Chapter 27

The extreme point is located at the northernmost tip of the planet, where the landscape is a vast expanse of ice and snow—truly a winter wonderland. The journey from here to the extreme point takes about an hour. They changed into clothes that are warm in winter and cool in summer, packed some food, and set off.

Upon arrival, the first thing that caught their eyes was a sea of white, but the cold weather didn’t affect the zerg species in the slightest, especially for the females. The low temperature was something they could easily ignore, even without wearing clothes.

Of course, it’s not that they would actually go without clothing—if they did, no zerg would call it a display of physical strength. Instead, they’d think the zerg was insane or mentally unwell.

The extreme point here doesn’t have large landmasses. It used to be a small island just a few kilometers in size, but the constant low temperatures led to the rise of massive icebergs. Over time, these icebergs gradually formed a continent made entirely of ice. While there are no green plants, it is a paradise for frost-loving magical plants.

The most common plant here is a low-level magical plant called ‘Ice Blossom’, which is entirely white and bears small white flowers. In this place where the temperature is below freezing year-round, it’s almost everywhere. This plant absorbs the cold of its surroundings, but its fruit releases cold in return, blending perfectly with the environment. Moreover, its fruit is not particularly useful to the zerg species, so few zergs bother to pick it. Instead, they are left to root themselves in the icy expanse.

It was lightly snowing here, and the snow on the ground had already accumulated to about half the knee. Many zergs were playing with sleds, and without exception, they were all males. The females nearby were cautiously watching, ready to help in case the males fell. Well, perhaps this was just too childishly simple for the females. 

As they ventured deeper into the area, the temperature dropped even further, and the snow became lighter until they reached the heart of this continent. Here, there was no snow at all, just a vast expanse of icebergs as hard as steel, seemingly having existed for countless years. The temperature here was also even lower than where they had come from.

Miraculously, deep within these icebergs was a small lake. For some unknown reason, the water remained in liquid form, and in this unusual environment, fish had adapted to survive. Males who ate these fish gained enhanced resistance to the cold. Almost every female who came here would try his luck, hoping to find a male who might encounter this rare fish.

These fish were extremely rare. They lived in the deepest part of the lake, only occasionally bubbling up to the surface. Encountering them required a bit of luck.

If one wanted to dive into the lake to catch them, the deeper you went, the colder the water became. At the bottom of the lake, the temperature was low enough to freeze one’s body. The female zergs could endure the cold for a short while, but prolonged exposure would become unbearable. The biggest issue was that the water currents at the bottom of the lake were unpredictable, and no one knew exactly where the fish lived. Instruments would strangely fail to detect anything here, making it one of the mysteries of the Aurora Star. 

Eventually, no female would brave the cold to reach the bottom of the lake in search of the fish. Instead, they waited at the edge of the lake. If they were fortunate enough to see the silver fish appear, it was a joyous occasion. If not, it was simply considered bad luck, and there was nothing to be done about it.

Naturally, Xi Yuan came here with the hope of getting lucky and catching one of those silver fish. As long as something benefits the male’s body, he would go out of his way to acquire it. If it were something he could buy, he wouldn’t hesitate to spend the money. The uniqueness of the silver fish lies in the fact that it dies within a minute once it’s out of water, and once it dies, its body starts to decay, making it impossible to preserve, no matter what method is used. This added an element of legend to the fish.

As a result, those who were lucky enough to encounter the fish coming out of the water often couldn’t sell them even if they caught some. The only thing they could do was slice it into sashimi and eat it on the spot.

When the two of them arrived at the edge of the lake, they saw about a dozen pairs of zergs scattered around the shore, all of them silent and focused on the lake’s surface.

They quietly joined the others.

The lake surface was calm and still, like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the towering icebergs around it. In such a quiet moment, any small movement on the lake’s surface couldn’t escape the keen senses of these zergs.

Qin Fei didn’t really expect to be lucky enough to see a silverfish come up. Meanwhile, Xi Yuan remained focused, his gaze intent on the lake. Qin Fei, on the other hand, took the opportunity to enjoy the rare beauty of the surroundings. He even took out his portable light brain and snapped numerous photos from different angles.

Each photo was more than worthy of being framed.

An hour passed, and even the most beautiful scenery became tiresome to look at. He had not moved much, as he was afraid that any movement might make noise and disturb the silver fish that might appear.

He tugged on Xi Yuan’s hand, signaling that they should leave.

Although Xi Yuan felt a bit regretful, he agreed. An hour had passed, and the time when the silver fish typically surfaced was already over. He nodded and, with the male, began to walk back.

Gurgle… gurgle…

Just after taking a few steps, Xi Yuan heard the sound of water. He suddenly stopped and grabbed Qin Fei’s hand. The female zergs around them also heard it, and they all closed their eyes. One of them raised a hand to block their companion’s gaze. The silver fish were very sensitive to any disturbances around them. If they heard any sound out of place or sensed an unusual atmosphere, they would retreat back into the water. Therefore, whenever this happened, the female zergs would close their eyes and try to prevent the males from looking directly at the lake.

Gurgle… gurgle… The sound grew louder, and at that moment, Qin Fei finally noticed the commotion.

Then, someone next to them suddenly leaped and soared into the center of the lake.

The surrounding female zergs also quickly took action. When Qin Fei turned around, he saw his female zerg companion just jumping back to his side from the lake, holding two transparent silver fish, each about the size of a palm.

He didn’t know where Xi Yuan had gotten a small knife from, but with swift movements, he sliced the silver fish into sashimi and arranged them neatly on a plate.

“Master, hurry and eat, it’ll be a shame if the time passes,” Xi Yuan urged.

Qin Fei picked up a slice with the fork beside him and put it in his mouth. There was no fishy taste at all, just the fresh, clean taste of a top-tier fruit slice. It was so refreshing that it barely needed chewing, just melting into a cool stream of water as it slid down his throat.

Delicious!!!

The next slice was fed to Xi Yuan, and although the silver fish had no effect on the female zergs, aside from its lack of use, it was undoubtedly a top-tier delicacy!

The two silver fish weren’t very large, and Qin Fei and Xi Yuan finished them off, taking turns. 

One fish was enough for Qin Fei to feel its full effect, so this was just perfect.

After finishing, Qin Fei turned to look around. By this time, most of the others had finished as well. After all, time was limited, and it was quite fair—most of the female zergs had caught two fish, and even though there might be more silver fish, they didn’t try to catch any more. This gave the silver fish a chance to continue thriving.