Chapter 1322: Learning Martial Arts (Combined Volume)

Water Essence: 32,000,000

Consuming 1,000,000 Water Essence allows the Manxing Senluo to grow.

Water Essence: 31,000,000

Bang, bang!

In succession, twice, Jin Guang exploded.

The fragments of the cracked golden cocoon dissolved and vanished, returning to heaven and earth.

Crack, crack, crack.

Hundreds of miles, thousands of miles, tens of thousands of miles———

Crimson arthropods stretched, contracted, writhed, elongated, resembling the earth's blood vessels, buried underground, transmitting messages, information, and nutrients; occasionally a segment emerged from the riverbed, sprouting small branches, like underwater coral, becoming a habitat for small fish.

From a tiny subunit of the former "Net Lord," to now replacing it, over half of Eastern Waters has been brought under control!

Today's Pai Xiao Xing even surpasses the "Net Lord" era in extravagance; as fellow upper-bound great demons, compared to Inside Inside Ze Ding's solid point-activation and completion, the Net Lord is clearly slightly inferior.

Pai Xiao Xing rejoiced and cheered, countless tiny arthropods swayed with the water flow, but the joy did not last long.

Liang Qu waved his hand, the swaying arthropods tightly coiled, the subunits further contracted into balls, severed connections, attempting to roll away and escape.

"Hey, you don't keep your word, you said evolution would be given, Scarhead!"

Countless Jiang Tun leapt out, carrying away the subunits that had split and were halfway through escaping.

Watching helplessly as subunits detached one by one from its body, like a lizard's tail, all arthropods resignedly lay flat on the spot.

Consuming 10,000,000 Water Essence, ten points of River Dominion, and sixty points of River Favor allows the Manxing Senluo to evolve into the Senluo King.

Senluo King: Weaving nets to form realms, connecting mountains and seas, nourishing nature.

"Nourishing nature?"

"Liang Qu" stroked his chin, looking around.

The current Pai Xiao Xing's subunits resemble base stations; between base stations, through arthropods, they link underground, sharing information, thus spreading out like a great net, its body crimson, identical to human blood vessels; combined with the next evolution's description, it somewhat suggests symbiosis with the earth———

Consuming 46,000 points of Water Essence allows the Manxing Senluo to be completed.

Inside Inside Ze Ding's radiance surged.

"Hmm."

Liang Qu was startled, then looked toward the Jiang Tun carrying subunits one by one into the waterways.

Does subunit detachment not equal ordinary injury? Does it require essence to aid recovery?

As the Jiang Tun collected more and more subunits, within Inside Inside Ze Ding, the essence needed for completion increased, thoroughly verifying the hypothesis.

"Indeed, Pai Xiao Xing's subunits differ from ordinary flesh recovery; they require a natal core, not just saying they can be generated makes it so———"

Before going to the East Sea to gather mermaid tears, Liang Qu still had to wrestle with this, muttering that such a thing actually required Water Essence for completion; now he is wealthy and bold.

Splash splash water.

Consuming 368,000 points of Water Essence allows the Manxing Senluo to be completed.

After the Jiang Tun finished collecting, he waved his hand again.

Water Essence: 3,063,000

In an instant, the throbbing arthropods clattered upright; Pai Xiao Xing instantly regained spirit, having just lost one-third of its subunits, it spread out again.

Millions upon millions of arthropods stood upright, folded at ninety degrees.

Millions upon millions of times loyalty.

One-third of the subunit count is slightly less than what was initially taken from the Net Lord's remains; it should be enough to refine five revivals, temporarily sufficient.

But the matter is not over; with the year-end approaching, year-end bonuses are indispensable.

The next target is no longer Pai Xiao Xing.

Consuming 896,670 points of Water Essence allows the Ling Jiang Tun Huang to grow.

Ling Jiang Tun Huang: Conductor of harmony, gathering the multitude into unity, sharing adversity and prosperity, truly the path of symbiosis for the clan.

Plump fish in upper bound, remaining fists, unable to move; Awei, Xiao Long Ya have all reached middle bound; only Yuan Tou remains in lower bound.

The first to eat crab is often the hardest; like A Fei's promotion to great demon, then to demon king, because he dared to lead, at this time Liang Qu often had little surplus grain; when only one or two laggards remained, his supplies became much more abundant.

Liang Qu's command has always had six great generals; among them, there can be an outstanding aquatic beast setting the pace, but not a single laggard, for they are his wings, having shared weal and woe.

The skilled warrior bears no conspicuous merit; now the Dragon Palace's finances, aside from the old toad standing alone, a large part relies on the Jiang Tun, Long Ting, Pai Xiao Xing's capture system, and the Jiang Tun clan's fish-rearing system.

