Chapter 24: Fishing for the Dragon

It’s a big one!

From the tremendous struggle, Li Hao immediately sensed the creature in the water was no small matter; his heart tightened, and he dared not underestimate it. He did not yank the line hard—such a move risked tearing the hook free—instead, he tautened it, then gently eased the tension, and immediately pulled taut again!

Instantly, the dark, still water erupted into furious waves, the surging ripples spanning a diameter of over ten meters.

Li Hao faintly saw a massive black shadow gradually dragged up from the depths, thrashing violently near the surface.

The shadow was grotesque, seven or eight meters long; as it struggled, the splashing waves spread even farther.

Li Hao kept the line taut, following the same rhythm of easing and tightening, slowly drawing the massive shadow toward shore.

The thing beneath the water seemed to sense something, and suddenly leapt clear of the surface, revealing a broad, flat fish head bristling with sharp teeth like countless sharpened bamboo spikes.

Its emerald-green eyes glared at Li Hao on the fishing platform with ferocious malice—but when it saw only a child of seven or eight, the fury in its eyes flared into furious rage.

“You ignorant brat, daring to fish for Old Catfish!”

The fish demon spoke human speech, emitting a shrill, piercing voice. Instead of continuing to struggle, it surged rapidly toward shore—the previously taut line instantly went slack in the water.

“I’ll swallow you whole!!”

Hundreds of meters vanished in an instant as the churning waves closed the distance; the fish demon leapt into the air, charging toward the fishing platform, a full zhang above the water.

As the fish demon reached land, characters floated before Li Hao’s eyes:

【Fishing Experience +68】

【Fishing Dao elevated to First Stage】

Simultaneously, a flood of fishing techniques surged into his mind.

But Li Hao had no time to absorb or process them—he clenched his jaw, forcing his thoughts entirely onto the present.

The stinking monstrous mouth was already within arm’s reach; he could even see the pink, quivering flesh inside its throat.

Though startled and tense—this fish demon was truly terrifying in appearance—luckily, its movements appeared slow as a tortoise to his eyes.

At the Rain Listening Tower, he had studied only three manuals on eye-strengthening body cultivation techniques.

Overlapping them, filling gaps, he had elevated his vision to an extraordinary level, far surpassing that of the Qi Strength realm.

Now he bit his tongue, instantly calming himself, then sidestepped, bent low, and thrust out his hand to seize the fish demon’s fangs—then whirled and hurled it away!

All of this happened in an instant, the motion seamless and complete.

There was a thud—the fish demon slammed into the mountainside dozens of meters behind the shore, its tail thrashing violently against the ground.

“Y-you’re what kind of demon?!”

The fish demon, dazed and reeling, blurted out this trembling question.

It twitched its belly slightly; years of cultivation made it feel the shadow of death at this moment. This pale, soft-skinned child of seven or eight was too terrifying—he could not be human. He must be the descendant of some great demon.

Hearing this, Li Hao paused, then burst into laughter.

But fearing the fish demon might possess some unknown trick, he decided to end it swiftly—he lunged forward.

Puff! Suddenly, the fish demon’s gills bulged violently, and a jet of black, stinking mud shot from its mouth like a poisoned arrow.

Li Hao had been secretly prepared for unknown attacks; the instant he saw the mud spew forth, he twisted his foot aside to dodge, then pushed off hard, closing the distance in a burst.

“No, spare me…”

The fish demon panicked, trying to beg—but Li Hao’s fist had already struck, slamming into its fish skull.

Merely the terrifying shockwave of his fleshly power made the fish demon shudder violently; its skull cracked inward with a crisp snap, and greenish brain matter sprayed out. Li Hao had no time to dodge—splatters coated his body.

A thick, foul stench rose, making him feel nauseous.

No wonder Grandpa smelled of fish—years of fishing, such things were inevitable.

The fish demon’s tail still trembled and slapped the ground, but now it was merely nervous twitching, lacking its former ferocity.

