Volume One, Chapter 13: This Fish Is Too Ugly, So I'll Gift It to the Koi

It was as if an ant gazing up at the vast sky could not even begin to comprehend, only able to tremble and submit instinctively.

Countless newly awakened terrifying eldritch gods fled frantically in the opposite direction, terrified of even the slightest touch from that slender thread.

Meanwhile, in the Nine Heavens and Ten Realms, those ancient beings who had sealed themselves within forbidden zones observed through secret arts. The scene had shifted from “demons dancing in chaos” to “gods retreating.”

They witnessed a “line” piercing through the entire Sea of Chaos, hooking an Old One whose name none could recognize, emanating an ultimate aura of ominous dread.

“What… what is that?”

“It’s a ‘line’! A line is hooking… hooking that thing!”

“Madness! This world has gone completely insane!”

Fear shattered the hearts of these ancient monsters who had lived countless eons.

Beneath the corridor.

Uncle Fu looked at the young master’s enthusiastic expression and smiled with satisfaction.

Reflected in his eyes was the image of myriad demons fleeing within the Sea of Chaos, and his certainty grew stronger.

The young master was clearing the fishpond.

First, scare away the small fry and shrimps; then, hook the chosen “treasure that guards the pond.”

Look at this method—how imposing, how effortless.

The Progenitor truly was farsighted.

“Splash—”

At that moment, a tremendous splash echoed.

Gu Changsheng jerked backward sharply, finally pulling the large creature beneath the water’s surface out onto the surface.

Its size, though not particularly exaggerated, was about the size of a small house. But its appearance challenged the limits of all living beings’ sanity.

It was not a fish at all.

It resembled a mass of flesh, composed of countless twisted tentacles, shattered eyeballs, and indescribable geometric shapes haphazardly fused together.

Its body was covered with dark purple patterns swirling slowly like cosmic nebulae. Within each pattern’s depths seemed to be a world trapped in wailing agony.

Though just a lifeless remnant, the ancient, sinister, chaotic aura it exuded caused the space above the pond to warp and collapse.

Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue glanced only once before feeling as if their souls were being sucked in, engulfed by eons of madness and despair. They quickly lowered their heads, faces ashen, breath suspended.

Even Uncle Fu’s smile vanished, replaced by a solemn expression.

This Old One’s status was far greater than he had imagined.

Even as a remnant, it was enough to corrupt an entire universe.

What was the young master’s intention in fishing it up?

He focused his mind to ponder.

Suddenly, Gu Changsheng clicked his tongue, disdain clearly on his face.

“What kind of thing is this?”

He sized up the indescribable mass, frowning tightly.

---

This thing was entirely dark purple, covered with slimy tentacles dripping unknown mucus.

Between the tentacles were countless shattered eyeballs, each silently staring into the abyss.

A putrid stench of decay and rot assaulted his senses, making him instinctively retreat half a step.

“Truly disgusting.”

He muttered, his good mood for fishing instantly shattered.

He had hoped to catch a big one for some amusement, but pulling up this abomination was nothing but mental pollution.

He didn’t even want to reach out to remove the hook.

Too filthy.

“Forget it, forget it—bad luck.”

Gu Changsheng waved his hand impatiently, grabbing the fishing rod and yanking hard, trying to snap the line and let the thing fall back.

But the seemingly ordinary thread was exceptionally tough, refusing to budge no matter how hard he pulled.

“Huh, quite sturdy.”

Annoyed, he let go and casually tossed the fishing rod made from a branch of the World Tree aside.

“Plop!”

Deprived of tension, the massive Old One remnant crashed heavily back into the pond, splashing water over a man’s height.

At the instant the remnant hit the water, a sudden change occurred.

The body, which should have been dead and silent for countless aeons, was forcibly hooked by the thread of causality and then slammed back into the Sea of Chaos. Its dormant essence was stirred by a barely perceptible disturbance.

Hum—

An indescribable terrifying aura erupted from the pond.

It was neither energy nor pressure, but a pure “concept” capable of corrupting all things and warping laws.

Centered on the pond, the light above the Gu family estate dimmed instantly. Space began to twist like an oil painting, and the air filled with a madness and despair that froze the soul.

The flowers and plants in the courtyard withered and rotted visibly, turning to black ash.

Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue could not even utter a muffled groan, feeling as though an invisible hand gripped their consciousness, dragging them into an eternal abyss of insanity.

Their hearts of the Way cracked bit by bit, their spirits alerting wildly.

Under the corridor, Uncle Fu’s cloudy old eyes narrowed for the first time. His aura tightened as he prepared to act.

The young master had merely tossed the thing back for its ugliness, but this creature seemed to be unappreciative.

Yet, in the next moment.

Uncle Fu’s movement to intervene slowed and then ceased.

A deeper understanding dawned on his face.

So that was it.

The young master’s strategy was so profound.

In the pond, the Old One’s remnant still emitted its universe-corrupting aura.

---

But the pond water suddenly turned crystal clear, and several golden koi with shimmering scales leisurely swam up from the depths.

They seemed completely unaffected by the terrifying aura, instead lazily circling the remnant like house cats drawn by the scent of food.

One particularly plump golden koi swam slowly to the remnant, the size of a small house.

It flicked its tail as if judging whether this “food” was worth nibbling.

Then, under the vacant stares of Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue, who had lost all capacity for thought,

The golden koi opened its small mouth.

Gently inhaled.

Hoo—

No earth-shattering roar, no clash of laws.

That huge Old One remnant, whose aura could contaminate a vast cosmos, along with all the twisted space and maddening aura around it, was abruptly and irrationally swallowed whole by that tiny mouth.

As if drawn into an invisible black hole.

The world instantly fell silent.

The contamination aura that could strike fear even into the hearts of Way Ancestors vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

The withered flowers and plants in the courtyard revived rapidly, blooming even more vibrantly than before.

Sunlight shone warmly again.

After swallowing the enormous creature, the golden koi leisurely belched and blew out a crystal-clear little bubble.

“Pop.”

The bubble burst with a soft sound.

It flicked its tail gracefully, turned elegantly, and merged back into the school of fish, continuing to swim lazily in the pond as if it had only eaten a trivial fish pellet.

“…”

Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue’s bodies still trembled slightly—not from fear, but because everything they had just witnessed utterly shattered their understanding.

What… what was that?

An ornamental fish… ate an indescribable terrifying existence?

Is this the Gu family’s pond?

Is this the pet beside the young master?

Gu Changsheng looked at the koi that had finished its meal and swam away, curling his lips.

“Not a bad appetite; saves me the trouble of cleaning up the trash.”

He yawned, feeling that fishing was completely uninteresting now. Turning, he walked back to his lounge chair and plopped down.