Chapter 166: 159 Casting a Golden Hook to Catch the Ao Fish

Deep in the lotus pond, green leaves carry water, red lotuses flow with sunlight, gulls and herons cruise, fish and shrimp frolic—a scene of lively vitality.

A young woman carrying a small basket stands on a patch of duckweed, traversing the ripples, drifting into the depths of the lotus flowers.

That woman has black hair like clouds, skin white with a flush of red, and a charming appearance; she reflects and enhances the beauty of the water lotuses in the pond, adding even more radiance.

Her gaze pierces through layers of green leaves, and the woman calls out: "Master Tuo."

Under an enormous lotus leaf, a piece of deadwood bobs up and down; a thin, refined-looking gentleman in green robes sits cross-legged on the wood, holding a book in his left hand, reading with focused concentration.

Yet his right hand is missing, leaving only an empty sleeve.

Hearing the woman call him, Master Tuo puts down his book and says: "So it is Libationer Ju, what time is it?"

That woman, Libationer Ju, smiles and says: "The time has come, Master, you may set off for Jianzhou. Leave this lotus pond to the young people." Although she is young, her tone of voice is not young at all.

Master Tuo's fingers move, the book closes, and he frowns: "It is time already? But the person I am waiting for has not yet arrived."

Libationer Ju says: "What kind of person is the Master waiting for? Why not head to Jianzhou first? They cannot do without you, a Libationer, over there. We Longyuan Disciples will keep watch here; we will certainly not neglect your friend."

Master Tuo sighs: "If it were a friend, I would naturally leave them to you. Unfortunately, it is not a friend."

Libationer Ju's heart skips a beat: Not a friend, could it be an enemy?

Waiting specifically for an enemy, what is he planning to do?

Thinking of this, her smile fades slightly, and she says: "Master Tuo, this Rune Assembly is the first one Longyuan has held since returning to the Jianghu; it must be a successful, perfect, and world-shocking grand assembly."

Master Tuo smiles: "Of course, of course it will be world-shocking. If it weren't world-shocking, you wouldn't have invited me. I only fear my theories are too shocking, turning this Rune Master world upside down and causing you trouble instead."

Libationer Ju says: "That is no matter. On the Dharma-Teaching Platform, the speaker has freedom; Master, say whatever you wish to say. We are looking forward to your turning things upside down."

Longyuan is holding this assembly to attract the eyes of the masses and gather prestige for themselves. If they only sought a smooth event, they could have just made it magnificent and flowery, and they would not have invited this Talisman Sword Master to lecture. Although Longyuan is not what it once was, it still retains some of the prestige left by its ancestors; even if they wanted a Sword Smith ten times more powerful than Master Tuo, they could still invite one.

The reason they invited him is precisely because he is a maverick, full of radical theories, and willing to express them.

No matter how heterodox these radical theories are, Longyuan does not care. Master Tuo can argue his own logic with others; Longyuan does not need to manage that. As long as he can drop a bomb into the stagnant water of the Sword Smith world, spark widespread discussion, or even form a storm of public opinion, and have the Rune Assembly mentioned frequently during these discussions, that is enough.

Traffic is very important.

Of course, such radical theories must have support; they cannot be mere nonsense spoken off the cuff. If he were pointedly refuted on the spot and couldn't even get the message out of the venue, becoming a laughingstock, that would be bad.

Libationer Ju waits for a moment, presses her hands slightly, and the surrounding lotus leaves sway gently, intertwining to form a large green barrier, and says: "Master Tuo, there are no outsiders here; can you tell me who you are waiting for?"

Seeing Master Tuo lost in thought and silent, she says: "The attendees from the Seven Great Factions have all arrived. The Ouye Clan moved to Tianwaitian and likely won't come. The Northern Sea Yuanji Palace is far away and hasn't arrived yet. The others—Mogan Peak, Xuansu Studio, Yitian Pavilion, the Feng Clan, and the secondary ones like Feitian Cave, Huagu Tower, Qingqu Academy..."

