Chapter 533: Assembling the Ship Model

The fifth-rank Soul-Gold Lotus overflowed with a faint golden shimmer. Taken from the treasure box, it felt light as nothing, its golden petals resting quietly.

When the Prince of Yue makes a move, it is truly extraordinary.

Comparing just by appearance, the Soul-Gold Lotus was more brilliant than any treasure plant Liang Qu had ever eaten.

Even the treasure box holding the golden lotus was covered in streamlined patterns, exuding an imposing air of nobility.

"I'll find an opportunity another day to sell it at the Heaven-Ship Chamber of Commerce to recoup some funds."

Liang Qu gripped the empty box.

The empty treasure boxes piled in the corner were no different from the firewood chopped and stacked in the kitchen.

The materials of the treasure boxes included green wood, cold jade, and soft stone, all capable of storing harvested treasure plants and items for a long time.

A single one wasn't cheap; it could sell for at least a few dozen taels. With this big pile here, it had to be worth a few hundred taels, right?

Thoughts flashed by.

Liang Qu held the Soul-Gold Lotus in his hand, opened his mouth, and inhaled. The entire golden lotus swayed slightly, sliding down his throat as smoothly as if it were intangible.

His throat felt as if a lump of jelly had slid past, rolling down into his stomach.

In an instant.

A comfort like soaking in a hot spring emerged from the depths of his soul, immediately spreading to his four limbs and hundred bones, his whole person feeling light and airy.

Sleepy.

His eyelids felt as heavy as lead.

Liang Qu couldn't stop yawning. He stood up from the meditation cushion, lay down on the Arhat bed against the wall, placed a pillow behind his head, and fell into a deep sleep.

The afternoon was tranquil, hazy light piercing through the window leaves.

Splash!

Water splashed down.

Giant logs pushed aside lotus leaves, turning and rising.

Tatta Kai held the free wood brought from the Qingjiang Shipyard and floated out. The river otters lined up, jumping into the pond to salvage the materials.

The big beaver held the blueprint in its claws, took two steps back, and counted the number of parts on the ground.

Long Binglin squatted on a stool, finding some amusement in it; he actually managed to see a look of solemnity on the furry faces of the beavers.

From mid-June to today, mid-August.

He had lived in the pond hut for quite a few days, and his horizons had been greatly broadened.

The river otters and beavers worked from sunrise to sunset every day, busy for at least two months, gnawing all kinds of wood into odd shapes—one piece here, one piece there—not knowing what they were building.

Building blocks?

Long Binglin walked to the edge of the site and picked up a piece of wood to turn it over and examine it.

A small beaver rushed over, grabbed his pant leg, climbed up, snatched the wood away, turned, jumped to the ground, scratched it twice, and ran off.

Long Binglin: "..."

Quite fierce.

Couldn't touch it, couldn't handle it. Long Binglin helplessly sat back on the stool, his thoughts drifting.

"What kind of changes will occur when Elder Liang enlightens a Dragon-Person?"

Having lived here for two months, just from their performance, the spirit monsters enlightened by Liang Qu were clearly a cut above the others in intelligence.

As spirit monsters, they could even draw blueprints.

What should a naturally intelligent Dragon-Person be like?

The issue of bloodline was the most critical dilemma for the continuation of the Dragon-Person population; a spring without a source would eventually run dry.

The elders in the clan had long wanted to test whether Liang Qu's enlightenment could serve as a new source, but they had never found an opportunity.

Liang Qu had also never proactively mentioned it...

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The big beaver circled the site three times, finished counting the loose parts, rolled up the blueprint and tucked it under its arm, and tapped a wooden stick.

The beaver family received the order and ran together, assembling the scattered wooden blocks.

The river otters couldn't help out; they just gnawed on watermelon and squatted to watch. They only knew how to do manual labor and were completely clueless about technical work.

The fat catfish in the pond watched for a long time, surfaced with a lotus leaf on its head, and while no beaver was paying attention, it used its two long whiskers to scoop up a pile of parts nearby and ran to the bottom of the pond to assemble them itself.

"A Fuchuan ship?"

After watching for more than a quarter of an hour, Long Binglin finally caught a glimpse of the knack from the various completed parts.

The curvature, the structure—everything was leaning toward a Fuchuan ship.

Why build an assembled ship?

Long Binglin didn't know how to build ships, but he understood the principle that the more structures there were, the more fragile the creation. He had heard that truly good ships were made by sawing down an entire towering treasure tree and having a master craftsman carve it as a single piece.

Who would build a ship out of loose parts like this?

In less than half an hour, twenty complete parts were neatly arranged: the keel, the ribs, the deck...

The big beaver scanned the area, took three steps back, and was shocked.

One piece was missing!

Where was the bow?

Where did the bow go?

Splash!

The fat catfish surfaced with half a bow on its head, looking triumphant.

Phew...

A false alarm.

The big beaver, thinking it had missed a piece, snatched the bow back, resisted the urge to smash it, placed it in front of all the parts itself, and began the most difficult step.

