Chapter 503: Sponsored Exclusively by the Prince of Yue

In the center of the Jianghuai Great Marsh.

The Long Gong's side hall.

Eerie bubbles floated upward.

A pale green giant serpent coiled its body, flicking its tongue, its head held high.

"Purple Scale has still not returned to the clan?"

"Reporting to Lord Scale, not yet... Perhaps they have reached a critical juncture and remained to assist Red Scale?" The serpent demon prostrated itself, motionless.

"How long has Red Scale been gone?"

"Red Scale has been gone for over two months, and Yellow Scale returned to the clan to retrieve precious plants a month ago. It has been a full ten days since Lord Jiao issued the last mobilization order..."

Silence.

The serpent demon felt a sense of unease.

The delay had been so long, and the messengers sent out had also provided no reply.

It was likely that some unforeseen change had occurred.

With the True Dragon's appearance drawing near, Lord Jiao's temper was growing worse by the day...

Long Yao wiped the table and chairs, breathing onto the nanmu table to create a small patch of mist, then drew a small dog with a few strokes.

Wulong rubbed against her smooth lower leg, wagging its furry tail.

"Pingjiang, Pinghe? Are you finished with your work?"

Red Mountain returned to the stables, and Liang Qu stepped over the threshold, unhooking his waist badge and handing it to Long Li to hang up.

Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe, brothers sitting on the right side of the hall, immediately stood up.

Long Binglin and Long Eying walked out from the room upon hearing the sound.

Long Pingjiang brought out a thick document folder and offered it with both hands.

"As you instructed, my lord, the waterways within Fengbu County have been completely combed through. Next, Pinghe and I are heading to Jiangling County, passing through Pingyang Prefecture. It is a perfect opportunity for you to inspect them first and check for any errors or omissions."

Opening the hard-covered folder, a hand-drawn river map came into view, with numerous small annotations along the edges.

This included, but was not limited to, water levels and depths for various river channels and tributaries during specific time periods, recent rainfall, the completeness of river embankments, the distribution of nearby residents, the status of summer planting, and a general topographical map...

Everything, large and small, was recorded in detail.

It was just as requested, perhaps even more detailed.

It was thanks to them being Dragon-men that they could work so quickly.

The specific conditions of a county had been thoroughly explored in less than half a month.

"No problems." Liang Qu browsed through it once and closed the folder. "Just do the same for Jiangling County as you did above. Once both counties are inspected, our great task will be complete."

This inspection was a staggered coverage; Liang Qu was only responsible for two counties, Fengbu and Jiangling, and once the work was done, it would be considered finished.

Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe, having received approval, did not linger and hurried away.

The higher the official rank, the easier it is to be an official.

Sitting back and reaping the rewards.

Liang Qu couldn't help but think of his great-uncle's words, gaining some insight.

"My lord, the serpent demons in the shallow water area..." Watching his clansmen leave, Long Binglin stepped forward with concern.

"The serpent demons, eh." Liang Qu leaned back in his chair, feeling relaxed now that one matter was settled. "Don't worry, they've been dealt with. They won't be able to cause me any trouble in the future."

Long Binglin felt a sense of shock.

Four serpent demons!

Gone for a single morning, and they were dealt with so lightly!

This was a task that would have been difficult even for him and Eying combined!

"To accomplish extraordinary things, one must wait for an extraordinary person!" Long Binglin bowed respectfully, his heart filled with admiration. "Lord Liang is like pulling a rhinoceros by its horn or lifting an elephant; he is truly peerless!"

It was quite embarrassing.

Liang Qu had previously said that once he finished with the serpent demons, he would handle the matter of the Long Qi medium, but as it turned out, he had no free time for the next few days.

"The Tianbo Auction is imminent, and the Prince of Yue is arriving. Unless there is an urgent matter, officials under the River Patrol Office are not allowed to leave at will and must be ready to be summoned at any time. Once these two matters are finished, I'm afraid it will be four or five days before I can go with you to the Dragon-man clan territory."

"My lord, there is no need to be concerned. The Dragon-man clan did not come on this trip specifically for the medium."

"Eying is right. Everything is fate, and nothing is entirely up to us. We are already deeply grateful that you are willing to help, my lord."

Long Binglin and Long Eying had no objections.

Grandmasters prepare their Qi consumption on a monthly basis; if a suitable medium cannot be found, dragging it out for a year or a year and a half is quite normal.

To ensure everything was foolproof, the Dragon-man clan had originally treated the Qi consumption matter as a long-term task.