She lists the names one by one, tireless, just to observe Master Tuo's expression, wanting to see who exactly has a grudge against him. Having gone through all the major factions, the person opposite remains unmoved, then suddenly frowns: "With your status, you wouldn't be targeting a small faction, would you? The younger generation of those small factions have no elders leading them; if you entangle yourself with them, it would be..."

Libationer Ju is straightforward; if Master Tuo were not an important guest, she would have said the words "bullying the weak" out loud.

Master Tuo says calmly: "If it were an ordinary grudge, I would naturally not bully the weak, but the old feud from back then is no small matter—so I must collect some interest first." He tilts his head and glances at his empty right shoulder.

Libationer Ju understands; this hatred seems related to the arm Master Tuo lost. The hatred of a severed limb can truly be considered irreconcilable.

The hand of a brilliant Sword Smith is even more precious than that of a Sword Guest.

However, she still wants to say: "Since you have a grudge against their elders and know the enemy's sect, why not go to their door and seek revenge in person, instead of finding trouble with children here? Is it because you can't beat them?"

Unfortunately, she is older now and cannot compare to the time when she was young, reckless, and spoke without restraint.

She says coldly: "I, Longyuan, have paid much for this Rune Assembly and truly do not wish for discordant notes to arise at the event."

Even if there are unsavory matters, they should not be brought into the open.

Master Tuo says gently: "Of course, I will act on the road. It should be in Maze City. The Spirit Fish in this pond all come from my hand; once the person I am looking for catches a Spirit Fish, I will naturally know their whereabouts. When he arrives at Maze City, I will hide my identity and act, finishing it quickly, and will never involve others. Perhaps it will even add some atmosphere to the screening you have carefully arranged."

Libationer Ju says no more, but thinks to herself: It would be fine if this matter didn't leak, but if it did, wouldn't it become a shocking scandal? A Rune Assembly Libationer changing his appearance to bully young students halfway—this Rune Assembly wouldn't need to be world-shocking, it would just be a laughingstock.

No, she will follow and take a look; she must see who it is that Master Tuo is looking for.

At this moment, a white heron emerges from behind a lotus flower, its snow-white feathers smooth and pure, shining in the Sunlight.

Suddenly, a bloody maw appears from behind, swallowing the heron in one bite!

Poor heron, it didn't even have time to Chirp before death, having already fallen into the monster's mouth.

It turns out the deadwood under Master Tuo had suddenly raised its head from the water; it was no deadwood at all, but clearly a crocodile!

"Eat well," Master Tuo laughs grimly: "I hate water birds the most! Especially white ones!"

"You've come?"

"I've come."

Tang Zhao carries a fish basket, sitting by the pond, beside him is Jiang Shenyi, who has already set his bait.

Jiang Shenyi stares at the float and says: "I didn't expect you to be the last to arrive; if it were a race of speed, you would be in last place."

"Hm? Che Sha and the others have all arrived?" Tang Zhao is surprised; there are only the two of them on this stretch of bank, and further ahead is a single, frail-looking scholar, with no one else.

Jiang Shenyi laughs: "They arrived even earlier than me, over there—" He points to the other side, where lotus leaves stand tall like a screen blocking the view, "They say there are many fish there, but also many people. I dislike the crowd, so I ran over here. You arrived so late, is it because you know too many techniques and were dazzled by the choices?"

Tang Zhao hangs a self-made Talisman Page under the fishhook and lowers it into the water, saying: "I did struggle for a long time, but time is limited; one cannot be too hesitant."

After all, the spots are limited and first-come-first-served; if you arrive late, no matter how brilliantly you perform, it is in vain if there is no Spirit Fish for you to catch.

"Actually, it is not hard to choose a unique Rune Formula that others don't know. But I always feel this stage isn't testing that. Even if it's obscure and cumbersome, who couldn't copy it? At most, it's the level of someone playing cards outside. To really test one's foundation, the changes, combinations, and innovative conception of the Rune Formula should be more important."

Jiang Shenyi nods and says: "Great minds think alike. I originally wanted to use a Thunder Tribulation Talisman, but in the end, I used a Wind-Thunder Hybrid Talisman."

