Chapter 100: Chapter 100 Fishing Competition

Translator: 549690339

Within Wuyue City, there were quite a few shops that specialized in selling talismans.

Among these talisman specialty stores, three held considerable scale and local reputation, with significant influence within Wuyue.

The first, known as “Treasure Talismans,” was overseen by a seasoned second-rank Talisman Master. The shop primarily sold first and second-rank talismans and even had channels to help customers acquire third-rank talismans.

The second was called “Guangde Talismans” and was staffed by two second-rank Talisman Masters. The shop had partnerships with many colleges’ talisman majors, offering order services and internships to students, thus its strength was equally formidable.

The third, “Xinqing Talismans,” also housed a seasoned second-rank Talisman Master. Having been established two hundred years ago, it was an old and well-respected talisman shop in Wuyue.

In order to snatch a bite from the Immortal Sects, the fishing talisman retrofitting industry within Wuyue boomed, with the tacit approval of the local government officials.

Every Talisman Master capable of retrofitting Fishing Talismans had joined the feast to earn Spirit Stones.

By the riverside, the research and development team from Guangde Talismans had set up their operations, consisting of a seasoned second-rank Talisman Master and three experienced first-rank Talisman Masters.

“Boss, Xinqing has already unlocked 95% of the Fishing Talisman’s potential. Should we push it further?”

“Fully unlocking it isn’t difficult, but remember what happened last time? When we output at full power, the Fishing Talisman didn’t catch any fish. Look, Xinqing only dared to unlock 95%, acknowledging this issue as well.”

“Boss, could it be that there are no fish left in the water? I’ve heard some fishermen complaining that it is getting harder to catch fish without strengthening the talisman.”

The second-rank Talisman Master laughed, “If there were truly no fish left in the water, then what use would a stronger Fishing Talisman be?”

The first-rank Talisman Master expressed his concern, “But if we keep fishing like this, could we actually deplete all the fish in the water?”

The second-rank Talisman Master said without worry, “Impossible. The amount of fish we catch with fishing is nothing compared to large-scale fishing. Not to mention, have you seen the price of fish drop in the Wuyue market? Okay, maybe a little. But it’s not enough yet. When the day comes that fish are as cheap as cabbage, lying on the ground and no one bothers to pick them up, that’s when there will truly be no fish left in the river.”

The first-rank Talisman Master nodded and asked no more questions.

“Let’s do another experiment,” said the second-rank Talisman Master. “This time, I’ll adjust the Fishing Talisman’s power to 110% and see.”

The first-rank Talisman Master was surprised, “Ah? Can the talisman be overclocked?”

“Don’t worry, the base material used for this talisman is very good; a small overclock shouldn’t be a problem. It might deplete the Spiritual Power of the Button Spirit Stone ahead of time, but Button Spirit Stones are cheap. Just replace it and you’ll be fine.”

The second-rank Talisman Master quickly finished the overclocked Fishing Talisman and handed it over to the first-rank Talisman Master.

“Put this talisman in the river. Let’s go have lunch first, and after we finish, we’ll come back to see if the overclocked talisman can catch any fish.”

“Alright.”

The R&D team left their work behind and went back to Wuyue to eat.

Then, as expected, an unexpected event occurred.

The next morning when the R&D team reconvened at the riverside, they found that their temporary research station by the river had been forcefully destroyed.

One of the first-rank Talisman Masters immediately said, “This must be the work of Treasure Talismans, or Xinqing playing tricks on us!”

“No, let’s not jump to conclusions. Look here,” said the more experienced second-rank Talisman Master, pointing toward a set of drag marks on the ground. “Such heavy friction marks don’t look like they were made by people but rather by something from the water… Zhu Heng, did you retrieve the Fishing Talisman I asked you to test yesterday?”

“Ah? I, after dinner, I kind of forgot about the overclocked talisman.”

Zhu Heng worried that his teacher would scold him, but instead, his teacher not only refrained from reprimanding him but patted him heartily on the shoulder.

“Good forgetfulness! Excellent, indeed! I have figured out why a full-power Fishing Talisman doesn’t catch fish!”

“Why?”

“Yes, why is that?”

“Because the real big fish are too far from Wuyue! If you want it to bite, you have to give it time to swim over here! Quickly, let’s make a few more overclocked Fishing Talismans and experiment. This could be a huge business opportunity!”

Zhou Yunshan had extensive connections in Wuyue and, being quite wealthy, naturally became a valued guest at the city’s major talisman shops.

Once Guangde Talismans developed the “Super Fishing Talisman,” they immediately invited Zhou Yunshan to try it out.

Zhou Yunshan was generous; faced with the asking price of ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, he purchased the “Super Fishing Talisman” without a second thought. He even monopolized the first batch produced by Guangde Talismans, buying five in one go.

As Zhou Yunshan put it, the effectiveness of the talismans didn’t matter; he purely wanted to support Wuyue’s fishing talisman modification enterprise.

On a small path leading to the depths of Yue Mountain outside Wuyue City, the fishing party of five—Zhou Yunshan, Bai Wendao, Niu Xiangyang, and others—gathered once again.

As soon as Zhou Yunshan arrived, he distributed the Super Fishing Talismans to his brothers.

“Everyone has a talisman now, today is a fair competition. Whoever loses must accept it; no excuses allowed.”

Niu Xiangyang laughed and said, “Old Zhou, speaking of fairness, I’ve never lost.”

“Haha, you Old Niu always have the toughest mouth.”

The five joked around as they arrived at their fishing spots, all synchronously and proficiently attaching the Fishing Talismans and starting to fish.

Clearly, as fishing experts from Wuyue, using Fishing Talismans had become a basic skill for them.

An hour later, the rods of all five were perfectly still, without the slightest movement.

Niu Xiangyang and the others were obviously getting anxious. After all, not catching any fish with the Fishing Talisman was somewhat embarrassing.

But Zhou Yunshan, who had been instructed by people from Guangde Talismans, remained as steady as Mount Tai.

“No bites?”

“Let the big fish swim a bit longer.”

An hour passed, and the group waited another hour.

Finally, when the moon hung high and deep into the night, Zhou Yunshan’s fishing rod was suddenly pulled taut by a tremendous force.

Zhou Yunshan was about to burst into laughter, but he had totally underestimated the power of the pull; it was so strong that it dragged him, who was fully braced on the bank, straight into the water!

The moonlight was bright, making the water surface shimmer.

Some of the shimmering was from the churning water, and some were from the scales of a giant fish.

“Damn!”

“What is this thing!?”

“It can’t be a fish, right? It’s so big?”

Unlike ordinary people who would be scared when encountering a giant fish, Niu Xiangyang and the others were exhilarated at this moment!

Niu Xiangyang immediately threw his own fishing rod aside, and while stripping off his clothes to get into the water, he shouted, “Who dares to hurt my brother! Fear not, Brother Zhou, I’ll take care of this fish for you!”

Bai Wendao, who had the highest Cultivation Level among the group, did not rush to take action.

The fish seemed big, but its cultivation was merely at the fifth layer of Qi-Training.

The four of them together had over thirty layers of Qi-Training; dealing with one fish would be a piece of cake.

It’s just that the fish seemed a bit too big, didn’t it?

It didn’t look like something that belonged in a river.

Bai Wendao, unable to figure it out, let it be. After all, if the sky were to fall, the Immortal Sect would hold it up; it had little to do with him, a retired professor.

Oh?

I’ve got a bite as well?

Well then, let’s struggle for a while.

When it’s ashore, nobody can accuse me of bullying a young fish.