Zhao Wuji, You Took the Bait

The Training Ground.

Zhao Wuji stood in the center of the grounds, arms folded, killing intent rolling off him.

The paving stone beneath his feet had cracked in three places, crushed by the pressure of his Soul Power alone.

Tang San stood beside Lin Yuan and asked quietly, "How do we fight him?"

Lin Yuan rested his fishing rod on his shoulder. "You take the front. I'll take the back."

"What are you going to do?"

"Fish."

Zhao Wuji heard him and burst out laughing. "Fish? You think I'm a fish?"

Lin Yuan looked at him, his expression earnest. "Teacher Zhao, have you ever been fishing?"

Zhao Wuji's laughter stopped dead. "...No."

"Then you can learn today."

Zhao Wuji rolled his neck and activated Martial Soul Possession. The bloodline of the Great Strength Vajra Bear surged to life.

His body swelled, his arms thickening like stone pillars. Soul Rings rose beneath his feet—seven of them.

"Come on." Zhao Wuji crooked a finger. "Let me see what you two little brats are made of."

Tang San moved. Blue Silver Grass burst from his palm, dozens of vines spreading along the ground to bind Zhao Wuji's legs.

Zhao Wuji glanced down and gave a savage tug. The Blue Silver Grass snapped into scraps.

"That's it?"

Lin Yuan cast his rod from behind.

The hook flew out without a sound and caught precisely on Zhao Wuji's belt.

Zhao Wuji looked down. "You think one line can hold me?"

Lin Yuan flicked his wrist. The line went taut, yanking Zhao Wuji forward into a stumble.

Zhao Wuji's expression changed. "Now that's interesting."

He charged at Lin Yuan like a rampaging bull.

Instead of retreating, Lin Yuan stepped forward, yielded sideways with Zhao Wuji's momentum, and let out a little line.

Zhao Wuji lunged through empty air. His momentum nearly sent him into the ditch beside the Training Ground, but he drove his right foot into the ground, steadied himself, and glared back at Lin Yuan.

"That's called playing a fish." Lin Yuan stood where he was, rod steady in his hands. "The harder you pull, the easier you fall."

Zhao Wuji lost his temper. A Soul Ring lit up, and his second Soul Skill, Great Strength Vajra Palm, came crashing down. The wind from his palm howled, compressing the air until it hummed.

Lin Yuan did not meet it. His line wound around Zhao Wuji's wrist, and he leaped back with the force of the strike. The line pulled Zhao Wuji's blow off course, sending his palm into the ground.

Boom!

A hole the size of a washbasin appeared in the Training Ground, spraying broken stone.

"That's called borrowing force." Lin Yuan landed and settled the rod on his shoulder. "The stronger you are, the less work I have to do."

Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth. "You little..."

He charged a third time. This time, he had learned. He slowed his steps and kept both palms before him, giving Lin Yuan no angle from which to borrow his strength.

Unhurried, Lin Yuan looped the line around Zhao Wuji, one turn after another.

When Zhao Wuji came within three steps of him, Lin Yuan suddenly crouched.

Zhao Wuji's palm struck empty air. He looked down.

At some point, the line had wrapped three times around his ankle. Its other end was anchored to a stone beside Lin Yuan's foot.

Lin Yuan jerked the rod. "Haul in the net."

Zhao Wuji tripped and pitched forward, slamming onto the Training Ground before rolling onto his back, limbs in the air.

The whole place fell silent.

At the edge of the grounds, Dai Mubai's mouth hung open wide enough to fit a fist. Xiao Wu crouched in a corner, her eyes bright as twin stars. Tang San stood frozen, unsure whether to withdraw his Blue Silver Grass or leave it out.

Behind a second-floor window, Flender held a teacup suspended halfway to his mouth.

"I've never seen anyone fight like that..."

Grandmaster stood beside him, his pencil scratching across a notebook. "A variant of the control type. Yielding softness overcomes brute strength."

Zhao Wuji climbed to his feet, his face covered in dirt and bits of grass hanging from his nose. He stared at Lin Yuan for a long time, his chest heaving with heavy breaths.

"How much Soul Power do you have?"

"Level six."

Zhao Wuji was silent for a long while.

"Level six, and you played me at level seventy-six?"