Jiang Shenyi spends most of his time on those wings, most skilled in wind-thunder changes and coordination; in this regard, even Xue Xianyun might not be stronger than him.

Tang Zhao says: "Mm. I am trying to use a Chain Lightning Talisman. The one we studied on the road."

"That one... doesn't that require a Termination Spring?"

Tang Zhao says: "It's not the same. I am trying to use a Stop Symbol that can be stopped—but I can't string that many Thunder Symbols, and a One Yuan Talisman Page can't hold them, so I wrote three Thunder Symbols, which was quite successful. Actually, I have another idea..."

The two chat casually, not avoiding anyone. The Rune Assembly is a place for mutual exchange; those unique techniques can be kept secret, but some theoretical discussions are better when opened up. Truth becomes clearer the more it is debated; one might arrive with only one idea, but leave with the source of a whole system.

Not far away, the frail scholar, who is three parts more refined than Tang Zhao, turns his head to look several times, seeming very interested, but ultimately does not come over to discuss.

"Ah, I caught one!"

A familiar voice comes, and Tang Zhao pushes aside the lotus leaves to peek, seeing Che Sha holding a loach, jumping and hopping.

Although the loach is unremarkable, it is definitely a Spirit Fish—what normal fish would gnaw on a Talisman Page?

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi cannot help but offer congratulations, and they see Wusun Tong has already caught his own Spirit Fish, a large-mouthed catfish, which is circling in his fish basket.

The two returned to their seats, inevitably looking at each other in dismay.

"Senior Brother, how long does it usually take for a Spirit Fish to take the bait?"

Jiang Shenyi frowned and said, "I don't know. Sometimes it's long, sometimes it's short; some people catch one very quickly. It seems some people have had no word even after a day and a night."

That probably means there's no hope at all...

At this moment, the frail-looking scholar nearby said, "This humble one has been fishing for an entire day and has yet to have a harvest."

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi were both a bit embarrassed, and just as they were thinking about whether to offer a few words of comfort, the scholar already said, "But this humble one firmly believes that after the clouds part, one sees the moon; although the wait is long, I will surely catch a Golden Scale in the end!"

Jiang Shenyi praised, "Brother, you have ambition!"

Just as he was speaking, his fishing float moved.

"I've got a bite!"

Jiang Shenyi was in high spirits, flicking his sleeve and lifting the rod with a cool, flashy posture; if Tang Zhao hadn't been blocking him, he could have spun three hundred and sixty degrees on the spot.

They saw water splashing everywhere, and hooked on the line was a round-headed, round-brained little...

Turtle.

"Pfft—"

Tang Zhao laughed out loud.

Jiang Shenyi was stunned for a moment, his mouth pursed, and he suddenly turned his head and said, "What are you laughing at?"

Tang Zhao immediately said, "I'm not laughing."

Jiang Shenyi snorted, "A turtle is an auspicious beast, just like the Qilin, dragon, or phoenix. A Golden Scale still needs to leap over the Dragon Gate, while my turtle is already a divine beast right now. What is wrong with that?"

Tang Zhao said repeatedly, "Mm... it's good, very good! Especially since it suits you so well, Senior Brother."

Jiang Shenyi stared at him and asked again, "Then why are you still laughing?"

Tang Zhao said, "I'm not laughing. I cultivate my Qi through reading, so I generally don't laugh, unless..."

"Pfft—"

Jiang Shenyi jumped up, snatched up the turtle, and said, "You just wait, I want to see what you catch!"

Just as he was speaking, ripples appeared on the water's surface, and a golden line could be seen rushing toward them from the blue waves. Everyone's gaze was drawn over.

Tang Zhao's fishing float suddenly shook, and he gave it a pull—

The water surface boiled, and immediately following that, rising from the waves was a massive...

Big turtle.

"Ah! I caught one!"

The voice came from nearby, and Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi turned their heads at the same time to see the young scholar jumping up, the Golden Scale on his fishing line shining brightly.