The Old Fisherman's Scheme

Chen Xia opened his eyes on the meditation cushion.

He looked calmly ahead, where the Old Fisherman's eyes were staring straight at him.

"Why did you come out so soon?" The Old Fisherman sounded somewhat worried.

"I died."

Chen Xia's answer was calm and brief.

Silence settled over the scene for a while.

The Old Fisherman frowned. After quite some time, he finally said slowly, "It's all right. Don't worry. I'll get you some medicine to nourish your soul."

"All right, thank you." Chen Xia nodded politely.

The Old Fisherman did not respond. His figure vanished from the spot through the Divine Ability, Shrinking the Earth to an Inch.

Chen Xia sat where he was, thinking of the Old Fisherman's fixed stare just now, and his heart involuntarily jolted.

If the time ratio between this place and the small world was 1:100, had the Old Fisherman been staring at him for a whole year?

What normal person would stare at someone for a year, especially while that person was in secluded cultivation, seeking enlightenment? Was he worried something would go wrong with his seclusion, or did he want to monitor him?

Once this thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.

Alarm bells rang in Chen Xia's mind, but he showed nothing on the surface and remained seated calmly.

He waited three hours.

The Old Fisherman's figure flickered into view again. He handed over an antique box and said with a light smile, "A ten-thousand-year-old Purified Altar Soul Lotus. Take one petal every half month, and it will replenish the soul you lost."

Chen Xia accepted it with both hands and peered through the transparent crystal in the center of the antique box.

Inside was a lotus with snow-white stamens and deep-black petals, giving off a lustrous glow, ethereal as an immortal about to take flight.

The Old Fisherman clasped his hands behind his back and said softly.

"Since descending into the heavens doesn't suit you, try another way of cultivating. You can go back to the Sword Sea to temper swords, or practice methods of combat."

"All right." Chen Xia nodded, certainly having no intention of going.

"There aren't many benefits to descending into the heavens anyway. Worlds that are too small have few fortuitous opportunities, and cultivating in larger planes isn't as good as cultivating directly in the Great All-Heavens, so you needn't be discouraged."

Chen Xia sighed, his expression seeming somewhat grief-stricken. After a long silence, he finally nodded faintly and said, "I'll try."

He looked as though he had suffered quite a blow.

His acting was very good.

So the Old Fisherman offered another word of advice. "In tiny planes, it's easy to perish halfway through your journey. The power you can use is too limited, and the natives are too strong. One failure means nothing. Don't let it affect your state of mind."

Chen Xia lowered his head, his expression obscured, and clutched his sleeve tightly with his left hand. He nodded and gave a muffled reply.

"Mm."

Seeing him like this, the Old Fisherman offered no further advice. He shook his head and vanished.

With his head lowered, Chen Xia's eyes flickered, and his heart raced.

The Old Fisherman had lied to him!

When they first met, the Old Fisherman had claimed to have fished him out of the river of time and beaten up the Time Ancestor.

But judging by what the Old Fisherman had just said, he had not noticed Chen Xia's methods involving time and genuinely believed Chen Xia's divine sense had died in the tiny world.

If the Old Fisherman truly had profound attainments in time, he would certainly have noticed Chen Xia's time techniques.

These two things contradicted each other.

That left two possibilities.

The first was that the Old Fisherman had never beaten up the Time Ancestor, nor had he fished Chen Xia out of the river of time. He had simply snatched him from the small world. Perhaps the Old Fisherman had even been that giant hand!

That was why he did not know about Chen Xia's tampering with time.

The second was that the Old Fisherman knew about Chen Xia's tampering with time but chose not to expose it, turning the trick to his own advantage and planning to keep fooling Chen Xia like this.

Chen Xia hoped it was the first possibility. At least that would mean the Old Fisherman was not all that powerful.

If it was the second possibility, Chen Xia was in even greater danger.

Since the Old Fisherman had lied to him, what he sought certainly could not be simple. It certainly was not merely taking Chen Xia as his disciple, as he himself had claimed.

The reason behind it remained unknown.

Chen Xia was the weaker party, and the power he could wield was truly limited.

The Old Fisherman had the ability to openly turn against him.

But Chen Xia could not flip the table and stop playing. He still needed to play his current role properly.

As Chen Xia pondered, he glanced again at the wooden box on the table. The Purified Altar Soul Lotus inside shimmered, blooming with darkly enchanting colors.

