouring Mortal Fish Number Seventy-Seven’s turn, this fish was no longer big.
It was only a medium-sized fish about ten zhang in size, having just reached adulthood not long ago.
Once this fish was consumed, there were no adult fish left in the Fire Quail Pond, only thousands of small fish fry under ten zhang in size.
The small fish fry still numbered in the thousands, but even if they were combined, they probably wouldn’t be enough to fill Ning Fan’s teeth.
Long Yansheng realized that even if Ning Fan were to eat several more ponds of fish, he wouldn’t be satisfied. Thinking it over, Long Yansheng decided to give Ning Fan some advice.
"Senior, you must not eat any more..." Long Yansheng advised.
"Don’t worry, I’m not full yet."
"That’s not the issue. If you keep eating, the small fish fry in the pond might go extinct..."
"..." Ning Fan felt slightly embarrassed.
Having been busy eating fish, he hadn’t noticed that only a group of small fish fry remained in the Fire Quail Pond at that moment.
As the ancients said, "If you drain the pond to catch fish, will you not gain? But next year there will be no fish; if you burn the forest to hunt, will you not gain? But next year there will be no animals." This precisely speaks of this matter.
Ning Fan understood this principle, and he certainly couldn’t eat the Flame Demon Clan’s fish pond to extinction.
Even though his stomach wasn’t full... it seemed this meal would have to end here.
"In that case, once this fish is finished, I won’t eat anymore..."
"Wise decision, Senior!"
Seeing Ning Fan accept the advice, Long Yansheng was relieved. He sliced, cooked, and plated Devouring Mortal Fish Number Seventy-Seven’s meat all in one go.
While eating the last Devouring Mortal Fish, Ning Fan pondered where to find food next.
Inside him, there were still seventy-one strands of Gluttonous Force. It seemed that until these strands were exhausted, he would never feel full.
He needed more food...
"Rest assured, Daoist, there are other places along the way where you can have a meal," Ancestor Luoluo reassured.
"I apologize for the trouble."
"Oh, how would there be any trouble? Daoist’s appetite is astonishing; your ladyship is nothing but impressed... Oh, wait, this tremor, could it be..."
Originally, Ancestor Luoluo was smiling, but suddenly she sensed something, and her expression changed drastically. As a Second-Grade Quasi-Saint, she found herself in a state of high alert.
Ning Fan also sensed something.
It turned out that within the Fire Quail Pond, the magma suddenly started to churn violently. The churning seemed less like waves and more like a living movement.
Numerous magma erupted from the Fire Quail Pond—not an accurate description! It wasn’t magma erupting, but rather the entire Fire Quail Pond, as if alive, standing up from the desert.
The Fire Quail Pond was formed by gathered magma. When it stood up like a creature, at first glance, it resembled a magma monster towering hundreds of miles high.
The magma monster spread its wings, lowered its bird-like beastly gaze with cold indifference, overlooking all beings, exuding an indescribable majesty!
With just one glance, the entire Partridge Fire Palace instantly sank into an endless sea of fire, flames that could not be extinguished, because those flames were born of its anger!
"Yasiduo, Xilinaduo... Yasiduo!" The magma monster roared in anger.
The Flame Demon Clan instantly burst into chaos.
"Oh no! The Fire Fish Immortal has actually awakened today!"
"This is odd, clearly it’s only been five years since the last awakening; it shouldn’t be time for another awakening. Why is this happening?"
"It’s that strange language again. Every time the Fire Fish Immortal awakens, it speaks in an unfamiliar language. What’s the meaning of today’s words?"
"Does the Clan Leader know?"
"I don’t know."
"What about the knowledgeable Divine Granny? Aren’t you the one who claims to be able to communicate with the Fire Fish Immortal?"
"Er, well, uh... Lord Fire Fish Immortal is saying that you’ve eaten too much fish, and more offerings must be made as compensation. Yes, that’s right." Divine Granny babbled nonsensically.
"So that’s how it is. It’s because opening the Fire Quail Pond to overfish has angered the Fire Fish Immortal..."
"Alas, who could have predicted that Ning Senior would eat seventy-seven adult fish, no wonder the Fire Fish Immortal is angry."
"Do you have a death wish? Stop gossiping about Ning Senior, he’s a Quasi-Saint!"
"In any case, let’s do as the Divine Granny says and offer more tributes to appease the Fire Fish Immortal’s wrath!"
"Following Divine Granny’s guidance won’t go wrong!"
Thus, in an effort to quell the Fire Fish Immortal’s anger, the entire Flame Demon Clan busied themselves, quickly gathering a large amount of worms and red insects to offer to the Fire Fish Immortal.
In front of the incense altar, Divine Granny was singing and dancing, attempting to placate the Fire Fish Immortal’s anger through prayer.
Divine Granny seemed confident, acting like she could swiftly resolve the crisis. Even though she couldn’t understand what the Fire Fish Immortal was saying or why it was furious.
