Emptying the Fishing Pond

Adhering to the principle of sustainable overfishing, Ji Shaoli did not choose any particularly outlandish target for his first attempt at condensing intent bait. Though he was deeply curious to see what would happen if things like Mr. Bai, a True Immortal, Chaos, Hunger, or even True Reversion were formed into intent bait, the fishing pond was an immortal artifact-level entity after all, and its inner depths were profound and unpredictable. If he insisted on doing so, no one could say for sure whether he might hook some indescribable monstrosity that might then crudely destroy the Xuanhuang Realm with a single glance, just as the True Immortal had in his 115th life. This life had only just begun, and his arrangements were only starting to bear fruit. Li Fan had no intention of triggering True Reversion just yet. "Perhaps when this life draws to a close as well, I can give it a try." Returning to this first intent bait, what Ji Shaoli visualized was none other than the Seven-Colored Divine Light that Zhong Shentong had fished up in the previous life! When it came to like attracting like, what could fit the requirement better than an object that was already among those in the starry sky? At the same time, this was an experiment. If it truly worked as anticipated—that known items could be fished up more easily—then with the help of True Reversion, the difficulty of fishing could undoubtedly be drastically reduced. As long as there were enough reincarnations and attempts, allowing him to establish a comprehensive catalog of the light-orb items within the fishing pond, perhaps there would come a day when he completely emptied this inexhaustible fishing pond! Most importantly, the resource output of this fishing pond was completely independent, unaffected by anything else in the Xuanhuang Realm. Li Fan's differing schemes across each lifetime and the varying courses of history they produced would not hinder the fishing pond from serving as the most stable supply base for Dharma treasures. Its significance was truly profound. Of course... all of this was premised on Li Fan's conjecture being correct. Amid the brilliant starry sky of the fishing pond, the avatar Ji Shaoli recalled the various properties of the Seven-Colored Divine Light he had previously seen Zhong Shentong unleash. The Seven-Colored Divine Light was ceaseless and unbroken. Not only was its lethality astonishing, but its escape speed was terrifyingly swift. At the Foundation Establishment stage, it could rival the Nascent Soul realm. Moreover, it seemed to possess a subtle, specialized protective function for its master. In his 114th life, Zhong Shentong had been able to rely on the Seven-Colored Divine Light to travel freely through the white mist, untouched by the Essence-Devouring White Mist. It truly integrated offense, defense, and escape all in one, with infinite wondrous uses. Once obtained, one would have no need for any other Dharma treasure. Even with Li Fan's vast experience and everything he had witnessed across his many reincarnations, the extraordinary nature of this Seven-Colored Divine Light ranked near the very top. If it could achieve such performance at merely the Foundation Establishment stage, what about at Soul Formation, Dao Integration, or even the Longevity realm? Would the Seven-Colored Divine Light manifest even more incredible properties? ... As Ji Shaoli continued his visualization, a blurry silhouette of seven-colored light slowly formed at the end of the hanging fishing line. Because he only knew its external appearance rather than truly mastering it like Zhong Shentong, the condensed intent bait still differed slightly from the actual Seven-Colored Divine Light. Even so, the moment the bait took shape, it was like a drop of water falling into a pond. Concentric ripples spread outward in rapid waves. The countless light orbs seemed to sense something, displaying various reactions. The vast majority turned a blind eye, appearing completely oblivious. These were mostly white, with an occasional blue orb among them. Others drifted toward the intent bait with some curiosity, as if having encountered their own kind. These orbs were a mixture of blue and purple. Yet after drawing close, most of them saw through it and did not take the bait. Ji Shaoli paid no mind to these low-grade orbs. Instead, he concentrated his focus on watching whether any gold or even higher quality orbs were drawn over. However, just as Zhong Shentong had explained, the range of influence of intent bait was extremely limited. After propagating for a certain distance, the invisible ripples attenuated rapidly, ultimately fading away entirely into the endless starry sky. The outcome of this fishing attempt was obvious. He failed to fish up the Seven-Colored Divine Light. All he caught was a blue light orb containing a defensive Dharma treasure. Casually putting it away, Ji Shaoli felt no disappointment. He simply waited patiently for tomorrow to arrive. This attempt at least proved that visualizing something that already existed within the fishing pond was indeed effective. It was merely bad luck that he had not cast his line into an area where the Seven-Colored Divine Light could detect it. "Though it is like searching for a needle in a haystack, I have ample room for trial and error. There is no rush. "Still, ordinary cultivators do not have virtually limitless attempts like I do... "Perhaps the technique meant to accompany this fishing pond includes a method for targeted casting." Looking at the shallow yet profound pond water before him, Ji Shaoli mused to himself, "I wonder if an exceptionally gifted cultivator could reverse-engineer the technique to manipulate this fishing pond based on its operational demands. Although it is an immortal artifact, it is merely an artifact after all. There should still be a vast gulf between it and a true immortal." A white-clad figure could not help but flash through Ji Shaoli's mind. Over the period that followed, Ji Shaoli persevered and tried patiently. The intent bait remained the same every single time: the Seven-Colored Divine Light! The light orbs within the fishing pond seemed truly sentient. As the invisible ripples emitted by the Seven-Colored Divine Light repeated again and again, fewer and fewer orbs were attracted or willing to bite. This directly resulted in Ji Shaoli catching a few blue orbs at the very beginning, but later on, blue light orbs virtually vanished. Even the probability of white light orbs appearing grew slimmer and slimmer; the vast majority of casts came up empty! This prompted Zhong Shentong, who had been keeping an eye on Ji Shaoli's fishing progress, to shake his head in secret. Yet Ji Shaoli felt no annoyance over this; instead, a quiet joy grew within him. For once all the wrong answers were eliminated, whatever remained would be the only correct one! Thus arrived the twentieth consecutive day that Ji Shaoli came up empty. On this day, seeing Ji Shaoli slowly rise from the edge of the pond seemingly empty-handed once again, Zhong Shentong finally could not resist offering comfort: "Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be disheartened. In the way of fishing, returning empty-handed is the norm. As long as you can endure the loneliness, your luck will burst forth one day, and you will land the great fish of your dreams." Ji Shaoli's expression was calm. "Fellow Daoist Zhong speaks the truth. I think so too. "It has not been in vain, these sixty-odd days of sitting here in stillness... "I have finally reaped a modest harvest." Hearing the first part of Ji Shaoli's words, Zhong Shentong had been nodding repeatedly. Yet the more he listened, the more something felt off, and a hint of bewilderment crept onto his face. Then, with the arrival of a brilliant golden light, that bewilderment instantly turned into incredulous shock. In Ji Shaoli's hand, a golden light orb radiated dazzling brilliance, blazing like a second sun, instantly blinding everyone else in the small temple.