Chapter 599: A Face!

The water surged in mighty tides.

The monkey filled soil and planted ling-zhi; the great turtle waged cosmic battle.

Liang Qu waited in silence.

All people and beasts secretly ate melons in the water.

Shoushan grows Shoubao; by refining its spiritual power through breath and absorption, one draws essence from Shoubao to extend life.

Extending life further allows absorption of more twenty-four solar terms, condensing the Four Seasons' Long Qi, which slows one's lifespan while stimulating Shoubao.

General Yuan is undoubtedly a rare oddity among water beasts—a genius!

The key to the self-sustaining, balanced cycle of the entire "Solar Terms Method" cultivation system lies in Long Qi.

If the quality of Long Qi is poor, Shoubao generation is limited, and the cycle collapses instantly; rebuilding it requires cycles of sixty years.

If the quality of Long Qi is excellent, the cultivation cycle can endure for thousands, even tens of thousands of years!

Thus, General Yuan's loss of Long Qi filled him with furious rage.

From revising the "Solar Terms Method" to attempting to condense the Four Seasons' Long Qi, it took him five or six sixty-year cycles, only fully perfected near a century ago.

Yet, due to the beauty, all effort failed at the final step.

Fortune and misfortune are intertwined.

The lost Long Qi, which had taken ages to gather, unexpectedly merged into one.

If one could advance further…

The allure is undoubtedly lethal!

Liang Qu could indeed accomplish this—he had long discovered that the spiritual fish formed by combining water essence with Long Qi did more than merely help one absorb qi; helping one absorb qi was only part of the spiritual fish's function.

Long Qi is medicine.

Water essence is the "perfect medicinal catalyst"!

Medicine with a catalyst and medicine without one produce entirely different effects when ingested.

Once successful, one gains not only extra benefits but can also use 【Divine Might】 to neutralize threats!

In youth, he held great ambitions, setting a path for a hundred, even a thousand years.

The old turtle's gambling nature would never be small.

Half an hour later.

Gurgling~~

The fat catfish drowsed, its belly gnawing with hunger; it had earlier wriggled violently and vomited everything, leaving its stomach empty.

"I'll grant you one chance."

His voice rang like a bronze bell.

The fat catfish jolted awake in its dream, flapping its fins, bewildered and glancing around.

"But," the great turtle raised one sharp claw toward Long Long Eying, "I'll take her as a hostage!"

"No!"

Liang Qu refused outright.

As Elder of the Dragon People, letting Long Long Eying become a hostage would break their hearts.

Besides, the old turtle adores beauties—what might he do once he has her in his grasp?

Long Long Eying said: "Elder…"

Liang Qu raised his hand to stop her.

The great turtle hurriedly said: "A hostage is mandatory—otherwise, no deal!"

A hostage…

Liang Qu frowned deeply, his gaze shifting until it locked onto a plump, round figure.

The old toad felt the gaze and looked around.

"?"

"Old Toad, endure a little hardship," Liang Qu stepped forward and whispered, "Once the treasure plant is secured, I'll give you an extra ten percent."

The old toad's face wrinkled into a ball; he raised his eyes to the mountain and held up three claws.

"Thirty percent!"

"Fifteen percent!"

"Thirty percent!"

"Eighteen percent!"

"Thirty percent!"

Damn it.

Does this toad have a hook in his mouth?

The old toad spoke with righteous certainty: "Liang Qing is a loyal minister, yet you stole the old turtle's Long Qi and caused this Elder to be captured…"

"Fine! Thirty percent it is!" Liang Qu's heart ached; he turned and shouted loudly, "We take Old Toad as hostage—if anything happens, I alone bear the wrath of the Toad King—agreed?"

Without the dragon maiden, the old turtle felt profound regret.

Earlier, he was too eager to recover his Long Qi to properly appreciate her—but compared to beauty, Long Qi was more urgent.

"Good!"

"Old Toad, find three more fine treasure plants."

"Wait!" the great turtle protested, "Why three more?"

"One matter at a time. The twelve-petal Long Life Lotus was compensation; now I've lent you a hand—no extra reward? Isn't that excessive?"

General Yuan fell silent.

The old toad leaped off the ground, zipping into the mountains and selecting the treasures in less than half a moment.

Alongside the twelve-petal Long Life Lotus, he added an eighteen-petal Long Life Lotus, a thousand-year treasure ling-zhi, and a Heavenly Spirit Jade Fruit.

