Chapter 444: Fishing Competition

The most confused person present was undoubtedly Yu Youxian.  

She had been livestreaming in Mingzhong World when she suddenly vanished before the entire audience’s eyes, pulled here by Jiang Li who announced the competition’s start.  

“Come on, you can become someone like Master!” Yu Youxian cheered herself on, aspiring to emulate Bai Hongtu’s excellence.  

“If the Human Sovereign says we’re fishing, then we need fishing rods?”  

That was Yu Youxian’s first thought.  

She effortlessly crafted a fishing rod with excellent flexibility.  

Baiting the hook, she sat by the lakeside, leisurely waiting for fish to bite.  

Though slower in comprehension than others, Yu Youxian satisfied Bai Hongtu in all other aspects.  

She mastered alchemy, artifact forging, formations, swordsmanship—a truly versatile talent.  

Bai HongtusenthertoMingzhongWorldasastreameralsohopedinteractingwithviewerswouldimproveherreactionspeed.  

Progress existed, but remained minimal.  

“Master, this lake’s too huge—draining it seems impossible?” Qin Luan’s first idea was draining the lake, but his forging skills proved inadequate for the task.  

“Your brain must be waterlogged,” Yuan Wuxing couldn’t fathom Qin Luan’s logic.  

“Fishing nets are fastest in my opinion.”  

Yuan Wuxing forged a large net and plunged into the lake.  

At his Divine Transformation stage physique, even mountain collisions wouldn’t bruise him—lake water posed zero resistance.  

He vigorously swept the net through the waters.  

After pondering, Qin Luan also crafted a net to join the fishing.  

“Fishing naturally requires nets—the bigger the better,” Yu Yin murmured, attempting to think like Jiang Li and Bai Hongtu.  

Though reluctant to admit it, these two excelled at wisdom-testing challenges.  

This was evident when the previous Human Sovereign had twistedly announced competition results—his face clearly unwilling yet compelled to declare them.  

Yu Yin’s forging skills far surpassed Jiang Li’s. Using basic materials, she crafted a net vast enough to envelop the entire lake, yet incredibly sturdy.  

“Not bad.”  

She deployed the net along the shoreline.  

“Even if I don’t retrieve it, I can claim the entire lake’s within my net—all fish count as mine.”  

After calculations, Yu Yin deemed this reasoning sound.  

While walking the shoreline, she observed other Human Sovereign candidates’ methods.  

“If I reverted to my True Dragon form, I could command the fish directly. Pity Brother Jiang forbids it,” Little Green Snake lamented.  

“Brother Jiang must be testing our forging mastery, but I’ve only learned basics,” Xia Chao found this challenge difficult as other candidates progressed faster.  

“Dragon Bloodline contains forging techniques, but with Brother Jiang’s basic materials, even masterful methods can’t produce exceptional gear.”  

“Then what does Brother Jiang actually want?” Xia Chao wondered.  

Little Green Snake equally puzzled: “Unknown. I know fish behavior—we should angle where they bite easiest.”  

“Many cultivators fish shoreline—should we join them?”  

“No. Hooked fish cause commotions. Disturbing them or vice versa gains nothing.”  

“…Subhuti asked Buddha: ‘World-Honored One, what should this sutra be called? How should we uphold it?’ Buddha told Subhuti: ‘This sutra shall be called Vajra Prajna Paramita…'”  

Wuzhi solemnly chanted scriptures, emitting golden light that rippled across the lake.  

Countless fish, shrimp, and crabs swarmed toward him, drawn by Buddhist teachings.  

The longer he chanted, the more aquatic creatures gathered.  

When Yu Yin passed by, dense schools of fish bubbled mouths open-shut while listening—an unsettling sight that triggered her trypophobia, making her itch to smack them dead.  

Nearby, Brahma Tower babbled incessantly.  

Though Jiang Li only transported candidates, Brahma Tower—master of spatial laws—detected the fluctuations and teleported beside Wuzhi.  

“Why complicate things? Forge storage rings, dive in, scoop lakewater with fish into rings, then pour out water—leaving only fish!”  

“If worried rings can’t preserve live fish, just forge Beast Taming Sect’s specialized storage rings! Though capacity’s smaller.”  

Wuzhi paused chanting, producing pre-forged special rings to collect the fish.  

“…This sutra shall be called Vajra Prajna Paramita…”  

Resuming chanting, he attracted the next wave.  

Brahma Tower realized its naivety.  

Ji Kongkong contemplated briefly before diving to seek pregnant fish or eggs among weeds.  

“The competition’s duration wasn’t specified. Once these hatch, won’t I have the most fish?”  

“What are you doing?” A melodious voice startled Li Nian’er—who could approach undetected?  

Whirling around, she didn’t recognize Yu Yin’s disguised form, only noting her beauty.  

Yu Yin watched curiously as Li Nian’er repeatedly cast a net holding a hundred fish—throwing it in, hauling it out, repeating endlessly.  

“Obviously, I’m fishing,” Li Nian’er declared earnestly.  

“But you’re just recapturing the same fish—no more, no less.”  

“Don’t judge superficially. Each haul counts as catching these hundred fish, right?”  

“Throwing them back and rehauling means catching another hundred, no?”  

Yu Yin: “…”  

She never expected Li Er’s simple-mindedness could produce such… creatively twisted logic in his daughter.  

“Some Ao Chengcheng’s temperament here. Who knew Li Nian’er resembled her mother in looks and personality?”  

Having interacted with Unity Stage female cultivators, Yu Yin knew them well.  

Jiang Li approached nearby anglers.  

“How many fish caught?”  

An elder side-eyed him: “Youth shouldn’t be impatient. Fishing tests mentality—quantity matters little.”  

His bucket stood empty.  

Jiang Li smiled: “Really? Many are net-fishing in the lake.”