Chapter 1346

"This this, and also this!"

"One two three—four? State Preceptor, you counted one too many."

"You idiot, aside from these four, wrap up all the rest for this State Preceptor! Hurry and send them to the State Preceptor's sleeping chambers, and absolutely do not let any other frogs see them."

Long Pingjiang followed beside the old toad, registering each item one by one, then looked up and helplessly reminded: "State Preceptor, the king said you may only take three from inside, the rest must all go into the Long Gong treasury."

"Are you deaf or blind. Even the undeveloped tadpoles in the Great Marsh are smarter than you, the little frogs with tails are more clever than you." The old toad flushed with anger and roared loudly, "The Water Monarch said it clearly and plainly, it is to have this State Preceptor pick out three things that are not wanted!

The rest belong to me."

"It is to pick out three things to take, State Preceptor, you misheard."

"Confused. Confused! Are you the State Preceptor or am I the State Preceptor? There is only one rule in the Long Gong, and that is the State Preceptor, never! ever! will! be! wrong!"

"You are the State Preceptor, but the one saying this is the Water Monarch, and in the Long Gong the Water Monarch is supreme."

"You this unopened-aperture blockhead, if you were in my frog tribe you wouldn't get three dishes in a lifetime! You'd have been eaten by black fish as a tadpole! This State Preceptor will strip you of your office and make you sweep the Long Gong toilets for a lifetime!" The old toad flew into a rage, hurling all kinds of insults and threats, rolling on the ground in a tantrum, but Long Pingjiang remained unmoved.

Seeing that he could not sway Long Pingjiang, the old toad flipped upright and jumped, glanced around, saw Liang Qu and the Elemental General arguing, with no one nearby, it quietly extended its webbed foot—

Long Pingjiang immediately became alert, left hand guarding himself, right hand guarding the treasure medicines, then realized he had already removed everything from his person before coming to see the frog lord, so he promptly spread his arms, guarding all the treasure medicines behind him.

Next, Long Pingjiang widened his eyes in astonishment, seeing for the first time that the old toad did not extend its webbed foot into someone else's pocket, but instead took from its own waist a large, lively, jumping fish and shoved it straight into his hand.

Long Pingjiang gripped the fish's gills, looking bewildered: "State Preceptor, what do you mean by this?"

The old toad raised its webbed foot to shield its face, lowered its voice: "You clueless junior, have you ever seen such a treasure? A rare fish comparable to the phoenix-immortal fish of Yingchun Tower! Three jin six liang, mother and child safe, a fine treasure, this lord has never begged anyone in a lifetime, today I suffer a loss, this treasure fish is given to you, these worthless wooden boxes this lord will take."

Long Pingjiang's temples twitched, then he lowered his head to look.

In the claw and web, the treasure fish bore a pair of bright red small horns on its head, its body flattened, clearly a horned dace! The most common treasure fish in the Great Marsh of Jianghuai, indeed the fishermen of Shangrao pier can occasionally catch one, becoming fortunate ones!

Long Pingjiang sighed.

I truly do not know how the elders managed to deal with the frog lord, actually managing to conjure treasures from the frog's webs, while others cannot?

Indeed, not only cannot, but one must also guard against things falling from one's own body.

"State Preceptor——"

"Eh, strange, where is my horned dace? The sack isn't torn."

In the square, the dragon folk felt their empty sack, reached in and pressed against the two horns, solid and intact, no holes, on his way back he had just caught it from the water, planning to have it as an evening snack, how in the blink of an eye the fish was gone?

Opposite the Long Gong treasury, the Elemental General hurried over.

"Hahaha, the Water Monarch is truly swift as wind and lightning, just now I was still waiting for you at the sea inlet——"

"Water Monarch, you cannot build a bridge and then dismantle it, without such, if it weren't for me and the Turtle King holding the fort there, the flood dragons would have already broken in, though it seems we two did nothing, in fact we rendered great aid, who knows perhaps the Jianghuai will change hands again."

"Water Monarch——"

"Hey, why only two portions? I clearly saw that the others were five or six portions, don't——"

"Ah, fine then, two portions just two portions, ah——"

The old toad hopped about, selecting the favored great elixir.

