The Old Fisherman

Below Yingping Peak, mountains and waters encircled the land.

A little wooden cottage stood beside the mountain and the water, with a few stalks of bamboo quietly poking their heads up before its windows.

Judging by the grain of the timber, the wood had only recently been cut and prepared, showing that the cottage itself had only just been built.

Yet a swath of emerald-green ivy had already climbed its outer walls.

The ivy clung only to the outside walls without creeping into the house, as though keeping a clear boundary between the two.

Fang Zelin sat inside the cottage, slowly cultivating.

Rich Spiritual Qi slowly poured into Fang Zelin's body from all around, but the next moment, his mind suddenly stirred.

Immediately afterward, Fang Zelin found himself somewhere else.

"Huh, here again?"

Looking at the mountain before him, Fang Zelin could not help showing a trace of puzzlement.

This was none other than the mountain he had visited when he first studied the Qi Refining book.

After coming here once, he had returned to the inn and instantly grasped the method of Qi Refining.

Then that book on the method of Qi Refining had turned to dust.

From this, it was clear that this place was far from ordinary.

Fang Zelin understood that, but he did not know just what sort of place this was.

Now that he had come here again, Fang Zelin could not help feeling a little curious.

The same little path lay before him, and Fang Zelin stepped forward along it.

A short while later, Fang Zelin once again spotted the old fisherman ahead.

Sensing someone approach, the old man looked back. Upon seeing Fang Zelin, a rare trace of confusion appeared on his aged face.

"Someone with a Dao heart like this has appeared in this day and age?"

Puzzled, the old man instinctively raised a hand and made a divination with his fingers.

Once he finished, his mind jolted, and a hint of astonishment and approval entered his gaze as he looked at Fang Zelin.

"Come, sit."

The old man beckoned to Fang Zelin, motioning for him to sit beside him.

Fang Zelin was much more relaxed on this visit, looking rather leisurely and at ease.

At the old man's call, Fang Zelin smiled back while looking around ahead.

Not far away, there was a woodcutter chopping wood, a child tending cattle, an old woman raising silkworms on mulberry leaves, and an old man tilling the fields.

At first glance, this place seemed like a peach-blossom paradise beyond the mortal world.

Farther away stood a tree stump with a board game laid out on it, and two people were playing.

Fang Zelin approached the old fisherman. Since the man had already told him to sit, he dispensed with ceremony and sat right down.

"Senior."

Fang Zelin had only just begun to speak when the old man waved a hand. "Why call me senior? I'm nothing but an old fisherman."

"Then, sir, do you know what this place is called, and where it is?"

As Fang Zelin asked, he surveyed their surroundings.

He had been here twice now, yet he still did not know where this was.

As someone cultivating immortality through an unorthodox, self-taught approach, he knew nothing about many things in the cultivation world.

The old man waved a hand at his question. "We live here in the mountains and have never ventured out. How would we know where this is or what it's called?"

Fang Zelin thought that made sense.

"Care to fish together?"

The old man reached to one side, picked up a fishing rod, and offered it to Fang Zelin.

Seeing the rod, Fang Zelin instinctively took it.

He had caught plenty of fish by the Yongding River before, so handling a fishing rod now was as familiar as driving a light carriage down a well-known road.

As the old man handed Fang Zelin the rod, some of the elderly people in the distance froze briefly and glanced their way.

But then they shook their heads and went back to their work.

Holding the rod, Fang Zelin was about to cast when he noticed there was no bait on it. "Can you catch fish without bait?"

Never mind the lack of bait-even the hook was straight.

"Lowering this hook into the water is already their good fortune. Would adding bait be at all proper?"

At Fang Zelin's words, the old man bristled his whiskers.

Fang Zelin was taken aback, then instinctively asked, "Might I ask your surname, sir?"

Even his fishing hook is straight. Could he be Jiang Ziya, Grand Duke Jiang?

"My humble surname is Zhou."

Zhou.

It seems he isn't Jiang Ziya.

At that, Fang Zelin felt a little disappointed.

If this were Jiang Ziya, then he would be a true big shot.

But thinking it over, that made sense. This world was Great Jin, and he had never heard anything about an Investiture of the Gods.

Naturally, he could not possibly encounter Grand Duke Jiang here.

Though he did not know what the old man was doing, Fang Zelin felt there ought to be some deeper meaning behind it.

At once, Fang Zelin likewise swung his rod and cast the line.

The hook entered the water with a plink.

Yet the old man's rod beside him had not moved for a very long time.

It had not moved during his previous visit, nor had he seen it move at all since arriving today.

Fang Zelin did not concern himself with all that. After lowering his line, he saw many schools of fish swimming beneath the surface.

And those schools contained a great variety of fish.

Looking closely, Fang Zelin could even make out enormous arowanas, old softshell turtles, and fish of extraordinary beauty whose species he did not recognize.

At this sudden glance, the water below looked like an aquarium, with so many kinds of fish.

It was especially lively around their two hooks, with fish gathering in schools as though eager to bite.

Fang Zelin found the sight amusing.

Could this old gentleman have cast some spell because he was worried about coming back empty-handed?

With no bait on the rods, how could these fish chase after them like this?

Either he's cast a spell, or all the fish down there have become spirits and want to curry favor with him.

"Sir, might I ask for some guidance on how to practice Immortal Methods?"

Watching the fish below, Fang Zelin ventured the question.

He now understood how to cultivate, but he knew absolutely nothing about casting spells and the like.

"I'm merely an old fisherman. I cannot teach you the Immortal Methods you seek."

The old man shook his head at the question, indicating that he did not know how.

Fang Zelin felt somewhat disappointed. Just as he was about to speak again, he felt his rod tremble slightly.

Noticing this, Fang Zelin immediately flicked his wrist.

The next moment, a huge black fish was pulled out of the water, only to struggle briefly in midair, slip off the hook, and fall heavily back onto the surface.

Seemingly somewhat unwilling to accept this, the black fish raised its head and floated on the surface, looking at the two fishermen.

Fang Zelin looked at his empty rod, then at the black fish that had fallen into the water. Without giving it much thought, he lowered his hook again.

After that, however, no other fish took the hook.

Fang Zelin thought little of it and took the opportunity to question the old man beside him, hoping to ask more about the methods of cultivating immortality.

Yet the old man seemed to know little of such matters and could not answer many of Fang Zelin's questions.

Fang Zelin could do nothing about that. Only when he grew hungry did he bid farewell and leave.