Chapter 1291

The Yellow Sand River surged against its riverbed, stirring up vast water mist.

The cloud giant bowed low, its entire body ethereal, exhaling white mist like luminous silk, slowly rising.

Great demon!

Boots trampled weeds, palms gripping the pages tightly.

Sinan's expression was wary, glancing at Liang Qu ahead—her vigilance faded, she had no idea what was happening, yet Ling Xuan's words involuntarily surfaced in her mind as she drew a breath.

Just finished seclusion in September, and now leaving again in November?

Key furnace invitation—can't even explain why!

Xu Yuelong and Ran Zhongshi held their breath, turning their gaze toward Liang Qu.

"I wondered who was coming—turns out it's Yun Bo, huh." Liang Qu closed the book, his face calm, back muscles tensed, his mind racing wildly with the Whale King's intent, "We haven't seen each other in over a year, and your cultivation's grown again, huh."

"Exactly one and a half years. Speaking of cultivation, you can't compare to the Huai King." Yun Bo replied.

"Since that day, I've indeed thought of several good ideas for the Great Hunt, but kept feeling they weren't good enough, didn't dare disturb the Whale King, and besides, official duties were truly busy, so I never sought you out. Never expected the Whale King would personally invite me—I'm deeply honored, I've long yearned for the Eastern Sea, and wanted to see its scenery, but you've probably already seen————"

Liang Qu took two steps, fingers brushing the yellow sand, easeful and relaxed, secretly linking spirit with Long Binglin, "Now I act by imperial decree to manage the Yellow Sand River—critically important, daily so busy I can't even eat properly, truly tense, can't just drop everything at any moment. I don't know exactly when the Whale King plans the banquet. How long will this trip roughly take?"

Yun Bo sensed nothing amiss, answering respectfully: "The Huai King is humble—your territory's development is evident to all under heaven; one of your ideas is a treasure others can't attain—how could it be a disturbance? The time is roughly one month from now, early or mid-December. If the Huai King agrees, I'll report to His Majesty, then confirm the exact date. In the first five days, I'll come to brief the Huai King, awaiting your gracious arrival.

Moreover, His Majesty knows the Huai King is busy, but this invitation serves two purposes: first, to witness my Eastern Sea's local customs and fish conditions; second, to inspect the venue. If slow, it could take half a month; if fast, five or six days suffice—it will certainly conclude before the month ends.

As for water management, rest assured: if the Great Shun needs and wishes it, His Majesty is willing to dispatch two demon kings to assist in managing the Yellow Sand River during your absence—though less efficient than the Ape King and Huai King, they won't fall far behind."

Sinan frowned, thinking it improper—how could Great Shun's rivers be entrusted to foreign demons? Yet she dared not speak up.

"Until December, then————" Liang Qu mused.

The vast northern sea—here there are no spring, summer, autumn, winter; four seasons of icebergs float, two icebergs, pushed by the current, collide suddenly, shattering into countless fragments that fall upon the sea surface.

Heavenly thunder surges, waves rise, cold currents sweep the riverbed.

Long Binglin, who came to investigate the Jade Qilin demon's relations, received the link message, his expression shifted drastically, and he followed the current to find a hiding place.

He reported his recent activities in full detail, simultaneously recalling whether any demon beast had detected him, finally confirming he'd revealed no major flaw—before coming, he'd even specially consulted the Frog Elder for a divination.

"The northern sea has no problem————"

Confirming Long Binglin's condition, Liang Qu slightly calmed his spirit, but inside, ten thousand steeds galloped wildly.

Ghosts.

I'd thought I could leisurely manage the waters, await the Southern Border's treasure delivery, and welcome Tian's ice marrow————

Why not come earlier, why not later—why show up now?

Last year at the beginning of the year, the Whale King announced the Eastern Sea Great Hunt would be held in five years, along with the approximate first prize, and at the same time, the cloud giant Yun Bo came to find him.

As the innovator of the Huang Prefecture Great Hunt, he had attracted three furnace masters, even being the direct cause of the Eastern Sea Great Hunt's origin—naturally, the Whale King wanted to consult his opinion.

At that time, Liang Qu declined, citing his recent entry into the Yaolong and lack of experience; now, after a year and a half, coming again to seek him is entirely reasonable.

But he had just dispatched Long Binglin to investigate the Jade Qilin in the Northern Sea, and then the Whale King extended the invitation—timing seems far too coincidental————

Furthermore, the Whale King's pretense of invitation, sending demon kings to manage the Yellow Sand River, feels suspiciously like luring the tiger away from the mountain.