Complete assembly!

Success or failure depended on this one move!

A reddish light projected onto his eyelids, and Liang Qu woke up from his sleep, feeling dazed.

He opened the window.

Red clouds filled the sky.

There was no headache after a long afternoon nap; his spirit was incomparably full, and the human bridge within his body was clearer than ever before.

Comparing the overall proportion of the spiritual link, it had clearly shrunk, almost to the point of not occupying any share at all.

He circulated his cultivation technique, and the feeling of opening meridians was full.

It should be the fourth major meridian...

From the end of June through the entire month of July, Liang Qu hadn't been idle, consistently persisting in consuming treasure plants.

The most noteworthy among them was that he had used up all four bottles of Pulse-Marrow Jade Liquid—two bottles won at the auction and two left over from the snake demon—completely completing the human bridge of three major meridians and nine minor meridians!

Coupled with the investment of numerous treasure plants, he could almost complete meridian nourishment and fill his Qi and blood shortly after opening them.

The regret was that the last bottle hadn't opened the fourth major meridian.

Now, with a Soul-Gold Lotus in his stomach, the long-lost feeling of opening meridians surfaced once again.

Not to mention combat power, just in terms of realm level, Liang Qu had already caught up to the fourth senior brother, Xu Zishuai, who was in the Wolf Smoke realm last year, and the distance to the third senior brother, Lu Gang's, Earth Bridge wasn't too far either.

The talents of each senior brother were definitely not bad; otherwise, how could they have become senior brothers?

Coupled with the interval of taking on apprentices, their overall strength was almost smooth and downward according to their ranking, with occasional exceptions surpassing one rank ahead.

Only Liang Qu had surpassed more than one rank ahead.

Situated at the end, yet striving to be at the forefront.

If he hadn't heard that the second senior brother, Yu Dun, was about to break through to Hunting Tiger, Liang Qu felt he could become the person second only to the eldest senior brother within this year.

"Moistening things silently."

Liang Qu got up to stretch, his whole body feeling comfortable.

Having consumed so many treasure plants, none were more relaxing and comfortable than the Soul-Gold Lotus.

The only drawback was that the fifth-rank Soul-Gold Lotus, worth ten great merits, was not a water-attribute treasure plant; it could only increase soul strength and did not provide Water-Marsh Essence.

He opened the treasure chest to count the remaining treasure plants; all the miscellaneous items had been eaten, and what remained were all big-ticket items.

Liang Qu specifically formulated a consumption schedule; before going to Huazhu in late August, he could still consume one more.

Different medicinal properties required a ten-day interval, but treasure plants of the same type with the same medicinal properties could be eaten together, as long as one could withstand it.

"Two Red-Mane Lion Fish."

The plan was finalized.

Liang Qu smelled the fragrance of dinner and walked out the door. His peripheral vision was suddenly squeezed by a massive object, and he was surprised by the bustling atmosphere in the pond.

Tatta Kai stood on the big beaver's shoulders, helping it occupy a high vantage point to coordinate and command, as large parts were fitted together one by one.

Unlike mortise and tenon joints.

For ship model assembly, every piece installed had to connect, rather than just two or three combining to lock in place; otherwise, it was somewhat of a test of the toad carpenter's technique.

As it stood, the front and back halves of the entire Fuchuan ship had been built.

Only in the middle position did there seem to be a slight problem; it couldn't be docked for a long time, and the whole thing looked like a war-damaged ship split down the middle.

Liang Qu's heart stirred, and he asked the Chief Engineer Da He Li about the schedule.

The big beaver rode on Tatta Kai to check the interface all around, looking for the key to the problem. Facing the Heavenly God's inquiry, it bared its teeth, revealing twelve points of confidence.

Within three days, it would be done!

"Good, very spirited!"

Liang Qu gave a thumbs-up to encourage it.

After two and a half months, the first assembled ship model would finally be a great success!

The process was much slower than the one-ship-per-month complete ships, but the toad had been looking forward to the assembled ship model for a long time, and had personally said it could be exchanged for two.

Once there was experience in construction, the big beaver's construction time would definitely be slowly compressed to within two months, earning more than ordinary ship models!

"Three Golden Gong Fish; keep one, and the remaining two need to be exchanged with the toad. We'll do it together in three days."

Liang Qu had many ideas about this treasure exchange.

His Fuchuan ship ride couldn't keep up; in the final analysis, it was just a pile of ordinary wood, with a total cost of over a hundred taels—cheap goods with limited sailing speed.

Many treasure plants needed to be digested faster, and there was a great demand for treasure fish and treasure plants that harmonized Qi and blood.

Treasure gold like Vast Sea Blue Gold that could absorb Water-Marsh Essence was the more, the better.

Dozens of points of essence a day was comparable to the Cockscomb Fruit he used to eat every day.

Accumulating over time, it was definitely no worse than any treasure plant or treasure fish, and even had the upper hand! ===== CHAPTER 534 =====