Chapter 433: Discovered
Seeing that the two Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels were about to part ways—each going back to its own home—Qi Han did not hesitate. He reached into the bucket, grabbed a silver-thread fish, and pinched its spine with a bit of force so that it would be unable to escape immediately once it hit the water. Then he tossed it straight into the sea.
The disturbance from the water instantly alerted the two Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels that had been preparing to leave. They quickly turned back and darted over, once again fighting to snatch the silver-thread fish.
Enemies meeting again were especially red-eyed. The two had just fought not long ago, and now, for the sake of this newly appeared silver-thread fish, they were soon locked in another fierce battle.
This time, the commotion was even greater. Before long, the disturbance caused by their fight attracted other members of their kind.
Under Qi Han's excited gaze, seven or eight Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels slowly rose up from the seabed. Trails of bright azure light accompanied them as they appeared in the stretch of sea before him, seemingly investigating the source of the disturbance.
Unfortunately, all of these Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels were only at the hundred-year or thousand-year level. The ten-thousand-year Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel he needed was nowhere to be seen.
After observing carefully for a while, Qi Han shook his head in disappointment.
However, the scene before him gave him some ideas about how to lure out a ten-thousand-year Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel.
Just the fight between two Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels had attracted seven or eight companions. If he continued throwing in silver-thread fish and made them fight again, wouldn't that draw even more Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels over?
If that were the case, wouldn't the probability of a ten-thousand-year-level one appearing increase?
Qi Han, you really are a genius!
A confident smile appeared on his face. He grabbed two silver-thread fish from the bucket and tossed them separately—one toward the two dragon eels fighting in a tangle, and the other toward the dragon eels watching from the sidelines.
Ah!
He threw them a bit off.
But it wasn't a big problem.
Seeing the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels go into a frenzy over the silver-thread fish, the fight escalated instantly, growing even more intense. Qi Han let out a breath of relief and shrank his head back again, avoiding the danger of being caught by the wildly spraying water jets.
Fight, fight—keep drawing in more companions.
A look of anticipation spread across his face. When the water jets gradually slowed, he cautiously poked his head out again—and immediately broke into a grin.
Well done!
At this moment, the number of Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels in the area had reached thirteen. Among them was even one whose body length was around four meters.
For Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels, once their body length exceeded five meters, they would be considered ten-thousand-year-level spirit beasts. A four-meter-long Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel like this one had at least seven thousand years of cultivation.
If a seven-thousand-year big fellow had already shown up, how far off could a ten-thousand-year one be?
Excitement immediately filled Qi Han's face.
By the looks of it, this mission was actually pretty simple, huh?
Seeing that the two silver-thread fish he had just thrown in were already gone, Qi Han reached in and grabbed four or five silver-thread fish at once, tossing them all into the sea in one go.
Everyone, start fighting!
Huh?
As the silver-thread fish fell into the sea once more, the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels in the area went into a frenzy, scrambling madly for the food. However, the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel that was four meters long appeared completely unhurried, which made Qi Han pause in slight confusion.
What—had it come here already full?
That longest Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel not only failed to join the others in the scramble, but instead quietly began stirring the surrounding water. As the ripples spread outward, Qi Han faintly heard a strange, unfamiliar sound carried along with the waves.
Although he had never seen it in person, Qi Han was not unfamiliar with this behavior.
This was a special form of communication unique to their species.
But at a moment like this, what was it trying to communicate?
Was it asking the others to share some food with it? Or was it calling even more companions over to compete for the prey?
Just as Qi Han was feeling puzzled, the other Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels that had been fighting over the silver-thread fish suddenly froze. They even stopped tearing apart the fish scraps, turning their heads in unison to look toward Qi Han's direction.
Qi Han: "???"
"Run!"
"Meow~!"
In an instant, faint gray mist flickered across Pururu's body. Carrying Qi Han along, it vanished from the spot and reappeared on another reef nearby.
At that very same moment, the place where Qi Han had been standing was riddled with holes by countless high-pressure water jets spewed out by the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels.
Without the slightest hesitation, Qi Han immediately turned and bolted, scooping Pururu into his arms as he ran, not forgetting to grab the bucket full of silver-thread fish as well.
Damn it! I've been discovered!
Clearly, that four-meter-long Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel was not only stronger than the others, but also far more intelligent. It had realized that the appearance of these silver-thread fish was the result of someone deliberately throwing them into the sea. In almost an instant, it locked onto Qi Han's position and secretly rallied its companions to strike together.
The speed at which the high-pressure water jets were fired far exceeded Qi Han's own speed. If it hadn't been for Pururu's Mist Flash, the one turned into a sieve wouldn't have been that reef—but Qi Han's body.
Only after running some distance and completely leaving the reef area behind did Qi Han finally let out a breath of relief. He stopped, leaned against a rock beneath a small tree, set the bucket of silver-thread fish down beside him, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.
Judging from this, that method wasn't very viable after all.
Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels with lower cultivation years wouldn't notice anything amiss, but those with higher cultivation clearly would.
And unfortunately, the ones Qi Han needed were precisely those high-year individuals.
He'd have to think of another approach…
…
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
Over those two days, Qi Han tried dozens of different methods to lure out a ten-thousand-year-level Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel, but none of them worked out well.
To draw these Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels out, he used all kinds of bait and even personally stepped in to feign attacks against them, hoping that might lure out stronger individuals.
But perhaps because this species was simply too cautious by nature, none of Qi Han's methods succeeded.
The most promising attempt had been the one the previous night. Acting on a sudden idea, he released a lotus lantern onto the sea, letting it float on the water at night to continuously attract fish from below. That attempt did draw a large number of Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels to the area, but the largest among them was only about four and a half meters long—still some distance away from the five-meter mark.
If the sea chart hadn't clearly indicated that there were indeed ten-thousand-year Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels inhabiting the waters near this island—three of them, no less—Qi Han would almost have believed that no ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast would appear here at all.
With just a little over a day left before the mission deadline, if things continued like this, Qi Han's Ingredient Acquisition task would fail simply because he couldn't find the appropriate target. The thought made him increasingly anxious.
"Maybe I should change my way of thinking," Qi Han muttered, sitting on the reef with Pururu in his arms, irritably staring at the calm sea surface.
Previously, he had always stayed on the island, using various methods to try to lure the Azure-Scaled Dragon Eels out. Because he feared being swarmed if he appeared on the sea surface, he had never considered taking the risk himself.
But now it was almost proven that relying solely on bait while staying on the island simply wouldn't work.
So it seemed he might have to go into the sea for the sake of art—no, for the sake of the mission.
But… just jump in like that?
Qi Han glanced at the mirror-calm sea and silently shook his head. Leaving aside the fact that no matter how good a swimmer he was, he couldn't compete with sea Spirit Beasts underwater, the simple fact that Pururu couldn't swim already made this option unworkable.
Both humans and cats were land creatures; their combat strength simply couldn't be fully brought to bear in water.
So…
Qi Han turned his head, his gaze locking onto the trees on the island.
How about making a platform he could stand on out at sea?
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