Chapter 1389: Unique Fishing Techniques

Cao Xiang spoke the truth, but not the whole truth. At the very least, Lu Ye knew that if the spiritual treasures recovered by the Chamber of Commerce genuinely couldn't be sold, they would inevitably be melted down to extract useful materials. Therefore, there couldn't truly be a losing business; at most, it would be a break-even situation.

After some more bargaining with Cao Xiang, he ultimately gained an additional five hundred jade. Handing over the two thousand jade for the bait pellets, Lu Ye immediately headed to the open market, arriving at the stall selling Dragon's Breath Crystals. It was still the same vendor, who was naturally pleased to see Lu Ye return so quickly to buy more Dragon's Breath Crystals. At the same old price, Lu Ye purchased fifteen more crystals.

After leaving the market, Lu Ye only had two hundred jade left as spare! However, everything he needed to buy had been bought; now it was time to put his plans into action. Yet, Lu Ye still needed to carefully consider how to proceed without revealing his true intentions.

While activating the power of his Talent Tree to absorb the Dragon's Breath Crystals, he flew rapidly towards Fishing Island. The reason anglers congregated around Fishing Island and its vicinity was naturally because the White Spirits were most abundant there, with fewer distributed elsewhere. In the past, some skeptical anglers had tried their luck in other locations, but not only did they catch nothing, even the fish biting the bait were rare. Gradually, any experienced angler stopped making futile efforts elsewhere, leading to the current situation where anglers gathered around Fishing Island.

Park had mentioned this to Lu Ye earlier; otherwise, he wouldn't have known. Fortunately, Park brought it up, or Lu Ye might genuinely have gone to an uninhabited spot to fish, as in his plan, it was best that no one witnessed what he was about to do. With no other options, he could only go to Fishing Island. He traveled at high speed, and nearly two days later, he returned to Fishing Island.

Lu Ye wasn't going to gather with Park again. From his previous observations, all anglers here silently adhered to an unwritten rule of maintaining a hundred-zhang distance from others. He had no prior fishing experience, and Park had kindly guided him, specifically allowing him to fish within ten zhang of himself. Now that he had some experience, it seemed inappropriate to crowd together with others.

As he looked around for a suitable spot, Park's voice rang in his ear: "Brother Taibai, over there!" He turned his head to look in Park's direction and saw him pointing towards a spot. "Someone left two hours ago due to some business, so there should be a spot there!" Park explained. Lu Ye thanked him and flew in that direction. Before long, he indeed found a suitable spot, happily went forward, stabilized himself, took out his fishing gear, attached a bait pellet, and cast his rod into the water.

A moment later, sensing a movement on the fishing line, Lu Ye tried to lift his rod. However, as soon as he moved, the fish that was biting the bait darted away, naturally leaving him with an empty catch. Time and again, the situation was identical to a few days prior: either he caught nothing, or the fish escaped during the reeling process. The more he fished, the more Lu Ye realized how difficult it was to catch a White Spirit.

Especially reeling in a fish after it bit was truly a battle of wits and strength. Once the fish pulled, the cultivator had to release tension, otherwise the line might snap. When the fish wasn't pulling, the cultivator had to apply force, while also controlling the intensity. This was how one slowly reeled the fish out of the water, only then having a chance to land it. The most Lu Ye could do now was ensure the fishing line didn't break, but his reeling technique was undoubtedly still very clumsy; it required prolonged practice to become skilled.

Several hours later, one bait pellet was used up, and Lu Ye felt it was time to proceed with his plan. He couldn't claim to have spent so much spiritual jade just to be an angler who relied on luck; that would be too much effort for no real gain.

Dozens of miles away, on an isolated reef, a grim-faced middle-aged man, who had been sitting cross-legged, looked around. After confirming no one was observing him, he plunged into the seawater. The middle-aged man was, of course, Lu Ye, and it was his main body! The one who went to Fishing Island was merely a clone. The difference in appearance was due to the activation of the Thousand-Face Spiritual Mark. This arrangement was naturally because entering the sea would consume a massive amount of Talent Tree fuel, and the clone wouldn't be able to sustain itself for long. Only the main body could endure underwater.

He submerged a hundred zhang deep, ensuring no trace was visible from the surface, before heading towards his clone's location. The main body and clone could sense each other, so the main body easily reached the water beneath the clone, finding the fishing line and bait submerged in the sea. He had originally intended to activate an invisibility spiritual mark to conceal himself, which would make things easier. However, due to the intense energy of the surrounding seawater frantically eroding his body, he couldn't form a complete spiritual mark on his surface.

Helpless, he could only stand still. A foot in front of him was the fishing hook with the bait pellet attached. He thought to himself, "I must remain like a piece of wood!"

Before he arrived, several White Spirits had been swimming around the bait pellet, occasionally taking a bite. However, they were all startled away when he appeared. As he remained still, slowly, more White Spirits were attracted by the scent of the bait pellet and gathered. Lu Ye focused intently, clearly seeing how these creatures ate the bait and observing their appearance. The White Spirit he had previously obtained had its head smashed by his punch, so he genuinely didn't know what a White Spirit looked like in detail. Looking now, the White Spirit's head was pointed and elongated, making its mouth resemble an arrow. It also seemed to have small, jagged teeth, allowing them to quickly bite off a piece as they darted past the bait pellet.

