Chapter 90: Chapter 64: Strategy_l
Translator: 549690339
The Giant Turtle uprooted a mountain and dived back into Blackwater River, searching for the Divine Mansion.
On the other side, Xu Yang was deep in thought and had a bit of an idea.
He couldn’t do anything to the Giant Turtle right now by fighting head-on or facing it alone.
Sneak attacks and mass ambushes would also be ineffective, as the opponent’s defense was simply too strong.
But being ineffective now didn’t mean it would be ineffective in the future.
He decided… to wear out this old turtle!
Of course, this endurance battle wasn’t about competing for lifespan in the conventional sense.
With turtles living for thousands of years, and considering the time flow in this world was only a tenth of the real world’s, Xu Yang really didn’t have the capital to outlive or exhaust it to death.
So, he was going to… out-develop it!
Not to outlast it in death, but to outlast it in slowness, in the progression of its realm, in its speed of improvement!
As long as he could surpass the Giant Turtle in strength before it found the Blackwater Divine Mansion and became the deity of Blackwater River, he could easily solve this problem.
This was Xu Yang’s strategy.
A completely feasible strategy.
Because Xu Yang had discovered something.
The growth of Alien beasts relied on three key factors.
First was Yuan Qi, constrained by the environment.
Second was food, constrained by resources.
Third was bloodline, constrained by innate talent.
Yuan Qi needs no elaboration; the Giant Turtle could enter the Forbidden Area and absorb the Blackwater Spiritual Qi, and so could he. They were on the same starting point.
The key was food. With its massive body and slow movements, the Giant Turtle had great difficulty in hunting. Fish that were at the level of Spirit Monsters and Alien beasts could easily detect its presence from afar and escape immediately.
To capture big fish, it would have to use Divine Skills to forcefully pull those
Spirit Monsters and Alien beasts to it using “Earth Yuan Heavy Water,” but the Yuan Qi expended in doing so would probably exceed what was replenished by feeding.
Therefore, the Giant Turtle’s food sources were incredibly scarce. It could hardly ever catch Spirit Monsters or Alien beasts and had to nibble on water vegetation and ordinary fish with low spirit wisdom, which couldn’t resist.
In fact, it had been years since it had managed to eat a Spirit Monster or Alien beast. If it weren’t for the nourishment of the nature’s spiritual energy in the Black Water Forbidden Area, it might not only fail to progress but could even regress.
So, Xu Yang could start with food, suppressing the opponent while striving to catch up.
That was the situation with food.
Then there was the aspect of bloodline…
The Giant Turtle was naturally a rare breed with a powerful bloodline, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been the foremost Demon Beast in Blackwater River.
In this aspect, Xu Yang couldn’t suppress it, he could only catch up by continuing to cultivate the Fish-Dragon Transformation Skill.
The dragon is the supreme being among the Aquatic Clan. As long as he continued to cultivate the Fish-Dragon Transformation Skill and purify the Dragon Species bloodline, he could surely surpass the slowly progressing, or even stagnating Mystical Tortoise.
After all, bloodline growth also depends on food. Without sufficient provisions, not just the Mystical Tortoise, even the Black Tortoise would have a hard time improving its strength.
Therefore, Xu Yang’s plan to out-endure and out-develop was entirely feasible.
“The first step is to become self-sufficient, ensuring a cycle of supply, not to drain the pond to get all the fish, and to avoid destroying the ecology!”
“Next is to leave no stone unturned for that Mystical Tortoise, cutting off its food supply completely, letting it only drink the northwest wind!”
“That means, we need to manage breeding, surveillance, dispersal, and other tasks properly.”
“Which is to say… I’ll have to engage in agriculture and develop subordinates!”
“The more fish, the greater the power!”
A glint of sharp light flashed in Xu Yang’s eyes as he immediately soared and swished his tail, patrolling around Blackwater River.
Three days later.
“Gurgle gurgle!”
Within the Forbidden Area, Blackwater bubbled, and a mountain-like immense figure heavily stepped out.
It was the Giant Turtle!
It had searched the Forbidden Area for three whole days, yet it came up empty-handed.
