```
Pfft!
The hook sank into the water once more.
Su Ping immediately noticed the information he had previously overlooked.
As soon as the hook touched the water, a virtual panel popped up signaling the start of the fishing game.
Then, a fishing mini-game interface appeared before his eyes.
The operation was simple, based on prompts, one only needed to manage the tension of the fishing rod after the fish took the bait.
For Su Ping, a cultivator, this was as easy as pie.
Minutes later.
As Su Ping completed his first round of the fishing game,
The information stream updated instantly:
[Fishing experience gained +1]
[Current fishing level: 1 (1/100)]
[Green Spirit Fish +1 acquired]
[Fish caught, fishing store now open!]
Su Ping gazed at the empty fishing hook floating under the water, then at the virtual panel, and had a vague epiphany:
"Frost Moon Lake and the fishing rod are just mediums to start the fishing game. I haven't actually caught a fish from Frost Moon Lake, and there's even no need to recast the line. Everything takes place within my consciousness."
"The fish caught in the game are directly stored in the game's warehouse, saving me the trouble of outsiders noticing anything unusual!"
With a thought, Su Ping entered the fishing game once again.
At the same time, he began checking out the fishing store while continuing to play the game.
With one glance, he was ecstatic!
The fishing store was tied to the fishing level, which was currently at level one.
Yet, the few items available for exchange were already exciting enough for Su Ping.
The fishing store required Fishing Coins. Su Ping could either enjoy the Little Green Fish he had just caught in reality or sell it directly to the store for Fishing Coins.
Among the items available for exchange in the fishing store were three game items: Life Spirit Medicine, Mana Spirit Medicine, and Purification Spirit Medicine.
There was also a special item that required one hundred Little Green Fish, ten Big Bluefish, and one Green Spirit Fish for exchange: Town Return Talisman!
[Life Spirit Medicine: Instantly restores 100 Life Value and continues to restore life over the next thirty seconds, required for exchange: 10 Fishing Coins]
[Mana Spirit Medicine: Instantly restores 100 Mana and continues to restore mana over the next thirty seconds, required for exchange: 10 Fishing Coins]
[Purification Spirit Medicine: Immediately removes all negative statuses of Tier 3 or below, required for exchange: 20 Fishing Coins]
[Town Return Talisman (Unique): Instantly teleports back to the default or temporary teleportation point when used, 12-hour cooldown, required for exchange: 100 Little Green Fish, 10 Big Bluefish, 1 Green Spirit Fish]
Familiar item names and descriptions reminded Su Ping of the fishing game he played before crossing over.
After Qi Cultivation, Su Ping's memory had greatly improved.
He remembered that it was a mini-game within a large open world game.
As such, the items were also from that big world with a vast fantasy background.
If after exchange, the items materialized and their functions were exactly the same as in the game's information…
Su Ping silently swallowed.
Not to mention the help that Life Spirit Medicine and Mana Spirit Medicine would bring to cultivation and combat.
What about the Purification Spirit Medicine? If it was effective against Pill Poison, couldn't he turn waste into treasure and quickly elevate his cultivation by consuming waste pills?
Moreover, there was the Town Return Talisman. In the game, the default teleportation point was the protagonist's birth village.
If I use it, will I be transported to the mountain forest after I crossed over?
Or could it send me back to the place of my birth before I crossed over?
If it's the latter!
Couldn't I potentially cross back and forth between the two worlds with the default and temporary teleportation points set by the Town Return Talisman?
And thereby gain assistance from both worlds!
Su Ping suddenly realized…his dream of immortal cultivation and eternal life might just have become possible!
He looked at how one Little Green Fish could only be exchanged for one Fishing Coin.
Filled with hope, Su Ping reminded his attendants to keep quiet and not to disturb his fun.
Then, he wholeheartedly threw himself into the grand cause of fishing.
Enjoying the pleasure of fishing and happily watching the prompts of Fishing experience +1 scroll past.
```
The young maids and manservants waiting by the shore were finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their composure.
They could not see the virtual interface and could only notice that the Immortal Master, whom they revered, seemed to have never caught a single fish.
As time wore on, the reality of not having hooked a single fish made the maids and manservants quietly lower their heads, fearing that they might anger the Immortal Master who was not having much luck.
