Chapter 347: The Five Golden Warriors

The two banks faced each other, the boat swaying gently.

Six beams of light swirled within the Inside Ze Ding vessel.

Liang Qu's consciousness crossed two ethereal streams of qi, touched the light dots, and sequentially probed the evolution data of the two beasts.

The River Dolphin King, Roundhead.

【Charge】

Greatly enhances the River Dolphin's innate attack: during a charge, it briefly loses water resistance, drastically increasing speed; power and charge distance are directly proportional. At a distance of one hundred zhang, it triggers the "Water Gun," doubling its power and range.

【Sturdy Body】

A 【Sturdy Body】 beam of light also appeared during the Fat Catfish's evolution—same name, same effect.

Greatly enhances physical strength, increases defense and attack; theoretically includes charge capability, but lacks the supernatural qualities displayed by 【Charge】.

【Leader】

Roundhead's sonic waves evolved into "Group Resonance."

"Group Resonance," when activated, causes all subordinates to enter a "Resonance" state: unified in mind and spirit, harmonized in qi and blood; as long as individuals remain within resonance range, their strength is partially enhanced.

The 【Leader】 effect resembles the serpent formation used by the Shahuang Gang's high-ranking members when Liang Qu captured Cheng Chong.

Formations have advantages and drawbacks—the more people involved, the less effective they become.

Any formation requires long-term training and coordination.

Not only does it drain mental energy, but its implementation is limited by formation mechanics, severely restricting mobility—like the "three-legged race," where the "formation unbroken" is the binding ring tying the two legs together.

Extremely useful in small-scale confrontations, but performance plummets in large-scale battles; superiority then depends on other foundational enhancements—such as Ran Ran Zhongxi's Ink Formation, elixir supply, and armor for every soldier.

The 【Leader】's "Group Resonance" implies no coordination gaps—everything is managed by a single mind.

The Rock Crab King, Fist.

【Hard Claw】

Targeted enhancement of the twin giant pincers: greatly increases lethality and sharpness; all eight legs are strengthened into eight spear-like limbs, capable of shattering metal and splitting stone, their sharpness unstoppable.

【Stony Rock】

When in defensive posture, activates the ability "Stony Rock," drastically increasing shell rigidity.

Eight legs burrow into the earth, drawing power from the earth veins; shell temporarily transforms into "Solid Wall," immovable as a mountain.

【Stony Rock】 reminded Liang Qu of the old Tridacna in the pond.

The old Tridacna had a talent: it could double its own weight, becoming inseparable from the earth.

It was the earth; the earth was it. To move it, you'd have to move the entire surrounding land.

Both shared a similar essence.

【Burrow】

Buried in soil, it absorbs earth veins to slowly nourish its entire body, and uses the earth veins to sense metal ore deposits, consuming mineral gold to strengthen itself.

The longer it remains buried, the deeper and farther its perception extends.

Its only flaw: if it leaves its burrow for too long, the previously extended perception range must be rebuilt from scratch.

Consuming mineral gold…

Liang Qu thought of the several beavers at home.

Those beavers built boats monthly, and their labor payment was mineral gold—they gnawed on it to sharpen their teeth while absorbing mineral elements to strengthen them.

Fist consuming ore doesn't just strengthen teeth—it strengthens its entire body.

The six beams of light were clear as day.

Adhering to the evolution principle: choose unique traits if available, choose potential if not.

The 【Leader】 and 【Burrow】 glowed brightly.

The 【Sturdy Body】, 【Charge】, 【Hard Claw】, and 【Stony Rock】 dimmed like grains of rice; thin threads of blue light surged into the first two.

After absorbing the light, the two beams instantly shot into Roundhead and Fist, initiating evolution.

The River Dolphin's core strength lies in group living—the larger the group, the stronger its power.

The reason for undermining the wall cannot be forgotten.

As for Fist, 【Burrow】 may initially be weaker than 【Hard Claw】 or 【Stony Rock】, but its ceiling is undoubtedly far higher—it grows stronger the longer it stays buried.

Especially its ore-sensing ability…

Liang Qu found this ability utterly absurd—if luck favored him, he might become rich overnight!

The issue of emerging and resetting was trivial.

Strength is his own; what's lost is merely the perception range extended via earth veins.

The light cocoon wrapped and shattered.

Roundhead rolled in the water, splashing waves into blossoms.

After three evolutions, Roundhead's body swelled by one full size, reaching the four-zhang scale of the Fat Catfish and Cannot-Move.

Its appearance changed little—face stern, body sleek, radiating raw power.

