Chapter 158: Chapter 157: One Look Confirmed It: The Wrong Person to Mess With

Still, it wasn’t too unusual for Jiang Zuo to reach realm 1.6. These people had exceptionally strong minds.

A minor realm a day was understandable.

Just then, Chi Xue Child asked, "Fellow Daoist Po Xiao, the location for the sacrifice has been decided, and many people have already arrived.

A good number of stalls have gathered outside the site. Are you interested in checking them out?"

Chi Xue Child and the others had wanted to go, but they hadn’t been in the mood since they hadn’t sorted out their accommodations yet.

It was all because of that troublemaker, Demon Cultivator Mo Yan.

Blade Master Hai Bian added, "I have a Disguise Mask you can borrow. No one below Tier Six will be able to see through it."

Chi Xue Child nodded to himself. ’It’s great to have a teammate like Blade Master Hai Bian. If everyone were like Mo Yan, our team would get wiped out sooner or later.’

Jiang Zuo cast a meaningful glance at Blade Master Hai Bian.

In reality, he didn’t care who knew about him, other than Su Qi. All that mattered was that she wasn’t told.

He still hadn’t told Su Qi the truth, simply because he felt the time wasn’t right.

’Su Qi had kept a secret from him for ten years. What was him keeping one for a year or so in comparison?’

In his past life, he went to his grave without ever knowing Su Qi’s secret.

In this life, he would be the one to concede and would definitely tell Su Qi the truth.

When the time comes...

’When the time comes... how should I die?’

Jiang Zuo had a feeling that when Su Qi confessed to him, it would be a mark of how kind and understanding she was.

But when he confessed to her, it probably wouldn’t be seen as understanding. Instead, it would feel more like high treason.

’The double standard is so unfair.’

Shaking his head, Jiang Zuo dismissed the thought and turned to look at the mask.

’The Mist? No, just a replica.’

Jiang Zuo took the mask. It wasn’t so much for changing one’s appearance as it was for concealment.

The true Mist could reduce a person’s presence. Even if someone looked right at you, they wouldn’t see your real face, and they would forget what you looked like the very next moment.

The real Mist was an extraordinary Magical Treasure.

This replica might reduce one’s presence slightly, but it was impossible for it to make people forget your face.

It could only hide the wearer’s true features and project a false face in their place.

The true Mist would appear differently to ten thousand different people, but this one had only a single, fixed appearance.

Blade Master Hai Bian was a little surprised. He had obtained this "Mist" from a fortuitous encounter years ago, and it was related to the Buddhist Sect.

He had also learned about the legends of the true Mist at that same time.

While the Mist wasn’t an artifact from the most ancient of times, very few people knew it even existed.

Yet Jiang Zuo could tell it was a fake and knew its function with just a single glance.

’As expected of the group’s top expert.’

"Are there any Spirit Medicines at the stalls near the sacrifice site?" Jiang Zuo asked.

’He wanted to try advancing to realm 1.7.’

’And then break through to Tier Two.’

At Tier Two, he would have many more techniques at his disposal. Then, Su Qi would be no match for him.

Combined with the Battle Spirit Stele, it wouldn’t be impossible for him at realm 2.1 to crush someone at realm 2.5.

"They’re not really selling those things this time, though there should be some arriving later," Chi Xue Child said, taking out a popsicle. "Actually, the main items being traded are fishing rods, for the fishing event."

"Fishing?" Jiang Zuo had no idea what this was all about. "Is the whole sacrifice just about fishing?"

Blade Master Hai Bian shook his head. "The main purpose of the sacrifice relates to the Holy Land, but we don’t know the specifics.

However, there’s a fishing event during the sacrifice that is the most popular and also the most rewarding.

As for the fishing itself, it’s said that a lake will appear, and in it are fish-like Spiritual Objects that love to feed on Spiritual Qi.

If you use Spiritual Qi as bait to catch one, you can absorb pure Vitality from it.

The benefits are immense."

"Is that so," Jiang Zuo replied, his expression unchanging.

’He thought he might know what kind of fish they were talking about.’

’It seems the site of the sacrifice is indeed the Immortal Spirit Spring. In some respects, the Immortal Spirit Spring truly is an extraordinary place.’

’But it has one fatal flaw: it’s incomplete.’

’Back then, he had been too young and couldn’t discern much in the Immortal Spirit Spring, other than the fact that a few incredibly powerful fish lived there.’

These fish would periodically spit out fry. The fry had the shape of a fish, but no discernible features.

They were almost transparent.

According to the texts in the Immortal Spirit Cave Mansion, the most powerful of these were called Yin Yang Fish, and they looked almost like normal fish.

The fry they produced were Four Symbols Fish.

And the Four Symbols Fish, in turn, would produce Eight Trigrams Fish.

The Four Symbols Fish were transparent, while the Eight Trigrams Fish were colored.

’Their purpose wasn’t to be caught, but to be used for evolution. These fish could evolve into most things in existence.’

’Beneath the Great Dao itself, there was nothing they could not evolve into.’

’And the so-called incompleteness was because the Immortal Spirit Spring didn’t serve the Immortal Spirit Cave Mansion. It served a single, specific purpose.’

And as for what that was, Jiang Zuo had never found out before he left.

Afterward, he lost interest in meddling with it.

He rarely concerned himself with matters beneath the Great Dao.

And out of respect, he had never explored the Immortal Spirit Cave Mansion either.

After all, there was no compelling reason for him to go there.

’Now, it seemed the Immortal Spirit Spring’s purpose was likely to serve the Holy Land’s Grand Array. Its function was probably to maintain the Grand Array.’

This piqued Jiang Zuo’s curiosity.

In his previous life, he never would have imagined that the Immortal Spirit Cave Mansion was connected to the Yue Lian Holy Land—and that their connection was an unusual one.

Jiang Zuo then looked up toward the light of the sacrifice. ’They must be opening the gate over there,’ he mused.

Jiang Zuo felt he had acted too hastily back then. Otherwise, he might have discovered something.

Then, Jiang Zuo asked Chi Xue Child and the others, "Are people still running their stalls now?"

Chi Xue Child replied, "Twenty-four hours a day, without a break."

"Let’s go take a look," Jiang Zuo said, and started walking in the direction of the sacrifice.

With Jiang Zuo participating, the others were thrilled. Who knows, they might even snag a Divine Artifact this time. That would be a massive score.

Soon, they arrived at the site of the sacrifice. The light here had solidified into a thick, tangible wall.

This wall blocked all sight and spiritual sense; not even Jiang Zuo could see through it.

Numerous stalls were set up along the wall of light, all displaying a variety of fishing rods. Some were ultra-modern, while others were distinctly ancient.

The complex ones were packed with so many features they were impossible to figure out, while the simple ones were nothing more than a single bamboo pole.

Just then, a vendor’s shout reached their ears:

"Come on, come on, take a look! Fresh from the ancient era, the Broken Bridge Fishing Rod! When the Broken Bridge appears, who can possibly compete? This is the very rod that once caught a Kun Peng! Catching a few Eight Trigrams Colored Fish with this will be an absolute breeze!

"Don’t just walk on by! Get your hands on this, and you’ll all have a shot at reaching the pinnacle of your lives!"

Jiang Zuo paused. ’Duan Qiao?’

’Someone’s actually selling a Divine Artifact like that?’

He turned to glance at the vendor.

Jiang Zuo was already wearing the Mist mask, so his presence shouldn’t have been particularly high.

Yet, the instant Jiang Zuo looked at the man, the man’s gaze met his.

The moment the vendor saw Jiang Zuo, he froze. One look was all it took to know: this was someone he couldn’t afford to mess with.