novelraw Chapter 651: The Tournament Begins!
Chapter 651: The Tournament Begins!
Zhou Nan took out a golden jade slip, just like during the Ascension Tower competition, and crushed it with one hand.
Immediately, beams of golden light flew out from the jade slip, transforming into golden ancient demon characters, which were inscribed in the sky.
"The participants in the Dragon Fishing Competition are the five hundred Masters who gained a cave dwelling during the Ascension Tower competition. During the competition, everyone can choose an island and occupy a section of sea, using their own fishing rods to fish dragons. Fighting and seizing other islands are allowed, but one cannot snatch other people’s dragon souls or kill anyone. Violators will be disqualified from the competition, and all dragon souls they have obtained will be confiscated!"
"The dragon bait used for dragon fishing is specially crafted by the Earth Yuan Palace’s secret technique. Each bait costs one million immortal jade and can be purchased at the supply station outside the Dragon Rearing Pond. During the competition, if you run out of bait, you may temporarily leave the Dragon Rearing Pond to purchase more. This Dragon Fishing Competition will last for three days!"
As the golden words scattered, after reading the rules, most of the old monsters remained expressionless, while a few first-time participants frowned, lamenting the high cost of the dragon bait.
The amount of bait needed for the dragon fishing is unknown, but it is indeed quite an expense.
But there was no choice, for dragon bait not made by the Earth Yuan Palace’s secret technique could not even enter water imbued with the Territorial Light of Separation, and naturally, would not be able to fish dragons.
"One incense stick later, the competition will begin. Before then, all of you Daoists may purchase dragon bait at your discretion."
After Elder Zhou Nan spoke, many old monsters immediately flew to the supply station to purchase dragon bait.
Zhou Nan ultimately gave up one spot, indicating no intention to compete for profit with the other competitors.
Among the five hundred participating Masters, the vast majority were of the Void Inquiry cultivation rank or above.
To many Void Refinement Realm cultivators, dragon bait costing one million was extremely expensive, yet they had to buy it.
To Ning Fan, a mere dragon bait naturally didn’t cost too much money.
He bought a thousand dragon baits at once and purchased a bait pouch, attaching it to his waist. He also bought a Sealing Pot, which was used to store dragon souls.
Then, without giving anyone else a glance, he went directly to the outside of the Dragon Rearing Pond, waiting for the competition to start.
Leaving Dragon also bought a thousand dragon bait, following closely behind Ning Fan, waiting outside the Dragon Rearing Pond.
Those old monsters of the Void Fragmentation realm either bought a thousand or five hundred, not caring for the immortal jade.
Ordinary Void Refinement Realm cultivators had to plan well; those with money bought 100, the less wealthy bought 50, and the very poor only bought 10 dragon baits, purely hoping for luck.
An incense stick of time quickly passed, Zhou Nan took out a golden order, and with a gesture toward the sky, the formation light of the Dragon Rearing Pond gradually dissipated.
"The competition begins now!" Zhou Nan announced.
In the instant when the formation light dissipated, all the old monsters transformed into escape light, flying toward the islands in the Dragon Rearing Pond.
There were only five hundred islands, and naturally, their locations varied in advantage.
Those who understood would naturally select the better-located islands, even contending for some islands.
Those who did not understand would mostly casually pick an island and fish for dragons on the spot.
Ning Fan was one who did not understand.
However, he had Leaving Dragon following him, who did understand.
"Master, that island over there is good, with sea current speed and wave intensity both being favored habitats for the demon dragons of the Dragon Rearing Pond."
Leaving Dragon pointed to a distant island, making three Void Refinement Realm cultivators, who were preparing to fight over the island, change their expressions immediately and, with accompanying smiles toward Leaving Dragon, said.
"This island shall be left to the Senior; we will not contest for it, hehe, hehe..." The three awkwardly laughed and quickly fled to other islands, not daring to offend Leaving Dragon and Ning Fan.
Ning Fan landed on the island, while Leaving Dragon sought another island far away, separating his position from Ning Fan’s.
Leaving Dragon did not want to fish up demon dragons’ dragon souls that belonged to Ning Fan.
Many islands saw people still fighting over them, but this had nothing to do with Ning Fan.
Ning Fan took out the Taigong Fishing Rod, attached the dragon bait, raised his hand to cast the line, then sat cross-legged on the island shore, quietly waiting for the demon dragon to bite.
