Chapter 180: 180
The Angel seemed to have become ruthless, an eerie halo rising from her body and condensing into a halo above her head.
"The halo above Tian Xin's head, it looks so much like the Angel Halo, making her seem even more like an angel," Lin Shen remarked, somewhat surprised.
As the halo appeared, the Angel's strength increased greatly. She flapped her wings hard and managed to fly upwards, resisting gravity.
The Dark Jade Dragon snapped at thin air and fell back into the river, causing heavy waves.
"Fisher, you dare to trick me. You are dead," Tian Xin, furious, attacked the fisher again, moving much faster than before.
"Tian Xin's strength is stronger than I thought!" Lin Shen had not yet seen Tian Xin fight with all her might.
When he first encountered Tian Xin, she was in the sea fighting with that mutated creature and was already half crippled when she emerged.
Afterwards, when Tian Xin met him, she did not take action. Even when she was robbing others herself, she had never used the Angel Halo.
Watching Tian Xin pounce like a phantom, the fisher was not the least bit flustered, calmly swinging the fishing rod in his hand.
With the flick of the rod, the fishing line traced a strange arc in the air, wrapping towards Tian Xin.
Tian Xin, aware of the incredible toughness of the fishing line, did not dare to get caught and swiftly dodged the line by flapping her wings.
Lin Shen watched the battle between Tian Xin and the fisher and the more he watched, the stranger he found the fisher's rod skills.
The combination of a hook, line, and rod, a weapon that is both flexible and rigid, unexpectedly versatile in use - completely different from conventional weapons.
In the rapid swinging of the rod, the line seemed to become thousands of silk strands, entangling from unexpected angles. The tough yet elastic rod could both whip and stab.
The hook was as strange as hooks flying all around, unpredictable and impossible to defend against.
Tian Xin's aerial combat abilities were indeed strong; she moved agilely in the sky, barely dodging the weird attacks of the fishing rod but it was clear she was at a disadvantage. She struggled to ascend to higher altitudes and a single mistake could leave her entangled in the fishing lines.
"Such strange moves, such interesting skills," Lin Shen watched with great interest, intrigued by the fishing rod techniques.
As a child, he too had gone fishing, just once, taken by his third brother. After sitting for half a day without catching a single fish, Lin Shen, lacking patience, never went again.
Now, Lin Shen still had little interest in fishing, but he found the fisher's rod skills very intriguing.
"Death Powder can be hard or soft; it might be worth considering this fishing rod skill," Lin Shen thought to himself, carefully observing.
Many things seem difficult when you're not interested in them.
But when you truly focus on something, you quickly realize that everything follows a pattern. If you proceed methodically, it might not be as difficult as you imagined.
The key is to be diligent. Without focus, everything is hard; with concentration, things may become easier.
Of course, it's only a possibility. Some tasks are indeed difficult, not achievable just by diligence alone.
After watching carefully for a while, Lin Shen found some clues.
Although the rod technique was peculiar, it wasn't without trace, just obscure and rarely used by most people.
Tian Xin kept dodging, but her range of movement became increasingly limited. If this continued, she would eventually get caught.
"I refuse to believe that I can't break this damn line," Tian Xin hardened his heart, intending to overpower the situation with brute force. He gripped the knife with both hands, the halo above his head blazing with light, and he chopped fiercely at the fishing line, trying to cut it and break free from the current predicament.
The incredibly sharp Red Crystal Short Blade, moving with terrifying speed, struck the fishing line, only to send it swinging to one side, completely undamaged.
The fisherman pulled and reeled, the line wrapping around Tian Xin's body, circling him many times in an instant, the fish hook embedding itself into Tian Xin's carapace.
With a fierce yank of the rod, Tian Xin's body was instantly bound into a long strip, dangling back and forth in the air.
Tian Xin now deeply regretted his actions, his guts turning green with it. If he had known this man was so formidable, he would never have come.
"Damn it, just a human, how could such a monster appear!" Tian Xin thought bitterly, wanting to vomit blood.
The fisherman turned to face the river, and Tian Xin was suddenly suspended above the water's surface.
The pull of the fishing line and the terrifying gravity from beneath the river stretched the line taut, and Tian Xin, bound tight, struggled even to squirm.
"Friend... this is all a misunderstanding... let's talk this out nicely," Tian Xin said, forcing a smile.
"Who did you just say you were going to turn into fish bait?" the fisherman asked with a smile as he looked at Tian Xin.
"Cough cough... you heard wrong... I was saying... your fish bait isn't enough... I could help you make more..." Tian Xin hastily replied.
"Is that right?" The fisherman smiled.
"Definitely," Tian Xin quickly said.
The fisherman looked at Tian Xin as if contemplating something.
Suddenly, the river's surface exploded, and a huge shadow leapt from the depths, engulfing Tian Xin and the line in a single gulp.
The fisherman hadn't expected this turn of events. A Base Variant Creature larger than a blue whale emerged, his expression changing slightly before he smiled with satisfaction: "It's finally come out."
Lin Shen also watched the Base Variant Creature that had sprung from the river. It was ink-black in color, its body resembling a koi, only many times larger than any koi, even larger than a blue whale.
It had a forward-curving horn on its head, from which hung a lantern-like white crystal, over a meter tall, something twinkling inside it, reminiscent of an anglerfish's lure, only considerably larger.
"Just like that, Tian Xin is done for!" Lin Shen felt some pity in his heart; he still hadn't retrieved his belongings from Tian Xin before he was swallowed by that monstrous fish.
The fisherman's legs braced, sinking into the rock as he held the rod with one hand and rapidly paid out the line with the other, a blue Crystal-based Carapace materializing over his body.
With a splash, the monstrous fish caused an enormous wave and dove back into the river.
The fisherman continued releasing the line quickly, but the speed at which he did so was clearly slower than the monster fish's swimming pace. Soon, the fishing line was pulled taut, and the reel started spinning on its own, as fast as a drill bit.
The fisherman gripped the rod tightly, leaning forward as the line reached its end, nearly being pulled into the river, yet he still clung to the rod.
Lin Shen swiftly executed a Base Mutation and rushed behind the fisherman, grabbing his body and pulling back with all his might, but still, he could not stop the pull.
Lin Shen exerted his full strength, one hand pulling the fisherman, the other producing a Pet Launcher, which he used to deploy a Pet Capsule.
The Hell Rock Crystal Evil Dragon, the largest and heaviest, appeared behind them. It twisted its body, wrapped its tail around Lin Shen, and with all four limbs digging in, it pulled back forcefully.