Chu Xuan looked at his slightly despondent master, wanting to ask what she was thinking about.
Suddenly, he experienced a strange sense of déjà vu, as if this scene was familiar:
Countless dots of light danced, and a white-robed beauty gazed at the night sky...
Chu Xuan frowned and pondered for a moment before finally shaking his head, dismissing this inexplicable illusion.
Sometimes, things like this happen—events that one has never experienced suddenly feel like familiar memories. Many people have experienced this, so it's nothing surprising.
"Is this the kind of fish we want to catch?" he asked proactively.
Ji Mingyu turned around, her originally aloof expression melting like an iceberg, her demeanor gentle as she said, "No, I want to catch a dragon eel. I've heard that someone once caught one here."
A dragon eel?! Chu Xuan was greatly astonished.
Even if he could catch one, he feared it would drag him down with it.
Suddenly, Ming Yu's face showed surprise, as her fishing rod began to move.
Chu Xuan noticed this as well, watching as his master gripped the rod with both hands, reeling in the line, and slowly stepping back.
Whatever was biting at the hook down in the depths struggled fiercely, but when a chaotic mist of Primordial energy flew from Ji Mingyu and adhered to the jade fishing rod, it could no longer resist.
Finally, Ming Yu gave a sharp pull!
A fish as large as an adult with silver scales jumped out of the cloud-covered "water surface," landing atop the mountain and struggling repeatedly.
It appeared to be the same species as the surrounding transparent little silver fish, but it seemed to be very old, with bones like white jade and long gray whiskers on either side of its gills.
Most importantly, its eyes revealed a distinctly human-like quality, looking at the Primordial Monarch Taixu with a pleading expression.
Ji Mingyu was a bit disappointed, paying no mind to the old silver fish flailing its tail, nor to the icy ferret drooling beside her, and softly explaining to Chu Xuan:
"These silver-scaled flying fish didn't originally live here. According to ancient texts, they should be from the 'Beyond Kun Hill, the land of Lansha,' which is separated by thousands of miles from the Central Plains."
"In ancient times, True Immortal Ning Fengzi traveled to Lansha and saw fishes, turtles, dragons, and snakes flying amidst the dust clouds, attempting to catch fish to eat."
"Upon consuming them, he died, and his corpse lay in the sand for over two hundred years before suddenly coming back to life, prompting him to write a poem: 'The blue lotus sparkles for a thousand ages, a hundred years briefly dead for the flying fish bait.'
"After discovering similar flying fish on this peak, I caught some for study and concluded that eating them doesn't revive the dead, but it can extend one's lifespan."
"The specific effect depends on the size and age of the flying fish."
"These surrounding small fish likely have a lifespan of no more than ten years, offering negligible benefits. Consuming them might extend life by a few years, but after three fish, any further eating will have no effect."
"However, this large fish we've caught now is at least a thousand years old; consuming it could extend life by three hundred years."
Chu Xuan finally understood; his master truly did catch a big one.
He laughed, "I bet it tastes good too, otherwise the ferret wouldn't be drooling over it."
Ji Mingyu nodded, while the snow ferret grew anxious, continuously whining by its owner's feet, hoping perhaps that she'd share some with it.
But Ming Yu simply looked at Chu Xuan, undisturbed by any outside influence.
Seeing this, the old silver fish painfully turned around, gazing at the young man in desperation. Chu Xuan thought for a moment and said, "This fish is mine now, right? I can do whatever I want with it?"
His master nodded again.
So Chu Xuan sighed lightly and approached, "You, since you don't want to die, why did you foolishly bite the hook? Don't do something like this again."
As he said this, he gently pulled out the blood-stained hook embedded in the fish's lips, then pointed towards the abyss below, "Jump back in yourself; I can't carry you."
During the process, Ji Mingyu simply watched quietly, neither feeling regret nor finding her disciple's actions wrong.
The old silver fish cautiously glanced at her, and seeing no opposition, it took a powerful leap, swimming through the air, gratefully nodding to Chu Xuan before turning its head and jumping into the deep mist below, disappearing without a trace.
The little snow ferret witnessing this nearly cried out, running to Chu Xuan's feet, scratching about furiously, as if blaming him for wasting a treasure.
Chu Xuan patted its head and then explained to his master, "I let the old fish go because I felt compassion."
"But more importantly, I am still young. I am confident that even without it, I can cultivate to the level my master has reached; lifespan will never be a barrier for me."
Ji Mingyu still offered no judgment, simply nodding gently and returning to the cliff's edge, seemingly intending to try fishing once more.
At that moment, Chu Xuan's fishing rod moved!
He was somewhat delighted, "Is it my turn now?"
Perhaps this is the reward for a good deed, but Chu Xuan hoped it wasn't that old fish again; if it was, he would surely give it a good beating!
Even Ji Mingyu didn't know what had taken the bait; she looked at Chu Xuan with interest, "Try pulling it up. If you can't do it, I'll help."
Chu Xuan naturally agreed, channeling all his magical power into the jade fishing rod, reeling in line after line.
Yet unexpectedly, the object was quite light; he didn't have to exert much force before pulling it up.
Then Chu Xuan was astonished to find that what he had caught wasn't a living being; to be precise, it was a bizarre, iron-black token, intentionally tied to the hook with aquatic plants.
Ji Mingyu was also surprised; she speculated, "It might be a reward from the old fish for your saving grace."
Only the snow ferret was disappointed, as it was clearly not edible.
Chu Xuan hurriedly took hold of the token, untying the aquatic plants for a better look.
But the back of the token was bare and only the front was engraved with four ancient tadpole-script characters, which he couldn't understand.
Ji Mingyu approached to closely examine them, softly reciting, "The Four Monkeys of Havoc."
Chu Xuan's eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered the Journey to the West he'd read in a previous life.
It said that within the universe, there were ten types of creatures, encompassing heaven, earth, gods, humans, ghosts, shells, scales, fur, feathers, and insects, as well as the Four Monkeys of Havoc, each possessing divine techniques, not classified among the ten, nor fitting within the two intervals.
The four were the Intelligent Stone Monkey, the Red-Butt Horse Monkey, the Long-armed Ape, and the Six-Eared Macaque.
Chu Xuan grew very curious and promptly handed it to Ming Yu, "Master, please look for me to see what this treasure does?"
Ji Mingyu took it for a close inspection, and after a while, she pondered, "I dare not be sure, it may be a [Divine Command], or perhaps just a token of some sort."
"What is a Divine Command?" Chu Xuan asked curiously.
His master had previously explained to him that the methods of today's cultivators could broadly be divided into domains, images, divine techniques, and spells.
Among these, divine techniques surpass ordinary spells greatly, generally possessing more power and being instantly cast.