The fish was the size of his forearm. Its scales were very shiny and reflected all colors of the rainbow.
As the fish leaped into the air, it sprayed water everywhere.
Tang Hao stretched out and caught it firmly in his hand.
The Taoist masters were scratching their heads in frustration when they heard the commotion. They all turned to look.
They immediately became stunned, and their eyes widened in disbelief.
Many of them even rubbed their eyes, thinking that they had seen an illusion.
They looked at the fish, then at their respective fishing rods, and lowered their heads in shame.
‘F*ck, this is too embarrassing!’
They had bragged about being fishing experts earlier, but Tang Hao, who had never fished before, caught a fish before them.
“Haha! It must have been a fluke!”
Taoist Master Qing Xu blushed. Then, he laughed and said, “You’re really lucky, Little Brother!”
“That’s right! That’s right! He only got lucky!”
The Taoist masters laughed heartily.
Then, they returned to fishing, hoping to be the next one to catch a fish.
Tang Hao put the fish into the bucket and cast his line again.
After a short while, another fish jumped out of the water with a splash.
Hearing the noise, the Taoist masters looked up and were dumbfounded.
‘Another one? Is this even real?’
Then, they lowered their heads and looked at their fishing rods. Their faces gradually turned ashen.
This time, they were utterly humiliated.
Fellow Cultivator Tang must be secretly laughing at them!
“Haha! Your luck is really incredible, Little Brother!” Taoist Master Qing Xu laughed, but his confidence was wavering.
“Yeah! Thanks to you guys!” Tang Hao said seriously.
He cast his line again and caught another after a while. The fishes kept on biting.
The Taoist masters sat there in utter shock.
They could not close their mouths.
“What the hell?”
They raised their heads to look at Tang Hao, then lowered their heads to look at their fishing lines that had not moved. They were losing their minds.
‘F*ck! This can’t be real!’
Their side of the pond had no movement at all. It seemed as though all the fish were queueing up to be caught by Tang Hao.
Their faces were ashen. They finally realized that it was not about luck at all!
Fellow Cultivator Tang was clearly a master fisher!
Tang Hao was having the time of his life, catching one fish after another.
It was exhilarating to be continuously reaping rewards.
He tried all types of bait and found that century-old ginseng and lingzhi were the best. Once he cast the line, the surface of the water boiled. It was a group of fish fighting.
The Taoist masters were dumbfounded again when they saw the scene.
‘Crazy! This is simply crazy!’
After filling up a bucket with fish, he retrieved another bucket. Soon, seven big buckets were filled.
Suddenly, the water in the center of the pond began to churn. It became more and more intense as if something huge was rushing toward the surface at high speed.
“It’s coming! The big fella is coming!”
Taoist Master Qing Xu stood up. His eyes were sparkling.
The other Taoist masters also stood up and prepared for battle.
Tang Hao put down his fishing rod and stood up as well. He held a few jade talismans in each of his palms.
Splash!
An enormous fish broke through the surface of the pond. Each scale was the size of a cattail leaf fan, and with a flick of its tail, a wave of water swept out.
As the water droplets splashed in the air, they turned into icicles and shot toward the crowd.
“Attack!”
Taoist Master Qing Xu roared and struck first, and the other Taoist masters followed suit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They shot out bolts of fire and lightning.
In just one exchange, the giant fish was heavily injured. It crashed to the ground.
“Quick! Continue! We can’t let it escape!” Taoist Master Qing Xu roared.
The water passages below the pond were numerous and complicated. Once it escaped, it would be difficult to catch it again.
Tang Hao rushed up and threw out a jade talisman.
After a few focused attacks, the fish drew its last breath and stopped moving.
Taoist Master Qing Xu went up and finished it with one sword strike.
Then, he collected its soul.
“Wow! It’s so big! I can’t even finish it all by myself!”
Taoist Master Qian Ji walked up and touched the fish scales with a face full of admiration.
“This beast should be at the peak of the State of Qi Channeling!”
“More than that. It’s almost in the State of Foundation Establishment. If it were only the State of Qi Channeling, all of us would have been able to take it down in the first wave of attacks.”
The Taoist masters discussed among themselves.
“This soul is for you, Little Brother! I’ll give you some more meat as well. I’m going to give Qian Ji its qi core. He might be able to break through that way,” Taoist Master Qing Xu said as he handed a gourd to Tang Hao.
Tang Hao took it and nodded.
“Come here! Let’s quickly process this beast and roast the meat!” Taoist Master Qing Xu shouted.
The Taoist masters cheered and rushed forward. They removed the scales, cut open the belly, took out the internal organs, and cut the flesh into chunks.
Tang Hao took out pots, pans, bowls, portable gas stoves, dry wood, and other items.
They set up the stoves and spits so that they could roast, boil, or fry the fish.
The Taoist masters were extremely busy at work.
The fried fish was the fastest. The meat was thinly sliced and lightly seasoned. Its fragrance was intoxicating.
Tang Hao picked up a slice and stuffed it into his mouth.
The meat was as smooth as silk. As he bit gently into it, an incredibly delicious taste bloomed on the tip of his tongue.
At this moment, all the pores on his body seemed to have opened.
The meat of the giant serpent or sea dragon was nothing compared to this meat.
“Delicious! It’s so delicious!”
Tang Hao could not help but exclaim.
The Taoist masters rushed up and fought for the meat with their chopsticks.
“It’s mine! Don’t fight for it!”
“Damn! Save one for me!”
After taking a slice, they stuffed it into their mouths and tasted it. They were all amazed.
“This is indeed the most delicious meat! It’s no exaggeration!”
Soon, the people were full. They lay by the bonfire and closed their eyes.
“Eating meat and drinking divine liquor, what a carefree life!”
Taoist Master Qian Ji burped and lay down with a liquor jar in his arms.
After relaxing and chatting for a few hours, they sat up once more. Tang Hao gave them some of the special bait.
They almost ran out of containers for their haul.
Tang Hao began to ponder. ‘It’s not a good idea to store dead fish for too long. The longer they’re stored, the worse they taste.’
“Should I… rear fish?”
Tang Hao arrived at that idea.
There was a small pond in the magatama pocket world, which could be used to rear fish.