As Gu Xi and Ai Si were about to reach the finish line, Gu Xi's gaze was suddenly drawn to several clumps of things on the ice.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered several pancakes spread out on the ice.

She quickly stopped on the spikes and jumped down.

She went closer and took a look, only to find that these pancakes were actually the fish that had arrived earlier.

They lay flat on the ice, looking utterly pitiful.

On this ice surface, besides these particularly eye-catching "fish cakes," there are also several red scales embedded in the ice wall, which are exceptionally striking.

Gu Xi recognized the scales immediately; they were from a Flame Scale.

Even though it was Flame Scale that crashed into the wall, for some reason, she couldn't help but feel a chill. It was as if she herself had crashed into an ice wall.

With a slight tremor, Gu Xi quickly ran over and helped the fish that had fallen to the ground up one by one. Finally, it was Flame Scale's turn.

Gu Xi asked with a worried expression, "Are you alright?!"

Flamescale struggled to its feet, then walked blankly and silently toward the ice wall to retrieve the scales that had fallen from it and were stuck to the wall.

Its disheveled and timid appearance made it look utterly pathetic, no matter how Gu Xi looked at it, as if it were a poor creature that had just experienced a great disaster.

Gu Xi couldn't help but laugh when she saw Yan Lin's pitiful appearance.

Upon hearing the laughter, Yanlin let out a somewhat displeased "pfft".

"It's not funny at all, it's all Ais's fault!"

As it spoke, it glared fiercely at Ais, who stood to the side as if watching a good show, yet remained completely calm.

Gu Xi quickly stopped smiling and comforted her, "Alright, alright, let's hurry up and check the energy fluctuations ahead."

Then she turned to Ais and told him to tear down the ice wall.

With a single thought, the tall ice wall that had been blocking several fish vanished instantly.

They continued towards their destination. They hadn't gone far when, even without using their mental powers, they could feel a powerful force rushing towards them.

Gu Xi became alert and released her mental energy again.

Suddenly, her mental energy seemed to hit a barrier and bounced back.

She frowned. "There seems to be something blocking us from getting closer."

Flame Scale also tried to use its own power to break through the barrier, but the barrier remained unmoved.

"Pfft! What do we do now?"

Ais made one last attempt. Although he could forcefully break through the barrier, he might also destroy what the barrier was trying to hide.

He quickly withdrew his mental energy, and seeing that everyone was waiting for him to speak, he said, "Purr! It's best not to force it open."

If hard tactics don't work, then soft tactics are the only option.

Gu Xi once again activated his mental energy, synchronizing it with the energy fluctuations here.

Seeing that she was motionless with her eyes closed, Yan Lin wanted to ask her something, but Ai Si stopped him.

Gu Xi concentrated intently, and gradually, she sensed that the rhythm of these energy fluctuations seemed to be conveying some kind of information.

After a while, Gu Xi looked up and said, "I think we need to find a specific method to open this barrier, which may be related to the patterns of these energy fluctuations."

The fish looked at each other, waiting for Gu Xi to continue.

After a moment of contemplation, Gu Xi said, "Let me observe these energy fluctuations more closely."

After saying that, she focused intently on sensing the energy fluctuations.

Flame Scale, Ais, and the little fat balls were not idle either; they each used their mental energy to observe.

Every extra effort a fish makes increases its chances of success.