Chapter 144: Chapter 143: Smurfing

BOOM!

Wu Chen’s body slammed into the cold pool. The four-to-five-foot-deep water erupted as if struck by a cannonball, spraying in all directions.

Waves crashed against the shore.

For a brief moment, the water within a three-meter radius of Wu Chen was completely displaced, revealing fish and shrimp flopping helplessly on the stones at the bottom of the pool.

But this was, after all, only the strength of the Jade Bone Realm and the ten-thousand-jin force of ’Barbarian Ox Shakes the Earth’. Although the impact had created a cavity, the water immediately rushed back in, threatening to submerge Wu Chen.

But that was enough.

With a single leap, Wu Chen landed back on the edge of the pool.

His Qi and Blood roiled like fire within him. White steam instantly billowed from his soaked clothes.

In just a few breaths, his clothes were completely dry.

"What the...?"

The group hiding in the distance watched this with horrified expressions, immediately abandoning any thought of turning back to launch a surprise attack.

Seeing the various fish flopping on the shore, they realized he didn’t even need to enter the water!

What was the point of talking about him getting his limbs frozen stiff?

"Everyone, stay calm. There are still fish in the pool. There’s no way he won’t go in!" the leader whispered, placating his men.

At his words, everyone turned their gazes back to the cold pool.

Sure enough, they saw that while many fish had been washed ashore by the waves from his jump, at least half were still floating on the surface. Some were quite large, merely stunned by the impact and swimming about groggily.

To get those, he would definitely have to go in and retrieve them.

"How many times can he use that monstrous strength? Probably only once. If he wants to get all the fish, he has to go into the cold pool. And as long as he goes in, we’ll have our chance!"

The leader’s words settled everyone down, and they grew more and more eager to see him enter the water, imagining the scene of their group surrounding and attacking him.

Once he was trapped, all of his gains would naturally belong to them!

Their eyes burning with greed, the men looked back at the scene, only to see that the figure was neither collecting the fish nor entering the pool.

Instead, a slender figure emerged from the woods on the other side, carrying a pile of firewood, and walked to the water’s edge.

’Two of them?’

The group stared, stunned for a moment, before they heard a voice from the clearing.

"Pick up all the fish around here and pack them away. Same for the ones in the pool."

Watching Xue Hongling approach with the firewood she had gathered at his command, Wu Chen unapologetically ordered her again.

"Alright."

Xue Hongling nodded and agreed without the slightest hesitation.

She naturally wouldn’t refuse; in fact, she was more afraid of being useless during this trip to the secret realm.

"..."

In the bushes far from the pool, the hidden group of people fell silent.

Even through the hazy mist, they could tell she was an exceptionally beautiful girl.

’You’re making such a pretty girl go into that freezing water?’

’And she just readily agreed?’

’Does he have some kind of dirt on her?’

"We should go."

The leader thought it over. With such horrifying strength, there was no way the man didn’t know they were hiding there.

’He probably just hasn’t decided to kill us yet.’

Besides, a couple was enjoying a scenic outing here. What would they be if they jumped out and started trouble?

’Adding a bit of spice to their romance?’

The group finally understood the situation clearly. They didn’t linger any longer, quietly retreating with suppressed footsteps.

"..."

Xue Hongling put down the firewood she was carrying. She glanced at the rustling bushes in the distance, then at the area around the cold pool, which was devoid of bloodstains or corpses.

Finally, her gaze fell upon Wu Chen, who was lighting the firewood in front of her, and she muttered softly,

"You know, it would have been fine if you had killed those people from the Blood Slaughter Sect. You don’t have to consider my feelings."

"Even though we’re from the same sect, I don’t feel any kinship with them. Sparing them because you were being soft-hearted for my sake will only cause trouble later."

"???"

Wu Chen, who was sprinkling tinder powder on the damp firewood, couldn’t help but grimace.

’What in the world is this girl thinking!’

’Consider your feelings?’

’If I weren’t saving them to level up my two blood blades, I would have started killing long ago.’

’Why else would I keep this bunch alive?’

WHOOSH!

Wu Chen ignored Xue Hongling, simply striking a flint against the powder-dusted firewood. A spark fell, and flames instantly flared up.

He then sat cross-legged before the fire and took out four small, five-inch-long yellow fish that were tender, scaleless, and seemed boneless.

He had picked out the best ones.

He skewered the small yellow fish on branches and began roasting them over the fire.

’I wonder what a small yellow fish worth two hundred fifty silver tastes like,’ Wu Chen mused.

Wu Chen didn’t feel too bad about it. Contribution Points were scattered all over the map; a few fish were nothing.

He planned to taste-test even the small yellow fish over seven inches long—the ones that could be used to make Qi Nourishing Pills.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

As he turned the skewers, he heard the sound of turbulent water.

