Martial Arts Minor Mastery, Underwater Mire
The Jianghuai Marshlands.
The Fat Catfish swims freely in the water, and the sensation of the water flowing past its side is extremely exhilarating, like soaring through the sky.
No Big Fish could swim as fast as it; it darted underwater like a Black Water lightning bolt, causing schools of fish to flee in panic.
With a flick of its long tail, the Fat Catfish rushed to the side of a grass carp weighing over ten kilograms in the blink of an eye.
The overwhelming noise frightened the grass carp, which turned and fled. Just as it rounded the bend, the Fat Catfish reappeared in front of it, grinning and revealing a set of sharp teeth, as if about to bite.
After spinning dozens of times, the grass carp was exhausted and could no longer swim, so it floated listlessly in the water.
After teasing it for a while, the grass carp still didn't react much.
The Fat Catfish got bored, flicked its tail, and sent the cat flying with tremendous force.
The grass carp leaped straight out of the water, creating a series of sparkling splashes in the sunlight, flying quite a distance.
With a bang.
Grass carp crashed into the fishing boat.
The fisherman on the boat was terrified and almost jumped into the water to escape. When he looked back, he saw that a Big Grass Carp had inexplicably appeared on the boat.
It was clearly alive, its gill covers were moving, yet it seemed to have no strength at all, remaining motionless and without any struggle, as if it had willingly come to the boat and awaited its fate of being caught and taken back.
After catching no fish for most of the day, the fisherman stared blankly at the empty river. After a moment of thought, he suddenly knelt down at the bow of the boat and kowtowed in worship.
"Thank you for your blessing, Lord River God!"
The Fat Catfish underwater was puzzled. It scratched its head with its Long Whiskers, found it very amusing, and then dived back into the water, knocking several large Big Fish onto the boat.
Bang bang bang.
The Big Fish was forced out of the water and kept landing on the boat deck with a loud thud, the most melodious sound the fisherman had ever heard in his life.
Miracle!
A true miracle! With each fish that fell, the fisherman knelt in worship, his expression one of intense emotion, almost devout.
"The River God has appeared! The River God has really appeared!"
The seventh day of the first lunar month.
The apprentices are still on spring break and will not return until tomorrow, leaving only Liang Qu and Hu Qi in the martial arts Martial Arts School's Martial Arts Field.
The sound of Wooden Stick striking each other was incessant, each stick becoming a blur.
About fifteen minutes later, Liang Qu's Qi and Blood dissipated completely, and he was panting heavily, supporting himself with a short stick in his hand.
Hu Qi rubbed his wrist, his heart filled with turmoil.
He held back quite a bit, and his attacks weren't very frequent, yet he managed to disrupt Liang Qu's rhythm in the slightest.
The body's vital Qi and Blood are not depleted due to a disruption of rhythm, but rather are steadily and gradually consumed from beginning to end.
How long has it been since Junior Brother started learning the Force Method? Half a month? Half a month to master Force Method to the point of instinct, to the point of minor success, and not to be disturbed by the rhythm? That's an exaggeration. It would take an ordinary person at least two or three months to do that. But Hu Qi watched Liang Qu gradually improve from clumsy to proficient. Especially in the first few days, it seemed like he suddenly grasped the knack, and his progress was particularly rapid.
One is one, and two is two.
This cannot be faked.
It's not just about the Force Method; even the fighting style is the same. As long as Liang Qu can control his emotional impulses during battle, he can fight quite well.
The Master's Ninth Disciple, that's quite something.
Whether crossing the river or being crossed by others, they are all of dragon blood.
Hu Qi thought of Liang Qu's Fate Standard and sighed, then inexplicably thought of the goal that Master Yang had set for him at the New Year's Eve dinner.
Junior Brother Xiang has already been targeted by a sword; it seems he might be next year.
Hu Qi wasn't unhappy; it was a good thing that his junior brother was capable.
A single tree cannot make a forest. My junior brother is a man of great loyalty and compassion. His abilities are great, and he can help all the disciples.
Having connections in the court makes it easier to become an official; even a three-year-old understands this principle.
Liang Qu, panting heavily while leaning on his stick, still felt exhausted and plopped down on the ground, not caring about the dirt.
"I can't go on, senior brother. I'm out of energy. Let's call it a day."
"There's still more than half a day left, why aren't you practicing? When the apprentices come back tomorrow, the environment won't be as quiet as it is now. Although you have a good Fate Standard, you must not be lazy. The road is built step by step."
Liang Qu chuckled, "To be honest, Senior Brother Hu, I plan to try Breaking Flesh Realm this afternoon."
Hu Qi stared in disbelief. "So fast? Didn't you say at the New Year's Eve dinner that it would still be half a month?"
"Yes, but I caught another Treasure Fish yesterday. I've been taking Medicinal Bath every day, and I've spent several tens of dollars on it. The progress is much faster than I originally thought."
