Chapter 1390: Grasp Jiang Pull River (Requesting Monthly Ticket, Combined Volume)

The King of Yue pushed open the window and gazed north, his mind slightly focused.

"Strange——"

To break open the Heavenly Gate, the martial sage's "foundation" is so strong it can probe a corner, linking heaven and earth, turning the qi sea into an infinite sea.

All so-called "stones in the river" in the world are what cultivators perceive of this "corner" after achieving unity of heaven and man.

Compared to heaven and earth, this "corner" is as tiny as gravel or a needle's tip—how could Liang Qu's "stone in the river" seem to be wrapped by heaven and earth, swelling and contracting just now?

"What has your master been busy with lately?"

"Huh?" Wen Wen Shi Yun, suddenly summoned, thought something had happened, scratched his head, "What's up——"

"I don't even remember doing anything—just normal flood control and sand management, though I've been running around a lot—capital, Yellow Sand River, Jianghuai, etc. —recently I just went to the Dragon Palace for a meal, what happened?"

"Your master probably just broke through again."

"No, broke through again? Really?" Wen Wen Shi Yun glared, "How are you progressing faster than me? What realm is my master in now?"

The King of Yue chuckled: "How would I know? You're the disciple—if you want to know, go ask him yourself."

Wen Wen Shi Yun's teeth ached for a good while.

He cultivates with tiger amber to nourish his qi, entered the Galloping Horse stage, his realm rising steadily, gaining progress every month, yet he still can't match Liang Qu's speed—where is the justice in this?

"Alright, where is your master now? At home?"

"Not at home—he's currently west of Jianghuai."

"Okay, okay, I'll go find him this afternoon then."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, just means 'no problem'—it's the Yixing dialect my master taught me."

The King of Yue rubbed his forehead; having Shi Yun bow to Liang Qu as master back then now seems like an obviously correct decision.

The Huai King's Canon and the tiger amber qi cultivation in the Martial Hall also enabled Wen Wen Shi Yun to progress rapidly in his later cultivation, including his character and conduct—no flaws to be found, except for that mouthful of Yixing dialect.

He hasn't never been to Yixing—clearly, Ningjiang Fu and Pingyang Fu aren't far apart, accents similar—so why does Yixing have such strange dialect?

The west wind swept wildly; Liang Qu's sudden heaven-and-earth suction twisted the dark clouds into a vortex, lightning surged within the cloud layers, the pressure of the dark clouds grew ever lighter, all terror concentrated at the hollow's center—this will be the final strike.

Wu Cangshou swung his limbs, drifting out of the thundercloud range.

It had successfully ascended, becoming a great demon, its size unchanged, only some complex patterns appeared on its carapace, achieving a feat no ancient turtle had before, becoming a vivid stroke in the history of the Blessed Longevity Black Tortoise—but——

"Who exactly broke through?"

Wu Cangshou lifted his head, always feeling Liang Qu had gained more than it had.

Could it be——

Before becoming a great demon, the black tortoise was inferior to the Multi-Jewel Toad, but after becoming a great demon, it later surpassed it, overtaking the Multi-Jewel Toad in one go, thus causing the heavenly tribulation to be extraordinary, allowing Liang Qu to gain immense benefit?

Wu Cangshou's mind swayed, his thoughts scattered, catching sight of the old toad hugging its belly in the periphery, he dispelled this vain notion.

"Thinking about it again, it's fine——"

Intense electric light illuminated heaven and earth, flashing so Wu Cangshou narrowed his eyes.

Black-purple profound lightning struck down.

Within the water column, the black shadow that had just manifested as a human form collapsed again, then, under the influence of being cherished, rapidly replenished, becoming a reef in the plasma.

Wu Cangshou was both startled and afraid—even a martial sage resisting the lightning tribulation, prepared as he was, still ended up like this; letting it face it alone, where could it possibly withstand?

"But, how is this recovery power so similar to the Ape King's?"

The plasma reformed, the shadow towered.

Liang Qu absorbed all the pure yang of heaven and earth, taking it as nourishment.

Within the snow-white skeleton, the heart beat violently, rising and falling, tugging at the blood vessels, fierce vitality spreading, blue ripples sweeping up and down.

