Time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, a quarter of an hour went by, and even Ye Cangtian was getting a little anxious.
He wasn't questioning Na Mei's ability, he was just wondering if the ancient sturgeon had gone extinct in the river, and why they hadn't been found yet.
"Here they come."
The next moment, Na Mei's voice sounded in his mind, and Ye Cangtian quickly looked.
On the golden river surface, rays of glazed light flashed.
Their arrival made the surrounding ancient toothfish tremble with fear and become restless, as if they had encountered their natural predator.
However, these ancient toothfish did not leave; they simply made way.
With flashing streams of light, ancient sturgeon, over a meter long, streamlined, and glazed, appeared by Ye Cangtian's side.
Like the toothfish, they did not attack, only showed submissiveness.
Ancient Sturgeon!
"Quick, catch them! Don't let them escape..."
After a moment of astonishment, the old man's eyes widened, and he kept urging in a low voice.
He also felt inexplicably nervous.
Although ancient sturgeon were not as ferocious as ancient toothfish in the great river, their strength was not weak, and they were the bane of these toothfish.
The only drawback was that they were a bit timid.
No! It should be said they were cunning.
The slightest hint of anomaly, and they would disappear without a trace.
Therefore, the old man did not dare to speak too loudly, for fear of scaring these ancient sturgeon away.
"Alright, I've already instructed them."
Na Mei's voice sounded in Ye Cangtian's mind.
Ye Cangtian smiled slightly, opened his large hand, and prepared to catch a plump ancient toothfish.
Splash!
The next moment, water splashed, and the approaching ancient sturgeon turned, scattering in a group.
Uh...
Didn't I already instruct them? Why did they all run away?
Ye Cangtian was a little stunned. The sudden scene caught him completely off guard, and he didn't even catch a single one.
The old man on the other side was also yelling in anger!
"What a great opportunity! It was within reach!"
"You brat didn't catch a single one, what a disaster!"
The old man was indignant, wishing he could slap this scoundrel to death at this moment.
However, just then, the water splashed again, and a stream of light flew over with lightning speed, directly hitting Ye Cangtian's chest.
Ye Cangtian was already crouching, and before he could react, he was hit, and he lost his footing, sitting down on the bank.
Only then did he realize that the stream of light was none other than the ancient sturgeon he wanted to catch.
"..."
The old man's face was frozen with anger, and Ye Cangtian was also stunned.
No one expected the ancient sturgeon to return, perform a flying fish dive, and launch a suicidal attack.
Alas!
This Na Mei really likes to play tricks!
After a short while, a wry smile appeared on Ye Cangtian's face. He got up and turned to the old man.
He saw the old man staring at the ancient sturgeon with stars in his eyes, licking his lips as if he had been reincarnated from a starving ghost.
"Senior?"
Ye Cangtian spoke tentatively.
"Understood, understood."
The old man nodded repeatedly, then took out a piece of paper from his Qiankun bag and sent it flying towards Ye Cangtian with a whoosh.
Ye Cangtian's heart immediately rejoiced. Without a second word, he threw the ancient sturgeon to the old man and then firmly caught the piece of paper.
"Uh..."
The next moment, Ye Cangtian froze on the spot.
The paper was only the size of an A4 paper, completely white, with no writing on it.
It was just an ordinary piece of white paper!
Ye Cangtian confirmed it again and again, then looked at the old man, who was already happily starting to prepare the fish.
"Senior, this paper..."
Ye Cangtian asked doubtfully. He had expected it to contain some cultivation techniques, but it turned out to be blank paper.
Wasn't he tricked?
Of course, he had thought so, but quickly dismissed it.
The old man was definitely not ordinary and had no reason to trick him!
"Spread the paper flat in your hand, release spiritual energy to make it float, and ensure it floats steadily in wind and rain, then you can come to me again!"
The old man ignored Ye Cangtian, focused on preparing the ancient sturgeon, and spoke.
So simple? Is he tricking me?
Ye Cangtian muttered to himself, thinking there was no difficulty, but he still did as he was told.
Whether he was being tricked or not would be known after one attempt.
The next moment, Ye Cangtian's eyes widened.
What he had initially thought was akin to practicing with a gun, seeking stability.
Frankly speaking, in the secular world, he was at least a gun god level existence, proficient with all types of guns.
If his marksmanship could be ranked second, no one would dare claim first.
Therefore, he felt that this matter was not difficult and could be easily accomplished.
However, it was not as he imagined.
The ordinary paper was effortless to pick up, but to lift it solely with spiritual energy felt like lifting a thousand pounds.
Even though Ye Cangtian used all his might, he could only make the paper float about an inch or two, and it was extremely unstable.
Let alone in wind and rain, even in the current fair weather, it was like a fallen leaf floating on the sea, drifting with the current.
"It's not easy, is it? You must be wondering why spiritual energy, with such powerful auxiliary attack capabilities, can barely lift a piece of paper?"
"It's very simple. The spiritual energy is transmitted from your body to the paper, but there's a certain distance in between. Spiritual energy easily merges with the air, and once there's impurities like air, its power is greatly reduced..."
"The reason is that you are too weak, your spiritual energy output is too thin, it easily merges with the air, reducing its power..."
Just then, the old man's voice came.
Ye Cangtian glanced at the old man and quickly asked, "Old man, why are the traces of battle left by ancient powerhouses, like sword Qi, preserved to this day with undiminished power?"
In Ye Cangtian's view, sword Qi and the like were essentially formed by spiritual energy. Since spiritual energy easily merged with air, it should have dissipated long ago over the ages.
Yet, they still existed and their power remained formidable, which seemed contradictory to what the old man had said.
Upon hearing this, the old man revealed a faint smile and said, "I already told you, it's because you are too weak. The spiritual energy output by ancient powerhouses was extremely pure. To give you a simple example..."
The old man used water as an example. Gaseous water easily merges with the air, but liquid water is difficult to merge with the air.
Spiritual energy is also like this; the higher the concentration and purity, the harder it is for air to affect it.
Ye Cangtian understood instantly and quickly bowed to the old man.
On the other side, the old man smiled slightly, inwardly sighing at Ye Cangtian's comprehension ability, and then paid him no more mind, preparing to light a fire and cook the delicious meal.
...
After a short while, a refreshing aroma drifted over.
Ye Cangtian, who was practicing diligently, suddenly heard his stomach rumble. He turned his head and swallowed hard.
The old man was sitting on the bank, chewing on the fish meat, occasionally taking a sip of strong liquor, looking quite at ease!
"Hehe, old man, you made so much fish, you don't mind if this kid helps you share some, do you?" Ye Cangtian sidled up.
"Not much, only 1/3, I can still eat it myself."
"But if you have a drink with me, I wouldn't mind sharing it with you!"
The old man glanced at Ye Cangtian and said playfully.
After all, Ye Cangtian was the one who caught the fish, so it was only right to have a taste, and drinking alone was indeed rather boring.
"That would be wonderful!"
"With delicious food and strong liquor, life couldn't ask for more!"
Ye Cangtian laughed heartily and then sat down.