Nine Astra Skies

After seeing Ye Chen being so persistent, Li Xu finally nodded and said, “Very well, I’ll take advantage of it.” Even ten percent of the medicinal pills were priceless.

Ye Chen kept the fish and asked, “Master, Senior Brother Li, what exactly is this fish?”

“It’s called the Purple-gold Divine Fish. It generally only lives in the deep sea. I didn’t expect it to appear here. When the Purple-gold Divine Fish is young, its body is blood-red but when it reaches around five-hundred-years-old, its scales will slowly turn purple and its beard will grow longer. It’ll only turn purple-gold when it’s over ten thousand years old but once it does, it’s extremely precious. One bite can let a cultivator shed his mortal body and change his bones. Their Celestial Chi would increase greatly as if they have cultivated for dozens of years. It’s even possible for a low Celestial Chi cultivator to immediately break through to Earthly Venerable Rank. Even if they’re not cultivators, one bite is enough to extend their lifespan and treat any illness,” Master Apothecary Xuanyi explained.

“How old is this Purple-gold Divine Fish?” Ye Chen asked. The fish would only turn purple after five hundred years, so it seemed that this Purple-gold Divine Fish had grown for at least five hundred years.

“The Purple-gold Divine Fish’s beard will grow half a meter every five hundred years. This Purple-gold Divine Fish should be around two thousand years old. In general, there’ll only be one Purple-gold Divine Fish in a body of water. All Purple-gold Divine Fish are male when young but become female and start laying eggs after maturing. If there are too many Purple-gold Divine Fish in one body of water, they’ll kill each other if there’s insufficient food.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi sighed. “I’ve fished here for so many years but I’ve never even seen the shadow of the Purple-gold Divine Fish before. Who would’ve thought that Ye Chen would catch one immediately after arriving?”

“In other words, the lake only has this single Purple-gold Divine Fish?” Ye Chen rubbed his head. He had caught the sole Purple-gold Divine Fish. Perhaps the Soul-amassing Pill was the Purple-gold Divine Fish’s favorite food. The Purple-gold Divine Fish was a terrifying predator for other fishes. It was not surprising that the smaller fishes were scared away.

“That’s right but it’s difficult to determine. If this fish is taken to the Central Empire’s Mingyue Auction House, one tael can be sold for tens of thousands of Chi-amassing Pills. Even a Tier Five spirit artifact would only be worth a hundred thousand Chi-amassing pills.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi sighed emotionally. This fish was more than thirty catties. Just this fish alone had already made Ye Chen rich. Even if all the treasures in the Xiwu Empire were sold, it still might not be enough to compare. However, it seemed that Ye Chen had quite a few treasures himself. The sword from earlier was most likely a Tier Five or above spirit artifact, otherwise, it would not have been able to pierce the Purple-gold Divine Fish’s head. Unless a person was severely in need of money, no one would sell such a precious thing like the Purple-gold Divine Fish.

One tael of fish could be exchanged for tens of thousands of Chi-amassing Pills? Everyone grew dizzy upon hearing this figure.

‘What exactly is the Central Empire’s Mingyue Auction House to sell Tier Five and above spirit treasures? I wonder when I can take a look.’ Ye Chen was reminded of Little Rou at the mention of the Central Empire. ‘I wonder how Little Rou is doing in the Central Empire. Her parents are there and are supposedly the sect leader of a large sect. Little Rou’s life shouldn’t be too bad. I wonder what attainment level that girl has reached. With her talent and the support of a large sect, she should’ve advanced by leaps and bounds. I can’t fall behind.’

Lei Yi, Hao Feng, Yan Cheng, and a group of registered apprentices stared at Ye Chen. They seemed to feel that even if Ye Chen plucked out a leg hair, it would still be thicker than them!

“No one is allowed to tell anyone about Ye Chen catching the Purple-gold Divine Fish. Whoever dares to tell anyone will be expelled!” Master Apothecary Xuanyi turned to look at the apprentices behind and said seriously.

“Master, a few golden-armored imperial guards saw it. They might report it to Great Emperor Mingwu.” A subtle sinister light flashed in Lei Yi’s eyes. Although Ye Chen had caught the Purple-gold Divine Fish, whether or not Ye Chen could keep it was a different question. This was a world where might made right!

Ye Chen’s Astral Body saw Lei Yi and the others’ reactions. He scoffed in his heart. ‘They’re dreaming if they want to take the Purple-gold Divine Fish away from me with their strength. However, it’ll be a different story if it was Great Emperor Mingwu or one of the Heavenly Venerable Rank combatants from the Three Major Sects.’

Ye Chen had an urge to increase his strength. Otherwise, he would not stand a chance if he encountered a Heavenly Venerable Rank combatant.

“If Mingwu comes, I’ll talk to him. We made a deal before. One of the conditions for me to stay in the Xiwu Empire was that the fishes that my apprentices and I catch in this lake belong to us. That holds the same for the Purple-gold Divine Fish.” Master Apothecary Xuanyi glanced at the apprentices. “The golden-armored imperial guards stationed here are all Mingwu’s confidants. They’ll only tell Mingwu alone about this matter!”

Lei Yi and the other registered apprentices felt Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s gaze and lowered their heads, not daring to look at each other. Master Apothecary Xuanyi was warning them not to try any tricks. If a large incident like this was revealed to others, they would have to bear the consequences.

