Who let him join the Sword Sect!

Chapter 549 Those who take the bait will be slapped in the face.
East China Sea.

The sea is azure, the wind is calm, and a giant ship floats on the sea, calming the clear waves.

The ship's hull is adorned with gold and glass, and decorated with dragons and phoenixes. Its pavilions and towers appear and disappear in the clouds and mist, resembling a fairy mountain on the sea when viewed from afar.

The Beast Taming Sect's giant ship has been anchored here for several days, awaiting news from the Thousand Machines Pavilion.

The plan to plant trees underwater was approved unanimously after it was determined that it would not affect the construction work on land.

It may take some time to refine those insects, but the saplings and Thousand Machine City will be delivered soon.

"Master, the other ships have already left to explore the distant seas. Is it really okay for us to stay here and try to catch fish?"

The little monk's apprentice, the big black monk, stood on the side of the boat, an empty bucket in one hand and a net in the other, looking at his master who was facing away from all the people and had no one to rely on.

"Don't rush, I'm telling you, don't rush," the little monk said leisurely, holding his fishing rod with a relaxed air.

"First of all, we're not slacking off; we're here on a mission."

"The Thousand Machine Pavilion will send the first batch of Transformed Thousand Machine Cities over later. Our task here is to receive these Thousand Machine Cities."

"Secondly, in order to prepare in advance, we have planted many small sacred trees on the seabed before we arrived in the city, and they are currently being cared for by manpower."

“If we leave, where will our fellow disciples who are drowning in the sea go?”

"Finally, I heard from Xiao Fu Ji and Benefactor Zhang that this is the place where he turned into a stone statue, crossed the sea to return to land, and fell into the sea halfway and met Fu Ji."

"This kind of place is called the Emperor's Check-in Spot. If we don't take advantage of the fact that there are fewer people now, are we going to wait until there are more people to come?"

"You don't even understand it."

The young monk spoke eloquently, displaying the air of a master.

The senior monk glanced at the boundless, calm sea where the sky and sea met, and although he didn't know what scenery there was to admire, he still nodded.

“I understand the logic, but what does that have to do with you sitting here like an idiot and not being able to catch any fish?”

"Even if it's just checking in, even if staying here is our task, shouldn't we still do something meaningful?"

The senior monk patiently explained, then put down the empty bucket and, without thinking, tugged at the fishing rod in his master's hand.

The fishing rod swayed, stirring up a whirlpool in the sea along with the fishing line.

The young monk frowned slightly and pretended to be angry, saying, "Stop poking at them, you're scaring the fish away."

The senior monk was somewhat speechless, and he pointed at the fishing rod.

"Excuse my bluntness, but I feel that no matter whether I touch this fishing rod or not, Master, you will not be able to catch any fish."

The senior monk was telling the truth; the fishing rod in the junior monk's hand was indeed quite faulty.

The fishing rod was about ten zhang long, made entirely of wrought iron, and as thick as two people could hug. The fishing line was no less impressive; it wasn't a line as thick as a child's arm, but rather as thick as a small child's.

As for the fishing hook, it was a perfect match; from the sea, all that could be seen was a dark shadow in the water.

It's about the right size; there's more than enough room to hang a large monk on it as bait.

This thing doesn't look like it's for fishing; it looks like it's for catching Ah Li's true form.

Alternatively, it could be used as a meteor hammer to smash a whale-like sea dragon.

The problem is that with the Beast Taming Sect's divine ship here, ordinary sea monsters dare not approach, and those that do dare to approach won't be caught by such a stupid thing.

Therefore, the senior monk really couldn't understand or comprehend what his master meant.

If he weren't carrying a bucket in one hand and a net in the other, and if his master weren't watching him, he really wanted to jump into the sea, hang a fat pig on the fishing hook, and end this farce.

Perhaps because he had been touched on a sore spot, the little monk continued to be stubborn.

