142: Chapter 142 The Two-Winged Ray

Yu Nian jumped up to help as well, and with their combined strength, they finally dragged the giant clam completely out of the Abyssal Squid's body.

The clam shell slammed onto the deck with a dull, heavy thud, causing the inflatable boat to sway several times.

Shen Shuang crouched down and tapped the shell with her knife handle, producing a dull echo.

"What's inside?"

Xu Tao thrust his right hand into the gap of the shell and pried with all his might.

Yu Nian came over to help, but the shell didn't budge at all.

Shen Shuang frowned, a faint chill rising from her left arm. She reached into the gap, freezing the edges, and the gap widened slightly after the contraction.

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Tao exerted force again, and the shell finally cracked open a sliver.

A dense surge of spiritual energy poured out from the gap, carrying the salty scent of the ocean and a certain indescribable, sweet fragrance.

Lin Fan leaned in, his left eye peering through the gap.

Inside, there was actually a small fish.

The fish was tiny, only the length of a palm, silvery-white all over, with scales as fine and dense as satin.

The most peculiar thing was its fins—they were not ordinary fish fins, but two pairs of translucent, plastic-like wings.

The wings were as thin as a cicada's, yet their edges were as elegant as satin.

It was curled up at the bottom of the shell, its body thin and weak, looking like it was on the verge of death, yet its eyes were open; the pale silver pupils seemed to possess an extraordinary intelligence.

"Huh?"

Lin Fan recognized this kind of fish.

It was a Twin-Winged Wenyao Fish, an earth spirit superior Aptitude creature with dual Wind and Water attributes, skilled in aerial gliding and underwater Stealth, a highly rare flying fish Armor Beast.

But this one seemed a bit different.

At first glance, it looked no different from its kin, but upon closer inspection, it felt strangely out of place everywhere.

Its scales were not purely silvery-white.

Under the refraction of light, a layer of deep blue patterns faintly emerged, like the fusion of the deep sea and the night sky.

Moreover, every tiny flutter of its wings caused ripple-like spatial folds to stir in the surrounding area.

Lin Fan's left eye heated up slightly, and information appeared in his field of vision.

[Race]: Twin-Winged Wenyao Fish

[Rank]: Rank 32

[Aptitude]: Heaven Spirit inferior (Upper Limit: God Spirit superior)

[Attribute]: Space

[Status]: Near death, weak spiritual energy, in urgent need of energy replenishment

[Hidden Information]: This individual possesses an extremely dense Kunpeng Bloodline within its body. This Bloodline is extremely rare and has the potential to evolve into a top-tier space-type Armor Spirit.

[Armorization Part]: Back

[Evaluation]: A Twin-Winged Wenyao Fish that accidentally wandered into the clam shell. Because it was nourished by the heart of the tide for several years, it successfully activated its Bloodline, which consumed most of its spiritual energy. It is currently extremely weak; if not treated in time, it will die within three days.

A Kunpeng Bloodline.

That was a legendary God Spirit Rank Armor Beast; when it transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. When it dives into the water as a fish, its name is Kun.

Wasn't this the fourth Armor Spirit he had been searching for?

An Armor Spirit with God Spirit Rank Aptitude is one in ten million; he never expected to encounter one just like this.

And it was the heart of the tide that caused it to fully activate the Kunpeng Bloodline within its body.

The many years of nourishment from the tide's power—could it be the heart of the tide?

The more Lin Fan thought about it, the more excited he became...

"Lin Fan?"

Shen Shuang's voice pulled him back to reality. "Do you recognize this thing?"

Lin Fan took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady.

"I do. A Twin-Winged Wenyao Fish, a variant species. Very rare."

He paused, "It's dying. I need to save it."

Shen Shuang glanced at him but didn't ask any more questions.

"Doesn't matter, it's your call."

She stood up and continued to direct Yu Nian to dismantle the Abyssal Squid's corpse.

Lin Fan carefully scooped the little fish out of the clam shell.

It was very light, as light as a feather.

Its wings hung limply, its body was cold, and its breathing was weak.

Lin Fan rummaged through his backpack and took out a small porcelain bottle containing jade nectar.

He poured a little onto his palm and placed the small fish into the jade nectar.

The little fish's mouth opened slightly, and it took a few sips. Its body trembled, and its breathing became slightly stronger, but it was still very weak.

