Chapter 123

Liang Qu pondered how to exchange things from A-Fei's toad big brother.

If it were just boat models, the problem would become simple; he wouldn't need to consider actual navigation. Both sea ships and river ships could be made, even battleships wouldn't be a problem.

He could also prepare some other things to mix in and see if the toad was interested.

Additionally, there was one point Liang Qu was very concerned about.

The undercurrent.

Able to go over, able to return—a naturally formed two-way channel?

The possibility was far too small.

Liang Qu thought of the legendary Demon Court, suspecting the undercurrent was some kind of path created by the legendary Demon Court. But hearing the fat catfish's account, even a great demon of the toad's level didn't know about it, which seemed contradictory.

Even if the Demon Court had high standards, it couldn't be that even a great demon like the toad couldn't join and was relegated to a peripheral figure, right?

If that were the case, wouldn't every demon in the Demon Court be at the Martial Saint level?

The possibility was as small as the undercurrent being naturally formed—no, even smaller.

If the Demon Court had that kind of strength, the one ruling the world shouldn't be the Great Shun, and it shouldn't even be humans.

Perhaps it was a ruin left behind by some forces?

The former undercurrent channel might not have been limited to transporting small spirit monsters.

The world is too big, and there are too many unknown places.

Liang Qu caught a glimpse of the fat catfish having eaten all the sturgeon meat and took out the dragon tendon wrapped in fish skin from his bosom.

One beast, one chi; he had already tasted the portion of the Heavenly Water Centipede at home, and since the other three beasts hadn't eaten it, he had brought it all along.

"Line up, open your mouths."

The three beasts floated on the water surface, lining up around the covered boat, opening their mouths wide in an orderly fashion.

"How can that be the same? Spring outings have no fun at all; learning martial arts is so cool, every punch and kick is majestic!"

The three beasts ate the dragon tendon without chewing, swallowing it whole, all entering their stomachs before the dragon-species aura could dissipate.

Eating such a good thing for the first time, the taste was very ordinary, but the life essence contained within was extremely extraordinary. After being ground and digested, it flowed continuously into their limbs and bones, feeling extremely comfortable.

The three beasts rolled excitedly in the water, foam surging and rolling endlessly.

Several quarter-hours later, Liang Qu felt the aura of the three beasts; there was no dragon-species aura, just a slightly more intense majesty.

It was originally a "pseudo" dragon tendon grown from a broken remnant bone, over eleven zhang long in total, and taking one chi to consume—if that could breed a dragon-species aura, it would be too heaven-defying.

However, the Water Essence contributed quite a bit; one chi had nearly four hundred points of Water Essence, and the progress bar for the three beasts' one thousand five hundred had already accumulated more than half. Eating the Sturgeon King's meat two more times would allow for a second evolution.

Liang Qu stood up and took off his outer garment.

"A-Fei, lead the way. Let me go see what's going on with the undercurrent below."

A-Fei turned and dived, taking the lead.

Liang Qu and the other three beasts followed closely behind.

Ripples danced on the Jianghuai River as two hundred-meter-long tower ships cleaved through the waves, slowly sailing toward Pingyang County, dragging a long "tail" behind them.

Large ships of different sizes and styles followed the tower ships closely, gangplank connected to gangplank, sails billowing. Martial artists with agile light-body skills shuttled back and forth, holding money bags when they left and returning with two jars of fine wine under their arms.

This was a massive fleet with over ten thousand people; merchant ships, warships, and even pleasure boats were all present, simply a mobile maritime market.

Looking down into the river, one could see the white backs of finless porpoises, yet no one felt afraid.

A full hundred finless porpoises over five meters long guarded the fleet. Whenever they encountered spirit monsters, they would swarm them, tearing them apart and eating them clean, leaving only churning bloody water behind.

A curious passenger threw out a bag of copper coins, bought a whole basket of large fish from a fishing boat, and poured them into the river.

The finless porpoises opened their mouths wide to swallow the large fish whole, stood up to slap the water, and the onlookers cheered.

