Chapter 439: Even Geniuses Have Differences!

The green wolf swept through, severing the fish's head.

The heads of the three treasure fish were chopped off one by one, and their innards removed.

The old turtle didn't care about freshness or taste—he swallowed them whole, one after another, utterly satisfied!

Liang Qu told Teta to roast the remaining three fish.

Teta spread out the charcoal fire, placed the prepared treasure fish onto the iron mesh, expertly flipped them, brushed on oil, sprinkled seasonings, and unleashed their fragrance.

I wonder if Teta's been grilling the fat catfish so much that "Can't Move" has become skilled through practice.

His grilling skills were flawless—high enough that if he set up a fish stall outside, he could easily support himself selling grilled fish meals.

The three treasure fish were devoured; the bones were left for "Can't Move" as a snack.

【Water Marsh Essence +1024】

【Water Marsh Essence +1254】

【Water Marsh Essence +1879】

Three fish, over four thousand essence.

"Nine fish might bring in over ten thousand essence."

With simple calculations, Liang Qu was delighted; he lowered his gaze to the final entry of the Marsh Cauldron's information.

This treasure fish contained significantly more essence than the other two!

Judging the quality of treasure plants by Water Marsh Essence isn't always accurate, but it's not entirely unrelated.

Especially with treasure fish, fluctuations of a few hundred are normal—but the first two differed by a thousand, combined with the old toad's deductions…

There's great potential here!

Digest the medicinal power of the treasure fish.

Liang Qu's entire body warmed pleasantly; the Conception Vessel surged and cleansed continuously, circulating blood and qi, drawing them into his body and hand meridians, slowly filling and further expanding the water pool.

"The third meridian is the Heart Meridian, passing through the lower dantian and the Jiaji Pass—a major meridian…"

The Heart Meridian is difficult to condense; it must pass through acupoints while connecting to the Conception Vessel, yet it is crucial.

The first few meridians of Wan Sheng's Wansheng Baoyuan technique emphasize balance and comprehensiveness.

The Conception Vessel enhances blood and qi quality, the Hand Meridian increases martial strength, and the Heart Meridian increases chances of survival; once condensed, it prevents leakage of blood and qi, sustaining a false heartbeat.

The heart and brain—two of the body's most vital organs!

If the Heart Meridian is condensed, even if the heart is removed, one can survive for over a day; the strongest can endure for three days!

During this time, if one can find some miraculous heavenly treasure or elixir to heal, there may yet be a chance of survival.

Though having the heart removed leaves one nearly crippled and too weak to flee far, it's still a chance at life—what if the enemy dies too, in a mutual destruction?

"Afei and the others didn't come; I'll eat the remaining six next time."

He closed the lid; "Can't Move" flicked its tail and left, savoring the crispy fish bones, pressing against the cool ground to bathe in moonlight.

Liang Qu picked up the gauze and carried the fish innards to the Great Marsh.

The underground river mouth.

Yuan Tou led a group of new followers to pay homage.

Facing the leader of leaders—not a "pork," but a "human"—the wild river dolphins felt uneasy, huddling close together.

So Liang Qu specially brought the treasure fish innards to feed them, to strengthen their bond.

Simple feeding, combined with the reassuring presence of Scarhead, calmed the dolphins' nerves; their interactions remained harmonious.

Forming a larger group always increases competitiveness.

He made a rough count.

Excluding the young dolphins born within the two clans, there were twenty-three adult dolphins, three of them strong ones led by Scarhead.

"Not enough numbers—hardly enough to fight a demon…"

River dolphins are strong and have many advantages, but they're not without flaws.

They grow slowly and reproduce slowly.

Their growth cycle is nearly identical to humans', and they give birth to only one or two offspring per litter; it takes at least ten years for a young dolphin to mature.

Yuan Tou's son, Xiao Tun, was the same size last year; this year, he's barely changed—unlike Wulong, whose growth over a year was very obvious; even as a spiritual dog with slow growth, he matured in just two years.

Liang Qu wanted rapid expansion—he could only rely on merging groups.

"Yuan Tou, try harder—if you can't find any near Pingyang, go to Fengbu or Haiyan and search more."