She privately speculated that the Fire Fish Immortal’s sudden rage was related to Ning Fan eating too much fish, and the idea of offering more worms and red insects was her utterly fabricated solution.
The real solution wasn’t any worms or red insects.
But rather her self-created prayer song.
"Mummy mummy mum... invoke the Spiritual Fire to illuminate the talisman... mummy mummy mum... appear in the Fire Quail Pond..."
The chant was entirely made up by her, back in the year when she had just become the clan’s Divine Granny, the first time she witnessed the Fire Fish Immortal’s awakening and anger.
Before her, there were countless other Divine Grannies in the Flame Demon Clan, yet they all perished.
Every time the Fire Fish Immortal awoke, the clan would select a Divine Granny to appease it, but invariably, all of them failed and were ultimately devoured by the Fire Fish Immortal.
Thus, every time the Fire Fish Immortal got angry, a shaman would be tragically killed.
Only this one shaman inexplicably survived and ended the Fire Fish Immortal’s killing spree.
When she first faced the Fire Fish Immortal, she was in despair, so frightened that she cried! At the moment she was about to be devoured by the Fire Fish Immortal, she was so scared that she cried nonsense unintelligibly, and a casual sentence unexpectedly calmed the Fire Fish Immortal’s rage.
Mammy mammy mo.
It was just nonsensical babble, yet it unexpectedly saved her life.
She didn’t know what special magic this sentence had.
She only knew that from then on, everyone in the clan believed she had a way to stop the Fire Fish Immortal’s rage and considered her the greatest shaman in history.
Many years later, the Fire Fish Immortal awakened again, and she stood in front of the Fire Fish Immortal once more, reciting the spell.
Sure enough, the Fire Fish Immortal once again returned to calm, returning to a deep sleep.
When she confirmed that the spell she invented was effective on the Fire Fish Immortal, the shaman started to swell with pride and began to indulge herself.
Her status in the clan rose dramatically, below one but above all others.
In order to prevent others from discovering the mystery of this spell, she incorporated it into long blessings.
Then, countless times, she "repelled" the raging Fire Fish Immortal, becoming the undisputed hero of the Fire Devil Tribe.
One time, she unexpectedly discovered that not only was the nonsensical spell effective against the Fire Fish Immortal, but even a girl’s crying would harm the Fire Fish Immortal, causing it to retreat.
Thus, the crying fish ritual became a tradition in the Fire Devil Tribe.
The principle behind it, even the shaman herself did not understand; she only knew that a girl’s crying could calm the Fire Fish Immortal’s rage and cause the Fire Quail Fish to feel pain.
That was enough.
This time, the Fire Fish Immortal awakened again, albeit not following the usual periodic awakening pattern, but that did not matter.
The shaman was completely confident in calming the Fire Fish Immortal.
"Mammy mammy mo... I invoke the Spiritual Fire to guide the talisman... Mammy mammy mo... manifest your true self in the Fire Quail Pond..."
The shaman sang and danced, and sure enough, as soon as she chanted the spell, the Magma Monster’s angry roaring suddenly stopped.
Like silence, like reminiscence, like pain, this emotion seemed to infect everything around, plunging the entire Partridge Fire Palace into an ocean of sorrow as vast as mountains and seas.
According to past conventions, this spell would probably make the Magma Monster retreat.
But this time, the situation was slightly different.
Although the Fire Fish Immortal was filled with boundless sorrow by the incantation, it did not retreat but instead roared to the sky once again.
"Yasiduo, Xilinaduo... Yasiduo!"
"Abado, Aba’aduo, Xiliyaduo!"
The roar added another sentence.
"Divine Granny, what’s it saying this time?" The Fire Devil Tribe never lacked curious minds.
"Uh, well, this... this sentence means that if we hand over the person who violated the fishing ban, it will spare us, and from this day, fishing will be banned in the Fire Quail Pond for ten thousand years."
"No, that can’t be right; the Fire Fish Immortal only said three sentences, but Divine Granny, you translated four..."
"That’s not the point! The point is that we cannot hand over Lord Ning Fan! We, the Fire Devils, are born as demons and die as fire; we fear not death and will never betray a friend! Cry fish! Use the cry fish ritual to deal with the Fire Fish Immortal, make it give up!"
The shaman expressed with great righteousness, stirring countless Fire Devils, filling them with fervor and emotion.
Yes! That’s right!
Even if today’s events were caused by Senior Ning, they would never hand over Senior Ning to the Fire Fish Immortal!
Even if they only shared a meal with Senior Ning, they would not compromise!
Thus, the girls from the prior cry fish ritual assembled once more, and after some preparation, they shouted and cried with all their might towards the direction of the Magma Monster.
The shaman appeared calm, but her palms were secretly sweating.
Something’s off, something definitely feels off.
In the past, the incantation would sometimes fail, but those instances were very rare, and even if the spell could not repel the Fire Fish Immortal completely, it should at least calm it a bit.
