Wait a minute, where is my master?

A certain small world

"Did she go in?"

"She must have."

"Are you sure? The sacrifice hasn't even started yet?"

"Yeah... huh??? What was she doing just now!!!"

"Seems like she was eating Arctic cod."

"...you let her eat at the altar?!"

"Well, she said she might not get to eat that again over there, and you know her personality..."

"You're just spoiling her!"

...

...

In the sky, Xuanxu Temple was speeding along.

Inside the temple.

Little Taoist Jin Xu threw the blackish "broken fishing rod" onto the table, carried the still unconscious husky into the kitchen, and instructed the woman in the golden red dress to watch it and prevent it from wrecking the house.

He then turned and headed back to his room to carry out his cultivation plan.

Indeed, he was to practice an extra half hour today.

After one stick of incense had burned.

Jin Xu, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, was suddenly enveloped in a flash of golden light, and then he opened his eyes.

"Sigh~ The surge of power from practicing the unique cultivation technique Master taught me is getting slower and slower."

"Before, I'd feel a surge of power three to five times in a single practice. Now, I barely feel it once a month. And without a reference, I don't even know how my three months of cultivation has really gone."

Jin Xu, with a look of sorrow on his face, talked to himself, anxious about his slow progress.

After spacing out on the bed for a bit, he jumped down, pushed open the room door, and walked towards the main hall in the front courtyard.

He wanted to offer incense to the founding master, hoping that the master would protect his teacher and allow him to return safely.

Praying that his master was still alive, this world was just a bit too dangerous, after all.

Xuanxu Temple wasn't very large; the backyard had a row of five rooms: four side rooms and a kitchen, for a total of five. There was a Big Willow Tree in the yard with a stone table and several stone stools underneath, and there was an ancient well beside the kitchen.

Through a small gate in the front, you could reach the main hall. Calling it a main hall was actually quite generous; it was just a small room that housed the clay statues of the Three Pure Ones.

Exiting the temple's front door led to the front yard, which had a bronze cauldron at its center, filled with a thick layer of incense ash, though without any Sandalwood Incense in it.

Jin Xu passed through the small gate, walked to the center of the main hall, and stood in front of the Three Pure Ones statue; below it was an offering table with a small incense burner on it.

And there were also several plates of fruit, seemingly older than Jin Xu himself.

Beneath the offering table were three old meditation cushions that looked even older than the fruit.

Jin Xu approached the offering table, carefully lit three uneven sticks of Sandalwood Incense, and placed them in the burner.

His mouth began to murmur to itself.

Founding master, bless us, let Master come back soon,

Great master, bless us, let Master still be alive,

Great master, bless us, keep my school enrollment.

In fact, as a materialistic young man, Jin Xu wasn't all that impressed by these superstitious practices.

But in his previous life, he seemed to have read a phrase in some anecdotal records book that seemed quite sensible.

What was it called, it doesn't cost a thing, so why not believe a little?

After all, the incense and the burner were leftovers from the temple.

It's free, so why not try, right?

After mumbling his wishes to himself, Jin Xu carefully pulled the three partially burned sticks of Sandalwood Incense from the burner, blew them out, and gingerly set them aside.

He would need to use them again the next time he offered incense.

No other choice, Jin Xu had searched the entire temple and couldn't find a single extra stick of Sandalwood Incense.

These three sticks of incense and the incense burner were actually salvaged from his own room's table.

"Great master, please don't blame me; if I hadn't discovered that I no longer needed to eat, I'd have starved to death by now."

Master just disappeared without leaving me any mundane wealth of this world.

Sigh!

Jin Xu contemplated, once he had money, he would first buy a tank for his fish and then purchase some incense for the masters.

Then he made a calculation with his fingers, realizing that his master had been gone for three months already.

Sometimes, the little Taoist even wondered if his master had died.

As he pondered, Jin Xu found himself lost in memories.

...

...

Three months earlier, on an exceptionally peaceful and sunny morning.

Jin Xu got up early, getting ready to pay his respects to his master.

