Zhong Shentong, with his mastery of the Seven-Colored Divine Light, was considered virtually invincible among cultivators of the same realm. He had even managed to wear down Senior Brother Zhang, an opponent at the same level, until he died.
The technique he cultivated, the Profound Art of Life and Death, was also an incomparably wondrous and bizarre method. Cultivated to its utmost depth, it was said one could achieve a miraculous state where life and death coexisted, attaining a unique form of immortality.
Practicing this art could awaken and infinitely magnify a cultivator's instinctive fear of life and death.
It could turn someone like Zhong Shentong—who was naturally prone to slacking off—into a completely different person when confronted with the threat of death, driving his initiative through the roof.
"According to the original trajectory of history, Zhong Shentong wouldn't break through until his lifespan was near its end."
"Yet now, he has achieved Foundation Establishment ahead of time..."
"What happened?"
The period when the mutated immortal-mortal miasma was at its worst had already passed, so it was certain Zhong Shentong had not been forced into breaking through for that reason.
Li Fan's interest was piqued at once.
However, because his true body was still in the middle of consuming the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven and could not get away, investigating Zhong Shentong this time would require his avatar, Ji Shaoli, to step in.
"He only just broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and hasn't had time to comprehend the Seven-Colored Divine Light yet. With my Golden Core cultivation, handling him..."
"Shouldn't be much of a problem," Ji Shaoli mused to himself.
Even so, just to be safe, the avatar still made ample preparations.
Between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul, as long as one had enough contribution points to arm oneself to the teeth, one could ignore cultivation gaps and crush an opponent.
Not to mention he was currently an entire realm above him. Thus, Ji Shaoli was not overly worried.
According to the intelligence, Ji Shaoli took a teleportation array and arrived at a desolate hill on the northwestern border of Yongyun Province.
Upon the hill stood a somewhat dilapidated small temple, where Zhong Shentong lived in seclusion.
"Originally, this Zhong Shentong was merely an ordinary old man. Although by chance he obtained half a volume of the Profound Art of Life and Death, his cultivation bore no fruit for years. Only when his lifespan was nearly exhausted did he break through the bottleneck under immense pressure, successfully stepping into the Qi Condensation stage."
"After reaching Qi Condensation, his motivation waned once more, and he simply spent the rest of his years idling in this little temple."
"He ought to have waited until his lifespan drew to a close before breaking through again. Yet now it has happened early..."
"What could his Foundation Establishment wonder be?"
Ji Shaoli did not reveal himself. Concealing his aura, he observed from a distance.
Aside from Zhong Shentong, there was an eight- or nine-year-old Daoist child in the temple.
Outrageously, chores like sweeping, lighting fires, and cooking meals—which could clearly be solved with a simple spell—were left entirely for the little Daoist child to do by hand on Zhong Shentong's orders.
The child was remarkably lovely, with bright, sparkling eyes that seemed capable of speaking. Yet she worked without complaint and was exceptionally nimble, handling tasks with a practiced ease that hardly belonged to a child.
While the young child kept everything in meticulous order, Zhong Shentong merely sat by a pond in the temple's rear courtyard, angling with a fishing rod.
The child called out several times to no avail, and in the end had no choice but to bring the prepared meal over to him.
"Master, time to eat," the child said in a childish, tender voice.
"Hush. Don't scare away my fish."
Pouting, the child sat down and began eating first.
It was only when the child had nearly finished her meal that Zhong Shentong's expression shifted. "A bite!"
He gave the rod a sharp yank, but what was hauled up was no fish at all.
It was merely a green cluster of light.
Disappointment surfaced on Zhong Shentong's face, though he reached into the green light to grope around nonetheless.
Before long, he pulled out a disc-shaped magical artifact that looked somewhat rusted.
Zhong Shentong inspected it, shook his head slightly, and tossed it straight to the child.
The child seemed long accustomed to this and caught it deftly. "Master, what is it this time?"
"A fire disc. It can produce an open flame. You won't need to use talismans to light fires from now on," Zhong Shentong said lazily.
Stowing his rod, he began wolfing down the food.
After Foundation Establishment, there was no longer a need to eat like a mortal.
Yet Zhong Shentong seemed to relish it immensely, feasting with gusto.
In just a few moments, he cleared every scrap of food from the table.
"Your master is going to take a nap. Unless something is utterly critical, do not disturb me," Zhong Shentong instructed as he got up, humming a tune.
"Understood, understood," the child answered rather helplessly.
Once snoring sounded from inside the temple and the child finished cleaning up all the kitchen waste, she turned back toward the pond.
Pulling out a fishing rod from who knew where, she imitated Zhong Shentong's earlier posture and began to fish.
Yet after a long while, there was not the slightest nibble.
The child could not help but feel discouraged.
"Master said only those with a sincere heart can fish up treasures from this pond. I've tried for years, but I've never caught a single thing."
"Darn it..." Reluctant to give up, she cast the line once more.
The result was the same; the end of the line remained empty.
Only then did the child resign herself, heading away from the pond with bowed head and dragging feet.
Not long after, Ji Shaoli slowly revealed his figure.
"Interesting." He stared at the pond water nearby with an inscrutable expression.
After casting a concealing illusion around the area, he closely scrutinized this small pond.
Under his divine sense's examination, it truly was as ordinary as pond water could be.
No more than a zhang deep, and three zhang across.
The scene within the pond was laid bare at a glance.
Aside from some fine floating debris, no fish lived in it whatsoever.
Had he not just witnessed Zhong Shentong hook a green cluster of light with his own eyes, Ji Shaoli would almost have been fooled.
Since he could spot nothing extraordinary from outside, Ji Shaoli flew straight into the water, attempting to uncover the pond's secret.
Yet...
Once submerged, it was still no different from ordinary water!
Returning to the shore, Ji Shaoli pondered for a moment, retrieved some materials from his storage ring, and fashioned a fishing rod.
Imitating the master and disciple, he began to fish.
Sitting by the water's edge, he held his breath and focused his mind.
With a flick, he cast the line!
Yet nothing changed.
After sitting there for a long time, Ji Shaoli vaguely felt something was amiss and reeled in the rod.
"This water clearly has something profound about it, yet it remains hidden from plain sight..."
"Could it be that this pond only recognizes Zhong Shentong?"
After thinking for a moment, Ji Shaoli rejected that guess.
If that were truly the case, the child would not have bothered trying.
"A sincere heart..."
"What counts as having a sincere heart?"
Fishing was not unfamiliar to Ji Shaoli.
Whether in his past life before transmigrating or during his years as Grand Preceptor in Great Xuan, whenever he felt vexed, he would go angling.
Armed with the unshakeable conviction of never going home empty-handed, he would happily return only once a fish took the bait.
Yet ever since he stepped onto the path of cultivation, he had never indulged in such a leisurely pastime again.
"A sincere heart..."
Understanding dawned on Ji Shaoli.
Once again, he took his seat by the pond.
He no longer thought of unraveling the pond's mystery.
He simply wanted, purely and plainly, to cast a line and fish!
"Hoo!"
With a solemn expression, Ji Shaoli cast the rod with a swift flick.
The next moment, the scene before his eyes changed drastically!
Chapter 852