My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1162: The New Xuanhuang Realm

The chances of pulling in items of treasure quality from the Fishing Pond bear no relation to a person's cultivation base.

Instead, it relies far more on the earnestness of the fishing effort and the grasp of the Dao of Fishing.

Actually, the stronger the craving for a particular item, the slimmer the odds of catching that exact prize.

To put it simply, it's deep and enigmatic, akin to regular fishing.

Those who triumph in the Holy Dynasty Fishing Competition get set up to cast their lines in the Fishing Pond.

These folks mostly hover at the Qi Condensation stage, and the top ones barely hit the Nascent Soul level.

With their shallow insights and scant exposure, they'd hardly suspect that this plain little pond serves as an immortal-grade treasure, powerful enough to snag even world-spanning rarities.

Whatever they pull out, they'll naturally chalk it up as gifts from the Great Holy Emperor.

Plus, there's zero concern that any of them, similar to the Senior Stone Tablet in the 119th cycle, would idiotically try to grasp the Dao of Fishing via the Fishing Pond, thus stirring the ire of the hidden nameless True Immortal and ending up hooked themselves.

Whenever items of treasure emerge from the Fishing Pond, Li Ping lets the anglers keep most of them, save for a handful that catch his eye. He could even pour effort into raising them up.

"In this cycle, let me witness if the treasures inside this Fishing Pond are genuinely boundless. And..."

"If the Myriad Heavens' Fortune can crush the Xuanhuang!"

With his eyes on the over ten thousand fishermen in the Holy Capital, all gripping diverse fishing rods and itching to cast, Li Ping appeared to picture endless cosmic stellar treasures soaring right into the Holy Dynasty.

While the Holy Dynasty Fishing Competition unfolded amid strict timelines and grand setups.

In the remote northwest of Yongyun Prefecture, on a barren small hill.

Within the rundown temple at the summit, Zhong Shentong, fresh from a fruitless cast, abruptly sensed an overwhelming sleepiness.

He meant to summon the Daoist child Liuli, but spotted her instead lost in heavy snores.

Zhong Shentong laughed softly and checked the temple's protective array to confirm all was secure.

With that done, he stretched out casually on the recliner for a short rest.

Unsure of the time that slipped by...

Awakening in confusion, he realized he lay in a shadowy, unfamiliar void!

On reflex, he reached for his top escape artifact in the storage ring, only to learn he'd been totally disrobed sometime, standing stark naked!

Zhong Shentong's features spasmed. He grasped that he'd been utterly captured this round. The foe was merciless, offering him not a sliver of opportunity.

"Yet I'm breathing still, so they don't plan to end me. Outwardly, I'm merely a Qi Condensation practitioner on the brink of death, broke and broken. Handling me shouldn't call for such intricate schemes. Thus, it's the Fishing Pond they're after?"

Thoughts whirling in Zhong Shentong's head, enlightenment hit him quick. Yet despite desperate pondering, he couldn't pinpoint how the mystery of this peerless artifact had spilled.

No prior signs at all!

"Wait, how's Liuli faring?"

This young one, who gained a human shape after Zhong Shentong himself fished her from the Fishing Pond, had become like his sole kin. With him caught, she must be in deep peril too...

As Zhong Shentong's mind churned in chaos, a frigid voice boomed abruptly in the total darkness.

"Achieve Foundation Establishment in seven days."

"Fail, and die!"

Showing no desire to chat with Zhong Shentong, it uttered just those words then went utterly mute.

Still, the chilling murderous aura wrapping him, dense like a physical force, convinced Zhong Shentong this wasn't some idle threat.

Should he botch the breakthrough, death would come for real.

"I've lingered at Qi Condensation late stage for more than fifty years. To the eye, I look withered and beyond any hope of advancing. No ordinary soul would issue me such an order. Except..."

"They've surmised I practice the [Mysterious Art of Life and Death]!"

The deeper Zhong Shentong delved, the more this unseen plotter struck him as bottomlessly wise. Despite no prior encounter, the foe knew his secrets like an open scroll.

...

Even as Zhong Shentong plunged into boundless dread.

In a separate dark void, the Daoist child Liuli showed no hint of the looming danger. Her snores continued deep and steady.

Li Ping materialized abruptly in front of her, watching in silence.

Moments later, he remarked coolly: "Fellow Daoist Hundred Flowers, reveal yourself."

Quiet persisted, no answer.

Li Ping's eyes sharpened: "Do I need to repeat it thrice, Sect Master of the Heavenly Lotus Sect from the Wansheng Realm?"

His voice stayed mild, but to attuned listeners, it crashed like thunder from clear skies.

At last dropping the pretense, radiant golden beams erupted, and a form stepped out from the Daoist child Liuli's frame.

Daoist Hundred Flowers locked eyes on Li Ping: "Who in the world are you?"

She was positive she'd never crossed paths with this fellow. But he'd nailed her true self spot-on...

In a flash, myriad faces raced through Daoist Hundred Flowers' thoughts. None aligned.

"I'm just one more drifter lost among the stars, like you, fellow daoist, stripped of our roots. Bygones are bygones; no point lingering on them."

Those words alone tossed Daoist Hundred Flowers' mind into a tempest. It felt like reliving the terror of those old days when dooms burst forth relentlessly.

"More crucially, what's ahead." The man's follow-up seized her full focus.

"The future?"

"Today, submerged in the Star Sea, only this spot endures as the last refuge. Yet the current Xuanhuang Realm differs wholly from the one of yesteryear. Across countless years, stitched from shards of endless realms, this reborn Xuanhuang Realm has soared past the limits of a mere cultivation domain." Li Ping's tone carried a note of sorrow.

"Look closely, fellow daoist, and you could uncover traces of the old Wansheng Realm."

Daoist Hundred Flowers' face shifted: "What are you getting at, fellow daoist?"

"As the Xuanhuang Realm has drawn in pieces of our lost worlds... then within this renewed Xuanhuang Realm, we deserve our due share. If they won't hand it over, we'll take it by force." Li Ping proclaimed with pride.

"The homegrown powers of the Xuanhuang Realm loom immensely large. Unity alone offers a shot at taking back what's rightfully ours."

"Beyond the Wansheng Realm, I've located fellow daoists from the Heavenly Mechanism Realm as well..."

Li Ping went on extensively.

Daoist Hundred Flowers, for her part, showed obvious stirrings.

"Should the Xuanhuang Realm have truly incorporated bits of our realms to fend off the Immortal Ruins, then yes, this could truly be my fresh abode."

A sharp ache bloomed in Daoist Hundred Flowers' chest: the unstoppable feeling of a long-term exile finally spotting a new shelter.

"However... the Xuanhuang Realm's cultivators prove far from simple foes." After weighing it over, Daoist Hundred Flowers remained wary. She dimly remembered how, in those days, a single local Half-Immortal had alone blocked all us otherworld survivors from entry.

Though eras had shifted and that Half-Immortal's location stayed a mystery, the Xuanhuang Realm boasted a fresh Immortal Ancestor Heavenly Sovereign now...

Could we outsiders really hold the upper hand against Him?