Chapter 17: Another Treasure Fish! Rapid Growth

Controlling the Six-Bearded Catfish is truly worth more than the price; it hasn't even been five days since the last Horned Pomfret was found, and today it has brought another surprise.

If one could catch a treasure fish every five days on average, I fear not even the entire Yang Family Martial Hall would be so extravagant.

Thinking of this, Liang Qu quickened his pace significantly, returning to Yixing Market in half an hour.

The edge of Pingyang Town is also marshland, and he could actually enter the water directly, but to avoid attracting attention, he still chose to return to the pier.

Upon reaching the pier, through the directional sensing of the spiritual link, Liang Qu took a boat to the vicinity. As the oars slapped the water, the summoned Pig-Mother Dragon surfaced to meet him.

The Jianghuai marshlands are not as calm as they appear; not to mention the Great Demons in the depths, some Pig-Mother Dragons in the shallows are of a different species, reaching four or five meters in length, capable of overturning small sampans without effort. Having the Cannot-Move guard him makes things safer.

Liang Qu took his landing net and dove into the water. After eating the Horned Pomfret, he had sold fish to learn martial arts; he hadn't been in the water since his fusion level increased, and at this moment, he felt a sense of ease and freedom.

【Cauldron Master: Liang Qu】

【Refined Ze Ling: Water Monkey (White) (Fusion Level: 8.3%)】

【Water-Marsh Essence: None】

【River Favorability: None】

【Controlled Water Beasts: Taihua Crocodile, Six-Whiskered Catfish】

【Evaluation: The Water Monkey Ze Ling originates from the great Lord of Huai Vortex; a minor character with insufficient stimulation and a weak nature and life.】

The fusion level has already reached 8.3, and the water flow he can control has reached fifty jin. The control has improved slightly, proving that Liang Qu's initial idea was correct.

The increase in Ze Ling fusion level not only strengthens the water flow but also improves control, turning it into a water blade. Controlling blood is just around the corner; everything is flourishing.

Furthermore, Liang Qu had some thoughts after seeing the evaluation at the very bottom.

After obtaining the Ze Cauldron, he often observed the patterns on it. If his guess is correct, the so-called Lord of Huai Vortex should be the famous Wuzhiqi.

Wuzhiqi's true form is a giant ape with a green body, white head, golden eyes, and snowy teeth, which matches the most prominent pattern on the Ze Cauldron.

Legend has it that even when Great Yu united with the Ying Dragon, they could not kill it and could only imprison it at the bottom of the water.

Who is the Ying Dragon?

That is the creator god and maker god in ancient mythology, the ancestor of true dragons and the dragon race. Legend says that if fish and shrimp drink a mouthful of the Ying Dragon's urine, they can become true dragons!

Comparing the two, one can see the scale.

As for the other patterns, they should be other water gods; the one with a human head and snake body is suspected to be Eunuch.

Liang Qu doesn't know who the Black Emperor on the other side is, but his intuition tells him that he is very badass. Especially the spear held by the divine general looks very much like a three-pointed, double-edged blade. Could it be Erlang Shen? Is Erlang Shen a water god?

In this way, the Ze Cauldron is absolutely an extraordinary divine artifact.

It is said that a Flood Dragon lies dormant in the deepest part of the Jianghuai marshlands, sleeping for sixty years at a time. Once it wakes up, it stirs up trouble, but in front of Wuzhiqi, it is nothing more than a spicy stick.

It's just a pity that he is only a Water Monkey, a hundred and eight thousand miles away from the Lord of Huai Vortex.

The road ahead is long, and effort is still needed!

Under the escort of the Pig-Mother Dragon, Liang Qu found the fat catfish and discovered that the so-called treasure fish was actually a large-headed fish covered in orange tiger stripes!

It was exactly the Tiger-Head Spot that someone at the neighboring pier had caught last month!

However, the one in front of him was huge, as long as an arm, weighing about six or seven jin. If sold, it might be even more expensive than the previous Horned Pomfret!

Ah Fei, you really are my lucky star!

Liang Qu happily patted the fat catfish's head, signaling the two beasts to head in the other two directions, surrounding it in a three-sided pincer movement with himself.

Borrowing the Water Monkey's ability, Liang Qu was not easily discovered by fish. He let the fat catfish and the Pig-Mother Dragon initiate the attack first.

The startled Tiger-Head Spot turned to flee, only to find that someone had long been lying in ambush by Liang Qu's side. By the time it wanted to escape, it was already too late; the huge inertia made it impossible for it to turn.

Dozens of jin of water flow squeezed onto the Tiger-Head Spot, imprisoning its form.

Liang Qu twisted his body and swung the landing net, like hitting a beautiful golf shot, scooping the Tiger-Head Spot into the net!

