Fishing for People

After leaving Lady Luofu's place, Li Qi looked up at the sky.

The surrounding area is a magnificent fairyland. It is clear that after Lady Luofu awoke, she had reinforced this place again. This place is now a genuine Grade 3 location.

Judging from this, it probably won't be long before the people of Mount Luofu send people back to Mount Luofu to move the remaining things back here.

Of course, if the Sun Moon True Lead Cauldron successfully awakens, then returning to its original site on Mount Luofu is only natural. At that time... no one should care about it anymore.

After all, with a second-rank official in charge, even in the whole world, this is considered a first-class force.

Forget it, those are things for later. Let's deal with the present. Lady Luofu supported Teacher Zhu's statement, which means that although Teacher Zhu's actions were unreasonable, they must have their reasons and were not meant to harm himself.

Although there are certain risks... but what is without risk?

When it comes to one's own Dao Path, if you insist there's no risk, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Therefore, Li Qi felt relieved and decided to face the situation honestly and do his best.

With these thoughts in mind, he left and returned to Xuanjing Mountain, to his own cave abode.

Sitting at the entrance of the cave abode, looking at the mountain that has not changed much in hundreds of years, the mountain god Niu Huang walks along the mountain path as always, inspecting the condition of the entire mountain.

As a mountain god, he was extremely responsible. Li Qi had also given him guidance many times over the years, so Niu Huang's cultivation had progressed quite well. He also had the background of an Orthodox God, so he was living a pretty comfortable life.

Indeed, as Li Qi watched the slow-moving Niu Huang, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

Hmm... my daughter hasn't come back.

My wife has gone to refine elixirs; she's in seclusion.

He lived alone in the cave abode on Xuanjing Mountain.

Well...

I'm still a little lonely.

This kind of loneliness is actually not very common, because for someone like Li Qi, cultivating for decades is a very ordinary thing, and Li Qi has also secluded himself for a long time more than once.

However, during seclusion, there are things to do. They devote themselves wholeheartedly to research and modification, which takes a lot of time. Once they start, time will slip away unnoticed, and several years will pass before they know it.

It's similar to ordinary people working a 9-to-5 job with two days off on weekends for ten years, and then looking back, they realize that ten years have already passed, but it doesn't feel like that long.

But now, he is neither in seclusion nor does he need to.

There's a certain kind of... middle-aged people who rarely have work to do, and have a few days off on the weekend, only to find that they've finished their work, but their wives are at work, their daughters are in tutoring classes, and they're lying alone on the sofa, feeling a sense of confusion that arises involuntarily.

How about we go fishing?

Li Qi thought to himself.

That seems like a good idea.

During his trip to the East China Sea, a martial artist named Shen Yijun taught Li Qi how to fish, which was actually quite interesting.

If you want to do it, then do it. Li Qi got up from his cave abode, set up the wind and clouds, and set off on his Ghost Chariot. He arrived at Liesu in one day and reached the East Sea in four days.

Nowadays, he can travel freely throughout the world without worrying about anything. For a sixth-rank official, traveling around is no longer a difficult task. As long as he doesn't go to his enemies' places, no one will bother him.

Arriving in the East China Sea, I came to Dongyu East Isle here.

On East Isle, the sea breeze blows, birds flock together, sea beasts churn, and boats weave together, making it as prosperous as ever. The salty and warm sea breeze brings a scenery completely different from that of Wushen Mountain.

Li Qi used a water-forcing technique to part the waves and walked freely on the water, drifting along without making a sound, but still startling the fish in his path and causing the mermaids Conch Folk to scatter.

Those who can travel alone across the East China Sea must be confident. Those who are not confident... will do what Li Qi did before: find a ship and travel together as a group.

Upon arriving at East Isle, we registered in the usual manner.

Then, he looked at East Isle.

Li Qi could now see through the details of this giant puppet with just a glance.

Hmm... if activated, they are all fifth-grade Law Treasure, which are indeed powerful.

The fact that they have over six thousand fifth-grade Law Treasure to use in a coastal city like this shows that the East China Sea is quite something.

Upon arriving at East Isle, Li Qi found a shop, knocked on the door, and said, "Boss, I'd like a set of fishing gear that can catch fish of grade seven or higher."

This kind of requirement is not common.

Even in the world, a seventh-rank fish is quite impressive. Fishing gear that can catch fish of the seventh rank or higher is considered a prized possession for an ordinary shop.

So these words startled the shopkeeper, who scrambled over, stammering, "Sir... what do you want? Could you repeat that?"

