"Don't you eat?"
Since arriving here, Chu Lingwei had never seen Rufeng eat anything. Just as she was about to retrieve the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish she held, a chillingly cold hand snatched it away.
"It's food."
As Rufeng took the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish, his hand accidentally brushed against a soft, warm one, causing his ears to flush.
"Then try it quickly," Chu Lingwei urged, flipping the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish in her hand and telling Rufeng to taste it. He looked as if he didn't know how to eat.
Rufeng looked at the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish in his hand, his eyes showing a hint of difficulty. He seemed to have forgotten how to eat.
"???"
Chu Lingwei stared at Rufeng's expression, her brow furrowing. He looked like someone who had never eaten before.
"Let me taste what this Nine-Tailed Ice Fish is like." Chu Lingwei took out a Nine-Tailed Ice Fish that was already yellowish-brown, took a small bite, and felt a surge of pure water-element spiritual energy flow into her mouth. It was soft, tender, and smooth.
The Nine-Tailed Ice Fish had always lived in the Spirit Dragon Ravine. Perhaps because it was a living creature, the spiritual energy entering her body now had no trace of coldness. Instead, it made her feel warm and comfortable.
With just this small bite, Chu Lingwei felt that a bit of the coldness within her body had dissipated.
"It's actually this delicious, and the spiritual energy is so pure."
Chu Lingwei was pleasantly surprised. This way, she wouldn't freeze to death before she could leave this place.
Chu Lingwei couldn't help but take another bite. This time, she truly tasted the flavor of the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish. It was more delicate than spiritual meat, sweeter than spiritual food, and smoother than spiritual drinks. It was indeed as Elder Yu had said, the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish tasted more delicious than any spiritual delicacy in the world.
Seeing Chu Lingwei eat the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish with evident enjoyment, Rufeng's gaze gradually softened. He extended his mouth and took a bite, feeling a surge of potent spiritual energy rush into his body, solidifying it further.
"So, it's this useful."
Rufeng's eyes finally showed a hint of seriousness. He had lived here for a thousand years and never knew the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish had such properties.
"You've never eaten it before?" Seeing Rufeng looking as if he had never seen the world, Chu Lingwei guessed that he must not have eaten the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish before.
"No, I didn't know it could be eaten." Rufeng couldn't help but take another bite. He found it increasingly delicious and, gradually, his speed of eating the fish became twice as fast as Chu Lingwei's.
Chu Lingwei felt her body could no longer withstand the spiritual energy from the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish. She stopped and closed her eyes, beginning to integrate all the spiritual energy within her body.
When she opened her eyes again, Chu Lingwei felt that her spiritual sense could now perceive further distances, and her cultivation had also improved slightly. She had now reached the peak of the Heaven Fusion realm.
She believed that it wouldn't be long before she could break through to the Heaven Transformation realm.
This speed, even Chu Lingwei herself, felt somewhat against the natural order.
"Your cultivation has improved a bit." Rufeng, who had been watching Chu Lingwei cultivate, spoke when she opened her eyes. "Congratulations."
"Yes, I didn't expect the flesh of this Nine-Tailed Ice Fish to be so potent." Chu Lingwei had always felt that Elder Yu's praise for the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish was exaggerated, but now it seemed his words were not untrue.
"However, with your current cultivation, you cannot eat too much." Rufeng moved his right hand gently, and the campfire in front of them flared up again, its warmth bathing Chu Lingwei's face comfortably.
"Rufeng, what kind of spiritual energy are you using? Why can't I sense the spiritual energy within your body?" If not for Rufeng making that gesture, Chu Lingwei wouldn't have known that the campfire in front of them was related to him.
Rufeng raised his head, his fingers moving slowly with the flow of the wind.
Under his movements, Chu Lingwei clearly felt the wind in the Spirit Dragon Ravine grow stronger, and a glacier not far behind them collapsed with a roar as Rufeng moved his hands.
Chu Lingwei was greatly astonished. Up to this point, she still hadn't sensed any spiritual energy fluctuations from Rufeng's body.
It was as if he had merely made a wish, and everything had come true as if by magic.
"But I don't sense you using spiritual energy," Chu Lingwei was incredibly curious.
"That's because your cultivation is too low," Rufeng thought for a moment and answered truthfully.
Chu Lingwei: "..."
"When you reach the Sovereign realm, you might be able to do it." Rufeng was not one to read people's expressions. He didn't notice Chu Lingwei's face stiffen for a moment and instead explained to her.
"So that's how it is," Chu Lingwei nodded. This reason was irrefutable.
She admitted that her cultivation was indeed too low. She couldn't discern such powerful techniques used by a great being.
"If you cultivate here for a hundred years, you can reach this realm."
If Chu Lingwei ate a Nine-Tailed Ice Fish every day, she could reach the Sovereign realm, the most powerful stage for cultivators, in less than a hundred years.
This topic had come up again.
Even with this blatant temptation before her, Chu Lingwei still chose to leave.
"Rufeng, did you not eat before?" Chu Lingwei didn't want to keep discussing this topic; it was meaningless to dwell on it repeatedly.
"I don't need to eat." Rufeng's expression turned slightly red. He looked at a nearby stick, as if telling himself how many fish he had eaten today.
"That's truly amazing, to be able to forgo eating." Only true powerhouses could sustain themselves without consuming food.
Since discovering that the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish could help her dispel the cold within her body, Chu Lingwei ate one Nine-Tailed Ice Fish every day, partly for cultivation and partly to remove the internal cold.
"Rufeng, aren't you going to the Vitality Lake anymore?" Whenever Chu Lingwei roasted fish, Rufeng would appear on time.
His daily consumption was six times that of Chu Lingwei. Rufeng consistently ate six fish every day.
"After eating the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish, I don't need to go to the Vitality Lake anymore." Rufeng stared at the Nine-Tailed Ice Fish in Chu Lingwei's hand, his previously placid eyes now showing a hint of longing.
"After we finish the fish, let's go fishing later." In just a few short days, Chu Lingwei's supply was dwindling. Looking at the decreasing number of Nine-Tailed Ice Fish in her spatial ring, her heart ached.
"Okay."
Rufeng focused on eating the fish, his reply crisp and decisive.
After eating, Chu Lingwei led Rufeng to the end of the Spirit Dragon Ravine. Rufeng frowned as he looked at the glacier before him.
"There are no Nine-Tailed Ice Fish here."
"How can that be? Look at the bottom, there should be many caves. There's no reason for there to be no Nine-Tailed Ice Fish," Chu Lingwei's eyes flashed as she pointed to the bottom of the glacier, where the river of the Spirit Dragon Ravine had stopped flowing.