On an island ten thousand miles away, Hex Shixiu similarly sat cross-legged after casting his rod, his spirit sense swept toward Ning Fan’s direction, with a disdainful gaze.
"Baimu has fourth-class or lower fortune, probably won’t even fish up a Ninth-Grade Dragon Soul. But I’m different; I was originally of second-class ordinary fortune, and with this treasure’s help, my fortune approaches the first-class ordinary fortune! Here, my fortune can be ranked first!"
Hex Shixiu took out the Four-Colored Destiny Pearl he previously had, holding it in his mouth.
In an instant, his fortune began to slowly transform, appearing blue with a touch of purple.
The moment the fortune changed, Hex Shixiu suddenly felt a movement on the water’s surface.
Without saying a word, he leaped up, quickly and forcefully pulling the fishing rod, yanking an eight-hundred-zhang golden dragon soul straight out from the water.
Fishing dragon differs from ordinary fishing; patience is secondary, but the speed of action is crucial!
The speed at which dragons bite bait is incomparable to ordinary fish, if you’re even a moment slow, you end up with just an empty hook.
Hex Shixiu fished up a dragon soul whose aura was comparable to that of Wild Beasts.
Once fished out, Hex Shixiu, without a word, captured the dragon soul in his hand, checked with his spirit sense, and finding no Dragon Ball within, sealed it with the Sealing Pot.
In the meantime, cheers rose from the surrounding suspended jade platforms and within the sea area of the Dragon Rearing Pond.
On each of the four jade platforms, stood a Dragon Fishing Monument, displaying the fishing achievements of each participant.
"Eighth-Grade Dragon Soul! That old monster He was not only the first to fish up a dragon soul, but it was also an Eighth-Grade Dragon Soul!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, as expected of an old monster of the Fifth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm; his fortune is so strong, it only makes us envious."
Hex Shixiu was quite pleased with himself.
He hadn’t expected that just as his fortune improved, a demon dragon would take the bait immediately—it was so fast, even he was taken by surprise.
His spirit sense swept toward Ning Fan, seeing Ning Fan still sitting by the island shore without any sign of having fished up a dragon soul, sneering inwardly.
"With a fortune below fourth-class, coming to fish dragons is truly asking to be humiliated!"
Hex Shixiu affixed the second dragon bait, and one incense stick later, he fished up a second dragon soul.
That is a Seventh-Rank Dragon Soul! Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a Dragon Ball within...
At this time, the contest for the five hundred islands had mostly settled.
One by one, the old monsters began to fish for dragons. Occasionally, someone would catch a dragon soul, so Hex Shixiu was not the only one in the limelight.
"Look! Old Hex has caught another Seventh-Rank Dragon Soul!"
"Senior Moyangzi has caught a Ninth-Rank Dragon Soul!"
"What! How did the Cold Fish Tribe outer elder, with merely Void Pierce Stage cultivation, manage to catch an Eighth-Rank Dragon Soul! Could his luck be that good?"
"Look, Tan Longzi... no, Senior Leaving Dragon has caught an Eighth-Rank Dragon Soul, and within this dragon soul, there is even a Ninth Rank Dragon Pearl!"
When Leaving Dragon caught the first Dragon Ball of this tournament, the entire venue erupted.
Hex Shixiu’s face turned somewhat ugly.
Since Leaving Dragon is Ning Fan’s servant, him catching a Dragon Ball is almost akin to Ning Fan catching it.
Hex Shixiu naturally wasn’t pleased seeing Leaving Dragon gain attention.
"Hehe, a Ninth Rank Dragon Ball is nothing; I am determined to catch a First-grade Dragon Ball!"
Hex Shixiu calmed himself and continued fishing for dragons.
Gradually, he caught the third, fourth, and fifth dragon soul, with the highest grade being the Fifth.
No one present could catch a Fifth-Rank Dragon Soul.
Unfortunately, none of the dragon souls Hex Shixiu caught contained a Dragon Ball, which was a great pity.
He felt a bit displeased, but on sweeping with his spirit sense, he found that Ning Fan still hadn’t caught a single dragon soul, which immediately put his mind at ease.
"Hehe, it’s been so long, and Baimu still hasn’t gained anything. How pitiful..."
The sixth, seventh, eighth...
When he caught the ninth dragon soul, he finally pulled up his first Dragon Ball.
It was a Fourth-Rank Dragon Soul, nurturing an Eighth Rank Dragon Ball within!
Hex Shixiu took out the Dragon Ball and stored it in his storage pouch, smiling in satisfaction.
