Chapter 224: You Are Truly Slow

The rain fell in sheets.

The Great Marsh was pitch black, rising and falling in silence.

Occasionally, a finless porpoise would surface.

Massive felt umbrellas were opened along the bank, stretching out in a continuous line.

Xu Yuelong and Wei Lin sat on opposite sides, with a glass bottle and a scroll placed before them, respectively.

Yang Dongxiong, as the Registrar of the River Office, could not afford to be too biased, so he sat in the middle.

The others were scattered like stars in the sky.

Zhu Bingcan ordered his servants to pour tea for everyone one by one.

Looking again at the two figures standing on the pier, he let out a deep sigh of relief.

As long as nothing happened inside the Sky Ship Tower, he didn't care what happened outside; fighting to the death wouldn't affect him.

It was just that, after all, it had started inside the Sky Ship Tower; he couldn't completely ignore it, or he would appear cold and indifferent.

In business, the greatest taboo is cold indifference.

Even if a roadside stall's food tastes mediocre, as long as the owner is enthusiastic enough, the business won't be too bad.

Zhu Bingcan couldn't be worse than a small street vendor, so naturally, he had to follow them out to arrange matters.

Wei Shao pressed his fingers together, causing them to crack loudly.

"Speak, how exactly shall we compete?"

Even though he knew the other party had come prepared, no matter what, the gap in their cultivation realms was an insurmountable hard truth.

Fate is merely an ethereal possibility, never a foregone conclusion!

So what if a long dragon crosses the river?

Can he grow claws and webbed feet in the water?

Wei Lin might be cold and heartless, but he was clear about rewards and punishments. If he won this duel, not to mention the Golden-Eyed Beast's golden eyes, there would surely be extra rewards!

Liang Qu beckoned to the fishing pen nearby.

Lin Songbao, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed over through the rain carrying two fish baskets. He set them down and then retreated hurriedly, his legs trembling.

By the time he returned to the fishing pen, his clothes were completely soaked, though he couldn't tell if it was from the rain or cold sweat.

With so many martial arts experts' gazes fixed on him, it was truly not something an ordinary person like him could withstand.

Liang Qu picked up one fish basket and tossed the other toward Wei Shao.

"When fishermen have a conflict, there is an excellent way to resolve it: a swimming race!

We compete to see who swims further and faster! Whoever wins, the other listens to them!"

"Just that simple?"

Wei Shao sneered, wondering what they would compete in.

He had learned the Water Tiger Swimming Steps, and with a cultivation realm one major stage higher, it was impossible for him to lose!

Overestimating his own abilities.

Relying on a Hunting Tiger Great Martial Artist and having smooth sailing all the way, he had truly forgotten his own actual weight.

Liang Qu shook his head: "Don't be impatient. As martial artists, we won't compete in something so simple. See the fish baskets?

One basket can hold at least thirty jin of fish. From the Shangrao Pier to the Pingyang Pier, the total length is about eighteen li.

We won't just compete on speed; we must also catch at least thirty jin of fish along the way!

You don't need to worry about me using water beasts to cheat; there are so many finless porpoises in the marsh, they are all witnesses.

Tell me, do you dare or not?"

Liang Qu never let a grudge go overnight.

Swimming.

This was precisely the field that River Office martial artists excelled in!

If it were martial artists from the Demon Suppression Division or the Three Judicial Offices, they might have to think twice.

Wei Shao hesitated; if he lost, he wouldn't be the only one losing face!

Facing the provocation, Wei Shao picked up the fish basket and stood at the edge of the bank, proving everything with his actions.

Catching fish in the water did indeed increase the difficulty, but ultimately, it was still a test of speed.

Not to mention that hundreds of finless porpoises were floating in the Great Marsh, ruling out any possibility of cheating.

The other party having water beasts might have been a challenge, but now, he was completely cutting off his own path; he couldn't agree fast enough.

Seeing Wei Shao agree, Liang Qu turned to look at Zhu Bingcan and cupped his hands in a salute.

"Steward Zhu, I must trouble you to act as the judge."

Among the many people present, Liang Qu was not familiar with the Demon Suppression Division or the Three Judicial Offices; only Steward Zhu was completely neutral, making him the most suitable person to give the order.

Xu Yuelong and Wei Lin had no objections to this.

Zhu Bingcan agreed happily and walked to the two men under his umbrella.

Following the order, Liang Qu and Wei Shao kicked off the ground in an instant.

Boom!

Two large craters exploded on the pier, with fine cracks spreading over a dozen meters across the bluestone slabs, and rainwater flowed into the Great Marsh along the fissures.

But anyone with a discerning eye could see that the crater Wei Shao kicked out was much larger than Liang Qu's, and he leaped dozens of meters in mid-air before landing in the water.

Just from this, Liang Qu had already fallen behind!

Lin Songbao and the others ran wildly along the bank, following the white trails underwater, but they hadn't run far when they were surprised to find that the two were swimming faster than they could run!

