29: Change fishing rod

Suddenly.

Wei Lan seemed much more relaxed; the arc of the fishing rod was not as large as before, and most importantly, it stopped shaking back and forth.

Xiao Weiqing was very surprised. "Huh? Did the Dragon Fish run out of strength, or did it give up?"

Wei Lan could be seen grunting and puffing as she dragged a three-foot-four Dragon Fish onto her Dragon Fish Platform. Upon closer inspection, the Dragon Fish seemed to have fallen asleep, completely motionless.

Just as Wei Lan happily prepared to drop the Dragon Fish into the hole.

A drone flew over in the sky.

"Trainee Wei Lan, the Dragon Fish Platform assessment prohibits the use of Extraordinary Talent Innate Skills, as this causes harm to the Dragon Fish. This is a warning. If you commit this offense again, double the points of the caught Dragon Fish will be deducted."

Wei Lan was stunned, and angrily threw down the fishing rod. "If I can't use it, then I won't! Hmph!"

She then lay on the ground without any regard for her image; that last fish had completely exhausted her.

Xiao Weiqing shook his head with a smile and quickly walked to the nearest pavilion.

"Hello, Teacher."

"What is it?"

"I'd like to ask if you have a tougher fishing line?"

The teacher seemed to know what Xiao Weiqing wanted to do and chuckled, "The configuration of the rod, line, and hook is fixed. If you want to catch a Dragon Fish over three feet long, you need a 15-meter rod."

Saying this, he handed Xiao Weiqing a new fishing rod, which was a different color from the 10-meter rod.

"30 points, thank you!"

"30 points?"

After much deliberation, Xiao Weiqing decided to try it. He gritted his teeth and prepared to swipe his Wristband.

The teacher added, "I must remind you, it will be dark in two hours. At that time, you must return all the fishing rods to me."

Xiao Weiqing asked, "Is night fishing not allowed?"

Unexpectedly, the teacher glared at Xiao Wei. "Even if you don't rest, the Dragon Fish still need to rest."

Xiao Weiqing was dumbfounded. Is Luo Jiang Academy so humane that it lets the Dragon Fish rest?

He only had 38 points now. Renting the 15-meter rod cost 30 points. If he caught nothing, he would truly be feeding the fish tomorrow.

"Have you decided?"

"Teacher, I'll rent it." Xiao Weiqing swiped his Wristband, deciding to trust himself.

The teacher handed the fishing rod and a box of fishing line to Xiao Weiqing.

"Good Luck."

After receiving it, Xiao Weiqing hurried back to his Dragon Fish Platform without stopping.

He couldn't wait to start.

He channeled Spiritual Qi into the fishing rod. Slowly, Xiao Weiqing felt something was wrong—the consumption of Spiritual Qi was quite high, nearly double that of the 10-meter rod.

Then Xiao Weiqing forcefully cast the rod out.

"Dragon Fish, come!"

The school of Dragon Fish swept away all the Spiritual Qi from the Trainees. The Origin Qi of nearly ten thousand new Trainees wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of these thousands of Dragon Fish.

After swimming a round, they began their second self-service round, though the serving time was noticeably slower this time.

Xiao Weiqing sank the hook, wrapped in a ball of Spiritual Qi, into the river and began to wait patiently.

One minute.

Two minutes... The waiting time was always long, but fortunately, there were enough Dragon Fish, and several were already swimming toward Xiao Weiqing's hook.

Without probing, the first Dragon Fish to arrive swallowed the ball of Spiritual Qi in one gulp. The Dragon Fish seemed to know that the two-legged beasts in this area were no match for them.

The moment the Dragon Fish swallowed the ball of Spiritual Qi, Xiao Weiqing sharply lifted the rod.

"This time, I absolutely won't let you escape."

Xiao Weiqing exerted all his strength and pulled backward forcefully. Neither side yielded to the other, and a stalemate formed once again.

One minute, two minutes.

The surrounding new Trainees also noticed the situation with Xiao Weiqing and immediately turned their attention toward him.

"Brother Qing, keep going!"

Wei Lan shouted.

"Keep going, Brother Qing, that Dragon Fish is almost done for," Zhang Dawei reminded him from the side.

Three minutes later.

"Get up here!"

Xiao Weiqing roared, and a Dragon Fish leaped out of the water, pulled by Xiao Weiqing onto the Dragon Fish Platform.

