Dawn had not yet fully broken when the tide along Sea God Island's southern shore slowly began to recede.
Xiao Yun woke in a sheltered spot, put away the raincloth he had tied between the trees the night before, and changed into clean clothes.
Xiao Yun arrived at the beach. The seawater had just covered his ankles, while the sandy seabed beneath the water had been washed smooth and level by the tide.
His Spiritual Power spread outward from between his brows like an invisible net, unfurling across the water's surface in both directions and probing an area more than ten meters beneath the sea.
As his Spiritual Power moved underwater, it did not disturb the water spray. It merely advanced along the rises and dips of the sandy bottom, finding the first target in a gap between several reefs, then following the current to discover a second and third.
Xiao Yun did not rush to act. He first confirmed the lobster's size and made sure it had no missing limbs or external injuries. Only then did his Spiritual Power gently close in around its head, drawing it out from the reef crevice and guiding it steadily through the seawater along a gentle path toward his feet.
When it neared his feet, he used his Spiritual Power to hold it in place underwater, then bent down and scooped it up.
He then repeated the process, finding several more Ornate Spiny Lobsters of similar size in the surrounding waters. He caught them one by one, threaded a thin, tough grass stem through the joints of their tails to string them together, and carried them ashore.
After returning to the shore, Xiao Yun cleared an open patch of sand, moved several flat reefs over to stack into a temporary stove, and gathered