"Will it be here?"
Chu Lingwei stopped her flying artifact at the mouth of the cave. The entrance was small, barely large enough for an adult to crawl in.
A stream of water from the river automatically parted and flowed into the cave.
Chu Lingwei once again used her divine sense to scan the area. After a quarter of an hour, she finally detected a faint, exceptionally clear surge of spiritual energy flash past.
Grandpa Yu had mentioned that the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish was highly sought after by all cultivators because the spiritual energy within its body was incredibly pure, even more so than that of some spiritual herbs and immortal medicines.
It was likely that this surge of energy belonged to a Nine-Tailed Ice Fish.
Chu Lingwei looked at the river cave before her and began to ponder.
If she crawled in, and there was a spiritual beast guarding the cave, she would be easy prey in her current state.
Given the small size of the river cave, she had no idea what the interior was like. If it was similarly narrow, her chances of catching a Nine-Tailed Ice Fish would be slim.
The safest approach would be to lure the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish out.
Chu Lingwei sat on her flying artifact, activating a warming array on it. She then retrieved superior spiritual beast meat from her spatial dimension, found a fishhook, and cast it into the river cave.
She hadn't encountered any spiritual beasts in this river, which suggested there weren't any nearby.
For now, she would try her luck at fishing.
Fishing was not an easy task; it required immense patience. Chu Lingwei kept her eyes fixed on her fishing hook, continuously monitoring her surroundings with her divine sense, her mind highly focused.
An hour passed.
There was no change in her surroundings, and the flow of the river remained unaffected.
Could her bait be insufficiently attractive?
Chu Lingwei examined her bait. This was the finest spiritual meat from her spatial dimension, praised even by Grandpa Yu. Yet, the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish showed no reaction.
Despite her thoughts, Chu Lingwei remained motionless. Fishing sometimes took days, and she had prepared herself for that.
If there was indeed a Nine-Tailed Ice Fish here, she could sit here for eighty-one days without blinking.
One day, two days, three days. Seven days flew by.
Chu Lingwei was puzzled. There was still absolutely no movement, no interest in the food at all.
"Weiwei, why don't you try using the Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng?" Yu Qinghong had been offering her suggestions ever since he learned she was fishing for Nine-Tailed Ice Fish.
Fishing wasn't cultivation, and Chu Lingwei found little enjoyment in it. She conversed with Yu Qinghong to pass the time more quickly.
"Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng?" Chu Lingwei was hesitant upon hearing the words. "That's from Uncle-Master Lichen."
Uncle-Master Lichen had transformed from a Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng. He probably wouldn't appreciate people eating him.
"The ginseng detached from his body has nothing to do with him. Otherwise, why would he give you so much Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng? It doesn't affect him at all," Yu Qinghong reassured her. Catching the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish was important.
"It really has no effect on him?" Chu Lingwei didn't believe it. If it truly had no connection, Uncle-Master Lichen wouldn't have risked his life to leave the Spiritual Cultivation Academy back then.
"If he offered it himself, it's fine," Yu Qinghong rubbed his nose. A piece of Lichen's root or a drop of his blood wouldn't mean much to him, but to cultivators, it was akin to a divine pill.
Chu Lingwei didn't reply. She still wanted to try. Perhaps the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish sensed her presence and was afraid to come out.
Another seven days passed, still no reaction.
This time, Chu Lingwei really couldn't sit still any longer. Was she really going to have to sit here for eighty-one days?
No, it was too cold here. Every day spent here was an ordeal.
Chu Lingwei retrieved her hook and took out a small piece of Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng from her spatial dimension. She silently thought that if the Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng didn't work, she wouldn't bother catching the fish.
It wasn't tasty at all.
Yu Qinghong, seeing Chu Lingwei's actions from within the spatial dimension, couldn't help but laugh. Not listening to the elders leads to trouble. She should have listened to him earlier.
Chu Lingwei replaced her bait with the Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng and cast it into the water. Now that she had changed her bait, she dared not be careless, her eyes fixed on the river.
Half an hour later, the river water suddenly rippled.
Chu Lingwei's heart leaped. Although the ripple was very small, almost imperceptible, Chu Lingwei was certain the river water had moved.
The Nine-Tailed Ice Fish must be interested in the Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng.
"Weiwei, how is it? Any development?" Yu Qinghong sensed Chu Lingwei's heightened tension and felt inexplicably tense himself. This concerned his future food supply.
"Mhm, I felt something move inside the river cave." Chu Lingwei kept staring in the direction of the cave. If they were to come and steal her bait, they would come from there.
"It must be the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish," Yu Qinghong's eyes lit up. This was fantastic.
Chu Lingwei remained silent, fully focused.
Another fifteen minutes passed, and the river water rippled again, the amplitude just as small as before.
Chu Lingwei's heart filled with joy. It seemed the creature inside couldn't sit still any longer.
Just then, Chu Lingwei saw the river water in front of her surge upstream with great speed, heading directly for her Ten Thousand Year Blood Ginseng.
"It's you."
Just as the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish was about to reach the hook, the river water in that spot instantly boiled. Chu Lingwei watched as a faint, shimmering crystal fish scale slowly appeared in the seemingly empty water.
This must be the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish.
Chu Lingwei's right hand moved slightly, and she retrieved the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish into her spatial dimension. She then instructed Grandpa Yu that this fish could not be eaten immediately; it needed to be nurtured.
If she couldn't catch any other Nine-Tailed Ice Fish, this sole treasure would be used to breed offspring for their spatial dimension.
"Don't worry, I'm not that gluttonous," Yu Qinghong's voice sounded disappointed. He found a suitable river for the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish to survive in and released it.
With one appearing, she now had confidence.
Chu Lingwei cast her bait into the water again, waiting for the next fish to take the bait.
Evidently, she wasn't as lucky this time. She waited for a full day without any success.
"Could there be no more?" Chu Lingwei murmured to herself.
"There are."
Suddenly, a very light male voice appeared behind her, startling Chu Lingwei. Someone was here, and she hadn't noticed.
Chu Lingwei quickly stood up and turned around, seeing a young man hovering not far from her. He had likely answered her question.
"Who are you?"
"I am no one in particular," the young man shook his head and floated forward, maintaining a distance of two meters from Chu Lingwei. "You won't be able to catch Nine-Tailed Ice Fish here."