Chapter 482

"Whew~"

"Snap!"

The light of a meteor streaked across the sky, exploding in the darkness into a cluster of intense yellow flowers; hundreds of light streams fell, briefly illuminating the Great Marsh.

The fisherman poling the boat straightened his back, his face streaming with hot sweat shining brightly.

Three or five children, entrusted by fellow villagers, held hands and supported each other, standing at the bow, swaying and gazing into the distance.

"Let's go too."

After the play, the audience scattered in twos and threes; the fishing boats clustered on the periphery spread out like a wide net, stretching and drifting in all directions of the Great Marsh, held back only by the fireworks display.

Liang Qu watched for a moment, said his farewells, and stood up to bow.

Long Yao and Long Li bowed slightly, paying respects to the family heads and elders who came forward to chat, the crimson blush on their cheeks gradually fading.

The wind flowed away from the open roof.

The night was bustling with noise, carriages and horses filled the streets; covers like flying cranes, horses like swimming fish.

Liang Qu paced through the crowd, the Dragon Girl following quietly behind.

Thereafter.

Meteors drifted and flew, bright shells burst, then ten thousand flowers broke through the gate, like dragons leaping, like phoenixes startling, and finally, lightning flashed and thunder roared, the sky filled with brilliant blossoms.

Never mind whether the giant snakes were big or not.

At this moment, life was ultimately happy.

The next morning, mist hung thick, and water-dripping leaf tips trembled.

The concluded festival left many water-town folk wanting more, indulging in pleasure by candlelight.

The Dragon Girl, who had excitedly discussed the play all night in the east wing, felt no fatigue, full of vitality; noticing the daylight brightening, she tidied up simply and knocked on the window to wake him as usual, only to find Liang Qu was not in the room, having run off early to the pond to cultivate.

A gentle breeze blew, and dew rolled down the leaf veins into the water, splashing up a hint of lotus leaf fragrance.

Splash!

Water foam drifted and turned.

Liang Qu floated out of the water, pushed aside the lotus leaves, and sat in the newly built pavilion, the water on his body flowing down his trouser legs until dry, sighing slightly.

"No progress."

Liang Qu was deeply disappointed in the Flood Dragon.

Yesterday, once the River God Sacrifice passed, he easily secured two points of favorability, the most of any sacrifice so far.

The Flood Dragon's malice had increased again, but it was far from the massive transformation between the first and second times!

It was almost stimulated to the limit.

If there were a progress bar showing the Flood Dragon's favorability, the relationship between Liang Qu and the Flood Dragon had already gone from strangers to enemies, and then to generational blood feuds.

It wanted to kill him at all costs; it couldn't get any lower.

"Fortunately."

Liang Qu's gaze fell toward the Mirage Insect, the feeling of regret fleeting.

He had something better.

The exploration of the Cloud Hut Immortal Island was real, and the gains from the Flood Dragon's malice would become irrelevant.

Relying on slaughter and enduring malice to temper one's will was ultimately painful.

If one could make money lying down, why stand?

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Wulong's barking came from the front courtyard and quickly disappeared.

"Lord Liang! Good news!"

Li Shoufu's voice sounded from the doorway, and led by Chen Xiu, he hurried into the courtyard.

It wasn't just him; there were many footsteps.

Thinking of the timing, Liang Qu felt a surge of joy, roughly guessing what it was about.

Entering the hall, Li Shoufu was indeed followed by two mounted scouts wearing silver-threaded sleeves.

Before Liang Qu could ask, Li Shoufu stepped aside first: "Quick, this is the Lord Liang Qu you are looking for."

The two scouts straightened their expressions and bowed respectfully: "Peng Dafan/Dong Chonghe, greetings, my lord."

Liang Qu nodded in response.

Li Shoufu urged hurriedly: "Quick, quick, present the items!"

The two scouts moved at the sound, and then two large boxes were carried into the hall; the leading scout, Peng, held up a tray with both hands.

In the small tray, the official seal, waist token, ribbon... everything was complete!

Liang Qu's guess was correct.

He had been promoted!

"From Sixth Rank Hengshui Envoy! Such a fast promotion speed as Lord Liang's is unheard of!"