Bones regrew, covered in golden patterns identical to those of a peach tree, flesh and tendons wrapped around them, the spring bamboo buried in the soil began to grow rapidly, until finally, even heavenly lightning could not chop or carve it.

Martial bones greatly transformed, can consume 8,600,000 Water Marsh Essence to advance.

Water Marsh Essence: 33,630,000

The Marsh Cauldron trembled, changes came suddenly.

Liang Qu, focused on circulating his cultivation method, was slightly surprised—8.6 million, he had only spent twenty million total to reach perfection as Water King Ape, with some left over, quickly approaching half—what martial bones need eight million of that?

How many major transformations do the martial bones undergo? Most are just a layer granted by marsh spirits at each stage.

Now that he has ascended, will he directly bring it with him at the next stage?

Right now, thirty million essence looks like a lot, but in reality it's all just the Whale Emperor's one-time savings—only less, never more—spending eight hundred——

He felt a slight pang of regret.

Ascension!

The things given by the Marsh Cauldron may be costly, but they are never bad.

Water Marsh Essence: 25,020,000

【Capture Dragon, Subdue Tiger Bone, transformed into Grasp Jiang Pull River Body】

【Grasp Jiang Pull River Body: one hand grasps the river, pulls the river into a rope; a shake of the rope binds heaven and earth, as my throne; a swing of the rope binds the Dragon King, as my mount; a coil of the rope encircles Mount Tianshan, as my dwelling——】

Suddenly, thick mist spread again, filling the water column, obscuring the inner form.

The white ape's phantom uncontrollably appeared behind Liang Qu, golden eyes Xiong Xiong, fine hairs fluttering.

The Marsh Cauldron hung high in the sea of awareness, its light blazing bright.

The surging blue tide dropped by a quarter, boundless brilliance like stars falling to earth, poured into the white ape phantom, the white ape roared to the sky, greedily devouring the light, until it had consumed it all, hugged its knees to form an elixir, merged into one, became a meteor, crashing into the body entwined with electric light.

"Hah!"

A mouthful of hot air surged forth—even with heart fire sustaining, guarding the mind, Liang Qu still felt every cell in his body explode, like lightly biting into a fun burst bead, so painful he lost consciousness.

Dragon Court Xiandao, amidst the ruins, after the fourth and fifth phantoms, gathered flowing light, stacked into the sixth!

Exactly six "Liang Qu," six times seated in temples, they successively sat cross-legged in the three immortal islands of the Dragon Court, each phantom larger than the last, more majestic than the last, nested like dolls protecting the innermost Liang Qu.

Beneath the immortal island, the thousand-and-sixty-fold fertile root sea expanded once more, easily surpassing eleven hundred fold.

Above the immortal island, the sun's prototype turned into a mass of blazing fireball, burning fiercely.

From the Vajra Art to the Spirit Seed Art, from the Dharma Sharira to the Yellow Mud Mother, from the Eight-Clawed King to the Little Horse King, from Primordial Yang to Heavenly Tribulation, everything, absolutely everything, transformed into the flames burning now.

Inside the water pillar, Liang Qu's aura surged upward another notch.

Three pulses, three explosive surges.

Sixth Order!

Crazy.

Absolutely crazy!

The Frog King gaped his frog mouth; the Turtle King's scalp went numb.

Three years since ascending to Wu Sheng, straight into Sixth Order?

They had also heard of the previous matters in the Southern Frontier and Northern Court, and knew Liang Qu's cultivation path — so many resources, not a single one used to raise his realm, all smashed into the root sea by Liang Qu; previously he merely possessed a root sea with a slightly lower realm, but now————

What kind of freak is this?

Are all Furnace Seeds like this?

The old toad scratched his frog head, eyes revealing doubt.

"Old Turtle's tribulation that fierce? Doesn't make sense."

So many people and beasts absorbed his own tribulation, the combined increase wasn't as high as the current Liang Qu, in this river?

If he can't compare, wouldn't that mean his tribulation isn't as fierce as Wu Cangshou's? His own tribulation not as fierce as Wu Cangshou————

The old toad flew into a rage, pointing furiously at heaven and earth.

This world has eyes but no pearls!

Long Yanrui watched the old toad suddenly cursing and ranting, leaping up and down, throwing a tantrum rolling all over the ground, a bit baffled — was it his standing posture just now that was wrong, provoking Elder Frog's anger?

