Chapter 646: Fishing Platform
Shang Xia might have let Zheng Chang go for now, but before he left, he still managed to force a list of treasures from the man. Everything his other senior brothers brought on behalf of the Lushan Sect was recorded on it.
There were some precious treasures there that could even move Shang Xia, but the rest weren’t too useful to him.
He fell deep into thought when he saw one of the fate dipper essence and a rank five spiritual treasure.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to tell if he could make use of them if they weren’t directly in front of him.
With nothing else left to do, Shang Xia decided to enter the Three Unity Pagoda. The moment he did, he was sure that the interior of the pagoda was made up of a mysterious world.
Even though there had been rumors and guesses going around, nothing beat seeing it for himself. Looking at the mysterious world that was contained in the pagoda, Shang Xia was still shocked and awed by the strength and foundations of the 3 super factions.
The mysterious world that made up the Three Unity Pagoda was unique. It was made up of 3 levels in a ring-like formation.
Because Shang Xia left a trace of his divine perception on the members of the Tongyou Institution, he quickly located the others.
“Is this… Is this a fishing platform?” Shang Xia stared at the stone platform before him in shock. There was also a fishing pole resting on it.
Carefully walking over to look over the edge, Shang Xia noticed that there was nothing but a huge sea of clouds. The fishing line extended past the clouds and disappeared within.
Looking at his surroundings, Shang Xia noticed that the middle ring he was standing on had multiple platforms experts from the same faction would be chatting happily on the one that belonged to them. Many different fishing poles could be seen extended over the edge.
Shang Xia’s attention was quickly drawn to the figures on the platform who had slightly blurry factual appearances.
When he extended his divine perception over to other platforms, he discovered that the distance was actually terrifyingly large. He failed to reach over to detect anything.
Finally, he came to the conclusion that his divine perception had been restricted within the Three Unity Pagoda. It was to prevent spying by the various factions.
Looking down from another angle, Shang Xia noticed that he could see the third ring that made up the mysterious world under him.
Like the middle ring he was on, it also surrounded a sea of clouds. However, the sea of clouds seemed a little larger, but it also meant that they were further away from the core of the Cloud Sea that way.
The situation on the third ring looked to be a lot more chaotic than the rest. There wasn’t a platform allocated to a specific faction and anyone could head on up to one and start fishing.
Unfortunately, there weren’t fishing poles provided down there and there would only be an occasional expert or two carrying one to the side of a platform before casting their line.
Shang Xia suddenly raised his head to observe the situation above him.
Indeed. Several dozen feet above him, there was another smaller ring where intricately carved fishing rods that were made of exquisite white jade hung over the edge. They could cast their lines much closer to the core of the Cloud Sea that way.
Turning back to look at the others, Shang Xia asked, “How are the different regions allocated? Why were we sent to the middle ring?”
“The upper ring consists of the holy lands and their experts. However, they make up the least number of people in the pagoda.” Chu Jia explained.
“People like us who are from factions with a certain status and have strength second to only holy lands were allocated to the middle ring.”
“As for those down there, most of them are scattered cultivators. There are also some from smaller powers, and heads of large clans make up a bulk of them.”
A snort left Shang Xia’s lips. “Holy lands? Hehe, After our Tongyou Mysterious World upgrades to become a holy land, I wonder if we will be sent up there…”
Sweeping his gaze around, Shang Xia chuckled, “From the looks of it, the trade fair would have something to do with the sea of clouds. All of you came a little earlier. Do you know how it’s going to take place?”
Liu Qinglan smiled, “They have yet to announce what will take place, but we discovered that the Cloud Sea can restrict everyone’s senses and it should be the key to the entire event.”
“I think we should get a few more fishing poles… One might not be enough.” Yun Yichen suggested.
Liu Qinglan immediately agreed. “Indeed. There are many other platforms with 2 to 3 fishing poles… We should go get more of them.”
When Yun Yichen made her suggestion earlier, Shang Xia had already reached out to grab the fishing pole resting on their platform.
“Huh?” Shang Xia noticed that his divine perception had entered the Cloud Sea the moment he held the pole.
Earlier, they discovered that their divine perception was greatly limited in the Three Unity Pagoda. It was especially so when it came to the Cloud Sea as their divine perception failed to penetrate it in the slightest.
Shang Xia discovered that he was able to extend his divine perception into the interior of the Cloud Sea through the fishing line, but he also discovered that his senses were limited to a region 5 feet around the end of a jade coin that hung on the other end of the fishing line.
That was right. There wasn’t bait on the other end of the fishing line. Instead, it held a circular palm-sized jade coin.
Shang Xia felt his consciousness tremble slightly. Pushing his divine perception into the jade coin, rows of words appeared on its surface according to his intentions.
With a simple intention, the words on the coin that appeared earlier disappeared. Soon, a chime left the jade coin and another row of words appeared on it. “Willing to buy many types of fate dipper essence. Willing sellers can take a look at it.”