Li Shoufu's face was flushed, as if he were the one being promoted.

In less than two years, from an Eighth Rank River Earl to a From Sixth Rank Hengshui Envoy, a full four-level promotion!

Among all the young officials in the entire Pingyang Prefecture, he was the hottest one!

There was no other!

Liang Qu picked up the official seal and waist token.

Every previous promotion had involved major events—the Ghost Mother Sect causing trouble, the Huazhu County levee breach—so much so that every promotion involved the arrival of an imperial envoy; suddenly changing to two ordinary scouts felt quite uncomfortable.

He observed them carefully.

The official seal's design was simple, with only the official title, while the waist token's patterns were much more complex, containing a lot of information.

The former was mostly used for stamping and issuing orders, while the latter was mostly used for passage and proving identity.

Opening the box, it was full of matching official uniforms.

In the center was a set of formal attire, including a Liang crown, upper garment, inner garment, lower skirt, knee covers, ribbon, large belt, leather belt, jade pendant, socks, and shoes, worn only when meeting imperial envoys or on major occasions.

Next were four sets of replacement regular uniforms, which were official uniforms worn for daily official business.

Because he was a military official, the overall style wasn't much different from when he was a Water Minister, leaning toward a slim fit.

Deep blue, the patterns changed from auspicious clouds to waves, with an ethereal, flowing feeling when pulled, punctuated in the center by a white deer stepping on water, an immortal beast with an ethereal posture.

In terms of image, it looked more solemn and magnificent than the brocade fish uniform of the Water Minister.

Good, good, good!

He had thought he would have to wait until the end of June or even July; it seemed the "fast horse" Xu Yuelong mentioned was much faster than he had imagined.

Comfortable!

From Seventh Rank to From Sixth Rank was a huge leap!

It meant Liang Qu had completely jumped from the lower-middle level to the middle level!

One snake demon, three great merits, one great elixir, one rank promotion!

This drop rate was a bit too high.

But in the final analysis, Liang Qu, who still had the ability to deal with a disaster-level water demon, deserved this military uniform!

Military positions had implicit requirements for strength and realm, essentially because strength and realm were direct manifestations of ability.

But personal ability was not just strength, so realm was always an implicit requirement, not a hard condition.

And having dealt with a snake demon of the Great Martial Artist level alone, the strength of his ability, combined with the blessing of the imperial oral decree, was enough to allow Liang Qu to overcome age and strength obstacles and be promoted one rank!

Liang Qu recovered from his joy: "You two have come from far away, tired from the journey, why not..."

Saying a few polite words and giving reward silver, he warmly invited the scouts to eat together.

The scouts naturally knew this was just polite talk, because the money Liang Qu gave was not small, clearly a notch higher than normal remuneration, so they immediately stated they had other important matters and left.

After they left.

Long Lingxiao flowed, transforming into the Spirit Deer Stepping on Water uniform, white waves blooming.

Liang Qu paced around the hall, his stride full of the prestige of a Sixth Rank high official!

"People are refreshed when happy events occur."

Waking up early and not finding a snake demon to explode treasures, but running into such great news, was truly pleasing.

He had the Dragon Girl put away the official uniform.

Liang Qu struck while the iron was hot, went to the west wing to find the old monk, and obtained two more small orders he had reserved yesterday.

He had one left from going to the Great Marsh to observe the strange phenomena and fighting the strange fish, plus the two from today, he had three.

Grandmasters practiced divine abilities to keep by their side.

The small orders made by the old monk must be the embodiment of one of his own divine abilities; thinking of the characteristics of the "Nine Yang Divine Art" or "Diamond Sutra," there was no need to say more.

Liang Qu practiced the same techniques, or even the superior Dragon-Tiger Golden Body; when activated, the compatibility was suitable, and the effect would certainly be better, enough to keep him invincible when facing snake demons!

Everything was ready.

"It's time to meet the snake demon."

The drop rate of the previous snake demon was so high, and now there were four!

Liang Qu didn't change his official uniform, carrying the fire and wind of a new official, and took a boat all the way to the Great Marsh.