"Crackle."

The last trace of electric current coiled around the water pillar, drilled into the body shell, and was completely absorbed by Liang Qu.

Breath sprayed from his nostrils, white steam circulating.

The mist dispersed, revealing his true form; the thick dark clouds thinned, the river wind gradually died down, strands of golden light pierced through the cloud layer, shining upon the Jianghuai.

The sky cleared.

Pushing aside the carrying pole, drawing back the door bolt.

Villagers pushed open doors and windows, looking at the warm sun, letting out a breath of relief.

As long as the sun comes out it's fine; once the sun comes out there's no problem.

Inside the water pillar, Liang Qu's eyes were tightly closed, sitting cross-legged refining the lingering resonance.

Sky high, clouds pale, not a ripple stirring.

Seeing Liang Qu reveal his figure, aside from being stark naked without missing arms or legs, Long Zong Yin knew there was no serious harm, and hurriedly thanked the various Demon Kings on his behalf, making clear that after Liang Qu awoke they would continue discussing compensation matters.

He didn't know the reason for Liang Qu's such huge boost this time; one fears others overthinking everything — what if the Demon Kings thought it was due to the tribulation and resented the previously negotiated compensation?

In the past the Turtle King and Frog King had contributed greatly for the survival of the Dragon People and Dragon Sturgeon; Long Zong Yin didn't want everyone to fall out over some trivial matter.

At the same time.

Southern Frontier and Northern Court exchanged a few messages, confirming the previous sensation was no illusion, and immediately dispatched personnel to Pingyang to investigate.

"Could it have succeeded?"

Zhang Longxiang stood at the bow, unable to help gripping his saber hilt tight.

Self-cultivated Position Fruit ah!

The Thousand-Fold Root Sea Method is the inferior of the Thousand-Strand Long Qi Method precisely because of the former's uncertainty and the latter's certainty.

At Third Order and within Third Order, achieving a thousand-fold root sea merely provides a foundational soil; the thousand-fold root sea verifies the thousand strands, and thereafter, on the basis of continuously raising and condensing through the next ten orders, there is a certain chance to take root and sprout.

If it isn't reached before Third Order, and there aren't enough rounds of "Root" condensation later, there is zero chance of success; even at the peak it remains only a "sprout sign," and a "sprout sign" still needs nurturing.

But————

Zhang Longxiang wasn't too sure of Liang Qu's progress. That was a freak who at eight hundred fold root sea seemingly nurtured Primordial Yang into a Position Fruit prototype. Compared to Liang Qu, he became a Wu Sheng at forty, now a hundred years old at Tenth Order — still a bit too ordinary.

"Splash!"

The pond broke into splashes, Wen Wen Shi Yun poked his head out.

"Pipi! Pipi! Moshi moshi, Master, are you back?"

"Ah da!"

The window shattered, broken wood flew, a violent response to Wen Wen Shi Yun — a river otter bent at ninety degrees, crashed through the window and flew into the pond, giving him a big scare.

Before Wen Wen Shi Yun could look closely, another cry came from above his head.

Tatai stood on the eaves, claws clutching a string of Buddhist beads, then pounced in flight like a great roc spreading wings, a falcon seizing a rabbit, precisely landing the catch, beads flung and looped, cinching the river otter's neck in the pond trying to yank it back hard.

Scarface's eyeballs bulged; before Tatai could succeed, a chaotic squealing rang out again — a troop of golden-haired monkeys hoisting mops came rumbling from all directions.

Wen Wen Shi Yun narrowed his eyes, waiting for the lead monkey to throw, to see the suspicious object on the mop.

"Holy shit!"

In the pond, the beaver shrieked; the river dolphins and turtles all fled in a rumble.

The Monkey King waved the mop, laughed toward the heavens, leapt up, and drove it straight into Tatai's occiput!

Dragon People patrolled nearby waters; warm sunlight penetrated the water pillar, turning into pale golden ripples shining on Liang Qu.

Everything returned to calm.

Inward vision of self.

The root sea's fertile soil stretched boundless, pitch-black and rich, intermittently azure ripples flashing in the fertile soil, moist and luminous; compared to the Longting Xiandao area, twelve hundred and three fold — previously with painstaking effort only eight hundred, an increase of over four hundred fold.

