Vast Quantities of Marsh Essence!

I'm fucking eating, eating, eating.

Liang Qu held his chopsticks and frantically scooped up crab roe. While waiting for it to cook, he did not forget to dig the meat from the crab legs and toss it to the two beasts.

The two beasts had no hands, and the Crab Monster's shell was extremely hard. Cannot Move was all right—it could barely bite through the shell—but the Fat Catfish was completely helpless. Eating was a tremendous struggle for it, and it relied entirely on Liang Qu, its master.

He ate while digging out meat, handling both without delay.

A quarter hour later, "Burp~~~~" Liang Qu let out a resounding belch. He was already stuffed to the brim; even if he wanted to cram in more, he could not. And eating nothing but crab roe was simply too greasy—greasy enough to make him vomit. By halfway through, he had already been forcing it down.

The two beasts had larger stomachs than he did and could really eat, stuffing themselves with gusto.

Being able to eat was a blessing. Liang Qu wished the two beasts would eat more and stockpile more Marsh Essence, so they could evolve into a Jiaomu Crocodile and Tiger-Head Catfish sooner.

The evolved names alone sounded incredibly imposing. They had to be formidable. When that time came, slaughtering another Crab Monster would not be as difficult as it had been today.

For a time, Liang Qu became free labor. He frantically pulled out meat, blanched it, then spread it across the bow to dry in the wind. The high heat killed bacteria, while drying extended its storage time. Anything he did not have time to blanch, he tossed to the two beasts to eat.

The Crab Monster's body shape was large enough that he did not even need to smash its shell. He could simply reach inside and pull out all the snowy-white crab meat.

Once the crab meat was cleaned out, Liang Qu did not even spare the crab gills and the like. After washing them clean, he blanched them too. As the parts crabs used to filter filth, they would easily give humans diarrhea, but the two beasts did not mind in the slightest and gobbled them down all the same.

Before gaining intelligence, they had swallowed crabs whole without even washing them, let alone now, when they had been washed once.

After eating, Liang Qu assumed a stance and practiced his boxing, trying to speed up digestion. Half an hour later, he continued eating.

The Marsh Essence he swallowed was consumed along with one thought of absorption after another, all of it used to increase the fusion rate of the Water Monkey Marsh Spirit.

Almost every quarter hour, the fusion rate on the panel jumped up by several points.

Countless masses of light drifted out from the Ze Cauldron, gradually merging into the Spirit Monkey Shadow.

Not only in his mind—beyond Liang Qu's sight, a faint and indistinct White-Furred Spirit Monkey Shadow also appeared behind him.

On both sides of the skiff, Cannot Move and the Fat Catfish swam wildly, trying to burn off the energy in their bodies. But when the shadow appeared, an inexplicable sense of reverence surged into their hearts, making them stop.

The two beasts looked around, yet found nothing. But when they saw Liang Qu crouching at the bow, they immediately understood where it came from.

The heavenly god was becoming more and more terrifying.

At the same time, Liang Qu's body was undergoing deeper changes.

The increase in Marsh Spirit fusion rate fed back not only as stronger innate abilities, but also as an improvement to his physical constitution.

It was precisely because of this that Liang Qu had not been exhausted to death when he first entered the water to command Zhu Po Long.

By around four in the afternoon, after putting away four meals in a row at a rate of one meal per hour, Liang Qu stood bare-chested at the bow, his entire body crimson as blood.

His body temperature was rising sharply, yet strangely, he felt no discomfort at all.

Sweat flowed out and evaporated dry, leaving behind only salt crystals and grease.

Liang Qu had no choice but to desperately practice Ape Fist to expend the energy. The Qi in his chest appeared almost the instant he began moving, rapidly circulating and growing stronger with every fraction of every second.

With every breath, arrow-like White Mist gushed from his mouth and nose.

Contracting and spreading, rolling without end!

At one moment, Liang Qu could even feel scorching liquid flowing between his mouth and nose, almost ready to erupt. Yet under his ceaseless boxing, the heat remained forever at the critical point of almost bursting forth, but not quite.

It was unbearably uncomfortable!

Liang Qu suppressed it with all his might. He did not dare spit blood.

A continuous stream of vital energy and blood overflowed. The Chest Qi, initially only half as thick as a chopstick, flourished until it was as thick as his little finger—and it was still growing.

