As it turned out, this matter was once again related to fishing.
As an angler, Chi Feihong was naturally an angler with ambition.
An ordinary man fishing in a small creek would be thrilled to hook a carp weighing a pound or two.
Yet as a Mighty One, Chi Feihong naturally would not settle for catching carp. Even when it came to extraordinary aquatic beasts, he only wanted to reel in the absolute finest.
For instance, in a certain world inhabited by dragons, he had fished specifically for dragons, ultimately provoking a whole flock of them to surge out of the water. In another world brimming with vast magical power, he had targeted colossal sea monsters on par with krakens.
Once, an enormous catch had dragged the entire island he stood upon across the sea, and he had grappled with the beast for a year or two before finally hauling it ashore.
Notably, he also livestreamed his angling expeditions, so Yu Xian had even watched videos of just how exaggerated his catches were.
This time, Chi Feihong had rushed over to find Yu Xian precisely because while fishing in a certain world, he had discovered an otherworldly space concealed beneath its waters.
That pocket realm gave him an intensely dangerous foreboding.
Consequently, he spent several years investigating it, ultimately determining that it was very likely a treasure trove left behind by a Mighty One.
"We're already Mighty Ones ourselves. A treasure left by another Mighty One... honestly doesn't sound that enticing," Yu Xian remarked rather listlessly after hearing Chi Feihong out.
If it were a treasury left by Feng Laixian, it might have piqued his interest a little. But an ordinary Mighty One? No matter how much treasure they had amassed, how grand could it possibly be?
Truth be told, over the past decade or so, Yu Xian had met his fair share of Mighty Ones.
He had witnessed the staggering wealth gap among them. Some Mighty Ones were fabulously rich, while others were dirt-poor, penniless down to the last copper. There were even some far poorer than the Emerald Dragon and his companion—individuals who possessed not a single noteworthy treasure, cloaked from head to toe in gear they had forged with their own two hands.
Wealth and poverty, however, did not dictate a Mighty One's personal strength.
Some Mighty Ones were truly destitute yet extraordinarily formidable. Some had attained cultivation realms so profound that Yu Xian estimated he might not defeat them even if he deployed every single one of his summoned beasts.
The dynamic, so to speak, was roughly like being able to summon an entire crowd of elementary schoolers, only for the opponent to be an elite special forces operative.
"Master, there are definitely good things inside that space! Besides... it's vast. Exploring it ought to be a great adventure in itself!" Chi Feihong hurriedly urged, noticing Yu Xian's lack of interest.
An adventure?
Yu Xian's ears perked up.
Stroking his chin, he glanced at the others and asked, "What do you all think?"
"Doesn't matter to me. Anywhere is the same," Zhang Shou replied nonchalantly.
After all, the Aska was aimlessly roaming anyway; heading anywhere made no difference. Since Chi Feihong was Yu Xian's disciple, Zhang Shou had no desire to be the party pooper.
The others chimed in one after another, echoing that they were fine with it.
After some thought, Yu Xian made up his mind. "All right then, we'll go take a look. But if there are no good treasures in there, you're going back to the Zhen Realm to work for another thousand years."
"Deal!" Chi Feihong agreed at once, brimming with confidence.
With that settled, the Aska changed course and steered toward the world Chi Feihong had described.
Along the way, Feng Mingge boarded the vessel to join them.
Having worked together for a millennium, Chi Feihong and Feng Mingge had forged a profound friendship, so Chi Feihong had invited him along for the outing.
***
The Chestnut World.
It was called the Chestnut World primarily because its outer shape genuinely resembled a chestnut.
The Aska drove straight in. Upon entering this world, it glided slowly toward a colossal planet. Two-thirds of its surface was submerged beneath vast oceans, radiating thick waves of spiritual energy.
As the warship came to a halt above the open sea, Chi Feihong began chattering away: "This ocean is anything but simple. The fish down there are remarkably clever and possess monstrous strength. Ordinary bait won't hook a thing. I studied them for ages before discovering that the best results come from chumming the waters with powdered spirit stones and using a kind of small silver-blade fish as bait.
"My personal record is reeling in six Tyrant Dragonfish in a single go! Want to see? I've got videos on my channel."
"All right, what about the special space you mentioned?" Yu Xian held back from interrupting until he finally finished talking.
Chi Feihong peered down at the sea. "It's right below us. But that space is rather peculiar—it only reveals itself when exposed to blood. If I hadn't been fishing and had a hooked fish accidentally bump into it while bleeding, I never would've discovered it."
"Fair enough. Let's head down."
Yu Xian promptly ordered the Aska to submerge.
Although the Aska resembled a sailing ship, an energy barrier automatically formed around it upon entering the sea, sealing out the water while granting everyone on deck an unobstructed view of the depths.
The Aska plunged steadily downward, only coming to a stop hundreds of thousands of meters beneath the waves.
Then, Yu Xian spotted an enormous fish not far off—one even larger than the Aska itself. He signaled Zhang Shou, who stepped forward and severed the beast in two with a single slash. Fish blood immediately billowed into the surrounding waters.
As the crimson cloud spread, a spherical space gradually emerged.
This circular realm was not particularly immense, measuring roughly ten thousand meters in diameter. Its surface gleamed with a silver sheen as it rapidly absorbed the blood clinging to it. Once the blood was fully consumed, the space would presumably vanish from sight once more.
"Old Zhang, give it a slash and see how it reacts," Yu Xian said, studying the anomaly.
Zhang Shou nodded. Inhaling deeply, he struck out toward the silver space. A streak of blade light flashed, leaving a scar upon its surface, but in the next instant, the silver spatial barrier knit back together, mending the mark in the blink of an eye.
"Its spatial craftsmanship is rather formidable," Feng Mingge remarked solemnly at the sight.
An ordinary space would have likely been cleaved clean in two by Zhang Shou's blade.
Yet this one had withstood the blow. Though a mark had formed, the spatial barrier alone had repelled the strike, and it had repaired the wound with astonishing speed.
If an attack from a Mighty One could be mended so easily, it hardly deserved to be called a Mighty One's attack.
Zhang Shou's strikes carried the conceptual property of severing everything in twain. Even a foe endowed with staggering regenerative capabilities would find it nearly impossible to heal after suffering one of his cuts, let alone piece their bisected body back together.
"Those interested can come along. For those who aren't, the usual rule applies: stay behind to watch the ship," Yu Xian announced to the group.
Taking a forward step, he walked straight toward the silver space. The others promptly followed. Evidently, everyone was intrigued this time around, leaving only Muse behind to look after the Aska.
Yu Xian was the first to cross into the silver space, with the others filing in right behind him.
The scenery shifted abruptly around them. Before their eyes rose a colossal mountain piercing straight into the clouds, dominating the very center of the realm like a soaring tower.
"The gravity here is immense."
After scanning their surroundings, Zhang Shou frowned.
With their cultivation, they naturally feared no harsh environment. Yet the gravity in this realm was extraordinarily bizarre—it felt as though a crushing gravitational force that should have collapsed the surroundings into a black hole was resting harmlessly upon this earth instead.
Under normal circumstances, gravity of such magnitude would trap even light itself, yet the illumination here seemed entirely normal—too normal, in fact.
Hearing Zhang Shou's remark, Yu Xian realized the peculiarity a beat later. He closed his eyes to sense the realm's anomalies more closely, only to discover that the speed of light within this space was unfathomably rapid.
It traveled roughly a billion times faster than the speed of light in his native universe. Everything in their surroundings, it seemed, was an amplified, reinforced version of reality.
Chapter 639