Chapter 24: Fishing for the Dragon

It's a big one!

Li Hao instantly realized from the giant struggle that the thing in the water was not small. His heart went cold, and he dared not take it lightly. He didn't yank the fishing line violently, as doing so could easily twist the mouth and unhook the catch. Instead, after tightening it, he gently eased the tension a bit, and then immediately pulled it tight again!

In the blink of an eye, the previously dark and calm surface of the water suddenly erupted into raging waves, churning so violently that they spanned a diameter of more than a dozen meters.

Li Hao could vaguely see an enormous shadow gradually being pulled from the bottom of the water and struggling fiercely near the surface.

The shadow was ghastly, around seven or eight meters long, and as it struggled, the splashes and waves it lifted spread even farther afield.

Li Hao tightened the fishing line and, following the same pattern of alternating slack and tension, slowly pulled the massive shadow closer to the shore.

The thing at the bottom of the water seemed to sense something and suddenly leaped out of the water, revealing a flat and enormous fish head with a mouth full of sharp teeth like countless sharpened bamboo spikes.

Its eyes, a ferocious and emerald green, fixed themselves onto Li Hao on the fishing platform. Upon seeing that it was just a seven- or eight-year-old child, the ferocity in the fish's eyes turned to angry indignation.

"Ignorant brat, dare to fish for your grandpa catfish!"

The fish demon actually spoke human language, emitting a sharp, grating voice. It didn't continue to struggle but instead swam rapidly toward the shore. The previously taut fishing line went slack in the water in an instant.

"Watch me eat you!!"

The distance of several hundred meters was swiftly closed beneath the churning waves. The fish demon, intending to swallow Li Hao whole, suddenly leaped toward the fishing platform about a zhang above the water.

As the fish demon made landfall, the following text appeared before Li Hao's eyes:

[Fishing Experience +68]

[Fishing Tao advanced to Level One]

At the same time, numerous fishing skills flooded into his mind.

But at the moment, Li Hao couldn't afford to absorb and digest this information as he tensed his scalp and focused his thoughts on the situation at hand.

The stench from the monstrous mouth was within inches, and he could even see the trembling of the pink, tender flesh inside the demon's throat.

Li Hao, facing his enemy for the first time, felt a shock in his heart and a little nervousness, thanks to the fish demon's intimidating appearance. Fortunately, its movements seemed as slow as a tortoise to his eyes.

In the Listening Rain Tower, he had collected three books solely dedicated to the practice of Visual Strength in the Body Refinement Realm.

Combining and revising them, he raised his Visual Strength to an extremely high level, far exceeding what the Power Passage Realm could offer.

At that moment, he bit the tip of his tongue and quickly regained his composure. Then, with a sidestep and bend of his body, Li Hao reached out his hand, grabbed the fish demon's sharp teeth, and abruptly turned and flung it away!

All this happened in the blink of an eye, the whole motion seamless and fluid.

There was a thump—the fish demon hit the mountainside tens of meters behind the bank, its tail flapping hard against the ground, causing a tumult.

"What kind of demon are you?!"

After being smashed silly, the fish demon let out such a trembling exclamation.

It twisted its belly slightly, and years of cultivation made it feel the shadow of death at this moment. The pale, tender child before it, only seven or eight years old, was terribly frightening. It certainly couldn't be of the Human Race, but must be the descendant of some Great Demon's bloodline.

Li Hao listened to the fish demon's words and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Still, to prevent the fish demon from having any unforeseen tricks, he decided to end the fight quickly and lunged forward.

Pfft!

Suddenly, the fish demon's gills bulged violently, and then it spewed a mouthful of black, fetid silt like a poison dart.

Li Hao had been cautiously guarding against unknown moves and the moment the black mud exited its mouth, he twisted his foot abruptly, dodging the attack. Then, pushing off with his feet, he rapidly closed the distance.

"Don't, please spare me..."

The fish demon was terrified, attempting to beg for mercy, but Li Hao's punch had already landed squarely on its forehead.

Just the terrifying concussive force of the flesh was enough to make the fish demon's body shudder violently. Its skull caved in with a crack, green brain matter spilling out. Li Hao didn't manage to dodge in time and got sprayed with quite a bit of it.

A strong fishy smell filled the air, almost causing him to retch.

No wonder the old man always smelled of fish. Constant fishing was bound to lead to such incidents now and then.

Although the fish demon's tail was still thrashing against the ground, it seemed to be merely nerve spasms, lacking the previous ferocity.