Lu Ye held his breath, concentrating, and quietly waited for the opportune moment. Until one moment, a White Spirit stopped in front of the bait pellet, opening its pointed mouth, appearing as if it intended to swallow the entire pellet in one gulp. Lu Ye moved like lightning, extending two fingers to clamp the fish's body. The White Spirit struggled frantically, its violent movements startling away the other White Spirits. But once gripped by Lu Ye, it couldn't easily escape. He extended his other hand and grasped it firmly. Success!

This White Spirit was larger than the one he had previously smashed the head of. According to the information provided by Qiu Pingyang, this creature could easily sell for five thousand spiritual jade! His initial investment was essentially recovered in one go.

However, Lu Ye now faced two choices. One was to directly put away the White Spirit and then find a buyer to sell it. This item was never difficult to sell; whether it was the Myriad Manifestations Chamber of Commerce, other shops, or even the open market, as long as it was offered, someone would definitely buy it, and there wouldn't be any price reductions, as this item was generally in a state of short supply. If Lu Ye was only making a one-time sale, this option was undoubtedly more convenient, requiring less thought. But he was thinking that he would be selling more White Spirits in the future. If someone with intentions noticed him, he wouldn't be able to explain the origin of the White Spirits. He couldn't possibly tell people he caught them himself underwater... So, he still needed a cover! Lu Ye buying fishing gear and fishing here was precisely that cover.

The White Spirit in his hand struggled fiercely. Lu Ye raised his hand, curled his middle finger, and gently flicked its head, flicking it again, and again... He kept flicking until the White Spirit's struggles subsided somewhat. Only then did he remove the bait pellet from his hook and attach the White Spirit to it.

On the shore, the clone began to lift the rod. The fishing line tautened, and the struggle of a fish was clearly palpable. Anglers on both sides, as well as cultivators watching nearby, all turned their gazes towards him. However, everyone merely watched, as on Fishing Island, with so many people fishing, the frequency of hooking a fish was quite high. But merely hooking a fish was useless; the key was to successfully reel it in. Generally speaking, out of hundreds of hooked fish, it was uncertain if anyone would successfully land even one. So everyone was used to it.

But as time passed, a surprising scene unfolded before everyone's eyes: the fish on Lu Ye's line never got off the hook. Until a certain moment, a glimmer of pearly white appeared beneath the water, and someone exclaimed in a low voice, "It's surfacing, it's surfacing!" The clone had already prepared the landing net. Almost the instant that glimmer of pearly white appeared, with quick hands and sharp eyes, he scooped it up with the net. A weight settled in his hand. When he retrieved the net, a live White Spirit was unmistakably inside!

Lu Ye's expression remained calm as he stepped forward and removed the hook from the White Spirit's mouth. Seven or eight figures had already flashed over, surrounding him. These were some of the cultivators who had been observing nearby earlier. Seeing this, Lu Ye wasn't alarmed, as he had learned about the situation here during his previous chats with Park. The cultivators observing on Fishing Island were not merely bored onlookers or those preparing to enter this field. Some were from major powers, specifically stationed here to acquire freshly caught White Spirits. The people who had gathered around him were undoubtedly representatives from various major powers in charge of this matter.

One old man cupped his fist in greeting towards Lu Ye and smiled, "This fellow Daoist seems unfamiliar; are you new here?" Lu Ye nodded. This fact couldn't be hidden from those who had been stationed here for years. Lu Ye had met a few of them when he was wandering around previously. "Is this fish for sale?" the old man asked again. "Yes, it is!"

The old man nodded and said no more, looking at the White Spirit in Lu Ye's hand. "I'll offer four thousand six hundred jade for this fish, what do you think, fellow Daoist?" "Unacceptable!" Lu Ye looked at the others. This old man was clearly trying to take advantage of him being new and unfamiliar with the rules, and four thousand six hundred jade was indeed a bit low. The old man chuckled, "So, someone has already advised you, fellow Daoist. In that case, let's proceed according to the rules." The 'rules' referred to an on-site auction. These major powers, specifically responsible for acquiring fresh White Spirits here, were naturally not harmonious. For every White Spirit that was caught and offered for sale, they would each make their bids, with the highest bidder winning.

He gulped fresh air, his chest heaving. Confusion, bewilderment, all sorts of emotions surged into his mind. Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu subconsciously surveyed his surroundings, becoming even more bewildered. A single dorm room? Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room now. And his body... how could there be no injuries at all?

Filled with doubt, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept across the room, finally resting on a mirror by the bed. The mirror reflected his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, with a handsome face. But the problem was, this wasn't him! His former self was a handsome young man in his twenties, with an extraordinary demeanor, who had been working for some time. Now, this appearance looked like that of a high school student... This change left Shi Yu in a daze for a long time. Please don't tell him the surgery was a success... His body and face had both changed; this wasn't a question of surgery or not, but rather divine art. He had completely transformed into someone else! Could it be... he had transmigrated?

Besides the mirror by the bed, which was clearly poorly placed according to feng shui, Shi Yu also found three books nearby. Shi Yu picked them up, and the titles instantly silenced him.

"Essential Beast-Rearing Manual for Novice Breeders""Postpartum Care for Pet Beasts""Guide to Appreciating Heterogeneous Beast-Eared Girls"

Shi Yu: ???

The first two book titles were relatively normal, but what was up with the last one?

"Cough."

Shi Yu's gaze sharpened, and he reached out, but his arm quickly stiffened. Just as he was about to open the third book to see what it was, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his brain, and a flood of memories surged forth.

Icefield City.Pet Beast Breeding Base.Intern Pet Beast Breeder.Beast Tamer?