The golden-backed red-bellied fish in the basket was released, and it turned out to indeed be a demon. The moment it sprang from the basket, it soared into the air in front of the pavilion, transforming into a body tens of feet in size. Its fish scales were as sharp as knives, its fins like pointed banners, and from its mouth came the pleading voice of a pitiable woman:
"Elder, I swear never to harm another human life again, please spare me."
The huge, fierce fish head actually nodded up and down, as if imitating a person's bowing in empty space.
Li Hao, smelling the pungent fishy odor hitting his face, couldn't help but pinch his nose, almost vomiting.
This fish... really is fishy!
"If I spared you, wouldn't I just be a pushover?"
Elder Li Muxiu's words plunged the demon fish into instant despair, trembling with rage yet not daring to lash out.
"Into the pot!"
Li Muxiu raised his hand and pointed.
Although the demon fish was pleading, it had transformed into its true form and was prepared to flee at a moment's notice. Seeing that the elder was not going to let it go, it immediately started to sway its body, planning to fly away into the distance as if the air were a lake.
However, before its body could even twist away, it suddenly trembled as if electrified. Blood violently spurted from its gills, and its fierce body split apart in mid-air as if countless invisible blades were chopping it on the board of the void.
And what was miraculous was that the blood that sprayed out didn't even hit the ground before a breeze carried it away, disappearing from sight.
The demon fish carcass, with its flesh burst and separated, left behind only a fist-sized, dark purple, round and lustrous demon core, along with several pieces of snow-white fish flesh.
Elder Li Muxiu raised his hand, and the demon core fell into a boiling pot of water. The snow-white fish flesh, sliced by invisible blades into wings of cicadas, floated down into the pot after the water began to boil.
At that moment, the elder somehow produced a salt container, delicately spooned out two scoops, and threw them into the pot before covering it again and proceeding to cook.
Li Hao watched this entire process with amazement, developing a concrete understanding of the strength of martial artists in this world.
This is what demons are, and this is what powerful martial artists are!
"Elder, that purple meatball is the demon core, right? Isn't it supposed to be eaten raw?" Li Hao curiously asked.
"Where did you hear that?"
Li Muxiu glanced at him sidelong and said indifferently, "Aren't you afraid to be grossed out? Demon cores need to be processed with many medicinal herbs to be effective, and you can't just mix them haphazardly. After all, demons of different types have differences. Relying on professional alchemists for classification is essential. Eating raw... Heh, that's like ordinary people hunting tigers and using tiger bone to brew soup for strengthening—can you digest it if eaten raw?"
"Then what are you doing?"
"I'm treating it as an ingredient. Though a lot of potency will be wasted, eating this has little meaning for me. I'm just tasting it. For you, have some soup and a few slices of fish to fill the belly later. You're not yet able to handle a demon core of this level."
"I see."
Li Hao nodded, not feeling any regret or loss.
After all, within the Divine General Mansion were countless elixirs and treasures. Not to mention raw materials like this demon core, there were finished pills refined from them.
However, after his Foundation Establishment failure, he had already tested and found that these spiritual medicines were to him like plain food; they could only fill his stomach, and their extraordinary medicinal effects would be entirely blocked.
Despite the abundance of spiritual medicines, the mansion's distribution to each household's members was extremely restrained.
After all, common medicines are three parts poison. Relying on pills might lead to rapid progress, but to reach the pinnacle realms, most still depended on their own strength to avoid backlash.
...
The water in the pot boiled again, and the heat caused the lid to shake gently.
The elder, with a merciless grip, picked up the ceramic knob of the lid and opened it. The steam dispersed instantly, but a light breeze dispersed it, preventing any moisture from reaching the pavilion's beams and columns.
A scent of fish meat wafted through the air, but it was mixed with an undertone of fishiness.
Li Hao furrowed his brow slightly. Even though he had not tasted it, his instincts told him it wouldn't be delicious.
"Come on, try it."
Li Muxiu somehow conjured up a pair of chopsticks, dark and slick, wiped them on his clothes, then plunged them into the pot, picking up a piece of demon core resembling braised pork balls, and devoured it heartily.
At the same time, he flicked his palm, and a swaying branch outside the pavilion broke off and flew to his hand.
He handed it to Li Hao: "Peel off the bark and it's ready to use."
Li Hao made no pretense to disagree.
But he wasn't a rigid person; he sat down next to the elder with a carefree demeanor on the top floor of the revered Listening Rain Tower, casually peeled off the green bark of the branch in his hand, snapped it, and used it to pick up a piece of translucent fish flesh from the pot.
