Chapter 978: Those who follow the Dao find much support; those who abandon it find little

*Whoosh! Whoosh! *

The "ball" flew up and down through the air.

The Old Toad leaped and bounded, pushed off with its two legs, and suddenly vaulted out of the wooden building. Its shadow shifted onto the surface of the Great Marsh, and like a spinning top, it tumbled more than ten times in mid-air before splashing roundly into the Great Marsh.

*Splash! *

The Little Mirage Dragon blocked the spray of 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 Long Eying's forearm.

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

"Elder Toad, is a counterattack on the Dragon Palace truly Great Auspiciousness?"

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

"Counterattack? Counterattack what counterattack?" The Old Toad sprayed a mist of water from its nostrils. It shook the long plume on its head and rattled the silver bells on its hands. "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, and I calculate it?"

Struck by this blow to the head, Long Long Binglin felt ashamed and didn't know what to do. "Operate the divine art, connect with the primordial, reflect the pure light within the world, the void form connects everywhere."

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

The corners of Long Long Eying's mouth curled upward uncontrollably. She scratched the Third Prince's chin, knowing her husband had begun to chant again.

"It is not that we are greedy, but that Elder Toad is no ordinary toad. With the knowledge in your belly, you pry at the entire Huai River; by your own strength, you led the Toad Tribe to rise from humble beginnings. Today, the fish, snakes, turtles, and toads divide the Huai River and the wild marshes, all by Elder Toad's webbed pen. It can be said that your learning spans the boundaries of the Heavenly Toad."

Liang Qu sighed. "Since this divination is not about counterattacking the Dragon Palace, what is the matter that Elder Toad calculated by building such a high tower?"

"Ahem, Liang Qing's eyes are as sharp as ever, but unfortunately—" The Old Toad shook its belly, feeling pleased for a moment.

Then, it let the long plume on its head droop, feeling dejected. "In the past, I could calculate things without fail, but since two or three years ago, the long worms in the Dragon Palace have become blurry. I cannot perceive them truly. Sometimes they are there, and sometimes they are not, and it is unclear. I could only divine the future of the Toad Tribe from the sidelines."

"What?"

Once these words were spoken.

The Dragon People gasped.

Even the Toad's power had its limits.

The Flood Dragons of today were actually making the Old Toad feel troubled!

To be frank.

The Old Toad's talent was too useful. Being unable to divine the movements of the Flood Dragons 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 he had no leads.

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

"Could it be that at that time, the Flood Dragon was at the critical moment of swallowing the Dragon Pearl, which is why it shrank back and didn't come out, and afterwards reached a brand new realm? Come to think of it, when we threatened it, the Old Toad also performed a divination—"

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 a fish on the chopping block waiting to be slaughtered.

The two-cycle limit was approaching.

Racing against time.

The accumulation of advantages was often like a snowball, rolling faster and larger. Just as a Four-Gate martial artist who nourishes themselves properly can break through three Galloping Horse apertures in one breath, saving years of bitter work for ordinary people, the early digestion speed of the True Dragon's legacy was definitely different from the later stages.

However.

Those who follow the Dao find much support; those who abandon it find little!

Since he couldn't calculate the Flood Dragon, he would settle for the next best thing.

"Since Elder Toad has performed the divination, how is the future of the Toad Tribe?"

Speaking of the Toad Tribe's future, the Old Toad regained its spirit. It put its hands on its hips: "As I just said, Great Auspiciousness! Within a few years, with the Great King leading and this Elder assisting, it will naturally be a scene of prosperity!"

Liang Qu set his heart at ease.

The Toad Tribe was prosperous, so there was no major problem.

Snatching the Dragon Pearl—the plan was feasible!

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

"Rest assured, rest assured!"

The Old Toad had a premonition that it was about to lead the Toad Tribe toward a new peak!

The banks surrounding the Great Marsh, three thousand miles of lotus flowers in the Great Marsh—the plan was set!