Li Hao, fearing it was feigning death, delivered two more punches. Only when its head was crushed into a gaping hole, brain matter gushing out, did he stop and step back, putting distance between himself and the corpse.

He thought to himself: next time I come to fish, I’ll need to bring a sword.

Otherwise, if I encounter an even bigger monster, I might end up as bait instead.

Of course, with Li Muxiu nearby, Li Hao faced little real danger—Grandpa’s golden talisman still hadn’t even activated.

But Li Hao disliked relying on others. After dispatching the fish demon, he turned his attention to the flood of information in his mind—fishing techniques surfaced one by one, giving him the feeling he had fished by shore for over a decade.

Observing water, measuring line, concealing the hook… all these skills were now clear within him. Li Hao walked to the fishing platform, tidied the rod and tangled line, re-baited and re-cast—but now his hands moved with far greater skill, kneading and smoothing the bait until it clung tightly to the hook.

Then he gazed at the black lake. The once pitch-black waters now showed clear changes to his eyes.

He could perceive the faintest shifts in the current, and see eight meters beneath the surface. After the ripples calmed, they formed patterns in his vision, mapping the hidden undercurrents below.

Through these undercurrents, Li Hao deduced: far away, something was moving beneath the water.

Near this platform, after two violent disturbances, nothing of substance remained—the large creatures had all fled.

Li Hao’s mind stirred. Instead of casting and waiting, he chose to take the initiative.

He carried the rod along the shore, his gaze occasionally fixed on the water’s surface, using the hidden undercurrents to judge the prey’s direction.

Soon, after walking nearly a kilometer, he stopped at a place like a bay inlet. He chose a solid earthen platform and cast his line.

This time, though he swung with all his strength, the heavy hook struck the water with only a tiny ripple—no familiar “ding-dong” sound.

The line, pulled by the hook, slowly sank into the depths.

Li Hao crouched low, waiting in silence.

Within mere minutes, the float stirred.

Li Hao was unsurprised—this cast had delivered the bait right to the creature’s doorstep.

Whoosh—the float vanished beneath the water. Ha, a hasty one.

Li Hao smiled faintly, then jerked the rod sharply. The line surged with force—but in the first instant of struggle, he sensed and judged: roughly two thousand jin, just a Qi Strength fish demon, its intelligence still undeveloped. No wonder its disturbance had been faintly detectable even a kilometer away.

He still chose heavy lift, light pull.

Then he swayed the rod left and right; each tug tightened the hook’s grip, making escape harder.

Soon, after seven or eight minutes of playing it, he dragged the exhausted fish demon out of the lake.

【Fishing Experience +23】

The fish demon, still ferocious, lunged at Li Hao—but he punched it dead and flung it onto the slope behind.

He rebaited and cast again.

There was still more beneath.

…

…

“That old dragon’s clever—left not a single trace.”

Above the demon lake, Li Muxiu’s figure vanished into the high sky. He held no fishing rod—only a nearly invisible thread, vertically sinking into the water.

His fishing skill had long mastered thread-sensing—he could perceive the water’s condition through the thread’s subtle movements, an art indistinguishable from direct spiritual sense scanning.

He had cast his line with maximum stealth—yet the old dragon remained utterly still.

The small fish demon Li Hao had caught earlier had been eaten by another fish demon—big fish eat little fish.

But his goal was not to fish—he was fishing for a dragon!

“Enough. It seems the old dragon is asleep today. This three-thousand-li black lake—where could it have hidden?”

Li Muxiu shook his head slightly, scanning the endless, rolling expanse of the lake.

He sighed, reeled in his line, and pulled up a fish demon over ten meters long, its body covered in spines—the very bait he used to lure the dragon.

With a flick of his finger, the fish demon’s body shrank into a palm-sized black-spotted fish, which he tossed into his basket.

“I wonder what that little one has caught—hope he didn’t lose patience and ended up with nothing.”

Li Muxiu muttered, lifted his basket, and flew off in the original direction.

(End of Chapter)