Massive Essence of the Waters!

He gorged himself without restraint. Armed with his chopsticks, Liang Qu frantically fished out crab roe, and while waiting for the next batch to boil, he didn't forget to dig meat from the crab legs and toss it to the two beasts. Neither beast had hands, and the crab monster's carapace was extraordinarily hard. Cannot Move managed all right, barely able to crunch through the outer shell, but the Fat Catfish was completely helpless; eating was an ordeal, so it relied entirely on Liang Qu, its master. Eating while digging out meat, he kept both tasks going without wasting a moment. A quarter of an hour later. *Burp—* Liang Qu let out a resounding burp. He was stuffed to the brim, unable to force down another bite. Eating nothing but crab roe was simply too rich—greasy enough to make him want to retch. Halfway through, he had already been forcing it down by sheer willpower. The two beasts had far larger stomachs than his, devouring it all with terrifying appetites, wolfing down bite after bite. A big appetite was a blessing. Liang Qu only wished they would eat more and accumulate more essence of the waters so they could evolve sooner into a Hornwood Alligator and a tiger-head catfish. Their evolved names sounded imposing, and they were bound to be formidable. When that time came, slaughtering another crab monster would not be nearly as harrowing as today. For a time, Liang Qu became unpaid labor. He busied himself prying out meat and blanching it in boiling water before spreading it across the bow to air-dry. The high heat killed bacteria, and drying it would extend its shelf life. Whatever meat he didn't have time to boil was tossed straight to the two beasts. The crab monster was massive enough that he didn't even need to smash the carapace; he could simply reach inside and pull out handfuls of snowy-white crab meat. Once the meat was hollowed out, Liang Qu didn't even let the gills go to waste. He cleaned them thoroughly and blanched them as well. As the organs that filtered impurities, crab gills would easily give a human diarrhea, but the two beasts weren't picky at all and gobbled them down just the same. Before developing spirit wisdom, they had swallowed crabs raw and whole without washing them at all, to say nothing of eating them rinsed and cooked. After finishing, Liang Qu assumed his stance and practiced his fist forms, trying to speed up his digestion. An hour later, he dug in again. As he devoured the food, thoughts of absorption flashed one after another, consuming the essence of the waters to raise the fusion level of his Water Monkey marsh spirit. Practically every fifteen minutes, the fusion percentage on the interface ticked up a few points. Countless specks of light drifted from the Marsh Cauldron, gradually merging into the illusory phantom of the spirit monkey. Not only within his mind, but also outside his field of view, a faint, translucent phantom of a white-furred spirit monkey materialized behind him. On either side of the sampan, Cannot Move and the Fat Catfish were swimming furiously, trying to burn off the energy coursing through their bodies. But the moment this phantom appeared, an inexplicable sense of awe surged into their hearts, freezing them in place. The two beasts glanced around in confusion, finding nothing, but when they looked at Liang Qu crouching on the bow, they instantly understood where it came from. The celestial deity was becoming more terrifying by the day. Meanwhile, deeper transformations were underway within Liang Qu's body. The rising fusion level of the marsh spirit did not just enhance his innate abilities; it also fed back into his physical constitution. It was thanks to this very effect that Liang Qu hadn't collapsed and died of sheer exhaustion the first time he dived into the water to dominate the Sow Dragon. By around four in the afternoon, having polished off a meal every hour for four meals straight, Liang Qu stood bare-chested on the bow, his entire body glowing blood-red. His body temperature was soaring rapidly, yet eerily, he felt no discomfort whatsoever. Sweat poured forth only to evaporate instantly, leaving behind nothing but grains of salt and a sheen of oil. Liang Qu had no choice but to throw himself into Ape Fist to burn through the excess energy. The breath in his chest surged forth almost the instant he moved, circulating at breakneck speed and growing stronger with every passing second. With every breath, white mist shot from his mouth and nostrils like sharp arrows. Contracting and expanding, roiling without end! At a certain moment, Liang Qu could even feel scalding liquid surging behind his nose and throat, practically ready to erupt. Yet under the unrelenting barrage of his punches, the burning torrent remained teetering on the verge of erupting without quite doing so. It was unbearable! Liang Qu suppressed it with all his might, not daring to let himself spit blood. An endless torrent of qi and blood welled forth. The qi in his chest, originally only half as thick as a chopstick, swelled vigorously until it reached the thickness of his little finger—and it was still growing. As thick as a little finger! According to Hu Qi, this had already reached the level where one could begin skin tempering, yet Liang Qu had no idea what to do next. *Damn it, if I'd known, I would've asked him earlier. Why does he always beat around the bush and act all profound and secretive whenever it matters?