One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Nie Lingfeng stared at the faintly glowing blue moss on the rock wall, his stomach growling like a string of firecrackers exploding in his intestines—loud, dense, and with a mournful, hollow echo.

He had been squatting by the pond for a full ten minutes, like a hungry little stone statue. The moss felt cool and soft to the touch, and when brought to his nose, it emitted a refreshing scent reminiscent of mint mixed with rain-soaked moss, along with a faint, indescribable mineral aroma. Theoretically speaking, most brightly colored mushrooms in nature are highly poisonous, but moss… especially this kind of glowing moss, is it really hard to say whether it's poisonous or not?

"Bear Grylls said that you have to be brave enough to try new things in the wild..." he whispered to himself, his voice sounding particularly weak in the empty cave. He stretched out his right index finger and carefully picked off a small piece the size of his fingernail with his nail.

The moss trembled slightly at his fingertips, emitting a soft, watery blue light. The hyphae at the edges were as fine as hair, swaying gently with his breath. It was so beautiful that it seemed otherworldly, more like some strange creature from the deep sea or outer space.

Nie Lingfeng held the glowing blue spot up to his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty as he swallowed a non-existent saliva.

"To eat or not to eat, that is the question," he muttered to himself, as if engaged in a serious philosophical debate. "If I eat, I might get poisoned, my whole body glows blue, and I'll die from my intestines rotting; if I don't eat, I might starve to death, becoming just another unknown little skeleton in this Lingyun Cave. According to the law of conservation of energy and a child's basal metabolic rate, my body can last at least three more days, but the problem is—"

Glug glug glug—!

My stomach rumbled again, this time with a more piercing and prolonged sound, accompanied by a trembling sound like a stomach spasm, which echoed slightly in the cave.

"The problem is that it doesn't obey the laws of physics!"

Nie Lingfeng closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and stuffed the trembling, glowing moss into his mouth.

Just as that cool touch was about to touch her lips—

Crash!!

A huge splash of water suddenly erupted in the center of the pool without warning!

Nie Lingfeng was startled, his hand trembling. The precious moss flew from his grasp, tracing a dark blue arc in the air before silently falling into the water and being instantly swallowed by the darkness. He looked up abruptly, his pupils shrinking sharply—

A long, slender, silver-gray shadow shot out from the bottom of the water, drawing a full arc in the air. Its scales reflected a silvery luster under the dark blue moss light, before plunging back into the deep black pool with a "plop," leaving behind ripples that gradually spread outwards.

fish.

A fish!

A lively, plump fish, estimated to be over a foot and a half long and weighing at least two pounds!

Nie Lingfeng's eyes lit up instantly, a wolf-like green light bursting from the depths of his pupils, almost materializing. Moss, Bear Grylls, wilderness survival theories—all were thrown to the winds! At this moment, his mind was filled only with the most primal biological instincts, and only one thought was frantically flashing through his mind:

Meat! Protein! Fat! Calories! Survive!

"Don't run away—!!!"

He let out a howl, his voice splitting with excitement, and threw the Snow Drinking Knife in his arms to the ground with a clatter. He didn't even bother to pull up his pants, which kept slipping down. He sprang up from the ground, tumbling and crawling towards the pool, looking like a clumsy little beast that had spotted its prey.

Whoosh—!

With a graceful flick of his tail, he splashed his face with the icy pool water, the droplets sliding down his thin cheeks and dripping into his collar.

"Hey, what a temper I've got!" Nie Lingfeng wiped his face haphazardly, his wet bangs plastered to his forehead. He stared intently at the leisurely swimming silver-gray shadow beneath the water's surface, his teeth grinding together. "If I don't get my hands on you today, I'll change my surname to yours! No, I'll take your surname!"

He lay prone on the edge of the pool, almost falling in, arms outstretched, poised like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, his round eyes wide like copper bells, staring unblinkingly at the water below.