In those three days, eroded by Blackwater and absorbing the nature’s spiritual energy into its body, the residual divine consciousness of the river deity also accumulated, imposing an extremely severe burden on its spirit, forcing it to exit from within the Forbidden Area.
Having stepped out of the Black Water Forbidden Area, the Giant Turtle didn’t linger. It moved its massive body and headed towards an area dense with fish.
It was time to feed!
As the saying goes, what makes you can break you. Its mountainous size endowed it with immense strength and an invincible physique, but this also made its movements incredibly slow and difficult to conceal.
For a predator, this could be fatal.
The major fish at the level of Spirit Monsters and Alien beasts could detect its presence from a distance, scatter immediately, and even with its water control abilities aiding its movement, it was hard to catch those big fish.
Left with no choice, it could only go after ordinary fish and shrimp below the level of Alien beasts.
However, these ordinary fish and shrimp had frail Qi Blood and scarce nutrition. Sometimes the energy expended in hunting didn’t even match the gain.
So, the Giant Turtle seldom went hunting, usually lying by the edge of the Forbidden Area, relying on absorbing Blackwater Spiritual Qi to subsist.
But this time, it wanted to eat something. In the past few days, it had absorbed too much Blackwater Spiritual Qi, and both its spirit and body were somewhat overburdened. It needed to feed to console itself and recover,
“This time I’ll indulge a bit and use Divine Skills to capture a few Spirit Monster big fish to treat myself well!”
“Which ones should I catch? The Red-backed Shrimp tastes delicious, the catfish is also good, and I haven’t had eels or loaches in a long time…”
The Giant Turtle controlled the currents, moving its body like a king surveying its territory, swimming leisurely in Blackwater River. But it quickly sensed something was amiss.
“Where are the fish?”
“Where are the fish???”
“Where are the fish of my Blackwater River!!!”
After completing its circuit and finding nothing, the Giant Turtle finally realized something as it faced the desolate depths devoid of fish, letting out a dragon-like roar of anger.
The fish… were gone!
All major fish of the Spirit Monster and Alien beast levels had disappeared from the deep water area.
Who did this?
Who was so cruel as to not leave a single one for it?
With rage, the Giant Turtle turned back, its eyes blazing with spirit light like two lanterns lighting up within Blackwater River, searching for the enemy’s trail.
But it found nothing!
There was no sign of fish to be seen!
“Little thief! ! ”
The Giant Turtle roared furiously, brimming with anger yet helpless, forced to reconcile with its bad luck by manipulating the water currents to sweep some ordinary fish and shrimp before it and bitterly swallowing them whole.
It knew who was behind this.
Along the entire Blackwater River, aside from itself and that Dragon Species Green Fish, no one else could have cleaned out the deep-water zone’s Spirit Monsters and Alien Beasts in just three short days.
Did this little thief intend to cut off its food supply to limit its growth?
Truly despicable!
But it was of no matter, for it still had Blackwater Spiritual Qi, which could completely replace food. Even without eating, it wouldn’t starve to death, and it could even raise its cultivation, purify its bloodline. As long as it had enough time, it could still advance.
You, Green Fish, think you can outlast me, the Mystical Tortoise?
Even if I can’t find the Divine Mansion’s divine seal, I am set on eating you up!
After casually consuming some insipid food that it was a pity to waste, the Giant Turtle returned to the edge of the Forbidden Area, lying down to digest the Spiritual Energy.
Although it didn’t get to eat what it wanted and was in a bad mood, it wasn’t anxious.
The Blackwater River was only so big, and there were only so many Spirit Monsters and Alien Beasts. Such an event, the opponent could at most pull it off once in a short time.
After eating this batch of Spirit Monsters and Alien Beasts, it would take at least another ten or twenty years for the next batch to be born.
With such a long growth cycle, it was almost impossible for the opponent to overtake it as the number one Demon Beast of the Blackwater River by relying on food resources.
Even if it were possible, by the time it succeeded, it would take hundreds or even thousands of years.
Could that mere Green Fish live that long?
Even if it could live that long, by that time, I would have long found the Blackwater Divine Mansion and refined the Blackwater Divine Seal.
Then, I would have control over the entire Blackwater River, and wouldn’t I kill that detestable little thief?