"Shut up, big hooks catch big fish, the bigger the hook, the bigger the fish."

"Do you understand what it means to be willing to take the bait? The reason I'm not catching any fish now is not because I'm bad at it, but simply because the time is not right."

The senior monk said, "I think it's not a matter of divine secrets, but rather a problem with you, Master."

He must have been really angry, because the little monk stood up and shoved the pillar-like fishing rod into the big monk's hand.

"Come on, come on, if you can catch a fish, I'll walk upside down today."

The senior monk meant to say, "It's a problem with your fishing rod," but he misspoke and omitted the word "fishing rod." This made a completely different impression on the junior monk.

He held the large fishing rod in his hand, feeling bitter for his own actions.

However, just as they were pondering a solution, the surrounding space suddenly trembled, the calm sea became turbulent, and in the blink of an eye, clouds and mist rose, a storm was brewing, a sign of a giant being about to be born.

The senior monk was initially delighted, but soon his sorrow turned to grief.

The joy was that he had caught a fish and wouldn't have to carry that broken rod anymore; the sorrow was that if he caught a fish, wouldn't his master have to walk upside down?
But the senior monk quickly came up with a plan. He planned to feign weakness while reeling in the fish and then hand the rod back to his master.

This way, I can get rid of this boring job and also please my master, which is a win-win situation.

But before he could even begin acting, the strange phenomenon in the sky suddenly vanished without a trace, and the sea returned to calm.

Apart from the fact that a spatial rift hundreds of feet high had appeared on the sea surface not far behind the stern, everything else was the same as before.

The view beyond the crevice resembled a range of mountains, much like the back mountain of Qianji Pavilion.

Not long after, a paper airplane flew out from the spatial rift, flew to the little monk's hand, unfolded automatically, and fell into his hand.

The young monk opened it and found that it was the handwriting of Chen Qianhu, the leader of the Sword Sect.

[A small test of my skills; we'll be arriving at Thousand Machine City soon, please handle with care.]

Clearly, this rift connecting two places hundreds of thousands of miles apart, which requires no magic array, is the work of Commander Chen.

It seems he has made some new gains recently.

Carefully folding the note and tucking it into his robes, the little monk looked toward the crack.

Soon, a huge shadow appeared behind the crack, swaying and looking somewhat hesitant.

After swaying for a while, the shadow was kicked by another shadow before it stopped. After a few moments, probably having mentally prepared itself, it took a step and crossed over from the other side of the spatial rift.

Crossing the rift was a giant with forked golden horns on its head. Judging from the words "West Gate of Anlan City" on the sign on its chest, it probably came from the Sword Sect headquarters.

On the back of the Golden Horned Thousand Machine Giant was a large box, wider than himself, on which were neatly stacked more than a dozen Thousand Machine Cities, which were not inhabited by any artifact spirits or insects.

Due to technical limitations, these items cannot be stored in ordinary spatial artifacts. The only way to transport them is through express delivery or by having them fly over from Thousand Machine City itself.

Commander Chen's small trial run saved him a lot of trouble.

Just when one problem remained, another one appeared.

The golden-horned giant had barely squeezed half its body through when its foot slipped, and with a thud, it fell sideways into the sea.

Zero splash, sinks to the bottom very quickly.

This appearance startled the master and apprentice, who were momentarily at a loss for what to do.

The monk looked around, and only when he looked down at the fishing rod in his hand did he have an idea. He thought to himself, "This broken thing has finally found a use."

But just as he was about to go forward to retrieve it, the Golden Horned Giant carrying the package floated up on its own, and as soon as it surfaced, it began to curse.

"Damn, the Ghost Revenge is all lies after all. The sea is so deep, how did Godzilla stand in the middle of the sea and only reach his knees?"

"I told you you're an idiot. If the Ghost Shadow show isn't fake, how could it be real? I've already told you that 'Godzilla vs. Chen Tang Pass' was filmed with dinosaurs from the mountains and seas in a bathtub, and you still didn't believe me. That's called tokusatsu, you know?"