The fish seemed to be sentient, leisurely swaying its tail fin in the water, completely ignoring the scruffy, disheveled little boy on the shore. It even deliberately swam slowly to the shallower area closer to the shore, circled in front of him twice, then flicked its tail lightly and leisurely swam back into the depths, leaving behind a string of fine bubbles.

"You...you're provoking me?" Nie Lingfeng was practically laughing in anger, his hunger and rage surging together. "A fish! A carp...uh, maybe a grass carp? Whatever kind of fish it is! How dare you provoke me? Do you know what I did in my past life? I was the man who could snag limited-edition coupons at midnight on Singles' Day and fight my way through the Spring Festival travel rush to grab train tickets! My hand speed, eyesight, and prediction—"

Before he finished speaking, the fish seemed to understand his shout and surfaced again, this time only a hand's breadth away from the shore. You could almost see the fine patterns on its silvery-gray scales and its slightly twitching gills.

Nie Lingfeng instantly held his breath, his muscles tensed like a bowstring, and his heart pounded wildly in his chest. He silently counted in his mind: Three, two, one—

flutter!!!

Its tiny body shot out like an arrow, or a human-shaped cannonball, and plunged headlong into the icy pool!

A bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped his body, causing him to shiver violently and break out in goosebumps. But he paid no heed to the cold, frantically paddling and grabbing with both hands underwater, relying on his senses to reach the direction where the silver shadow had disappeared.

I caught it! Slippery, cold, and hard to the touch! It's a fish!

"Haha! Got it!!" Overwhelmed with elation, Nie Lingfeng used all his strength to pull upwards, trying to lift his "trophy" out of the water—

Snapped! ! !

A solid, crisp, and loud tail whip lashed precisely and viciously across his left cheek!

Nie Lingfeng was stunned by the blow; his ears were ringing and his cheeks were burning. As soon as he let go, the slippery fish body slipped through his fingers with a "whoosh," and its tail flicked one last time before leaving, splashing water all over his head and face once again.

"..." He surfaced from the water, soaked to the bone, his hair clinging wetly to his face and neck, a clear red mark slowly appearing on his left cheek. He floated there blankly for a long time without moving.

silence.

A deathly silence permeated the deep blue cave, broken only by the soft "drip-drip" of water droplets falling from his hair onto the surface of the pool.

Three seconds later.

"I'll fight you to the death!!!"

A young, yet indignant roar echoed throughout the cave.

For the next fifteen minutes, a brutal yet utterly comical battle between humans and mermaids unfolded by the cold pool.

Nie Lingfeng used every move within his limited imagination: a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey (only to fall into the water and end up with a mouthful of sand), a black tiger tearing out the heart (his attempt failed, and he almost strained his back), a monkey stealing a peach (fish obviously don't have this organ), and a lazy donkey rolling around (rolling in the mud on the bank, trying to use his body to hold down a passing fish)...

The silver-gray fish, on the other hand, fully displayed all the combat wisdom and taunting skills that an old fish that had lived in the icy pool for countless years could possess: Dragon Tail Sweep (a series of slaps to the face), Swallow Triple Skip (a series of leaps across the water to dodge), Lingbo Microstep (nimbly weaving between Nie Lingfeng's frantically waving fingers), and its ultimate technique—looking at him silently with its dull yet seemingly infinitely mocking dead fish eyes, as if to say in hushed tones: "That's it? A human cub?"

When Nie Lingfeng missed his target for the fifteenth time, he collapsed on the shore, soaked to the bone, covered in mud, and panting heavily, like a dying sea dog washed ashore by the waves. As he gazed at the deep blue "starry sky" above the cave, a sliver of clarity finally emerged from his extreme hunger and anger.

"No..." He gasped for breath, his eyes gradually focusing. "I...I have martial arts skills...Nie Feng's legacy...Wind God Leg...I have complete memories of the Wind God Leg in my mind! Although it's only theoretical, I haven't practiced it yet..."