The Whale King's ambition seems greater than that of the founding emperor of Great Li—he wants land, sea, and air; one cannot ignore the lesser Yellow Sand River and Ehe River just because the Huai River carries great weight.

Neglecting the small while grasping the large—even a three-year-old knows that.

My mind's spinning till it smokes.

One speculation after another arises, yet no evidence or clues—Liang Qu, who guesses without proof, dares not delay, so he first pulls out the imperial court as a shield to buy time.

"To behold the Whale King's holy countenance—I would naturally be delighted, and indeed very much wish to speak and offer counsel, to obtain the Xiao Gen Sea Pill." Liang Qu's face showed emotion and hesitation, "But as a Prince of Great Shun, I cannot move lightly—going to the Eastern Sea would also make it easy for the Southern Border and Northern Court to find an opening; whether I can go, I fear I must first consult the court's opinion—wouldn't it be better if you, Yun Bo, came back in three days to seek me, then I'll give a clear answer?"

"The Huai King's heart lies with Great Shun—quite proper. Then I'll come seek the Huai King again in three days?"

"Thank you."

"The Huai King is courteous."

The river wind blew, the cloud giant drifted downwind, truly like a cloud, scattering and departing.

The shadow on the horizon faded slowly, the muscles on either side of the spine relaxed.

A mere great demon—wave a hand, slap it dead; at parting, Liang Qu actually let out a breath of relief!

Sinan's face showed complexity.

"Was that just now a subordinate of the Whale King?"

"Yes, called Yun Bo."

Sinan sighed: "Your Highness is leaving again?"

"Again? What do you mean 'again'—you make it sound like I'm constantly slacking off, but I've been working diligently, over four thousand li. You saw it too—people in the江湖, I too am helpless, enough, enough—for now I'll stay here; remember to inform the governor, swiftly evacuate the riverside populace."

He thrust the atlas into Sinan's hands, Liang Qu waved, and vanished in a flash.

Sinan gripped the atlas, looking toward Xu Yuelong and Ran Zhongshi.

"Miss Sinan, just get used to it—back in Huai Dong, he was like this." Xu Yuelong patted Sinan's shoulder, then stepped away.

"Rest assured, the Huai King usually has a bit more on his plate, but coming and going, he still ensures task completion." Ran Zhongshi also patted Sinan's shoulder, then followed suit.

Sinan had a headache, merely treating the earlier encounter as a routine banquet, helplessly departing—no one, whoever they were, realized they had briefly participated in a matter concerning global transformation, a deeper-level event.

"Probably not Binglin's side————"

Gulgulu.

Bai Shui boiled.

Returning to the treasure ship, Long Li ground ink, Long Yao laid paper, the otter lit the stove and boiled a pot of tea.

Liang Qu sat at the desk, reviewing Long Binglin's messages, combining the old toad's divination, temporarily ruling out that his investigation of the Jade Qilin incident caused this realization.

"Strange—if not the Jade Qilin, then what could it be?"

Secretly moving hands and feet in the Yellow Sand River under cover?

Letting me secretly move hands and feet in the Eastern Sea under cover?

Or maybe none of them—this banquet has no problems at all, it's just a pure "cry wolf," merely using the pretext of perfecting the Eastern Sea Grand Hunt to host a feast, even offering a bit of petty gain, one after another, until finally, in a moment of his carelessness, they strike hard?

Even to the point of a shocking reversal—actually, the Whale King is truly a shocking good fish; the fish trap isn't a disguise, he intends to open his heart and conspire with the water monkeys for a great undertaking.

Really damn it.

Old Yin Whale.

Liang Qu bit his pen tip, pondering deeply, silently cursing, yet what he wrote down wasn't these speculations, but rather suggestions for the Eastern Sea Grand Hunt's competition format.

"Husband, are you planning to go?"

Long Eying brought tea, glanced at the content on the paper, and immediately understood the idea.

"Most likely I have to go, I can't not go." Liang Qu licked his inkstone and sighed, "This time, no matter the purpose—it might be the Jade Qilin, it might be the Yellow Sand River, it might be my future self, but it's probably not my present self.

The Whale King has always been cultivating his fish trap, waiting for thousands of years, he won't be so impatient as to waste his credit on a nobody like me—it's not worth it; instead, my repeated refusals make me seem odd, so I just need to come up with some idea—hurry and help me think, I have no inspiration."

The Whale King has always had Liang Qu offer suggestions under the banner of the Eastern Sea Grand Hunt, but Liang Qu fears any connection, so he hasn't thought of a single one.

Now I must take the stage—definitely can't show up empty-handed, turning in a blank sheet; at least I need two fresh ideas?