Ruling twenty-three adult dolphins is far from Yuan Tou's limit!

The River Office has two giant river dolphins—peak great spirits, stronger than Yuan Tou by far—and they can control over a hundred dolphins, holding their own against demonic beasts!

That's exactly what Liang Qu expects from Yuan Tou!

After feeding the treasure fish innards, relations gradually improved; the new group of dolphins presented their gifts brought from Xiangyi.

There were precious woods, minerals—valuable enough to sell for nearly ten thousand taels of silver, not insignificant—and four treasure fish, each worth several hundred essence points, similar to those given by the Dragon People.

Unfortunately, compared to Scarhead's group, the dolphins carried no strange antiques like the Tiger-Devouring Human Vase or Buddha carvings; he was rather disappointed.

After paying homage, Liang Qu urged Yuan Tou to keep pushing, then returned to shore, went home, and entered his quiet chamber to retrieve the Water-Fire Vine from the wooden chest.

"Uncle" gave it to him—a superior treasure plant, similar yet not identical, for cultivating the Dragon-Taming Golden Strength Art; he'd kept it for days without eating it.

He swallowed it down; its texture resembled sugarcane, juicy, slightly sweet, with plenty of pulp.

Much better than snake gallbladder.

【Water Marsh Essence +7425】

Intense medicinal power surged upward, blazing like fire.

"Huh～"

Liang Qu sat with his five points facing heaven.

White vapor curled through the quiet chamber like a dragon.

……

Morning, the air slightly warm.

Liang Qu rose, washed up, warmed up, then plunged the Dragon Dragon Fubo into the water, its silver light flashing.

He looked inward.

In his dantian, a golden, radiant little figure emerged, the qi of dragon and tiger swirling together like auspicious clouds, dreamlike and illusory.

As he observed closely, he could now discern faint details on the figure's face—strikingly similar to his own!

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Major progress!

The Golden Body has no clear stage divisions, but seven distinct signs are evident.

Golden light surges, golden figure appears, five limbs condense, five forms float, adorned in treasure robes, alive like a human, seated in noble posture!

With seven traits advancing to the fourth stage, and so many treasure plants consumed, the Golden Body's progress has been astonishingly rapid!

Fist strength and defense have both improved significantly!

"Later, I'll go find my master and test my Golden Body—see just how strong it is!"

Golden light surged; Liang Qu drew the Dragon Dragon Fubo.

Fan Xinglai hurried in from outside: "Sir, a swarm of bees has built a hive under the hanging flower gate—should I send someone to remove it?"

"Bees?"

"Yes, under the hanging flower gate."

Liang Qu set down the Dragon Dragon Fubo and went to take a look.

Before the shadow wall, under the hanging flower gate, a large black hive hung, surrounded by countless bees flying about.

He glanced twice, then waved his hand.

"No need. Leave it alone."

Fan Xinglai scratched his head: "Why?"

"Large trees branch out; large families split. This hive sits under the hanging flower gate, open on both sides, no wind blockage—bees don't like such places. It's likely the original hive was too crowded, so they temporarily settled here and will move on once they find a better spot.

In April and May, the weather is warm and flowers bloom abundantly; moving now reduces the risk of freezing or starving. They'll leave on their own in a few days."

Fan Xinglai understood.

"Sir, you know so much."

Liang Qu smiled.

He looked up at the sky.

Blue as the sea.

Unconsciously, early summer had arrived.

"With the weather getting hot these past two days, have you sheared Chishan yet?"

"We're about to do it today!"

"Shear well—it'll fetch a good price. Then add better feed to Chishan's diet."

……

The sun high overhead.

Chi Feng arrived at the Yang Family Martial Hall.

Clouds lazily drifted across the horizon; the earth lay serene, tender green grass sprouting from the flower beds.

On the training ground, yellow dust surged upward in a burst.

"Hey hey hey, medicine time! Come get your token and collect your decoction! Drink it to gain strength in training—no latecomers! No latecomers!"

The cooks in the kitchen sent two assistants to carry steaming wooden barrels to the edge of the training ground, set them down on the table, and tapped their iron spoons while shouting.