"Teacher Zhao, I wasn't playing you." Lin Yuan put away his rod, winding the line around it loop by loop. "I was playing your strength. The stronger you are, the less effort I need. If you don't move, I wait. The moment you do, I follow your force."

Zhao Wuji froze.

Lin Yuan turned to leave. After a few steps, he looked back and added, "Don't be so impulsive next time. Before a fish takes the hook, it tests the bait with a few nibbles. You swallowed it without even testing it. How could you not get hooked?"

Zhao Wuji stood there, then suddenly broke into a grin.

"That kid... he's got something."

Dai Mubai caught up and fell into step beside Lin Yuan.

"Lin Yuan."

"Yeah?"

"Can you teach me that move you just used?"

Lin Yuan turned to him. "You want to learn?"

"I do."

"Learn to fish first."

Dai Mubai frowned. "Does it have to be fishing?"

"Fishing teaches you three things." Lin Yuan raised his fingers. "First, how to wait. Second, how to judge. Third, when to let out line and when to pull it tight."

Dai Mubai thought for a moment. "What if I can't learn to wait?"

"Then you can't become a good Soul Master." Lin Yuan patted his shoulder. "Your Evil-Eyed White Tiger has explosive power, but you have a weakness."

"What weakness?"

"You're too impatient." Lin Yuan withdrew his hand and kept walking. "Impatient people don't catch big fish."

Dai Mubai followed him in silence for a while.

"Then what do you think I should do?"

"Tomorrow morning. Lakeside. The hour of the rabbit." Lin Yuan did not look back. "Bring your patience. If you don't have enough, don't come."

Xiao Wu bounced out from the side and blocked Lin Yuan's path.

"That move was so cool!" Her eyes shone. "Even better to watch than Tang San's Blue Silver Grass!"

Lin Yuan looked at her. "You want to learn?"

"Yes!"

"First learn to be quiet." Lin Yuan pointed toward the lake. "Tomorrow morning, at the hour of the rabbit. Come with Dai Mubai, and I'll teach you how to bait a fishing spot."

Xiao Wu tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

"It means cooking for the fish."

"Cooking for fish?" Xiao Wu frowned. "I don't want to be a cook."

"You don't have to be one." Lin Yuan walked around her. "Become someone who can read the water instead."

Xiao Wu stood there thinking for a moment, then ran after him. "All right! I'll come!"

Tang San came up from behind and watched Xiao Wu chase after Lin Yuan, a strange look on his face.

"Tang San!" Xiao Wu turned and waved at him. "Come with us tomorrow!"

Tang San sighed.

He looked down at the Blue Silver Grass in his palm and muttered, "Why do I feel like I'm the fish on the hook?"

Behind the second-floor window, Flender set down his teacup.

"Grandmaster."

"Mm?"

"Do you think that kid can win the Elite Tournament?"

Grandmaster closed his notebook and pushed up his glasses. "I don't know if he can win."

"Then why are you so invested?"

Grandmaster was silent for a moment.

"Flender, have you ever seen someone beat a level-seventy-six Soul Master with a fishing rod?"

"No."

"Neither have I." Grandmaster watched Lin Yuan's retreating figure below. "But I don't think he was even trying."

Flender turned to him. "He fought a level seventy-six at level six, and you think he wasn't trying?"

"He didn't use a single Soul Skill from start to finish."

Flender froze.

On the Training Ground, Zhao Wuji crouched beside the hole and inspected his belt. The steel buckle had been bent out of shape by the hook. It had nearly broken.

"That kid..." He unfastened the belt and turned it over in his hands. "That hook landed right where he wanted it."

By Back Mountain Lake.

Lin Yuan sat alone on the shore, his rod propped up and its float standing upright on the water.

A system notification sounded:

[Ding! Zhao Wuji's test complete. Evaluation: Host employed tactics effectively. Reward: Illustrated Compendium progress +5%.]

[New mission issued: Complete your first team coordination training. Reward: Lakebed Fishing Permit.]

Lin Yuan watched the water and suddenly spoke. "System."

"Mm."

"What exactly is that thing at the bottom of the lake?"

The system was silent for three seconds.

[Answer: Insufficient information to determine. Host is advised to raise Soul Power Level before exploring further.]

Lin Yuan smiled and asked no more.

He looked up at the star-filled sky, drew his rod in against his chest, and lay back on the grass.

"No rush."

"One step at a time."

"Sooner or later, every fish on this continent will take my hook."