Chen Xia had no intention of eating this soul lotus. He had understood one principle since childhood: never eat anything a stranger gave you.

There were plenty of cases of children being abducted.

He did not want to be sold off by the Old Fisherman. The most important thing now was to learn more about the Azure Heaven Sword Sea, uncover its secrets, and discover why the Old Fisherman had lied to him.

Inside the highest grand hall of the Azure Heaven Sword Sea.

The Old Fisherman stood within, his gaze slightly lowered. He shook his head gently and muttered to himself, as though trying to convince himself.

"There are many heaven's chosen in this world. Losing one won't matter, even if he is an excellent seedling."

"The Azure Heaven Sword Sea doesn't have much time left. If sacrificing this one can prolong the Azure Heaven Sword Sea's life, that wouldn't be so bad..."

"Alas." The Old Fisherman sighed again, lowering his gaze further, and said softly.

"Wait until he becomes a Quasi-Saint. Then he'll qualify as an ingredient for medicine."

"This is the tide of events. Don't blame me."

The Old Fisherman let out one last sigh, his aged voice full of helplessness.

He picked a day with fine weather.

Chen Xia clasped his hands behind his back, straightened his clothes, adjusted his expression, and let his face fall, carrying a touch of sadness. Then he slowly walked outside.

The Azure Heaven Sword Sea was divided into two parts.

Azure Heaven and the Sword Sea.

The flying sword lying horizontally between them was where the cultivators lived.

Chen Xia lived in the prospective disciples' quarters, at the edge of the flying sword's upper section. It could be considered the most remote location.

More than a hundred prospective disciples lived here, each with their own quarters and cave abode, cultivating separately. Unless they arranged to meet, it was rather difficult to see one another on an ordinary day.

Chen Xia walked alone along a road formed from sword patterns, quietly pondering.

Outside the disciples' quarters, heading toward the sword hilt led to a sword forest. It was said that the sword spirits inside were all in the Mahayana Realm, so those below the Mountain-Moving Realm were advised not to enter.

Heading toward the sword tip led to the sect's Heavenly Scripture Tower, which was said to house all kinds of cultivation method secret manuals never seen in the world, and even emperor techniques.

These were things other prospective disciples had mentioned in conversation. Chen Xia had overheard them by chance and had not taken them seriously.

Chen Xia chose to walk toward the sword hilt and approached the sword forest. At its entrance stood a broad, dilapidated bronze gate covered in many patterns, though they were now too mottled to make out.

He took only a couple of looks before turning back home. Throughout the entire process, he appeared listless, as though he had suffered some grievous blow and come out to clear his head.

Chen Xia sat down inside his cave abode, cross-legged on the meditation cushion, seemingly cultivating with his eyes closed.

"I heard you went out for a walk?" A concerned voice suddenly rang out.

Chen Xia's body trembled as though startled, and he hurriedly opened his eyes. Only after seeing the Old Fisherman did he compose his expression and slowly nod with sadness.

"Mm."

He had only one line throughout the whole performance, but his expressions and movements were richly varied.

The Old Fisherman clasped his hands behind his back, a kindly smile appearing on his aged face as he consoled him.

"The world is ever-changing. You needn't be too upset. Tiny planes truly aren't very friendly to outsiders like you. Even if someone else killed you, don't doubt yourself. Your talent is absolutely at the Great Emperor level. Whatever you do, don't ruin your Dao heart."

Chen Xia lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and clutched the front of his robes with both hands without speaking.

The Old Fisherman asked worriedly again, "It hasn't affected your Dao heart, has it?"

"Maybe... I think it has." Chen Xia replied quietly, his words utterly lacking confidence.

"Alas." The Old Fisherman replied helplessly, "Then take some time to rest and recuperate. I'll think of something else for you. If your Dao heart remains incomplete, you can skip the entrance selection five hundred years from now."

Chen Xia pressed his lips together, his words full of uncertainty. "I might need to recuperate a little longer."

"Mm, that's fine. When flaws appear in the Dao heart, recovering takes hundreds of years. There's no need to rush. With your aptitude, the sect will give you time."

"How long do you expect to need? I'll report it to the sect master, and I can even ask for some divine medicine for you."

Chen Xia murmured in a quiet, muffled voice.

"Let's... let's start with ten thousand years."

The Old Fisherman's eyes widened.

Were you fucking planning to retire here?!