A deep voice followed, and the second Thousand Machine Giant stepped out from behind the rift and stood firmly on the sea surface.

It's a little different from the previous one. Although the model number is the same, it's entirely silver, with a round plate on its head and the words "South Gate of Anlan City" written on its chest.

The giant ignored his colleagues and said to the young monk and his apprentice, "Please, set up a platform so we can unload our cargo."

Although the voice carried a hint of laughter, the rumbling sound was so loud it made one's head ache.

"No need, I'll do it." Before the little monk could make a move, Zhang Ze's voice came from above.

He also stepped across from the other side of the crevice, carrying several [Chen Mumu's Special Disposable Frost Swords] in his arms.

Since the surrounding area was open, Zhang Ze didn't aim and simply threw the ice sword in his hand towards the sea on the starboard side.

In the blink of an eye, a huge floating island, which could be called an island, appeared before everyone's eyes.

After setting up the platform, Zhang Ze landed on the ship from the air and began directing the Ximen and Nanmen brothers to unload the cargo.

The two brothers kept talking and muttering to themselves as they worked.

The two brothers, who had never been to the sea, started by talking about how blue the sea was, and then moved on to how blue the sky was. Their chatter, interspersed with trivialities about the neighborhood, never got old.

Seeing that the little monk was still in a daze and seemed a little confused, Zhang Ze explained.

"The spirits are actually all talkative, but they don't show it usually because they don't have mouths."

"I'll get you a lurking account another day. You can go check out that amazing forum. Posts there start at 30,000 words. If you argue, a sentence less than 2,000 words is like you haven't eaten."

The burly monk, who was holding a fishing rod with one hand, listened from the side and suddenly spoke up, "I understand the principle, but why do these two look like they've never seen the world before?"

After saying that, the monk immediately realized that the cricketer behind him was acting inappropriately, and he quickly slapped his mouth.

"What a sin, what a sin, I shouldn't have done it, I shouldn't have done it!"

Zhang Ze chuckled awkwardly, then explained, "Those two core members are a pair of magical artifacts belonging to my Sword Sect. For certain reasons, they haven't really seen much of the world."

According to Zhang Ze, the true forms of the gold and silver figures are weapons. The one with the gold horn is a three-pronged gold fork, while the one with the silver head is a silver round shield that can suppress the heavens.

The two were originally divine weapons and magical artifacts forged by an elder of a certain sword sect.

The elder's idea was to wield a trident in one hand and a shield in the other, making him invincible with both offense and defense.

But unexpectedly, while this shield and fork could ward off evil spirits, it couldn't stop the crickets from behind people.

I don't know which evil sorcerer came up with the idea, but gave him the nickname "Dung Fork Sword Immortal".

Later, even his fellow disciples called him Brother Cha, and the disciples in the sect respectfully referred to him as Master Cha or Elder Cha behind his back.

To prevent "Fork Brother" from actually becoming his name, the elder had no choice but to put away the pair of natal divine weapons.

He originally intended to melt it down and reforge it, but when it came time to do it, he couldn't bear to.

Left with no other choice, he spent another ten years forging a magnificent divine sword, which he then used to slay the sorcerer who spread the rumors and restore his reputation.

The two brothers with the golden fork and round shield were originally intended to be given to his disciples by the fork master, but none of them wanted them, and none of them wanted to be the fork's brother or grandson.

So, after trying to give it away to everyone without success, this set of divine weapons ended up being placed in Master Cha's home.

When you have nothing to do, use a fork to turn over the soil, plant some vegetables, and then cook the vegetables, using a shield as a pot lid.

It wasn't until recently, when Thousand Machine City was recruiting pilots, that the Shield and Fork Generals were given a second spring.

Zhang Ze spread his hands and said, "Got it? These two just came out for some fresh air, so it's normal for them to look a little unsteady."