The Elemental General happily took the longevity treasure and swam back to Peng Ze.

The mountain sprite of Longevity Mountain wept bitterly, waving silk banners, bidding farewell to Jianghuai.

The old Yuan and the old toad came too hastily, simply distributed part of the harvest, the remaining treasures still piled up, Liang Qu finally could free himself to tally this time's excessive harvest.

Never before have we fought such a wealthy battle!

Rubbing hands together.

Treasure chests laid out.

Abundant harvest, abundant harvest, still his mother's abundant harvest!

Northern Waters.

A Fei and Fist rebuilt the palace after the great battle.

Hai Fangzhu selected outstanding dragon folk, dragon fresh, merfolk, and spike-toothed swine.

Hai Ya Wang relinquished command, alone a fish staying in a corner muttering to himself, completely devoid of mobility, Hai Fangzhu had no time to attend to him, putting the entire Sea Wolf clan to use, assigning them to the eleventh team as laborers, heading to the Eastern Sea to open markets.

Long Gong grand inventory, Northern Waters great restoration, strengthening the Eastern Sea organizational structure.

West Turtle, South Frog, Sea Horse all bustling.

Northern Court incessantly probed for information, intending to learn the details.

The Great Shun Imperial Capital's Directorate of Astronomy also further researched the Dragon Project.

For a time, it seemed all major powers had their own affairs to attend to.

Only——

"Is it over?"

Li Xianghan swayed unsteadily as she emerged from the cave, the piercing sunlight penetrating the canopy, stinging her pupils to contract, rings of light halo overlapping in her field of vision.

Heat fell upon her as if it had weight.

She raised her hand to block, the mouse on her shoulder also raised its paw to block.

Three days.

Exactly three days.

First came the Jianghuai great battle, then the fourteen demon kings marched south, after great effort subduing more than ten demon kings, immediately followed by the Great Shun, the tremors outside the cave never ceased.

Now the dust had barely settled, Li Xianghan for a time did not know what to do, pretending nothing had happened, continuing to accept the Huai Wang's empowerment?

Qinggu Valley also did not know what to do, having suffered this disaster, their situation was still passable, condoling the other eight strongholds?

The Nine Strongholds of Nanjiang were even more at a loss, the Tusi Valley found no news, the new Tusi's river stone directly ran back to the Black Stone Forest, motionless.

Just as Li Xianghan hesitated, whether to summon the Huai Wang tonight to aid her cultivation, or to delay a bit, wait two days before summoning——

"Issue the Tusi order, effective immediately, each stronghold shall tally losses, two days later gather at Tusi Valley to jointly discuss the reconstruction plan." The Tianzhi Sect Master transmitted the command, the voice echoing in Qinggu Valley.

"Tusi? Now I recall he is the Tusi?"

"Where to discuss? How is it Tusi Valley, shouldn't it be his Black Stone Forest?"

Mockery rose from the crowd.

The Heavenly Horizon Grandmaster remained unmoved: "Today's summons comes from the Old Tusi, not the new Tusi at Black Stone Forest. This Tusi decree serves two purposes: first, for Jiuzhai's reconstruction and task allocation; second, for the new Tusi's election and enthronement ceremony. We hope all villages will arrive as agreed in two days!"

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

"It's the Old Tusi?"

"Another Tusi change?"

"7

Li Xianghan's eyes widened.

"Hoo————"

Water currents swirled and rolled, Liang Qu drifting weightlessly.

The Southern Border campaign yielded a total of ten portions of superior fortune, twenty portions of medium fortune, and one hundred portions of inferior fortune.

Of these, Bai Yuan received four portions of superior, eight portions of medium, and forty portions of inferior fortune. Later, he gave away two portions of superior, four portions of medium, and eighteen portions of inferior fortune to win over the remaining Demon Kings.

Naturally, this portion will be reimbursed by the imperial court as previously agreed, merely a temporary loss.

Following that was the Southern Border bribe — the two portions of inferior fortune offered by Hai Ya Wang, given by the Seahorse Clan, all returned in full, no need to calculate, two portions total.

