Chapter 225: Good Bones and Flesh

The river tide surged, washing against the reefs and splashing white foam.

Liang Qu sat on the bluestone slab, his muscles covered in rainwater and clearly defined, his bare upper body steaming with heat.

He reached back and combed his wet black hair neatly, tossing the scroll in his hand with a calm demeanor.

Wei Shao's brain felt like it had exploded, and a cold venomous snake crawled up his entire spine, flicking its tongue.

He stood unsteadily, took a few steps back, and looked around; the sneers in the wind and rain were infinitely amplified in his ears.

The world spun.

The 3,400-tael Thunder-character Seal Technique...

How could this be?

Why was he faster than me?

Treasure fish...

The red-blooded perch's crimson skin seemed to have drained Wei Shao's spine; his long hair, soaked by the rain, stuck to his face, and water dripped down his chin.

He braced his hands on his thighs, eyes wide open, gasping for air like a dehydrated fish lacking oxygen.

A hand climbed onto his shoulder and patted it lightly.

"River Office martial artists still need to practice swimming more; after all, it's our bread and butter.

But compared to others, you aren't too bad; you barely reached the standard.

Come work for us. As long as you are willing to come over, I will pay out of my own pocket to give you a bottle of Qi-Returning Pills. What does Lord Shao think?"

A bottle of Qi-Returning Pills worth one small merit!

Wei Shao's eye twitched, as if something was jumping under his skin; he just gripped his kneecaps deeply with his five fingers, the joints glowing with a pale blue light.

Wei Shao did not answer.

Liang Qu was not annoyed either; he didn't have a large family business like others, and he couldn't pull out ham sausages to tease a dog, only rice; it was normal for there to be no reaction.

After saying this, he carried the fish basket toward the crowd, the faint daylight plating a gray halo around his back.

The figure left behind remained slumped, bathed in the heavy rain.

The world was dark blue, and the rain was torrential.

Compared to the desolation of Wei Shao and the others, Xu Yuelong and Yang Dongxiong's side was much livelier, with everyone congratulating Liang Qu.

Liang Qu kept cupping his hands in salute, indicating it was all due to the contrast provided by his peers.

As an official of the River Office, one should be diligent in their duties; swimming was a crucial manifestation of basic ability, and he was merely doing his duty.

He was becoming more and more fluent in saying such polite things.

"Good lad, good lad! I've seen so many people, but you are the best at swimming! Joining the River Office was absolutely the right choice."

Xu Yuelong patted Liang Qu's shoulder and laughed.

Even though Wei Lin didn't show the slightest emotion, he knew the other party must be very unhappy inside!

To lose a swimming race despite being a major realm higher!

If it were the Demon Suppression Division or the Three Judicial Offices, it would be understandable, as their main tasks weren't on the water, and they rarely practiced corresponding techniques.

What kind of place was the River Office?

Who among those holding positions there didn't have underwater movement techniques?

Losing the duel was truly a loss of face.

This was also the reason why Liang Qu wanted to compete in swimming; it was a naked, open plot.

As an advantageous event, if he didn't compete, it wouldn't just be Wei Shao, who was a major realm higher, losing face.

If he did compete, it fell right into Liang Qu's trap.

"For the year-end performance review, A-Shui should be in first place. At that time, there will inevitably be rewards, and if you are truly outstanding, there might even be a great merit."

Perhaps because his performance today was too outstanding, Xu Yuelong used Liang Qu's childhood nickname, appearing even more intimate.

"It's all thanks to Brother Yuelong's care."

Liang Qu cupped his hands in thanks.

As the saying goes, if there is no credit, there is at least hard work.

Latest address

No matter how many small merits one has, they cannot be exchanged for a great merit, but if you really talk about it, it's not that absolute.

In the annual year-end review, the top-ranked official based on performance receives extra rewards, and if they are very outstanding, they can even be recorded a great merit.

So in a sense, accumulating many small merits is not entirely impossible to "exchange" for a great merit.

In terms of merit, Liang Qu couldn't compare to Xiang Fang Su, Ran Zhongshi, and the others.

They were charging on the front lines of the Great Marsh, taking the heads of the Ghost Mother Sect members to claim merit; he heard that a few days ago they had killed two sect members, and the merit was much greater than his killing of spirit monsters.

But the review compared officials in the same place and at the same level.

