Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts-Chapter 388 - This Fish Is Yours.

At the bottom of the lake, that strange shadow swayed continuously.

This was what Xu Ming saw through his Dao-Pattern Eyes—something no one else could perceive.

“Your eyes are quite beautiful. What kind of technique is this?”

Sitting beside Xu Ming, Ao Yiner asked curiously.

The red patterns in Xu Ming’s eyes had a unique, mesmerizing beauty.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Although Ao Yiner hadn’t traveled far, as a dragon princess, her vision and knowledge far surpassed that of most people. She had seen many ocular techniques before—yet she had never encountered one like this.

“Sorry, this is a Bloodline Limit. It’s not something that can be passed on,” Xu Ming casually made something up.

Ao Yiner: “???”

“So stingy!” She huffed and turned away.

Xu Ming didn’t mind her reaction.

Technically, he hadn’t lied. His Dao-Pattern Eyes were indeed a unique kind of technique, one that was directly applied to himself. It wasn’t something he could simply teach to others. That made it almost identical to bloodline-inherited abilities.

Xu Ming turned back to the lake, his focus entirely on the thing lurking beneath.

That shadowy figure kept swaying, circling around Ao Jin’s fishing hook.

Xu Ming glanced at Ao Jin.

At this moment, Ao Jin’s expression was extremely serious. Beads of sweat had begun to form on his forehead. His attention was completely locked in, his lips moving slightly as if he was chanting some kind of incantation.

Xu Ming decided it was time to interfere.

Ao Jin was clearly up to something. And whatever it was, it couldn’t be good—otherwise, why be so secretive?

Of course, there was a possibility that Ao Jin was merely after some hidden treasure and didn’t want anyone else to find out.

But that didn’t matter.

Opportunities in this world were unclaimed by nature.

Why should they belong solely to Ao Jin?

If anything, such treasures should rightfully belong to the Dragon Empress—this was her territory, after all.

Just as the strange figure had circled a few more times and finally seemed ready to bite the hook, Xu Ming flicked his fishing rod lightly.

A wisp of sword energy traveled down the fishing line, sinking into the lake before erupting right at the hook’s location.

The shadowy figure, startled by the sharp sword aura, darted away in panic.

Ao Jin had been just a moment away from succeeding. He shot a glance at Xu Ming, only to see the man sitting there with an expression of utter calm, fishing as if nothing had happened.

Thinking he might have just been unlucky, Ao Jin refocused and continued chanting his incantation.

It didn’t take long for the strange shadow to return, once again approaching the fishing hook.

This time, Ao Jin was even more focused. He was certain that success was within his grasp.

Then, Xu Ming released another burst of sword energy.

The shadowy figure was startled once more and fled.

Ao Jin glanced at Xu Ming again.

This time, he reeled in his fishing line, reattached the bait, and cast it in another direction—trying to stay as far away from Xu Ming’s fishing hook as possible.

Xu Ming merely smiled, reeled in his own line, and recast it—once again landing close to Ao Jin’s hook.

When the shadowy figure returned once more, Xu Ming sent out yet another wave of sword energy, scaring it off again.

By now, Ao Jin was absolutely certain.

It was Xu Ming.

It was all Xu Ming.

This man had somehow noticed his secretive actions and was deliberately preventing him from catching that thing!

“Could he be working for the Dragon Empress?”

“Could it be that the Dragon Empress knows what I’m up to and sent him here to stop me?”

Ao Jin speculated in his mind.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

“No! That’s impossible! There’s no way the Dragon Empress could have known about this plan. And even if she did, she would’ve come here personally instead of sending someone just to ‘warn’ me.”

“Then why? Who is he working for? Which faction wants to stop me?”

Ao Jin was utterly confused.

The most frustrating part was that he couldn’t even say anything about it. He could only endure the irritation of being repeatedly thwarted.

Meanwhile, others had started to notice the odd tension between Ao Jin and Xu Ming.

Wherever Ao Jin cast his line, Xu Ming’s hook would always land right beside it.

It was as if the two were locked in a silent battle—over a few fish.

“Brother Xu truly has... a childlike heart,” Ling Bisheng commented.

Initially, he had wanted to say, Brother Xu is being ridiculously childish, but that felt too petty, so he softened his words.

The others shared a similar thought.

They figured that maybe, in the heat of fishing, the two had developed a competitive streak and were now caught up in a silent contest.

Why else would Xu Ming’s hook always follow wherever the dragon man cast his line?

But Zhu Cici didn’t think so.

She was sure that Xu Ming had a reason for doing this.

Even though they hadn’t seen each other for years, Zhu Cici knew Xu Ming wasn’t the type to engage in pointless games.

To her, even though Xu Ming was still young, he was far more mature than his peers.

Not to mention, he had been through too many life-and-death experiences.

Meanwhile, Ao Yiner, who sat between Xu Ming and Ao Jin, blinked curiously.

She glanced at her brother, then at Xu Ming.

Could it be that the two of them are trying to impress me?

If Xu Ming knew what she was thinking, he would have definitely asked her—how does one even fish themselves into such delusions?

After several attempts, the literary fortune lingering above the lake gradually dissipated.

Ao Jin finally gave up.

He knew that as long as Xu Ming was here, there was no way he could catch that thing.

Frustration filled his heart.

His plan had been progressing so smoothly—success was just within reach.

And then this man had shown up and ruined everything.

Yet, he couldn’t even vent his anger.

After all, he had indeed been doing something shady. He could only swallow his bitterness in silence.

“If this continues, neither of us will catch a single fish,” Ao Jin said with a smile, looking at Xu Ming.

“Oh, that’s not really a problem. There’s at least one fish left.”

Xu Ming casually lifted his fishing rod.

A large gold-and-blue fish emerged from the water, glistening under the light.

This was a Jinlan Fish—renowned for its delicate and delicious meat, though not particularly rare.

Holding up the fish, Xu Ming turned to Ao Jin and asked, “It seems you won’t be catching anything else today, Brother Ao. How about this fish instead?”