Dragon Spirit Silk

[Marsh Essence +2786]

[Marsh Essence +2846]

[Marsh Essence +3147]

Within the Ze Cauldron, the pale blue Marsh Essence steadily rises, creating a pleasant sound of waves.

In two hours, with only a small portion of the excavation progressed, Liang Qu easily gained 8,600 points of Marsh Essence! Awesome!

Taking out a small bag he had prepared beforehand, Liang Qu placed the three Mermaid Tear separately to prevent them from scratching each other.

If the quality deteriorates, you're the one who suffers.

"The Merfolk tribe here left rather hastily."

The arrival of three Mermaid Tear in succession prompted Liang Qu to ponder further.

He found the Dragonfolk brothers who had helped him search and asked them about various matters concerning the Merfolk.

Since both races are aquatic, they should know each other quite well.

What do Merfolk themselves think about Mermaid Tear?

Long Pinghe pondered for a moment, "A sad thing, perhaps? Mermaid Tear are quite similar to Essence Blood. Without a certain level of strength, one will almost never have them in their lifetime."

Coupled with the human race's boundless pursuit, many Merfolk regard it as a Merfolk Curse, but most still cherish it, considering it a relic of their loved ones and keeping it as a memento.

Logically, they wouldn't easily abandon it; they'd probably leave in a hurry or something must have happened.

Are there any differences in appearance between Merfolk and Dragonfolk?

"The difference is huge!" Long Pinghe lifted a beam with one hand and turned around to answer, "Lord Liang, don't be fooled by the fact that we are all aquatic creatures. In reality, we Dragonfolk are simply large in size. When we go ashore, many Martial Master will mistake us for Innate Martial Bone, but Merfolk will never be mistaken for us."

Long Pingjiang nodded. As he opened the bookcase drawer and rummaged through it, he touched both sides of his neck.

"The Merfolk have several layers of gills overlapping on both sides of their lower jaw. They are not usually visible, but when they are excited or have short breaths, they will vibrate rapidly and fan out white steam."

It has a semi-transparent webbed membrane between its toes, and a long fish tail running from its waist down, mostly blue or cyan; in short, it's immediately obvious that it's not human.

"Such a big difference? I've heard stories of Merfolk and humans falling in love before."

Long Pingjiang fell into deep thought, "Hmm, it was probably compiled by scholars, right? Intermarriage Dragonfolk and humans does exist, but Merfolk... I've never heard of them."

Long Pinghe asked curiously, "Where did you learn that, Lord Liang? Merfolk and humans can't reproduce!"

"Oh? Unable to have children?"

"Dragonfolk are human embryos created by the Dragon Lord, while Merfolk half human and half fish, which is their nature. Moreover, their way of giving birth to offspring is very different from ours, and is more like fish, which give birth to offspring outside the body."

"In vitro!?"

Liang Qu was greatly alarmed.

Merfolk?

"Um, it's not that exaggerated... It's different from fish. It takes a period of time to develop inside the body, and then another one to two months to develop outside the body before it can break through the amniotic membrane and reproduce as a baby Merfolk."

Liang Qu suddenly realized.

Viviparous.

The wonders of the world.

"Are there still Merfolk tribes living in the Jiang Huai Great Marsh today?"

"Yes... right?"

Long Pingjiang's tone was hesitant and full of uncertainty.

"Without the protection of the Dragon Lord, I recall that most of the Merfolk tribes that came to the Jiang Huai Great Marsh left, but there were probably some small settlements that survived in more remote places, so maybe some of them stayed behind?"

"Were there many Merfolk in the Great Marsh Swamp before?"

"Very many!" Long Pingjiang's eyes were full of pride, but even more so with a sigh. "Back then, with the Dragon Lord Great Marsh charge, the Jiang Huai Great Marsh was incredibly prosperous, and it wasn't just because it was the largest lake in the world."

At that time, the Jianghuai was the first Great Marsh where people could exchange goods and engage in trade with humans.

On the Dragon Lord's birthday, many Martial Saint were invited to the Dragon Palace as guests, and they left behind their Ink Treasure.

For the Shui people, there is no place in the world safer or more full of opportunities than the Jiang Huai Great Marsh.

