Chapter 978: Those who follow the Dao have many helpers, those who lose the Dao have few

*Whoosh! *

The "ball" tore through the air, up and down.

Liang Qu jumped and leaped, legs kicking, suddenly vaulting out of the wooden building. His shadow shifted onto the river surface, spinning in mid-air like a top for over a dozen turns before crashing roundly into the Great Marsh.

*Splash! *

The little Mirage Dragon blocked the splashing water. Just as it was about to look, a fiery red feather poked out of the water, nearly stabbing into its nostril. It hurriedly retreated and coiled around Long Eying's forearm.

Hearing "Great Auspiciousness," Long Binglin, who had been watching the divination, was even more excited than Liang Qu himself. He stepped forward to help Liang Qu up.

"Elder Frog, is counterattacking the Long Gong truly Great Auspiciousness?"

Having been displaced for decades, the Dragon People had suffered long enough under the Flood Dragon!

"Counterattack? Counterattack what counterattack?" Liang Qu sprayed a mist of water from his nostrils. He shook the long feathers on his head and rattled the silver bell on his hand. "Greedy! What do you take this Elder for? The Heaven-Reaching Book that knows all things in the world? You ask for whatever you want calculated?"

Struck by this blow to the head, Long Binglin felt ashamed, not knowing what to do. "Operate the divine art, connect with the primordial, reverse the pure spiritual light within heaven and earth, the void form connects everywhere."

As soon as Liang Qu spoke, he attracted everyone's attention.

The corners of Long Eying's mouth couldn't stop curving upward. She scratched the Third Prince's chin, knowing her husband had started chanting again.

"It is not that we are greedy, but that Elder Frog is no ordinary frog. With the knowledge in your belly, you pry at the entire Huai River; by your own strength, you led the Frog Clan from humble beginnings. Now, fish, snakes, turtles, and frogs divide the Huai-Ze wilderness, all by your webbed pen. It can be said your learning spans the heavens."

Liang Qu sighed, "Since it is not a divination to counterattack the Long Gong, what was the matter Elder Frog calculated by building that high tower?"

"Cough, Liang Qing, your eyes are as sharp as ever, but unfortunately—" Liang Qu shook his belly, feeling smug for a moment,

then lowered the long feathers on his head, looking dejected. "In the past, I could divine it, but since two or three years ago, the long worm in the Long Gong has become blurry. I cannot perceive it truly. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it is not, and it is unclear. I could only divine the future of the Frog Clan from the side."

"What?"

As soon as these words were spoken,

the Dragon People exclaimed.

Even the Frog's power has its limits.

The Flood Dragon of today actually made Elder Frog feel troubled!

To be frank,

Elder Frog's talent was too useful. Being unable to divine the Flood Dragon's actions was no less than cutting off one of Liang Qu's arms!

"Two or three years ago—what was the turning point?"

Liang Qu captured the key point and fell into memory, but had no clue.

Was the only major event in between the Three Princes threatening the Flood Dragon?

"Could it be that at that time, the Flood Dragon was at the critical moment of swallowing the Dragon Pearl, so it shrank back and did not come out, and afterward reached a brand new realm? Come to think of it, when we threatened it, the old frog also divined—"

The Flood Dragon didn't speak, and Liang Qu had no answer. In his heart, he sighed at the Flood Dragon's methods; it was not fish on a chopping block waiting to be slaughtered.

Approaching the two-cycle limit.

Racing against time.

The accumulation of advantages is often like a snowball; the further it rolls, the faster and larger it grows. Just as a martial artist at the Four Gates stage, if properly nourished, can break through three apertures of the Galloping Horse realm in one breath, saving years of bitter toil for an ordinary person, the early-stage digestion speed of a True Dragon's legacy is fundamentally different from the later stages.

However.

Those who follow the Dao have many helpers, those who lose the Dao have few!

Unable to calculate the Flood Dragon, he retreated to the next best thing.

"Since Elder Frog has performed the divination, how is the Frog Clan's future?"

Speaking of the Frog Clan's future, Elder Frog regained his spirit and put his hands on his hips: "Just as I said, Great Auspiciousness! Within a few years, with the Great King leading and this Elder assisting, it will naturally be flourishing!"

Liang Qu set his heart at ease.

The Frog Clan is flourishing, so there is no big problem.

Snatching the Dragon Pearl, the plan is feasible!

"During this time, I must trouble Elder Frog to pay more attention. If there is any movement—"

"Rest assured, rest assured!"

Elder Frog had a premonition that he was about to lead the Frog Clan toward a new peak!

The shore surrounds the Great Marsh, and the Great Marsh has three thousand miles of lotus flowers. The plan is set!