He was vaguely excited because his master had mentioned the night before that he would teach him the Thunder Skill and the Escape Skill they had used last time.

However, when he stepped outside, he saw no one under the Big Willow Tree.

His master, who usually sat under the tree drinking tea and reading, wasn't there today.

Feeling puzzled, Jin Xu approached the stone table, touched the teacup – it was cold; the book lying on the table was still the "Ruyi Jun Biography" his master had been reading the day before.

He thought to himself,

"Could it be that Master hasn't gotten up yet?"

So, he decided to check his master's room. He walked a few steps to the door and found that it wasn't closed.

Stepping inside, he saw the room was empty except for his master's black fishing rod, lying forlornly on the floor.

Jin Xu bent down to pick up the fishing rod and placed it on the table in the room.

"Master? Master?"

The little Taoist called out several times, but with no answer from the backyard, he ran to the front yard.

"Master! Master?"

There was no one in the front yard, the main hall, the four rooms of the backyard, or the kitchen; he even searched the well next to the kitchen to no avail.

Ultimately, he was certain: his master was indeed not in the Xuanxu Temple.

"He must be out on some business."

The little Taoist comforted himself, convinced his master, invincible under the heavens, would not simply disappear without reason.

Jin Xu silently returned to the kitchen, eating the meals his master brought back a few days ago, methodically carrying out his own cultivation plan.

He practiced the Special Skill taught by his master for two hours.

Then, he trained for another hour in the Strengthening Skill imparted by his master.

Feeling his gradual progress, Jin Xu felt very fulfilled.

The next day

His master still hadn't returned.

The third day, the fourth day...

Jin Xu no longer felt fulfilled.

He realized something must have really happened to his master!

In the six months since he became a disciple, his master had never been away for more than a day.

Jin Xu occasionally discovered his master sneaking out with a fishing rod at night.

The next morning, he could always see his master under the big tree drinking tea and reading, an unshakable habit.

Realizing his master was missing, Jin Xu wanted to go out and look for him.

But when he mustered the courage to push open the ancient doors of the temple, ready to venture out, he unexpectedly found that his temple was actually suspended in the sky!

No wonder it had been sunny every day for six months, with the clouds all below the temple.

Looking at the thick clouds below the temple, Jin Xu broke out in a cold sweat on his back.

Scared.

The little Taoist was a bit afraid of heights and hadn't yet learned the Flying Escape Skill.

Just when Jin Xu thought he would die of hunger trapped in the temple, he unexpectedly discovered some good news—he seemed to have achieved inedia since he didn't feel hungry at all, despite not having eaten for several days.

The little Taoist estimated he might have reached the "Golden Core Realm," as his master had introduced to him in the past.

The cultivators of the Nine Provinces Realm are divided into the stages: Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Refining Void, Divinity Transformation, Crossing Tribulation, Mahayana, and the in-world True Immortal, each stage with ten layers, and one can ascend after passing the Ascension Tribulation at the Mahayana stage.

Further cultivation to in-world True Immortal and then ascending is said to make one even stronger, but there hasn't been one for thousands of years.

Jin Xu had even carefully memorized the various realms then.

But his master told him, "Remembering this stuff is useless for you."

???

The Tianxing Taoist said that the little Taoist's constitution was special and had always been different from that of ordinary cultivators since ancient times. He was told to just focus on cultivating the Special Skill passed down to him and that he would only have a clear understanding of his realm after achieving immortality.

"Before that, if you want to know your own strength, you can ask someone you trust to check for you, or you can open your heart to someone and feel the difference between their spiritual power and the spiritual power you have cultivated. That way, you can know the extent of your cultivation," the master had said.

After hearing his master's words, Jin Xu grasped the key point, "Only after becoming an immortal, will there be a clear distinction of realm levels."

So he decided to work hard at cultivating and achieve immortality as soon as possible.

...

Days passed, and the little Taoist who realized he wouldn't die of hunger attempted self-rescue, trying to figure out a way to leave the temple.