The boss was a seventh-rank toad spirit. He was short, with green skin, and was chubby. His body was soft and sticky, and he had a big mouth with his tongue wagging everywhere. He wore a small round hat and had two small mustaches.

However, upon closer inspection, the two small mustaches are actually two tentacles, making it difficult to tell whether it is a toad or a catfish.

But it must be a demon.

"I need a set of fishing gear that can catch fish of grade seven or higher," Li Qi repeated.

"This way, sir, please take a seat!" he said quickly, realizing what was happening.

Then he waved his hand, and all the shop assistants around him, including the charming little monsters like fish demons and flower demons, were pushed aside to make way for Li Qi, who respectfully led him to the depths of the shop.

As Li Qi walked along, he felt that the decoration here was quite creative, with various scenes floating around.

The sea breeze swirls through the trees, and the waves ripple like stars.

Coral crystallizes, its reflection shimmering in the surging tide.

Fish, seaweed, various sea creatures, and phantom images of turtles and tortoises roamed everywhere.

The shop assistants are mostly fairies. Except for the boss, who is a toad, the others are all beautiful and conform to the world's aesthetic standards. Many of them are aquatic.

However... Li Qi felt that this shop was a bit of a hellish joke.

This is a fishing tackle shop! The owner has some creativity to come up with a bunch of fish monsters to sell fishing tackle.

After walking through the corridor to the back, the owner invited Li Qi to sit down, and then solemnly took out a box from behind the display window.

The box is exquisitely decorated and extremely beautiful, with intricate patterns engraved on it.

He said to Li Qi, "Our shop's prized possession... is indeed a seventh-grade fishing tackle, but—"

"What is it anyway? Just show it to me." Li Qi waved his hand, too lazy to listen to any of that nonsense.

It's just Seventh Rank Magic Treasure. Even if it's the store's prized possession, so what?

The toad shopkeeper anxiously explained, "No, this Law Treasure has a remarkable history; it's a top-grade item among seventh-rank treasures, and its price is naturally exorbitant—"

Li Qi ignored those arguments and instead displayed two corresponding Seventh Rank Magic Treasure.

It was made of Witchcraft Silkworm and carved by Li Qi himself.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he took out another pill, barely a seventh-grade one, from his pocket. This was a byproduct of Shen Shuibi's usual alchemy practice.

It was a byproduct, but actually she wanted to refine some high-end pills, like fifth or sixth grade ones. However, she was probably distracted at the time, so the furnace exploded, leaving some residue. She thought it was a waste, so she decided to rub it together and make use of it.

Those of rank seven and above generally use 'world' as their currency.

For example, a Seventh Rank Magic Treasure is generally worth an eighth-grade world. The value of a world is extraordinary; it is a goose that lays golden eggs, so its price is usually one grade higher.

Of course, the value of a specific eighth-grade world still needs to be estimated, but it can be generally seen clearly. After all, the Heavenly Dao of the world is there, and the strength or weakness is just a matter of a glance.

But Li Qi disliked using 'world' as currency. Although it was the common practice, he always felt it was not a good thing.

People in this world are living beings, and Li Qi really disliked the idea of trading freely.

Therefore, exchanging two mass-produced Seventh Rank Magic Treasure, plus a pill that Shen Shuibi accidentally ruined and turned into a seventh-grade one, for a decent seventh-grade Law Treasure is reasonable, and even slightly overpriced.

The reason for the premium was that Li Qi was too lazy to listen to the other party's boasting. In any case, the buyer is never as shrewd as the seller. Rather than listening to a bunch of stories from the other party to raise the price, he might as well take the initiative to add a little, so that he wouldn't have to haggle.

As for that little bit of premium, it's nothing to Li Qi now.

The merchant guild he and Yang Ning ran, run by the Sovereign of Lingxiao Kingdom, had tens of thousands of eighth-grade worlds under its control, and even several Sixth-Rank World. Their pockets were quite full.

After putting the things down and picking up the fishing gear, Li Qi didn't argue and turned to leave.

The toad demon wanted to say something, but then it glanced at a seventh-grade pill on the table...

Wow, although it looks a bit burnt, the burnt residue has been cleverly incorporated into the elixir. The water black descends, the fire black rises, the two blacks intertwine, and the cold and heat remain unchanged, naturally transforming into the elixir.

Starting from the southern Zhou Tian, yet returning to the center, the scent of Wu and Ji can be smelled with a refreshing fragrance.

