His Divine Sense probed into the dark river, and the next moment, he felt a surge within.
It was actually a black fish swimming by.
Most importantly, the black fish was emitting a strange fragrance, and Wang Jiao, in his Spirit Beast Bag and with whom he shared a psychic link, started frantically transmitting messages to him.
"Want to eat!"
"Want to eat!"
Because he had to prevent the Cave Heaven World from being discovered, he had put all three spirit beasts into the Spirit Beast Bag so they could be of help at any moment!
Lin Shiming’s spirit instantly rallied; this wasn’t the first time Wang Jiao had been so eager. The last time it had shown such urgency was for the delicious ’stone’ on his body!
He immediately ordered the Devouring Ant to continue flying down and scope out the path beneath.
However, as soon as the Devouring Ant reached the surface of the dark river,
another black fish suddenly leaped out, attempting to swallow the Devouring Ant.
But in the next moment, the Devouring Ant’s sharp teeth gaped wide.
It’s worth mentioning that the Devouring Ant, having devoured the wind-fire star sand, was only a peak Second Rank Demonic Beast, yet it could fight with Third Rank Demonic Beasts. If eighty-one ants attacked together, even an ordinary Third Rank early-stage Demonic Beast would only end up being devoured.
"A Second Rank Supreme Grade Spirit Fish?" Lin Shiming was also taken aback, but feeling that odd fragrance, he suddenly grew very interested in the black fish.
It wasn’t just Wang Jiao’s fondness— if this black fish also tasted as excellent, it could be used to bolster the reputation of the Lin Family Restaurant.
Moreover, Lin Xianzhi was currently cultivating the Renshui Geng Metal Art and was extremely adept with Water Attributes.
Catching a few Second Rank Spirit Fish was truly too easy!
Lin Xianzhi’s interest soared as well, and his Green Lotus Sword immediately flew out, creating giant waves that captured the black fragrant fish and lifted it into the air.
Meanwhile, Lin Shiming took out a Monster Binding Ring and bound the black Spirit Fish tightly.
The bulging Storage Bag began to shake.
Wang Jiao’s temperament had also become increasingly urgent!
It kept pleading in Lin Shiming’s mind.
"Behave, let’s study it first!" Lin Shiming warned the latter, and because of the soul contract, Wang Jiao had no choice but to stop, though it continued to plead softly without end.
He withdrew the Zilai Sword and with one stroke, cut off a small portion of the black fish. Instantly, he felt a vast surge of vigor—as the flesh of the black Spirit Fish was clearly very nourishing.
By then, even the Red-haired and Golden Wing had started to squeal and cry out.
Although neither could speak, their continuous snorting and whining showed no signs of stopping.
But he had finally understood why these spirit beasts were reacting so strongly.
This rich, vigorous flesh could greatly enhance their physical strength and accelerate their growth. Body Cultivators would be extremely fond of it as well.
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While it couldn’t compare to treasures with powerful vital essences like Dragon Blood Grass or Dragon Beast meat, the Spirit Fish still emitted an extremely enticing fragrance.
"Uncle Great Grandfather, if we could breed these fish within our family, we might be able to produce a large number of high-level Body Cultivators!" Lin Shiming refrained from initially mentioning Spirit Beasts, nor did he discuss using them for sale.
The Lin Family raised many Spirit Beasts, but for a Cultivator Family, Spirit Beasts were after all external entities, and they didn’t possess the rich Beast Taming methods of the Spirit Beast Sect!
Of course, the most important reason was that the black fish belonged to Qingxuan Sect’s Secret Realm. It’s feared that the Lin Family would be accused of aspiring to immortality if they were caught selling them!
Lin Xianzhi was also exceedingly pleased; they didn’t have much interest in the inheritances and various Fourth Rank and Fifth Rank treasures within the minor Secret Realm.
After all, one should only covet treasures that were within capability, and apart from the Purple Mansion treasures, their purpose was to find some developmental treasures for the family.
Moreover, this was more in line with the status of a Profound Grade Secret Realm.
"Shiming, the Divine Sense restriction in this dark river is immense!" Lin Xianzhi looked at the dark river and frowned.
A restriction on Divine Sense meant that it would be extremely difficult for them to search through the entire dark river!
What’s more critical was how peculiar these black fish were.
There was no record of them in Qingxuan Sect, which gave them the impression that these black fish had only appeared in the Secret Realm in the last twenty years.
"Uncle Great Grandfather, I suddenly feel that there might be more to this dark river beneath the surface!" Lin Shiming wasn’t too concerned about the restriction on Divine Sense.
It was precisely because of the restrictions that this dark river might not have been discovered, much like the Spirit Peach Tree on the cliff—if there were treasures like Spirit Searching Rats, they were very likely to be found.
