10: A nighttime exploration of the Yangtze River!
It paddled its limbs, beginning to cautiously explore these unfamiliar waters.
Soon, it encountered the original inhabitants of the Great River.
A Black Fish, nearly half a meter long, its entire body covered in hard scales.
With a fierce glint in its eyes, it swam straight toward the Clone.
When it was still three zhang away, it hastily turned around.
It saw clearly that the Turtle in front of it was more than twice its size.
It was reckless.
But it still knew its limits.
"Where are you going!" Li Qing was not startled but delighted.
It was just acting tough a moment ago!
Little Black, curiosity is not a good sign!
In the past, encountering a fish of this size would have likely cost the Clone some effort.
But now, it had advanced from a Mortal Species to a Low-tier Spirit Beast.
A Spirit Turtle possessing multiple talents!
With a thought from Li Qing, the Water Control Talent activated!
A powerful vortex formed in front of the Black Fish, instantly disrupting its escape and significantly reducing its speed.
Then, Li Qing suddenly opened his large mouth and, relying on the Great Strength talent, bit into the Black Fish's flank.
"Crunch!"
The Black Fish's hard scales were like thin paper under Xiao Jia's sharp beak, instantly pierced through.
The Black Fish thrashed in pain, its tail whipping violently toward Xiao Jia's head.
Li Qing was prepared and activated Armor Defense.
Heh, it didn't hurt!
Then, without lessening the pressure from his jaws, he gave his head a violent shake.
The Black Fish was instantly torn in two.
With two quick gulps, the Black Fish was in Li Qing's stomach!
[Devoured Black-scaled Fish, evolution value +0.8]
"Beautiful!"
Li Qing couldn't help but praise.
Just an ordinary fish from the Great River provided more evolution value than a Silver-spined Fish from the tributary.
One must know that Silver-spined Fish were rare in the tributary.
This Great River truly is a treasure trove!
The temptation of his evolution value soaring made him incredibly excited.
This was only the edge of the Great River; if he went deeper, the evolution value for advancement would be within reach!
Li Qing continued to prowl, specifically looking for solitary fish to target. The fish resources in the Great River were indeed abundant; before long, his evolution value increased significantly.
[Devoured River Catfish, evolution value +0.6]
[Devoured Red-tailed Carp, evolution value +0.5]
...[evolution value: 54.8/500]
Just as Li Qing was calculating whether he could Breakthrough 70 evolution value points tonight, he swam into a dense Reed Marsh.
The reeds here were much taller than those by the small river, with tangled underwater roots obstructing his vision.
Suddenly, an intense sense of crisis surged in Xiao Jia's heart!
Before Li Qing could react, a massive black shadow burst out from the reeds, pouncing toward Xiao Jia with a foul wind.
It was a giant crocodile nearly three meters long.
Its entire body was covered in iron-gray scales.
Its bloody maw was filled with teeth as sharp as daggers.
Its two murky eyes glinted with a cruel light.
[Iron-Toothed Crocodile (Third Tier Fierce Beast)]
[Extremely ferocious, excels at ambushes, teeth can easily tear through steel.]
"A Third Tier Fierce Beast!" Li Qing's scalp tingled.
The Aura emitted by this Iron-Toothed Crocodile was far beyond that of the first-tier Spined Catfish from before!
The Iron-Toothed Crocodile was shockingly fast, arriving in front of the Clone in an instant.
Its toothy maw was already open, biting down hard toward Li Qing's shell!
"Armor Defense!"
In a split second between life and death, Li Qing instinctively activated the defense talent of the Spiritual Patterned Turtle.
A faint blue halo instantly appeared on Xiao Jia's shell, with spiritual patterns flickering, enveloping the entire Turtle's body.
"Clang!"
A dull sound of clashing metal rang out underwater.
The Iron-Toothed Crocodile's massive mouth bit down hard on Xiao Jia's shell.
A sound echoed, but it failed to pierce through.
Even so, the massive impact left Li Qing feeling dizzy and disoriented.
A needle-pricking sensation came from the shell.
Li Qing saw that a shallow white mark had been left where the shell was bitten!