That leaves Liang Qu currently holding two portions of superior fortune, four portions of medium fortune, and twenty-four portions of inferior fortune.

Of this portion, Liang Qu split half again, totaling sixteen portions, allocated in turn to the Frog King, Turtle King, and Hai Fangzhu three Demon Kings according to cultivation and proportion.

Good fortune shared by all.

This incident was sudden, with no notice to West Turtle and South Frog, yet both kings still lent aid — the results speak for themselves.

Jianghuai is his hometown, the easiest and most needed place to unite, nothing to be stingy about — beyond the half, he tossed two more portions to General Yuan, finally leaving two portions of medium and ten portions of inferior.

"Adding what was given to the East Sea Demon King, I should have two portions of superior, six portions of medium, twenty-eight portions of inferior on hand! One inferior portion can multiply four to five times, all growth root sea————"

Liang Qu pinched his fingers, licked his lips, heart involuntarily beating faster.

Rough estimate, two hundred fifty times!

Current root sea within body, seven hundred forty-five.

Combined, nine hundred ninety-five!

Although two hundred fifty is a somewhat optimistic estimate, five times counts as full exertion, there will be some margin of error, but Liang Qu fundamentally doesn't need full exertion, margin of error is fine.

Because aside from all those fortune great medicines, he still has one major harvest.

Little Horse King's corpse, one whole body, a sixth-rank Great Demon!

Cultivating to this day, Liang Qu has eaten the Eight-Armed King's joint wrists, eaten flood dragon meat, yet never once eaten a whole Demon King corpse!

Unknown how great a harvest this corpse can bring, but to fill the "margin of error" is more than enough.

Thousand-fold root sea, unprecedented proximity — just thinking about it, Liang Qu feels something in his Lower Dantian about to break through the soil and grow vigorously, eyes shining bright.

Murder and arson bring golden belts.

"Southern Border truly a treasure land, a hundred times richer than the Northern Court!"

"Just that many great medicines, refining them into pills would take one or two years to eat through."

Liang Qu's head ached.

Eating one by one, must avoid medicinal property conflicts — one inferior portion rests half a month, medium one month, superior three months, that's two years, and a conservative estimate at that.

Refined into pills, a top master like Fu Shuo could at most melt-refine six or seven portions at once, limited manpower, no melting furnace this time, following standard procedure to formulate pill recipes, open furnace to refine pills, four months per pill counts as fast, even so it takes two years————

"At least can make it in time for the East Sea Grand Hunt, even time-wise about the same." Liang Qu consoled himself.

"Little Shui, the fish fins for the market opening are all ready."

"Fangzhu my lord! Hard work!"

Long Gong Plaza, Hai Fangzhu leading eleven selected squads, fully prepared, Hai Ya Wang following behind dejectedly, Fat Fish sticking out his belly, waving long whiskers, directing Hai Ya Wang.

Liang Qu first embraced Wei Lan's wrists and ankles, acted intimately a bit, exchanged greetings, turned and saw Hai Ya Wang, reprimanded: "Big holiday, looking all dusty and gloomy for whom? Perk up! Ah Fat, not talking about you."

Liang Qu pushed aside the fat fish charging ahead with a wide grin, burrowing chaotically.

Hai Ya Wang lifted his head, barely squeezing out a smile.

The sea wolves in the squad were all numb, completely clueless what exactly happened to their Great King, could it be he got beaten up and awakened something strange?

"This is more like it." Liang Qu very satisfied.

Don't look at Hai Ya Wang can't beat Bai Yuan, but Liang Qu doesn't often operate under Bai Yuan's identity.

Subjugating water beasts into the Marsh Nation brings enhancement, carrying divine abilities!

Hai Ya Wang has sixth rank, higher than Liang Qu's main body, combined with formations can temporarily rush to seventh or eighth rank, brought into the Marsh Nation, unknown how much growth it could bring————

Two words, invincible!

Communicate with Marsh Cauldron.

【Already subjugated water beast Heavenly Wolf Fish King, can evolve.】

【Can consume 12,460,000 Marsh Essence to grow Heavenly Wolf Fish King.】

【Can consume 4,630,000 Marsh Essence points to complete.】

【Can consume 6,630,000 Marsh Essence points, 10 River Dominance points, 60 River Favor points, to deeply complete.】

Glance once.