* *Is he writing a web novel and cutting off at cliffhangers or what?!* Surge after surge of burning heat clouded Liang Qu's mind. Forcing down the discomfort, he guided his internal energy into this strand of qi. Grow thicker, grow stronger! From his observations over the past several days, the thicker the qi in his chest grew, the better his physical constitution became. Nurturing it more couldn't possibly hurt. Who knew how much time passed, but under Liang Qu's repeated cycles of fist routines, that bursting sensation finally began to subside. Liang Qu slowed his movements, feeling the burning torrent inside him gradually recede. By now, the qi in his chest had grown as thick as his index finger—a significant step beyond the thickness of a little finger! Even after he stopped moving, it did not disperse, continuing to circulate steadily without fading. Liang Qu exhaled a long breath. Pure white mist shot from his nostrils for more than three chi. As the cold wind brushed past, his skin, previously flushed red like a cooked shrimp, rapidly faded to a healthy, rosy complexion. The muscular contours across his body were sleek yet distinct. Along the sides of his torso, the serratus anterior muscles faintly emerged like shark gills, rising and falling with his breath. Every gesture carried greater strength and effortless ease. When he threw a punch, a faint whistling broke through the air. Exhilarating! With his mind calm again, Liang Qu discovered another advantage of his—or rather, one that had existed all along, though he had never felt it so clearly until today. When others ate treasure fish, they merely ate treasure fish, digesting the energy contained within the flesh. But when he ate treasure fish, he gained not only the flesh's energy, but also a portion of essence of the waters. And when the essence of the waters was channeled into the marsh spirit, it fed back into his body, enhancing his physical constitution even further! *Nanfu Energy Ring, one battery outlasts six!* *I get double the energy!* He communed with the Marsh Cauldron. [Cauldron Master: Liang Qu] [Refined Marsh Spirit: Water Monkey (White) (Fusion: 36.6% ↑)] [Essence of the Waters: None] [River Favor: None] [Dominated Water Beasts: Taihua alligator, six-whisker catfish] [Evaluation: The Water Monkey marsh spirit originates from the great Lord of the Huai and Guo Rivers, yet it remains insufficiently stimulated. A petty figure of meager nature and fragile destiny.] Across his four meals, Liang Qu had gained a total of 33.2 points of essence of the waters. The enhancement process had not fully concluded yet, but he estimated it would finish completely before nightfall. If the Water Monkey's fusion progress was an energy bar, he had directly filled up half of it in a single stretch! The volume of water he could control had reached three hundred jin; lifting two grown men for a short period would be effortless! Unfortunately, his fine control hadn't improved much, but Liang Qu was already well satisfied. [Can expend 41.4 points of essence of the waters to evolve Taihua alligator into Hornwood Alligator] [Can expend 46.7 points of essence of the waters to evolve six-whisker catfish into tiger-head catfish] Checking the energy required for the two beasts to evolve, that had also dropped dramatically. Calculating it this way, an entire crab monster, even with some waste, had contributed nearly a hundred points of essence of the waters! No, it could yield even more! Liang Qu looked at the remaining thirteen crab eggs. His mental strength was limited, so he certainly couldn't dominate them all. The rest would have to be eaten. He needed to pick the best one. Liang Qu brought the abdominal apron onto the boat and inspected it bit by bit against the sunlight. The little crabs inside the eggs had already grown considerably, practically ready to burst through the membranes. It was easy to discern their sex, size, and developmental condition. He eliminated those lacking vigor, those that were undersized, and the frail ones. Only two were ideal, but one of them was female, so Liang Qu eliminated that one as well. Not that he had any bias—female crabs simply didn't grow as large as males. If he was choosing a subordinate, he naturally wanted a fierce general. "I choose you!" Liang Qu sliced open his finger and traced a water talisman onto the back of the crab egg!