Seeing her acting all coy, Yi Chen made a bitter expression and said in a complaining tone, "Madam Gao...now you’re just making things more difficult for me."

"If it’s too difficult, then just accept things for how they are," Gao Zhen chuckled at his words before finally stating with a genuine smile on her face, "Counting the number of times you’ve fought those Glacial soldiers, you’ve saved my life hundreds of times by now.

Compared to that, a few spirit stones I gave you don’t amount to much. So please, accept them. It’s my way of thanking you for all you did for me."

Hearing those words, Yi Chen was no longer in a position to refuse. However, he still tried to find a middle ground.

"Fine then," he nodded after a moment of thought and continued, "I’ll use only what I need, and whatever remains once we’re out of this tomb, I’ll return it all to Madam Gao at that time."

"Sounds good to me..." Gao Zhen said with a smile, her eyes shining with an unreadable glint. The next second, she pointed her finger in one direction and said, "...It’s burning."

"Mhm? Ah!" Yi Chen’s attention was immediately drawn to the fish that were no longer palatable.

Using his Crimson Fire Arts, he turned them all to ashes the next second and said with a sigh, "Sorry about that. I had lost focus for a second. I’ll prepare again."

"It’s alright, take your time," Gao Zhen answered with a smile and waited patiently, even though her hunger was as intense as it could be.

A while later, the two finally curbed their hunger. With that done, Gao Zhen soon bid Yi Chen good night and left for her tent.

Seeing her leave, a smile naturally formed on Yi Chen’s face, "Thanks...though I’ll still make sure to return everything that’s left when we are out of here."

A quiet chuckle escaped his lips before he shifted his attention to his storage ring. While preparing the next batch of fish, he realised something.

"The last batch of fish is almost finished. I’ll go again in three days’ time." He muttered to himself.

In the remaining time, he planned to fully explore the landmass so that, while fishing, he would only have to focus on exploring the water body.

With the decision made, he soon made preparations for rest and went to sleep.

He could have focused on comprehending the Crimson Fire Arts or practised his swordsmanship a little, but he decided not to.

It had been a long while since he had a good night’s rest. Therefore, he decided to have a proper good night’s rest, something he hadn’t had in more than two years.

The next morning, he woke up all fresh and energetic, ready to tackle the day.

After sharing a meal with Gao Zhen, he soon left towards another random direction to explore the white landmass.

He returned by lunchtime, headed out again afterwards, and finally called it a day in the evening.

He followed this routine for the next couple of days, and by the end of it, he had explored the entirety of the icy landmass, leaving nothing untouched.

However, his progress percentage said otherwise.

[Progress: 18.2% -> 24.6%]

’I certainly didn’t miss something, so it could only mean one of the two possibilities. Either there’s a secret place I’ve been unable to find or the surrounding waters are vaster than I could imagine...’

Yi Chen pondered while lying in his tent. It was already an hour past dinner, and after a tiring day, he was about to doze off. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

’Guess I’ll know while catching fish, tomorrow.’

That was the last thought he had before his eyes forced themselves shut.

SPLASH!

Yi Chen’s figure plunged into ice-cold water. This time, unlike usual, he ignored the school of fish that swam past and kept diving deeper and deeper.

Constantly utilising the Bursting Fire Steps, he was able to reach the dark depths in less than a minute’s time.

Utilising his Crimson Fire Arts, he momentarily lit up the dark waters in search of anything unusual.

However, apart from water, plants, and a muddy bed, he found nothing.

A hint of disappointment was apparent on his face; however, with no time to mull over it, he soon swam back up and, while at it, sucked the school of curious fish that swam past him directly into his storage ring.

It was a method he discovered through trial and error.

Initially, he used to hunt them underwater with his Qi blades, which took a lot of his time, but thanks to this method, he became extremely efficient at fishing.

Swimming back up, he soon rested on an ice platform with a blanket of fire surrounding him to reheat his ice-cold body. Once recovered, he would dive back in again.

[Progress: 24.6% -> 24.9%]

There wasn’t much progress in the mission panel, but since he had dived only once, it was too soon to draw conclusions.

’Now that I recall, there was a different coloured fish among the ones I had caught,’ Yi Chen curiously thought while searching for the fish in the storage ring.

A second later, an orange and white striped fish was lying lifelessly in his hand.

’It’s my first time seeing this one, did it come from the faraway waters?’ he thought curiously, admiring the fish’s bright orange colour, ’I wonder what it’s called...’

"Wait..."

He was suddenly reminded of his ability to check everything’s status and almost face-palmed himself.

"All this while I could have checked the names of all the interesting fish I encountered..." He shook his head with a helpless expression on his face.

This wasn’t the first time a unique fish had caught his attention.

"Whatever...let’s check its name first." He muttered and willed it.

====== STATUS =======

Species Name: Findria Nemos

Type: Fish

Remark: Looks cute. [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

=====================

Reading the system’s remark, Yi Chen’s eyes twitched for a moment, but still, what it said was true. The fish indeed looked a little cute.

It was at that moment that the mission panel popped up in front of his eyes.

"Wait...what?!" he couldn’t help but exclaim when he noticed the progress bar.

[Progress: 24.9% -> 25.4%]