As thick as a little finger! According to Hu Qi, it had already reached the level where he could begin Skin Refining, but Liang Qu had absolutely no idea what to do next.

Damn it. If he had known, he would have asked earlier. Why was it that whenever it came to a crucial moment, Hu Qi always hemmed and hawed, pretending to be profound and refusing to explain? Was he writing a novel and cutting off the chapter at the climax?!

Wave after wave of heat made Liang Qu's mind somewhat hazy. He endured the discomfort and guided the energy in his body upward along that strand of Qi.

Thicker, stronger! Based on Liang Qu's observations over so many days, the thicker and more vigorous the Chest Qi became, the better his physical constitution was. There could be no harm in training more.

He did not know how much time passed. After Liang Qu practiced his boxing again and again, that eruptive sensation finally gradually faded.

Liang Qu slowed his movements and felt the heat within his body gradually receding.

By then, the Chest Qi was already as thick as his index finger, a great deal thicker than the little-finger stage!

Even after he stopped moving, it did not immediately dissipate. Instead, it continued circulating with lasting vigor.

Liang Qu let out a long breath, and pure white vapor shot more than three feet from his nostrils.

The cold wind blew over him, and the skin all over his body, red as a boiled shrimp, rapidly faded into a healthy flush.

The lines of his muscles were smooth rather than exaggerated. Faint shark-muscle lines showed along both sides of his diaphragm, rising and falling like fish gills as he breathed.

Every Move carried greater strength and easier motion. When he threw a punch, it faintly brought a howling sound with it.

Awesome! As Liang Qu's mind calmed down, he discovered another of his advantages—or rather, something he had possessed before, but had never felt as clearly as he did today.

When others ate Treasure Fish, they merely ate Treasure Fish, digesting the energy contained in its flesh. But when he ate Treasure Fish, he gained not only the energy from its meat, but also a portion of Marsh Essence.

When Marsh Essence was used on the Marsh Spirit, it could further feed back into his body and improve his physical constitution!

Nanfu Power Ring—one battery was stronger than six!

I have double the energy! He connected with the Ze Cauldron.

Cauldron Master: Liang Qu

Refine Marsh Spirit: Water Monkey (White) (Fusion Rate: 36.6%↑)

Marsh Essence: None

River's Favor: None

Commanded Water Beasts: Taihua Crocodile, Six-Whiskered Catfish

Evaluation: The Water Monkey Marsh Spirit originated from the great Lord of the Huai River Waters. Its potential has not been sufficiently awakened; a little person with a frail nature and weak fate.

After four meals, Liang Qu had obtained a total of 33.2 points of Marsh Essence. However, the enhancement was not yet complete. It would likely all be finished before nightfall.

If the Water Monkey's fusion rate was an energy bar, then he had directly filled half of it in one go! The water flow he could control had also reached three hundred jin. Lifting two adult men for a short time would be no trouble at all! Unfortunately, there had not been much improvement in finer control, but Liang Qu was already completely satisfied.

41.4 points of Marsh Essence could be consumed to evolve the Taihua Crocodile into a Jiaomu Crocodile.

46.7 points of Marsh Essence could be consumed to evolve the Six-Whiskered Catfish into a Tiger-Head Catfish.

After checking the energy required for the two beasts' evolution, he found that it had likewise been greatly reduced.

By this calculation, a whole Crab Monster had actually contributed nearly a hundred points of Marsh Essence, even with some waste! No, it could still increase!

Liang Qu looked at the remaining thirteen Crab Seeds.

His Mental Strength was limited. He definitely could not command all of them, so he could only eat the rest.

He had to pick the best one.

Liang Qu brought the Belly Cover onto the boat and examined it bit by bit beneath the sunlight. The crabs within the Crab Seeds had already grown quite large, almost bursting through their membranes. It was easy to distinguish their sex, size, and condition of growth.

He eliminated those with little vitality, smaller body shapes, and weak physiques.

Only two were most suitable, but one of them was female, so Liang Qu eliminated it as well.

It was not that he was being sexist. Female crabs really were not as large as male crabs. If he was choosing a subordinate, naturally he had to choose a fierce general.

It's you!

Liang Qu cut open his finger and drew a Water Talisman across the back of the Crab Seed!