He struggled, propping himself up with trembling arms, and stood up unsteadily. He closed his eyes, trying to dispel his fatigue and frustration, and immersing his consciousness in the newly opened treasure trove of martial arts in his mind.

The first move of the Wind God Leg: Catching the Wind and Shadows.

The essence lies in the speed of movement, moving like a whirlwind without a trace, and remaining still like a fleeting shadow. It emphasizes the perception of airflow and the instantaneous burst of speed.

Nie Lingfeng took a deep breath, the cool air filling his lungs. He tried to calm his racing heart, sensing the faint yet real, icy-blue energy flowing through his meridians. It was like a thawing stream in early spring, small yet resilient. He awkwardly tried to guide this energy along the route he remembered, slowly directing it to specific meridians in his legs—

Then, open your eyes!

As if celebrating its victory, the culprit fish swam once again to the shallow water near the shore, barely an inch from the surface, its silvery-gray dorsal fin almost protruding above the water.

It's now!

Nie Lingfeng made a move.

There was no explosive roar as I had imagined, no afterimage of extreme speed, and his movements were even somewhat stiff and clumsy—but he was definitely faster than before! More than three times faster! With a powerful push off the ground with his left foot, his slender body shot out like an arrow, his right hand forming a sword-like gesture, a wisp of visible white cold air condensing at his fingertips, piercing into the water with lightning speed, fast, accurate, and ruthless!

Whoosh—!

Water splashed high into the air.

When Nie Lingfeng staggered to his feet and pulled his arm out of the water, he found his palm firmly gripping a large, silver-gray fish that was still struggling and thrashing its tail wildly! The fish's mouth opened and closed wide, and its wide-open eyes seemed to reflect a look of disbelief and bewilderment.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Nie Lingfeng laughed loudly three times, but he laughed so hard that he choked on the cold air, coughed until his face turned red, and tears streamed down his face.

But he ignored his cough and scrambled back to the dry shore, pressing the fish firmly onto the cold ground, his entire weight pressing down on it, afraid that the slippery creature would stage another successful escape.

The fish was still making its last struggle, its powerful tail slapping against the rocky ground with a loud "slap" in the silent cave.

Nie Lingfeng plopped down next to the fish, leaning against a stalagmite, panting heavily, his chest heaving, but a huge smile spread across his face, a mixture of exhaustion, ecstasy, and a sense of victory.

"Do you submit? Hmm? Do you submit?" He extended a finger and smugly poked the slippery, icy fish head. "Trying to fight me? I'm a system now... oops, I mean, a person with a lineage! A regular army! Understand?"

The fish gave one last powerful leap, rolled its eyes (if fish really do have white eyes), and finally collapsed from exhaustion, lying there with only its gill covers opening and closing weakly.

The joy of victory flowed through my body like the sweetest nectar, but it only lasted for about thirty seconds.

Then, looking at the still slightly twitching, shimmering, fresh seafood on the ground, Nie Lingfeng fell into a new, more realistic contemplation.

"So... what do we do now?"

Eat it raw?

The image of Bear Grylls eating various worms, larvae, and still-wriggling raw fish without batting an eye in the documentary immediately flashed through his mind, and his stomach churned violently, and acid rose in his throat.

"No, no, absolutely not!" He shook his head vigorously. "I'm a civilized person, a fine young man of the 21st century with higher education, and I keep the core socialist values ​​firmly in mind. How can I eat raw meat and drink blood... It's too unhygienic! Besides, raw fish might have parasites. My delicate skin and malnourished little body, if I get infected, in this godforsaken place with no village or shop in sight and not even antibiotics available..."

Was it baked?

He looked around. Cold rocks, glowing moss, deep pools of water. No dead branches, no fallen leaves, not even a speck of dry matter to burn.

"Drill wood to make fire?" Nie Lingfeng lowered his head, looking at his small hands, which, though smaller, were still delicate and smooth, without a single callus on the palms. He shook his head in despair. "With these hands and this strength, we probably wouldn't even be able to produce a single spark by next spring... Besides, making fire by drilling wood requires suitable wood and tinder, and there isn't even a blade of grass here..."