Master Apothecary Xuanyi looked up at the sky. It was getting late. Although they could still fish at night, since a Purple-gold Divine Fish was caught, it would be better to go back and deal with it quickly.

“Ye Chen, it’s getting dark. Let’s go back to Xuan Pavilion now!” Master Apothecary Xuanyi looked at Ye Chen.

“Yes, Master.” Ye Chen nodded. He understood Master Apothecary Xuanyi’s worries.

“We’re not fishing anymore?” Little Wingsy pouted. He was addicted to fishing now. Fishing was really interesting.

“No. Little Wingsy, Brother Ye Chen will make you fish soup tonight!” Ye Chen said. Who cared about the Purple-gold Divine Fish? They could talk after eating it. After Little Wingsy was injured by Tantai Ling, his injury was still recovering, and his strength was much weaker than it had been during his peak, so he needed a physic. If Little Wingsy’s strength recovered fully, he would be an existence equivalent to Daemon King Rank. He would not be afraid of any Heavenly Venerable One, Mystique Venerable One or even Godly Venerable One.

Tantai Ling’s attack had been too deadly. If Ye Chen had not used the Celestial Chi of the Flying Dagger in his body to help Little Wingsy control the injury, Little Wingsy would have already died. However, Ye Chen’s Celestial Chi could only help Little Wingsy recover slowly. It was impossible to completely cure his injury in one lifetime.

‘I’ll make Purple-gold Divine Fish soup for Little Wingsy later and see how it works!’

The group of people tidied up and returned the fishing gear to the golden-armored imperial guards, and set foot on the way home.

Master Apothecary Xuanyi, Ye Chen, Li Xu, and Little Wingsy walked in front while Lei Yi, Hao Feng, Yan Cheng, and all the registered apprentices followed behind.

Looking at Ye Chen’s back, Lei Yi’s face darkened as he remained silent.

“Senior Brother Lei, are we really going to let that boy Ye Chen eat the Purple-gold Divine Fish alone?” Hao Feng glared at Ye Chen. Behind him was the number one martial arts family in the Xiwu Empire. ‘What’s the big deal about Donglin County’s Ye Clan? If Ye Chen refuses to obediently give me the Purple-gold Divine Fish, I’ll destroy his entire clan. If I gave this Purple-gold Divine Fish to my clan, who knows how many combatants will be created?’ Hao Feng’s heart was burning.

“In Xuan Pavilion, the Master has the final say. As long as Ye Chen remains in Xuan Pavilion, we won’t have any opportunities to act!” Yan Cheng piped up.

“Why don’t you two Senior Brothers disclose the news to your clans?” Hao Feng schemed. If the clans behind Lei Yi and Yan Cheng moved, the Hao Clan might not receive the biggest benefit. However, it was still possible for the Hao Clan to get a share.

Lei Yi and Yan Cheng came from the Central Empire and had their clans backing them. Their clans were not considered top forces in the Central Empire, otherwise, they would not need to study alchemy under Master Apothecary Xuanyi. However, their clans were like giants if placed in a small country like the Xiwu Empire.

Lei Yi glared at Hao Feng and said, “It’ll take at more than a year for a horse at full gallop to get here from the Central Empire. Do you think that the Purple-gold Divine Fish will still be with Ye Chen then? It’ll either be moved or eaten. Are you suggesting we let him eat the flesh and we eat the bones?”

“Is there no one from the Lei Clan in the Xiwu Empire?” Hao Feng asked cautiously.

“There are only some Tenth Level combatants but with Master around, how will they move?” Lei Yi asked indignantly.

“Senior Brother Lei seems to have some friendship with Taiyi Sword Sect. Why don’t you invite the sect leader of Taiyi Sword Sect?” Yan Cheng asked after pondering.

“If that old fox comes, even if he snatches the Purple-gold Divine Fish from Ye Chen’s hands, we’ll only be able to drink soup!” Lei Yi’s hands clenched into tight fists.

“It’s better than not even having soup to drink. We might as well take advantage of where we can!” Yan Cheng’s mouth curled.

“Let’s see what Mingwu says first.” Lei Yi shook his head. If the Heavenly Venerable Rank combatants came, Master Apothecary Xuanyi would immediately know that they were up to no good. At that point, they might not be able to continue being his disciples.

“Master has always been biased. He used to favor Li Xu and now he’s favoring Ye Chen. We’re also his apprentices. Why can Li Xu get a portion of the Purple-gold Divine Fish but we don’t get any?” Hao Feng pressed insistently. He deliberately left out the fact that the fish was caught by Ye Chen!

Everyone would only speak on behalf of their benefits. In front of benefits, things like “morals” were worth dog sh*t!

Lei Yi and Yan Chen had unpleasant expressions. In any case, they decided that no matter what, they would get a piece of the Purple-gold Divine Fish!

Master Apothecary turned around and looked at Ye Chen. “Ye Chen, after going back, what are you planning to do with the remaining two portions of the fish?”

Ye Chen came back to his senses and pondered. Big forces were backing Lei Yi and Yan Cheng. It seemed like this matter would not be settled peacefully. ‘Who do you think I, Ye Chen, is? They want to pluck a tooth from the tiger’s mouth but there won’t be a door!’

“Master, I’m going to prepare fish soup tonight. Little Wingsy is still young and growing, and in need of nutrition. At that time, I’d like Master and Senior Brother Li to join us as well.” Ye Chen deliberately raised his voice. Lei Yi and the others’ faces turned green upon hearing him.