Chapter 2: Ruling the Water Marshes!

Inside Ze Ding!

The tripod that rules the water marshes of the world!

Inexplicable information poured in, leaving Liang Qu greatly shocked—his golden finger had appeared?

The large tripod had a simple and ancient shape, a dark green color, square and upright.

Because the Inside Ze Ding was located in his mind, there was no comparison, so he couldn't tell how big it was, but in terms of feeling, it was very impactful.

The tripod surface was engraved with many patterns, the most eye-catching being a giant ape, a coiled heavenly dragon, followed by human-faced bird-bodied, dragon-headed human-bodied monsters, and many other patterns.

The other side was a black-robed Great Emperor; this one was even more exaggerated, almost occupying a small half of the tripod surface, followed by a divine general holding a spear with a similarly large space, and next to it were many other patterns, mostly human-shaped.

One side beasts, one side humans?

Liang Qu was just about to ponder, but his attention was hooked away by other things.

【Tripod Master: Liang Qu】

【Obtainable Ze Spirit: Water Monkey (White)】

【Acquiring...】

【Acquired, refine it?】

【Ze Spirit: Spirit of the Water Marshes, refine the Ze Spirit to obtain its life destiny, bloodline, and talent.】

It really is a golden finger!

But why is it a water monkey?

Because he drowned?

A popular phrase appeared in Liang Qu's mind...

Old man, subway, mobile phone.

No, it definitely has no relation. Liang Qu shook his head violently, refocusing his attention.

Refine the Ze Spirit... refine or not?

He looked at the surrounding walls and touched his just-full stomach; did he really have a choice?

Coming here once, how could he be willing to be an ordinary person?

Clearly everyone has two eyes and one mouth, yet some have noble blood, some have cheap blood, some drink meat soup and scold others, while some have to go hungry and be scolded by others.

He couldn't forget that martial artist who punched through a giant rock as tall as a person.

What exactly is a martial artist!?

Refine!!

Along with Liang Qu's decision, a white spirit monkey, half-virtual and half-real, seemed to fly out from the Inside Ze Ding, merging into his body as if swimming freely in the air.

A stream of heat spread from Liang Qu's spine, flowing to his limbs and bones.

If his life was initially a candle in the wind, then the current heat stream was like adding a large piece of wax, no longer teetering on the edge.

But before he could experience it clearly, the heat stream dissipated without a trace, leaving him wanting more.

【Refinement successful!】

【Tripod Master: Liang Qu】

【Refined Ze Spirit: Water Monkey (White) (Fusion Degree: 5%)】

【Water Marsh Essence: None】

【River Favorability: None】

【Evaluation: The Water Monkey Ze Spirit originates from the great Lord of Huai Vortex, a small person with insufficient stimulation and weak life destiny.】

"Consuming Water Marsh Essence can increase the fusion degree of the Water Spirit and improve the quality of the Water Spirit. By the way, who is the Lord of Huai Vortex? Sounds so familiar, and where do I get Water Marsh Essence..."

Liang Qu still had many questions in his heart, but he wasn't in a hurry. He would take it one step at a time and first see what exactly a water monkey was.

【Water Monkey (White): Aquatic spirit monkey, beloved by rivers, has the ability to control water.】

【Current fusion degree is low, can reduce consumption in water, can control thirty jin of water flow force by consuming physical strength, detailed perception within three meters, blurred perception of water areas within five meters, reduce presence in water.】

【Consuming Water Marsh Essence may upgrade to Ze Spirit Ze Rong (Cyan), riding water and driving waves, and Water King Ape (Purple), overturning rivers and seas.】

Liang Qu was pleasantly surprised; the Ze Spirit's name was weak, but its ability wasn't! It was simply a natural expert at being in the water!

The Jianghuai water system stretches for ten thousand miles, nourishing the vast land and supporting billions of living beings. The Jianghuai Marshlands are an even larger super lake spanning three commanderies, with countless types of spiritual plants, treasure fish, and minerals in the lake.

But treasure in the water is extremely difficult to obtain. Firstly, there are great demons in deep water, making it hard for human martial artists to fight, and secondly, the bottom of the water is chaotic, spiritual energy is obscure, and treasure is hard to find.

Only occasionally can fishermen luckily obtain one or two in shallow water.

Just last month, someone at the neighboring pier caught a tiger-head spot fish, selling it for a sky-high price of three taels and five coins of silver!

If he truly had such ability, wouldn't he have exclusive access to an undeveloped treasure vault?

Besides, five percent is enough to control thirty jin of water flow; at one hundred percent fusion, wouldn't it be at least six hundred jin?

To an ordinary person, it's simply a water god on earth.

There are even other Ze Spirits to acquire! Upgrade!

The white Ze Spirit is already so fierce; what would it be like if it upgraded to cyan and purple Ze Spirits?

The so-called overturning rivers and seas is truly fascinating.

White, cyan, purple... what's beyond that, is there anything else?