A formless sound wave seemed to travel through the Cloud Sea, but Shang Xia noticed that his divine perception was still confined to a 5 feet diameter.
Releasing the fishing pole, Shang Xia turned around to look at Liu Qinglan. He chuckled, “I wonder how much it costs to make one of these. I’ll wish to get one too.”
A moment later, Yun Yichen returned with 2 other fishing poles in hand.
Handing one over to Shang Xia, she replied, “They are only renting them out. A single pole costs 2 essence crystals to rent, and if we break it, we have to pay them 10 essence crystals.”
Shang Xia handed over 2 essence crystals, and Yun Yichen had no reason to reject them.
Yun Yichen planned to rotate the other fishing pole among herself, Liu Zhidao, and Ji Yu. Liu Qinglan and Chu Jia would use the last fishing pole.
Pressing her lips together, Chu Jia grumbled, “The 3 super factions sure know their way around doing business. They gained another huge windfall by renting out these fishing poles!”
Shang Xia carefully inspected how the fishing poles were made and he suddenly asked, “Aunt Yun, did you see if there were different types of fishing poles?”
“Yeah. They were split into 3 different types. The fishing poles used by those on the third ring are made from bamboo and it costs 1 essence crystal to rent and it allows one’s divine perception to reach 3 feet away. Our fishing poles are made from frost metal and it allows us to feel 5 feet away. The other is made from jade, and it costs 3 essence crystals. It’s said that one will be able to extend their divine perception to cover a range of 10 feet if they use the jade poles.” Yun Yichen replied.
“Can’t we use the jade fishing poles?” Chu Jia asked.
Unfortunately, Yun Yichen shook her head in response. “Nope. That’s the rules set by the Three Unity Pagoda. Only those from the top ring would be able to use jade fishing poles. We can only use the frost metal fishing poles, while those in the third ring would only be able to use bamboo fishing poles.”
The next second, Shang Xia discovered 3 majestic auras appearing at the tallest point of the Three Unity Pagoda. Their aura descended the next second and filled the pagoda.
“Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors!” Shang Xia reminded the others behind so that they wouldn’t panic.
Those auras weren’t foreign to him. He noticed them when the Three Unity Pagoda Descended back then.
Their sudden appearance caused silence to descend on the pagoda. Not a single expert dared to speak.
Perhaps when the 3 ancestors were moving the pagoda, they were still too far away from Shang Xia. Now that they were a lot closer, Shang Xia was able to carefully examine their aura as it filled the space around him. He discovered that one of them was extremely familiar, and it was someone he had interacted with in the past.
It belonged to Zhui Fengzi of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect!
That could only mean that his breakthrough to the Martial Dipper Realm during their escapade in the Manyu Continent was successful!
Back then, Zhui Fengzi wasn’t the only candidate the Northern Sea Mystic Sect had who could break through to the Martial Dipper Realm. There was also Chen Yuanzi, another expert at the peak of the Martial Extermination Realm. However, he gave up his chance of entering the Martial Dipper Realm in order to get a hold of Shang Xia, and the chance fell directly on Zhui Fengzi’s head. It was a shame that Chen Yuanzi eventually fell at Shang Xia’s hand.
“Fellow cultivators of the Azure Origin World and the Azure Spiritual World, I am Zhui Fengzi of the Northern Sea Mystic Sect. Ninth Sand Palace Elder from the Divine Capital Sect and Elder Yi Guang from the Eternal Palace are also present.”
Zhui Fengzi was the first to speak, and he also introduced the others.
Soon after, an aged voice rang in the ears of those present. “This trade fair has been jointly hosted by the Northern Sea Mystic Sect, Divine Capital Sect, and the Eternal Palace. This event is meant to benefit both sides and strengthen the experts of both worlds. I hope everyone can respect the rules so as not to trouble the 3 of us.”
After he spoke, the final voice that seemed a lot more gentle than those that came before announced, “We will announce the way the trade fair will be carried out in a little while. I shall not bore you by going into great detail, but the 3 of us can represent our factions to make everyone a guarantee with our reputations on the line. All of you can trade freely. There will not be anything fishy going on throughout the entire event!”
When the final word left his mouth, their auras receded like the tide and it was as though it was never there to begin with.
None of the 3 showed their faces from start to end.
Chu Jia, who had been looking around even though the 3 Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors had been talking, pointed at the 3 fishing poles and yelled, “Quick, take a look at that!”
By the time the rest went to look, their fishing poles had already bent downwards. It was as though there were fishes in the Cloud Sea biting on the other end.
Of course, all of them knew that there wasn’t bait on the other end of the fishing line. There was only a single jade coin.
Shang Xia noticed cultivators on other platforms reeling their fishing lines, and a giant fish that was floundering around appeared in their hands.
Chu Jia quickly took an interest in what was going on. She grabbed the fishing pole from Liu Qinglan and yanked it hard. At the same time, she yelled at Yun Yichen and Shang Xia. “Quick, pull it up! Take a look at what is there!”
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