A god-tier fishing spot, anglers lined up to give me money.

Ye Xuan took a deep breath, stimulating his internal energy to the peak of his current realm, and then circulated the energy throughout his body.

Gu Shang's brow twitched again; he knew Ye Xuan was going to go all out.

The ordinary fisherman felt a wave of heat hit him and took two steps back.

"Breath of Fire, Third Technique: Fire Overlord!"

The force was great, interrupting the Azure Venerable Fish's resistance for several breaths, and soon the Azure Venerable Fish dived down again with all its might.

Ye Xuan felt the force coming from the handle of the rod, and the explosive power that had just been generated by his breath was gradually suppressed.

He steeled his resolve and simultaneously performed all three phases of the Fire Breathing technique:

With a powerful three-strike motion, the explosive force surges from the dantian to the arms, and the three consecutive strikes are channeled into the rod.

The fire drill wind, the spiral traction force of the twisting waist and hips wraps around the fishing line, causing the resistance to diverge and disperse.

Firelord, the ultimate convergence force that straightens the spine presses down on the string group.

With the three techniques combined, Ye Xuan's muscles tightened and expanded instantly, blocking the attack.

Underwater, the Azure Venerable Fish's body lost its ability to resist under the combined effect of the three techniques. Exhausted, it was slowly pulled away from the deep water.

Ye Xuan was overjoyed and shouted, "Get up!!!"

With a sudden lift of his arms, the entire blue bream was pulled out of the water by this force.

A massive, bluish-black head burst from the water, its mouth half-open, gill covers lifted to reveal dark red gill filaments inside.

Under the spotlights of the fishing spot, its body cast a shadow more than four or five meters long on the water.

The fish's tail thrashed weakly as it was slowly dragged ashore.

A cheer erupted from the shore as the dark figure appeared.

"Holy crap, I caught it! I really caught it!!!"

"A four-meter...no, a five-meter behemoth, such a huge size..."

How did he do that?

……

The phone flashlights were flashing incessantly.

Hearing the cheers, Ye Xuan took half a step back, preparing to reel in his line.

At this moment, the muscles in his arms were shaking so badly that he could barely support himself, but he was still slowly raising the pole.

Just when everyone thought the fish was about to be brought ashore

Without any warning, a giant black hole appeared on the surface of the water.

A gaping maw, wide open to its limit, bit down on the tail of the Azure Venerable Fish from underwater.

Less than a second.

The blue-necked fish disappeared underwater.

The sudden, immense force caught Ye Xuan completely off guard.

The rod, already riddled with hidden damage, completely broke at that moment.

With a "snap," the entire fishing rod broke into two pieces.

Ye Xuan himself was also pulled forward by the downward force, his right foot stepped into the water, and he lost his balance.

"thump……"

Plant it in the water.

The spot where the Azure Venerable Fish had originally been was now empty.

All that remained was a bloody mess, with reddish-brown bubbles still rising from the depths.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, followed by a brief silence.

"...What is that?!"

"Where's the fish?! Where's that fish?!"

"Holy crap, there was something black on the surface of the water just now..."

"Did you see that? Something's rising from underwater!"

"Too fast, I didn't get any pictures!"

……

Ye Xuan popped his head out of the water.

He choked on some water, coughed, and wiped the muddy water off his face. His hair was soaked and stuck to his forehead.

I waded through the water towards the shore, and someone grabbed my arm and pulled me ashore.

Soaked to the bone, he still clutched the broken rod in his right hand, the carbon fiber cut at the break point jagged and uneven.

I squatted on the bank, staring at the water and panting for half a minute. The reddish-brown color was still spreading and diluting.

A few minutes later, the water cleared up, and I stared at the ripples on the surface of the water for a long time as they gradually subsided.

Then I stood up, stuck the broken rod into the rod mound, and wow, I didn't expect to break the rod on the first day.

Gu Shang walked over, carrying the towel he had just bought at the supermarket. "Are you alright?"

"President Gu, tsk tsk tsk, you actually care about me."

"Come on."

Ye Xuan looked up at Gu Shang, grinned, and whispered in his ear, "Five thousand jin, this reservoir is amazing."

Although Gu Shang was shocked, he believed that a giant fish that could cause a fisherman at the Grandmaster level to break his rod and line must weigh more than 5000 jin.

"What a pity." Ye Xuan wrung out the water from his trouser leg, his smile slowly fading.

"What a pity, just a little short."

"Please, you almost did? The rod broke, don't try to make yourself look good."

The crowd remained gathered by the water.

Everyone stared at the water's surface, as if waiting for the dark figure to reappear.

Someone was holding up their phone and filming continuously, the lens pointed at the fading reddish-brown ripples in the water, muttering under their breath, "What is that thing?"

