Chapter 437: The Ultimate Water Gourd, Inviting Guests to Dinner (5k)

Soft green light rose and fell between the valleys, silent as ocean waves.

Two giant frogs chattered freely, one croaking, then the other.

The surrounding Dragonfolk took it for granted; while reporting, they occasionally stepped forward to gesture wildly, making simple exchanges that made the frogs laugh heartily—and the Dragonfolk found it amusing too.

"Three leaders: two males, one female…"

Liang Qu shifted his gaze.

He used the Dragoness as a breakthrough, observing for a long time and mapping out seven or eight tenths of the vanguard unit's hierarchical structure.

A clear distinction existed between superior and subordinate: during communication, the subordinate always moved closer actively, while the superior typically remained stationary.

Conversely, among peers, when one moved closer, the other would take two steps forward to meet them, walking roughly one-third of the total distance between them.

Using these communication patterns and the Dragoness as a clear thread, identifying the relational knots of a dozen small Dragonfolk groups was not difficult.

"The Dragoness shows signs of being on equal footing with the other two; she has no subordinates beneath her. All other Dragonfolk display subordinate attitudes. The three leaders…"

Command the vanguard unit.

They appear young.

Superior qi-concealing skill.

All these factors combined.

"Could a Dragonfolk, a Great Wu Shi, possibly attain Long Qi and ascend to the Master Realm?"

Liang Qu rubbed his chin.

According to Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe, Dragonfolk, like humans, begin cultivating martial arts from birth—but their cultivation progress largely depends on bloodline concentration.

The closer one's lineage traces back to Long Jun, the faster their cultivation advances.

The cost, however, is an exponential rise in breakthrough difficulty starting from the Wolf Smoke Realm, equivalent to an invisible threshold of Dragonblood concentration layered atop normal breakthroughs.

Thus, it is entirely understandable that Dragonfolk are young as Great Martial Masters; the younger the Great Wu Shi, the greater their talent, the closer their lineage to the main branch, and the higher their chances of advancement.

Currently, the Dragonfolk's margin for error is at its historical low—if Long Qi appears and they fail to breakthrough, it's truly hopeless.

Choosing among the three will surely spark debate within the clan.

Rock-paper-scissors?

Random association.

"Their physique and appearance are exceptional—true racial advantage…"

Liang Qu glanced at the Dragoness a few more times, memorized the three faces, then turned to explore other parts of the valley, familiarizing himself with the terrain and conditions.

The water stirred.

Long Yao looked up.

Long Long Binglin caught it in his peripheral vision: "What is it, Long Eying?"

Long Yao stared into the dark waters: "Earlier, it felt as if someone was watching me."

"Watching you?"

Long Long Binglin and Long Long Yanrui tensed, their eyes sweeping left and right.

The surrounding Dragonfolk understood at once, dispersing to form an invisible net, probing into the darkness.

Long silence.

Several Dragonfolk surfaced, reporting no anomalies.

Long Long Binglin frowned: "Go farther. Don't let your guard down."

Long Long Yanrui said: "Re-survey the surrounding waters—above, below, front, back. No, alternate patrols! Leave no blind spot. This is a military order!"

At Long Yao's reminder, Long Long Binglin and Long Long Yanrui recalled with renewed vigilance—they too had felt the strange sensation of being watched earlier.

They had assumed it was merely casual glances among clan members, occasional curiosity…

Long Yao speculated: "Long Qi is about to appear. Could some other species have sensed it?"

"Every possibility must be taken seriously!"

"Exactly!"

Hearing the three leaders' conclusion, even though they had already conducted multiple sweeps, the Dragonfolk dared not slacken for a moment—they responded with a firm "Yes!" and set out again.

Long Long Binglin rose several zhang, deliberately shouting aloud.

"Dragonfolk are not so arrogant as to drive away all comers and incur universal wrath. Celestial treasures and earthly rarities have no true owner—each relies on their own ability, and virtue claims them."

"But at least know who and what you're competing against! Get to know one another—become rivals, not enemies. Bloodshed isn't necessary!"

A few bubbles floated up slowly from cracks in the rocks.

Silence. No one answered.

Long Yao looked up: "Perhaps I'm just too sensitive."

Long Long Binglin sank lower: "Carefulness never hurts."

The youngest, Long Long Yanrui, looked around, sighed, and sat on a ledge inside a rock cave.

"I wish the Elders would gather the Heavenly Water and realize I'm incompatible with the Qi—then they'd send Long Binglin-ge and Long Eying-jie instead. It'd be so much easier."

Long Long Binglin stepped forward, gripped Long Yanrui's shoulder, and squeezed gently—said nothing.

