Commanding Spirit Monsters!

A faint blood-red glow rose, casting the yellow-orange Crab Seed in a bloody orange hue.

Separated by a translucent membrane, it did not affect the Ze Cauldron's commanding effect in the slightest.

The Blood Water seeped easily through the membrane. The character for "river" descended like the Five Elements Mountain Buddha had used to suppress Sun Wukong, plunging through the nutrient fluid and stirring up threads of bloody mist as it struck the young crab.

This was completely unlike the perilous experiences of commanding Cannot Move and Fat Catfish. The instant the link formed, it was like a breeze brushing across his face.

Liang Qu examined the sensation. The final gap in his Mental Link had been completely filled, marking the limit of the Water Beasts he could currently command. Unless he increased his Mental Strength, he could not command any more Water Beasts.

Successfully commanded Stone Turtle Crab. It can evolve.

The blood-red glow faded, and the Crab Seed returned to its orange-yellow color. Inside, the Stone Turtle Crab hatchling's eyestalks suddenly twitched.

Was it about to hatch?

Delighted, Liang Qu lifted the Crab Seed in both hands.

The hatchling inside developed differently from ordinary crabs. It had skipped the zoea stage and directly reached the juvenile crab stage. This particular one had been the best-developed among the Crab Seeds; its body filled the entire egg mass. It was hardly surprising that it was ready to emerge.

As for the remaining Crab Seeds, they could only be tossed into the pot and cooked, turning into another batch of Marsh Essence.

There was no way he was raising them. Raising them was not something that could be settled with a mere thought or a few words. The Crab Monster's displayed intelligence was far too low. It was difficult to imagine that, without being commanded, they would possess any concept of a "master" in their heads.

Liang Qu did not do things that were troublesome, dangerous, fraught with uncertainty, and low in returns.

Within the translucent spherical membrane, the juvenile crab waved its Giant Pincers, trying to break through. But having just been born, its shell was still soft, and it struggled greatly, able only to press against the membrane and deform it again and again.

Beside the skiff, Cannot Move and A Fei floated side by side on the water, utterly still as they too watched the juvenile crab about to hatch.

The juvenile crab struggled ever more fiercely. From its Giant Pincers to its torso, and finally its entire body, it twisted and exerted force.

The membrane kept swelling, deforming, and twisting. Finally—pop! Accompanied by a final sound like a bursting bubble, the translucent Crab Seed membrane finally ruptured. It collapsed in soft, wrinkled folds as transparent, viscous nutrient fluid flowed out and seeped into the cracks of the Wooden Board.

The newly born juvenile crab immediately lay prone on the deck, gripping and nibbling at its own Crab Seed membrane bit by bit with its pincers. At the same time, the white-jade soft shell covering its body visibly became glossy and full.

Aside from its still-white color due to its infancy, it looked nearly identical to the Crab Monster. Its upper body stood upright in an inverted triangle that narrowed from broad to slim, cinching at the waist into crab fuzz resembling a belt. Its lower body had six legs—an utterly miniature version of a miniature.

Oh, its abdominal flap was different too. A male crab's was triangular, making its upper chest look like two huge pecs. Unexpectedly handsome.

Once the juvenile crab had finished eating, Liang Qu stroked it with the pad of his Index Finger. Its shell had already gained a certain hardness, with a vaguely jade-like texture, though it was not too hard. He did not dare test it, but he figured it was probably about as hard as thin chocolate.

The fist-sized juvenile crab held its head high and puffed out its chest, its Dual Claws planted on its waist. Having earned recognition, it was clearly very proud.

Liang Qu laughed and tapped its head with his fingertip. "Since you're only the size of a Fist, I'll call you Fist."

He connected with the Ze Cauldron again, wanting to see how much Marsh Essence this little fellow needed to evolve.

Consume 800 points of Marsh Essence to evolve Stone Turtle Crab into Stone Turtle Crab King.

Eight hundred points!?

Liang Qu was startled by the amount of Marsh Essence needed for the Crab Monster's evolution.

Eight hundred points was far too much. A whole Crab Monster only gave one hundred points. To get eight hundred, he would need to kill more than eight of them.

Just one Crab Monster had forced one man and two beasts into a desperate, perilous retreat. If it had not been a little stupid, they would have died on the spot. He did not even dare imagine facing another one, much less eight.