Many Great Demon even went downstream to the Great Marsh to seek development, just like human Martial Master who left their hometowns for towns and counties.

Previously, the Merfolk possessed the ability to weave Mermaid Silk, but lacked the capacity to transform it into wealth. Only after arriving in the Jiang Huai Great Marsh were they able to exchange goods with other aquatic creatures and humans, and their lives became much better than in the sea, naturally attracting more and more of them.

However, we can no longer see them, and we rarely contact the Merfolk anymore.

The Dragonfolk People are struggling to survive, so how could they possibly have the time to look for Merfolk? Liang Qu understands how important commerce is to the development of a region.

A rational business model is essentially about maximizing efficiency and differentiating functions.

However, for businesses to prosper, they cannot do without the support of a broader context.

With the Dragon Lord present, order can penetrate to the grassroots level, creating a stable environment that naturally leads to rapid development.

With the Dragon Lord gone, the order that had seeped into the bottom layer collapsed. Driven by animal instincts, it became a world of black-on-black, black-on-black, enslavement and being enslaved.

Of course, the Dragon Lord himself must be a rather enlightened fellow.

During the discussion, a large shadow fell over Liang Qu's head.

A large Fujian-style ship stopped on the water, dropped its black iron anchor, hooked it into the riverbed, and after being dragged for a while, came to a complete stop.

Splash! Splash! Several figures jumped off the boat in succession. As the water Ta Ta Kai away, the soft fur of the Great Beaver was revealed.

Without exchanging pleasantries, Liang Qu had the entire River Otter and beaver family join the digging.

With the addition of two Lineage of Water Beast known for their skill and dexterity, the entire excavation work went much more smoothly.

Before long, Ta Ta Kai over two wooden crates.

The wooden box, of unknown material, showed no signs of decay.

Liang Qu broke the lock and opened the first one. Inside were several bolts of silk cloth, which were different from ordinary cloth. They were exceptionally thin and light, without any signs of being soaked, which was quite mysterious.

"Mermaid Silk?"

Long Pingjiang, being well-informed, recognized the material of the cloth at a glance.

"This is Mermaid Silk?"

Liang Qu touched it and found it very soft, but unfortunately, he couldn't absorb the Marsh Essence.

With no strength in her palm, her dancing clothes were light; she cut the mermaid's tail and shattered the spring's green.

The fabric is of good quality; it doesn't get wet when soaked, unlike ordinary fabrics that change color or feel awkward against the skin when wet.

But it's useless; it's too thin, see-through, and overly erotic—it's not something a man should wear at all.

I can only take it out to sell, but I don't know how much I can get for it.

The second wooden box contained cloth as well.

"Dragon Silk!"

"Dragon Silk? It's different from Mermaid Silk?"

"It's different. Most ordinary people think of Dragon Silk as another name for Mermaid Silk, but in reality, one is worn by men and the other by women."

Liang Qu suddenly realized that upon closer inspection, the Dragon Silk was indeed not as thin as the silk in the first wooden box; it was very thick.

No perspective!

That's alright, the Dragon Silk isn't that thin, I can wear it myself.

Night fell.

As expected, Ta Ta Kai led his family of otters to dig three feet into the ground and found a total of eighteen pieces of Mermaid Silk, fifteen pieces of Dragon Silk, and three Mermaid Tear!

On the other side, the Fat Catfish dug for a long time and finally unearthed a large box, which it excitedly carried over.

Liang Qu initially thought it was another piece of silk like Dragon Silk or Mermaid Silk, but when he opened it, he found that it was indeed cloth inside.

But this cloth moves! The moment it was opened, the white cloth inside swayed gently. Liang Qu thought it was just bobbing up and down with the water, but to his surprise, the cloth actually followed the current and floated out of the wooden box and wrapped around it! It looked exactly like an octopus! Liang Qu immediately used Water Prison to hold the cloth in place and called Long Pingjiang to identify what kind of magical creature was inside the box.

The Fat Catfish stood nearby, anxiously poking at each other with its Long Whiskers whiskers, thinking it had accidentally dug up something dirty.

Long Pingjiang swam over and recognized it at a glance without much effort.

"Dragon Spirit Silk!"