Chapter Eight: The Divine Fishing Rod

Fishing rods—in the original "Minecraft," these are universally acknowledged as divine tools, surpassing even a fully enchanted diamond sword in certain respects. They are versatile: useful both up close and at a distance, for offense and defense alike. You can use them to grapple, scale walls, or pull someone forcibly to your side. They can be used for fishing, knocking enemies back, and more.

Of course, all of this depends on whether you can master them; otherwise, you’ll only end up playing yourself into oblivion.

Mo Fangyuan was not a professional PVP master, and his understanding of the fishing rod was only superficial. Yet, dazzling these fresh-faced newcomers who had never suffered at the hands of the fishing rod was a breeze for him.

"Isn’t this already going well?"

Mo Fangyuan’s mood brightened instantly, and he decided to try one out that very night.

Block Kingdom was small, which meant fewer matters for Mo Fangyuan to handle. It was always something trivial: a sheep about to give birth, or a shortage of manpower somewhere. These little chores were rapidly turning Mo Fangyuan into a full-time babysitter.

The first issue he settled quickly upon returning to the castle; the second he could only postpone, waiting for the workforce to grow.

"I don’t think sitting here doing nothing is much of a solution..."

Seated at the oak table, Mo Fangyuan idly played with the feather pen in his hand, bored. In other novels, the protagonist can barely take a step without stumbling into some incident: a foolish villain blocking the road, Mars colliding with Earth, the school beauty being harassed...

But for him, there was absolutely nothing to do, and it was still a long time until nightfall.

How could a modern person, transplanted to ancient times, adapt without a phone, computer, games, TV, soda, or crayfish? Mo Fangyuan was obviously a gaming addict; before, he was so occupied he barely noticed the passage of time. Now, feeling safe, his attention wandered.

"..."

"..."

"Right, mining... But no, as a king, my aim should be to protect my people. Without great strength, how can I defend them?"

At first, Mo Fangyuan thought, after playing survival mode for so many years, he could go mining himself—after all, he was also labor. But then it struck him: his true duty was to safeguard his people from monsters.

That required real power; a strong body is essential. Experience points and leveling up can help, but combat skills and experience can’t be gained that way—they must be earned.

After his encounter with a red-eyed zombie in the mine, Mo Fangyuan realized he didn’t just have poor combat awareness—he had none at all.

He needed to train.

But how, exactly? Mo Fangyuan had no clear goal.

"Uh, let’s start with the fishing rod..."

The fishing rod is a divine tool—no question. But it depends on the user, and Mo Fangyuan was not the sort who could wield it with great skill.

Now that he had nothing pressing to do, it was a good time to practice. Otherwise, once Block Kingdom developed and he had more to deal with, spare time would vanish.

Behind the castle was a small garden, tended regularly since it was a place for past kings to amuse themselves.

Mo Fangyuan entered the garden. It was tidy overall, but hardly beautiful.

He didn’t care about aesthetics; he just found a patch of open ground and was ready to begin.

"Hmm, how do I practice?"

Mo Fangyuan realized he had no idea where to start.

"...Guess I’ll begin with the basics—casting and swinging..."

He was at a loss, never having trained before, so he simply mimicked the motions he used when fishing: casting and swinging.

After all, only if the hook lands on the target can the next step proceed.

"Hey!"

Mo Fangyuan gripped the rod and swung hard. The white line arced perfectly into the nearby pond.

"Hmm, er..."

His target wasn’t the pond, but the chrysanthemum bushes beside it.

"Just as I expected..."

Mo Fangyuan knew his aim well.

"Hey!"

"Ha!"

"..."

Time slipped away as he trained, and the sky had already grown dark.

His confidence took a hit. In the game, his fishing rod aim was impeccable—why, after practicing all afternoon, couldn’t he land a single hook?

Frustrated, and as luck would have it, night had fallen. He decided to vent his anger on some monsters.

At Mo Fangyuan’s suggestion, lighting apparatuses began to be installed in the fields. Although only a tiny section had been equipped, Mo Fangyuan believed that, like water wearing away stone, the Block Kingdom would one day have fields fully illuminated.