Because at this moment, Ning Fan still hadn’t caught anything.
"Look, Old Hex has actually caught a Fourth-Rank Dragon Soul, Eighth Rank Dragon Ball!"
"In total, he has caught nine dragon souls by now, hasn’t he? So far, no one among the participants has caught more than him!"
"Indeed, among the old monsters of the Void Fragmentation realm, Senior Leaving Dragon ranks second, even he only caught three dragon souls and one Dragon Ball. Most of the other old monsters of the Void Fragmentation realm have only caught one dragon soul at most, and some haven’t achieved anything at all..."
For example, Ning Fan.
On the four jade platforms, many watched the number one position on the Dragon Fishing Monument in complete confusion.
The rankings of the five hundred on the Dragon Fishing Monument are arranged according to the Ascension Tower rankings and remain unchanging.
Behind each name, there is a record of accomplishments.
Ning Fan’s record was blank, as he hadn’t caught a single dragon soul, let alone a Dragon Ball.
Many continued to speculate whether Ning Fan would once again perform spectacularly, like his sudden rise to fame during the Ascension Tower event, shaking the world.
It seemed now that perhaps Ning Fan’s luck was lacking, struggling even to catch a Ninth-Rank Dragon Soul.
As time ticked away, gradually, everyone except for Ning Fan began to have some results among the old monsters of the Void Fragmentation realm.
Even some of those in the Return to Origin, Great Void Sect, and Void Refinement Realm started having some success.
But Ning Fan, still with no results.
"Could it be that Ancestor Baimu has terribly bad luck?" Qu Dian Emperor Qu wondered.
"Hehe, I don’t think Ancestor Baimu is someone with terribly bad luck... Perhaps it won’t take long for him to astonish us," The Fox Emperor smiled charmingly.
"Perhaps, in any case, I refuse to believe that the esteemed Ancestor Baimu would possess such bad luck," nodded Emperor Qing.
The Old Fox Emperor and the Old Red Emperor did not express their opinions, both showing a hint of confusion in their eyes.
"What is he doing..."
They both stealthily locked their spirit sense onto Ning Fan, throughout the whole Dragon Fishing Tournament, paying attention to no one else.
The two rogue devils noticed Ning Fan channeling mana into his fishing rod, extending the fishing line very deep below...
"Is he trying to fish for the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon..." guessed the Old Yuan Emperor.
"Senior Baimu intends to catch the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon..." Tan Zixin watched the Dragon Fishing Monument, seemingly understanding Ning Fan’s thought process.
On a solitary island, Ning Fan sat cross-legged at the edge, remaining still for two hours.
He hadn’t caught any dragon soul because ordinary dragon souls, before taking the bait, were frightened away by the dragon-suppressing might his rod exuded.
What he wanted to catch was not the common dragons, but the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon.
The aim of this venture was purely for the Yin-Yang Dragon Pearl!
He extended the fishing line to extreme lengths, reaching the bottom of the Dragon Rearing Pond.
Spirit sense could not penetrate that place, yet Ning Fan could perceive through subtle shifts in the fishing rod. In merely two hours, the rod sensed five alterations in Yin and Yang power.
Three were Yin, and two were Yang.
The Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon approached the hook five times in total, yet none took the bait...
Others could not sense the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon, but Ning Fan, who possessed the Yin Yang Locket and was an inheritor of the Ancient Chaos, could faintly perceive them.
He knew that within this Dragon Rearing Pond, there indeed existed the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon!
However, for reasons unknown, the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon did not bite the bait, seemingly indifferent to the dragon bait...
The Dragon Soul Spirit Intelligence within the Dragon Rearing Pond should be low; they should have bitten the hook upon seeing the dragon bait.
Ning Fan couldn’t understand why the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon did not bite.
Could it be that his good fortune was insufficient to fish the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon, or was there another reason...
The Intellect of the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon was clearly low; seeing the desired bait should easily lure them to bite, yet they did not.
Is the lure of the bait insufficient?
Ning Fan retracted his fishing line and slightly infused a strand of Yin Yang power into the dragon bait before casting the line again.
Another two hours passed, and 27 fluctuations of Yin Yang power emanated from the length of the fishing rod.
Twelve times it was Yin, fifteen times it was Yang.
The Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon approached the bait 27 times, seemingly holding great temptation, yet stubbornly not biting.
"It seems that it’s not just the bait... To fish up the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon, which haven’t been caught by anyone for millions of years, probably requires something special..."