The onlookers who were watching the fun stood up one after another, the clamor never ceasing.

Xu Yuelong stood up.

"Let's go, we'll wait for them at the finish line."

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Ran Zhongshi and the others nodded in unison and disappeared from before the others.

One after another, everyone set off for Pingyang County, and the Sky Ship Tower attendants gathered up the sprawling felt umbrellas.

Underwater, Liang Qu treaded water while carrying the fish basket.

He glanced at Wei Shao, who was speeding ahead, not in the least bit anxious, and simply opened his senses to search for large fish.

The River Favorability level of one did not evolve his Water Leaping into Water Traveling a Thousand Li, but that didn't mean there was no progress.

Now, with a single leap, he could cover one and a half li in a breath, and his stamina was enough to support nearly fourteen consecutive uses.

As long as Liang Qu was willing, he could swim twenty li in an instant!

The water surface rose and fell in waves.

Wei Shao used the Water Tiger Swimming Steps to move like an arrow released from a bow, pushing forward with all his might.

The drastic change in water pressure caused dissolved gases to be squeezed out, turning into a white trail that dissipated in all directions.

By the time he desperately leaped forward a distance and looked back, Liang Qu's figure had long since disappeared.

Was he left behind?

Wei Shao felt disdain in his heart.

The ignorant are fearless.

Thinking he grew up by the water and was proficient in water skills, he didn't realize that it was precisely this that led to his narrow-minded perspective.

No matter how good the water skills an ordinary person trains, they are still a hundred and eight thousand li away from profound martial arts!

The Water Tiger Swimming Steps were unremarkable among mid-tier martial arts, belonging to the lower end of mid-tier, but before coming to the River Office, he had already practiced this underwater movement technique to perfection!

Rather than being mediocre at everything, it is better to be proficient in one thing.

Even someone practicing top-tier mid-tier martial arts might not necessarily match his speed in the water!

Wei Shao treaded water forward and sensed a large grass carp the length of his forearm. He changed direction and grabbed it before the carp could escape, the water current he stirred up snapping the water weeds.

Perhaps his mood was too excited, leading to excessive force, and he actually squeezed the fish's internal organs out, causing it to bleed and die on the spot.

No matter.

The competition rules did not require the fish to be alive.

Weighing it in his hand, it was at least six jin; if he caught four more like this, thirty jin would be more than enough!

Backhanding the grass carp into the fish basket, Wei Shao looked back again, still not finding Liang Qu's figure.

Strange.

In the time it took to catch a fish, he still hadn't caught up?

Could it be... the other party hadn't practiced underwater movement techniques!?

Was there really someone stupid enough to think they could beat him just by relying on water skills?

The last bit of hesitation in Wei Shao vanished, and he almost couldn't help but leap out of the water to laugh out loud.

He hadn't practiced pupil techniques, so the golden eyes he obtained would definitely have to be sold, adding another three thousand plus taels to his account.

It was equivalent to getting a mid-tier Myriad Manifestation martial art for free without spending a cent!

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Wei Shao turned and dived, his speed increasing by half! He was even more desperate than before!

He wanted to ruthlessly tear apart the other party's pride, create an unreachable gap with the fastest speed, and finally stand on the bank calmly to issue his declaration of victory!

The golden eyes, he was determined to get them!

Rainwater splashed onto the river surface, creating pitch-black ripples.

In the incense burner on the long table, the thin incense had burned more than halfway, and wisps of green smoke drifted away.

The river wind blew, causing the burning end to glow red, and half a section of white ash suddenly broke off, falling into the incense burner and shattering into three pieces.

Everyone stared at Liang Qu, who was sitting on the pier, wringing out his clothes, whispering to each other in disbelief.

Almost back-to-back, not long after the group of big shots arrived, Liang Qu had come ashore carrying the fish basket.

Fast, too fast.

Eighteen li, thirty jin of fish; what a terrifying speed!

Wei Lin's expression remained cold; whether before or after, he was neither happy nor angry. He silently tossed out the scroll and turned to leave.

Liang Qu reached out to catch the flying Thunder-character Seal Technique and carefully wiped the water stains off it.

Xu Yuelong secretly gave a thumbs up.

Xiang Zhangsong and the others laughed loudly on the side.

Splash!

"Hahaha, I won."

A large splash of water flew, and Wei Shao jumped out of the water, holding the fish basket full of fish high in one hand.

It wasn't just thirty jin; he had completely filled the basket, nearly forty jin!

The bank was silent, with faint sneers hidden in the heavy rain.

Wei Shao did not receive the cheers he had imagined.

He waited for a moment, looking at the crowd on the bank in confusion, not even seeing Lord Wei.

Until someone pointed in another direction.

Wei Shao turned his head to look, his pupils shrinking sharply.

"You are truly slow."

Liang Qu sat on the edge of the bank, bare-chested, tossing the scroll in his hand.

He lifted the fish basket lid, and several large fish were jumping around, with one red-blooded perch drilling everywhere, almost bursting the basket.

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