The great turtle's head spun; he gripped the old toad and gritted his teeth in agreement.

Just a few Shoubao.

All counted in ten-thousand-year terms!

Huh!

A fierce wind surged.

The great turtle turned and sucked in deeply.

At the peak of Shoushan, translucent fluff drifted and coalesced; a four-colored Long Qi slowly emerged.

The old toad curled his limbs, crouched atop the claws, his frog eyes gleaming.

A great treasure!

Liang Qu reached out and took the four-colored Long Qi. He flipped his wrist.

The Long Qi vanished.

The great turtle's heart leapt in alarm; unease spread rapidly. He opened all his senses—yet detected not a trace of its presence in the world.

Completely gone!

To absorb qi without leaving a trace—what technique is this?

The claw immediately pressed against the old toad's neck.

"Don't play tricks! You made it the hostage—the karmic burden is yours!"

The old toad remained calm and composed.

Liang Qu sank his spirit, offering no reaction.

Seeing no response, General Yuan quietly lowered his claw.

【Obtained one thread of Temporal Long Qi. If fused with fifty thousand water essences, it produces one spiritual fish, capable of elevating favor—its effects are mysterious.】

Inside the Inside Ze Ding.

Qing-gray, treasure-blue, blue, yellow, orange, white—plus one fused four-colored Long Qi: seven Long Qi entwined, unprecedentedly lively.

A slight thought stirred.

The water level in the blue sea plummeted!

To transform Temporal Long Qi into a spiritual fish, exactly fifty thousand essences are required.

Fortunately, before arriving, Liang Qu had replenished his supply by visiting the Jiao people—otherwise, he could never have gathered enough.

Two-thirds of the water essence vanished into thin air; the blue sea calmed again, and a single spiritual fish, shimmering with the colors of the four seasons, drifted and swam, its long tail swaying, faint light rippling.

Compared to the few he had seen before, this Temporal Spiritual Fish was noticeably larger by a full circle.

He deliberately delayed for half a minute, feigning mystery.

Liang Qu extended his hand.

The spiritual fish glowed, radiating divine wonder.

The old toad stared without blinking.

Long Long Binglin and Long Long Eying pondered silently—they had witnessed Elder's methods when Long Long Yanrui absorbed qi.

General Yuan was deeply stunned.

The aura was familiar yet different.

How had good Long Qi turned into a fish?

He carefully took it.

His thought penetrated without resistance, as if guiding his own limbs—completely unlike the sluggish, forced control he had used before!

Swallowed saliva.

The clawed hand carefully placed the spiritual fish into the Shoushan pond.

Splash.

The spiritual fish leapt into the water.

Clear ripples spread, and light flowed along the entire cliff face.

The monkey watched the fish dart through the water, its tail hooked on a vine, reaching out curiously—but it was like trying to grasp the moon reflected in the water, utterly unattainable.

The giant turtle closed its eyes, silently sensing, its turtle blood gradually accelerating.

Transformed into the spiritual fish, the entire length of its true qi was fully activated!

Efficiency increased by thirty percent!

The giant turtle sensed repeatedly, its inner heart seething with turbulent waves.

It was at the very moment Yuan General accepted the spiritual fish that Liang Qu felt a faint connection form between man and turtle—a sense of security.

"How is it?"

No turtle answered.

Liang Qu frowned.

A moment passed.

Four monkeys each presented a precious plant—exactly the four treasures previously selected!

Liang Qu relaxed his brow and accepted them gladly.

The entire monkey troop cheered and leapt about, running wildly over the mountain.

A large, muscular golden-furred monkey kicked aside the bustling young monkeys, bounding forward with a half-person-sized translucent carapace piece.

Turtle shell?

Liang Qu picked up the black carapace; judging by its shape and size, it was clearly a shed scale from Yuan General's "childhood," half-coated in dirt, as if freshly dug from the earth.

Useless…

The monkey offered it, but the giant turtle showed no reaction—it was merely an ordinary spirit creature's molted shell.

Wait.

Liang Qu raised the turtle shell.

"Old Yuan, add a little extra—infuse a trace of your qi into the shell."

Old Yuan?

Who just called him General Yuan?

From humble deference to arrogant disregard.

The giant turtle opened its eyes, displeased.

"What do you want?"

"A gift."

"A gift?"

Liang Qu nodded.

The turtle shell shed in Yuan General's youth holds little value, but carries profound meaning.

As a birthday gift, it could not be more fitting.

It's impressive.