Beautiful!

Liang Qu quickly flipped the net pole, wrapping the Tiger-Head Spot in the net, stepped forward to hold both the fish and the net in his arms, swam all the way back to the surface, and threw it into the boat cabin.

Turning into the boat, Liang Qu took out his stone knife and skillfully gutted it, throwing the internal organs, fish gills, and scraps to the two beasts.

The two beasts opened their mouths, swallowing in large gulps, so excited that they kept flicking their tails, splashing a large amount of foam on the water surface.

"Wait, have you two grown bigger?"

Liang Qu was boiling water for fish slices when he suddenly noticed that the two water beasts seemed to have grown much larger.

He hadn't noticed before because he was in a hurry to catch the treasure fish, but taking a closer look now, the Cannot-Move, which was nearly two meters long but not quite, was now definitely over two meters.

The fat catfish was the same; it was just over two meters before, but now it looked almost half a circle larger, nearly two meters three or four.

He had controlled the two beasts for less than a month in total; this was definitely not a normal growth rate.

Liang Qu suddenly thought of the Ze Cauldron's previous evolution prompt.

Could it be that the two beasts ate the treasure fish, and the Water-Marsh Essence in those scraps was all absorbed?

Communicating with the Ze Cauldron.

【Can consume 77.9 points of Water-Marsh Essence to evolve Taihua Crocodile into Horn-Wood Crocodile】

【Can consume 77.8 points of Water-Marsh Essence to evolve Six-Bearded Catfish into Tiger-Head Catfish】

Sure enough, it was less!

Liang Qu was overjoyed. He didn't expect that feeding the treasure fish scraps would have such an effect; it was completely waste utilization without cost!

"Good, it's good to grow bigger. Big is strong, big is beautiful. Come, eat more, the fish head is yours too."

Liang Qu sucked the fish brain dry and threw the fish head to the two beasts.

Don't look at him like a black-hearted boss, letting the two beasts that discovered the treasure fish only eat some scraps, but everything has a comparison.

Controlled by him, they developed spiritual intelligence, becoming much smarter than before, which is why they would catch treasure fish with a purpose.

Before, they were muddled; let alone finding treasure fish, they didn't even know what treasure fish looked like. Even if they saw one, they would think it was an ordinary fish and wouldn't catch it unless they were hungry.

Treasure fish have greater strength, faster speed, and are harder to catch than ordinary fish.

In short, they earned it.

A seven-jin Tiger-Head Spot, after removing the inedible parts, still had more than four jin of meat. Even though the fish meat itself was extremely fresh and sweet, by the end, it was completely forced down. Fortunately, the contained Water-Marsh Essence did not disappoint him.

【Water-Marsh Essence +3.4】

After sucking the marrow from the fish bones, he threw the bones to the two beasts. Liang Qu was so full he was panting, his whole body hot, but he still insisted on getting up and began to exercise according to the training method in the Ape Fist.

The effect of practicing martial arts right after eating treasure fish is the best; one cannot waste the opportunity.

The quality of the Tiger-Head Spot is not as good as the Horned Pomfret, but it wins in quantity, and the overall blood-qi gain is even greater.

Liang Qu practiced the fist, and soon felt the heat in his whole body stimulated, followed by the appearance of that trace of qi in his chest again.

It only appeared halfway through before, but now it appeared after just finishing three stances, showing that the effect of the treasure fish is indeed extraordinary.

As the breath circulated, it grew rapidly. Liang Qu began to secrete sweat and oil quickly. By the time he finished the whole set, his whole person looked like he had been fished out of water.

Liang Qu drank the fish soup to replenish water, feeling that the fish meat in his stomach had not yet been digested, and forced himself to practice another set despite his fatigue.

He practiced three sets in a row until dark, and the fish meat in his stomach was completely digested.

At this moment, the breath in his chest had grown from a wisp to the thickness of a strand of hair, and it did not dissipate immediately afterward, but circulated again for a short quarter of an hour.

Liang Qu collapsed on the boat, too tired to move, and fell into a deep sleep with his eyelids drooping.

The Pig-Mother Dragon and the catfish circled the boat, guarding it quietly.

Early the next morning, Liang Qu, covered in stickiness, jumped into the water to wash thoroughly. When he went ashore again, his body already had a more obvious muscle outline, and he had grown taller, looking even more heroic.

According to Hu Qi, as long as the qi in the chest is as thick as a little finger, one can begin to refine the skin and break through the barrier. At the current progress, I fear it won't take three months?

Breaking through the skin barrier is just around the corner!

Liang Qu was in a great mood. Looking at the rising sun, he seemed to see his brand-new life.

"Ah Fei, go catch some fish. Cannot-Move, continue to guard the lotus roots." ===== CHAPTER 18 =====