Liang Qu currently had over two hundred small merits and two great merits in hand; among the eighth-rank officials, he was unrivaled, and the first-place spot was a certainty.

If he worked a little harder, a year-end great merit was not impossible.

After the excitement, Liang Qu bid farewell to Xu Yuelong and Yang Dongxiong and hurried to the Sky Ship Chamber of Commerce to retrieve Chishan.

On the way, he held the scroll in his hand and examined it carefully.

The opening of the scroll was sealed with wax, and two vertical and two horizontal lines were gilded on it, forming a "well" character, meaning the Thunder-character Seal Technique was a mid-tier, mid-grade martial art.

At first glance, it didn't seem very high-end.

Liang Qu's Green Dragon Spear's first three moves alone were top-tier martial arts, and the Falling Star Arrow started at mid-tier, with the potential to extend into the top-tier Moon-Chasing Arrow and Sun-Piercing Arrow.

In reality, it wasn't calculated that way.

As a technique with Myriad Manifestation properties, mid-tier, mid-grade was already quite good.

If placed in the neighboring Fengbu County, this technique might trigger a "bloody storm" of open and secret struggles.

Liang Qu belonged to standing on the shoulders of giants; what he learned were the good things accumulated by Yang Dongxiong over decades of military life, struggling and crawling his whole life.

Top-tier martial arts are indeed much harder to learn than mid-tier or lower-tier ones, but how many people crave this "difficulty"?

"Wild-path" Galloping Horse martial artists without Hunting Tiger inheritance basically revolve around lower-tier third-grade martial arts, and occasionally having one mid-tier one is a quite good trump card.

Wolf Smoke is one grade higher on the basis of Galloping Horse, with mid-tier as the main focus and occasional top-tier ones.

Martial arts are like this, and cultivation techniques are about the same.

This is the crushing of wild paths by those with inheritance.

Not to mention classics, medicine, and treasure identification; while others rack their brains and waste a lot of time saving money to learn martial arts, they can obtain techniques that ordinary people never touch in their lifetime without paying too much of a price.

The gap created by saving time, money, and energy will become difficult to cross.

The current lineage that overthrew the Great Qian was not a small character before achieving the throne.

At the Sky Ship Tower stables, the servant swept away the water stains on the ground and led the red horse over.

"My lord, your horse."

Liang Qu collected his thoughts, took the reins from the servant, and put on the straw raincoat gifted by the Sky Ship Chamber of Commerce.

Underwater, no matter how miraculous his performance was, it didn't matter.

Outside, he still had to pay attention to the influence and try to show the same performance as others.

He stuffed the scroll and the glass bottle into the leather interlayer by the saddle, tied it with hemp rope to secure it, and rode home.

There were occasional sunny days in the plum rain season, and every household would scramble to move quilts and clothes out to dry, but it basically wouldn't exceed half a day.

The last sunny day was five days ago, and the successive rains made the road from Pingyang County to Yixing Town much muddier, with water puddles everywhere.

The slippery ground and water puddles did not affect Chishan; as a Dragon-Blood Treasure Horse, it braved the wind and rain, turning into a burning flame under the dim daylight, galloping past.

Fallen leaves drifted in the puddles.

"One, two, three!"

A donkey-drawn cart full of goods was stuck in the mud, and the gray donkey neighed.

Three old men in straw raincoats shouted slogans, pushing the cart wheels hard in an attempt to push the cart out of the mud pit; their lower bodies were soaked by the yellow mud water, and they were shivering in the cold.

Liang Qu pulled the reins to stop the horse, grabbed one end of the horsewhip and wound it into a loop, bent down to loop it, hooked a corner, and pulled the cart out of the mud pit with his arm.

The three thanked him repeatedly, and one even took off his bamboo hat to bow in the rain. Liang Qu nodded slightly and was about to leave when a wave of malice pierced his brow like a needle.

This is...

He pulled the reins violently, Chishan's long neck was bent by force, and the entire horse body was like an opened bow, falling uncontrollably downward!

The rain-drenched old man threw his bamboo hat away in an instant, and a long-accumulated blade light tore through the bamboo hat in mid-air, shattering it into bamboo strips, and successively cut down several giant trees, but it just barely grazed the fallen Chishan.

"What truly good bones and flesh!"

Latest address ===== CHAPTER 226 =====