When Long Jun was alive, the chance to breakthrough to Master Realm was a tremendous blessing.

A single strand of Long Qi—brothers would fight to the death, turn on each other, forget kinship.

Yet at this moment, none of the three wanted this opportunity.

Not because they shirked responsibility.

They would die without hesitation for their parents, their kin, their friends.

But this burden of expectation weighed too heavily.

The clan has spent great cost to "find" and "collect" it—yet even now, two great hurdles remain: how to "consume" it, and whether one can "transform" it.

Even if we ignore the fifth potential obstacle, passing all four stages of consuming Qi does not guarantee a breakthrough for Dragonfolk.

Success would be acceptable.

But failure? Even suicide would be too shameful to face the clan's towering hopes after such disappointment.

"What's there to fear?"

The red frog crouching nearby suddenly spoke.

Hearing the red frog speak, several Dragonfolk chiseling caves froze, turned in shock, and dropped their rock fragments into the valley below.

Not possible.

You can talk?

Then all that croaking earlier, the wild gestures, the cheerful exchanges…

"Exactly! Exactly!" The yellow frog raised both webbed hands in agreement. "Our King is a genius, aided by the wise Minister Frog Gong! Right now, we're just temporarily outmatched by the snake and dumb fish alliance! The Frogs lie in the depths!"

The red frog added: "And our grand plan to encircle the Great Marsh from land and water alike! Frogs exist above and below!"

"In ten years, the Marsh will belong to the Frog Clan, and the land beyond too—frogs will devour the snakes! Then our King will appoint you Dragonfolk as Imperial Guards again—just like before!"

"Yes! Frogs eat snakes! Appoint Imperial Guards!"

"Thank you both for your kind intentions."

Long Long Binglin bowed with a smile.

Though he had no idea what this "encircle the Great Marsh" plan was, and though the old toads seemed utterly unreliable, their interruption had lightened his mood considerably.

Long Long Yanrui leapt off the platform: "Elder Frogs, shall we carve out platforms for you to dwell on?"

The red frog waved its webbed hands.

"Do your own work. Don't bother with us. When the time comes, we'll find our own spots. Besides, the anomaly won't appear inside the valley—it'll mostly surface in the water. Digging here would be wasted effort."

…

"Great Martial Masters' perception is truly sharp…"

Liang Qu hid in the darkness, watching the Dragonfolk swim overhead—motionless, as still as stone.

The searching Dragonfolk swept past overhead.

Liang Qu pressed forward, untroubled.

Aside from water control and perception, two divine skills, he had one major advantage underwater.

Low presence.

Combined with the Nine Victory Embracing the One's qi-concealing technique, unless someone was pressed right against him, they'd barely detect him.

The valley stretched on; sunlight scattered into beams, unable to penetrate, carving dense darkness like needles.

At first, stones smoothed by water were too slippery to stand on.

Occasionally, cracks in the rock revealed water plants rooted deep, growing wildly without sunlight, sheltering darting small fish.

But the deeper he went, the slower the current became, and the stones grew increasingly jagged and irregular.

Beyond one li, the protrusions and depressions on both sides nearly interlocked seamlessly.

Narrower still.

Beyond two li, it became too tight to squeeze through.

Liang Qu ignited his Golden Eyes, raised his wrist.

Let Bai Awei dive another hundred meters—the valley floor was covered in fine sand, the width behind and left less than half a chi, and this narrow passage stretched for several li ahead.

As a terrain destined to birth Heavenly Long Qi, the valley held nothing special.

Perhaps, imperceptibly, the celestial and terrestrial spiritual energy had accumulated over eons and finally erupted?

Did the valley's broad shape provide some nurturing condition?

"I wonder if I can retrieve even two strands of Qi?"

Liang Qu made a bold guess.

The old monk and the old turtle have greatly expanded his understanding of qi.

A strand of naturally formed long qi, uncollected by anyone, does not mean it has completely dissipated into the heavens and earth.

On the contrary, when long qi is uncollected and disperses on its own, there is a sixty percent probability it will reappear at the same location within the past few decades!

If it has a chance to reappear, does that prove the substances that give rise to or compose long qi remain permanently in place?

Only when removed does the base quantity plummet, making its reappearance indefinitely distant?

But can the base substances truly be just enough to generate only one strand of long qi?

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Can storing it in a container made of some material truly collect it completely, with zero loss?

Liang Qu clearly remembered the old monk saying that all things under heaven and earth—mountains, rivers, lakes, and marshes—possess qi.

But this qi is like dross wood and muddy sludge, useless for building houses; only at special nodes can fine timber and solid stone be found!