He stared at the fish on the ground, which was gradually ceasing to struggle, with a worried expression. His stomach growled loudly again, at an inopportune moment, and the burning sensation in his stomach reminded him that time was running out.

"If only... I could have a fire..." he muttered unconsciously, staring blankly at his wet fingertips, pure longing overriding all rational thought.

The voice just fell.

puff.

A small flame, without warning, emerged from the tip of his right index finger.

The orange-red flame, about the size of a regular lighter, burned quietly on his fingertip, steady and gentle, the flame flickering softly, emitting a warm glow that illuminated his face, which was momentarily stunned.

Nie Lingfeng: "…………"

Flame: "…………"

One person and one flame stared at each other (if the flames had eyes), locked in an eerie, five-second-long silent standoff in the dark blue cave.

"Aaaaaah! Fire! Fire! My hand! My hand!!" Nie Lingfeng sprang up from the ground like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, frantically shaking his right hand, trying to shake off the flames. "Help! Fire extinguisher! Water! Water! Water!!!"

Instinctively and frantically, he plunged his burning right hand into the icy pool beside him.

laugh--!

A soft sound, like water being quenched on a red-hot iron block, rang out. The flame went out, and a wisp of very faint white smoke rose from the fingertip and dissipated into the air.

Still shaken, Nie Lingfeng pulled his hand out of the icy pool and, using the dim light of the moss, examined it closely with wide eyes—his fingers were intact, his skin still fair, without a single burnt hair, only a strange, warm sensation remained at his fingertips.

My mind is a bit slow to process things; it's like a rusty gear being forced to turn.

"Just now... that was..." He hesitated, slowly raising his right hand to his eyes, concentrating all his attention, and silently repeating in his mind, "Fire?"

puff.

Once again, the small, orange-red flame obediently and submissively emerged from the tip of his index finger and burned quietly.

This time, Nie Lingfeng didn't cry out. He simply stared wide-eyed, holding his breath, his gaze fixed on it. The flame danced on his fingertips, the temperature… just right? Not too hot, and even had a… indescribable sense of familiarity? As if the flame were an extension of his body, perfectly at his fingertips.

"I...I can control fire?" He tried to give the command in his mind: grow bigger.

The flames suddenly shot up, growing to about half a foot high, and the heat intensified, but it remained under his control and would not harm him.

"Get smaller".

The flame quickly shrank back to the size of a lighter.

"Move left."

The flame obediently "jumped" to the tip of the middle finger.

"Spin around."

The flame deftly circled the middle finger joint, tracing an orange-red arc of light.

Nie Lingfeng fell silent. He looked at the gentle flame dancing on his fingertips, then looked down at the Qilin tattoo on his chest that seemed to glow faintly in the firelight. A clue that had been temporarily buried by his ecstasy and the battle of catching fish suddenly became clear.

Ten seconds later.

"Hahahaha! Fire! Fire-type ability! Max fire resistance! A bonus gift from the Qilin marrow! How could I forget about that!!" His maniacal laughter exploded again as he excitedly jumped and danced on the shore, the flames at his fingertips dancing up and down with his movements, tracing bright streaks of light like a joyful little sprite. "The essence of the Fire Qilin! The Yi Jing Marrow Cleansing! Of course I have some special abilities! I'm not afraid of the cold because of my high fire resistance! My stamina recovers quickly because of the Qilin marrow's nourishment! Blood can heal… wait!"

He stopped abruptly, looking at his wrist, his eyes gleaming. "Nie Feng seemed to have mentioned that Qilin blood has miraculous healing effects? I should write this down; it might be the key to saving my life or, in the future, for... cough, for doing chivalrous deeds."

But now, the most important thing is—

He turned to look at the large, completely still, silver-gray fish on the ground, then at the lively, leaping orange-red flame at his fingertips, and grinned, revealing a radiant smile that was almost ferocious.

"Grilled fish, start!"