Chapter 855: Fishing in the Starry Sky
What he saw before him was no longer a small pool of water.
Instead, it was a sky teeming with stars!
Innumerable, brilliant orbs of light shimmered within its depths.
Within the fleeting images that flickered across their surfaces, Ji Shaoli could faintly discern scenes of strange beasts, powerful artifacts, and even cultivators locked in combat!
And Ji Shaoli found himself seated high above this starry expanse.
A single thread dangled down from above!
The innumerable orbs of light behaved just like fish in a pond.
Startled at first, they all scattered instinctively.
The orbs glowed in a spectrum of colors—white, green, blue, purple, and orange.
The white orbs gave off almost no discernible aura.
From green to orange, however, the pressure emanating from the orbs intensified progressively.
There were even fleeting orbs of gold and violet-gold that streaked through the star sea, and the sheer power contained within their auras sent a tremor of fear through Ji Shaoli, a man who had faced a Longevity Celestial Venerable and seen the remains of a True Immortal.
"Just what in the world is this..."
Even with a hundred lifetimes of experience and having witnessed countless grand spectacles, the spectacle unfolding before him now caused him to lose his composure in an instant.
His mind reeled in shock, and his mental fortitude shattered.
In that single moment, he was jolted out of his state of angling in the cosmos!
The celestial vista vanished, leaving only the sight of a perfectly ordinary little pond before him.
"This..."
Ji Shaoli instinctively clenched his fists and drew a sharp breath.
A man of his vast experience immediately understood that he had stumbled upon something truly extraordinary!
Even with his remarkable composure, it took him a long while to fully calm his racing heart.
Adopting the mindset of a pure angler once more, Ji Shaoli cast his line!
However...
The scene before him remained unchanged.
Ji Shaoli gripped the fishing rod tightly. After a moment of contemplation, he recalled how Zhong Shentong and his disciple had only ever cast their lines once per session.
"It seems there's a limit to how many times one can cast within a certain period."
A touch of regret filled him as he reeled in his line and dispelled the illusion.
He retreated to a safe distance once more, resuming his covert observation.
Life in the small temple continued its unchanging rhythm for the master and his disciple.
Each day was a simple cycle of eating, resting, and fishing—a life of utter normalcy.
When Zhong Shentong's turn to fish came again, he only managed to pull up a single white orb, returning to the temple in disappointment.
The young Daoist acolyte, in turn, caught nothing at all.
Finally, it was Ji Shaoli's turn to make his move.
He took a deep breath. As a seasoned angler, he calmed his mind, honing his focus to a perfect state.
Then, with a practiced flick, he cast his line!
An instant later, Ji Shaoli found himself once again adrift in the endless, star-strewn cosmos!
This was not his first time witnessing this magnificent spectacle, so his mind was better prepared.
This time, he finally managed to hold onto the state of angling among the stars.
"Fishing requires bait," he mused. "So what kind of lure do I need to catch these orbs of light?"
Ji Shaoli watched as the vast majority of the orbs darted away, leaving a wide, empty expanse around his line, and couldn't help but wonder.
This place was clearly not within the confines of the Xuanhuang Realm.
It was its own separate, distinct space.
There was only a bare fishing rod, and his own body was nothing more than a conceptual projection.
It was therefore impossible to physically add bait to the hook.
"Could it be that this is simply a matter of patience, of waiting for the quarry to come to you?" Ji Shaoli couldn't help but wonder.
He soon found that as time passed, the orbs seemed to grow accustomed to his dangling line, and they slowly began to drift closer.
Some were even drawn to it, nudging the line with curiosity.
As one white orb drifted too close, it was instantly latched onto the line, held fast.
Ji Shaoli felt a sudden weight on the end of his rod.
Then, with an uncontrollable, reflexive jerk, he pulled up.
The scene before him shattered violently, and he found himself back in the small temple on the mountain.
Except now, a white orb of light rested in his hand.
The orb seemed to contain a world of its own, one that his spiritual sense could not penetrate.
Mimicking Zhong Shentong's earlier movements, Ji Shaoli reached into the orb and felt around inside.
At last, he pulled out a dark green stone, and the orb of light slowly dissipated.
"This is..."
By this point in his many lives, Ji Shaoli was certainly what one would call knowledgeable and well-traveled.
Yet, upon examining the stone, he realized he had never encountered an ore with this particular texture before!
"Either this is an exceedingly rare specimen," he thought, "or..."
"It's not from the Xuanhuang Realm!"
"The white orbs must be the lowest tier of value in that cosmos. It's highly unlikely that something from the lowest tier would be so precious I've never even heard of it."
"In that case, my speculation is likely correct."
A glint flickered in Ji Shaoli's eyes.
This fishing pond must be a supreme treasure from another cultivation world.
It could very well be an immortal artifact from the Immortal World!
In his 115th life, at the very end of his days, Li Fan had used the Medicine King True Cauldron to reach the Immortal Ruins, where he had once laid eyes upon the remains of a True Immortal.
From that experience, he had come to know the awe-inspiring might of an immortal being.
Yet, at this very moment, from within the endless cosmos of this fishing pond, he once again sensed auras with power equal to those remains!
And there wasn't just one!
The fleeting violet-gold and dark-gold orbs that shot through the cosmos gave him a sense of power that was absolutely no less than that of a True Immortal!
"It can't be my imagination."
"Even if I'm mistaken in some details, the caliber of this fishing pond is undeniably of the highest order."
A sharp glint flashed across Ji Shaoli's eyes.
He then recalled a rumor he had once heard.
In the ancient Xuanhuang Realm, there had once been immortal artifacts.
However, when the Dao Annihilation Calamity struck, all the immortal artifacts, and even the very remains of immortals, vanished without a trace.
"Could it be that this fishing pond is one of the immortal artifacts that miraculously survived?"
"Zhong Shentong is a mere mortal with no background whatsoever. The reason he was able to obtain the *Life and Death Profound Technique* and a divine ability like the Seven-Colored Divine Light..."
"...is it all because of this fishing pond?"
In a flash, Ji Shaoli connected the dots, understanding the likely cause and effect.
"This fishing pond is incredibly unique. It can only be discovered by someone with the true mindset of an angler. Perhaps that is why it has survived, untouched, to this day."
A thousand thoughts raced through Ji Shaoli's mind, and an irrepressible surge of greed welled up within him.
However, his mental fortitude was far superior to that of an ordinary person, and he swiftly quashed the greedy impulse.
His chances for the day were exhausted. Ji Shaoli decided against making any rash moves.
Instead, he chose to retreat for the time being.
On the third day, after Zhong Shentong once again came up empty-handed, Ji Shaoli returned to the pond's edge and cast his line.
The thought of the powers related to Immortals that might exist within the pond...
...sent an unavoidable tremor through his heart.
And perhaps for that very reason, mere moments after entering the starry fishing grounds, he was forcibly expelled.
Ji Shaoli froze, momentarily stunned.
Then, realization dawned. "So, anyone seeking treasure or attempting to probe its secrets is barred entry?"
"Only a true angler can enter the cosmos."
Understanding now, Ji Shaoli couldn't help but shake his head in wry amusement.
He had no choice but to wait for the next day.
In the meantime, he would have to adjust his own state of mind.
Once he had completely suppressed the greed in his heart, Ji Shaoli successfully entered once more.
This time, he cast his line with exceptional concentration.
The line descended slowly, and the thousands of luminous orbs began to swirl once more.
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