The Longting Xiandao remained ruined; in the ruins, vague human figures could be seen, appearance identical to Liang Qu, one layer nesting another, six layers in total.

Beyond the sixth layer, there is another half-layer of phantom presence; sitting through the temple three more times would suffice. In total, that is the sixth stage of the Perishing Dragon, thirteen stages — exactly half. The previous three stages doubled in growth.

A thought flashed through Liang Qu's mind.

"I, am invincible."

A Root Sea one thousand two hundred times the norm, sixth-stage strength — if the Severed Flood Dragon were still here, and he encountered the Old Ancestor great power of the Nine Doubts Mountain again, he might be able to blast him to slag with a single spear strike.

The thought flashed and vanished, touched upon and done.

Hold it in.

Arrogant troops are bound to fail.

Can't get too cocky.

His gaze returned to the Root Sea.

"The Heavenly Water Morning Dew has recovered — is it because the Root Sea's growth stimulated it?"

Liang Qu pondered.

【Mystic Use Four: Plants and trees encountering the spring sun, fish and dragons meeting wind and rain. Scouring away evil and filth, renewing anew. Sixty years of accumulation, bringing the dead back to life.】

【Using Mystic Use Four 'Return from Death', Dew Seed growth significantly slows, changed to four years hence.】

After returning from death, the Heavenly Water Morning Dew and Withered Wood Meets Spring fell into dormancy; the Heavenly Water Morning Dew's passive refresh recovery also vanished, requiring a sixty-year wait to restore. If not for this reason, he wouldn't have had to struggle so difficultly and risk breaking to rebuild, turning the peach tree into provisions.

"Because of breaking to rebuild, heaven and earth poured back in, or perhaps the Root Sea's growth stimulated the Morning Dew, causing it to recover early?

"

Liang Qu thinking this wasn't without reason, because the Dew Seed was a precedent — the Dew Seed is a product of the Heavenly Dew, and should have followed the dormancy, but due to various reasons, it changed from four years to half a year, then back to one per season.

This proves that such dormancy is not absolutely unchangeable.

This time he borrowed the heavenly tribulation, borrowed the heavenly thunder's yang nature, to greatly stimulate the Primordial Yang Peach Tree's growth, then used Authority to pulverize the peach tree, fill the 'gaps', burned it with Heart Fire to refine it into fertilizer like plant ash, finally used Gang-refined innate vitality mixed with the Dew Seed, broke the resistance caused by 'tension', drew heaven and earth's spiritual mechanism to pour back in, and moreover was above the Jianghuai, perfectly matching the Heavenly Water Morning Dew's phenomenon.

"The Heavenly Water Morning Dew has recovered, then ————"

Liang Qu's mouth went dry and tongue parched, and he quickly cut off his train of thought, daring not think further.

Still prefer steady, solid progress.

Regardless of whether it recovered or not, one risk is enough; even if to use it, it should be on the level of functional effect.

"The Heavenly Water Morning Dew has recovered; even if Withered Wood Meets Spring hasn't revived, driven by the Heavenly Water Morning Dew, it shouldn't still be sixty years ————"

The Heavenly Water Morning Dew's efficacy is too formidable.

Each revival restores not only the body, but also the spirit.

Liang Qu only felt pressure depart with the wind.

【Water Marsh Essence +3】

The Marsh Cauldron trembled.

Taking a deep breath, Liang Qu looked toward the final harvest beyond the Martial Bone metamorphosis.

Above the Root Sea lies the Xiandao; above the Xiandao, a blazing golden sun wheel rises and falls unpredictably, utterly unlike the previous swaying,

wax-yellow, guttering candle in the wind.

The sun has not retracted into the Marsh Cauldron, yet Liang Qu can still capture the radiance projected by the Marsh Cauldron.

【Heavenly Origin / Gou Mang】

【Authority: None】

【Category: Governance】

【Gestating ————】

Unlike Chang You and the Drought Demon's clear and distinct difference, the 【Heavenly Origin / Gou Mang】's Authority is a mass of twisted light and shadow, seemingly not yet fully defined.

"Governance Category, ah ————"

Liang Qu let out a long breath, braced his knees and stood up, looked at the sun on the horizon, and grinned.

"Elder ————"

"What is it?"

"Mm ———— do you need to put on clothes?"

"?

"