Chapter 677: Fishing for Suns, Tethering Suns
The boy and the girl followed behind the Old Man Angler, while the two red fish chattered endlessly with them. Qin Mu quickly learned that these two fish hadn't been caught by the old man; they had been raised by him since they were small.
These two fish were already deities, but they were usually too lazy to transform into human form, preferring to lie in the basket and be carried on their master's back.
"He hasn't caught a single fish!"
The two red fish boasted smugly, and one of them said, "Because when he fishes, all the other fish are scared away by us. And yet he calls himself the Hundred-Hit, Hundred-Catch Angling Saint, with never a wasted hook!"
The two red fish giggled, "Ke ke ke," sounding very pleased with themselves.
Yan Jingjing also laughed happily. This girl had never encountered anything so amusing before.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Sister Jing, you should laugh more often. You look beautiful when you laugh."
Yan Jingjing shook her head. "The people of the Sun Well are stern with me, always serious. There's nothing or no one worth laughing about. Last time I secretly followed you to Yan Kang, that was truly joyful."
She was referring to something that happened over four years ago. Qin Mu, to fulfill a wish, had come to the Sun Well with Hu Ling'er and Ling Yuxiu, fished out a sun from the well, rescued Yan Jingjing, and then taken the girl with them to the Heavenly Sacred Academy to see Granny Si.
But soon after, the invasion of the gods from the Upper Firmament occurred, the bloody battle at the Severed Divine Mountain Range took place, and Yan Jingjing joined the fight. After that, she returned to the Sun Well. For the four years since, the girl had likely been confined to her role as the Sun Guardian of the Sun Well, with little time to venture out.
Qin Mu had been busy with many affairs and rarely visited the Sun Well. Only Yu Zhaoging, Ling Yuxiu, Hu Ling'er, and a few others would come by occasionally.
"Still haven't found a Pure Yang Spirit Body to replace you?"
Qin Mu asked, "A Pure Yang Spirit Body can pilot the Sun Ship without having their blood and qi drained or their lifespan shortened. There should be other Pure Yang Spirit Bodies among the Sun Herders, right?"
Yan Jingjing shook her head. "No. The clan elder says my bloodline is relatively high, and that I might give birth to a Pure Yang Spirit Body. But there's no suitable partner, and I can't give birth alone."
The two red fish, who had been chattering nonstop, suddenly fell silent. They stared intently at the two of them, their mouths open, and even the opening and closing of their gills became soundless.
The two fish were incredibly excited, nervously linking their fins together.
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then laughed. "How can you just give birth to a Pure Yang Spirit Body like that? The elder must be tricking you. The Emperor of Yan Kang has already ordered a census of the population in the Grand Heavenly Realm. Maybe we can find a few Pure Yang or Pure Yin Spirit Bodies."
"No hope."
The two fish relaxed their fins, flopped back into the basket from its edge, and lay flat. The female fish whispered, "He's going to stay single for life, isn't he?"
Seeing the girl looking a bit disappointed, Qin Mu suddenly tickled her under the arm and laughed. "Cheer up! I'll definitely find you a Pure Yang Spirit Body!"
Yan Jingjing was ticklish and burst into giggles. She quickly tried to escape, but Qin Mu chased after her and continued his assault. Yan Jingjing laughed until tears streamed down her face, then retaliated by tickling him. The boy and girl ran wildly around the Old Man Angler, their laughter ringing out continuously.
Yan Jingjing laughed until she had no strength left. Her body went limp, and she collapsed into the green grass. Like a cat afraid of being tickled, she flailed her arms and legs wildly. Qin Mu couldn't get close, so he lay down beside her.
The two lay in the grass. Qin Mu propped his chin on one hand and looked at the girl beside him. Yan Jingjing's face flushed red under his gaze, her heart pounding wildly. She obediently lowered her hands and feet, not daring to move.
"The atmosphere is getting awkward..." The two fish in the basket quietly poked their heads out again, peering toward the grass.
Yan Jingjing grew more and more nervous, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "We're almost at the Sun Well..."
"Yeah!"
Qin Mu hurriedly got up, pulled the girl to her feet, and quickly caught up with the Old Man Angler.
The two fish flopped back to the bottom of the basket. The male fish said weakly, "He's going to stay single for life. No hope."
When they reached the Sun Well, the Sun Herder clan elder hurried out to greet them. The Old Man Angler didn't recognize him, and the elder didn't recognize the angler either. Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing quickly made introductions.
