Chapter 497: Underground Gourmet Special? Transparent Grilled Fish!

"Ding! Detected the appearance of a Huaxia divine beast: Fuzhu!"

"Fuzhu: One of the divine beasts from Huaxia myths and legends. It is a deer with four horns, possessing a gentle and clean appearance. Its appearance is always accompanied by massive floods, and it is regarded as an omen of water disasters."

"Millions of years ago, a great catastrophe descended. To find a clean water source, the Fuzhu left Huaxia and sank to the bottom of the deepest cave in the world, allowing it to survive."

The System's voice suddenly echoed in Ning Fei's mind.

Ning Fei's expression froze slightly.

'Catastrophe? What catastrophe?'

Ning Fei asked inwardly.

However, the System did not answer him.

The existence of divine beasts was a phenomenon modern science simply couldn't explain. In other words, there was a period of history in ancient times that remained undiscovered by humanity. Aside from the surviving divine beasts, there were no records describing that era.

'The Tengshe is a cub and has always been hiding from humans.'

'The Kunpeng slumbers in the oceanic trench of the Bermuda Triangle.'

'The Fuzhu is hiding inside the deepest cave in the world.'

'Whatever the reason, these divine beasts are all, to varying degrees, filled with fear toward the modern world.'

'Why is that?'

Ning Fei's expression shifted slightly.

He had a special affection for animals, especially divine beasts.

Having read the Classic of Mountains and Seas since he was a child, he knew every Huaxia divine beast like the back of his hand.

'The Classic of Mountains and Seas states: "On the Mountain of Ao'an, there is a beast. It looks like a white deer with four horns, and its name is Fuzhu. When it appears, the local area will suffer a great flood,"'

'To think it's actually hiding down here beneath Krubera Cave.'

'There is another story about the Fuzhu. Back when the water god Gonggong fought the fire god Zhurong, Gonggong smashed into Mount Buzhou and knocked it down, plunging all living things into misery. Feeling deep guilt for his sins, Zhurong begged Nuwa for help.'

'Nuwa told Zhurong to refine the five-colored divine stones to patch the sky, but the water element stone was in Gonggong's hands. Zhurong could only gather four stones.'

'At the critical moment, it was the Fuzhu who delivered its own water element stone, helping Zhurong refine the five-colored divine stones.'

'Afterward, Gonggong questioned the Fuzhu: "The people of the world are wicked. Why did you help them?"'

'The Fuzhu didn't answer. It simply refined Gonggong into its own water element divine stone.'

'Such a gentle yet characterful divine beast is simply too lovable.'

Ning Fei thought to himself.

He was delighted.

He had found another Huaxia divine beast.

Soon after, he rubbed his chin and pondered inwardly:

'I have to find a way to see if I can bring the Fuzhu back to Huaxia and raise it myself.'

After all, what man could refuse raising a divine beast?

However, he glanced at the location indicated by the System again.

The straight-line distance between him and the divine beast right now was 1,000 meters.

And his current position was already about 1,400 meters underground.

'The extreme depth reached by previous explorers in Krubera Cave was 2,192 meters.'

'The Fuzhu is over 2,500 meters straight down from the cave entrance.'

'Which means the depth previously explored isn't the absolute limit of Krubera!'

'I still have to go down over 300 meters past that!'

This depth exceeded Ning Fei's expectations.

This would be no small challenge for him either.

Ning Fei landed on the platform.

The cave didn't drop straight down the entire way. Sometimes, he had to take a detour before he could continue his descent.

This was the terrifying part about Krubera Cave, as well as its marvelous and magnificent charm.

"The water in this pond comes from groundwater, and it's flowing water."

"This means the source is clean."

Ning Fei simply washed his face and explained to the viewers in the live stream.

"Water from a source like this has been filtered through thousands of meters of sand and soil, making it exceptionally clear."

"Even the finest mountain spring water can't compare to this."

Ning Fei planted his torch to the side, then shined his light over the pond. The pond was quite large, with a diameter nearly reaching twenty meters.

The viewers also stared intently at it.

"There are fish in there!"

Ning Fei suddenly said.

"Where are the fish? How come I don't see any?"

"This lake water is very clear, but I don't see any fish."

Hearing Ning Fei's words, the viewers all looked carefully into the water.