No one spoke.

After a while, some people started packing up their things.

Groups of anglers walked back to their fishing spots from the shore to reel in their rods and lines.

Are you coming tomorrow?

"Come."

Did you take a video?

"It was taken."

The conversation was intermittent, with no one saying much.

The shock was so great that it took time to process it.

Before heading down the mountain, a fisherman stood at the fork in the road and glanced back at the reservoir, his gaze burning with intensity.

After a while, most of the people had left, and Yang Qi returned more than 2 yuan.

The fishing grounds finally quieted down, and Gu Shang stood in front of Yang Qi.

"Boss Yang."

Gu Shang's tone became more serious, "Your reservoir is something else, with freshwater fish weighing over 5000 jin (2,500 catties) coming here."

"Really?" Yang Qi scratched his head, pretending to be normal.

Just as he was about to catch the blue bream, he changed his mind. Rather than giving it to someone else, he figured it was better to keep the good stuff in the family. He also wanted to see if the grass carp could break the 10,000-jin mark after eating the blue bream.

At the same time, it made Ye Xuan and Gu Shang more interested in the reservoir.

But now it seems a bit much. "President Ye, President Gu, this is just an ordinary reservoir, at most it can be considered to have a solid foundation."

Changing the subject, he said, "I think it's getting late; you two should head down the mountain."

At this moment, Ye Xuan stepped in, half of his body blocking Gu Shang's view, staring intently into Yang Qi's eyes:

"No rush, Boss Yang. Judging from the feel of that fish just now, it must have weighed at least 5,000 jin. I'm really curious about what other fish are in your reservoir."

Yang Qi: "Haha, it's nothing, just some common fish!"

The two looked at each other, neither of them believing it.

Gu Shang chimed in, "Boss Yang, I want that fish."

Yang Qi was taken aback for a moment: "Mr. Gu, this is only the first day of business."

One million.

"this……"

Yang Qi rubbed his hands together, his face showing genuine distress.

"Mr. Gu, I know you have money, but what if you find something you like the day after tomorrow? If I close down, and you want something but I close down, how can this fishing spot stay open?"

Ye Xuan patted Gu Shang's arm from the side: "Old Gu, fishing is just for fun, why are you in such a hurry?"

Gu Shang turned her head to look at him, her expression calm and indifferent:

"President Ye, you are still President Ye, don't you understand that problems that can be solved with money are not problems, and money is the least useful thing to us?"

He paused, then looked at Yang Qi: "5 million. Same as last time, I'll pay the taxes. Any more and I'll have to consider buying your fishing grounds."

"Uh... Mr. Gu, I'm willing to give it, but the fish has to be willing to come up, right? If I don't want to, what are you planning to do?"

"Release the water, then use nets to catch the fish."

Yang Qi fell silent, looking into Gu Shang's eyes. There was no threat, no pressure, only someone who had already made a decision waiting for confirmation.

At that moment, he suddenly understood what it meant to negotiate with a tiger for its skin... no, to negotiate with a dragon for its skin.

There's no room for negotiation with a dragon like Gu Shang, a prodigy; the only options are to accept or withdraw completely.

"Okay." Yang Qi nodded.

"Deal." Gu Shang wasn't surprised by this result. "Now can you tell me the name of the fish?"

Yang Qi took a breath:

"Grass carp. A mutated fish species, with an omnivorous diet. It's the largest one in my reservoir, weighing at least 8,000 jin (4,000 kg)."

"...Eight thousand catties."

Ye Xuan rubbed his face, recalling the sensation of his rod snapping earlier, and realized everything made sense. "No wonder I couldn't catch anything."

Yang Qi looked at the two of them: "President Gu, President Ye, I'll be closing my fishing business for one day tomorrow. We'll reopen as usual the day after tomorrow. I hope you understand."

"Don't go to so much trouble." Gu Shang had already taken out his phone and made a call.

A few minutes later, Gu Shang, having finished his call, put his phone back in his pocket and said:

"That's settled then, let's go down the mountain for lunch first, and start work promptly at eight o'clock."

"Wait."

Yang Qi nodded, turned and walked towards the brick house, then pushed open the door.

Chen Zilu was hunched over her computer, the screen displaying edited and already released video footage.

The cover features the image of the Azure Fish emerging from the water.

Hearing the door open, she turned to look at him, wearing headphones: "What's wrong?"

"It's time to go home for dinner."

"Okay." Chen Zilu rubbed her eyes, stood up, and asked, "What was that noise outside just now? It was so noisy."

"I'll share a video with you later, then you'll see."

"Uh-huh……"

And so, the four of them walked down the mountain along the road.