Fishing for Anyone Is Still Fishing

Half a month later.

Zhou Ming sat atop a massive boulder, bathed in the morning light, staring at the panel with an odd expression.

[Dragon Glory Earth Human Transmigration Panel]

[Host: Zhou Ming—Immaculate Body]

[Destiny: Double Results with Half the Effort]

[Analysis: Do half the work, reap a whole lot more.]

[Innate Divine Abilities: Myriad Forms of the Immaculate (Unique), Consume Heaven and Earth's Essence (Unique).]

[Rank: Eighth-Rank Martial Artist—Jade Skin, Jade Bone]

[Cultivation Techniques: Dragon Soaring Stance (Ninth Layer Complete), Eighth-Rank Cultivation Techniques (Eleven)—Complete]

[Martial Skills: Eight Saber-Cutting Forms—Perfect Mastery, Flower-Print Fist—Advanced Mastery (0/100), Soaring Dragon Body Technique—Perfect Mastery, Soaring Dragon Spear—Perfect Mastery]

Just after completing a salvage operation, he had absorbed the Yang Spirit into his body.

Once the Yang Spirit had cleared away the last trace of Turbid Qi within him—

the panel had become what it was now.

The instant the two Innate Divine Abilities appeared, he understood their powers as clearly as if he had been born with them.

Myriad Forms of the Immaculate allowed his appearance to be shaped by his mind, no longer confined by skin and flesh.

Consume Heaven and Earth's Essence allowed him to feed on spiritual essence and sustain himself, abandoning mortal food if he wished.

With his Innate Divine Abilities awakened, Zhou Ming focused his gaze and looked out. Different spirits drifted through heaven and earth.

Everything brimmed with life.

At that moment, the spirits around him seemed to have received some mysterious summons and began gathering toward him.

Then they slowly flowed into Zhou Ming's body.

Feeling his blood qi gradually grow stronger, he immediately circulated his cultivation technique and began converting and condensing it.

After a quarter of an hour, Zhou Ming felt the blood qi throughout his body become dense and vigorous. Faintly, his body began to ache with swelling pressure.

"Completely perfected."

With a wave of his hand, the spirits of heaven and earth that had been gathering toward him were no longer drawn in.

When he returned to the mouth of the waterfall, Zhou Ming had already changed his appearance with a single thought.

His face now resembled that of his previous life.

After washing up—

he descended along the cliff face, dressed only in a thin inner robe.

As for the cultivation techniques left in the cave, they could wait for those fated to find them.

After confirming his direction, he crossed the uninhabited mountains.

More than half a year later, he stepped into Little Canal Town once again.

It was still the same old trio: flatbread, meat buns, and rice porridge.

Abandon mortal food?

Impossible. Neither fine food nor one's beloved could be let down.

After chatting with the stall owner—

Zhou Ming learned that eight months had somehow passed.

Truly, when cultivating in a cave, one never noticed the passing years.

"Good thing I didn't miss it."

Two days later, Zhou Ming, now dressed in a fresh new outfit, had arrived in Hua'an County.

He planned to have a chance encounter with his two old friends.

And just like that, the opportunity arrived.

He watched Jiang Jiang and Lu Hao, both clad in brocade robes with saber and sword crossed at their waists.

Zhou Ming stepped forward. "Greetings, Miss Jiang Jiang and Brother Lu. I am Zhou Yuxi. I heard from a close friend that the two of you enjoy making friends, so I came here upon hearing your names."

Jiang Jiang raised a brow as she looked at the unfamiliar man before her, tall and upright, with sharp brows and eyes and a face cut in distinct angles.

"An old friend?"

Chen Hao spoke softly, "May I ask who Brother Zhou's close friend is?"

Zhou Ming answered brightly, "Zhou Ming."

Upon hearing that name—

Chen Hao's expression changed. "Brother Zhou, let us speak somewhere else."

With that, he grabbed Zhou Ming and headed toward a nearby tavern.

Jiang Jiang followed behind them, staring suspiciously at Zhou Ming's back.

They entered a private room in the tavern.

After the waiter brought over a pot of wine—

Chen Hao shut the door and asked quietly, "May I ask whether Brother Zhou Ming is well now?"

Zhou Ming shook his head. "I do not know. I met Brother Zhou half a year ago, and after hearing of his deeds, I greatly admired him. From Brother Zhou, I learned of what Brother Lu and Miss Jiang Jiang had done, so I came seeking you out."

Jiang Jiang smiled. "Little Brother Zhou Ming, stop pretending. There are no outsiders here."

Oh? Little Jiang, trying to bluff your Brother Zhou?