"By the way, Binglin, Eying, I have a question regarding the serpent demons I dealt with today."

"Please speak, my lord."

"How many Great Demons are there in the serpent clan?"

Long Binglin said: "The Dragon-man clan does not know the exact number of Great Demons, but on the surface, there should be at least three. And these three are not ordinary Great Demons; their strength is far greater than that of ordinary ones.

They are the peer-level commanders of the serpent clan, second only to the Jiao Dragon, each governing a small ethnic group. They are Lord Hui, Lord Scale, and Lord Ran.

Among them, Lord Hui represents the Hui serpent clan, whose subordinates are mostly venomous snakes, and their names often contain the character 'Hui'.

The Ran clan is small in number and almost never encountered. They only need to eat once or twice a year, and for the most part, they naturally remain in deep slumber, responsible for guarding the Long Gong and protecting the Jiao Dragon, much like the Dragon-man clan in the past.

Following them, the Scale clan is the most numerous. Most are non-venomous or have only mild venom, but in terms of physical fitness, they are superior to the Hui and Ran clans. They have great endurance, explosive power, and swift speed, occupying about sixty percent of the entire serpent clan's population.

Among these three commanders, Lord Ran sleeps year-round, and the most active ones are Lord Scale and Lord Hui.

However, in recent decades, I have heard that the serpent clan has an additional 'Lord Net' as a fourth commander... It is quite strange."

"Strange? How so?"

Long Binglin said solemnly: "The Eastern Serpent clan took over the central Long Gong, giving most of the Eastern Water Territory to the Northern Fish clan, leaving only less than one-third of the Eastern Territory.

This part of the water territory is exactly what 'Lord Net' took over, but our Dragon-man clan has never seen any of 'Lord Net's' subordinates!

It is normal not to see the leaders of the serpent clan, as Great Demons are like dragons—you see the head but not the tail—and they rarely travel far. But for decades, not even their subordinates have been seen; it is, to some extent, suspicious."

Lord Net.

Liang Qu thought of what the brothers Pingjiang and Pinghe had said in the past about an unknown Great Demon in the Eastern Territory.

Even the Dragon-man clan living underwater didn't know much, let alone the River Patrol Office on the shore.

Just as he was talking to the two of them, the main gate was knocked upon.

Boom!

"Liang Qu! Open the door quickly!"

Hearing the voice, Liang Qu frowned, stopped Long Li and Wulong, and went to open the door himself.

"Guan Congjian? Why is it you again?"

"Why can't it be me?"

Guan Congjian grinned, showing his white teeth, and pulled a treasure box from his waist.

Pulling it open to look.

A faint red and blue light emerged, and a lotus-like plant lay quietly inside, heart-stirring.

"The Two-Life Flower you wanted! I got it for you! Time, place, you choose. Win or lose, the item is all yours, deal? But it's best if the time is within three days."

Liang Qu took the treasure box, dumbfounded.

The texture, the aura...

One exchange, two serpent demon gifts—Liang Qu had come into contact with it many times.

There could be no mistake.

Two-Life Flower!

Excellent nourishment for cultivating the Dragon-Tiger Golden Body!

No, brother.

You really are willing to spend a fortune just to have a fight.

This Two-Life Flower was the size of a single palm, not as good in quality as the one Liang Qu had previously exchanged for with great merit, but it was still precious.

And how was it so fast?

"I have done what you requested. If you don't agree, don't blame me for getting tough..."

Liang Qu interrupted Guan Congjian: "Did you exchange for this with great merit?"

Guan Congjian shook his head: "Great merit exchanges aren't that fast. The River Patrol Inspector just arrived, and all great merit exchange items must at least depart from Southern Zhili, taking at least a month."

"Then where did you get it?"

"The Prince of Yue gave it to me."

"The Prince of Yue?" Liang Qu couldn't wrap his head around it. He thought of how his master had previously used great merit to help him exchange for martial arts, indirectly achieving a transfer of great merit. "You exchanged great merit with the Prince of Yue for a Two-Life Flower?"

"What? I wouldn't be willing to use great merit. The Prince of Yue has a subordinate, Zhang something-or-other, who gave it to me for free! He only said that as long as we set the time for our sparring and tell him, it would be fine. And it's best if it's within three days, before the Prince of Yue leaves. I promised him."

Liang Qu was confused.

"You mean the Prince of Yue's subordinate gave you a Two-Life Flower just to get you to spar with me?"

"Yes!" ===== CHAPTER 504 =====