Liang Qu was envious of the so-called Water Marsh Essence for a while, but unfortunately, there was no channel to acquire it right now, so he could only talk about it later.

As for why the divine artifact chose him, Liang Qu believed it must be heaven's reward for his righteous act of saving someone.

Otherwise? Was it because he was malnourished, couldn't afford to eat, or had no father or mother? He only had that much ability, why think so much?

Having obtained the golden finger, Liang Qu couldn't sleep peacefully anymore.

The original him didn't know how to fish and even suffered from livelihood problems, being avoided by those around him. But now, just relying on this five percent water monkey ability, not many fishermen in the entire Yixing Market could beat him.

Good days are coming!

Go to the pier!

The night was dark and the wind was high, and the buildings along the street were orderly.

Liang Qu looked around, sizing up this strange world.

The entire Yixing Market only had this one street in the true sense, leading straight from the market center to the only Shangrao Pier. The road was paved with neat bluestone slabs, and the rest were only yellow mud roads pressed out by feet. Most of the residential houses were built extending along this street.

A truly small place.

As far as Liang Qu knew, there was a prosperous large town next to Yixing Market, and further up were counties, departments, and prefectures.

He didn't find it strange; this world was clearly an ancient world. A market wasn't bigger than a county but was a residential area that gathered slowly like a bazaar, just like the "Zengtou Market" in Water Margin. It was called a market, but it was actually a small village relying on the river.

Once he had the ability in the future, he must go out and see this world!

Arriving at the pier, the panting Liang Qu scanned the water surface along the river. When he walked to a shallow beach, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind, his gaze locked onto a certain spot.

A small fish the size of a thumb suddenly surfaced to breathe.

With a flash of inspiration, Liang Qu actually stretched out his hand, attempting to grab this bold little fish.

The little fish reacted sensitively, turning to escape upon being startled, but in an instant, strange water pressure pressed toward it from all directions. By the time the water pressure disappeared and it wanted to escape again, the little fish was already in Liang Qu's palm.

Truly powerful!

Liang Qu scooped up a handful of clear water, the little fish swimming in his palm, his gaze burning.

He licked his lips and reached his palm into the water. The moment the water handful touched the lake water, the little fish flicked its tail and fled, but soon the water pressure struck, and it was grabbed in his hand again.

After having the knack after four or five times, Liang Qu stood up.

The little fish was the size of a thumb; a very small water flow was enough to control it, and the physical consumption was acceptable, but it was hard to endure using a large amount of water flow in a short time.

"Pity the Ze Spirit's fusion degree is too low, the way of controlling water flow is very rough, only able to squeeze, unable to turn into water blades, let alone control blood. I should be able to do it in the future."

Taking off his clothes in the reed marsh, Liang Qu slowly waded into the water.

The moment he entered the water, he felt different—not cold!

In the middle of the night in late autumn, the water of the marshlands was quite bone-chilling; his "father" had died from catching a cold after entering the water.

Is this the benefit of being close to water? Liang Qu tied up his hair and dived into the river.

Water waves spread, shattering the moonlight.

His whole body was completely submerged in the water area, and an indescribable sense of intimacy spread, actually giving him the illusion of returning to his original world.

Thinking of the happiness of taking a bus for one yuan to sit in a city park to watch the sunset, and then going home to curl up on the sofa to eat noodles, it took Liang Qu a long time to come back to his senses.

To live better!

He collected his thoughts and focused on finding fish.

The bottom of the water was pitch-black and deep. Relying on his perception ability, Liang Qu could know if a living creature was approaching from five meters away, but for fish to detect him, they needed to be within one and a half meters.

Along the way, Liang Qu "saw" many fish, but none could be sold for a high price.

He had just eaten a sesame seed cake and wasn't too hungry. The body's weakness was accumulated over time, and one couldn't become fat in one breath, so he didn't try to catch them.

After looking around, Liang Qu, who had changed his breath, finally found a suitable target.

A large yellow fish about the length of an adult's forearm, weighing about three jin.

Yellow fish is also a unique fish species in Jianghuai; its nourishing effect is not prominent, but its meat is fresh enough, and many gourmets would pay a high price to collect it. This one in front of him could probably fetch seventy to ninety coins.

As the saying goes, one jin of fish equals ten jin of strength; this ten-jin-heavy large fish would have nearly a hundred jin of strength in a sudden burst.

With Liang Qu's current state, plus only thirty jin of water control ability, it would be quite strenuous to deal with it, so he could only watch the other party swim away.

"It seems I can bring a long spear next time, so I can deal with fish with relatively large bodies. However, dead fish don't sell for as high a price as live fish, and I don't have a fishing net..."

While Liang Qu was pondering in the water, he swam far away without knowing it, actually arriving at a shallow beach at the bottom of the water. But saying it was shallow, it was still over ten meters deep.

"Huh, actually lotus roots?"

Stepping on the bottom of the water, plant stems suddenly appeared in Liang Qu's perception. After approaching and identifying them carefully, he found they were actually lotus roots. ===== CHAPTER 3 =====