Zhou Ming asked in surprise, "Miss Jiang Jiang, why do you say that?"

Lu Hao merely shot her a glance and shook his head.

Jiang Jiang raised her willow brows, fixed her eyes on Zhou Ming, and said calmly, "Stop pretending. I don't know how that face of yours was made—it looks utterly lifelike, without the slightest trace, and fits perfectly—but do you dare let me touch it?"

Zhou Ming did not avoid Jiang Jiang's gaze.

So bluffing Brother Zhou didn't work, and now she wants to start feeling me up.

I need to put some pressure on Little Jiang and wring something out of her.

Zhou Ming merely looked at Jiang Jiang without speaking.

Seeing that he remained silent, Jiang Jiang smiled. "What, you don't dare, Brother Zhou Yuxi?"

Zhou Ming said evenly, "Miss Jiang Jiang, don't you think your request is excessive? We have only just met, yet you are being both rude and unreasonable."

"I don't care what reason you have. Just say whether you dare or not! If you don't dare let me touch you, then admit it."

With that, Jiang Jiang reached for Zhou Ming's cheek.

Faced with Jiang Jiang's aggressive insistence—

Zhou Ming slapped her hand aside and said loudly, "Miss Jiang Jiang, conduct yourself with propriety. Men and women should not touch casually."

The moment those words came out, Lu Hao, seated nearby, looked doubtfully at Zhou Yuxi beside him.

Children of the martial world—when had they ever cared about such things?

Could this man truly be Brother Zhou in disguise?

Could such heaven-defying disguise arts really exist in this world?

Jiang Jiang was so irritated that she laughed. "Zhou Yuxi! Since men and women should not touch casually, Lu Hao is here. Let him examine you, then."

Heh.

The fish took the bait.

Zhou Ming immediately rose to his feet, his face flushing red and the veins in his neck bulging as he angrily rebuked her, "Miss Jiang Jiang, don't you think this is too much? What benefit is there to you in forcing Brother Zhou Ming's crimes onto my head?"

Jiang Jiang was slightly stunned at the sight of the enraged Zhou Ming.

Could this man truly not be Zhou Ming? Am I being too hasty?

The atmosphere in the private room turned somewhat oppressive.

Chen Hao stood and cupped his fists. "Brother Zhou, Jiang Jiang did not mean it that way. Allow me to apologize on her behalf."

Zhou Ming waved his hand. "Forget it. I was the one who acted too presumptuously. I thought that someone who could be friends with Brother Zhou could also become friends with me. I never expected that I was merely being self-important."

After saying that, Zhou Ming walked toward the door.

Just as he placed his hand on the handle, Jiang Jiang reached out and pressed a hand onto his shoulder.

"This isn't over. You're not allowed to leave!"

With his back to them, Zhou Ming was practically grinning from ear to ear.

Yet he still said in a deep voice, "It seems that unless I let Brother Chen examine me, I will not be allowed to leave this private room."

At the same time, a surge of dense blood qi erupted from within him, directly shaking Jiang Jiang's hand away.

Zhou Ming turned around, his gaze sharp as a blade as he stared at Jiang Jiang. "Miss Jiang Jiang, do you know the consequences of offending a prodigy?"

Lu Hao looked at Jiang Jiang's hand, which had been shaken away and still trembled behind her back. His expression became exceedingly grim.

He knew Jiang Jiang's strength all too well.

At twenty-three, she was at the Eighth-Rank Peak and had already forged Jade Bone.

Though the two had never formally fought, Zhou Ming had made Jiang Jiang's hand tremble with blood qi alone.

That meant he had no choice but to take this seriously.

One had to know—

even prodigies differed from one another!

This matter could not be settled peacefully.

Chen Hao rose and walked to Jiang Jiang's side before speaking to Zhou Ming. "For this matter, I am willing to prepare a generous gift and apologize to Brother Zhou on Jiang Jiang's behalf. I hope Brother Zhou can be magnanimous."

Zhou Ming gave Chen Hao an odd look.

Brother Lu!

What are you doing?!

Forget it. They're all fish anyway—who says I can't fish for anyone?

"Fine. No need for any generous gift. Give me ten Sixth-Rank and ten Seventh-Rank Cultivation Techniques."

The moment those words left his mouth, Jiang Jiang exploded!

"You still say you're not Zhou Ming! An Eighth-Rank Peak with no cultivation techniques, instead of going to the Martial Academy to find some, you've set your sights on Sister Jiang Jiang, haven't you?!"

Lu Hao too stared at Zhou Ming in utter shock.

Could the Zhou Yuxi before them truly be Brother Zhou?

The Brother Zhou whose tracks even Sky Patrol could not find!

No way!