So, no need to overthink, just peacefully sleep!
The Giant Turtle closed its eyes and peacefully fell asleep, completely ignoring its rival.
And so, three years passed.
Three years later…
The Giant Turtle once again awoke from its slumber and let out a long howl that shook the heavens and the earth.
It had refined the Blackwater Spiritual Qi again, its cultivation had risen, and its strength had increased.
This was already the fifty-eighth time in three years that it had probed the Blackvvater for Spiritual Energy absorption.
Though it had not found the Blackwater Divine Mansion, the long-term full-load absorption of Blackwater Spiritual Qi had also significantly enhanced its cultivation, purified its bloodline and bolstered its strength; it was now even more formidable.
Therefore, it let out a pleased howl to express the joy in its heart.
After the howl, it looked up, only to see that the Blackwater River was still the
Blackwater River; there seemed to be no change.
But the Giant Turtle inexplicably felt uneasy.
Over these three years, that little thief hadn’t come looking for trouble, nor had it ventured into the deeper waters of the Blackwater to search for the Divine Mansion. It had only been absorbing Blackwater Spiritual Qi at the edges, which puzzled the Giant Turtle and it couldn’t figure out what it was planning.
Could there be a plot afoot?
The Giant Turtle hesitated for a moment, but ultimately propped itself up and began patrolling the Blackwater River.
After patrolling around… “Hmph!”
“That’s all you’ve got.”
“If you have the ability, eat all the fish in this Blackwater River!”
Looking at the empty and desolate deep-water zone, where not just the Spirit Monsters and Alien Beasts but even ordinary large fish were nowhere to be seen, the Giant Turtle snorted coldly. It stopped wasting time, turned around and returned to the Forbidden Area, ready to probe the Blackwater once more.
What it didn’t realize was that shortly after it left…
A dragon chant sounded like a battle horn, echoing throughout the bottom of the Blackwater River.
Following that, the Blackwater surged with an immense tidal wave.
Amidst the surging tide, a burst of green light was distinctly noticeable.
Upon closer inspection, it was a Green Fish with a dragon-like appearance, clad in scales and armor, eight feet long, leading the way, followed by a mighty school of fish with several large and impressive Spirit Monsters and Alien Beasts among them.
The Green Fish led the fish school back with the tidal wave, then flicked its tail, commanding them like a general. The fish school dispersed in every direction, beginning their daily tasks of hunting, feeding, mating, and laying eggs.
For Alien Beasts, this was routine.
Yet today’s work was different.
Although it was still a big fish eating little fish, and little fish eating shrimps kind of ecological structure and food chain, it was now noticeably more efficient compared to before, without meaningless waste and unnecessary consumption. Overall, it appeared as efficient as machinery, fluid like the passing clouds and flowing water, maximizing efficiency to the utmost.
It seemed as if each school of fish, even every single fish, had their own post, their own job.
Each one was dutiful, selflessly contributed, and became part of the collective, busily working for it.
This scene was utterly incredible, bewildering to even think about! How could such collective behavior, such work efficiency, be achieved not by humans, but by fish?
No, not just fish, but also turtles, shrimps, and crabs—different species altogether working together cooperatively?
This…
Xu Yang
Species: Green Fish (Dragon Species)
Cultivation: Muscle Bone Realm
Lifespan: 12/200
Skills:
Swimming (Muddy Water Jiao Dragon)
Eating (Daily Devouring of Ten Cows, Form Supplementing Form, Return to the Ancestors, Big Fish Eat Little Fish)
Breathing (Strengthening the Body, Stabilize Foundation and Cultivate Essence, Purifying Blood and Converting Qi)
Sleeping (Soothing the Spirit and Nourishing the Soul, Extending Life)
Taoist Skills (Whim, Divination with Grassroots)
Martial Practice (Fish-Dragon Change, External Muscle Bone Training)
Breeding (Alien Beast Taming, Spirit Beast Enlightenment, Strong Body, Robust Growth, Dragon King’s Command)
Special Abilities: Green Jade Scales, Fish-Dragon Form, Immunity to All
Poisons, Gloomy and Severe Poison, Dragon Snake’s Molt, Thunder-Driving
Lightning-Lifting.