Hearing about the medicinal soup, Hu Qi and Xiang Xiang Zhangsong waved their hands, dismissing the apprentices to disperse and move freely.

Many apprentices, having finished their first morning cultivation session, lined up to receive a bowl of hot tonic soup.

In the far corner of the training ground.

Poor students in coarse robes, unable to afford food or medicinal supplements, gathered in small groups, leaning against the flowerbed's edge, gazing with envy at those receiving the medicine.

They had never experienced the feeling of training after drinking the tonic; they only heard wealthier apprentices say it gave boundless energy, far surpassing empty practice and yielding obvious progress.

One apprentice snapped a half-branch and ground it along the ground, leaving a green mark: "Today, Master Yang will guide our cultivation. Have you decided what questions to ask?"

What! Master Yang is coming?

The other apprentices were stunned.

The tall one on the right couldn't believe it: "You must be mistaken. Wasn't it said he'd come at month's end? It's only mid-month!"

"You're the ones mistaken. Master Chen changed the schedule two days ago. Before, Master Yang came for three or four days at month's end. Now it's one day in early month, one in mid-month, one in late month—fixed at three times monthly. Didn't you hear?"

Silence suddenly fell in the corner of the flowerbed.

"Hah! Good thing you got distracted! Ask well, perform well—maybe we'll catch Master Yang's eye and become his direct disciples, learning deeper arts! You're unlucky."

One apprentice, his feet caked in yellow mud, inwardly regretted it but sneered: "Daydreaming. If you had that kind of ability, would you be sitting here?"

The apprentice threw down the branch, annoyed: "What are you laughing at? Didn't Master Yang's ninth disciple, Liang Qu, become just like this? Now he's a high official at the River Toll Office—seventh rank! Equal to the County Magistrate! The County Magistrate! What a high position! And I heard he recently achieved great merit again—he's due for another promotion!"

"Another promotion? That's higher than the County Magistrate? What level is this Liang Cao Shixiong?"

"Wolf Smoke! A great master!"

Several unfamiliar apprentices were puzzled: "Wolf Smoke? What realm is that?"

"An extremely high realm," the apprentice picked up the branch again, gesturing wildly. "Brother Li told me: in our martial cultivation, we first refine skin, flesh, bones, and blood—the four foundational gates."

"After breaking through the internal organs gate, you can use a single breath to open your acupoints, enter the True Dao, and become a Running Horse Martial Master capable of pulling dozens of strong adult horses!"

"But within the Running Horse stage, there are nine acupoints to open—each harder than opening the internal organs gate! Much harder! Only after that does Wolf Smoke come—the great master!"

"We have a strand of qi as thin as a hair in our chest; they can swell theirs to tower like Wolf Smoke!"

The cloth-clad apprentices fell silent.

Four Gates, Running Horse, Wolf Smoke—just hearing them felt like an impossibly long journey, distant and endless.

The tall one muttered: "If Wolf Smoke comes after Running Horse, isn't Liang Cao Shixiong stronger than Brother Xiang and Brother Hu?"

"Exactly! Liang Cao Shixiong is a true genius! See that guy over there, Shi Shaoyi? He spent half a year, paid two rounds of tuition, and barely entered the First Gate—he can fight ten men easily, the fastest in our batch! But even he isn't fit to carry Liang Cao Shixiong's shoes!"

"Aren't Brother Hu and Brother Xiang geniuses too? They're even Liang Cao Shixiong's seniors—why so much weaker?"

"Because even among geniuses, there are differences!"

The branch-holder spoke with certainty: "Compared to Liang Cao Shixiong, Brother Hu and Brother Xiang are just ordinary people like us."

Hu Qi and Xiang Xiang Zhangsong, with sharp ears and keen eyes, overheard the apprentices whispering about them—their faces darkened.

They considered whether to assign extra duties to these brats, to curb their overblown fantasies before the noise spread.

"Dragon Blood Horse! Imperial Gift Dragon Blood Horse!"

"Liang Cao Shixiong!"

"Liang Cao Shixiong has arrived!"

The apprentices leapt to their feet—word spread like wildfire, from one to ten, ten to a hundred—the entire training ground erupted in commotion.

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