Free Web NovelChapter 365: Chapter 358: Fishing for a Great Kun on a Canoe
Deep within the Earth’s Lung, countless dreamlike, fluorescent light-blue butterflies of the sea gathered, reforming into a Kun six to seven hundred meters long.
It commanded ten thousand forms, its size bending to its will.
The Ten Thousand Forms Kun could stretch for several thousand meters or shrink to a mere hundred, but a form of six to seven hundred meters was the most moderate choice.
A balance of offense and defense.
It had transformed into butterflies and searched the seabed for a long time, yet it still hadn’t found the source of that delicious and tempting Holy Hall Power. This left it extremely frustrated.
A frantic itch clawed at its heart,
along with a powerful sense of indignation!
On this planet, no other Holy Hall Tier creature had appeared for a very long time. Now, it had discovered one, and it seemed to be a creature that had just entered the Holy Hall Tier by ascending on its own.
’This is the perfect tonic!’
By simply eating it, it could inherit the origin of its newly born Holy Hall Skills, seize its destiny, and obtain a perfect Holy Hall "form," adding another piece to its collection of ten thousand forms.
It would also provide a lot of amusement in the future.
Besides, how could a creature that had just entered the Holy Hall Tier possibly compare to it in combat strength?
How could it let such an opportunity slip away?
It did not give up.
If it didn’t need to guard the Source Water of the Unceasing Water, it might have tried to leave the Earth’s Lung to continue its search. But there was still a chance. It remained motionless, entering a state of sage-like clarity befitting a master of destiny, and began to carefully sense the ripples of destiny.
The River of Destiny was as still as an old well.
DRIP—
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The Sun-Shooter traveled through the deeper layers of earth beneath the seabed.
Shi Ming could occasionally find the remains of creatures from the Land Era in the soil. Buried in the earth, they were like sleeping time capsules, telling future generations that Earth was once their domain.
He also discovered large amounts of coal.
"MOSS, precise navigation. Head to the location where we last encountered the great Kun."
"Yes, Master."
After activating the true "intelligent driving" mode, he didn’t need to expend any energy piloting the vessel. Instead, he calmed his mind and sat steadily within the Sun-Shooter’s relatively cramped interior, retracting his Spiritual Power and completely concealing his aura.
Before long, the Sun-Shooter came to a stop.
He knew he had arrived at his destination.
He waited for a long time a thousand meters deep beneath the seabed. There were no attacks from the outside, nor did he sense any abnormalities.
This meant the Ten Thousand Forms Kun had not yet detected the Sun-Shooter under the sea. However, with the tiny bit of Spiritual Power Shi Ming discreetly released, he could sense a powerful creature resting on the seabed a thousand meters above.
’Did it really not notice me, or is it pretending not to?’
’It couldn’t be fishing too, just like me, could it?’
None of that mattered.
Shi Ming was both the fisherman,
and the bait.
He could also play the role of the "fish"—a humanoid fish that had just ascended to the Holy Hall Tier, its fangs hidden.
The Sun-Shooter slowly ascended,
like a fish frantically testing the waters after spotting food.
Seeing the Ten Thousand Forms Kun show no reaction, Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power grew more and more audacious. He was no longer subtle, releasing a large amount of Spiritual Power to use this time to probe for any anomalies around the Kun, searching for any possible rare artifacts.
Wherever his Spiritual Power went, it was as if he were there in person.
This was a rather dreamlike domain.
Streams of light blue light swirled around the Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s translucent body. From time to time, a tiny butterfly would fly out, making the Kun’s surface seem even more ethereal and dreamlike, untouched by a speck of dust. These butterflies, exceptionally small compared to the Kun, could even pass through its body and fly inside it, as if they too had opened a "Ten Thousand Realms as a Sea."
’A semi-ethereal state?’
’A Southern Netherworld phantasm.’
At this moment, the Kun was swimming on the edge of reality and illusion. It could weaken all physical attacks by 80%, but of course, it was also ethereal itself and could not use any physical attacks.
Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power swept over the Kun’s body.
It still had no reaction.
’It’s putting on a pretty good act.’
Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power quickly scanned the area but found no rare artifacts. His Eye of Destiny gave no hints, either. He only discovered that inside the Kun’s body, at the intersection of the real and the ethereal, the seawater’s Sea Crystal Stone concentration was abnormally high, comparable to the seawater sample provided by Da Yu.
’That must be the anomaly,’ he thought.
The Ten Thousand Forms Kun seemed to have grown a little tired of being still.
It moved.
’Is it going to take the bait?’
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The Ten Thousand Forms Kun felt the ripples of destiny.
It was like a single drop of water falling onto the surface of a placid lake. Though only a tiny drop, it shattered the tranquility of the entire lake’s surface. Minuscule ripples began to spread from where the drop landed, expanding, unfurling, layer after layer.
They continued until they filled the entire lake, then began to recede.
’Heh, this little thing has been testing the waters from underground, seemingly afraid to come out. What is it looking for?’
Of course, the Ten Thousand Forms Kun knew what it was looking for.
The Unceasing Water.
It swayed gently. A ball of wondrous Source Water, from within its ethereal concealment, appeared and disappeared like a shy beauty half-hiding her face. It was like a flawless belle showing off her most exquisite charm.
It was as if it were saying,
’Come on, I’m right here.’
’Come and get it!’
The Ten Thousand Forms Kun was accumulating its Destiny Power. The moment its prey could no longer hold back and revealed itself, the "Ten Thousand Forms Sanctuary"—powerful enough to send a Holy Hall Tier enemy into a dreamscape—would descend instantly. A little thing that had just entered the Holy Hall Tier would inevitably surrender its destiny and fall into the net of fate.
For sea beasts or Awakened with the destiny attribute, the abstract concept of Destiny could be compared to three more easily understood forms.
The Wheel of Circulation, endlessly repeating, its beginning meeting its end.
The River of Destiny, ever-flowing forward with its numerous tributaries.
The Web of Causality, an inescapable, crisscrossing net.
The Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s favorite was the Web of Causality. It delighted in seeing all living things, in all their forms, struggling futilely within the web, trapped by the sense of Destiny. For example, that human whelp on the ship two days ago, a mere eight-year-old, had actually come close to escaping the fate it had woven. As the director, that was something it could not allow.
So on that day, it had personally intervened, usurping the human whelp’s destiny and forcing the story to proceed according to its predetermined ending.
In the end, amidst the pain and repentance, it felt humanity’s most extreme emotions and achieved great satisfaction.
Today would be no different.
It would use the Unceasing Water as bait, luring that timid little thing testing the waters to boldly come forward. Then, at the moment of its greatest joy, it would give the story an O. Henry-style ending.
It, the "director" of destiny, the weaver, arbiter, and controller of fate, would give birth to a new work of art.
...
Shi Ming detected the aura of a rare artifact.
A notification from his Eye of Destiny appeared before him.
[This is the highest-grade rare artifact the Eye of Destiny has seen since its awakening! Absolutely marvelous!]
[Unceasing Water]
[The root of the ever-flowing seawater, the ceaseless fount of the ocean, the beginning of the Endless Ocean, and the end of all oceanic disasters.]
[...]
