I'm Going Fishing

Xiang Tian left the Immortal Academy. Though Qiu Changfeng repeatedly tried to dissuade him, Xiang Tian had made up his mind.

He was now covered in disgrace; staying at the academy would only bring trouble upon Qiu Changfeng. The best way to solve a problem was to eliminate the problem itself.

As for Ning Rong and Sinan Yao, their respective families had already taken them away. Qiu Changfeng said nothing, and they did not need the Immortal Academy to make any statement. The spearhead of it all was pointed at one person.

Inside Riyao's technology building, everyone stared fixedly at the screens before them, where rows upon rows of data were being analyzed. The data had been extracted from Sinan Yao's Divine Armor.

They possessed information on nearly every Divine Armor in the Nine Heavens and were comparing them one by one.

One...

Two...

The final result left them unable to believe their eyes. Every set of data from Xiang Tian's Divine Armor was remarkably similar to that of Gu You from Black Abyss!

In other words, that suit of Divine Armor was very likely modified from Gu You's Divine Armor. This discovery threw all of Riyao into chaos.

No wonder Black Abyss had suddenly withdrawn its army and chosen to avoid battle some time ago. So such a massive move had been hidden beneath the surface.

In the Jade Pool Immortal Realm, Qu Ying looked at her sobbing granddaughter, her heart aching terribly. She immediately cursed, "Chang Ning, you old thief! Look at the kind of trash you raised! An old thief raising a little thief—what a pair!"

"Don't worry, Rong'er. Grandma will not let that brat go. I'll definitely capture him, skin him alive, and pull out his tendons right before your eyes!"

Whether it was Black Abyss, the Ding Family, Riyao, or Jade Pool, all of them had now set Xiang Tian as their target and began frantically gathering information on him.

Xiang Tian walked along a rarely traveled mountain path. The terrain was not especially steep, but the vegetation was dense. It was truly the perfect place for murder and robbery.

But he had not come to murder or rob. He had come to fish. It only depended on which fish swam fastest and took the bait first.

Finally, Xiang Tian stopped. He put Little Huang from his arms into the Beast Taming Bracelet. He stood there without speaking, utterly still.

"Ha ha ha ha~"

Wild laughter echoed from all around.

"Good boy, brothers, we've struck it rich today! Look at this guy—he's worth a fortune!"

Four men emerged from four directions. Whether in appearance or temperament, they perfectly embodied the word "villains." The fat ones were round as balls, while the skinny ones stood there like monkeys.

Xiang Tian was quite curious how four such oddballs had managed to come together.

"The Silver Mountain Four Freaks are here! Brat, tell us, do you want to suffer a little more, or a little less?"

One of the skinny men raised the Serpent Blade in his hand and pointed it at Xiang Tian.

Xiang Tian directly raised both hands. "I don't want to suffer at all. Go ahead and do it."

Silver Mountain Four Freaks: ?

One of the chubby fools grinned. "Big Brother, he's scared of us! I'll put him in shackles right now."

With that, he took out a shackle-like artifact and prepared to walk toward Xiang Tian.

The skinny man beside him immediately leaped up and smacked him hard on the forehead. "Are you stupid? Would he just stand there and let you shackle him? This is definitely a trap!"

Fourth Brother rubbed his forehead, suddenly enlightened. "Right! Big Brother is still the smart one. Big Brother, what should we do?"

The skinny man looked at the other two, then gritted his teeth. "Knock him unconscious first, then shackle him. That way, nothing can go wrong."

The other three all praised their big brother's brilliance.

Xiang Tian: ...

This was simply absurd. I think none of you are quite right in the head.

Not wanting to waste time with them, Xiang Tian said to the simpleminded Fourth Brother of Silver Mountain, "Throw that shackle over here. I'll put it on myself!"

And that fool actually threw it over. Xiang Tian did not hesitate. He swiftly shackled himself, and a flash of light immediately swept over his body as all his spiritual power was completely sealed.

"Heh, Big Brother, look! This guy really is stupid. He actually shackled himself."

Fourth Brother stepped forward and gave Xiang Tian a fierce shove, sending him straight to the ground.

"Oh ho, Big Brother, we've really hit the jackpot! Turns out this guy's an idiot!"

Third Brother, who had not spoken until now, also chuckled. As for Second Brother, all he could say was, "Yeah, yeah."

The eldest of Silver Mountain circled Xiang Tian several times, his tiny bean-like eyes narrowing again and again. Then he abruptly took out a black hood and pulled it over Xiang Tian's head.

"Quick, quick, quick! Hurry and send him to the Ding Family. This is all money!"

The four men mounted a crude Aerial Artifact and headed toward the Ding Family Immortal Mansion.

The four were on edge the entire way, vigilantly watching their surroundings, afraid that someone would leap out midway and snatch Xiang Tian away.

Fortunately, they had good luck and traveled safely all the way. It could not be helped—they had merely glanced at the bounty and had not taken it too seriously. Yet they had run into Xiang Tian in this godforsaken corner of the world. That was fate! That was heaven's reward!

The Ding Family Immortal Mansion lay within a hidden realm atop a mountain. In fact, the moment the five of them drew near, someone from the Ding Family had already noticed.

Two Ding Family guards appeared from behind a patch of bluestone and shouted at the people aboard the battered Aerial Artifact, "Who goes there?!"

The eldest of Silver Mountain grinned. "We're here to collect the reward. We've already captured Xiang Tian."

The two guards exchanged glances and eyed the four men suspiciously. Their outfits were simply too tattered, and their Aerial Artifact wobbled unsteadily even as it hovered in midair. The four of them looked as wretched as could be, without the slightest air of experts. They would sooner believe pigs could climb trees than believe this lot had captured Xiang Tian.

After all, over the past few days, quite a few people had used every trick in the book to come to the Ding Family and fish in troubled waters. Once exposed, they had all had their arms and legs broken before being thrown out.

Naturally, the two regarded these four fellows as the same kind of people.

Besides, they showed not even a shred of sincerity. The fellow in the middle even had his head covered with black cloth. Who were they trying to fool?

Faced with the four men, the guards were already growing impatient. One of them waved a hand. "Don't even think about fishing in troubled waters. Don't blame me for failing to warn you—if you don't want your arms and legs broken, go back where you came from."

"Heh heh, sirs, don't disbelieve us. This really is Xiang Tian."

"Yeah, yeah."

With that, the simpleminded Fourth Brother yanked off the hood, revealing Xiang Tian's face.

At that moment, Xiang Tian was expressionless, looking completely unruffled.

The two guards looked again and compared his face. He really did resemble Xiang Tian.

"Fine, fine. Come inside with us."

There had been quite a few disguised impostors before, so they did not dare make the decision on their own. They could only bring the group inside and let the family head decide.

Once inside the Ding Family Immortal Mansion, the four brothers' eyes lit up. The tall buildings, the jade carvings, the lush woods—good heavens, this was indeed an Aristocratic Clan.

The two guards, who had endured the four men all the way here, arranged for them to wait in the main hall before going to make their report.

Before long, Ding Chongshan arrived. His face was weary. Some days ago, when he heard that Xiang Tian had offended Ning Rong and fled the academy, he had sent people to issue a bounty. After that, people came every day claiming they had captured Xiang Tian. They were simply as stupid as pigs in their greed for the reward.

But the moment he entered the main hall, he froze.

The person wearing shackles, those disdainful eyes—he matched nearly eighty percent of the Xiang Tian in Ding Chongshan's memories!