Ning Fan withdrew the fishing line, closed his eyes, a flash of insight appeared, he understood something but felt somewhat lost.
Poof!
A message-transmitting flying sword suddenly arrived.
Upon reaching Ning Fan, it shattered, and a woman’s voice entered Ning Fan’s ears.
This was a message-transmitting flying sword sent by Tan Zixin; in the message, she described the experiences of the last person to fish up the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon.
It was a story from 4.3 million years ago, the tale of a sword cultivator who was also a rogue immortal.
During the three-day Dragon Fishing Festival, that person frantically fished dragons on the first day, achieving astounding results, having caught over three hundred dragon souls and 27 dragon pearls.
On the second day, he couldn’t fish up a single dragon.
On the third day, before the end of the festival, he unexpectedly fished up the legendary Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon, shocking the Demon World.
After successfully fishing the dragons, he returned all the dragon souls and dragon pearls, laughed three times, cried three times, and then rode his sword away.
Before leaving, he uttered only one sentence.
"I have attained enlightenment, but this enlightenment came too late, I no longer wish for it, I shall abandon it!"
Tan Zixin’s story is recorded in very few ancient texts; almost no one in the Demon World knows of it now.
She told this story to Ning Fan to offer him some help, aiding him in successfully fishing dragons.
Ning Fan was silent for a moment, seeming to have an epiphany, transmitted a message towards Tan Zixin’s direction, "Thank you."
He knew why he couldn’t fish up the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon.
He knew what he needed to do at this moment.
"Let’s learn from that senior rogue immortal, and fish a bounty!"
A flash of black light appeared in Ning Fan’s eyes; that black light was the color of good fortune.
Beneath the black, lay pure and extreme purple.
He drew the fishing line to the proper depth, then quietly waited.
An incense stick’s time passed, and the first dragon soul bit the hook!
Before the water’s ripple formed the first circle, Ning Fan had already stood up abruptly, tugging fiercely at the fishing rod, fishing up a thousand-zhang-long Golden Dragon from the water’s surface!
He pointed a finger at the Golden Dragon, and the Golden Dragon immediately trembled, transforming into a gold-colored snake roughly a foot long, captured into his palm.
The Golden Dragon spat out a golden light, and the golden light transformed into a golden pearl, floating in front of Ning Fan.
Seventh-Rank Dragon Soul, Ninth-Rank Dragon Pearl!
"Baimu actually caught a dragon soul! And this dragon soul is seventh rank, furthermore, within the dragon soul, there is a dragon pearl!"
"A stroke of luck, surely it’s luck! Even those with poor fortune will occasionally strike big luck!"
Hex Shixiu’s gaze was shaken; his spirit sense constantly monitored Ning Fan’s movements.
This shock lasted a moment before he suppressed it. In his viewpoint, Ning Fan’s ability to fish out a seventh-rank dragon soul and ninth-rank dragon pearl was an exceptional occurrence, an unrepeatable small probability event, impossible to happen a second time.
He scorned Ning Fan, yet others did not think so.
Once Ning Fan’s score on the Dragon Fishing Monument changed, numerous old monsters were astounded.
"Ancestor Baimu’s fortune indeed isn’t poor; even though it took him two hours to catch the first dragon soul, the fact that this dragon soul contains a dragon pearl is already quite remarkable."
"Indeed, how could the fortune of an old monster of the Void Fragmentation realm be lacking."
Tan Zixin’s eyes showed slight delight, internally speculating that her story might have helped Ning Fan.
Is Ning Fan trying to emulate that senior rogue immortal by catching countless dragons on the first day and shocking the entire venue...
Half an incense stick’s time later, Ning Fan caught the second dragon soul!
This was a Sixth-Rank Dragon Soul, containing an Eighth-Rank Dragon Pearl!
"Impossible! How could such a rare event happen twice in a row!" Hex Shixiu’s expression changed.
Ning Fan continuously caught two dragon souls, and both dragon souls contained dragon pearls; this rare occurrence actually repeated.
"He can’t possibly catch a third dragon soul..." Just as Hex Shixiu finished speaking, Ning Fan caught a third dragon soul.
This dragon soul did not contain a Dragon Ball, but it was a second-grade dragon soul!
How could someone with poor luck catch a second-grade dragon soul!
Hex Shixiu gritted his teeth, knowing he had underestimated Ning Fan’s luck.
The Four-Colored Destiny Pearl seemed to have failed to properly gauge Ning Fan’s luck...
