Chapter 3: Subduing the Pig-Mother Dragon

Just this?

Eighty coins just like that? A fisherman's daily workload?

Liang Qu's expression was excited; obtaining eighty coins so simply was truly addictive.

But it was indeed tiring. Controlling water flow with thirty jin of strength was like running a thousand meters, and his stomach started rumbling again.

After refining the Ze Spirit, his physical fitness improved slightly, but his foundation was too thin, and he remained weak.

Taking advantage of the deep night, Liang Qu decided to rest and try again.

Chen Uncle's eighty coins were barely enough because he had children and elderly to support. Liang Qu had no ties, so this income was definitely not small. Let's see if he could do it twice tonight.

Half an hour later, Liang Qu entered the water again.

Relying on the water monkey talent, his physical consumption in the water was minimal. Swimming out a hundred meters was equivalent to the energy consumed by walking two or three hundred meters. His breath-holding time also extended to nearly seven minutes. This wasn't static, but seven minutes of movement, which could be called astonishing.

Pity his luck seemed to have run out after catching the yellow fish. After changing his breath four or five times and wandering for half an hour, Liang Qu only saw a flower-spotted fish worth about a hundred coins halfway through.

The flower-spotted fish wasn't as valuable as the yellow fish; it was worth a hundred coins because its body was large enough, weighing ten jin.

One jin of fish equals ten jin of strength; a ten-jin-heavy large fish would have nearly a hundred jin of strength in a sudden burst.

In 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.

Lotus roots in water over ten meters deep?

Liang Qu was greatly surprised.

Whether floating, emergent, or submerged plants, their growth cannot be separated from photosynthesis and respiration. The deeper the water, the more unfavorable it is for these two processes.

Lotus roots belong to plants with relatively high requirements for light and respiration. As far as Liang Qu knew, lotus roots generally cannot survive in water deeper than two meters.

Realizing the abnormal growth environment of the lotus roots, Liang Qu became excited.

Plants cannot be separated from photosynthesis and respiration, but that is for ordinary plants. For some treasure plants, that is naturally not the case.

This world has extraordinary power!

The fact that these lotus roots can grow so deep must be extraordinary. I heard that Zhao Old Master in the neighboring town has a cold pool, several dozen meters deep, with horn caltrops growing at the bottom, which can prolong life if eaten, relying on this to win over two martial artists. I don't know if it's true.

Did he actually run into it too?

Liang Qu immediately swam along the growth veins of the lotus roots. After checking, he found that these lotus roots were really not small, and he hadn't found the end after ten-plus meters. Just when he wanted to continue swimming, a blurred large object suddenly appeared in his perception.

What is it?

Such a big one!

Liang Qu quickly stopped and pulled away.

The other party had no reaction; did it not discover him?

Facing the lotus roots that might be treasure plants, Liang Qu hesitated for a moment, not choosing to leave, but carefully circled around, performing underwater perception.

The other party was lying in ambush in the silt, very long, a full two meters, but it wasn't a fish. It had four limbs, a very long tail, and a slender body...

The outline he could feel from three meters away was very blurred, but this image was too vivid. Liang Qu widened his eyes.

It's a Pig-Mother Dragon!

Pig-Mother Dragon is a common name, in plain language, it's a crocodile. It's just that Pig-Mother Dragon is the fishermen's collective name for all crocodiles. There is more than one type of crocodile in the Jianghuai River. Liang Qu didn't know what variety was under the silt.

In the nearby area, the most common one should be the Taihua Crocodile, right?

The original body had seen Taihua Crocodiles, and Liang Qu felt they were about the same as the Chinese alligator in his previous life, not large in size, with adults only two meters long and weighing over thirty kilograms.

This size actually doesn't count for much to an adult, weight is a fatal wound, but that's on land. Now it's underwater, especially since Liang Qu is only a malnourished youth, and his weight isn't much more.

Especially...

"This Taihua Crocodile is lying in ambush next to the lotus roots; it wouldn't know that these lotus roots are good for it, right?"

Liang Qu perceived carefully and found that there were indeed places in the silt that had been turned over, exposing a few sections of eaten lotus roots.

Trouble.

Taking away the lotus roots, the Pig-Mother Dragon standing here definitely won't agree; the other party clearly made a nest here.

Perhaps it's not impossible to try?

Liang Qu pondered for a while and felt it wasn't impossible.

It wasn't that he was blinded by greed; he liked watching a streamer named Bifang in his previous life, who did wilderness survival, and had a certain understanding of many creatures. He knew that crocodiles have a fatal weakness, which is that their bite force is extremely strong, but their opening force is extremely weak.

