Chapter 4

【Taihua Crocodile has been subdued, can be evolved】

Can be evolved?

Clutching his dizzy head, Liang Qu couldn't spare the time to check carefully; he hurriedly surfaced to catch his breath. Only after panting heavily for a quarter of an hour did his body feel a bit better.

"It seems subduing cannot be used recklessly. Use it too much and I'm afraid I'll become an idiot, and failure is even more dangerous."

However, the "can be evolved" prompt given by the Marsh Tripod made Liang Qu very curious. The Taihua Crocodile being two meters long was almost its limit; could it still evolve?

Communicating again, the Inside Ze Ding bloomed with radiance.

【Can consume 80 points of Water-Marsh Essence to evolve the Taihua Crocodile into a Horn-Wood Crocodile.】

Eighty points?

Is that a lot or a little?

Liang Qu had no concept of it. Besides, he didn't have a single point of Water-Marsh Essence on hand, so he could only give up for the time being.

After resting for a while, he went back into the water. He couldn't wait to check the lotus root, which he suspected was a treasure plant—the highlight of this harvest.

Breaking off a section from the silt, Liang Qu let the pig-dragon come closer to eat a piece.

The pig-dragon paddled over with its small claws, shaking its head, and swallowed it in big gulps.

Liang Qu felt the pig-dragon's joyful emotions through their mental link. Combined with the gnawed marks on the lotus root on the ground, he was certain the lotus root was indeed good stuff and not poisonous; the crocodile lying here was no coincidence.

Verification complete, he no longer hesitated. He broke off a section, wiped away the silt, and after controlling the water flow to ensure it wouldn't spill into his nose or mouth, he took a big bite.

After such hard work tonight, the pancake he'd eaten earlier had long since been digested, and his stomach was growling again. If he hadn't refined the Ze Ling to improve his physical fitness slightly, he feared he would have returned to the state of a candle in the wind he was in when he first arrived.

Liang Qu did not want to experience that suffering again.

Hunger is the hardest thing in the world to endure.

The lotus root in the deep water didn't have as much mucus and fiber as ordinary lotus root. It carried a faint watery scent, and its texture was completely different from ordinary lotus root—crisp like an apple, surprisingly delicious. He could finish a section in a few bites.

And once it reached his stomach, it turned into a warm current. The three fingers he had scratched while subduing the creature were actually healing slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye!

It really was a treasure plant!

Liang Qu was overjoyed. However, this treasure plant seemed to be of the healing type. He hadn't suffered any injuries, so the energy went to make up for the deficit left by his long-term hunger.

Even without a mirror, he could still feel the improvement in his spirit and energy. He no longer looked as haggard as he did at the beginning, causing people to avoid him.

It's a pity he didn't have a more detailed understanding; perhaps its uses went beyond this?

【Water-Marsh Essence 0.1】

Water-Marsh Essence!

This is Water-Marsh Essence?

Liang Qu widened his eyes, looking at the prompt before him in disbelief. He hadn't expected that the Water-Marsh Essence he had been longing for would be obtained so easily.

He had thought that obtaining a healing treasure plant was already a surprise, but he never expected that the surprises wouldn't end there.

Wait, one section of lotus root is 0.1, so if he ate all of it, wouldn't there be several points?

Liang Qu was overjoyed and dug out a few more sections, eating them all in one breath. But after experimenting, the result was not what he had wished for.

Water-Marsh Essence could indeed be obtained repeatedly, but not all lotus roots had it. Only the ones near the spot under the pig-dragon had it; further away, there was none.

There were about twenty-three useful sections. Counting the two he had already eaten, it was equivalent to 2.5 Water-Marsh Essence. Unfortunately, the amount of one section of lotus root was not small; he had just tried a few pieces and now couldn't eat anymore.

"Let's first try how much fusion degree 0.2 Water-Marsh Essence can increase," Liang Qu thought to himself.

As of now, the Ze Ling Water Monkey was a great help to him. It was so powerful just after being refined, changing him from a candle in the wind to someone who didn't have to worry about food and clothing. What would it be like after 100% fusion?

As for the pig-dragon's evolution...

As a beast in the water, it was good if it could evolve, but with the lotus root as a comparison, Liang Qu now knew how exaggerated 80 points of Water-Marsh Essence was—it was completely a drop in the bucket. He could only seek opportunities later.

Liang Qu's thoughts stirred, and the Inside Ze Ding suddenly trembled.

A few pale blue light spots floated up.

A phantom of a spirit monkey appeared behind him, and the light spots seemed to find their direction, flowing through the air and merging into it.

【Ding Master: Liang Qu】

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

【Water-Marsh Essence: None】

【River Favorability: None】

【Water Beast Subjugation: Taihua Crocodile (Can be evolved)】

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

"It doesn't increase immediately?"

Liang Qu looked at the arrow on the fusion degree and frowned slightly. Fortunately, he could indeed feel that he was more intimate with the water environment. He figured the fusion time wouldn't be too long, which was acceptable.

