Primordial Era: From Primordial Human Race to Grand Luo Immortal

"Good, good, good! This child is teachable! This child is teachable!" Ji Yuan laughed heartily.

Fate's expression turned extremely ugly. What did it mean to say that a child is teachable? How could he have inexplicably lost his seniority?

"Then let's see who catches more fish and who gets the Great Dao." Destiny's eyes hardened, filled with unprecedented confidence.

If it were a real fight, I might find it difficult to contend with Laozi in terms of understanding the Great Dao.

But this isn't a real fight, it's a strange debate, so he's not afraid. If he can't even beat Lao Tzu in this situation, he might as well be dead.

Ji Yuan stroked his beard and chuckled, pointing to the pond, and slowly said, "Then please put down your great path."

"Good!" Fate nodded slowly, waved his hand, and dozens of fish immediately emerged from the pond, splashing happily before sinking back to the bottom.

His aura also dropped instantly, becoming exactly like Ji Yuan's, showing no signs of cultivation, truly just an ordinary mortal.

Fate raised its fishing rod, plucked a strand of glistening hair from its head, tied it to the rod, and thus a fishing line appeared.

Then, he picked up a fishhook from beside Ji Yuan's feet, tied it to the fishing line, and was about to cast the line when his eyes lit up. Suddenly, he thought of something and started digging in the ground.

Ji Yuan glanced at him and said with a smile, "You, you, after living for so many years, do you still have to resort to these tricks? I didn't even use bait, and you still want to use bait? Isn't that unfair?"

Fate chuckled and mocked, "When we made the bet, we didn't say I couldn't use bait. What? Are you doubting your fishing skills? Or are you scared?"

"Hahahaha, why would I be afraid? I'm just worried that if you use bait and still can't beat me, will your Dao heart collapse?" Ji Yuan said with a loud laugh.

It's strange how fate works. I only suppressed a trace of darkness in his heart, and he suddenly became innocent, as if he had never been corrupted, and still retained a bit of childlike stubbornness.

It seems that what he remembers is not entirely true, and there may be some details that have not been discovered. Judging from the current situation, the mastermind behind fate is his dark side, and his actions are also dark.

So, is his main personality this childlike innocence, or this dark side?

Ji Yuan had no idea.

"What a joke." If I can't even catch you with bait, then I'll offer up all my Dao techniques. What's the point of competing with you?
"Alright then, go ahead and dig for bait to fish, but don't regret it later," Ji Yuan said.

"Alright, I certainly won't regret it. Just wait for the Great Dao to be swallowed up." Fate smiled.

He turned around and started digging in the ground again. He dug for an hour before finding a few earthworms. He hooked the earthworms onto his fishing hook and cast his first line with great enthusiasm.

Spring goes and summer comes, autumn goes and winter arrives, and in the blink of an eye, countless years have passed.

Snowflakes drifted down, covering the ground with a thick layer of snow.

But the two mortals stood firm amidst the snow.

A bonfire burned between the two, and where the firelight shone, the snow disappeared, and the warmth was like springtime.

Fish thrashed about in the pond, creating ripples, but the two men's fishing lines remained motionless.

Ji Yuan looked at the fishing line calmly, not bothered at all by not catching any fish.

Fate's expression was rather gloomy. So many years had passed, and he hadn't moved an inch. This was simply unreasonable.

You should know that he also stained the fishhook with his own blood, and the aura contained in the blood would attract fish that possess the Dao of Destiny to eat it.

It makes no sense that there hasn't been a single sound for so long.

Just as he was fretting, a gasp suddenly came from the side.

"Hey, a fish has taken the bait!" Ji Yuan's voice was excited and thrilled, with an unspeakable hint of boasting, as if he were taunting him.

A transparent fish, exuding an aura of time and space, was caught.

Upon seeing this fish, Destiny's expression changed drastically; this fish represented his Great Dao of Time.

He never cultivates only one Great Dao. For the Great Dao of Destiny, the Great Dao of Time is an extremely powerful aid. Similarly, other Great Daos such as the Great Dao of Cause and Effect also have a very powerful aiding effect on the Great Dao of Destiny.