The lighting was dim, but the situation in the pond could be seen at a glance.

Everyone was puzzled.

"The fish are right here."

"The reason you can't see them is because this type of fish is transparent."

"Because the underground world is completely pitch-black, the vision of the fish here has severely degenerated, and their bodies have also taken on a bizarre transparent hue."

"It's just about time to eat anyway. These are freshwater fish, and they aren't small. They should taste pretty good."

As Ning Fei spoke, he took out a fishing spear from his bag.

He stepped up to the edge of the pond, waited for the right moment, and thrust the spear down hard, successfully piercing a fish.

Ning Fei's movements while catching the fish were graceful and light, once again leaving the viewers full of admiration.

"Look everyone, this is a transparent fish."

Ning Fei raised the long spear, speaking at a leisurely pace.

The drone's camera focused in, and its light illuminated the space ahead.

The viewers saw a fish with an almost completely transparent body skewered on the long spear. The bones inside the fish could be clearly seen.

For this type of transparent fish, only the head was opaque.

The fish was quite large, looking roughly the same size as an ordinary grass carp.

"Let's see how this transparent fish tastes."

Afterward, Ning Fei took out a dagger, set his fishing spear aside, and pulled a specialized outdoor grill from his backpack.

This type of grill was a piece of high-end outdoor equipment that could ignite without any external fuel. Anticipating that there would be absolutely nothing to burn down in Krubera Cave, Ning Fei had specifically brought it along.

He cleaned the transparent fish thoroughly, then sliced it into several long strips of meat.

The viewers watched as Ning Fei's knife work was completed in one breath. Under the illumination, a flurry of blade shadows flashed at the bottom of Krubera Cave!

"Holy shit!"

"What knife skills!"

"I almost forgot, Temple Master Ning's knife skills are absolutely top-tier!"

"This is a man who can carve dragons and phoenixes. How could his knife skills be anything but amazing?"

They watched him chop off the fish head, extract the bones, and leave behind only the fresh meat.

The fish meat was in a transparent state, and it looked like it would have an excellent texture.

You couldn't buy fish meat like this on the surface even if you wanted to.

Ning Fei unfolded the grill, ignited the fire, and laid the fish slices on the rack to cook.

The originally transparent fish meat gradually took on a slight reddish-brown hue under the roasting flames, yet it still retained a sense of translucency.

Netizens from all over the world quietly watched Ning Fei as he prepared the grilled fish.

Many couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

"Grilled fish from 1,400 meters underground. I suppose the vast majority of people will never get to eat something like that in their lifetimes."

"Aside from those god-tier explorers, who else could possibly eat fish meat like this?"

"Dammit! Why does such delicious-looking fish have to live in a place like that!"

"I can't help but drool with envy."

Following that, Ning Fei pulled a seasoning box from his backpack. He took out some spices and sprinkled them evenly over the fish meat.

The viewers stared at each other through their screens in dismay.

"Just how much stuff did Temple Master Ning pack in that bag of his?"

"A long spear, a grill, and now a seasoning box?"

"It's like he already planned out exactly what he was going to do."

"His planning skills are terrifying!"

"Does Temple Master Ning have the power of prophecy or something?"

Next, Ning Fei pulled a pair of chopsticks from the side pocket of his backpack.

He used the chopsticks to flip the fish meat, ensuring that every slice was cooked evenly.

When it was just about ready, Ning Fei picked up a piece of the transparent meat.

The heated oils coated the cooked fish, giving it a rich, lustrous shine. Combined with the visibly bouncy and elastic texture of the meat, everyone's eyes were deeply drawn to that piece of fish.

Ning Fei placed it in his mouth and chewed slowly.

Truth be told, the texture and flavor of this transparent fish were absolutely phenomenal. Eating it made his mouth water, as if his taste buds were blooming.

Chewing the fish, a look of profound satisfaction appeared on his face.

"The taste is really good."

Ning Fei said with a smile.

Afterward, he took out the Spirit Treasure Gourd and downed the rest of the Jade Nectar inside.

The sheer satisfaction after drinking made him let out a long, contented sigh:

"Ah! So refreshing!"

Seeing this scene, the viewers couldn't help but comment helplessly:

"Is Temple Master Ning exploring hell? He's way too relaxed!"