Chapter 1299

"Hah—finally I can rest."

With Yun Bo at his side, Liang Qu stood on the high platform before the hall, taking a deep breath.

He had negotiated with the Whale Emperor for two hours, then discussed the details of handling various matters with the cloud whales led by Yun Bo. Two days, a full two days, he had stayed in the side hall, racking his brains, walking on thin ice, feigning compliance, engaging in intrigue—until, within a short time, he truly could not think of any more ideas, only then did he walk out of the main hall for the first time.

The lines of water beasts coming to pay homage stretched underwater, still with no end in sight; they leaped from the blue sea, queuing to make offerings, perhaps unable to even catch a glimpse of the Whale Emperor's appearance.

Liang Qu gazed at the sun in the clear sky, narrowing his eyes slightly, only feeling that the sun's edge faintly seemed a bit green; the last time he was exhausted like this was still back when he was Entering Zhen Xiang—

"Your Highness, Lord Yun Bo, by our King's command, I have come specially to deliver the Mermaid Tears."

"Oh, it's you?"

"Replying to Your Highness, a few days ago this lowly one, by the grace of Prince Huai, sold one hundred and twenty-eight bolts of Dragon Dragon Lingxiao, earning praise from the Mermaid King, and having dealings with Prince Huai, thus becoming known to our King; also because I can speak the Jianghuai dialect, today I was dispatched to attend to Your Highness. Whatever Your Highness requires, just order this subordinate." Han Su bowed, the spine-like fins on the back of his neck gently fanning, stirring the air.

"The Mermaid King is indeed quick." Yun Bo praised.

"For the Whale Emperor's affairs, I dare not shirk hardship, nor dare I delay for a single moment."

Liang Qu nodded lightly.

He felt the sea breeze, closed his eyes to rest his spirit for a moment, and when he opened them again, they were already shining brightly.

He stepped out.

Deep-blue mermaids lined up in a row, long serpentine tails leaving winding traces; they respectfully held up the items in their hands, each person a small treasure chest, eleven in total, and on each treasure chest was a large character written in flamboyant cursive, the font style having extra embellishment, similar to a clan emblem.

"The things are all here." Liang Qu halted his steps.

"Yes, our King personally set out, persuading them one by one, a two-day round trip; one treasure chest represents one mermaid clan, totaling three thousand one hundred and fifty-four Mermaid Tears, and there will be more later."

"They all have Qi imprints?" Liang Qu separated the treasure boxes, sensing the mixed and chaotic Qi mechanisms inside.

"Yes, to facilitate later return, each one was branded with a Qi imprint by its original holder, which is also why it was delayed for some days; otherwise they would have arrived this morning."

"How about I have Bai Yuan build waterways for you? Then you wouldn't have to toil running back and forth; even ordinary mermaids could make a round trip in half an hour, collection would definitely be faster, only needing a trivial toll fee, the harvest would absolutely exceed the saved manpower and resources."

Han Su trembled his spine-like fins, unknown if he had received someone's prior instruction: "Many thanks for Prince Huai's kind intention, but the waterway is too fast, so fast it destroys the sense of ritual of doing business; we Yaozu differ from humans, mostly bartering, too fast and we miss the goods along the way, which is instead not good."

"Failing to keep up with the times means being eliminated by the torrent of the times, ah." Liang Qu sighed with emotion, "Do you know, before in our village there was an old white-bearded man who liked letting an ox pull a cart; later I made my fortune, everyone had money, every household bought a donkey cart, he was unwilling to spend the money, still letting the old ox pull the cart, guess what happened one day?"

Han Su couldn't make heads or tails of it, shook his head: "This subordinate is dull, respectfully requesting Prince Huai to enlighten me."

"Pa!" Liang Qu clapped forcefully, spreading his palm, "He got run over and killed by a donkey cart!"

Silence.

Yun Bo pondered, contemplating the deep meaning within.

Han Su thought for half a day, couldn't find the causal connection, his spine-like fins drooping: "This subordinate is still dull, this—does it have a connection?"

"No connection." Liang Qu patted the mermaid's shoulder, the touch icy cold due to being cold-blooded, "Just cracking a joke, not funny? In my territory, this is a very popular joke, as long as I tell it once, no one fails to laugh until tears come out. Look at you, fallen behind the times, right? That's the harm, can't even understand a joke, tsk tsk tsk."