The fragrance indicated that there was almost no poison in the pills. The grade was barely seventh rank, but the quality was much better than those pills refined by second-rate Alchemist!

This is a Reverted Pill!

It is to return to its essence, hence the name "Reverted Pill". The so-called Reverted Pill elixir refers to the elixir that, after being refined, is restored to its original form through certain techniques and then refined again.

Reverted Pill. One type involves refining various materials separately, removing impurities, condensing them into a pill, transforming it into a Nine-Turn Great Pill, and then breaking it down and refining it again to make a top-grade pill. The production process is extremely complex and requires extremely high skill from the Alchemist.

Another type is the residue left after the furnace explodes. The pills were not formed and were forcibly reduced to materials by the explosion. These materials are then used to refine inferior pills to make up for the damage.

Both methods involve first converting the elixir back into raw materials, and then using those materials to refine new elixir. Both fall under the category of "Reverted Pill the elixir," but... the difference is significant.

Judging from the quality of this pill, with almost zero toxicity, it can be almost certainly confirmed that it was a top-grade pill created by an Alchemist through nine cycles of refinement.

Although I don't know why the other party went to such great lengths to refine only a single pill of barely seventh grade... I really hit the jackpot this time.

Generally speaking, Alchemist of this caliber should already be at least a seventh-grade pill. With such meticulous effort, he should be refining pills that are definitely at least seventh-grade. This one, barely seventh grade...

That's a bit of a waste of materials.

As the toad marveled at these things, it casually put away the other two Seventh Rank Magic Treasure.

These two items are quite ordinary. Although they are grade seven, their price is actually not even enough to cover the cost of the fishing gear set we just had. However, if we add that pill, we can still make a profit.

Oh well, anyway, the legendary stories above were just hearsay embellished and made up by him. As long as he can make money, that's fine.

All that talk was actually just a fleeting thought in his mind. The toad immediately put on a smile again, packed up the things, and scurried off, shouting, "Take care, sir! Come again next time!"

Li Qi waved his hand and left.

Then, he jumped into the sea again and spent a day leisurely traveling 100,000 li.

Once you've gone 100,000 li out to sea, you're no longer in shallow waters, and that's when you can start casting your line.

Li Qi took out those seventh-grade fishing gear, started swinging them, and then threw them forward with a thud!

But then the fishing line shot forward with a sonic boom, flying straight ahead for tens of thousands of miles before stopping, plunging into the water, and then sinking sharply to the bottom of the ocean, thousands of miles deep, before finally coming to a stop.

Why can a fishing tackle of grade seven catch a fish of grade seven?

That's why.

First, your line needs to be long enough to exceed the perception limit of a level 7 fish. Otherwise, the fish can see the angler directly, so what's the point of fishing? The fish will probably just catch you.

Secondly, one must be resilient enough to withstand the struggles of a seventh-rank cultivator. Of course, one only needs to withstand the Savage Beast. Seventh-rank cultivators are generally not caught; it is usually Savage Beast that are caught. After all, cultivators have intelligence, and only Savage Beast nurtured by pure Dao principles and lacking intelligence will take the bait.

Besides, being able to prevent catching cultivators is also a kind of insurance, to avoid offending people. Who knows, there might really be some idiot who takes the bait. Should we release them or not then? Right?

It's rare to see someone like the legendary Shen Yijun catch a turtle demon ancestor.

The last condition is that it must be attractive enough. The hook should exude various mysterious Daoist charms, Technique Method, treasures, etc. It doesn't matter if they are real or fake, as long as they look like them, so that people will bite.

As for how to pull the hook up after it bites, that's the angler's job and has nothing to do with the fishing gear.

Only when these conditions are met can this fishing gear be considered excellent.

Li Qi weighed the options and decided that the fishing gear was pretty good, more than enough for relaxation.

Like all middle-aged men, after casting his line, Li Qi built a small floating boat at sea, waiting for the fish to bite, and then outwitting and outmaneuvering them.

About a day later, a ripple was heard from the fishing hook tens of thousands of miles away.

Something has taken the bait!

Hmm... is it hooked? It doesn't seem to be struggling or pulling much. Is it anchored to something inanimate? Did it get caught on the continental shelf?

Li Qi thought to himself, then flicked his hands, and the fishing line quickly retracted!

The fishhook pulled the object in the anchor back quickly, and after several Chen, it finally retracted.

Li Qi brought the fishhook to his face and looked at it closely.

Wow!

He's a person!

Is he dead?

Wow, he's not dead! He's alive!