Pai Xiao Xing's successive evolution greatly strengthened; adding a wave of Yuan Tou's strength, the entire Jiang Tun clan can become more spiritual; the Dragon Palace's finances will surely be perfected, truly setting the economic cycle in motion, radiating from the human-dragon, Long Ting central Dragon Palace to cover over half of the Jianghuai great marshes, thus flourishing day by day.

I am truly a wise ruler.

Just decided it's you.

Yuan Tou.

Water Essence: 2,972,000

Golden cocoon enveloped.

Ten thousand Jiang Tun resonated in unison.

Half a fish tail slapped the cheek; the plump fish sucked hard, zipped, the large fish slid into its belly; then it opened five fingers, embraced the fish mountain, and joyfully stuffed food into its mouth.

Eat more outside, eat less at home.

Another day of meritorious service to the heavenly gods.

When the people of Nanjiang return with their treasured medicines, we can eat another wave; then, when we design to bind the Rakshasa demon and demand ransom from Nanjiang, we can eat another wave, another, another; thinking of this, the plump fish's appetite grew a bit more.

Can't finish eating, simply can't finish.

External kin, the Third Prince, internal servant Awei, old qualifications cannot move———under the heavenly gods, there are no sycophants; only this fish is a loyal and virtuous minister; must eat more and do more to barely sustain life.

At the horizon, fists floated, flying shuttles came; the plump fish hastily wiped its mouth, sat back before its own pile of fish mountain.

Landing on the ground, the fist did not fuss over the fish mountain shrinking, swung its giant pincers; in a few days, the year-end holiday will begin; Yuan Tou has already agreed with Qinghe Gong to take three days off, return together to the Dragon Palace to rest; this year's yield is abundant, there will be a grand feast.

Round Head?

Where is Round Head?

He's also a treacherous minister through and through, utterly hypocritical, relying on his imperial court background, inexplicable rhetoric, and bizarre etiquette, making himself seem like a bookworm————

The Fat Fish looked around left and right, secretly despising him, just in time to see Round Head emerge leisurely accompanied by the Green Fish Yaomo, chatting happily, face full of smiles, graceful bearing.

"Truly worthy of a Tun General under the Prince of Huai, such a heroic and dashing figure; this little yaomo has traveled far and wide, never seen a Jiang Tun with such graceful bearing as you."

"Hahaha, where, where————"

Gazes met.

Round Head flicked its long tail, figure agile, water light shimmering; it tidied its appearance, gave a slight nod to the Fat Fish, fully displaying the bearing of a Mid-realm Great Yaomo.

The Fat Fish grabbed its long whiskers, yanking them hard.

Huh?

The Embryo Pearl Pill isn't some hard-to-refine pill; any apprentice with a bit of experience can make it. Liang Qu had only two Resurrection chances' worth of Embryo Pearl Pills left on hand; thanks to Pai Xiao Xing's heroic martyrdom, the count returned to seven, and he became lavish again all at once.

He blocked all bribes on the Yellow Shahe, hit a wall in the Southern Frontier, had an inauspicious start, and had no moves for the time being. Rushing to complete this year's governance quota two days before the festival, securing ten days of leave, Liang Qu immediately entered the Blood River Realm.

In the Sky Fire Sect he ate empty pay and collected salary; in the Shu Yu Pavilion he issued guiding opinions; in the River God Sect he rummaged through everything, asking if Xi Ziyu and Monk Hui Zhen had come.

"Speed is a bit slow————"

Not finding the Reincarnation Seal, and learning Monk Hui Zhen hadn't come, Liang Qu was rather dissatisfied with the fake certification efficiency.

Going on like this, how to get the Yang realm's great army to come to the Yin realm?

"Forget it, forget it, slow work yields fine results."

"Pipi, Lady? Can cultivation reach a stopping point? I'm here to take you out for the New Year! Work and rest combined! Don't put too much pressure on yourself, don't get bored to death."

Liang Qu pressed his ear against the room door, waiting a moment.

Creak.

"Wow, not seen for a month, how is Lady even more beautiful————"

Words unfinished, Liang Qu felt a weight in his arms, letting the heavy softness press against him.

What situation?

Sensing E Ying's low spirits, Liang Qu was a bit baffled, thought a moment, then understood: "No harvest?"

Long Eying didn't raise her head, didn't speak either, just limp in Liang Qu's arms, nodding her head slightly.

"Heh, I thought you were just unaccustomed to the climate here." Liang Qu stroked E Ying's back, not comforting her at all,.

"How come I never noticed before that Lady is this narcissistic?"

Long Eying lifted her face to look at Liang Qu.

"Eat one Penglai Pilgrimage, come to the Blood River Realm for a feel, close up for a month, and immediately want Six Heyi, Tong Tian Jue Di, become half a Wu Sheng; not succeeding and still getting disappointed, if that's not narcissism what is?"

