The lake wasn't too deep, only roughly ten meters deep. Beneath it was the seal, and if one were to enter it, they would enter the next world.
Zhang Xuan didn't proceed forward. Instead, he began swimming around the lake.
After a round, he didn't find anything at all. Putting aside life, he didn't even find any ores. The lake was as clean as water.
Could I have guessed wrongly? Could there be no formation core here? Or perhaps … someone else has already gotten here before me?
Zhang Xuan frowned.
No, that's not right. If the formation core had been taken away, the poison aura wouldn't have been so evenly distributed.
The desert world had been taken away, and the desert had disappeared. The forest world had been taken away by the Five Monarchs. While he didn't know what had happened, without their control, the saint beasts wouldn't be as obedient as before …
The fact that the poison aura was evenly distributed meant that the formation core hadn't been destroyed yet.
"Eye of Insight!"
Zhang Xuan scanned the surroundings of the lake, and as expected, he noticed that something was amiss.
The substances in the lake that could detoxify one's poison seemed to be decreasing.
Zhang Xuan flew out of the lake and waited for a moment before taking another look. The antidote had already been restored.
"Teacher, have you found it?"
Zhao Ya walked up to Zhang Xuan.
"I haven't, but I think I should be able to guess what the formation core is. Go over there and bring me a bamboo pole," Zhang Xuan instructed with a smile.
Zhao Ya turned around and left. Not too long later, she returned with a bamboo pole in her hand.
Grabbing the bamboo pole, she shook it lightly, and the twigs on it fell off. Her zhenqi condensed into a thin thread that extended down from the tip of the pole. Then, she tossed it forward, and her zhenqi gathered at the end, as if a delicious bait.
"This is … a fishing pole? Teacher is going to fish? "
Zhao Ya was stunned.
Her teacher was actually using a bamboo pole and zhenqi to forge a fishing pole?
"That's right. If I'm not wrong, the core of the formation can only be fished out. Any other methods are useless!"
Zhang Xuan chuckled.
He had read quite a few books regarding Kong Shi before, and one of them said that the fishing pole was to fish but not to fish out the formation core, and not to fish out the formation core. In other words, Kong Shi used a fishing rod instead of a fishing net. He hunted his prey by shooting, but he never shot at resting birds or beasts.
He had thought that it was Kong Shi's benevolence, but at this moment, he realized that he was referring to the crux of the formation. It was impossible to grab the crux of the formation with one's bare hands or a fishing net. The only way to obtain it … was to fish!
After placing the poisonous bug in the water, Zhang Xuan sat down quietly.
Angling could sharpen one's state of mind, allowing one to guard against arrogance and rashness, allowing one to be more in tune with nature.
When ordinary people fished, they could fuse with heaven and earth and be as quiet as a painting, let alone someone with a cultivation of his level.
As the thin strands of zhenqi floated along with the ripples, Zhang Xuan suddenly felt that not only was this world of poison not as frightening as he had imagined it to be, it even felt real and natural.
In ancient times, spiritual energy was abundant. There were no humans in the old forests. Poisonous insects and miasma could be found everywhere. It was almost the same as this world.
In other words, this was not a world of poisonous gas, but an ancient forest deep in the mountains that had existed for countless years.
Only here would one be able to find the true essence of nature.
The cultivation technique that Zhang Xuan had cultivated when he achieved a breakthrough to Great Sage slowly circulated through his body, turning him into a rock, a tree, or a grain of sand … He felt as if he had fused perfectly with nature.
Amidst the tranquility, his Soul Depth slowly grew.
29.91！
29.92！
…
Huala!
While Zhang Xuan was immersed in his thoughts, the ripples in the water suddenly rippled, and a voice sounded.
"Teacher, the fish has taken the bait!"
Lowering his head, Zhang Xuan saw a crimson koi fish swaying from side to side on the zhenqi thread, causing splashes of water to fly about in all directions.
"What a pity!"
The fact that the fish had taken the bait had allowed him to recover from his trance.
Otherwise, he might have been able to push for 30.0 of Ancient Sage, thus raising his Soul Depth to that of Ancient Sage!
Hula!
With a slight flick of his wrist, the koi fish was fished out of the water.
Hula!
As soon as the fish leaped out of the water, it bounced on the ground twice before its mouth began opening and closing furiously, as if it was unable to take it anymore. Following which, its eyes widened, and it stopped breathing.
"Teacher, the fish is dead …" Zhao Ya said anxiously.
Wasn't that the crux of the formation?
Why did it die the moment it was fished up?
Could it be that he had fished up the wrong fish?
"Alright!"
Zhang Xuan did not know whether he should laugh or cry. He kicked the fish's body, causing it to roll on the ground several times. At the same time, he flicked his finger, and a bundle of pitch-black flames intermingled with lightning bolts appeared on his fingertip. "Do you want to braise it?"
"Cough cough!" The koi fish on the ground flipped its body and stood up with its tail on the ground. "I'm sorry, it's just a habit. It's been a long time since I last came ashore. As soon as I did, I found it difficult to breathe. I thought that I was dead … "
"…"
Zhao Ya's cheeks twitched upon hearing those words.
For a fish to jump up and speak …
Furthermore, why did it seem like the fish was so unreliable?
"That fellow possesses the strength of a Sempiternal realm consummation cultivator. Putting aside coming ashore, even if you throw it into a pot, it won't die!" Zhang Xuan explained.
Startled, Zhao Ya looked at Zhang Xuan doubtfully and asked, "Since it's so powerful, how did it end up being fished up?"
Given the strength that the other party wielded, it was likely that he possessed extremely high intelligence. Why did it feel so inconceivable for him to be fished up with an ordinary fishing rod?
"This … It can't be helped. It's just a habit of mine. Back then, Kong Shi would come over to fish me, and every time he fished me up, he would release me, and I would come back to be fished up again. The cycle would repeat itself over and over again. Normally, I would be fished up dozens of times in a single day.
I'm used to it, I'm used to it! "the koi fish continued.
"…" Zhao Ya's cheeks twitched.
Given his strength, to be fished up by someone every single day, and yet, he still enjoyed it. Aren't you tired of it?
More importantly, Kong Shi actually fished up the same fish every single day. He sure had a lot of free time on his hands.
"Don't listen to its nonsense. If I'm not mistaken, Kong Shi probably uses zhenqi as a thread, just like me. What you want to devour isn't just the bait but the fishing line as well, right?" Seeing that his student was unable to comprehend the situation, Zhang Xuan chuckled and turned to the koi fish.
The koi fish twisted its body awkwardly and said, "This … It's all fleeting!"
"I see!"
Zhao Ya widened her eyes in realization.
It was no wonder an ordinary fish was able to cultivate to Sempiternal realm consummation. It turned out that it had been devouring Kong Shi's zhenqi all this while.
Naturally, there was no way he would give such a good opportunity to any other fish.
"I hid myself so well earlier. How did you notice me?"
The koi fish asked doubtfully as it looked at Zhang Xuan.
Its concealment method was something that even the Eye of Insight was unable to see through. It had been unable to notice it even after several groups of people had come to it. Yet, the young man before it had actually used his fishing technique to provoke it, leaving it no choice but to bite down on the fishing line and allow itself to be fished up.
"The antidote aura that you left behind in the water is similar to my zhenqi, so I guessed it right away," Zhang Xuan said with a nod. "This aura should be unique to Kong Shi, right?"
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