Jiang Wang had never been in the habit of fishing before.
Fishing was a pastime for killing time. He only ever found time insufficient—where would he get any to kill? But after his journey through the Mountain and Sea Realm, having witnessed Wang Changji's elegant bearing as he fished the mountains and seas, he, too, was tempted.
Every now and then, he would carry a fishing rod out the door.
Cultivating as he waited for fish.
More often than not, he would become so immersed in cultivation that the fish would finish all the bait. He went out with an empty rod and returned with an empty rod, seeking only freedom of spirit.
Old Mountain was named "Old," but no one knew what was old about it.
The mountain was not tall, nor was there anything particularly remarkable about it.
Only its area was fairly expansive.
The many towns gathered around it showed that the mountain itself was quite stable.
What Jiang Wang saw was a lush expanse of green, teeming with life. The occasional birdsong only made the mountain seem more secluded.
Old Mountain naturally divided into two layers. In the outer layer, the nearby townsfolk lived off the mountain, and traces of deer, foxes, rabbits, and the like were unavoidable. The inner layer, however, showed almost no signs of people, nor any traces of beasts.
Chi Pool lay hidden in a hollow deep within the mountains, not easily found. It was concealed not only by the terrain, but also by a naturally formed maze formation. As the years passed, many traces of human adjustments had been added. Yet even the most recent adjustment dated back forty years.
The Great Xia Gazetteer used only one word to sum it up: "hidden."
If ordinary people entered the mountains to search