At this moment, his Great Dao of Time was fished out, which was undoubtedly a torment for him, as he had lost a Great Dao forever.

If the Great Dao of Destiny is caught again, then he's truly finished. Although he won't lose the Great Dao Imprint, he'll have to start all over again.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Ji Yuan picked up the Time Dao Fish, deftly removed the hook, and then looked at Destiny beside him:

"Hey old man, why can't you catch any fish even with bait? Now you want to learn my fishing skills? But even if you want to, I won't teach you. You can't even catch fish with bait, you're just a piece of trash."

"You!" Fate was furious, his face turning red. "Don't be so arrogant. You've just been lucky. The path to cultivation is about steady progress, not about being impatient for quick success. You've just been lucky at first. In the end, it's hard to say who will win or lose."

Fate skillfully consoles itself, just as it always has.

"Yes, yes, you're right. Let's see what you do next," Ji Yuan said dismissively.

He put down his fishing rod, turned around, and set up another pile of firewood, preparing to grill the fish and eat it.

Soon after, an enticing aroma wafted from Ji's location, and time seemed to stand still at that moment, an indescribable allure emanating from there.

Fate swallowed hard. The aroma was secondary; the most important thing was that this was the Great Dao that belonged to him, because it had an extremely strong attraction that was almost impossible to resist.

If it weren't for future considerations, he would have loved to snatch it from him right now.

"It smells so good, it smells amazing!"

Ji Yuan held the grilled fish in his hands and sat down next to Destiny, slowly nibbling at it bite by bite, occasionally smacking his lips.

The main focus is on mental torture, on making fate uncertain.

"How about it? Want to try a bite? It's so delicious! I can feel the rhythm of time in it. Could this be your Great Dao of Time?"

Ji Yuan placed the grilled fish in front of Destiny's mouth; all he had to do was stretch out his mouth to eat it.

Fate swallowed hard, realizing that a small act of impatience could ruin a great plan. In order to devour Laozi's Great Dao, he had to be patient and change his fate. He was certain that he would achieve final victory.

He said fiercely, "Get out of here, I'm not eating it. I'll catch your Great Dao Fish in a bit, and you'll be crying then."

"Alright, alright, I didn't realize you old man still had such willpower. I'll go eat over there then." Ji Yuan offered a perfunctory compliment, then turned around, sat down at his fishing spot, and began to eat.

Fate ignored him, focusing all its attention on the fishing rod in front of it, frequently changing fishing spots, determined to catch a fish.

Winter goes and spring comes again; spring goes and autumn comes again.

The autumn wind was bleak, withered yellow leaves swept in, and a biting cold wind blew by. Fate's half-gone hair fluttered slightly, and coupled with his sorrowful face, he looked like a demon in the autumn wind. Fate looked at the pond where the water was slightly rippling, his eyes filled with longing.

"Why? Why can't I catch anything? This can't be! There must be something wrong. What went wrong? Why? Why?"

He muttered to himself, acting like a madman, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

As if sensing his sorrow, the fishing rod suddenly began to tremble violently.

Fate's eyes suddenly brightened, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.

Finally...finally! They've finally taken the bait!
He jerked the fishing rod sharply, determined to bring the fish into his pocket.

Something unexpected happened. It seemed he had used too much force, and the fishing rod made a crisp sound, as fate looked on in disbelief.

The fishing rod broke.

Destiny stared in disbelief at the broken fishing rod in his hand, then at the fish leaping up in the ancestral hall, his eyes brimming with barely suppressed rage.

"Why? Why did it shut off? Pump! I need to pump water!!!"

"What's all the noise about?"

Ji Yuan, who was sleeping comfortably, was awakened by the sudden roar.

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw my fate: holding a broken bamboo stick.

"Hey!" Ji Yuan exclaimed in an extremely exaggerated voice, "How come even the fishing rod broke? Do you even know how to fish? Don't you know that catching a big fish takes a lot of energy? You're really good for nothing and good for making things worse. It's a good thing you're not my disciple, otherwise I would have strangled you."

"Can you please stop talking?" Fate turned around and roared, "You must have tampered with my fishing rod, otherwise how could it have broken?"