Upon learning that this was another Heavenly Master, the Sun Herder clan elder was filled with doubt and surprise. "A Heavenly Master from the Kai Huang era—one is a woodcutter, and the other is an angler. How can they both be so... ordinary? They don't seem lofty at all."
The Old Man Angler went to the edge of the well, set down his little stool, straightened his fishing line, and asked, "How many suns do you need?"
The Sun Herder clan elder quickly replied, "We don't know how many Sun Ships Yan Kang can build yet. And even with the ships, without a Sun Guardian, piloting such a treasure vessel would be impossible."
The Old Man Angler thought for a moment, then said, "I'll fish out a few suns and tether them for you. You can use them when you're ready."
The Sun Herder clan elder was dumbfounded. He stammered, "Tether... suns..."
The Old Man Angler ignored him. He lowered his fishing line and hook into the Sun Well. The two little red fish jumped out of his basket. One of them opened its mouth and bit the hook, pulling the line as it swam deep into the Sun Well. The other little red fish swam around in the brilliantly bright well, seemingly unaffected by the intense heat.
Qin Mu was already numb to such things. Two little red fish that could stay alive and lively out of water and even speak human language were already astonishing enough. But one of them biting the hook and swimming into the scorching depths of the Sun Well was even more incredible.
However, the Great Ruins seemed to be full of such astonishing things. In the Surging River, large fish often jumped onto the banks and sprinted away, faster than ordinary cultivators.
During drought years, the fish in the Great Ruins would even summon clouds and rain, riding the wind and rain to migrate from dried-up ponds to other places with abundant water.
He stood by the well and looked down. He saw the little red fish swimming deeper into the Sun Well with the hook and line. Its body grew larger and larger, now at least several hundred zhang long. Its swimming speed also increased rapidly. Soon, it reached a place piled high with man-made suns. It spat out the hook and hooked one of the suns.
The Old Man Angler reeled in the line. After a while, he pulled up an enormous sun.
Behind the Old Man Angler, a colossal primordial spirit materialized. It spread its arms, cradling the man-made sun in its hands and rubbing it. The sun was kneaded smaller and smaller.
Before long, the sun was compressed into a ball the size of a watermelon. The Old Man Angler tied it with a thin string and hung it by the well. Then he continued fishing.
The Sun Herder clan elder stood there, stunned. Before long, the seemingly ordinary Old Man Angler had fished up another sun, treated it the same way, and hung it by the well.
Soon, he had caught over a dozen suns, all tethered by the well. He then reeled in his line. The two little red fish leaped out of the well and jumped back into his basket.
The Old Man Angler picked up his fishing rod, folded his little stool, and said, "I still need to go to the Moon Well to fish for a few moons. Young Master Qin, do you want to come along?"
Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. "I smashed the Moon Ship and broke the moon on it. I want to see if there are any other Moon Ships. If not, I'll need to go to the Red Sea Oasis in the Western Lands. There might be another Moon Ship there."
The Old Man Angler nodded. "Then let's go."
He started walking out of the Sun Well. Qin Mu hesitated and said, "Uncle Master, shouldn't we go from the Sun Well to the Moon Well? Traveling by land is quite far, and the Moon Well is blocked to the west of the Great Ruins by the Luo Fu Heaven and the Grand Heavenly Realm."
The Old Man Angler replied, "No need. I want to take a look at the Grand Heavenly Realm."
Qin Mu had no choice but to summon the Dragon Qilin. "The journey is quite far. Let's ride Fatty Long for transportation."
The Dragon Qilin had been bathing in the Sun Well. Upon hearing this, he said, "Chief, I can't carry a deity on my back."
The Old Man Angler's eyes lit up, and he praised, "What a magnificent Dragon Qilin! Why do you call him Fatty Long?"
Qin Mu hesitated but didn't tell him how fat the Dragon Qilin used to be. The Old Man Angler laughed. "You don't need to carry me. Just follow my fish." With that, a little red fish jumped out of his basket.
The little red fish grew larger as it caught the wind, quickly transforming into a massive red Kun, several hundred zhang long, floating in the air.
The Old Man Angler jumped onto the fish's back. The wide fins glided and vibrated like wings, and the tail moved up and down, propelling the fish through the air at great speed.