To Li Hao's surprise, the fish flesh hadn't fallen apart upon being boiled, remaining intact like jelly when picked up, both tender and silky.
He picked up the lid to shield himself from splashing broth, and slurped it down with a hiss.
"How's the taste?"
"Not bad, quite good actually, just a bit fishy."
"Fishy? I don't feel it at all."
"Of course you don't, you reek of it yourself."
"Hey, you little brat, watch how you talk to me."
"I'm just stating the facts. I didn't say anything wrong."
"Hmph, you only dare to act this way because you've met me. If you were with someone else, they would've spanked you until your butt split into eight pieces."
"I wouldn't bother talking to anyone else."
"Ho, you've got quite an attitude."
Thus, the old and the young started to eat away, the elder not showing any seniority and the youngster not acting timid. After finishing the fish and soup, both leaned back, spread their legs, and in unison let out a contented sigh:
"Ah, that's comfortable!"
They bore a striking resemblance in that pose.
"You, this kid..." Li Muxiu glanced at Li Hao and suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
Li Hao smiled faintly, resting his hands behind his head, looking forward across the eaves into the night sky. The faint starlight gradually emerged from the horizon.
A gentle breeze blew from below the Listening Rain Tower and the surrounding mountains, bringing with it a sense of coolness and relaxation.
Suddenly, he thought to himself that the pleasures of the mortal world, being surrounded by servants,
couldn't compare to the freedom and comfort of this moment.
Lying still and resting for a while, Li Hao suddenly thought of something, turned his head, and said, "Old man, there must be some techniques to your fishing, right?"
"Why, you want to learn now?"
Li Muxiu looked at him with interest.
"I'm going to get started tomorrow. How about we see who catches more?" Li Hao said with a chuckle.
Li Muxiu couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.
Who would have thought that the Li Family, known for their wooden-headedness, would produce such a witty and clever child?
"Good, from now on, you'll learn fishing with me. I'll teach you that fishing is also a form of cultivation; with one throw of my hook, the Three Immortal Realms would twist their mouths!" Li Muxiu said with a light laugh, his eyes brimming with pride—not about his cultivation level, but about his fishing skills.
Li Hao heard this and couldn't help but chuckle, even imagining the scene and laughing out loud.
A scene of a Three Immortal Realms powerhouse, standing at the pinnacle of countless martial artists, getting his mouth twisted by a fishing hook... Too damn vivid!
"What are you laughing at, don't believe me?" Li Muxiu raised an eyebrow, his face slightly stern.
Li Hao said with a laugh, "Believe, of course, believe. It's just that the scene is too hilarious."
And with that, he burst into laughter again.
Upon thinking it over, Li Muxiu also found the concept amusing and chuckled, saying, "Tomorrow when we get there, I'll teach you how to fish. Practice a bit first; talking about it now doesn't make sense anyway. Let's sleep early tonight. I'll go get you a fishing rod."
After saying this, he stood up, patted his butt, and with a swish gathered up the residual embers and iron pot on the platform, vanishing them into his sleeve.
Then, with a single step, he disappeared into the vast night.
The next day.
Early in the morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Li Muxiu woke Li Hao up.
Fortunately, Li Hao had gone to bed early the night before and didn't feel too groggy, so he asked, "Are we going that early?"
"Of course, the best time to fish is early in the morning when they're most likely to bite."
Li Muxiu had a smile on his face. Normally, when he went fishing, it was just him, his rod, and his basket, but today, with the addition of this youngster, his enthusiasm for fishing intensified.
"This is your fishing rod. Hold onto it well."
The old man produced a black fishing rod from nowhere and handed it to Li Hao.
Li Hao took it and found it quite heavy, but for his Power Passage Realm Perfection strength, it was nothing. In fact, his strength was ten times that of a normal person at Power Passage Realm Perfection.
But Li Hao estimated that this fishing rod would require someone at least in the fourth or fifth level of the Power Passage Realm to handle it with ease.
Seeing that Li Hao took it effortlessly, a flash of surprise crossed Li Muxiu's eyes, and he said, "It seems that Li Fu wasn't exaggerating; you do have a talent for Body Refinement. Which Body Refining Skill did you master to Great Accomplishment?"
Only then did Li Hao realize that the old man had chosen the fishing rod based on his cultivation level, putting some thought into it.
The Barbarian Bull Force was an inferior Body Refining Skill; achieving Great Accomplishment equaled the strength of around the sixth level of the Power Passage Realm.