After discussing this matter, Zhang Ze chatted with the little monk about recent events and rumors at sea. However, as they talked, Zhang Ze's gaze was unconsciously drawn to the 'pillar' in the big black monk's hand.

Unable to resist being drawn in, while Zhang Ze and the little monk were talking, the senior monk was right behind the little monk, carrying that thing and swaying it back and forth in front of his eyes.

Zhang Ze: "What are they doing? Salvaging a sunken ship?"

Seeing that Zhang Ze had been drawn to him, the senior monk quickly said, "This is my master fishing."

Zhang Ze, "Fish?"

The senior monk nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, they say the time is not yet right, and those who are willing will take the bait."

Zhang Ze, “.”

Seeing that Zhang Ze seemed to have taken an interest, the big black monk immediately handed the fishing rod to Zhang Ze, said "Give it a try," and then rubbed his arm and hurriedly disappeared.

Holding the heavy fishing rod, Zhang Ze looked at the little monk, but before he could speak, the fishing rod suddenly sank, as if something heavy had gotten caught on the hook.

Hold the rod with your front foot, and hook the fish with your back foot.

Zhang Ze, “.”

Little monk, "."

The young monk didn't know what to say, so in the end he could only solemnly pretend to be a wise man.

“Excellent, excellent, it’s the benefactor Zhang I’ve been waiting for.”

But after saying that, seeing that Zhang Ze didn't move, he anxiously urged, "Pull it away, pull it, or the fish will get away."

Zhang Ze's gaze went past the little monk's shoulder and looked towards the side of the boat, saying, "Actually, it doesn't need to, because it climbed up by itself."

There was no sign of life. Not only the little monk, but even the magic array on the Beast Taming Divine Ship and the two Thousand Machine Giants swimming on the other side of the ship did not react.

The little monk turned around and saw a huge stone statue, one hand clinging to a fishing line, its wet head sticking out from the side of the boat, looking at Zhang Ze and the little monk.

I'm mainly looking at Zhang Ze.

The little monk didn't have much of an impression of him, but the forgetful Zhang Ze was very familiar with him.

It was the innate deity known as the Great Mother Goddess who gifted Zhang Ze the Innate Dao Pill during his trip to Lingzhou years ago.

After giving the Innate Dao Pill to Zhang Ze and sealing the little earth immortal, it disappeared without a trace.

Zhang Ze hadn't paid much attention to this before, thinking it was just a matter of chance, all without beginning or end.

But after regaining his memories of that time, he always felt something was strange whenever he recalled that experience, as if there really was a divine will at work.

It's quite wonderful to see each other again now.

Just as Zhang Ze was about to start reminiscing, the Great Mother Goddess raised her other hand and presented something to Zhang Ze.

It is neither the Second Innate Dao Pill nor the Second Lesser Earth Immortal.

It was a fish.

A plump carp.

A plump carp living in the sea.

The big carp arched its body and jumped onto the deck. It looked up at Zhang Ze from the side, and after watching for a while, it suddenly arched its body again and jumped up.

It didn't jump very high, but it still managed to float briefly in the air. While floating, it made a graceful turn and lashed Zhang Ze's chest three times with its tail.

Judging from his posture, it seemed like he wanted to slap someone in the face, but he didn't jump high enough.

And the force didn't hurt at all; it just splashed water all over Zhang Ze's face.

After finishing its drink, the fat carp, having vented its anger, landed back on the deck, ignoring Zhang Ze. Without looking back, it arched left and right back to the ship's side, then leaped back into the sea.

Zhang Ze wiped the water off his face, somewhat bewildered.

He didn't know what he had done to offend this fat carp, and
Wait, why are there carp in the sea?
As this question arose, as if a button had been pressed, a splashing sound came from the side of the boat, and one after another, plump carp leaped out of the sea.
(End of this chapter)