Liang Qu felt like he'd been playing hooky for fifty-eight days on vacation, and now, in the last two days, he has to make up homework—under immense pressure, zero inspiration strikes.

"Husband, you're not small, and it's been a long time."

"In broad daylight, Lady, how————" Liang Qu raised an eyebrow, thinking Eying was playing some erotic game with him, but when he lifted his head, he saw no such intention—he scratched his temple with the pen barrel, "What do you mean?"

"Often, the longer the wait, the more impatient one becomes. Moreover, your timing is very delicate. The Mirage Dragon and the Dragon Lord—both generations have already vanished"; now two sixty-year cycles are approaching, the third Water Lord is about to be born—could it be that he's the last missing one?

Silence.

A long while.

"Yeah, yeah." Liang Qu pinched his brow, put down his wolf-hair brush, leaned back in the chair, "The situation might indeed be like this—correct, even more unfortunate."

Long Eying shifted her steps, came behind Liang Qu, rubbed his temples, the slight cool chill making his mind ever clearer.

It's not that waiting a thousand years, then another thousand years makes no difference.

But waiting a thousand years, and finally, here, he can mature and harvest the fruit!

The Whale King—Heaven, Earth, and Man three realms—just right, one Dragon Lord per core, three cores operating simultaneously.

In other words, the time point he currently occupies might just be the harvesting node—no thousands or hundreds of years given to him!

The Great Li Taizu used the Mirage Dragon to found the dynasty, again needing to place the White Ape as river spirit, secretly concealing the alliance with the Whale King, likewise pushing forward in some direction. Only, either he himself fought the Dragon Lord and fell into slumber, unable to freely travel between yang and yin, relying entirely on a few core elders to manage the situation—thus, as of now, he has fallen into a disadvantage.

Time is too tight—if only it could be ten years earlier, no, five years earlier———

"Help me first write a letter to the imperial court, ask if I can attend the banquet, the Holy Emperor oversees everything, perhaps he understands more—I'll later find time to go below, ask the old seniors."

"Good."

Three days is very short—no moment can be wasted.

While waiting for the imperial court's reply, Liang Qu immediately ran to the netherworld, first to the Heaven Fire Sect to brush up his face, stay active, collect his stipend, then nonstop ran back to the River God Sect, directly having Deputy Sect Master Shen Zhongliang arrange, select a disciple with quick thinking and loyal reliability to diligently study《Human Return to Origin》, to make up for the disappearance of Labor Welcoming Heaven.

Finally, he went to the Dragon King's Den, obtaining an answer of knowing nothing, or perhaps one that could be used to go.

"Hah?" The Blood Ape Upside Down hung, scratching ears and cheeks, "Old Dragon Lord, you played with the Whale King for thousands of years—can't you figure out something?"

Dragon Shadow flushed with anger: "You monkey-head, if I were to figure it out, how could I end up in such a state today?"

"Fine, fine." The Blood Ape bitterly disappointed, "Is there any essence blood? I've nurtured it for half a year—I came specially for the Old Dragon Lord's advice, originally there were five Fetal Pearl Pills, now only four left usable—no advice obtained, can't let me run here for nothing?"

,"

"How come it's so little compared to last time? Hey, just joking, just joking—Old Dragon Lord is magnanimous, wait for my good news!"

With a wave of his palm, he seized a blood drop the size of a thumb, the Blood Ape leapt and climbed upward, burrowed into the fat fish's big mouth, nested and returned to the yang world, threw the essence blood to Eying, then dragged a few dragon people and dragon sturgeons.

This was the shortest ever trip to the netherworld—Liang Qu is becoming more and more familiar with it, like strolling through a neighboring town, life and death reversed back, just as the imperial court's reply arrived.

"Arduous thinking."

Liang Qu tore open the wax seal.

The letter travels by waterway, normally arrives same day sent, same day reply.

But Liang Qu sent it yesterday noon, skipped a day and a half, only received the reply at midnight today.

This still used the Chongming Bird's tail feather, able to directly transmit information, avoiding the cumbersome mid-process—clearly, upon receiving the letter, the Holy Emperor likewise pondered for a long time.

The reply had no excessive ornamentation, just a single neat "可".

"Hoo!"

The Old Dragon Lord didn't say yes, but also didn't say no—combined with this one "可"———

Can go!

Liang Qu's pressure on his body suddenly halved.

This is the benefit of finding one power bloc united—at least able to find one bloc to check another.

"River Middle Stone" is a covenant, also a kind of safety—everyone under heaven knows your alibi and presence, if you mysteriously vanish, someone will come seek justice.