Even though the Immortal Master had seemed very gentle throughout the month.
But just thinking about the master's background and the stern reminders from the elders in their family before they came here.
How could these servants not worry and fear in their hearts?
Thus, the maid Ping'er held back the thought of suggesting to Master Su Ping that he should change the bait.
Even when she saw other tourists nearby wanting to visit the Immortal Master, she sent the manservants to deter them in advance.
Lest they disturb the master's refined pleasure of fishing!
Not far from Frost Moon Lake, at the top floor of Frost Moon Tower in the Frost Moon Villa standing on a small hillside,
a middle-aged man dressed in a finely embroidered robe, with a rather slender figure, stood by the railing holding an exquisite monocular telescope, gazing at Su Ping fishing in the distance.
Standing by his side was a burly, bald man with a broad back and a strong build, named Ji Hu, the City Guardian of Golden Sparrow City, and also a direct descendant of one of the largest local families, the Ji Family.
He too looked toward Su Ping's direction and chuckled:
"City Lord, this Cultivator Su Ping sure knows how to live a carefree life. He accepted the fertile lands, luxurious residences, and treasures of gold and jewels we offered without any hesitation."
"He spent the beginning of this period watching operas and listening to music in his villa, and now he's here at Frost Moon Lake fishing... living more joyously than those on the verge of death!"
The middle-aged man, who was the City Lord and also from a local powerful family, slightly furrowed his brows, puzzled by Su Ping's luck with fishing.
By all accounts, even a beginner at fishing should easily be able to catch small fish and shrimp, if not big fish.
Yet he didn't convey the anomaly to his companion, merely whispering:
"We should continue observing for now, let's not be deceived."
"After all, this Inspector... is too young!"
Hearing this, Ji Hu nodded in agreement.
The powerful families of their mortal realm were certainly not ignorant about the Immortal Sect and cultivators.
In fact, tracing the lineage of either the Imperial Family or the powerful families, their ancestors were all cultivators.
Without some background, they would not have been able to enjoy such opulence and wealth.
Over the centuries, some descendants with Spirit Roots would join the Immortal Sect and become cultivators.
Golden Sparrow City had previously encountered cultivators from the Immortal Sect, like Su Ping, who chose to indulge in earthly pleasures.
As hosts, they naturally did not dare to neglect such esteemed guests.
They would even convene meetings with all the major families, each making sacrifices from their estates, to ensure that the other party could live without worries, while their descendants quickly integrated into Golden Sparrow City and ultimately became part of the foundational strength of Golden Sparrow City's families...
But over the years, there had always been those greedy by nature, dissatisfied with being merely wealthy and aiming to go even further—those who refused to die.
At such times, that was when the deep-rooted influence of these powerful families came into play, causing the other party to back down and know their place.
Su Ping's initial behavior had pleased the local tyrants of Golden Sparrow City.
Both sides appeared to be getting along well.
But Su Ping's age… it was something they couldn't let go of.
In their eyes, Su Ping, who looked no older than forty, could live for at least another sixty years considering a cultivator's longevity!
A cultivator entrenched in a place for sixty years without dying!
This was a challenge they had not faced since the establishment of Golden Sparrow City!
After all, each of those previous Inspectors was either close to death or so gravely injured they had only four or five good years left, prompting them to give up on the path of Immortal Cultivation and come bully these mortals, right?
Even their own family members who were cultivators would visit as little as possible.
The longest any cultivator in the history of Golden Sparrow City had lived... was only seven years.
This Cultivator Su Ping… barring any accidents, he could live for at least sixty years!
He could outlast all of the older generation!
Even if he did nothing, after twenty or thirty years, when his descendants had grown and he was still not dead,
Golden Sparrow City would have to cede even more of their interests, wouldn't they?
Thinking this, the middle-aged man began to feel a headache coming on. He, continuously weighing gains and losses in his mind, set down the monocular telescope and commanded his attendant:
"Send someone to wait... Once the Inspector is done fishing, immediately invite him over to Frost Moon Tower for a small drink."
"Sigh…"
"Let's hope our Inspector truly is as amiable and agreeable, as he claimed to be when he arrived."
"Otherwise, since he is after all a cultivator from the Immortal Sect, things could get very troublesome if they turn ugly."