Chapter 126: Seven-Scaled Fairy
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Of course, Yun Yang would not go on making things difficult for him. He poured him a goblet full of wine and raised his own. "Go ahead!"
The elder had already raised the goblet hurriedly as well. "As you please!"
With a tilt of his head, he emptied the goblet with loud praise, "The best in the world indeed. It’s befitting of its renowned name, the Prime of Wine. I might have to quit alcohol altogether after drinking this wine!"
His expression then turned awed.
The alcohol had spread through his body as a strong, strange force could be faintly felt.
It was a charge against the state of Dao. Although it was a weak one, almost undetectable, the charge was enough to stir his surprise, a person with a high cultivation base.
The force of Dao state that could only exist in the finest of wine was what made Feng Xiange’s wine so renowned and precious!
He took a deep breath immediately, collecting the alcohol from all over his physical body and suppressing them into a concealed part of his psyche.
It was not the best time to contemplate the charge now, so he would only release what was collected whenever he felt the time was right.
With his cultivation level and the degree of control he had over his body, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he could force the goblet of wine out from his body if he wanted to and transfused them into the goblet to drink it once more!
The inebriation and effect that would occur again would not be reduced in the slightest!
If Yun Yang knew of the old man’s actions, he would definitely be dumbfounded!
Storing the wine he drank and swallowed in the body but not digesting it? This was real wine! It was beyond Yun Yang’s current abilities to imagine what level of an expert one must be in order to be able to do that.
One would be able to tell the whole picture just by looking at a small hint. If this elder were to be slightly more extreme and decide that he disliked Yun Yang, he would probably be able to kill Yun Yang by unleashing his intimidating aura without even needing to move a finger!
An exceptional expert indeed!
However, Yun Yang had genuinely placed life and death beyond himself before he came here. Yun Yang had guessed that he might not be able to go against Old He’s cultivation base even if he cultivated for another ten years; if he could not find a breakthrough here, there was no reason for him to stay alive either.
"Here’s another round." Yun Yang said, intoxicated from the superior brew. "Great wine!"
The old man looked at the inebriation Yun Yang was in and felt speechless.
He had to say, it was really a reckless ruin of things and an extreme waste to let Yun Yang drink such fine wine that only the immortals were worthy of drinking.
With Yun Yang’s current cultivation state, he would never be able to experience the real wonder of this wine.
"What a waste…" The elder sighed, gulping down his raised goblet again.
Yun Yang rolled his eyes.
What’s wrong with you, you old thing? I’ve already let you drink my wine, the Prime of Wine that’s so exceptional, but here you are saying it’s a waste that I’m drinking it.
This was indeed extraordinary.
However, both men seemed to get closer to inebriation with the building intoxication.
Fang Mofei who had been watching in boredom from hundreds of feet away had countless question marks hovering over his head.
He could not figure it out.
Young master! Supreme Cloud!
You’re not paying attention to so many important matters. Instead, you came here to fish.
It's fine if you just fish; you’re injured so it’s good if you could rest and recover your energy. Yet you’re not just fishing. You provoked someone who’s fishing happily on his own, offending him, then offering him wine.
This would be fine too but you’re offering the only pot of invaluable fine wine in the entire Tianxuan Continent to an old man whom you don’t even know and have only met for the first time.
This was really an utter waste!
Fang Mofei, who knew full well about the Prime of Wine, felt like fainting.
If he had not known that Yun Yang was Supreme Cloud, his behavior portrayed an extreme popinjay – an exceptionally superior popinjay!
"I see old sir likes to fish very much." Yun Yang smiled.
"Fishing is a hobby, it’s also a way of life." The old man drank with squinted eyes.
"What you have said is true. Yet there really aren’t many in this continent who could concentrate on fishing anymore," Yun Yang sighed in genuine disappointment.
"I like fishing a lot too." Yun Yang sounded far away. "Since old sir is much older than I am, I suppose you must share a deeper sentiment?"
The elder asked amused, "Sentiment? What sentiment do you have, being so young? Why not tell me of it first?"
Yun Yang smiled gently. "Then this younger one will break the ice first and wait to listen to old sir’s thoughts. I humbly think that when we’re fishing, we become heaven, earth, and man, all coexisting together."
The elder was stunned. "Would you care to explain yourself?"
He had indeed never heard of such a view. Even being so experienced and knowledgeable, he was still curious.
"When we’re fishing, we’re heaven. The water before would naturally be earth while the fish in the water is man."
Yun Yang said unhurriedly, "The baits we threw in could be all things in this world, they could be wine, women, avarice, pride, they could also be rank, fame, fortune… and the fish beneath would chase after different baits according to their different personalities and wants."
"Whether the fish are big or small, it would be hooked once they see the bait that they like. The only difference would be the how long it takes before they bite."