Wu Chen turned his head to see that Xue Hongling had finished collecting the fish on the shore. After releasing some of the inch-long fry back into the pool, she waded in barefoot.

Perhaps considering her outer clothes and boots too valuable, she entered the water wearing only her plain white undergarments.

The water was already waist-deep. After just a few steps, Xue Hongling’s undergarments were soaked through, clinging to her body and revealing tantalizing glimpses of her fine figure.

"..."

Wu Chen averted his eyes and focused on roasting the fish.

Fortunately, Xue Hongling worked quickly. In just a short while, she had gathered all the stunned or slow-moving fish floating on the surface into her storage pouch.

Only then did she put her clothes back on and walk over to the fire.

CHATTER! CHATTER!—

Sitting by the fire, Xue Hongling’s pearly teeth chattered, clearly unable to withstand the pool’s biting cold.

Luckily, as her Qi and Blood circulated and with the warmth from the fire, she returned to normal after just a dozen breaths, steam evaporating from her skin.

"Can you handle it? This pool’s water is good stuff."

Wu Chen remarked casually, noticing that Xue Hongling’s skin seemed to have become more crystalline after her trip into the cold pool.

Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that she was simply frozen solid.

However, Wu Chen still believed it was the pool’s miraculous effect. It made no sense for water that could nurture Treasure Fish needed by the Organ Refining Realm to have no effect on people.

But this kind of effect would surely require prolonged immersion to cause any change; a brief dip would hardly have any real impact.

"I can." Xue Hongling nodded upon hearing his words, not saying much else.

"Eat. Fill your stomach first." Wu Chen handed her the roasted fish he was holding.

Having recovered, Xue Hongling finally had the energy to look closely at the fish Wu Chen handed her, only to realize they were the most precious Yellow-Scaled Fish!

A single one was worth twenty-five Contribution Points!

She had just been wondering why she hadn’t seen any. And here Wu Chen was, roasting and eating them?

"These are Yellow-Scaled Fish! There are only four or five in each cold pool, and you just roasted them like this?"

Xue Hongling’s eyes widened. She looked at the fish in her hands, her expression a mixture of conflict and reluctance, as if she were traumatized by poverty.

After all, one bite was worth dozens of silver.

She looked at Wu Chen. "Besides, cooking it like this is a complete waste. It doesn’t bring out the Yellow-Scaled Fish’s full effects at all."

"Oh."

Wu Chen replied nonchalantly, "Then we’ll just go snatch the Yellow-Scaled Fish from the other pools. If we eat enough, we’ll get the effects."

Xue Hongling: "..."

She was speechless, realizing his words actually made a certain amount of sense.

Wu Chen, however, showed no such hesitation. He devoured the fragrant, soft roasted fish in a few large bites, instantly feeling a fire ignite within him, a warmth spreading through his entire body.

"If you’re not eating it, give it to me!"

Seeing Xue Hongling still holding two whole roasted fish, her eyes filled with conflict and reluctance, Wu Chen reached out, feigning to snatch them away to scare her.

But Xue Hongling didn’t even flinch. Instead, she simply handed the two roasted fish back to him.

He had expected her to act like a little girl and quickly stuff them in her mouth. The anticlimactic result made things a bit awkward for Wu Chen.

"Just hurry up and eat so you can keep up."

He waved his hand, getting to his feet. "I’m in a hurry to go blast the fish in the next cold pool."

"Hurry and follow me to pick up the fish."

With that, he set off at a brisk pace towards the next cold pool.

Seeing Wu Chen’s figure disappear into the thick fog in just a few steps, Xue Hongling grew anxious. She finally finished the roasted fish in a couple of bites, her cheeks stuffed full.

After extinguishing the fire, she trotted after him.

...

BOOM!

「Half an incense stick’s time later」, another tremendous roar echoed through Wushan.

This time, Wu Chen only killed the sentries. To save time, he didn’t bother persuading the others to leave.

He took a running start, leaped over the cold pool, and then activated Barbarian Ox Shakes the Earth, smashing straight into the water.

As the force of ten thousand jin crashed down, water surged in all directions. Each droplet, carrying a hundred jin of force, pelted down relentlessly.

Wu Chen’s appearance was too sudden for the people fishing in the pool to react.

Unable to dodge the wall of water, they were swept ashore and knocked unconscious by the impact.

"..."

Xue Hongling, who had just managed to catch up, stared blankly at the scene: Wu Chen descending from the sky, knocking out seven or eight people and stunning hundreds of fish.

At the first cold pool, she had gone to gather firewood and didn’t know how Wu Chen had caused such a commotion.

Now, watching his actions, her beautiful eyes trembled, and her heart pounded violently in her chest, in rhythm with the boom echoing through the valley.

’This... Is this something someone in the Jade Bone Realm can do?’

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