In his perception, the entire world resembled a vast, uneven pond filled with a layer of low-quality "water."

Some depressions held deep "water," some elevations held shallow "water," and some places were too high—completely dry, forming barriers that prevented interaction.

Occasionally, in a deep depression, a wind of unknown origin would stir, creating sudden waves; the white crest that emerged from their collision was high-quality long qi!

Throughout this process, the volume of "water" in the depression was entirely coincidental.

It might increase due to rain, or decrease due to consecutive sunny days, existing in an unpredictable superimposed state.

The formation of wind, by contrast, was relatively simple.

Thus, even if one attempt failed and the "water" was low due to clear weather, another wave would often rise before the volume dropped too far.

Humans collecting long qi were like holding a dipper, seizing the moment to scoop up a wave crest.

Once removed, the depression's "water" level plummeted; even if wind came, it could no longer form a "great wave."

For the same depression to produce another wave crest, both water volume and wind speed must realign perfectly.

But water volume cannot be predicted, making its return indefinitely distant.

During the entire "scooping wave" process, humans must complete it in the instant the wave rises; losses are inevitably massive—some qi splashes against the dipper and isn't caught, or isn't caught at all; some is caught but drips back down the dipper.

For others, scooping even one ladle's worth is already frantic and difficult, impossible to improve further—this is all they can manage.

But Liang Qu has the Ze Ding!

Look at the Ze Ding's design—perfectly square, utterly leak-proof—a top-tier dipper!

Fully automated mechanical processing.

Fast, precise, ruthless.

The red qi from last year remains unchanged this year.

"Take it one step at a time—the splashed 'waves' may not even fill two ladles…"

Liang Qu drew Qinglang and sliced a flat slab of rock from the cliff face like cutting tofu, then pulled a small, slender piece of smooth stone from his pocket and sketched a rough map of the valley's terrain and flow patterns onto the flat surface.

Halfway through drawing.

Above, several white sturgeons whipped their long tails, dragging a large group of flying shuttles across the valley, leaving behind rapidly dissipating white vapor.

Liang Qu floated upstream to the valley mouth and saw a young dragon-person leap from a flying shuttle, falling like dumplings into the deep valley, joining the vanguard force.

"White sturgeon? Horses of the water?"

Both white sturgeons and sturgeon demons with dragon sinews bear the character "sturgeon," but their appearances differ entirely.

White sturgeons resemble swordfish and marlins, with long, narrow spines on their heads—clearly speed specialists.

As major spirits, their previous display was far faster than the fat catfish and even slightly quicker than the round-head.

The young dragon-person had finished descending.

Three leaders—two males and one female—swam out of the fissure and approached an elderly man with silver hair, their lips vibrating.

Liang Qu couldn't hear clearly.

His hair was white, his strength unknown; he was the superior of three Great Martial Masters. Getting too close risked detection.

After a brief exchange, the silver-haired elder returned to the flying shuttle. Liang Qu immediately sank, clinging to the cliff face and suppressing his qi.

Once the white sturgeons had crossed the valley, Liang Qu reemerged, watching the retreating sturgeons in thought.

"Long Ping? The elder from Long Ping River? I wonder if he has a Master-level cultivation…"

A species typically chooses its leader in four ways: "violence," "experience," "charisma," and "reproduction."

Liang Qu had heard Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe describe the dragon-people's political system: ruled by three Elders who coordinate all affairs.

It was primitive—akin to elephant herds selecting leaders by "experience."

Not necessarily the strongest, but the most experienced—just as even the mightiest adult elephant must follow and obey the elder, who leads them to water and food.

It made sense. The dragon-people were currently lost and needed an experienced elder to guide the entire clan through hardship.

But in martial cultivation, the old are not necessarily weak—they may have grown stronger.

Having recorded the valley's terrain and flow patterns,

avoiding the third passing dragon-person on patrol, Liang Qu tucked the stone slab away and dug a small hole into the cliff wall.

"Bai Awei, do me a favor—stay here temporarily. Report any developments immediately. If danger arises, prioritize your own survival!

If you can't escape, reveal your identity: say you're Xu Xu Yue, the water beast raised by the Duke Prefecture's grandson, and I'll come to redeem you."

Bai Awei detached from his wrist, crawled into the hole, and shook his head to show he understood.

Finding a suitable spot in the Ze was difficult; a fixed anchor point was needed, along with surveillance for the next ten days.

The fat catfish couldn't move—too large. Only Bai Awei's small size offered an irreplaceable advantage.

With preliminary reconnaissance complete, Liang Qu took the stone slab and located the lurking fat catfish and Budong, then activated Water Movement, racing back with lightning speed.