"That was close!"
He was horrified; if the Armor Defense talent hadn't been enhanced after the evolution, this single bite would have likely killed or severely injured the Clone.
This single bite...
It might have even been snapped in half.
The Iron-Toothed Crocodile was somewhat surprised that its strike failed.
It was, after all, a Third Tier Fierce Beast.
The minor overlord of this Reed Marsh.
As for the major overlord, there were even stronger Vicious Beasts!
It then became even more frenzied, whipping its tail to churn the water and opening its mouth to bite again.
"Water Control!"
Li Qing pushed his Water Control Talent to the limit.
A chaotic current suddenly exploded in front of the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's eyes, temporarily obstructing its vision.
"Run!"
Seizing the opportunity, he turned around and fled toward the edge of the Reed Marsh with all his might.
Aided by the Water Control Talent, Li Qing dashed through the water at high speed.
Disturbed by the current, the Iron-Toothed Crocodile let out an angry roar.
The Turtle before it had already taken the chance to escape several meters away.
It had thought that capturing the Turtle would be as easy as reaching into a pocket.
In the end, the cooked duck had flown away!
It could only lash out in impotent rage, circling in frustration.
Speed was its weakness, and it could only watch as Li Qing vanished from its sight.
Li Qing didn't dare linger for a second, controlling the Clone to flee this dangerous area at maximum speed.
The Iron-Toothed Crocodile's strength served as a wake-up call; the Great River was indeed fraught with danger.
At the moment he escaped the Reed Marsh, Li Qing relied on his Spirit Beast instincts.
In an inconspicuous corner near the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's lair, he discovered a dark green aquatic plant emitting a faint, exotic fragrance.
In a flash, he lunged his head forward.
He snatched the plant in his mouth and fled toward the tributary entrance without looking back.
After a frantic run, Li Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief when he returned to the familiar small river.
The white marks from the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's bite still remained on the Clone's shell.
The brief encounter just now left him with lingering fears.
If the Clone died, his dream of becoming a Martial Artist would be shattered.
It seems he still wasn't being cautious enough.
"A Third Tier Fierce Beast is indeed not something I can handle right now."
Li Qing warned himself.
Escaping this time was pure luck, combined with the effectiveness of the Armor Defense and Water Control Talents.
That Iron-Toothed Crocodile wasn't skilled in speed either.
If he had encountered a Vicious Beast that excelled in speed, his chances would have been grim.
With his nerves finally settling, Li Qing remembered the aquatic plant he had snatched before fleeing.
He spat out the dark green plant and observed it closely.
The plant was about the size of a palm, entirely dark green, and emitted a strange, fresh fragrance that refreshed the spirit upon smelling it.
[ink spirit grass (Low-tier Spiritual Plant)]
[Contains pure water-attribute Spiritual Qi, can slightly increase evolution value, and has a chance to improve Physique.]
"A Spiritual Plant!"
Li Qing's eyes lit up.
This was an unexpected pleasant surprise!
He swallowed the ink spirit grass without hesitation.
The plant melted in his mouth, and a cool, warm current immediately rose from Xiao Jia's stomach, flowing through his entire body.
[Devoured ink spirit grass, evolution value +50]
[evolution value: 104.8/500]
50 evolution value points!
This inconspicuous plant had actually caused his evolution value to skyrocket by 50 points!
"Good stuff! This Great River truly holds opportunities everywhere, but also danger everywhere."
Li Qing was filled with emotion.
Over the next few days, Gao Qiang's investigation into Zhao Si's death seemed to have hit a dead end.
The Constables in the Slum only conducted routine questioning before dropping the matter.
Although Gao Qiang made harsh threats, he ultimately couldn't find any clues.
It was said that he had begun to refocus his attention on the Martial Arts Academy slots, seemingly looking for other ways to obtain a spot.
This allowed Li Qing to breathe a temporary sigh of relief and devote more energy to improving his strength.
This evening, Li Qing was at home planning to try his luck at the edge of the Great River again.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice from outside the courtyard gate.
It was Chen Shui who had returned.