Chapter 1760: Fishing

The pond water was not very deep, only about ten meters, and beneath it was a seal. Unless something unexpected occurred, entering from here would lead to the next world.

Zhang Xuan did not advance; instead, he swam around the area. After one circuit, he found nothing. There was no sign of life, not even minerals; it was as clean as purified water.

"Could I have guessed wrong? Is there no formation core here? Or... has someone else already gotten to it?" He frowned.

"No, that's not right. If the formation core had been removed, the poisonous gas couldn't be so evenly distributed; it would have been chaotic long ago." In the desert world, when the tree root was removed, the desert disappeared. In the jungle world, the five great kings left; although the exact outcome wasn't known, without their control, the numerous Sacred Beasts would certainly no longer adhere to the rules as before. This one was no different. The even distribution of poisonous gas and the pond's extremely strong detoxification ability indicated that the formation core had not been damaged.

"Eye of Discernment!"

Patterns rotated in his eyes as he surveyed the pond, and indeed, he noticed something amiss. The detoxifying substance in the water seemed to be gradually decreasing. He flew out of the pond and waited for a moment. When he looked again, the detoxifying ability had already recovered.

"Teacher, have you found it?" Zhao Ya came closer.

"No," Zhang Xuan instructed with a slight smile, "but I think I've figured out what the formation core is. Go over there and break off a bamboo pole for me!"

Zhao Ya turned and left. Before long, she returned, holding a bamboo pole.

He took the bamboo pole and with a gentle shake, all the branches fell off cleanly. His True Qi transformed into a fine line, extending from the tip of the pole, and with a flick forward, the True Qi gathered at the end, like a tempting fish bait.

"Is this... a fishing rod? Is Teacher going fishing?" Zhao Ya was stunned. Teacher had actually used a bamboo pole and True Qi to make a fishing rod, intending to fish.

"Yes. As it's said, 'The Master fished with a line, but not with a net; he shot at flying birds, but never at roosting ones.' If I'm not mistaken, the formation core can only be fished out. Other methods are useless!" Zhang Xuan smiled.

He had previously read many books about Master Kong, one of which mentioned: 'The Master fished with a line, but not with a net; he shot at flying birds, but never at roosting ones.' It meant that Master Kong used a fishing rod to fish rather than a net, and hunted with a stringed arrow but never shot at resting birds or beasts. He had initially thought this was a display of Master Kong's benevolence, but only now did he understand that 'fishing with a line, not with a net' implied that the formation core here could not be caught with a net or by hand. The only way to obtain it was through angling!

He placed the poisonous insect bait into the water, and Zhang Xuan quietly sat down. Angling could refine one's state of mind, helping one to overcome arrogance and impatience and to better align with nature. Even ordinary people could achieve a state of harmony with heaven and earth while fishing, becoming as still as a painting, let alone someone whose cultivation had reached his level.

As the fine line of True Qi drifted with the water waves, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt that this poisonous gas world was not as terrifying as he had imagined; instead, it offered a sense of reality and nature. In ancient times, when spiritual energy was abundant, old forests untouched by humans were filled with poisonous insects and miasma, almost identical to this world. In other words, this was not a world of poisonous gas, but an ancient mountain forest that had existed for countless years. Here, one could find the true essence of nature.

As he broke through to Great Sage, the cultivation technique slowly rotated within his body, and he felt as if he had transformed into a rock, a tree, a grain of sand... perfectly blending with nature. His state of mind slowly grew amidst the tranquility.

Splash!

Just as Zhang Xuan was immersed, the water surface in front of him suddenly rippled, and then a voice sounded.

"Teacher, a fish is on the hook!"

Zhang Xuan looked down and saw a bright red koi fish, dangling from the fine True Qi line, constantly thrashing and splashing water everywhere.

"What a pity!" The fish getting hooked made him recover from that special state. Otherwise, he might have been able to directly push for Ancient Sage 30.0, with his state of mind reaching Ancient Sage first!

Whoosh! He lowered his wrist and, with a gentle flick, pulled the koi out of the water.

Whoosh! As soon as the fish jumped out, it flopped twice on the ground. Then its mouth kept opening and closing as if gasping for breath, unable to bear it. Immediately after, it rolled twice, its eyes wide open, and stopped breathing.

"Teacher, the fish... it's dead..." Zhao Ya said, a little anxious. "Isn't this the formation core? How could it die as soon as it was fished out? Could it be that he fished up the wrong thing?"

"Alright!" Zhang Xuan was exasperated. He kicked the fish, making it roll a few times, while simultaneously flicking his finger, a ball of pitch-black flame mixed with lightning coiling around his fingertip. "That's enough acting. What, do you want to be braised?"

"Cough, cough!" The koi on the ground flipped over, landed on its tail, and stood up. "My apologies, it's just a habit, a habit! It's been a long time since I've been on land, and as soon as I came ashore, I felt difficulty breathing, so I thought I had died..."

Zhao Ya's face twitched. A fish jumping up and talking... And, how did this fish seem so unreliable?

"This fellow has reached the Consummation of the Immortal Realm," Zhang Xuan explained. "Let alone coming ashore, you couldn't even boil it to death if you threw it into a pot!"

Startled, Zhao Ya immediately looked over, full of doubt. "Given such strength, how could it be fished out? Such strength, identical to hers, implied extremely advanced intelligence. To be fished out with an ordinary fishing rod... how could that seem so incredible?"

The koi opened and closed its mouth, continuing: "Well... there's no helping it, it's a habit! Back then, Master Kong would come and fish for me. Each time he caught me, he'd release me, and then I'd come back to be caught again, repeating endlessly... Normally, I'd be caught dozens of times a day, so I got used to it, used to it!"

"..." Zhao Ya's face twitched. *With such strength, being fished every day... and still enjoying it, don't you get tired of it...? And the key thing was, Master Kong fished for the same fish every day... he must have been truly idle.*

"Don't listen to its nonsense," Zhang Xuan said, smiling as he looked at the koi in front of him, seeing that his student couldn't understand. "If I'm not mistaken, Master Kong, like me, used True Qi as the line... You wanted to devour not just the bait, but also the fishing line, didn't you!"

"Uh... those are all trivial matters!" The koi wriggled its body, looking a bit embarrassed.

"So that's how it is!" Zhao Ya suddenly understood. No wonder an ordinary fish could cultivate to the Consummation of Immortal Realm; it had been continuously devouring Master Kong's True Qi. Such a good thing, of course, couldn't be given to other fish.

"I was hidden so well just now, how did you find me?" The koi looked at Zhang Xuan with confusion. Its stealth method was so good that even the Eye of Discernment could hardly see through it. Several groups of people had come and gone without discovering it, yet this person in front of him had directly used angling to make it 'itch to try its skill,' forcing it to bite the line and be fished out.

"The detoxifying aura you left underwater was similar to my True Qi, so I guessed it!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "That aura must be unique to Master Kong, right?"