"Roar!"

With a zombie’s roar, night officially arrived.

This was Mo Fangyuan’s fourth night, and after constant battles, he no longer feared the darkness.

Now, excited, he licked his axe, his expression saying: “This axe is coated with poison, you know.”

In the past, killing monsters brought no benefit and could even get him killed; now, slaying monsters made him stronger.

Mo Fangyuan was possessed by the spirit of the "Fourth Calamity."

He found the first zombie that had roared and promptly sent it to meet a god who doesn’t bleed.

Monster drops and experience wouldn’t appear until dawn, when sunlight burned them to ashes. Of course, tossing them into fire worked too, but he had to be careful not to let the drops burn away.

A 0.2 boost in strength did little for Mo Fangyuan at this stage, but over time, it was worth looking forward to.

"Crunch!"

Spotting a skeleton archer in the distance, Mo Fangyuan drew out his fishing rod to give it a try.

The first attempt landed right in front of the skeleton archer. Fortunately, these monsters acted purely on instinct and had little intelligence.

It glanced at the white object on the ground and turned away.

The second attempt, Mo Fangyuan adjusted, casting the hook farther.

This time, the skeleton archer flashed red, knocked back a few blocks.

He’d scored a hit.

Mo Fangyuan was thrilled, immediately pulling the hook and dragging the skeleton archer toward him.

With a bang, the bewildered skeleton archer was hauled to Mo Fangyuan’s side, and promptly received an axe to the head. Still dazed, it was dispatched in an instant.

Experiencing the fishing rod’s power for the first time, Mo Fangyuan caressed it, reluctant to let go. After the skeleton archer, he seemed hooked.

Skeleton? Hook!

Zombie? Hook!

Spider? Still hook!

Creeper? Hook as well!

"Boom!"

...

Combat was the best way to improve himself. Though his monster-slaying efficiency slowed, Mo Fangyuan’s accuracy with the fishing rod steadily improved.

From needing five or six attempts to land a hit, he soon managed two or three hits out of five or six throws—a rapid progression.

Through using the fishing rod, Mo Fangyuan discovered that when facing groups of monsters, he could use it to pull them out one by one and quietly behead them.

The axe: forever divine!

Hook, chop; hook, chop; hook... With the fishing rod’s repetition, dawn gradually broke.

Mo Fangyuan concluded his performance by dispatching a cluster of fifty monsters after sunrise, aided by the sun.

Because he spent the whole night hooking monsters, his efficiency dropped and many fields were lost.

"Ding!"

[Health +1]

The night’s effort only gained him one level. Mo Fangyuan was now level 4; the experience bar’s demands hardly matched those of an online game.

Reaching level ten required so much experience early on—how much more would it take later?

Having leveled up, Mo Fangyuan wasn’t ready to stop. He set his sights on the Dark Forest, and had an interesting idea to try out on its monsters.

At the break of dawn, hordes of monsters clustered at the forest’s edge, lurking in the shadow cast by the trees, not daring to move inward.

Mo Fangyuan, wearing a straw hat and carrying a stool, looked every inch the fisherman as he walked along the border between the Dark Forest and the plains.

The scent of life instantly drew the monsters’ attention. Forced by the sun’s power, they crowded the shadow’s edge, shoving and jostling one another. Occasionally, an unlucky creature was pushed out by its "good teammates" behind and couldn’t squeeze back in, ultimately burning to death under the sun.

After some searching, Mo Fangyuan found a prime spot. He set down his stool, took a seat, and drew out his fishing rod and axe, his lips curling into a smile.

"So many monsters—no matter how I cast, I’m bound to snag one!"

He casually swung the rod, instantly hooking a zombie.

With a firm yank, the unsuspecting zombie was pulled from the shade to Mo Fangyuan’s feet.

The moment it left the cover, flames engulfed its body.

"Whoa! Ugh! Oh!"

Fire, combined with Mo Fangyuan’s axe, finished the zombie off on the spot. Its corpse burned to ash, leaving experience and loot behind.

Kicking away the ashes at his feet, Mo Fangyuan squinted, searching for the next lucky audience...