Perhaps once the Marsh Spirit turned blue, or once he had Broken Three Barriers in martial arts, and the two beasts had evolved as well, they could reliably kill a Crab Monster. Otherwise, they would suffer injuries no matter what.

But this combat power was mine now.

Liang Qu had the juvenile crab jump into his palm, hoping fervently that it would grow up quickly.

As a male crab, its combat strength would definitely be greater. By then, he could swagger through the Shallow Water Area. Any Giant Crocodile four or five meters long would get a pincer to the face and be taught how to behave.

He just did not know when he could switch to another commanding method. Constantly slicing his Finger hurt too much.

Liang Qu's gaze passed over the juvenile crab and fell on the wounds across the pads of his three fingers. They were slowly healing; the lotus root he had eaten earlier had not yet fully lost its healing effect.

What a pity. Nearly a third of the Lotus Root Field had been eaten or destroyed in the battle with the Crab Monster. His heart was bleeding.

My lotus roots! They're all my lotus roots! Liang Qu was attached to the first pot of gold that had set him on the road to prosperity. The only way to make up for it was to smash up the useless crab shells and bury them beneath the Lotus Root Field as fertilizer.

The Crab Monster's enormous green shell could serve as a great shield, its two Giant Pincers could serve as small shields, and the tips of its six jointed legs could be used to make fish spears. Everything else was completely useless, fit only for one final bit of waste utilization.

In the boat, the water bubbled away. The Crab Seeds he had put in earlier were cooked.

Liang Qu fished one out and let it cool a little before swallowing it in one gulp, broth and all. He nearly blistered his mouth from the heat.

Marsh Essence +0.6

Only that much?

Liang Qu was deeply disappointed. Under normal circumstances, he would have been overjoyed, but his stomach was already full. With gains of only a fraction of a point, he truly had no interest in forcing them down.

"They're all yours."

Liang Qu tossed the remaining Crab Seeds to the two beasts, reducing the Marsh Essence they needed to evolve by a little more.

Not for the juvenile crab, though. Cannibalism among its own kind was too cruel, especially when it would be eating its own brothers and sisters.

After eating, Liang Qu looked at the sky. It was around four-thirty. He had not expected one Crab Monster to take up so much of his time.

He remembered Senior Brother Xiang saying that Master Yang would go to the Martial Arts School to teach in the afternoon or evening. He would definitely have to be there by Xu Time; he could not miss it.

Fortunately, there was still time. Liang Qu had Fat Catfish and Cannot Move hurry off to fish.

The two beasts dove beneath the water and vanished, leaving behind only rising bubbles.

Watching them depart, Liang Qu glanced at Fist on the prow and suddenly remembered something.

If he remembered correctly, crabs seemed to hibernate too?

The Crab Monster beneath the water had been so fierce that Liang Qu had instinctively overlooked that matter.

He had taken in three little brothers, and two of them needed to hibernate. Liang Qu suddenly felt a little troubled. He could only hope that Spirit Monsters had greater resistance to cold. But even if it did, a fist-sized juvenile crab would be of no help.

Until spring came next year, all his catches would probably have to rely on Fat Catfish alone.

Just after five, Fat Catfish lay on the prow and spat out three more fish along with a stream of water.

In an hour, the two beasts had caught twelve fish in total, worth roughly thirty to forty wen.

"That's about enough. Any later and it'll be too late." Liang Qu turned to Fist on the prow. "From now on, you'll live in the water with A Fei and Cannot Move."

The juvenile crab knocked on its Giant Pincers, walked along the edge of the boat, then bent its legs and leaped onto Cannot Move's head.

The three beasts floated on the water. Fist stood atop the Zhu Po Long's brow, and together they watched Liang Qu row away.

Back at the dock, Lin Songbao welcomed him, then weighed the fish and counted out the money.

Looking out over the Jianghuai Marshlands, Liang Qu could not help spreading his arms and planting his feet wide apart. His not-yet-dry trousers fluttered sharply in the cold wind, making him look exceptionally dashing.

"The sea is wide for fish to leap, the sky is high for birds to fly!" Lin Songbao asked with a smile, "You seem very happy?"

"That's right."

"Tell me so I can be happy too."

"If I told you, it wouldn't be fun anymore."

"?"

Liang Qu smiled and tossed the money pouch into the air, catching it in front of him as it fell.

Now, back to class!