Yun Bo: "————"

Han Su: "————"

Listening Yao beasts and mermaids: "————"

"Ah haha, roughly understood." Han Su forced a laugh twice, "Please rest assured, Your Highness, before Your Highness leaves the East Sea, the quota of ten thousand will definitely be met!"

Ten thousand pieces.

Hearing this number, Liang Qu's heart burned hot.

So far, he had consumed many things in large batches to obtain essence, not a single one could compare to Mermaid Tears!

The average essence of the Heposuo Cockscomb Fruit is around eight points.

The average essence of the Dragon Man Lotus Seeds is around twenty-four.

Both of these have already been eliminated.

But Mermaid Tears, the average value is two thousand five!

Although the same organic gems, the performance of Treasure Coral is equally outstanding, but its average value varies high and low; those of longer years have high values, reaching tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but the quantity is extremely scarce, ordinary Flood Dragon treasuries only have one or two portions, the imperial court's national treasury doesn't have many either, same as all kinds of pearls; in terms of stability, it's far inferior to Mermaid Tears.

Especially the existing quantity in the world; even ordinary mermaids, encountering major upheavals or extreme grief, can also condense Mermaid Tears.

Strive!

If heaven gives and you don't take, you'll suffer the consequences; it was the old Yin Whale who insisted he come.

Blame who?

Can only blame himself.

Walking down the steps, restraining the urge to rub his hands, Liang Qu glanced at the treasure chests.

"Open them, I need to verify the tears."

"This—" Han Su looked toward Yun Bo.

Yun Bo nodded: "Prince Huai's marvelous ideas, unconstrained imagination, our Emperor benefited greatly; the East Sea Grand Hunt, overall rules will be controlled by me, the rest is Prince Huai, authority second only to me; Mermaid Tears are to become the scoring standard, cannot have any mistakes."

Liang Qu straightened his chest slightly: "Although I don't lead, I have the right to make suggestions at the Grand Hunt, not yet thoroughly decided; requesting to verify the tears before Mermaid Tears replace Treasure Fish is also perfectly reasonable, right?"

"Reasonable, reasonable." Han Su nodded repeatedly, looking at the mermaids, "Quickly open the boxes, let Prince Huai have a look."

"Pa pa pa."

The latches sprang, the box lids flipped open.

Liang Qu involuntarily narrowed his eyes, as if brilliant light rushed skyward from inside the treasure boxes.

He reached his hand in, tumbling and stirring like sugar-roasted chestnuts.

"Hua la hua la."

"Your Highness, you this—"

"Pa!"

Not waiting for Han Su to finish, Liang Qu flicked his finger, a Mermaid Tears leaped out of the treasure chest, Han Su flusteredly reached out to catch it.

"This one's shape isn't good-looking." Liang Qu didn't even raise his head.

Han Su lowered his head, the Mermaid Tears in his hand indeed had a rather irregular shape, not round enough.

"Pa!"

"This one has a flaw."

"Pa!"

"This one has an eyelash inside."

"Pa!"

"There are bubbles!"

"Pa! Pa! Pa!"

Han Su clasped his hands together, quickly gathering a small pile of mermaid tears; in the box of over three hundred, a dozen or so were tossed out, his eyebrows raised and eyes wide.

"How so?" Liang Qu said righteously, "At the Huangzhou Grand Hunt, when selecting spirit sparrows, they must have lush feathers and vibrant energy; when selecting treasure fish, the scales must be intact. Doing things, the most basic and simplest is surface work—it may not be crucial, but it cannot be neglected. If one won't even bother with surface work, how can one do well on the inside?"

"The Huangzhou Grand Hunt, a local grand affair, is like this; the Donghai Grand Hunt, hosted by the Whale King—you sea merchants, since you wish to use mermaid tears to represent the Donghai, surely cannot present some flawed mermaid tears?"

"I have picked out the flawed ones and excluded them; is that not perfectly reasonable?"

Yun Bo lowered his head.

The mermaid tears Liang Qu selected—some were actually not much different; to an ordinary person's first glance, no obvious difference could be found, but some indeed had clear flaws, especially those containing eyelashes and bubbles; if, at the Donghai Grand Hunt, someone painstakingly caught them and then looked closely, they would indeed not be beautiful.

It nodded: "Then just follow what His Highness the Huai King said."

"Reasonable, reasonable." Han Su hurriedly followed up, "Please, Your Highness the Huai King, continue the selection."

"Easy to say—for the Whale King's affairs, I do not shirk hard work; you have prepared them well, I will seriously pick through them."

Liang Qu reached into the second treasure chest and continued "sugar-fried chestnuts."