Li Hao, to prevent it from feigning death, added two more punches. Only when the fish demon's head had a hole smashed into it and green brain matter bubbled out did he stop his assault and step back, moving away from the fish demon's body.

He thought to himself that the next time he went fishing, it might be wise to bring a sword.

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Otherwise, if they encountered an even more formidable creature, instead of catching fish, they might end up being bait.

Of course, with Li Muxiu by his side, Li Hao was basically safe; even the golden talisman the old man gave him had not yet been triggered.

However, Li Hao didn't like to rely on others for everything.

After dealing with the fish demon, Li Hao then reflected on the numerous messages that had just appeared in his mind, many fishing techniques surfaced one by one, making him feel as though he had been fishing by the shore for over a decade.

Observing the water, measuring the line, concealing the hook, and so on... He was well-versed in various fishing skills. Li Hao went to the fishing platform, tidied up the fishing rod and the tangled line, baited the hook again, but this time with more skillful movements. With a roll and a stroke of his palm, he firmly wrapped the bait around the hook.

Afterward, he gazed at the black lake. The once dark waters now showed clear changes before his eyes.

His gaze could discern the subtle fluctuations of the water current, and he could see down to the depths of seven or eight meters. The ripples that settled after the water calmed seemed like patterns, delineating the directions of the currents beneath the surface.

Through these undercurrents, Li Hao's mind conjured a judgment. Away from this spot, at the bottom of the lake, something was moving.

Near this fishing platform, after two major disturbances, it's likely that nothing remained; the significant creatures from the depths had all fled.

A thought crossed Li Hao's mind, and instead of casting his rod and waiting passively, he chose to take the initiative.

He carried the rod along the shoreline, occasionally peering intently at the water's surface. The undercurrents below helped him determine the direction of his prey.

Soon, after walking about a kilometer, Li Hao stopped at a spot resembling a bay. He picked a solid mound of earth to cast his rod from.

This time, despite his vigorous casting, the heavy hook landed on the water with just a tiny ripple, without making the earlier pinging sound.

Following that, the line was pulled by the hook and slowly sank to the bottom.

Li Hao squatted slightly, waiting in silence.

In just a few short minutes, the swim bladder showed signs of movement.

Li Hao wasn't surprised; with this cast, he had essentially delivered the bait directly near the creature below—it was like front-door delivery.

A swishing sound and the swim bladder plunged into the water. Ah, it seems to be an impatient fellow.

Li Hao chuckled softly and suddenly pulled up on the rod. A massive force came from the line, but during the first struggle, Li Hao could sense and judge that it was about two thousand pounds, likely just a fish demon of the Power Passage Realm with not fully manifested intelligence. No wonder the disturbance it caused in the water could be faintly detected from a kilometer away.

He still chose to pull up firmly and tug lightly.

The rod swayed left and right, and with every drag, the hook held on more tightly, not easily shaken off.

Quickly, after toying with it for seven or eight minutes, Li Hao pulled the exhausted fish demon out of the lake.

[Fishing Experience +23]

The fish demon ferociously lunged at Li Hao once on shore, but he punched it to death and flung it onto the hillside behind him.

Then he continued to bait the hook and fish.

There were still more beneath the water.

...

...

"This old dragon is quite cunning, not showing even a hint of its trace."

Above the Demon Lake, Li Muxiu's figure vanished into the high sky. He held no fishing rod, only a nearly transparent line that vertically plunged into the depths of the water.

His fishing skills had long reached the proficiency of 'threading the line,' allowing him to sense the situation below the water by the movements of the line at the bottom. This skill was no different from directly searching with his divine soul, peering into the depths.

He had cast his line as covertly as possible, but the old dragon showed no sign of life.

The small fish demon Li Hao had been fishing was eaten by another fish demon. It was a case of big fish eating small fish.

But his goal wasn't to catch fish; it was to fish for dragons!

"Well then, it seems this old dragon must be in deep slumber today, hiding somewhere within this three-thousand-mile black lake."

Li Muxiu shook his head slightly, scanning the expanse of the vast lake which seemed to stretch endlessly before him.

He sighed, reeled in his line, and, in the process, pulled out a fish demon about ten meters long, covered in spikes, which was meant to be bait for the dragon.

At that moment, with a flick of his finger, the fish demon's body immediately contracted and shrank to the size of a palm-length black-spotted fish, which he threw into the fish basket.

"Wonder if that youngster has had any success, hope he hasn't grown restless and ended up not catching anything afterward."

Li Muxiu muttered to himself, picked up his fish basket, and flew back in the direction he had come from.

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