"Binglin, let my Senior Brother wait a bit longer on the boat. There is no time to lose; I will go find the Sea Shopkeeper again."

"Understood!"

Transforming the Frog Clan from friendly merchants into a defensive alliance, Liang Qu was in a great mood and struck while the iron was hot.

He didn't even take the 【Vortex Waterway】, directly 【Water Travel a Thousand Miles】 flashing into the Sea Abyss Palace.

The Qi Sea in his body surged and plummeted, but the consumption was fast. Under the massive volume, especially with the Qi Sea's inherent Heavenly Water Morning Dew recovery characteristic, it recovered even faster, almost doubling in just a few breaths.

*Splash. *

The bubbles collapsed.

Seeing the visitor clearly, the Octopus Merchant who was writing down cargo registrations relaxed his expression.

"So it is Lord Liang. Lord Liang, how do you have time to come to the Sea Abyss Palace? Are you here to seek our King?"

Ever since opening trade with the humans on the shore and developing the Shoushan plantation, the Sea Merchants were also flourishing, and the entire trade line was constantly branching and subdividing. Toward Liang Qu, the Sea Shopkeeper's confidant was also full of enthusiasm.

"Is the Shopkeeper present?"

"Yes, yes! This little one will lead you over right away."

Southeast Hall of the Sea Abyss Palace.

The Sea Shopkeeper was using her eight limbs for eight tasks—books, pens, abacuses, and various ores. Seeing Liang Qu, she immediately separated one tentacle, picked a bunch of sea grapes, and extended it over.

"Little Water! Haven't seen you in half a year. Hey, why are you so tanned?"

"Sigh, too busy."

Liang Qu lay into the azure tentacles, feeling the jelly-like elastic touch beneath him. He exhaled a weary breath and reached out to pick a sea grape from the tip of the tentacle.

"The Ghost Mother Sect in the Jianghuai Great Marsh is restless, emerging from the Huai River every day, and the Flood Dragon's Great Huai Army is also searching for me everywhere. I can't pull myself away."

"Can't help Little Water." The tentacle tip touched his head.

"Cough, that's not it. Shopkeeper, this trip I came—"

The Sea Shopkeeper laughed, the tentacle tip touching his head changing to tapping his head: "I knew Little Water is heartless. You wouldn't come looking for your sister if there was nothing to do. Speak, what do you want your sister to do?"

Liang Qu grinned, not selling it short, and laid out the plan to snatch the pearl, heart to heart.

"The Dragon Pearl is a reference. Currently, I only know there is a True Dragon's legacy, but in all likelihood, there won't be a mistake. Elder Frog has also calculated it. If you agree, Shopkeeper, you must prepare early and shrink the trade routes early to avoid the Flood Dragon retaliating against the Sea Merchants."

Sea Merchants are different from the Frog Clan; their plate is spread wider.

There are also Demon Kings in the sea, and even the Whale Emperor. The Flood Dragon itself cannot easily enter the sea to make enemies, but it has many subordinates, enough to cause no small trouble. One needs to take one step and see three.

The Sea Shopkeeper pondered for a while without answering.

She lifted Liang Qu and swam silently toward the bottom of the Sea Abyss Palace.

The roads inside the palace were intricate and complex. Liang Qu felt the route was somewhat familiar, until the human and the fish drilled into a three-zhang-wide small hole.

Quiet and dark.

The facts were indeed as he expected; Liang Qu had controlled a small fish to come here dozens of times!

The underground palace where the Octopus King had imprisoned the Sea Shopkeeper in the past!

In the transparent box that had imprisoned the Sea Shopkeeper, a brown, old, familiar fish was stuffed inside.

"Octopus King?" Liang Qu almost couldn't control himself from transforming into his ape form. "It didn't die?"

Nightmare resurrected.

Demon King!

The strongest enemy he had fought in his life.

With Elder Frog's secret help, a single tentacle detached from the Octopus King in a twelve-point weakened state had almost killed him in his White Ape form!

Thinking carefully, the Octopus King indeed hadn't died completely in the past. It kept splitting, finally becoming a "spirit monster" intending to escape, but was frozen by Long Eying and handed over to the Sea Shopkeeper.

He thought it would be completely devoured, but didn't expect— "No, the Octopus King is already dead." The Sea Shopkeeper brought Liang Qu to the transparent box.

Liang Qu crawled to the front of the box and found that the Octopus King's fish eyes had no vitality; instead, they were replaced by a strange aura, somewhat familiar.

Racking one's brains.

The Great Black Heaven of Haruhan in the Northern Court, the Great Sun Tathagata of the Hanging Temple—the images of both flashed and vanished.

He blurted out.

"Ritual!?"

"Little Water is smart. I used the Octopus King to make a divination ritual." ===== CHAPTER 979 =====