Chapter 528: The Ultimate Guaranteed Bonus

Two days of sky-burning heat, scorching people with dry, sweltering air.

Twenty-three days out, July slipped into August; the fleet was fully laden and turned back, beginning its homeward journey.

The mast's shadow shrank to less than a man's length; dense, woven green fishing nets hung along the hull, occasionally clinging to pale fish scales that emitted a foul fishy stench.

He looked around once.

Those with higher cultivation were fine; those with low cultivation had mostly changed color.

"Ha ha, Bai Bai Yinbin!"

"Don't joke! Am I really that dark?" Bai Bai Yinbin frantically searched for a mirror.

"Just teasing you—slightly reddened, not dark at all." Xiang Fang Su burst into laughter.

"One Binghuo day per year, just twenty-some days," Ke Ko Wenbin lay on the long bench, listless. "We got lucky—we got the full dose."

"Thankfully nothing happened. Several great spirits passed by. I thought with Binghuo days, all things stir, and there'd be a battle—but they just passed, like they were searching for something." Bai Bai Yinbin set down the bronze mirror, rubbing his chin. "Could something be stirring in the Jianghuai Great Marsh that we don't know about?"

"Possible."

"You're just bored. Isn't it nice having no great spirits, no Ghost Mother Sect, just two downpours? How pleasant."

Thinking of landing the day after tomorrow, escaping this misery, Ke Ko Wenbin couldn't help humming a tune.

Liang Qu remained silent.

He roughly knew why.

A vast, officially recognized "legal" deep-water development zone, acknowledged by Long Gong, was undeniably lethal in its appeal to mid- and small-sized clans.

But Liang Qu's thoughts were not on this now.

He stared at the blazing sun.

"Twenty days."

Twenty-three days out, the third Binghuo day appeared; today was the twentieth.

Three days aloft, one thread every ten days…

When Xiang Fang Su and the others returned to the ice platform, Liang Qu lingered on deck for a long while before leaving.

The mast's shadow shrank to its peak, then slowly lengthened again.

Birds in the sky grew more numerous, densely scattered across the orange-red twilight, forming black arcs.

Ze Ding remained utterly still.

At dusk, Liang Qu, eating by the window, felt melancholy; the grilled fish tasted flavorless.

"Liang Ashui, last piece of fish belly—I'm eating it if you're not." Xiang Fang Su lifted his chopsticks.

"Go ahead."

Xiang Fang Su didn't hesitate, spitting out large bones as he asked: "What's wrong today? Even a hundred-ounce treasure fish doesn't tempt you?"

Daily fishing often yielded a few valuable "big catches"—rare ones worth over a thousand taels, but dozens worth one or two hundred.

Fishing inevitably involved "losses"; eating a few was no big deal, like the tacit "perk" of scavenging a battlefield.

Ke Ko Wenbin mocked: "Could it be you've been out over twenty days and are missing home?"

"Liang Ashui's never traveled this far before," Bai Bai Yinbin said.

"Nonsense, last year we spent over two months in Huazhu County fixing flood damage—you've already forgotten?"

"Oh right, but that was different—floods kept us busy, no time to think, and we were close. I haven't seen my old man in over a year." Bai Bai Yinbin sighed.

"Then take a long leave. Xu the Boss is in charge—what are you afraid of? Will one less beacon mean we can't hold off the Ghost Mother Sect when they attack? Isn't Liang Ashui planning a long leave in September or October to go to Huangzhou?"

"Nah, my brother's in the border army—he hasn't returned in four years. Just writing letters already feels indulgent. But if my mom suddenly surprised me by coming to visit, that'd be perfect."

Bai Bai Yinbin rested his chin on his hand, gazing through the window at the Great Marsh, his thoughts surging unexpectedly.

"Hey, don't laugh—it's possible. Once the canal's finished, you can depart from the capital, sail south with the current, enter the Great Marsh, and ride a treasure ship—much faster and safer than in our day."