However, this time, after she finished chanting the spell, the Magma Monster roared even more furiously!
It even roared additional words!
It feels like things are about to spiral out of control...
As the shaman was quietly nervous, she suddenly heard a ripping cry of pain from the Magma Monster.
She couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that the cry fish ritual indeed came in handy.
According to past experience, the Fire Fish Immortal would retreat after feeling pain.
But quickly, the Divine Granny could no longer remain calm.
The roaring of the Magma Monster grew increasingly fierce, and finally, it suddenly flapped its wings and fiercely fanned over the group of crying girls.
Given the height of this Magma Monster, which spans hundreds of miles, it’s no exaggeration to say its wings shadow the sky.
With just one flap of its massive wings, the wind pressure it generated was as intense as a Quasi-Saint’s strike!
"This is impossible!" The Divine Granny’s face turned ashen with fear.
She stood right beside those crying fish girls!
She too would be struck by this interminable wind pressure!
No, that description is inaccurate!
This attack’s range is so vast — not just her, but everyone here is within the attack’s reach!
There’s absolutely no distinction!
"Why! Why didn’t the Divine Granny’s method work!" Long Yansheng exclaimed.
Facing the wind pressure of Quasi-Saint level, he had no confidence to withstand it with his Immortal Emperor’s cultivation.
Thankfully, he didn’t need to take it on.
Under the astonished gazes of countless Flame Demon Tribe people, Nvluo and Ning Fan took action.
Ancestor Nvluo’s lotus feet tapped the ground, she leapt out, her fan in hand transforming into one hundred zhang in size, fiercely fanning towards the overwhelming wind pressure.
The wind pressure released by the Magma Monster was a fiery wind, scorching red in color; the wind pressure fanned by Ancestor Nvluo, however, was green.
The green and red wind pressures collided with a roar between heaven and earth, and ultimately, Ancestor Nvluo barely managed to block the opponent’s wind pressure, though she was sent flying thousands of zhang back, and as she retreated, a sweet taste filled her throat, followed by a gush of blood spat out in an arrow.
This surprised Ancestor Nvluo greatly. It was her first time confronting the Fire Fish Immortal head-on; the opponent clearly just casually attacked, yet she exerted all her strength, but still slightly suffered losses!? How is this possible!
But before her shock could fade, the Magma Monster flapped its huge wings once again, whereupon the passing fiery red wind pressure turned countless sand grains into magma, and then, the wind pressure arrived!
"Damn it, how can this monster strike so quickly, without needing to accumulate mana!"
Ancestor Nvluo gritted her silver teeth, intending to forcibly block this attack, while suddenly in the barren desert, countless giant trees rose up.
The emergence of those giant trees was incredibly abrupt, given this place is a desert where wood magic cannot borrow any method, yet they sprang forth from where there was no wood!
Clearly without borrowing any method, those giant trees still emitted an unimaginably strong aura, and in almost an instant, the giant trees gathered into a huge shield.
The fiery red wind pressure of unimaginable heat could not burn through the giant shield of wood!
The attack that would have caused her a loss was surprisingly blocked in such a way that defied common sense.
The person who made the move stood atop the towering giant trees, expression calm, not suffering the slightest loss from such an attack. Who else but Ning Fan?
Ancestor Nvluo widened her beautiful eyes!
This is not mysticism, very not mysticism!
Though the fiery red wind pressure is wind, its source of strength lies within the character of fire.
Among the Five Elements, wood generates fire. Using wood to counter fire should normally result in opposition boosting the fire, causing it to surge strongly. Ancestor Nvluo suffered losses precisely because of this; she represents wood, and the Magma Monster represents fire.
Yet the reality was, with the same wood magic, Ning Fan’s wood suppressed the opponent’s fire.
The scene before her completely exceeded the rules of the Five Elements, and the only explanation for being able to transcend this was:
Ning Fan’s wood and the Magma Monster’s fire were of different levels!
It was simply a matter of level suppression!
"To explain, the monster’s anger isn’t due to me, but that’s not important, let’s just say it’s angered because of me." Ning Fan’s calm words echoed throughout heaven and earth, reaching everyone’s ears.
Everyone was taken aback.
That Divine Granny was more so stunned in place: Impossible, this Ning Senior actually understood that kind of gibberish dialect? How is that possible? That should be an ancient language not recorded even in the library collection of Xianglou Palace! It should be a language incomprehensible even to Lord Duowen! How could Ning Senior understand it!
Yes, Ning Fan understood the language of the Magma Monster.
Though he didn’t know which tribe’s language the monster spoke, he could directly discern the meaning through Communication with All Things.
[Return to me, what I love... return it to me!]
[Cannot forget, absolutely cannot forget... bring her back!]
"Though I don’t know who you are or what your past is, since you attacked the Fire Demon Tribe, I can’t sit by and do nothing."
Ning Fan’s gaze showed no mercy.
Having consumed seventy-seven fish of the Fire Demon Tribe, he should compensate them slightly.