Qin Mu was startled. He grabbed Yan Jingjing's hand and jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's back. The Dragon Qilin let out a thunderous roar, a mix of a dragon's cry and a qilin's bellow. His body swelled, shaking his head and tail, becoming a beast about sixty zhang long. He stepped on fiery clouds and chased after the massive red Kun.
Once he got moving, he was lightning-fast. With his Azure Dragon bloodline, thunder and lightning crackled around him at full speed. From a distance, he looked like a half-dragon, half-qilin beast wrapped in lightning and flames, racing forward!
This was the first time Qin Mu had seen the Dragon Qilin move at full speed. He was both surprised and delighted. "The tempering in the Five Thunder Pot really worked! It's a pity we could only gather so many dragon experts for a little over a month. If we could keep training like that, Fatty Long would probably be a master at the Divine Bridge level by now!"
The Dragon Qilin's cultivation had reached the peak of the Life and Death realm. All the elixirs and medicines he had eaten had turned into fat stored in his body, making him as round as a ball. But after being tempered in the Five Thunder Pot of Li City, those medicinal powers were refined, condensing his Dragon Pearl and Qilin Pearl. His cultivation had skyrocketed!
His speed had also improved dramatically. If not for trying to catch up to the massive red Kun, the Dragon Qilin himself wouldn't have known how fast he could run.
On the Dragon Qilin's back, Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing saw themselves surrounded by lightning. Even the wind couldn't penetrate the protective barrier formed by the lightning. They marveled at the sight.
But even at this speed, the Dragon Qilin couldn't catch up to the massive red Kun. After all, it was a divine fish that had trained with the Old Man Angler for countless years, while the Dragon Qilin was still a juvenile beast. It was only natural that he couldn't match the red Kun's speed.
The Dragon Qilin sprinted at full speed for half a day, showing remarkable endurance. Even so, he was exhausted, foam dripping from his mouth, but he still couldn't catch up to the red Kun.
Even so, Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. Running at full speed for half a day was hard even for him. He could travel tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles day and night, but a short burst of full-speed running for tens of thousands of miles would leave him completely drained.
Clearly, now that the Dragon Qilin had slimmed down, his endurance had also greatly improved.
The massive red Kun ahead stopped and began to fly slowly. The Dragon Qilin hurried to catch up. The Old Man Angler turned his big head and laughed. "Not bad at all. Come on up."
The Dragon Qilin shrank his body and jumped onto the red Kun's back. Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing also jumped down.
The Old Man Angler looked the Dragon Qilin up and down and praised, "Truly magnificent. This beast hasn't even reached adulthood, yet he can carry a deity and run this fast. When he grows up, he'll be unstoppable!"
"Carry a deity?"
Qin Mu and the Dragon Qilin were both confused. Yan Jingjing said sheepishly, "I repaired my Divine Bridge half a year ago, and my primordial spirit has reached the gates of the Heavenly Palace."
The Dragon Qilin was startled and blurted out, "I've been carrying a deity this whole time? I'm amazing! Chief, I'm amazing! I need extra meals!"
Qin Mu was also startled. He automatically filtered out the request for extra meals and asked, "Sister Jing, have you been using the Sun Ship to cultivate? Is it a problem to improve your cultivation so quickly?"
The Old Man Angler said, "There's definitely a problem. Solitary yin doesn't give birth, and solitary yang doesn't grow. Her cultivation speed is too fast, and the drawbacks are significant. She needs to seriously reinforce her foundation."
Qin Mu quickly asked, "How do we reinforce it?"
The Old Man Angler looked at Qin Mu's brow and laughed. "You have something inside you that can suppress the violent pure yang energy inside her and stabilize her foundation. It just depends on whether you're willing to part with it."
"What do I have inside me?" Qin Mu asked, puzzled.
Yan Jingjing's face turned bright red. She fidgeted and said, "Is it dual cultivation? The clan elder said that dual cultivation can balance the yin and yang energies..."
"Where did your mind go? That clan elder of yours is also a half-baked, ignorant fool."
The Old Man Angler shook his head. He placed two fingers on Qin Mu's brow, pinched lightly, and gently pulled out a strand of pure yin energy from Qin Mu's Embryonic Spirit Divine Treasury. "This strand of pure yin energy was given to you by a deity or demon, right? Give this strand of pure yin energy to this little girl. That will do. Are you willing to part with it?"
Qin Mu laughed. "This was given to me by a dying deity from the Shang Huang era. As long as Sister Jing gets better, what wouldn't I be willing to part with?"
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