Maybe tomorrow when we land, you'll see your mom—and she'll bring us a pile of delicious food." Ke Ko Wenbin boldly speculated.

Bai Bai Yinbin burst into laughter, deliberately changing the subject.

"Fang Su, your cultivation's the highest among us—you had Tianqiao already when we set out. When are you entering Shouhu?"

"Try to do it before year's end."

"????"

The three stared at each other.

"So fast? You never mentioned it."

"Why mention it before breaking through? I'll mention it after." Xiang Fang Su spoke as if it were obvious.

"Damn, first Zhong Shi, now Fang Su—things are getting intense."

Xiang Fang Su picked out a fine fish bone with his chopsticks and sneered: "I was already pushing you hard from the start. Did the third bridge ever stand?"

"Fuck, it stood last year—are you deliberately picking a fight?"

"I said it didn't stand—I left the fish head for you. Since it did stand, leave the Shouhu breakthrough to me."

Xiang Fang Su moved swiftly, snatching the fish head, biting through its skull, and sucking hard on the brain.

Ke Ko Wenbin: "?"

Meal ended.

Sunset's afterglow.

The long table flowed with blood-red light, then, at a fleeting moment, was draped in deep black.

Night fell.

【Gained one thread of Chi Qi. If fused with ten thousand water essence, yields one spiritual fish, capable of sublimation and favor.】

Inside Ze Ding, besides blue, gray-green, and crimson, a new long thread of crimson qi appeared!

Four qi currents flowed!

"Huh~"

A turn of fortune—Liang Qu exhaled deeply, leaned back, gazed at the brightening moon, stretched, and settled with peace.

The third thread of Chi Qi obtained so far!

After more than ten days of anxiety and hope, he could finally confirm it.

Three days aloft: one thread every ten days.

Two days aloft: one thread every twenty days.

The annual guaranteed bonus!

Awesome!!!

Xiang Fang Su raised an eyebrow: "Hey hey, what's going on? You're sighing and stretching again—your mood improved?"

Liang Qu smiled broadly: "I've figured out some things."

"Figured out some things?" Ke Ko Wenbin's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Are you about to attain sudden enlightenment?"

"Not exactly."

Liang Qu rubbed his stomach, appetite fully restored. Seeing the table empty, he ordered two more servings and ate heartily.

"Sudden enlightenment isn't always good," Ke Ko Wenbin warned solemnly before leaving the mess hall. "You'll miss out on the beauty of the cultivation path—the joy that comes only from steady progress, hard work, and earned harvests."

Liang Qu nodded repeatedly, turned back to his cabin, shut the door urgently, and ordered Bai Awei to stand guard.

He communicated with Ze Ding without hesitation, instantly pouring in two essences.

A flash of light.

Inside the ding, the long qi and essence each halved, replaced by two small fish with crimson eyes, darting and entwining.

【Consumed two spiritual fish. Can sublimate and gain favor: Wu Dao Tong Shen, Second Level】

Sublimate!

The patterns of Ze Ding linked, blazing light exploding.

In an instant.

Ears filled with water sounds.

He opened his eyes—a single drop of water fell from high above, striking his forehead, icy to the bone.

The heavens and earth stretched boundless, an empty, desolate void poured in.

Just as before.

The fluorescent blue water shimmered; two crimson-eyed fish circled each other, their pupils blazing like the sun.

Their eyes met—the fish leapt, crashing into the ding's wall.

Liang Qu waited quietly.

Watched ripples spread, outlining divine radiance.

Watched heaven and earth rise equally high, as a divine general stepped from the ding's wall, stringing together the stars of the heavens.

The general strode forward; the entire fluorescent sea split like a divine spear, remaining divided for a long time.

Until.

Divine and human became one.

BOOM!

The blue sea rolled backward, drowning all.

Ke Ko Wenbin, about to sleep, jolted upright, eyes wide.

"You said you weren't attaining sudden enlightenment!"

"Drill the hull!"

"Fang Su, wake up—drill the hull now!"