"But mightn’t that be dangerous?" Lin Xianzhi was still frowning, somewhat worried.
What Lin Shiming said was correct, but they were still inside a Secret Realm after all.
"Why don’t we rest for half a day and then observe before deciding?" Lin Shiming suggested.
As for why it was half a day, that was because the system alert would only appear once a day. In such a critical place, Lin Shiming conjectured the system alert would refresh as soon as the time arrived.
With that, Lin Xianzhi nodded in agreement, and the two took out their Flying Swords and smashed a large hole in the cliff face.
They landed inside the cave, and Lin Shiming continued to control the Devouring Ants, hovering above the dark river.
Those mysterious black fish seemed to also have a craving for the Devouring Ants.
This was a perfect opportunity to use the Devouring Ants for fishing.
For this endeavor, Lin Shiming directly controlled twenty-four Devouring Ants, covering most of the area of the dark river.
Lin Xianzhi was responsible for twelve, and he for the other twelve.
Indeed, just as Lin Shiming had anticipated, the mysterious black fish opened their huge mouths, trying to swallow the bowl-sized Devouring Ants.
But they were captured by Lin Shiming with the Zilai Sword, and Lin Xianzhi with the Monster Binding Ring and the Heaven Waist Bag, which were just the right tools for the job.
Meanwhile, Lin Xianzhi had taken out a green gourd Magic Artifact to capture these mysterious black fish.
After half a day passed, the two had caught nearly over twenty black Spirit Fish.
Even more so, Lin Shiming had caught a Third Rank black Spirit Fish, which was even larger and resembled a hefty catfish.
Its blood and vitality were incredibly robust, nearly matching that of the Dragon Lizard he had caught before.
As the sky began to show the first light, it also signified the arrival of the second day within the Secret Realm.
The system alert in Lin Shiming’s mind, just as he had expected, arrived on time.
However, the next moment, it gave him quite a scare.
"Please conceal all treasures obtained from the Heavenly Demon Sect in your Storage Bag to avoid the surveillance of Golden Core True Persons, Zilai Sword, Star Wood Shield...!"
Lin Shiming’s heart trembled violently. This new alert was not about the treasures under the dark river, nor a preview of future treasures.
Instead, it was a warning of the Golden Core True Persons’ surveillance!
In an instant, Lin Shiming thought about his actions over the past day.
If a Golden Core True Person wished to see, they would have seen everything, and how terrifying that scenario would have been.
He also felt a sense of relief that he had not opened the Cave Heaven World to enter or exit; if the existence of the Cave Heaven World became known, there would be no place for him in the entire Eastern Domain!
Having struggled in the Cultivation World for many years, he knew all too well the dangers of holding a precious secret.
Contrarily, extracting that Third Rank Spirit Tree didn’t seem like much at all.
Moreover, contemplating those magic artifacts, he was more worried that many of the treasures exchanged at the Heavenly River City’s Demon-Slaying Building were under surveillance.
This meant that the Qingxuan Sect’s layout spanned over a decade!
Through war, they awarded these treasures to numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators, all under the guise of legitimacy.
The cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect and Corpse Refining Sect probably also seized many such items!
For a while, Lin Shiming was so shocked by the Qingxuan Sect’s scheming that he couldn’t calm himself.
Just yesterday, he had considered releasing Wang Jiao to explore the underground, but if he had done so, he would probably have been sought out by Purple Mansion cultivators as soon as he emerged.
It should be noted that even the Spirit Beast Sect had only one Black Jiao Hermit who possessed a jiao-type Spirit Beast, but that Spirit Beast was merely a mixed-breed.
After some thought, Lin Shiming forced himself to calm down.
The schemes of those Golden Core True Persons were not about a mere small Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.
It was just that he had already entered their game, and he believed that as long as he didn’t act recklessly, he would not catch the eyes of those Golden Core True Persons.
Lin Shiming took out an Intermediate Grade Spirit Stone and began to recover his True Yuan.
He also put away the Zilai Sword, followed by the Star Wood Shield, and put them all into his Storage Bag.
He did this sequentially, refraining from stowing everything away at once.
At the same time, he sent a telepathic message to Lin Xianzhi.
Fortunately, his Seventh Great-Uncle was accustomed to using the Green Lotus Sword, and the magic sword gifted by Zi Xuan Hermit had not been taken out.
Upon being reminded by Lin Shiming, Lin Xianzhi also immediately thought something might have been revealed about Zi Xuan Hermit.
He tried to inquire through telepathic communication but found that Lin Shiming was not responding.
When everything was finally put away, daylight had broken. All the magic artifacts that could be subjected to surveillance were concealed, leaving Lin Shiming drenched in nervous sweat!