My Arts Evolve When Perfected

BZZZZ—

While Jiang Qiu was still hesitating, a strange ripple suddenly washed over from a distant place, unfurling a bright, moon-like Inscription—

[A Fish of One Life has been caught]

As the white spectrum of the Inscription spread, the boundless night sky seemed to recede, as if a wave of vitality had swept through.

"Someone already caught the first fish?" Jiang Qiu was shocked. ’How could it be so fast?’

According to the stele’s inscription, fishing required a soul for bait. First, you needed a soul, and second, it depended on whether the fish were picky. If someone could catch a fish in such a short time, it meant the difficulty wasn’t actually that high.

’Are they really not picky?’

"Senior Brother, it seems like in another body of water, a Fish of One Life was caught. That fish had very strong Life Force. It was one of the rarest ones in that area."

[Snow]’s voice was low, and she seemed to be mumbling with a pout. "I can see the Spirit Charm rippling under the water. If we don’t catch a fish soon, these fish might swim toward the area where that other one was caught."

"Huh?" Jiang Qiu stared, blinked twice at the water’s surface, and asked, "How can you see that?"

"I don’t know. It’s innate."

Sigh...

Sighing internally, Jiang Qiu stopped hesitating. Since the fish in this Dragon Spirit Secret Realm were so important, he had to compete for them. Otherwise, he might lose his life before he even caught a single one.

"I guess I’ll split off a bit of my soul to fish, then..."

Returning to the fishing platform, Jiang Qiu formed his fingers into a blade, about to slice off his own pinky finger from his Soul Body and tie it to the hook. Suddenly, a soft hand grabbed his raised right arm. "Senior Brother, my soul is enough."

With a little flick, a stream of azure light shot from [Snow]’s fingertip and wrapped around the hook, looking just like a tiny azure dragon. It was an incredible sight.

At the same time, Jiang Qiu could feel her Soul Body weaken, and his own heart trembled.

"..."

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Qiu cast the line. The hook had just hit the water, sending out ripples, when a strange pulling force suddenly shot up the rod. His eyes widened as he gripped it with both hands and pulled.

SWOOSH—

The bent bamboo rod snapped upward, and with a splash, something leaped from the water, tracing a beautiful parabola through the air.

In that moment, a purple radiance rose like a violet moon. It was a large fish, shimmering with purple and gold, that had taken the hook. Its tail swung in a powerful arc.

BZZZZ—

[A Fish of One Life has been caught]

Once again, the spectrum of light spread out, this time originating from the fish. The entire aquatic space brightened by a few degrees, as if a mysterious Law had been activated.

"Yay! Senior Brother caught a fish! We can eat fish now!"

[Snow] flew straight toward the Fish of One Life, which was still in mid-air, and hugged it like a lifelike body pillow. The seawater splashed onto her skin, making it glisten.

"Be careful! That water dissolves souls."

"It’s fine, Senior Brother! Let’s hurry and absorb this fish, okay?"

With a gentle squeeze from [Snow]’s hand, the large, purple-and-gold fish burst into streams of violet light, scattering like a brilliant rainbow and suffusing the night with a strange, divine glow.

Her already delicate and exquisite body was bathed in the violet Holy Light. The small horns on her head grew more solid, the divine light in her Dragon Eyes became clearer, and her personal Soul Strength subtly increased.

Twitching his nose, Jiang Qiu also felt a faint trickle of Soul Power being released from the purple radiance, flowing toward him like a tiny stream.

Instantly, his soul was nourished. The surrounding environment felt more hospitable, and his connection with [Snow] grew a little stronger. However, this fish didn’t seem to be one of the rarest ones. He felt it was still lacking something, leaving him with a lingering, unquenched hunger.

After absorbing the purple-and-gold Fish of One Life in an instant, their sense of crisis diminished significantly. They were no longer as afraid of the bizarre Secret Realm Law.

’I can’t believe we actually caught a fish. This is too easy, isn’t it?’

Frowning, Jiang Qiu stared at the wisp of soul on the hook, which hadn’t been consumed. He could cast the line again.

It seemed the Secret Realm Rules posed little threat to [Snow]. As long as they followed her intuition, they could probably survive until the end.

Meanwhile, the Yin Net was in an uproar again.

"Holy crap, what the hell? Someone already caught a fish so quickly? And two in a row! How did they do it? Don’t tell me you really have to cut off a piece of your soul?"

"Dammit, soul as bait... I tried it once and felt like my body was being hollowed out. I don’t know if it’s because my Realm is too low, but I’m still trying to channel my soul onto the hook..."

"You’re already at the Peeping Dao Realm, how could your soul be insufficient? But speaking of which, what are you guys even using to fish? Why don’t I have a fishing rod?"

"Lol, I didn’t find a hook either. I heard some people found hooks right at the start. The ones with insane luck even found fishing platforms and steles with all sorts of explanations."

"Shitty luck! In this world, fortune really is everything. I don’t even have any bamboo here, just a barren wasteland! Am I supposed to catch fish with my bare hands?!"

"What are you all still blabbering about? Two people have already caught fish! Get a move on, or you won’t last until the Dragon Spirit Fish appear!"

Gradually, more and more ripples washed over from different directions, and various spectrums of light unfurled, all of them recording the same message—

[A Fish of One Life has been caught]

It seemed that with pioneers leading the way, others finally dared to try placing fragments of their own souls on the hooks and casting them into the sea.

But not everyone was so successful. In the Dharma Realm subgroup on the Yin Net, cries of agony filled the chat: "What’s going on? I feel like my soul isn’t even enough for a single piece of bait! The rod is still absorbing my soul! I can’t stop it, can’t hold on... (Offline)"

"Fuck, my soul is being drained! It’s almost fucking gone... (Offline)"

"Something’s not right. Does this Secret Realm not allow us Dharma Realm Cultivators to enter? Why don’t we even get a chance to catch one fish?"

"This is so fucking unfair! Our souls aren’t even enough to bait the hook once!"

"Have you guys noticed? The sky is getting brighter... (Offline)"

In the Yin Net’s main channel, the number of messages from Dharma Realm Cultivators dwindled. Before long, no Dharma Realm Cultivators were speaking at all.

By now, the sky of the Secret Realm had faded from inky black to a pale blue, as if dawn had arrived. A latent, newly infused energy was driving the changes in this world.

Jiang Qiu, however, paid little attention to any of this. He cast his hook again, caught another purple-and-gold Fish of One Life, and began to absorb it.

Fishing was too easy; it was just a matter of casting and reeling. As for the so-called bait, no fish ever actually swallowed it. The fish were digested the moment they left the water, and he could even reuse the tiny wisp of soul [Snow] had offered.