Seeing several huge numbers, Liang Qu chose to shelve temporarily.

"Hai Ya Wang, although your realm is high, falling for Southern Border's trap proves you have only empty strength, head smooth and shiny, not very smart, from now on you listen to Ah Fat, and cannot move", round head, I have no high or low strength here, only first come first served and merit size, understand?"

Fat Fish eyes brimming with hot tears, fish tail stiffened straight, long whiskers folded together.

Hai Ya Wang sighed, also stiffened fish tail, erected fish fins, folded together ninety degrees.

"Understood!"

"Very good, you wrecked Hai Fangzhu's palace, now I'm temporarily assigning you to Fist of Fat Heavy Industry, start by following Awei to learn how to forge black iron, what is Fist of Fat Heavy Industry? Awei, tell them about our company's long history and excellent culture."

The fat fish puffed out its chest, raised its head, swayed its long whiskers, and wrote corporate slogans on the riverbed.

Hai Ya Wang sighed: "I'm truly foolish, really — "

Pa!

The long whiskers whipped, Hai Ya Wang's forehead itched, he dared not lose focus, seriously studied the corporate culture, and loudly recited along with the fat fish.

"Safety regulations written in blood, improper operation harms fish lives!"

"Accidents have no eyes, if you loosen it, danger follows!"

"One fish dishonest, the whole family incomplete, all gains and losses, totally handed over! After the gods finish eating the vicious fangs, the vicious fang general finishes eating, then I eat."

"Vicious Fang General, boss! Heavenly God, great! Third Prince, shameless! Cannot move, lazy! Awei, treacherous! Round Head, arrogant! Fist, greedy — "

Hai Fangzhu covered her mouth and lightly laughed, introducing the team members one by one.

Liang Qu simply confirmed there were no major issues, then asked about another matter: "Fangzhu, my lord, those few Great Creation Grand Medicines you gave me in the East Sea, do they have some secret?"

Liang Qu originally planned to use the Creation Grand Medicines to unite the demon kings, but who would have thought Hai Fangzhu secretly pulled him aside midway, replaced part of them, obviously the separated treasure medicines have their sayings, those portions he kept all along.

"I selected some medicines with properties not easily conflicting for you, Heaven Heart Pill fragments, Xia Hua — these four combined, refined into pills, can be taken directly, yielding half again the medicinal efficacy, plus Yin Pei Hua — these three — just happen to be half present in what Nanjiang gave, not complete but half, Xiao Shui, go search the imperial treasury, maybe you can find the missing ingredients."

Liang Qu's expression was wonderful: "Fangzhu, my lord, you also understand alchemy?"

"Not really, just back when Long Jun was still around, that time it was still Great Qian, trade often substituted medicinal pills, I recall having a few pill formulas, alas, Xiao Shui, no need for so much."

"No matter, Fangzhu, my lord deserves it, without you I truly might not be able to hold down the Whale King." Liang Qu shoved the six pre-arranged Creation Grand Medicines directly into Hai Fangzhu's hands, "Alright, strike while the iron's hot, we must seize the time to get things done, I'm taking them to market, see you later."

Not allowing Hai Fangzhu to refuse, Bai Yuan vanished into thin air, traveled thousands of miles through water, swiftly ran to the river mouth to build waterways, extending toward the remaining great sages.

Water plants swayed, bubbles rose faintly.

Beneath the fire trees and silver blossoms, Hai Fangzhu wrapped her wrists and ankles with treasure medicines, hummed a little tune, slid her wrists and ankles, and departed happily.

In the days that followed, to finish early, complete the organizational structure, exchange treasure medicines, Liang Qu rushed nonstop, traveling everywhere, causing Nanjiang to be anxious and uneasy.

One after another "outposts" were established in the demon king's territory, the 【Vortex Waterway】 first extended into Jianghuai, on that day, Bai Yuan was busy in the Wu King's territory, suddenly received a message from the Third Prince.

"What, the Holy Emperor is going on a southern tour?"