"Even if the fish was above all this worldly strife, it can never avoid being tempted by a certain bait and be hooked onto it."
Yun Yang continued, "Just like life in this continent, how many are there who could stand against the temptation of the cardinal vices and materialistic wants?"
"Looking at the fish I have fished, it’s really a mix of indescribable emotions in my heart at that moment."
"Because it means that the fish hooked could no longer escape its fate no matter how much it struggles."
Yun Yang said, "Isn’t it the same for men? As long as you’ve chosen a path, working towards some sort of goal, there is no turning back."
"We are actually being baited each and every day. Perhaps, it could also be said that we’re moving forward to the bait that we have dreamed of so much."
Yun Yang smiled and raised his goblet. "Go ahead."
The elder frowned and thought deeply before he said, "That makes sense! That makes complete sense! You’re so young yet you have such wise sentiments!"
Yun Yang smiled faintly. "In addition, look at the water before us. Even when it doesn’t move, it still looks like it wanders, ever-changing… Perhaps when we aren't looking, the fish in the water have long gone through the evanescence of life."
"And destiny… despite being in existence since the beginning of time, how would it care for a person? Or even take notice of a person? Destiny goes on unending, yet how much has the human realm already changed from its vicissitudes?"
"From such a perspective, what’s the difference between us and fish? In some ways or other, we’re even lesser than them."
"Man being lesser than fish…" The old man closed his eyes, pondering Yun Yang’s words. After some time, he opened his eyes and sighed softly. "This is a good phrase."
He paused before saying, "What you have just said is exceptionally wise and makes a whole lot of sense indeed!"
He shut his eyes for a while. When he opened them, he said to Yun Yang, "Thank you for your advice, young friend."
He then bowed to Yun Yang in genuine admiration.
Wonder was all there was in his gaze.
After some time, he said, "Young friend, you are still young but you seem to have gone through many tribulations."
Yun Yang smiled faintly. "Not as much as you have, I am certain."
The elder kept his thinking cap on and smiled. "Drink, let us drink."
"Please do."
Yun Yang drank as he poured wine; the elder emptying his goblet every time the liquid was refilled, being absolutely at ease.
The pot of the Prime of Wine was only about a dozen catties. After hundreds of years of sedimentation, there were only four to five catties of wine left. It was emptied not too long later.
Yun Yang drank quite a fair bit of wine but it was only two or three-tenths of the total. The remaining seven to eight-tenths was all in this old man’s stomach.
Fang Mofei was displeased looking at this, inwardly disagreeing with the proceedings. Oh dear young master, oh dear Supreme Cloud, why didn’t you share this fine wine with Lao Mei and me? Was it really right to give it all to an outsider?
"There is only one point in my young friend’s words earlier that isn’t suitable to be used here though." The old man took the initiative to speak unabashedly, now that he had drunk all the wine.
"May I ask which point would that be?" Yun Yang questioned.
"There is a type of fish in this lake that not only do the fishing experts rarely catch, but the cultivation experts are helpless against them as well," the elder said.
Yun Yang was surprised to hear it as he said in shock, "Oh? May I ask what exceptional type of fish is this that cultivation experts could do nothing against?"
The elder chuckled joyously as he replied, "The fishes have an innate ability that keeps them from being caught. Once they are attacked by an external force, be it mystical Qi or whatever else, even if it’s the force of will, they will turn into a stream of water immediately. They leave no trace in their wake, how could one catch them?"
"Even when you catch this fish by force, the moment you loosen your guard, it will still turn into flowing water and vanish without a trace. No matter how strong one’s cultivation base, not one bit of the fish’s essence could be seized."
"The Thousand Feet Lake actually has such a magical fish?" Yun Yang was stunned.
"Correct, it has this strange fish!" the old man replied.
Thinking of something, Yun Yang asked, "You said fishing experts rarely catch them but you did not say that they never caught them. Does this mean that this fish can still be caught despite it being so magical?"
The elder smiled. "Right. This fish can never be obtained by force but can still be caught. As long as the hook is caught in the fish’s mouth, the fish will lose its ability to turn into water."
"When it leaves the water's surface, it is no different than an ordinary fish. Well, it's not exactly right to say it’s the same as ordinary fishes because this fish looks odd. There are only seven pieces of scales on the fish’s body, each scale a different color."
"Is old sir talking about… the Seven-Scaled Fairy?" Yun Yang looked startled. "But it's only a myth of the Thousand Feet Lake."
"Correct, I speak of the mythical Seven-Scaled Fairy. But I can guarantee that this fish really exists." The old man said softly, "Moreover, there are only three places that this fish dwells in the entire Tianxuan Continent. The Thousand Feet Lake is but the fourth location that nobody else has discovered yet."
Yun Yang suddenly thought of something.
It was a past related to fourth brother, Supreme Water.