Finless porpoises are the most successful type of demon beast domesticated by the River Patrol Office, their status in the river comparable to horses on land. A hundred finless porpoises, led by a lead beast, could easily slaughter demon beasts.

This was also the reason why merchant ships gathered around the tower ships. By obtaining the consent of the River Patrol Office, they could follow behind the tower ships to gain protection, saving a huge sum of silver on purchasing demon-repellent paste, and safely navigate the Jianghuai River without worrying about demon beast attacks or the scene of losing everything.

On the tower ship, a guard in armor jumped from one ship to another, shouting names. With no result, he returned to the ship helplessly, cupping his hands and bowing to the man looking over the railing, full of apologies.

Seeing Ran Zhongshi sighed: "My big brother is missing again? Have you checked with my little sister?"

The guard lowered his head: "This subordinate is ashamed; I have searched all the nearby ships and haven't found Commander Xu."

Seeing Ran Zhongshi waved his hand: "I don't blame you. I guess Big Brother Xu went fishing somewhere again. Go down; we'll be docking soon. Go prepare."

"Yes!"

The guard bowed and retreated, turning to coordinate the sailors.

Seeing Ran Zhongshi leaned against the railing. The river was wide, the clouds were low, and the river breeze blew gently, causing the two strands of black hair at his temples to flutter.

Under the river.

Liang Qu reached out and grasped the air, his five fingers closing, and a water prison of a hundred cubic meters formed out of thin air, firmly imprisoning the surrounding water flow.

But the next instant, the water prison shattered into nothingness, failing to last even a single breath.

With the increase in fusion, the increase in favor, and the breakthrough of the bone barrier, the amount of water flow Liang Qu could manipulate had long exceeded a hundred tons. With a wave of his hand, he could use a water prison to imprison a spatial area of a hundred cubic meters, yet now it was of no use at all.

The surging undercurrent remained surging, showing no change compared to before the imprisonment.

"Indeed, it is extraordinary."

Liang Qu's physical exertion was not much; it wasn't that he canceled the water prison due to exhaustion, but that the undercurrent itself broke through his imprisonment.

He closed his eyes and exerted his perception to the fullest, every stream of water leaving a trace in his mind.

The entire undercurrent gradually turned into a tangible object in his mind. In a trance, Liang Qu seemed to see a giant "wind instrument."

The front was the bowl structure of a wind instrument, which then continuously contracted into the pipe, forming a long passage.

One only needed to get close to the wind instrument bowl to be led by the water flow through the passage and enter another place.

The force was extremely great. Liang Qu tried it and felt as if a whip had lashed his hand; without using water-control methods, he could easily be swept away.

Liang Qu did not approach rashly; the other side of the passage was the toad's territory.

He knew too little about the toad and didn't know its attitude toward humans; it might crush him like a bug the moment he arrived.

Whether he could go over depended on the fat catfish's subsequent contact.

"Truly a work of exquisite craftsmanship."

A channel that could actually shuttle back and forth without obstruction, moving freely between shallow and deep-water zones.

He didn't know what kind of sacred being created it, what kind of means were used, or what the energy source was.

Could he do it in the future?

If his favor reached one hundred percent, or if he truly incarnated as Wuzhiqi, perhaps he could also drive such a wonderful water flow to appear at the bottom of the water.

But by then, he would be able to use the divine ability of Water Travel for a Thousand Miles, so was the undercurrent specifically used to transport subordinates and supplies?

Was the Jianghuai River bottom in ancient times much livelier than it is now? Why did it disappear now?

Liang Qu seemed to have caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg in a trance, but unfortunately, the question was too big and not something he should consider now.

Awei swam to his wrist, automatically adhering to it and turning into a blue bracelet.

Liang Qu and the other three beasts returned to the lotus root field, and he returned to the boat alone. Just as he was about to use water to return, he suddenly stopped his movements and turned to grasp the long oar.

A figure drifted over from the distance on the river surface.

"Little brother rowing the boat, wait a moment. Let me ask you something: in which direction is Pingyang County?"