Standing under the big willow tree in the backyard, there was Jin Xu.

The stone table in front of him displayed the items he had gathered during the past few days for his self-rescue efforts.

They consisted of a pitch-black fishing rod that the master seldom parted with, a "broken" communication jade token, a stack of books discovered beneath the master's bed, with the "Ruyi Jun Biography" on top.

The jade token was given to him by his master, who told him not to use it unless it was a crisis, as it was very valuable.

The advantage of the jade token was that, as long as you were in the Nine Provinces Realm, you could receive messages; the downside, however, was that it could only send three messages at most.

Jin Xu had already sent one message, but no one replied.

The young Taoist flipped through the pile of books and, apart from blushing, he found no other use for them.

Now, only the fishing rod was left.

Feeling that it held the greatest hope, the young Taoist had purposely saved it for last.

Jin Xu dazedly reached out and picked up the pitch-dark fishing rod.

Holding it in his hands, he gave it a couple of casual flicks and noticed no changes, so he tried to inject a bit of his own golden spiritual power into the rod.

A strange sensation arose, as if the fishing rod suddenly began to connect to his very bloodline.

Suddenly, a brief introduction and two sets of dialogue appeared in his mind.

The first image was of an old man wearing a straw raincoat, standing aboard a small boat, and speaking to Jin Xu without turning back.

"In my life, I was famed for being able to fish anything under the heavens, yet I could not fish back my own child's soul. This rod was forged in an attempt to save my son's soul, but there was a mistake during its forging when a piece of ink jade fell from the sky and merged into it. Ultimately, I missed the crucial timing, my son's life was lost, and even with this wondrous treasure, it was all in vain!" The image ended, showing a note left by the Fishing Sky Elder.

The second image was of Tianxing Taoist, his invincible master, with a background of the Xuanxu Temple's backyard.

"He who is virtuous may possess treasures. I have obtained this ink jade rod, and from now on, it shall be one of Xuanxu Temple's underlying assets. However, successors must remember that this treasure was damaged during the Great War between gods and demons a thousand years ago and cannot recognize an owner, so it should only be lent to those one deeply trusts. In addition, the items fished with this treasure become somewhat unpredictable. Do not use it unless one is in a hopeless situation." The image ended, showing a note left by the 33rd temple master of Xuanxu Temple, Tianxing Taoist.

The brief introduction provided an explanation of how to use the ink jade rod, stating that the length of the fishing line would vary with the amount of spiritual power one injected into it.

Then, the user must concentrate and visualize the person or item they wish to obtain, cast the fishing line and hook into the water, and patiently wait for a bite. Note: The longer the fishing line, the greater the chances of fishing up the desired item.

No wonder the master always kept it with him!

This fishing rod.

It was like having a trick up one's sleeve—catching whoever or whatever you want.

After understanding how to use it, Jin Xu first experimented with injecting spiritual power.

Indeed, the originally short silvery-white fishing line grew longer as Jin Xu injected more spiritual power into it.

The more spiritual power he infused, the longer it became. When he reduced his spiritual power, it would shorten.

Jin Xu played with the fishing line's varying lengths for a while and discovered that at its longest it was about twenty meters.

At the same time, Jin Xu began to wonder.

Could he possibly fish his master back?!!! The moment this thought emerged, it grew wildly in his mind like weeds.

A hopeless situation might just be how Jin Xu currently saw himself. He felt that if he could fish his master back, he could tolerate a bit of unpredictability.

With a decision made in his heart, Jin Xu acted on it.

He injected spiritual power, extended the fishing line to its greatest length, and swung the rod, allowing the silvery-white line and hook to trace a perfect arc in the sky before falling beside the ancient well near the kitchen...

Sigh~ It's true that the first attempt is often off-target.

Jin Xu honestly approached the well, tossing the fishing line and hook into it. Holding the fishing rod, he concentrated hard, visualizing his master's voice and smile.

Then he heard a sharp and eerie female voice coming from the well.

It was exceedingly chilling!