Chapter 253

"Hahaha…"

Seeing Heng Xian fish for several hours, yet only hauling up a lump of broken mud and rotten iron, the sect disciples could no longer hold back, bursting into laughter.

Ye Hongxue even pointed to the basket behind her: "Cat-face guy, look at our fish—they're big and fat, fragrant and… pfft…"

Before she could finish speaking, she burst out laughing again.

Everyone finally managed to stop, then burst out laughing again.

On this strange sea, with nerves taut and future uncertain, even things not particularly funny would elicit a chuckle—let alone seeing Cat-face guy suffer a setback.

However, Heng Xian showed no expression whatsoever; he simply removed the muddy iron armor, continued to bait the hook, cast the line, then gazed toward the sea ahead, his eyes flickering slightly.

We're about to reach shore!

The sect disciples, receiving no response and feeling bored, could only stop laughing and focus on fishing.

Still, each person caught a fish every half incense stick's time, the thirty fishing rods almost constantly casting.

No need to mention the joy of such a bountiful harvest.

After another half hour, Heng Xian's fish bladder hooked again, still feeling dead heavy.

This again attracted everyone's attention.

Only saw Heng Xian, unhurried and calm, slowly pull the line; soon the hook bore something that surfaced—lo and behold… a pair of iron boots.

No idea how it got hooked on the line, but it was tangled.

"Hahaha…"

The sect disciples burst into laughter once more.

The contrast in harvest was so stark that it was hard not to laugh.

Yu Qiuyi held her stomach: "Look at this, Brother Cat-face is preparing to gather a set of golden helmet and iron armor!"

Liu Yu also laughed loudly: "What great fortune! I'm dying of envy, hehe…"

Heng Xian still remained expressionless as he removed the boots, then continued to bait the hook and cast the fishing rod.

This composure in the face of honor and disgrace nearly caused the sect disciples to suffer internal injury from holding back.

This time, not long after, the fish bladder sank again.

Heng Xian finally showed a hint of a smile on his face, quickly pulled the hook, and then drew out a helmet covered in sludge.

"Uh…"

Now the sect disciples couldn't laugh.

Because "Cat-face guy" really fished up an entire set of armor; even considering it with one's heel, something felt off.

"Isn't this a bit abnormal?" Niu Wanli asked doubtfully.

Du Qiyue, Shen Qiong, and several others frowned tightly: "Can't say!"

Yu Qiuyi patted her forehead: "Fishing up armor in this sea itself seems abnormal; we only focused on mocking."

At this moment, Heng Xian on the "Giant" threw away his fishing rod, gathered the mud-covered armor, helmet, and boots together, walked to the ship's edge, circulated his cultivation technique, and performed a minor Five Elements water technique.

A stream of water shot up from the sea surface, directly rushing to wash that set of armor.

After washing for a full half incense stick's time, all the mud and sand fell off the armor, revealing its true form—lo and behold, a brand-new suit of golden-yellow, imposing battle armor.

"This…" the sect disciples below turned grim.

Heng Xian waved his hand, withdrew the Five Elements technique, then in front of everyone removed his outer garment and directly slipped the damp armor onto himself.

He was already quite heroic; donning the golden-yellow armor instantly gave him unmatched dominance, and with the cat-face mask on his face and the bamboo hat on his head, it added an air of mystery.

Then he turned his head to look at the sect disciples below: "I've got armor, stupid, right?"

Actually, this set of armor is a gift from this strange sea, meant to deal with what comes next. If the sect disciples below could see through the rules in the forest, store up more knife coins, then enter the old man's grocery shop and notice the most conspicuous fishing rod, they would surely buy one, and thus naturally also possess a set.

Unfortunately, they were influenced by themselves, imitating themselves everywhere, and only learned half a bucket's worth.

Yu Qiuyi, Liu Yu, and their group stared at each other, somewhat puzzled.

Ye Hongxue sneered: "Putting on armor for no reason, acting like a fool, fussing over mysteries—truly laughable!"

"Fool, you're right!" Heng Xian's eyes flashed with a hint of pity, then he stepped forward step by step to the bow.

Everyone saw the pity in his eyes, and involuntarily felt a chill run down their spines.

Yu Qiuyi glanced around the sea surface, then hesitantly asked loudly: "Brother Cat-face, could there be some monster about to appear?"

Heng Xian gave no answer; suddenly he tapped his foot and dove headfirst into the sea.

"Uh…"

The event happened too suddenly, leaving everyone dazed.

After reacting and looking again, the sea surface was calm and waveless—where was the figure of "Cat-face guy"?

"Why… why is this?" Liu Yu exclaimed in disbelief.

Yu Qiuyi, Du Qiyue, and their group were nothing but dazed.

Ye Hongxue bluntly said: "First, rule it out—he went down to take a bath!"

Niu Wanli glanced at the surrounding sea: "This should also be part of the trial!"

Yu Qiuyi's face darkened: "Are we too stupid or is he too clever? From start to finish, we haven't found any clues about the relic trial—how did he know?"

Niu Wanli's face was just as grim: "What we should consider now is what will happen next—and how we should respond."

"We… we've arrived ashore?!" At that moment, an ordinary disciple behind shouted.

Everyone hurriedly looked ahead—sure enough! At the far end of the sea horizon appeared a stretch of forest and hills.

The lower-ranking disciples instantly rejoiced beyond expectation.

However, Niu Wanli, Yu Qiuyi, and their group felt no joy at all, even harboring a bad premonition.

With shore in sight, what on earth is Cat-face guy doing jumping into the sea???

Just then, a buzzing sound came from afar and drew near.

Everyone turned toward the sound and couldn't help but be shocked and pale.

Only to see a mass of black insects, drawn by the "fleet" and the crowd, flashing with a clear blue light, surging forth from the hills and forests, covering the sky and earth.

"What the hell is this?" a disciple at the Condensing Qi Realm exclaimed in surprise.

Niu Wanli's face turned pale: "Five-grade venomous gnats, attracted by our aura, their bodies are like steel, extremely hard to kill, they carry deadly poison in their mouths that can numb a person's body; a single one can deal with an early-stage Qi Sea Realm cultivator."

"With such a sky-covering onslaught, even a cultivator at the Yuan Dan Initial Realm would not die without suffering heavy injuries!"

A group of people exchanged glances, suddenly understanding why Mao Lian Nan had been running so fast in armor—this is too damn cunning!

"What do we do?" a group of low-ranking disciples trembled, seeming that being bitten to death by the insects would not be a dignified death.

Niu Wanli gritted his teeth and pointed at the sea: "We can only follow Mao Lian Nan's example and go underwater; the venomous gnats fear water!"

"Hurry! The venomous gnats are coming!" Yu Qiuyi shouted.

Thus, over a hundred people from the various sects jumped into the sea like dumplings being dropped, with a pattering sound.

Upon entering the water, they immediately felt a bone-chilling cold, making movement difficult.

Almost as soon as the crowd entered the water, an armored figure crawled out from the dark water at the shore's edge—it was Heng Xian.

Although venomous gnats still surrounded him in great numbers, they automatically ignored him, this "lump of iron."

He glanced back, silently muttering "May you have good fortune," and then sprinted straight ahead.

This is a strange stretch of hills and fruit orchards, boundless and edgeless, filled with weird poisonous insects, strange birds, and swarms of snakes, thick as thorns; without armor to protect oneself, constantly exerting energy to repel them, one would eventually exhaust strength and be devoured by the insects.

Heng Xian sprinted westward, running for over ten li before stopping in a peach blossom grove.

In the peach blossom grove, strange multicolored spiders were everywhere.

(End of chapter)