…

Xiangyi County.

Fists worked tirelessly, extracting large quantities of red ore.

During this time, it had wanted to return, but hearing the underwater was unsafe, it stayed ashore waiting for news and kept working.

Not far away, in the Ze, Yuan Tou led over a dozen subordinates on "covert reconnaissance," confirming the situation repeatedly, drawing closer to the vortex waterway entrance, preparing to return to Pingyang Prefecture.

Over seven or eight days, the fishermen of Xiangyi County and passing merchant ships detected no trace of snake demons arriving—sufficient proof that this group of snake demons differed from the previous incident.

Even the decline in fish catches caused by the snake demons' disturbances had not worsened further, gradually recovering.

Clearly, the snake demons had suppressed their qi to avoid startling the fish and triggering anomalies.

No need to remain.

Sensing their new leader's desire to leave, the old leader of the river dolphins, who had been tense for so long, finally relaxed and abandoned thoughts of flight.

Arriving at the vortex mouth,

Yuan Tou contacted the Heavenly Deity; the sealed passage opened, swirling up silt and sand.

Wild river dolphins had never seen such a spectacle, but under their new leader's urging, they still dove one after another, cautiously passing through the tunnel, crossing north and south amid churning waters.

Yuan Tou labored tirelessly, verifying from all sides.

The snake demons weren't idle either.

Through eavesdropping on fishermen's conversations and piecing together fragments, they finally reconstructed the full sequence of events.

Last year, Bi Hui dispatched his offspring, obeying the Dragon Lord's command, to the southern shore to find the thief.

The Zhang and Li families wounded Bi Hui's second son; the second son, unwilling to accept defeat, returned home to ask his elder brother for help—but both died.

Bi Hui flew into a rage, coiled in shallow waters, retaliating for months.

Then the white ape killed Bi Hui!

The white ape was close friends with Xu Xu Yue, the Water Bureau officer of the Liang family!

The killing of Bi Hui was precisely the order given by the Liang family's Water Bureau officer, who dispatched the white ape!

Clear and straightforward.

"Bi Hui had three sons, didn't he? Only two died—his line isn't extinguished, is it? Why such an uproar?"

"Who knows? His mind was never quite right."

"Could the thief the Dragon Lord seeks be that white ape?"

"Regardless, we must return and inform the Dragon Lord."

"I'll go."

A large yellow-scaled snake rumbled.

After discussion, the other snakes agreed it was acceptable.

The remaining few large snakes continued: "What should we do now?"

The crimson-scaled snake, hidden in the center, spoke: "Why not head to Pingyang Prefecture first?"

"Pingyang Prefecture?"

"Wouldn't that be too dangerous?"

"Why go to Pingyang Prefecture?"

The crimson-scaled snake explained: "The white ape is almost certainly the thief the Dragon Lord seeks. Since we can't find it, let's find the Water Bureau officer who's friends with the white ape—he must know its whereabouts!"

A deep-blue snake writhed incessantly, eager beyond patience; it hissed its long tongue, its vertical pupils fierce: "Exactly! Let's bind him! Inject him with venom! Force him to reveal the white ape's location!"

The other snakes fell silent.

The crimson-scaled snake lashed its tail in fury.

"Fool! Do you forget how Bi Hui died? It went mad because all its sons were dead—your sons aren't dead yet!"

The yellow-scaled snake replied: "Forget how Bi Hui died? It went mad because its sons were all gone—you still have yours!"

"Didn't you say you wanted to find him? If you're not going to bind him, are you going to invite him to dinner?"

The Blue Viper suppressed its fury, growing increasingly impatient; it writhed violently, its scales opening and closing in layers, as if something were drilling inside its body.

It slammed into a rock, and several scales fell off directly; fine white tentacles, like a spiderweb, contracted rapidly beneath its skin and vanished.

"If you can't endure Master Wang's body tempering, go back right away!"

"Has Master Wang crawled into your brain?"

The Blue Viper roared: "I can endure it! I will grow stronger!"

The snakes fell into chaos.

The lone Red-Scaled Great Snake flicked its tongue, fell silent, then spoke once the others had calmed.

"Blue Viper has a point—when dealing with imperial officials, you don't always need threats; inviting him to dinner is a viable strategy!"

The snakes froze.

"Explain yourself!"

"Humans are greedy, and officials more so... This official we cannot touch, but how much is his friendship with Bai Yuan worth?"

The snakes whispered among themselves, their expressions turning to sudden understanding.

Blue Viper glanced left and right, fury bursting forth.

"What exactly do you mean?"

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