Chapter 220: Inheritance! Fishing?!
Although Cai Yu’s mind was full of wandering thoughts, she thankfully recovered very quickly.
Glancing at Chen Xuan and his disciples, who were waiting for further instructions, she cleared her throat and spoke up.
"I have the responsibility to inform you that you can only participate in the trial for the inheritance once in your life. If you fail or give up, you will lose the opportunity to compete for it," she announced.
Once she saw everyone nod, she continued.
"You’re rather fortunate that the Goddess of the Sea is extremely kind toward other cultivators."
"Just like I mentioned before, there are three ways for the inheritance to end."
"First, you fail in the trial. If that’s the case, you will be forcefully teleported out of the palace."
"Second, you give up. The same holds true. You will be teleported out of the palace. If you’re lucky, however, and have obtained anything before that, you will be able to keep it."
"The third and final option is simple. You complete the trial and obtain the inheritance. By then, you will be considered the Goddess’ inheritor."
Saying that, Cai Yu chuckled and shook her head.
"Of course, you don’t have any chance of doing so. You should aim for the second option. If you face any danger you find yourself unable to withstand, you should give up before it’s too late."
Her voice was disdainful, as though saying that they were destined to fail at their attempt.
Yet despite this, Chen Xuan noticed something else.
Her sentence was not only meant to ridicule them.
Instead, there was a hint of truth contained within it.
At the very least, Cai Yu genuinely believed that giving up was the best option at their disposal.
Chen Xuan’s eyes narrowed.
He nodded subtly, looking at the Elder with new eyes.
He hadn’t expected that she would really be somewhat helpful.
It seemed that despite her arrogant personality, Cai Yu wasn’t completely unreasonable.
Unfortunately, not long after that thought had arisen in his mind, Cai Yu laughed once more.
With a wave of her hand, the entrance of the palace swung open, revealing an azure brilliance hidden behind it.
"I won’t accompany you in," she said.
"I’ll keep watch here to catch any broken body parts when you come out."
"You don’t have to worry. The Goddess’ Island has the best healers in the world. Even if you’re only left with a pulse, they will be able to bring you back to life."
She promised this with a faint smile, puffing her chest with obvious pride.
However, her words were far from enough to comfort them.
In fact, they had the exact opposite effect.
Looking at Huo Ling’er, whose face had already turned pale, obviously imagining the scene of her body flying everywhere, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but snort.
"Master..." Huo Ling’er looked at him with a hint of grievance.
She clearly wanted to say something.
Unfortunately, Chen Xuan had already decided not to give her the opportunity.
Without giving Cai Yu any more time to speak, he wrapped all three of his disciples in his Spiritual Energy and tossed them into the palace.
"Master!"
Huo Ling’er’s startled cry echoed from within the azure light.
Chi Yao and Xiao Lingxi were much calmer.
Neither of them struggled.
They understood that there was no point in wasting time here.
After taking one final glance at Cai Yu, seemingly seeing through her intentions, Chen Xuan took a step and followed them in.
The moment his figure disappeared, the entrance of the palace slowly returned to normal.
Only Cai Yu remained in the entire body of water.
She glanced at the palace for a few seconds before waving her hand and closing it off.
Then, she sat beside the door, waiting for the trial to be completed.
Her expression gradually became complicated. Her rationality told her that there was no way that they would succeed. But strangely, a faint uneasiness had appeared in her heart, and no matter how much she tried, she was unable to shake it off.
Still, she eventually suppressed it.
This was the Goddess’ inheritance. No one had ever succeeded before.
Even the strongest cultivators of the Goddess’ Island had failed.
There was no reason for her to believe that an outsider from the Mortal World would be different.
The convincing of herself succeeded. However, the Elder did not have time to celebrate.
The moment after she sat down....
"Blurgh!"
A mouthful of blood fired out of her mouth.
Her entire body trembled.
All her internal organs had ruptured, while her Dantian had fractured in several places.
The injuries that had been suppressed by the Guardian’s power erupted once more.
Thankfully, she took action in time and suppressed everything with her Law Mark.
Even so, it was obvious that her injuries would take a considerable amount of time to fully heal.
Her face darkened.
Cai Yu hugged the trident in her hands and urged her Law Mark to speed up this process to the best of her ability.
Soon, she fell into cultivation, pushing the matter of the inheritance to the back of her head.
--
In the meantime, Chen Xuan and his disciples had no idea what had happened to the arrogant Elder, though the former had already seen through her true colors.
However, he had no time to pay attention to it.
The moment he stepped into the palace, Chen Xuan felt an invisible power descend and land on him, enveloping his entire body before pulling him away.
Although he had reached the Soul Formation realm and his combat power stood at the pinnacle of that realm, he found himself unable to resist it.
His vision darkened.
For a brief moment, Chen Xuan felt as though his entire body had been separated from the surrounding world.
Then everything became quiet.
When his vision cleared up again and he was able to see, his gaze subconsciously swept through his surroundings.
His disciples were nowhere to be seen.
He was alone. Obviously, the previous teleportation force had divided them.
Chen Xuan did not panic.
Instead, he calmly observed his surroundings.
The first thing he noticed was the silence.
There was no sound of wind. No insects. Not even the faint rustling of grass.
It was obvious this place existed outside secret realm.
Chen Xuan narrowed his eyes.
He continued observing his surroundings.
In the end, his eyes landed on the only noteworthy place.
It was a vast lake, surrounded by dense white mist floating along its surface. The mist was thick enough to obscure the far end of the lake.
Even his divine sense couldn’t easily penetrate it.
A small wooden pathway dove into the lake, as though it were a pier.
Aside from these two things, there was nothing else—save for the grassland he was standing upon, of course.
Chen Xuan’s eyebrow rose.
This place was strange.
There was no obvious danger.
Yet precisely because there was no obvious danger, he became even more cautious.
The Goddess of the Sea wouldn’t have separated them and brought them here simply to admire the scenery.
There had to be something hidden within this seemingly peaceful environment.
Just as he was preparing to approach the pier and the lake to search for any clues, he suddenly froze in place.
He looked down at his right hand.
Immediately, what entered his sight was something he had not been holding before reaching this place.
A fishing rod.
Chen Xuan’s eyes narrowed.
Especially when he noticed the bait already placed on the end of the fishing line.
Instantly, he had a guess about what this trial entailed.
Fishing? Was it really that simple?
Or was there something more hidden beneath the surface?
Chen Xuan didn’t know.
Even so, he didn’t rush to take a reckless action.
Holding the fishing rod, he approached the edge of the lake.
His footsteps were light.
Every few steps, he would stop and observe the surrounding area before continuing.
After confirming that it was safe, he took a step forward and walked onto the pier.
It was relatively long.
Only dozens of feet later did it finally stop, extending like a sword piercing straight through the lake.
Stopping at its edge, Chen Xuan looked down into the water.
There was no movement.
It was dead.
No fish. No sound. Nothing.
It was as though the entire lake was dead.
Even when he deliberately made some noise, trying to alert any living being around him, nothing changed.
The ripples soon faded, and silence returned.
This made him frown.
Yet he didn’t show any fear, nor did he panic.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he raised the fishing rod and threw the line into the water.
The bait sank slowly.
Chen Xuan stood quietly at the edge of the pier, his hand holding the fishing rod firmly.
Then, he started waiting for some kind of reaction from the lake.
Originally, he believed he would have to wait for a long time.
After all, everything showed that the lake was devoid of any life, much less fish.
Yet the moment the fishing rod fell into the lake, his expression suddenly changed.
Crash!