CHAPTER 459: CHAPTER 447: CATCHING TWO FISH IN ONE GO?

After bustling around for ten minutes, Liu Lang, with his shiny bald head, ran to Han Qiwu’s side and handed over a crumpled piece of straw paper like the one before.

"Here, just follow what’s written on this, guaranteed to fill your belly up round and smooth."

After giving the straw paper to Han Qiwu, Liu Lang quickly ran back to his fire rack and continued flipping his roasted fish.

Han Qiwu lowered his head and saw lines of prompts appearing before him.

[You have obtained Liu Lang’s recipe for the Universal Fishing Bait]

[Universal Fishing Bait]

[Materials: [Dragon Hollyhock]×5, [Silver Star-grade Bug Meat]×5, [Slime Mud]×5]

[Special Effect - Mystical: Based on the principles of mysticism, the Universal Fishing Bait has a small chance to help you fish up two catches at once.]

[Note: Each time you craft, you can get five portions of Universal Fishing Bait.]

After reading the properties of the Universal Fishing Bait, Han Qiwu felt intrigued.

This special effect is pretty interesting.

Catching two fish at once.

Saves skills and stamina.

More importantly, as observed from Deng’s fish, some rare catches aren’t easily caught just because you want them.

With this Universal Fishing Bait, it could outright increase the number of rare fish.

"Mystical principles? What kind of principles are those exactly..."

Han Qiwu muttered while pondering the sources of the ingredients:

There’s still some Dragon Hollyhock and Slime Mud left at home, but not even a speck of Silver Star-grade Bug Meat.

Not only was there none at home, he hadn’t encountered Silver Star-grade Bug Meat even in the previous mining layers.

Looks like he’d have to explore deeper mining layers for it.

"Thanks, Brother Liu. Take your time eating. I’ll come by again next time." Han Qiwu stashed the recipe away and gave Liu Lang a quick shout.

Liu Lang nodded and took a delighted sip of fish soup.

Absolutely delicious.

Seeing this, Han Qiwu didn’t linger, walked over to his pony, untied the reins, and hopped on.

Time to go!

After riding for another ten minutes, Han Qiwu arrived at the training ground he had planned beforehand.

The Stone Flats.

It used to be the riverbank of Buffalo River, but due to some reasons, this section of the river dried up, leaving the surrounding riverbanks abandoned. Large chunks of stone scattered across the dry ground, with sparse weeds here and there.

"Good thing I’ve got those mystical horseshoes now, or I’d be reluctant to let the pony practice leaping here."

Han Qiwu hopped down from the pony, bent over, and started clearing the ground a bit.

Watching its owner busy at work, the pony didn’t stay idle either, kicking small stones far away with its little hooves.

After half an hour of clearing, a simple training ground was ready.

"Pony, you’ll have to bear with training here for now. Once things get better later, I’ll set up a grass field for you." Han Qiwu patted the pony’s head.

Actually, according to Uncle Ma’s horse training method, for young ponies that lack focus, training on stone ground might be a decent option.

At least they won’t randomly lower their heads to graze during practice.

Since it’s the first day, the training moves are kept simple. The goal is to jump over three 1.5-meter stones consecutively within a set time, landing stably with clean and crisp jumps.

The pony’s previous leaps looked a bit sluggish. It wasn’t noticeable under normal circumstances, but it wouldn’t suit harsh environments.

Moreover, Han Qiwu had some ideas while practicing.

The pony he got this time is a Akhal-Teke horse; it’s clearly unsuitable for mining caves.

What if next time he gets a type of warhorse that can enter caves?

Training is inevitable anyway!

The pony didn’t seem repelled by the training and followed Han Qiwu’s half-baked drills, leaping repeatedly.

After an hour, a thin layer of sweat appeared on the pony’s shoulders, and its jumps became much cleaner and smoother.

"Alright, that’s enough for today." Han Qiwu happily halted the pony, led it for about 800-900 meters, then mounted and rode back home.

Back home, Han Qiwu fed the pony a sack of feed and brought over two buckets of water, instructing it to rest well.

"Neighhh!"

Looking at the sack of feed, the pony gave a disgruntled snort.

It sounded rather aggrieved.

"Didn’t the owner promise extra food?"

Han Qiwu laughed when he heard this and explained, "You just finished intense exercise; you can’t eat that much now. Besides, I said extra food at night, so don’t rush."

Understanding the explanation, the pony nodded sensibly and lowered its head to eat.

After leaving the stable, Han Qiwu dragged out Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai, threw them into the basket of his electric scooter, stocked up on supplies, and hurried towards Mist Forest.

Time to chop some wood!

He remembered something during the training earlier.

Since building the stable requires hardwood, upgrading it will definitely need hardwood too.

Planning ahead.

Better chop it now!

Hardwood trees aren’t very common in Mist Forest either. Last time, he wandered quite a bit to gather enough.

But it’s not an urgent matter. This time, he also plans to collect Mist Butterfly Eggs.

Mist Butterfly Eggs = various types of saplings!

Go, go, go!

Arriving at the entrance to Mist Forest, Han Qiwu checked the change in fog conditions within and estimated that it should stay safe for the next two hours.

Let’s go!

Once inside, Han Qiwu followed a cobblestone path toward an unexplored trail to the right.

Honestly, this newbie-level "Eight-step Cicada Leap" run was pretty swift.

Hop, hop!

Though it wasn’t ideal for poor Xiao Lai strapped to his back.

Its two little black bean eyes were spinning like mosquito coils.

Xiao Lai: "This bumpy ride’s too nauseating!"

Upon reaching the unexplored area, Han Qiwu called over Xiao Dian, who was flying above.

"Chirp chirp!"

Xiao Dian excitedly swooped down.

Is the owner going to send me scouting again?

He better reward me more pine nuts!

At least two pinecones!

Before it finished dreaming, Han Qiwu casually placed Xiao Lai on its back.

??????

Though Xiao Dian felt its back suddenly weighted down, it reflexively braced itself to carry Xiao Lai.

Han Qiwu gave Xiao Dian’s bird head a satisfied pat. "I knew you could handle it. Nice, nice. In the future, in critical moments, you’ll carry Xiao Lai to spit venom, zap electricity, and run away. You’ll be a mobile artillery named ’Poison Liquid Radio.’"

Xiao Dian: "..."

Who wants to be Xiao Lai’s radio!

I want to fly freely!

Spinning around freely too!

With this in mind, Xiao Dian intentionally pretended it couldn’t handle Xiao Lai’s weight. Its wing tilted, and it started plunging to the side.

Han Qiwu smiled knowingly and kicked a sharp stone to where Xiao Dian was falling.

Nice try, huh?

Xiao Dian: "..."

Does the owner have to be so ruthless!

Seeing the sharp stone, Xiao Lai quickly shifted its round little bottom and hopped off Xiao Dian onto a nearby tree.

The force at work is mutual.

Due to Xiao Lai’s movement, Xiao Dian’s body sunk further, and it helplessly watched itself plunging toward the sharp stone.

No time to flap away.

"It’s over, my face is doomed."

"How am I supposed to court ladybirds now!"