"Long Binglin, have my Senior Brother wait a while longer on the boat. Time is of the essence; I will go find the Sea Workshop Master."

"Understood!"

Transforming the Toad Tribe from friendly traders into an offensive and defensive alliance, Liang Qu felt great. Striking while the iron was hot,

he didn't even take the 【Vortex Waterway】, but directly 【Water Travel a Thousand Miles】 to flash into the Sea Abyss Palace.

The surging Qi in his dantian decreased sharply, but the consumption was fast. Under his massive volume, especially since his Qi sea had the innate characteristic of recovering with Heavenly Water Morning Dew, it recovered even faster, almost doubling in just a few breaths.

*Swish. *

The bubbles dissipated.

Seeing who it was, the octopus merchant writing down the cargo registration relaxed his expression.

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

Ever since trade was opened with the humans on the shore and the Shou Mountain plantation was developed, the sea merchants were also flourishing. The entire trade line was constantly branching and subdividing. Toward Liang Qu, the Sea Workshop Master's confidants were also full of enthusiasm.

"Is the Workshop Master present?"

"Yes, yes! I will lead you there right away."

The Southeast Hall of the Sea Abyss Palace.

The Sea Workshop Master was multitasking with eight things at once—books, brushes, an abacus, and various types of ore. Seeing Liang Qu, she immediately separated one tentacle, picked a bunch of sea grapes, and extended it to roll them over.

"Little Water! It's been half a year. Eh, why are you so tanned?"

"Sigh, too busy."

Liang Qu lay into the azure tentacles, feeling the jelly-like, elastic softness beneath him, exhaled a breath of fatigue, and reached out to pluck a sea grape from the tip of his wrist.

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

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

"Ahem, that's not quite it. Workshop Master, this trip, I came—"

The Sea Workshop Master smiled, and the tentacle tip that was touching his head changed to tapping his head: "I knew Little Water is heartless; you wouldn't come to find your sister if there wasn't anything. Speak, what do you want sister to do?"

Liang Qu grinned and didn't beat around the bush. He laid out the plan to snatch the pearl, putting himself in her shoes.

"The Dragon Pearl is a placeholder. Currently, I only know there is a True Dragon legacy, but there is a high probability that I am not wrong. Elder Toad has also calculated it. If Workshop Master agrees, we must prepare early and shrink the trade routes as soon as possible to avoid the Flood Dragon retaliating against the sea merchants."

Sea merchants were different from the Toad Tribe; their footprint was much larger.

There were also Demon Kings in the sea, and even a Whale Emperor. The Flood Dragon itself could not easily enter the sea to make enemies, but it had many subordinates, enough to cause no small amount of trouble. One needed to look three steps ahead for every step taken and respond early.

The Sea Workshop Master pondered for a while without answering.

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

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

Gloomy and dark.

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

The underground palace where the Eight-Clawed King had imprisoned the Sea Workshop Master in the past!

In the transparent large box that had originally imprisoned the Sea Workshop Master, a brown, old, familiar fish was stuffed inside.

"Eight-Clawed King?" Liang Qu nearly couldn't control himself from transforming into his ape form. "It didn't die?"

The nightmare revived.

A Demon King!

The strongest enemy he had ever fought in his life.

With the Old Toad helping in the shadows, even a single tentacle detached by the Octopus King in his state of twelve-fold weakness had nearly beaten his White Ape form to death!

Thinking carefully, the Eight-Clawed King indeed hadn't died completely in the past. It kept splitting, and finally became a "spirit monster" intending to escape, but was frozen by Long Long Eying and handed over to the Sea Workshop Master.

He had thought it would be completely devoured. Unexpectedly—"No, the Eight-Clawed King is already dead." The Sea Workshop Master brought Liang Qu to the front of the transparent large box.

Liang Qu crawled to the front of the box and discovered that there was no vitality in the Eight-Clawed King's fish eyes. Replacing it was a strange aura, one he felt he had seen before.

He racked his 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 Eight-Clawed King to create a divination ritual." ===== CHAPTER 979 =====