If an adult pinches the crocodile's snout with one hand, it can't open its mouth, and most of its violent combat power is wasted.

It's just that only humans in the biological world can accurately grab objects, even apes can't do it because their thumbs are short, which makes crocodiles seem invincible in nature.

Just this "little" crocodile in front of him, Liang Qu's water control ability is enough to suppress it.

And now it's the end of October, it's quite cold underwater, which is very unfavorable for poikilothermic animals, and their actions will be much slower than in summer. Maybe this crocodile is hibernating, which is why it didn't find any creature approaching.

With the right time, place, and people, it would be truly unreasonable to remain indifferent.

"If I could control it, that would be great. Such a big one, it could help me catch fish in the future, and I wouldn't have to go into the water every day, just sit back and enjoy the success. It's too troublesome to always go into the water to catch fish, and I don't really want to be an old fisherman."

People are always greedy, and Liang Qu, who felt he could handle the Pig-Mother Dragon, had an even bolder idea flash in his mind.

As if responding to this idea, the Inside Ze Ding in Liang Qu's mind suddenly trembled, and a strange rune suddenly lit up on the tripod body. The rune looked like the character for water in oracle bone script.

More information poured in.

Blood... rune... rule the water tribe... use fresh blood to draw the water rune on the water tribe, there is a probability of becoming the Lord of Rule?

Awesome, the Inside Ze Ding has this ability too?

Liang Qu's eyes lit up after receiving the information, thinking that the Inside Ze Ding's origin is truly extraordinary. If it were in the outside world, he doesn't know who would fight to snatch it!

Now he couldn't let go of the Pig-Mother Dragon even more. A helper would be a huge help, and crocodiles have four limbs, far more flexible than other fish as subordinates.

Making up his mind, Liang Qu found a stone with edges and corners at the bottom of the river, about the size of a human head, and then tried to bring it close to the Pig-Mother Dragon in the silt. After determining the position of its snout, he smashed it down with force.

The river water was pushed away by control, helping to push and reduce resistance. The stone broke through the rolling torrent and smashed into the sleeping Pig-Mother Dragon.

The weather was getting cold, the crocodile's blood flow was sluggish, and it was already dull. Even more so, it was attacked in its sleep. It stiffened for a moment, and then felt the pain of cracking.

Opportunity!

Liang Qu pounced on it. He rushed behind the Pig-Mother Dragon, pressed the stone while blocking the blind spot of its vision, the veins on his right arm bulging, and his left hand fingers scratched on the edges and corners, scattering a few drops of fresh blood in the water.

With blood gas floating in the water, the Pig-Mother Dragon, smelling the fishy scent, became fierce, straightened its body and twisted, trying to open its mouth to bite, but before it could open it, another burst of water flow wrapped around its upper and lower jaws.

Pressed by the stone and controlled by the water flow, the Pig-Mother Dragon couldn't open its mouth at all, and could only swing its body and struggle frantically, its tail, hard as raw iron, desperately whipping the rocks.

Liang Qu's whole body was taut, like a long bow stretched to the limit, all his muscles twisted together, blood vessels bulging, suppressing the Pig-Mother Dragon to death.

Cold sweat was rolled away by the water flow. Liang Qu overspent a huge amount of physical strength by manipulating twenty jin of water flow twice, but he didn't dare to rest. His three fingers bled, and he quickly scratched across the back of the Pig-Mother Dragon.

Fresh blood flowed in wisps, and under the action of some strange power, it didn't dissipate, following the texture of his fingers and imprinting on the scales!

Blood light bloomed in the darkness, and the Pig-Mother Dragon's vertical pupils expanded instantly, and a wild mental force roared into Liang Qu's mind.

If controlling water flow is a physical overdraft, then controlling the Pig-Mother Dragon at this time is a mental overdraft, like staying up for several nights and being forced to do several math papers. Liang Qu's head ached, almost fainting.

Fortunately, a beast is ultimately a beast, how could it compare to a human with superior intelligence?

After only a few breaths, a wonderful mental link appeared in his mind.

The Pig-Mother Dragon's dull eyes became lively again, but it was no longer fierce, revealing a bit of agility.

The Inside Ze Ding radiated light again.

【Successfully ruled the water beast Taihua Crocodile, can evolve.】

Liang Qu's expression was overjoyed—it's done!

Pig-Mother Dragon?

Take it as a dog!