"?"

Liang Qu rubbed his chin: "Master got the 'Vijnaptimatratasiddhi' and ate the Blood Bodhi, even with all that it took over a year to succeed, and he was already at the final step then; so Lady has been comparing herself to Master all along? Your ambition is this high, back when I hadn't reached Entering Zhen Xiang, wouldn't you have secretly looked down on me?"

"What nonsense?" Long Eying pushed Liang Qu once, the distress in her heart dissipating by more than half, "Just feel it was all wasted————"

"Wasted? Where wasted?" Liang Qu widened his eyes, "Counting a hundred steamed buns to get full, were the first ninety-nine all wasted? Eating one fish only gets you how far? I originally planned for Lady to sit the Heaven Altar seventeen or eighteen times, eat forty or fifty Penglai Pilgrimages, achieve Six Heyi that way, then stay in the Blood River Realm for fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty years, give birth to two babies Tong Tian Jue Di, now at most you've only eaten the first bite————"

"Why would it need that many? Feeding like that, even a pig would become a Jiao Dragon!"

"So it doesn't need that many?"

Liang Qu concentrated, pulled out a booklet from his bosom, used a charcoal pencil to cross out large sections.

"Talking to me, what are you writing?" Long Eying turned in his arms to look, discovered the crossed-out parts were all corresponding times, sitting the Heaven Altar once, eating one Penglai Pilgrimage, and such schedule contents, surprised, "You really prepared like this?"

"Right." Liang Qu took it for granted, "Didn't expect Lady to save me this much money, good thing————Lady?"

Long Eying encircled Liang Qu's waist, buried her head in his bosom: "How is Husband so good————"

"Don't like it? If you don't like it I'll go find someone else good."

"Not allowed!"

"Women are just trouble! Fine, no it is then."

The two faces pressed together, breathing each other's breath, suddenly both laughed, laughing loudly, laughing unbridled.

Long Eying lazed in his arms: "Did you write these early on, preparing to comfort me?"

"No, this wasn't prepared to comfort you." Liang Qu denied flatly, "If becoming a Jiao Dragon were that easy, the world would've been overrun with them long ago; Uncle Grandfather toiled a whole lifetime to just reach the same starting line as you, and you still feel wronged."

Long Eying burst out laughing: "Who says it like that?"

"No matter, don't rush, if anyone should rush it should be our Grandpa, he hasn't even thought of entering Jiao Dragon to help me, what are you rushing for? In the future I'm going to Furnace, Hua Hong, Lady just wait to fly."

"Good, wait for Husband to Furnace, Hua Hong!"

"Furnace, Hua Hong time is still a bit early, but————" Liang Qu leaned close to E Ying's ear, conveniently cupped her buttocks and squeezed, "This year's Yellow Shahe governance requirement I've settled, have ten days leave, how about, take a few days to test fly?"

Long Eying flushed red, pushed and shoved Liang Qu.

"Going for the New Year!"

"Good good good, listening to Lady's, heading home for the New Year!"

Not far from the two, Long Yanrui crouched on the ground, scratching his cheek.

Dawdling, what's he doing?

Boats coming and going, travelers like weaving shuttles.

At the Shangrao Wharf, nobles in white fox fur coats jumped down from Water Spiders, occasionally casting curious glances at Liang Qu's group, wondrous scenery bustling, completely lacking the cold desolate scene of winters past.

Old Qu Luo disliked crowds, dawdling, took the lead diving into the waterway, sprinting toward the Dragon Palace.

"Ashui, aren't our people all here already, who else are we waiting for?" Xu Zishuai looked around, "This year even Eldest Senior Brother is back."

"There's one heavyweight big shot who hasn't arrived." Liang Qu gazed into the distance, "Once the person comes it'll be done."

"Big shot, who?"

"Right away, they're... coming!"

Above the vault of heaven, a streak of orange fell diagonally like a meteor; within the waterways, whirlpools surged in turn.

There were people both in the sky and in the water at the same time.

For a moment, no one knew whether the person Liang Qu spoke of was traveling by waterway or flying directly; moreover, those who could fly directly — weren't they precisely the Martial Saints who couldn't travel by waterway?

"I heard the King of Yue or the Grandmaster is coming to spend the New Year together this year."

The sound of breaking water rang out.

The water spider crawled out of the waterway; the meteor in the sky touched down.

Once they saw clearly who had arrived, Yang Xu, Xu Zishuai — everyone present was dumbstruck, some even at a complete loss.

On the wharf people ran to and fro; those with more experience cried out in alarm.

"Dragon-Elephant Martial Saint!?"

"Dragon-Elephant King!"

