A Twist in the Fish Picking

As for what the truth of the war really was, that was not something Li Fan could know for the moment. When the dark clouds looming over everyone gradually dispersed and the drafted cultivators returned to their homes, the great war that had lasted over eight months felt like a waking dream, as if it had never happened at all. Only when someone occasionally mentioned cultivator friends who had vanished forever would people daze into recalling that brutal war. Naturally, Li Fan also had acquaintances among the cultivators who fell during the war. To say nothing of Chen Ying from the Medicine Hall, who died early on in the Five Elders Association's ambush. From the Congyun Sea Martial Practice Hall, Jiang Zhengji and Du Xingchang had both lost their lives. The Formation Planning Hall also suffered heavy losses. Three people had been drafted. Gong Boyu and another Nascent Soul formation master named Mu Bowen were caught in the clash between Soul Formation powerhouses and failed to survive. Only Zhang Zhiliang made it out alive. As for the other cultivators holding various posts on Wanxian Island who had met Li Fan only once or twice before and died in this war, they were countless. This alone was enough to show the sheer brutality of the battle in Tianling Province. Fortunately, what this world lacked least was cultivators throwing themselves forward in succession, struggling desperately for their lives. With a single notice from the Heavenly Profound Mirror, the war and the deaths it brought were soon cast to the back of everyone's minds. Within three years, every cultivator could purchase cultivation methods at thirty percent off the original price. Each person was limited to one method, which could not be transferred. The moment the news dropped, the cultivators who had been nursing quiet sorrow perked up and rallied their spirits. Those whose contribution points had fallen just short before, and who could now afford the price after the discount, naturally bought their longed-for methods immediately and began cultivating with unrestrained joy. Meanwhile, those who were still short by quite a bit, but might barely scrape together enough if they pushed hard over the three-year window, threw themselves into frantic mission grinding to amass contribution points. Lastly, there were the cultivators who had virtually no points to spare and had no hope of getting anywhere no matter how hard they worked over three years. Avenues like "loans" and "get-rich-quick" schemes became their lifelines. As the most renowned get-rich-quick gamble in the Congyun Sea, the fish picking at the end of Anchored Year 16 attracted several times more cultivator participants than usual. Above the island, dense black crowds gathered to join the frenzy. Naturally, Li Fan was among them. He remembered clearly that the Fish Champion this time was a white pomfret. Although the contribution points he had on hand were currently more than enough, Li Fan would never pass up any opportunity to grow his wealth. He selected his target and placed his bet. The twenty-seven-day observation period flew by in a flash. Soon came the day when the lake water erupted toward the sky and the grand prize was decided. Most of the cultivators had bloodshot eyes and tense faces, not daring to make the slightest abnormal sound as they stared fixedly at the countless fish competing against one another in the lake below. The final outcome caught Li Fan by surprise. This time, the Fish Champion was unexpectedly not the white pomfret Li Fan remembered. Instead, it was a spearfish, gleaming with golden light and brimming with vigor. "I won! I won!" Amid the cultivators' rolling waves of sighs and curses, an overwhelmingly excited howl rang out, standing out vividly. Looking toward the voice, Li Fan saw a young cultivator with disheveled hair and tattered robes. At this moment, however, the young man was incomparably ecstatic, his face flushed bright red. "First prize! I won! First prize!" As if terrified no one would know, he yelled like a madman. Ignoring the many murderous glares around him, the young cultivator threw his head back and laughed, looking completely deranged. "Holy crap, isn't that Han Yi? I heard a few years ago some Foundation Establishment Master swindled away his life savings, leaving him destitute. Who would've thought his luck would turn today and he'd hit first prize!" "What kind of dogshit luck is that?!" "Why does this kind of luck never fall on me? I lost all of the few hundred contribution points I scrimped and saved again!" "With so many people this time, and it being first prize... Winner takes all, plus it's the year-end drawing that empties out the accumulated prize pool..." "Fuck, the total payout has got to be at least a million contribution points or more!" After a rough calculation, the way the cultivators looked at Han Yi completely changed. Han Yi, who had been swept up in ecstatic abandon over hitting the jackpot, finally noticed something amiss. Under the growing number of stares, his expression turned tense and uneasy. Fortunately, the rules of fish picking were still in effect; in broad daylight and under everyone's watchful eyes, the winner's safety was still guaranteed. Otherwise, if people could murder and loot for treasure so easily, once the rules broke down, fewer and fewer cultivators would participate in fish picking. It was far better to take this chance to publicize it aggressively and attract even more cultivators in the future. A destitute, cornered little Foundation Establishment cultivator made one desperate gamble and turned his life completely around. From then on, he reached the peak of life, with Nascent Soul and Soul Formation within reach. What promotional slogan could be more alluring than such a living example? Exchanging glances, several organizers of the fish picking quickly brought Han Yi into their midst. After a round of verification, they transferred the staggering sum of 1.56 million contribution points directly to Han Yi on the spot. Upon receiving the reward, Han Yi lost his jubilant look. Instead, he seemed dazed, looking somewhat bewildered as if unable to believe any of this was real. Meanwhile, the greed gleaming in the eyes of the watching cultivators grew all the more terrifying. Considering the lucky man's personal safety, the fish picking organizers decided to personally escort Han Yi back to Wanxian Island. The cultivators whose wagers had all been scooped up by Han Yi trailed behind resentfully. Soon, surrounded by the crowd, Han Yi departed from this sea area. Leaving behind only the golden spearfish Champion quietly digesting the essence of the other competing fish. And Li Fan. Watching the aura of the golden spearfish Champion grow steadily stronger, Li Fan could not help falling into deep thought. "Why was the outcome in this life different from what I experienced before?" "Where did the variable come from?" Having narrowly missed the grand prize, Li Fan did not feel much frustration or emotional turmoil. Besides fish picking, he had numerous other methods to earn vast amounts of contribution points. The reason behind the divergent outcome was what truly interested him. "Logically speaking, aside from more people participating, nothing should have been able to influence the outcome of the fish picking." Li Fan stood in place and pondered for a long time, yet failed to arrive at a plausible answer. He simply activated the secret art of Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation, endlessly looping the scenes of the fish picking contest in his mind. Gradually, Li Fan detected a clue. What Li Fan had considered "no major variables" was seen solely from a cultivator's perspective. Yet viewed from the perspective of the countless fish competing in the water, variables were everywhere. It could have been an object tossed aside at random by a cultivator that altered the flow of the currents. Or perhaps a fish had changed its trajectory after being startled by a cultivator's aura. ... Because fish were far too frail, while cultivators were far too mighty. The weak could never remain unscathed; they could only drift with the waves, at the mercy of so-called variables. Li Fan felt a glimmer of insight.