"Hualahualah, pa pa pa! Hualahualah! Pa pa pa!"

【Water Essence +2345】

【Water Essence +2874】

【Water Essence +2512】

【Water Essence + seven million five hundred ninety-six thousand】

【Water Essence: fifteen million two hundred seventy thousand】!

Blue tide struck the cauldron wall, as if thunder roared.

A subtle emotion arose in the heart, thereafter fermenting and brewing, then in an unforeseen moment, it exploded violently, airflow spreading along the spine toward both sides—one path to the back of the head, one to the lower abdomen, icy cold, penetrating the vertebrae.

Ye ho!

The little person in the heart shouted, leapt three feet high, straight into the clouds, then fell to the ground, hands on hips, began tap-dancing, shoe heels rubbing against the floor.

"Pa pa pa pa! Pa! Pa!"

Han Su only felt that Liang Qu's flicking of mermaid tears grew increasingly rhythmic and melodic; the spikelike semi-transparent fish fins on his cheeks could not help but flutter in time with the frequency.

Until the last mermaid tear leapt out, tracing an arc, landing in Han Su's palm.

"Chestnuts" are fully cooked.

Liang Qu took out a handkerchief, calmly wiped his hands: "Done, the rest are qualified; the remaining seven thousand mermaid tears to be sent later must all be reviewed by me first—no problem?"

"Your Highness may rest assured." Han Su lowered his head, "Having today's discernment, I will surely pre-screen beforehand and present them to Your Highness; there will be no more such many defective items, not disgracing the Donghai's dignity."

"Wrong—never dare to make your own arbitrary selections." Liang Qu suddenly realized he had dug himself a pit, "If you entrust the screening to me, some oddly shaped ones might possibly serve as surprise rewards."

"Surprise rewards?"

"For example, those with unique bubble structures—those are bubble mermaid tears, one counts as two; if originally decent ones, and you screen them out, what then?"

Han Su, as if in thought: "Understood, all entrusted to the Huai King for screening."

"Very well, the Donghai Grand Hunt, promoted by the Whale King—we must certainly work in unison, cooperate to manage this grand event well!"

"In unison!"

Mermaids left behind mermaid tears, hurriedly departed.

Yun Bo said: "Having troubled the Huai King with two days of hard work, you may rest one day next, continue to enjoy the Donghai scenery; we will seek you again tomorrow."

"No problem, I've already taken leave, not in a hurry, but————" Liang Qu glanced left and right, lowered his voice, "Yun Bo brother, wasn't it said there would be a feast of top-tier treasure fish————"

"Haha, Huai King, rest assured—the Whale King is very pleased, the feast will certainly happen; we only await our humble preparations, after the worship concludes, we will arrange it immediately."

"Ah, not in a hurry—I was just asking casually; I didn't originally come for treasure fish, asking this is merely curiosity about what Donghai's top-tier treasure fish look like; my main purpose is still to pay respects to the Whale King."

Yun Bo smiled, extended his hand in invitation.

【Cauldron Master: Liang Qu】

【Refining Refined Refined Ze Ling: Water Monkey Great Sage (Deep Orange)】

【Refined Refined Ze Ling Favor: Martial Dao Communion with the Divine, Seventeenth Layer (Chuan Di Jun); Yinglong Pattern: Ten Layers: Tian Wu Yu Pattern: Two Layers】

【Water Essence: fifteen million two hundred seventy thousand】!

Liang Qu walked along the small path back to the courtyard, dragon-striding and tiger-stepping, each step bringing wind.

His face was composed, while the little person in his heart had long since laughed uproariously to the heavens.

Struck rich!

Within the Ze Cauldron, blue tide surged, deep as the vast sea, undulating with faint light, colliding like thunder.

Previously, ten thousand used ten thousand, a hundred thousand used a hundred thousand—never had we accumulated over ten million in vast essence.

Fifteen million is enough to fully elevate my subaquatic beasts to the upper realm's perfection, with surplus remaining.

That is, just now the sugar-fried chestnuts' over three thousand mermaid tears do not all contain Water Essence, for on that afternoon when we first arrived at Donghai, Liang Qu touched over a hundred at the merchant guild, likewise letting the Mermaid King stuff them into the three-thousand sequence; otherwise, we could have reached eight million.

"If only I had known not to touch mermaid tears that day, to avoid suspicion, I'd still have to buy a few————good several ten thousand taels worth."

Liang Qu felt heartache.