Everyone looked; it measured a full three feet and five inches.

"Wow, what a big Dragon Fish! Brother Qing, you're amazing," Wei Lan rushed over and praised.

Xiao Weiqing controlled the Dragon Fish and, under everyone's astonishment, dropped it into the hole.

A message immediately appeared on his Wristband.

"C-4 Zone, Dragon Fish Platform No. 1122, one Dragon Fish caught, body length three feet and six inches, earning 160 points."

Zhang Dawei asked, "Brother Qing, how many points?"

Xiao Weiqing smiled slightly. "160."

"Wow, that many? I caught 4 today, and I still didn't reach 100 points," said Zhang Dawei.

"Huh? Xiao Weiqing, did you just change your fishing rod?"

Li Fangnan noticed the difference in Xiao Weiqing's fishing rod. It was known that other Trainees had caught Dragon Fish over three feet long, but none had managed to pull them up; either they lacked the strength, or the line broke.

Xiao Weiqing nodded. "Yes, this is the 15-meter rod."

He then explained his own conjectures, along with the answers given by Jiang Peng and the teacher.

Only then did everyone realize.

"So that's how it is."

"In that case, 'Art', 'Martial', and 'Spiritual' all have their own advantages; it just depends on how we utilize them."

"Yes, that seems to be the case for now, but this is only the first day. I'm not planning to change my rod today. I only have 40 points in total, and it's only an hour until dark. It's not worth it."

Zhu Dong's words received approval from many people.

Next, Xiao Weiqing shared what he knew in the group chat.

He received a wave of praise.

"So that's it! Thank you, Brother Qing!"

"Thank you, Brother Qing! May Brother Qing get a bite on every cast and pull up a giant on every rod!"

"Thank you, Brother Qing! May Brother Qing get a bite on every cast and pull up a giant on every rod!" +1

"..."

"Thank you, Brother Qing! May Brother Qing get a bite on every cast and pull up a giant on every rod!" +10000

Xiao Weiqing exited the Wristband interface and focused his attention on the river. With one hour remaining, he decided to take a gamble and try to pull up one more Dragon Fish.

Unfortunately.

Things did not go as planned.

Until nightfall, Xiao Weiqing did not get his wish.

These Dragon Fish over three feet long truly seemed to have become spirits; the moment there was any disturbance, they immediately let go of the bait.

Several times, Xiao Weiqing felt the weight on the rod, but as soon as he pulled hard, the hook slipped out, and his Spiritual Qi was rapidly depleted.

Even though Xiao Weiqing's Spiritual Qi application far surpassed others at this stage, he couldn't sustain the pull, and had no choice but to give up.

The sky gradually darkened.

Everyone began returning to the pavilion one after another to return their rods, then boarded the aircraft to return to Luo Jiang Academy.

The vast majority were completely exhausted and smelled strongly of fish.

Wei Lan sniffed herself, then sniffed Xiao Weiqing.

"What's wrong?"

"It's so fishy!"

"There's nothing we can do about that. Let's go back and wash up."

"Okay. Are we going to eat after washing up? Let's go together," Wei Lan asked.

Xiao Weiqing looked into Wei Lan's eyes but hadn't spoken yet.

Zhang Dawei quickly interjected, "Great, together! Brother Qing and I will wait for you then."

"Mhm, it's a deal," Wei Lan smiled.

Xiao Weiqing nodded slightly. "Alright."

Downstairs at Building L11.

Xiao Weiqing and Zhang Dawei had been waiting for a while; girls always take longer to wash up.

Another ten minutes passed, and the sky had completely darkened.

Only then did Wei Lan walk down.

The saying "a lotus emerging from clear water" probably described Wei Lan's appearance at that moment.

Wei Lan gave a gentle, sweet smile. "Sorry, did I keep you waiting long?"

The girl's smile truly made people feel like they were bathing in a spring breeze, seemingly cooling down the early summer heat.

Xiao Weiqing and Zhang Dawei were momentarily stunned, but Zhang Dawei immediately snapped out of it, glancing away.

Xiao Weiqing laughed. "It's fine, we were mentally prepared."

"Hmph, hmph!"

Wei Lan wrinkled her delicate nose slightly and walked ahead.

Xiao Weiqing followed immediately.

Zhang Dawei, however, lagged one body length behind, following the two of them.