Chapter 860: Heavenly Light Refines a Supreme Treasure
Were it not for the protective formation Lin Ling had already cast around the small mountain temple, the blinding radiance of the golden orb in Ji Shaoli’s hand would have instantly drawn the gaze of every cultivator for miles around.
“This... This is...” Zhong Shentong stared, his jaw slack. He pointed a trembling finger at Ji Shaoli, utterly speechless.
“A pity it wasn't a violet-gold or dark-gold orb,” Ji Shaoli remarked with a sigh of mild disappointment. “Still, I suppose this will have to do.” Then, as Zhong Shentong watched in stunned silence, he reached into the light and began to feel around inside.
The golden light slowly faded.
In its place was a round pearl that pulsed with a seven-colored halo.
The instant his eyes fell upon the seven-colored pearl, Zhong Shentong was overcome by a wave of impossibly complex emotions.
Greed warred with a poignant sense of loss, tinged with a deep, aching regret.
It left him deeply unsettled.
It originated from a cultivation world called the Chongyan Realm.
In that world, the sky held no sun or moon. Instead, seven streams of colored light took turns bathing the land in their glow.
Then, a cultivator of immense power gathered these seven streams of light and forged them into an artifact.
Yet, in doing so, he brought about the utter ruin of the Chongyan Realm.
Eons passed. The cultivator fell, his name lost to time, and the very treasure he had crafted found its way into the Fishing Pool.
...
Ji Shaoli was profoundly shaken.
It wasn't merely because the power of this seven-colored light was so immense it surpassed treasures meant for ordinary Dao Integration cultivators.
What truly stunned him was that a treasure of this caliber was still only considered a golden-tier prize from the Fishing Pool.
What terrifying marvels, then, were hidden within the violet-gold and dark-gold orbs?
And the Fishing Pool itself, capable of containing them all—what level of artifact could it possibly be?
“It’s no ordinary immortal artifact, that’s for certain.”
“And yet, they are all ownerless...”
“What in the world happened to the Immortal Realm?”
A thousand questions raced through his mind, but Ji Shaoli refrained from immediately refining the seven-colored light.
Instead, he stored it away, intending to give it to his true self later.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned to the still-stunned Zhong Shentong and asked, a hint of confusion in his voice, “What’s the matter? Are the golden orbs that difficult to catch? You’ve held this fishing spot for decades, Fellow Daoist Zhong. Surely someone of your skill has pulled up plenty by now. Is there really any need for such shock?”
Zhong Shentong’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.
“Heh... hah...”
His eyes glazed over with bewilderment, and all he could manage was a hollow, dry laugh.
“Well, luck is a finite resource,” Ji Shaoli declared. “I caught something decent this time. If I get too greedy, I’ll likely be wasting my efforts for a long time to come.”
“I’ll leave matters here in your hands, Fellow Daoist Zhong.”
“The Federation of All Worlds keeps me busy, so I can’t stay here indefinitely,” Ji Shaoli added, with a touch of genuine regret.
“Oh, and one more thing. From time to time, some of the Federation’s young prodigies may come here to try their luck. I’ll be sure to notify you before they arrive.” He tossed a communication talisman to Zhong Shentong, then cast one last, lingering look at the Fishing Pool.
Finally, he called out to Lin Ling, and the two of them departed from the small mountain temple.
Zhong Shentong gazed around the small temple. The scene was intimately familiar, the only difference being the new layer of protective wards shimmering in the air.
The events of the past few days felt like a surreal dream.
He felt dazed, disoriented.
Then, the image of the faceless stone statue flashed through his mind, jolting him back to reality.
He pondered for a long while before letting out a soft sigh, reluctantly accepting his new reality.
His gaze then fell upon the Fishing Pool, and with a stubborn refusal to accept defeat, he sat back down.
Even though he had already used up his attempts for the day, he had to get his feel for it back.
Zhong Shentong wouldn't have felt so bitter if Ji Shaoli had surpassed him in cultivation, realm, or divine arts.
But to see the man catch a golden orb—something Zhong Shentong had managed only twice in his entire life—in such a short span of time... that was a blow to his pride he simply could not accept.
“When it comes to the Dao of Fishing, I am second to none!”
A fierce resolve hardened in Zhong Shentong’s heart as he mentally rehearsed the motion of casting his line, over and over again.
...
Above the small mountain temple.
From a hidden vantage point, Ji Shaoli carefully observed Zhong Shentong for the next two or three days.
He saw nothing out of the ordinary—only that the man had become even more obsessed with fishing. Satisfied, Ji Shaoli finally departed.
“Bluffing with the name of the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal won’t be enough in the long run.”
“I’ll need to employ other measures to ensure the secrets of this place remain safe.”
“His Foundation Establishment cultivation is too low to warrant using a Truth Inducing Fruit. Once my true self has a breakthrough, the Bloodline Ferrying secret technique will suffice.”
The endless treasures within the Fishing Pool couldn't possibly be exhausted in a single lifetime.
Thus, Ji Shaoli had no intention of holing up here and fishing day after day.
Even if he fished alone for a century, his gains would be but a drop in the ocean compared to the vast cosmos of treasures within. Besides, fishing blindly on luck alone, with no knowledge of what lay beneath, was terribly inefficient.
“Yes. In the future, any member of the Federation of All Worlds who makes an outstanding contribution will be granted one chance to fish here.”
“And even if they do manage to pull up some supreme treasure, it matters not. In the end, it will all belong to me.”
Lost in thought, he traveled with Lin Ling to the Spirit Wood Realm to deliver the Seven-Colored Jade Void Gilded Light to his true self.
Only then did he return to Haixuan Island.
As was his custom, he checked for updates on the Tianxuan Minor Mirror.
While he had been preoccupied with fishing, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had been anything but quiet.
Of the hundreds of candidates for the Selection of the Thirty-three Immortals, the vast majority had already returned to their posts.
Only thirty-three cultivators remained at the headquarters of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
This could only mean one thing: the final candidates had been chosen.
Everyone knew these chosen few were now on a fast track to the Dao Integration realm, their futures brighter than any star.
Their backgrounds had already been investigated down to the last detail.
Whether to curry favor or simply to build connections early, any cultivator with an ounce of sense began scrambling to establish some connection with the chosen thirty-three.
Among the successful candidates was Wei Qizheng, who, despite having no powerful backing, still attracted many cultivators who traveled great distances just to connect with his friends.
Naturally, the organization he had once belonged to—the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association—was thrust into the public eye.
Upon investigation, however, people discovered that the association’s members were all cultivators from within the Alliance’s own system, none of whom possessed any significant backing.
The strongest among them were merely at the Nascent Soul realm.
“They’re just a small group huddling together for warmth.”
This was the common conclusion.
Most simply marveled at the small group’s incredible luck, producing one of the chosen candidates despite their meager numbers.
Initially, the members of the Mutual Aid Association were anxious, faced with a relentless stream of inquiries.
But they soon realized that the cultivators from these so-called “great powers” had little interest in them. After a few pleasantries, the conversation always turned to Wei Qizheng, and so, their worries gradually faded.
In truth, they had no secrets to reveal anyway.
All the secrets of the Mutual Aid Association rested with Ji Shaoli alone.
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