The rogue immortal sword cultivator who caught the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon had luck of purple.
Ning Fan’s luck at this moment was also purple, the highest among mortal luck.
Hex Shixiu’s luck was only a sliver short of being first-class, but that sliver made a world of difference!
His luck compared to Ning Fan’s was far from close!
The rogue immortal sword cultivator had once caught three thousand dragon souls within twenty-four hours, shocking the Demon World.
Ning Fan’s luck was not inferior to that person’s, so his results in catching dragons might not be weaker than his!
The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...
The fourteenth, the fifteenth, the sixteenth...
The fortieth, the fiftieth, the sixtieth...
In just two hours, Ning Fan had caught 68 dragon souls and 9 Dragon Balls!
The highest grade of dragon soul was first-grade, and there were only three of them.
The highest grade of Dragon Ball was third-grade, and there was only one of them.
At this moment, Ning Fan’s achievement on the dragon-catching leaderboard was undeniably first place.
Hex Shixiu’s face was extremely sullen, while everyone else was completely shocked!
The Dragon Soul Fishing Tournament had now been ongoing for six hours.
In these six hours, aside from Ning Fan, the best performer was Hex Shixiu, who caught only 12 dragon souls and still only has 1 Dragon Ball.
After just officially fishing for dragons for two hours, Ning Fan’s results had already surpassed Hex Shixiu’s several times over!
By the end of the first day, Ning Fan had caught a total of 581 dragon souls and 66 Dragon Balls.
Among them, 26 were first-grade dragon souls and 3 were first-grade Dragon Balls!
Ning Fan alone seemed to have almost emptied the entire Dragon Rearing Pond of its dragon souls.
The dragon souls caught by all the other attendees combined did not even reach 400, and there were only 17 Dragon Balls, with the highest grade among them only being fourth-grade.
"Impossible! Even if this Baimu’s luck isn’t bad, he couldn’t possibly surpass me by so much! With the help of the Destiny Pearl, my luck is almost first-class purple luck. After a day has passed, I only caught 42 dragon souls and 3 Dragon Balls..."
"How could he have performed so much better than me, unless he has purple luck?!"
Hex Shixiu’s face turned ashen.
Other than someone with purple luck, who could defy the heavens and catch so many dragon souls!
In Hex Shixiu’s view, even if the Dragon Rearing Pond hasn’t been emptied by Ning Fan alone, the remaining dragon souls are probably not many.
In the next two days, it would be challenging for him to catch many dragon souls.
"Damn Baimu! So be it, I didn’t come here just to catch ordinary dragon souls... My target is the Yin Dragon and the Yang Dragon..."
Hex Shixiu, with a gloomy expression, took out a pill containing a trace of Yin and Yang power, ground it into powder, and smeared it on the dragon bait.
Over the next two days, he will focus on catching the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon.
Of course, if ordinary dragon souls take the bait, Hex Shixiu wouldn’t refuse them either.
"Cough, cough... As far as I know, 4.3 million years ago, the rogue immortal who caught the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon did the same thing, almost emptied the Dragon Rearing Pond in one day and stood out," said the Old Crimson Emperor, his eyes solemn.
"Haha, I wonder if this Baimu can catch the Yin Dragon and Yang Dragon like that rogue immortal, and once again shock the Demon World," the Old Fox Emperor’s laughter was somewhat hoarse, but there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
The Old Yuan Emperor said nothing, but there was a trace of expectation in his eyes.
If Ning Fan could really catch the Yin-Yang Dragon Pearl, it would help him thoroughly repair his demon soul, which would be most favorable.
If he couldn’t... it couldn’t be forced.
On the second day, Ning Fan, holding the fishing rod, did not catch a single dragon soul.
It wasn’t that dragon souls didn’t bite the hook, indeed some did, but Ning Fan let them eat the bait without reeling them in.
After the dragon souls ate the bait, he would often just re-bait the hook and continue fishing.
Compared to the first day, the dragon souls biting the hook were now pitifully few.
Yesterday, about two-thirds of the dragon souls in the Dragon Rearing Pond had been caught.
Today, Ning Fan’s goal wasn’t even to catch dragon souls.
Not catching them, that was the right approach...
A profound and mysterious realization slowly rose in his heart.
A faint aura of the Great Dao emanated from him.
This aura was extremely subtle, sensed only by the three rogue devils present!
"What is Baimu doing!" The Old Crimson Emperor and Old Fox Emperor both showed puzzled expressions. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)