Obtaining Water-Marsh Essence was simpler than he had imagined. If he could obtain it, he didn't need to panic; sooner or later, he would be able to fill it up.

Zhang Shun, the White Streak in the Waves, could stay underwater for seven days and seven nights. It wouldn't be too much for him, a water monkey, to stay for three days and three nights, right?

Thinking of this, the anxiety Liang Qu felt after coming to another world disappeared by more than half.

No matter how indifferent the original world was, if he really saw someone about to starve to death, giving them one or two white flour buns was nothing. But here, the scarcity of supplies made indifference the norm. Coupled with having no relatives or friends by his side, he was truly lost and uneasy at first.

A famous centenarian once said that people live for peace of mind.

Relying on his water skills, Liang Qu could be considered to have the capital to settle down.

Surfacing to catch his breath, Liang Qu looked at his newly acquired little brother—the pig-dragon!

Thick-skinned and fleshy, although it had been hit hard by a stone, it had suffered no substantial damage. At this moment, it lay quietly in the water, no different from a domestic dog. Even relying on the mental link, it was more human-like than a domestic dog.

Evolution was impossible. 80 points of Water-Marsh Essence was too much. But after all, it was a pig-dragon, so it must be a good hunter!

As a result...

Looking at the sluggish pig-dragon, Liang Qu slapped his forehead: "Damn, it's really going to hibernate!"

Success is also Xiao He, failure is also Xiao He.

Because of the cold weather, the new little brother's blood was sluggish and its movements were slow. The emotions it transmitted were very listless. It wasn't that it couldn't explode with power, but its normal state was like this. Helping to catch fish was probably a stretch.

"It's cold and you can't move, so I'll call you 'Can't Move' from now on. Fine, just keep lying here. Be a gatekeeper and bite all the small fish and shrimp that come to steal food to death!"

The pig-dragon got its name, wagged its tail, and burrowed into the mud. Once the muddy water calmed down, this place looked no different from the beginning. No one would guess that a treasure plant was hidden underneath.

Marsh-Mist Port.

Liang Qu surfaced, looked around, and after confirming no one was there, he picked up the yellow fish and headed home.

Marsh-Mist yellow fish were not the sea fish of his past life; they died as soon as they left the water. Liang Qu used reed leaves to tie their heads and tails together, a method known as "bow-fishing," which could ensure the fish remained fresh for a long time out of water.

Walking on the road, Liang Qu was in a pleasant mood, feeling as if he wasn't carrying a fish, but a heavy string of copper coins.

To get by, one really needs a golden finger. A few hours ago, he was lonely and lost, but in the blink of an eye, he felt that life wasn't so bad after all—at least better than the vast majority of ordinary people in Yixing City.

Eighty wen is not a small amount, but winter is coming soon. He needs two sets of clothes, as his current ones are tattered. And salt, rice, soap, a stool, a pot, bowls...

Uh... Liang Qu suddenly felt that eighty wen didn't seem like that much.

However, now that he had the ability, life would always get better.

Now another key problem is—no boat!

If a person has no long-term worries, there will be immediate ones.

After refining the Water Monkey Ze Ling, his underwater ability improved significantly. He could catch good goods without a boat, but without a boat as cover, it might be fine once or twice, but after a long time, he would definitely be suspected.

Even if you have a natural talent for fishing and know the movement of fish schools, you can't be this exaggerated, right?

Without even a boat, are you going to rely on underwater fishing in the cold weather from now on?

Originally, his own home wasn't without a boat, but unfortunately, it was snatched away by a local hooligan, Zhang the Scabby.

Zhang the Scabby was a well-known rascal in Yixing City. Relying on having learned boxing at a martial arts school for two days, he ran rampant and no one dared to provoke him.

After Liang Qu's "father" died, the family's biggest asset—a covered boat—was naturally coveted by him. He snatched it away under the pretext that Liang's father had borrowed money from him for drinks while he was alive and now he had to pay back the debt.

A fishing boat is the lifeblood of a fisherman; they almost eat and live on it. The reason the family had four yellow mud walls was because many of their belongings were on the boat!

Hell, who would borrow money from a rascal to buy drinks?

But because of Zhang the Scabby's fists, no one would touch the bad luck for an orphan like him, so they could only let it be.

What's even more infuriating is that Zhang the Scabby came again afterwards, saying the boat wasn't enough to pay off the debt, and snatched away the last three dou of rice he had left!

Such behavior, isn't it an alternative way of "eating the household"?

Every desperate situation was forced by this rascal!

"I must find an opportunity to get things back. Only then will it be convenient to cover up my golden finger. Once I save enough money, I'll go to town to learn martial arts and see what's so miraculous about a martial artist. Once I have a good status, it will be much simpler."

While Liang Qu was pondering, he had unknowingly walked to his own door, but unexpectedly, someone was already waiting for him there.

"Little Young Master, have you considered the matter?"