The other River Dolphins surfaced one by one, circling their leader, Roundhead.

Scarhead, once nearly the same size as Roundhead, could hardly believe it—within a blink, his leader had grown so much.

Fist evolved to stand half a body taller than Liang Qu.

At just one year old, it looked fearsome beyond compare, its entire body gleaming with hardened armor—some might believe it was cast from steel and iron.

The most agile and fierce among all his subordinates.

Especially its two acts of guarding him—memories still fresh.

The boat was underway; there was no chance yet to test Fist's 【Burrow】.

Liang Qu gazed at Roundhead; he had not yet communicated through the mental link—but with just a glance, Roundhead understood instantly, issuing a command to gather all River Dolphins.

The Heishuihe surged; invisible waves spread through the water.

The entire River Dolphin pod, centered on Roundhead, was draped in a unique aura; each individual's qi gradually shifted, converging into uniformity.

After a while.

Liang Qu closed his eyes, sensing the qi—he could not distinguish any difference; even his ear-sense method revealed nothing.

It was as if a colossal River Dolphin, dozens of meters long, had appeared out of nowhere.

Only when he used his water perception did he separate it back into individual dolphins.

The "Giant River Dolphin" swam upstream along the Heishuihe, cleaving waves, scraping against the riverbanks as if scooping off a layer of soft mud.

Under this behavior, Liang Qu's qi perception and visual experience were utterly different.

In qi perception, the "Giant River Dolphin" scraped the rock walls; visually, the individual dolphins never actually touched the walls—strangely discordant.

The longer he observed, the more Liang Qu felt a dizzying confusion between reality and perception.

Similar to a cultivator's True Qi—but not quite True Qi? True Gang?

Liang Qu pondered.

All River Dolphins merged together, using "Group Resonance" to generate an ability akin to True Gang.

Under the "True Gang" aura, not only was offensive power greatly amplified, but damage was also partially distributed among the group.

Waves surged, propelling the boat forward.

Vast river winds blew against his face, flapping his robes.

Liang Qu stood at the bow, walking alongside the "Giant River Dolphin."

The "Giant River Dolphin"'s charge speed was slightly slower than Roundhead's top speed, but faster than ordinary River Dolphins.

After a hundred zhang, a white blade of light appeared before the "Giant River Dolphin"'s head; merely brushing the bank, the rock turned to dust.

"Water Gun?"

Liang Qu recalled the description in 【Charge】.

Group Resonance was far stronger than he'd imagined.

In terms of offensive capability, none of his beasts currently had a technique stronger than this one.

After fifteen minutes, the "Giant River Dolphin" dissolved.

Leader Roundhead was utterly exhausted, unable to rise again; the other River Dolphins all showed signs of fatigue, barely able to swim.

"Group Resonance" consumed stamina and could not be sustained indefinitely.

"If 'Cannot-Move's' ability were still active, the duration should exceed fifteen minutes—perhaps even twenty?"

Liang Qu looked toward Cannot-Move beside the boat.

After one burst, Cannot-Move's 【Revival】 ability vanished for several days; the exact duration needed study, so the aura had not affected the River Dolphin pod.

"Vortex, Revival, Group Resonance…"

Liang Qu suddenly realized his subordinates were forming a coherent system, each with distinct traits.

Fat Catfish, Cannot-Move, Roundhead, Fist.

These four were his top four frontline commanders; next came Bai Awei, who wielded Huangshui Poison—a hidden, supplementary weapon.

The Five Golden Warriors.

As for the Mirage Worm and Chishan, their strengths lay not in combat.

One aided cultivation, one served as transport—"civil officials" managing internal affairs.

The old Tridacna, beavers, river otters—these were the "bureaucrats."

The river wind roared; Liang Qu felt cheerful.

Unconsciously, his overall strength had climbed another tier.

"I wonder if the garden's been finished—has Old Toad come yet?"

Leaving Pingyang County for a month and a half, he did not know if any changes had occurred at home.

How were the water beasts getting along?

Dusk.

Crimson clouds scorched the sky; wisps of smoke from hearths drifted sparsely.

Along the river, at some dock, several cargo boats were moored; watermen and fishermen came and went.

Liang Qu tied up his boat and went ashore.

"Sir, will you light a fire or stay the night?"

"Light a fire! Bring me whatever fresh dishes you have!"

"You've come at the perfect time—we have silver fish, egg stew, and chilled lamb today…"

He had rushed here; returning need not be urgent—filling his belly was the priority.

Three days later.

Liang Qu led the group of water beasts back to Yixing Town.