Again using【Summon Spirit】and【Transform Spirit】, then using Blood Slaughter Divine Ability to disguise, always playing with "River Middle Stone"—Liang Qu, having killed two infant dragons, slightly shaken this thing's credibility, inevitably feels guilty.

"Played very well, won't play next time."

"Huh?" Long Eying blinked open her eyes in a daze, turned over, drenched in sweat and fatigue.

"No problem, no problem, rest well."

Liang Qu, with pressure greatly reduced, surged with endless inspiration, patted Eying's thigh, dressed and got up, lit the Jinming oil lamp, and through the night revised the Eastern Sea Grand Hunt opinion manual.

Since the martial bones transformed, not only did cultivation efficiency increase a notch, Liang Qu does many things with a unique flavor, easily finds the key point of matters, achieves twice the result with half the effort, surpassing even the realm after his first Gang Refining, where his bearing was natural—including circulating cultivation of the Yin Yang Spirit Tree Function—before, Eying could accompany him for two or three days, now half a day makes him tremble violently, the whole person like fished out of water.

No big problem.

Yun Bo returned to the Eastern Sea to inform the Whale King.

Next is just waiting.

Southern Frontier bribes, Great Snow Mountain Labor Welcoming Heaven, Northern Sea Jade Qilin———

Busy all day, early spring to midsummer to autumn to winter, the peach blossoms, lotuses, and tan flowers in the yard bloomed in succession, then withered, swallows built nests and departed—none could return to admire them.

Four passes, seven paths.

Clearly, the higher the realm, the easier it should be to enjoy life—yet now, the higher I rise, the busier I become.

"Hard to obtain, like climbing to heaven; easy to lose, like flipping one's palm."

"Indeed, as soon as one wishes to ascend, there is no ease—"

Before Yun Bo's next arrival, Liang Qu threw himself entirely into work, leading a group of Heposuo officials back and forth along the Shahe River, striving to control the waters, opening a new channel, hoping to attend the Eastern Sea banquet without delaying the schedule, and refusing the Whale Emperor's dispatch of demon kings as aid.

Rumble rumble~

The earth dragon turned over, and the common people knelt in worship.

Where Bai Yuan's cry reached, the earth naturally sank, naturally split, and a naturally winding standard river channel emerged; the yellow dragon lagged slightly behind, rushed forward, and splashed forth a rainbow.

【Drawing the River with the Tail】!

Previously, 【Drawing the River with the Tail】 could only open a tiny ditch—insufficient even for watering vegetables—but now, wherever it reaches, it is truly a great river, its width at least half a li, requiring no effort from Liang Qu to wield Dragon Fubo to carve canyons, no need to scour the soil, as the "growth" arises naturally!

In the golden eyes.

The formless qi dragon coiled, descended to the ground, rolled and gathered into rivers, moistening the four corners of the wilderness.

Half a month, over a thousand li of great river.

Liang Qu himself could not discern the specific causes of these rivers' formation, only knowing the weather grew colder ever faster. Upon rising in the morning, martial hall disciples standing in post and exhaling breath already showed white mist, and the ship railings would freeze a thin layer of frost. In a daze, there was a sense that he was still at the Hanging Temple, undergoing the trial of the Six Desires Heaven.

Only one surprise.

No, two.

【Obtained two strands of Yellow Earth Mother Qi; if fused with ten thousand water marsh essences, it can produce a spirit fish, capable of ascending to the verdant, with wondrous use.】

【Yellow Earth Mother Qi: nurtures all things, its nature is turbid. Can be shaped into myriad forms, yet difficult to achieve utmost purity.】

【Heaven and Earth Long Qi: twelve】

The heavenly and earthly phenomena gradually faded away.

Two strands of earth-yellow, mixed with a hint of sky-blue long qi, arrived at the Marsh Cauldron, dancing together with the remaining long qi of various colors.

This is the first time, since beginning water control, that Liang Qu has accidentally encountered naturally formed Heaven and Earth Long Qi, and still, such a rare occurrence as two strands!

【After a day's interval, after the seasons' passage, can consume three thousand water marsh essences, condense dew seeds.】

Repeatedly confirming I had not misseen.

Dew seeds are condensing again!

What is happening?

Isn't it supposed to be one every half year?

Liang Qu gazed at the frost on the deck, martial hall disciples exhaling hot mist from their mouths.

Early winter, yet not yet spring, again turning inward to view the vast, six-hundred-times-greater root sea within the body—

A great surprise descended from heaven.

"After five hundred root seas, has dew seed condensation recovered to one per season?"

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