"Hey! You old fool, you're bad at fishing and you're blaming me. I told you I'd teach you how to fish but you wouldn't learn. Now that your technique is so bad you broke your fishing rod, you're blaming me. You're hopeless." Ji Yuan said, curling his lip, not forgetting to mock him.

He patted Fate on the shoulder and said, "Old man, you've lived this long. Try to find the reasons within yourself instead of blaming others for everything. Is it possible that you're just not perceptive enough, your skills are lacking, and you're too temperamental, which is why you can't catch any fish?"

"Impossible, I'll try again!" Fate declared, then turned and headed into the bamboo forest. This time, he would choose the biggest and hardest bamboo.

He quickly found a large, hard bamboo and returned to his fishing spot.

He wrapped his hair around the bamboo again and started a new round of fishing.

Ji Yuan watched silently from the side, his smile almost uncontrollable. He figured that after a few more rounds of playing Fate, Ji Yuan would completely explode.

This time, not much time had passed; just a few hours later, the fishing rod of fate gave a jolt.

Judging from the extent of its shaking, this time it's probably a big fish.

Having learned from the previous lesson, fate gently lifted the fishing rod, slowly pulling it upwards, as if afraid the bamboo rod would break again.

The heavy pull in his hand told him that this was truly a big fish, but he didn't know whose great path had manifested.

His eyes were extremely focused as he gently moved the fishing rod, slowly releasing the force.

Although he appeared angry, he actually listened to what was said and understood that priorities should be prioritized and things should be done gradually.

Soon, the scales and claws of the fish appeared; it was a very large fish, and it was Laozi's greatsword.

The joy in Fate's eyes was hard to suppress. This Great Dao was the Great Dao cultivated by the Supreme Elder Lord, and even the Great Dao obtained by the Dao Lord.

He could already picture the taste of the grilled fish, the feeling of the Great Dao merging into his body, and the sensation of breaking free from the clutches of darkness and attaining transcendence.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

Just when fate was about to kick the fish out of the water, something unexpected happened again.

No, it wasn't unexpected, it was how it should have been.

If the bamboo pole is too big and too stiff, it cannot help to unload the fishing line, so there is only one result.

That's when the fishing line breaks, the fish escapes, and the angler is heartbroken.

And so it was. In the dim light of fate, the fishing line snapped, and the fish that represented his hope disappeared into the pond.

The fishing rod stumbled to the ground, and everything went black before my eyes; I could barely keep my balance.

He felt a feeling he had never experienced before: the feeling of being played by fate.

It was as if everything about him was planned out; he would never catch a fish in his entire life and would live in the shadow of Laozi for the rest of his life.

"No, that's not right. My method must be wrong. I need to study how Lao Tzu fishes. Once I learn his method and combine it with my bait, I'll definitely be able to catch fish. I definitely will!"

Fate silently cheered itself on.

"Hey, old man, I told you you could only catch fish if you learned fishing techniques from me, why didn't you believe me? Now look what happened, the fish got away, the fishing line broke, and now you don't even have a few hairs left to pluck."

Ji Yuan's loud, mocking laughter, though anticipated, still made people chuckle when it actually happened.

Fate didn't speak, but instead picked up a small stool and sat down next to Ji Yuan, preparing to secretly learn his fishing techniques.

Ji Yuan didn't care; now the fish had truly taken the bait.

He sat on the stool, slowly picked up the fishing rod, and casually cast it into the water.

Fate watched his every step closely, observing his choice of fishing rod.

He then realized that Ji Yuan's fishing rods were relatively flexible, and when a fish took the bait, the rod would bend sharply to relieve the tension on the fishing line.

This way, when encountering a large fish, it won't suddenly break, thus ensuring that excess energy is used up later.

As for the rest, I really couldn't see any signs of fate.

Ji Yuan lay back in the newly woven chair and said slowly, "Old man, what do you think is the most important thing for catching big fish?"

Fate paused for a moment, then casually said, "Of course, good bait and equipment."

Ji Yuan shook his head and said, "To catch a big fish, the most important thing is to have patience and not let the tools lead you astray."

(End of this chapter)