Liang Qu's matter-of-fact attitude silenced Hu Qi. After a long while, he said dryly, "Then I'll grant you half a day off."
"Haha, thank you, Senior Brother Hu. I'll be going now. I'll bring you a good fish when I get back."
Liang Qu regained his energy, turned over, dusted himself off, and left.
In reality, he didn't intend to break through the barrier. The original expectation of half a month was based on the conditions of soaking in Medicinal Bath and eating Treasure Fish. After all these operations, it was impossible to achieve half of the goal ahead of schedule.
Liang Qu the one who truly wants a promotion.
It is Marsh Spirit.
The two beasts have been helping to find the big guy these past few days, and this morning they finally made some progress.
Liang Qu had a premonition that Marsh Spirit's advancement would bring about tremendous changes, with his physical attributes experiencing a leap forward.
Incidentally, Breaking Flesh Realm was a natural consequence.
It's not that I lied to Senior Brother Hu.
Half an hour later, Liang Qu had already sailed his Black Awning Boat onto the water.
After resting for a while, he summoned the three beasts.
The Fat Catfish and the Cannot Move fish floated to the surface in turn, followed by the Fist.
The Fist is getting bigger and bigger, and it's not appropriate to lie on its head any longer since Cannot Move.
"Has anything happened these past two days?"
The Fat Catfish thought of the fishermen who had knelt and bowed a few days ago, and how many fishermen had passed through that area of water afterward, always kneeling and bowing each time they passed by. It flicked its whiskers and shook its head firmly.
Nothing happened.
The fishermen themselves were being strange, kneeling and worshipping the air.
Liang Qu nodded. He was afraid that the two beasts would become arrogant after evolving, especially the Fat Catfish, which was the most foolish. If it were accidentally seen by someone, it would have a bad influence.
It wouldn't be a big problem; there are plenty of strange things underwater. It's just that Liang Qu has always believed in avoiding trouble.
He sat down on the side of the boat with a sense of satisfaction. "I've thought about it a few times these past two days. Now that you two have evolved, it's not appropriate to keep such childish names. So I've decided to change your names. You can keep your original names as nicknames."
Change your name? The two beasts were puzzled. They had never compared names before, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with their names, but they didn't object either.
What the gods give is good!
"Cannot Move! From now on, your full name will be Ironwood Mountain! Fat Catfish, from now on, your full name will be Ferocious Fang General! A Bu, A Fei, from now on, these two will be your nicknames!"
Liang Qu was smug and self-satisfied.
He spent many days thinking of the new name, which not only fits the characteristics of the two beasts but also sounds domineering.
Ironwood Mountain, Ferocious Fang General? The two beasts were bewildered but felt a sense of awe.
It seems to sound better than my original name? Anyway, I should just show that I'm happy.
The two beasts splashed water and circled the Black Awning Boat, while the Fist that had nothing to do with it pounded their pincers in support.
Liang Qu felt even more strongly that his name was exceptional.
"Come on, let's go check out where you two found this big guy. Whether we succeed today depends on whether you found the right place! We'll live the good life today!"
Liang Qu took Fubo and Azure Wolf, jumped into the water, first pulled out a hemp rope from his waist, tied it to A Bu, and let A Bu carry him.
Nowadays, unless Liang Qu manipulates the water flow to propel himself, his natural swimming speed is not as fast as if Cannot Move.
Manipulating the water flow requires a lot of physical strength, so it's better to let the Cannot Move carry it.
This guy is big, strong, and incredibly fierce; dragging a boat with a crocodile is nothing to him.
Seeing this, A Fei leaned his head closer, trying to show off as well.
Liang Qu thought that two-wheel drive might be a good option, but the experiment still didn't work.
A Fei's skin is too smooth; the rope slips off on its own once it's tied on. Unless a special saddle is made for it and put on its mouth, it won't stay on.
He wrapped the rope around his wrist, clamped his Fist between his legs, Cannot Move to move forward, dragging the man and the crab along at great speed, with A Fei close behind.
Soon the water depth exceeded fifty meters, but Liang Qu felt no discomfort whatsoever.
By merging with the Water Monkey Marsh Spirit, he not only greatly reduced his underwater oxygen consumption, but also became less afraid of pressure.
The intensity he could feel was about the same as when an ordinary person dives to about ten meters.
The two beasts were nothing to them.
But as you go deeper, strange things start to appear.
The surrounding aquatic plants are becoming more and more abundant, reaching up to a person's waist, making it feel like walking in a lush meadow.
He picked one and tasted it; it was just ordinary aquatic plant. How strange.
The mud underneath was soft and loose; stepping into it felt like stepping into a swamp.
Underwater, there are all sorts of strange and wonderful places, no less than on land.
Liang Qu was dragged to a muddy area with no water plants around.
He vaguely sensed that a huge creature was hiding under the mud.