"It needs more."

Lin Fan muttered.

He placed the little fish into a special beast pouch lined with cotton wool soaked in jade nectar.

The little fish curled up inside and stopped moving, but it was still breathing.

Lin Fan hung the beast pouch on his waist and patted it.

"Rest well for now; I'll find a way to save you."

Shen Shuang walked over and glanced at the beast pouch.

"Can you keep it alive?"

Lin Fan nodded. "Yes."

He paused, "With me here, it won't die."

Yu Nian jumped back onto the boat and put the dismantled Materials into his space ring.

"Everything useful from the Abyssal Squid has been collected. The ink sac, poison glands, suction cup barbs, tentacle meat, and those eyes."

He looked at the beast pouch on Lin Fan's waist, "What about that little fish?"

Lin Fan patted the beast pouch.

"It's here. I plan to contract it as my fourth Armor Spirit."

Yu Nian was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

"Not bad, kid, you can even find an Armor Spirit while out on a mission."

Xu Tao also rarely showed a smile.

Shen Shuang unfolded the map.

"The mission isn't over yet; continue the patrol."

Yu Nian took the helm, turned the inflatable boat, and headed towards the ninth island.

Lin Fan sat at the stern, stroking the beast pouch on his waist.

jade nectar could only temporarily sustain its life; it treated the symptoms but not the root cause.

What it truly needed was a large supply of pure spiritual energy.

Now, its body was like a dried-out sponge, in urgent need of spiritual energy to soak it.

But this wasn't the association, nor his shop; he had no ready-made spirit liquid on hand, nor any of the Materials that could be used for concoction.

He looked up at Yu Nian, who was dismantling the Abyssal Squid's corpse.

Yu Nian had already sorted and packed the Abyssal Squid's ink sac, poison glands, and suction cup barbs, and was preparing to cut the tentacle meat.

A thought suddenly flashed through Lin Fan's mind.

The Abyssal Squid was a Rank 63 Emperor Spirit Armor Beast; its flesh and blood contained extremely dense spiritual energy.

The little fish had been swallowed by the Abyssal Squid; the reason it could persist for so long inside the clam shell was essentially because it had been absorbing the Abyssal Squid's spiritual energy.

"Brother Yu Nian, cut me a small piece of that tentacle meat, raw is fine."

Lin Fan stood up.

Yu Nian was stunned for a moment. "You want to eat it? It's raw, it'll be very fishy."

Lin Fan shook his head.

"It's not for me."

He patted the beast pouch on his waist, "It's for it to eat."

Yu Nian glanced at him, didn't ask again, cut a small piece from the tentacle meat he had just sliced, and handed it to Lin Fan.

Lin Fan took it; the piece of meat was about the size of a fist, translucent and milky white, with fine silver patterns on the surface, emitting a strong, briny sea scent and spiritual energy fluctuations.

His left eye scanned it—full of spiritual energy, no residual toxins, safe to consume.

He rummaged through his backpack for a clean jade bowl, placed the tentacle meat inside, and used his dagger to chop it into fine meat paste.

He poured in some jade nectar, stirred it well, and mixed it into a bowl of light blue meat paste.

He opened the beast pouch and gently scooped out the little fish.

The little fish was still in that dying state, wings hanging limply, mouth slightly open, breathing weakly.

Lin Fan dipped his fingertip into a bit of the meat paste and gently smeared it on the little fish's mouth.

The little fish's mouth moved slightly, and it sucked in the meat paste.

It swallowed it, its body trembled, as if it were digesting it.

Lin Fan dipped his finger again and smeared it on. The little fish sucked it in again.

Once, twice, three times...

The little fish's breathing gradually became stronger, and its wings were no longer hanging so limply, but had opened slightly.

Lin Fan's left eye had been observing the little fish's condition.

The spiritual energy fluctuations had changed from a near-death weakness to a stable, low level; although it was still far from healthy, it was at least temporarily out of danger.

He fed the rest of the meat paste to the little fish, and its body began to emit a faint silver glow; on those fine scales, the deep blue patterns began to faintly emerge.

"That's about enough."

Lin Fan put the little fish back into the beast pouch, which was lined with cotton wool soaked in jade nectar, and now it also had the spiritual nourishment from the meat paste.

The little fish curled up inside, no longer motionless, and would occasionally flick its tail.