"King of Huai!"

Liang Qu exchanged formal greetings with Zhang Longxiang; afterward he saw Zhang Longxiang point toward the water spider: "My wife, Lady Sun; my eldest son, Zhang Xing; my youngest daughter, Zhang Jin."

A lovely-looking matron led a young man and a young woman in paying respects: "Greetings to the King of Huai, the King of Huai's Consort, Marquis Jingbo, Mr. Zhaowu, Lady Zhenyi, Mr. Zhaowu's distinguished disciple —"

Yang Dongxiong, the Xu clan, and Long Eying hurriedly led the return greetings.

Liang Qu turned back in shock: "You have a wife?"

Zhang Longxiang was puzzled: "Why wouldn't I have a wife? Don't you have one too?"

Liang Qu was speechless.

Damn it, so it's true; the few times I've seen Zhang Longxiang, once at Xuankong Temple, once on the battlefield — there was never a chance to see his family; not everyone is like Eying, a Tianren Sect master carrying heart-fire, running around outside — it's only on a festival like this.

Zhang Longxiang is over a hundred; marrying a bit late, it's perfectly reasonable his wife is still alive.

"What a mess this has become." Liang Qu patted his sleeve pocket, "Didn't say so earlier, so I didn't bring any gift for —"

"Enough already, my eldest son is thirty-five this year, older than you; what gift would you give?" Zhang Longxiang cut in.

"Then that's settled, come come come, everyone's here; has the Dragon-Elephant King never been to the Dragon Palace?"

"Never been; speaking of Bai Yuan's territory, we just go straight through like this?"

"No problem, he and I wear the same pair of trousers; besides, he's not in the royal palace for the New Year, so we can play to our heart's content!"

Liang Qu and Zhang Longxiang had exchanged several rounds of polite formalities, yet Yang Xu and the others still hadn't reacted.

A man's name casts a shadow like a tree; who under heaven doesn't know Zhang Longxiang's great name?

When did Ashui summon a heroic figure of this caliber?

Judging by the look of things now, they're going to spend the New Year together?

"Wait, King of Huai, no need to rush into the waterway; there's another group behind, they'll run into each other right at the transfer point in the waterway — looks like they're also coming to find you."

"Find me?"

The words had barely fallen when the waterway whirlpool expanded again, and another water spider crawled out.

Liang Qu made out the newcomers, incredulous, and strode forward to meet them: "Abbot Master Di Xian, Master Huai Kong! How did you two come as well? Did the Grandmaster give orders?"

Zhang Longxiang's arrival was due to a prior invitation; Abbot Master Di Xian of Xuankong Temple showing up was completely beyond Liang Qu's expectations.

"Amitabha, it was not an order." Master Di Xian pressed his palms together and exchanged greetings with each person in turn, "This poor monk has come today to return a courtesy."

"Return a courtesy? Return what courtesy?" Liang Qu noticed the large chest behind Master Di Xian.

"Hey, Ashui, who cares what courtesy it is; today's lively enough as it is." Xu Zishuai shouted, "Guests are guests; spending the New Year together, what are we waiting for? Let's not stand on the wharf freezing in the cold wind — let's go down into the water first!"

"Right right right." Liang Qu waved, "Down into the water first!"

The river dolphins circled; shadow projections were deployed.

Waterweeds swayed; a family of river otters beat gongs and drums, the Monkey King's family and the He Li family squatted on tridacna shells playing cards.

Xu Zishuai led Zhang Longxiang's son and daughter the way, arranging rooms.

"The Grandmaster attained sudden enlightenment?"

"Wow, wonderful news; haven't seen the Grandmaster in ages — is he coming for the River God Festival this year too?"

Hearing the reason, everyone was genuinely delighted.

"But what does it have to do with Ashui? Ashui hasn't been to Xuankong Temple recently."

Master Di Xian smiled: "The King of Huai himself didn't go to Xuankong Temple, yet he sent something to Xuankong Temple."

————

"I see." Liang Qu suddenly understood.

So the original *Vijnaptimatratasiddhi* had such good effect.

"Not only the Wisdom King." Master Di Xian added, "The many ancestral lingering spirits on the back mountain of my temple likewise gained great insight; the First Ancestor specially commanded us to come return the courtesy."

Zhang Longxiang was surprised: "Dharma?"

Master Di Xian nodded: "Originally wanted to go to the Yellow Shahe, but then felt it would disturb the King of Huai's water control; heard the festival had a rest period, and the King of Huai's 'stone in the river' also returned to Pingyang, so we made a special trip today; never expected to run into the Dragon-Elephant King's family on the road, and not know that the Dragon-Elephant King —"

"Ah, the Dragon-Elephant King." Liang Qu blurted, "He came to learn some moves from me!"

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