Having bought mermaid tears to send to wife, mother, martial sister, and the two maidens Long Yao and Long Li, should Han Rongyu also be sent? My own direct disciple already shows signs—likewise, the only two, the female classmate Wen Shi Yun, Han Rongyu's confidante Fang Yanling also should be sent? Otherwise, too blunt.

With so many sending them, mixed together, Ke Wenbin's wife Su Xiaoran cannot be omitted, women shopping all like to gather in groups, everyone has it, just she lacks it, appearing isolated and exclusive—saying it aloud would make the Huai King with thirteen fiefdoms seem stingy; this makes eight or nine.

Save where you should, spend where you should.

Over ten million for Long Lingxiao can be bought, but tens of thousands for Mermaid Tears isn't necessary.

Forget it, giving them to family and friends doesn't count as a loss.

Self-consolation.

His gaze moved downward; Liang Qu's spirit sea probed into the radiance, and the moment it made contact, he had to deliberately control his breathing, feigning contemplation.

Because only thus could he show no abnormality amid the violent emotional upheaval.

That's right.

Essence absorption and growth aren't the entirety of this Mermaid Tears touch.

Just as the Marsh Cauldron accumulated Water Marsh Essence, surpassing ten million for the first time, like when River Favor reached perfection, three Position Fruits messages popped out; ten million essence, similarly popped out.

【Swallowing-Boat Surging Sea Bottom, High Waves Driving Penglai. Immortals Emerging Through Clouds, Only Seeing Gold and Silver Platforms.】

【Authority Reversion】

【Water Ape Great Sage Perfection, may consume one Six Heyi Position Fruit, ten million Water Marsh Essence, revert Authority into River Rule Degree】

【River Rule Degree: 5.4 (River Spring Favor Degree: 83.4712)】

His temples throbbed, blood flowing scorching hot.

A massive, peerless, inconceivable, even surpassing this essence harvest, surprise message fell from the sky, striking Liang Qu's forehead.

Authority Reversion!

Specific Position Fruit, combined with Water Marsh Essence, can transform into River Rule Degree!?

At the courtyard gate, Liang Qu halted, gazing at the East Sea, watching distant treasure ship masts sway, a monkey climbing hand over foot along the pole.

【Marsh Spirit Universal Ascension Conditions: Obtain sixty points River Rule, one hundred points River Favor, completely fuse Marsh Spirit Water Ape Great Sage (Deep Orange)】!

"River Rule Degree can hook out Position Fruits; Position Fruit plus Essence can transform into Rule Degree."

"River Rule Degree and Position Fruits can mutually convert!"

At this moment, infinite thoughts exploded in his mind, soles scorching hot, nearly breaking into a run.

"Yes, yes, Favor perfection, possessing 'Walk Water' qualification, Rule meeting standard, can directly manifest Position Fruit; then why can't the corresponding Position Fruit transform back into Rule Degree?"

"Six Heyi? Not Disaster Attribute, Rule Attribute, Control Attribute, but the Attribute that must match, able to combine with ten million Water Marsh Essence, transform into Rule Degree!"

"What Position Fruit matches?"

One strand of Heaven-Earth Long Qi, combined with ten thousand essence, can become a Spirit Fish one hundred percent fused by anyone.

The same one thousand strands of Heaven-Earth Long Qi may converge into the same kind of Position Fruit, hence deriving the Thousandfold Root Sea Method Liang Qu has always insisted on walking————

Pupils trembled.

So many things effortlessly linked together at this moment.

Liang Qu stared fixedly at the swaying crimson-gold small gourd above the Marsh Cauldron.

Charm Fruit!

Can it transform into River Rule Degree?

A thought moved.

The Marsh Cauldron had no reaction.

No.

Cannot revert.

The Charm Fruit's Authority does not belong to the Position Fruits capable of reversion.

Liang Qu was not surprised.

Drought Demon, Drought Specter, drought Authority, and water are completely two extremes; how could they possibly match Water Ape Great Sage?

But he knew, so far, there are two, no, three Position Fruits, that absolutely can revert into River Rule Degree, helping him ascend to Marsh Spirit!

Feng Fruit! Yi Fruit!

And the East Sea Grand Hunt first-place reward — one Ying Fruit!

Three Position Fruits, how much Rule Degree? From ten points Rule hooking out Chang You to see————

Pushing open the door, crossing the threshold, Liang Qu with his chaotic thoughts suddenly felt his arms grow heavy.

"Husband, how are you so amazing?"

>