16: Da Jiang's old profession!

Night deepened, and in the servant quarters, the snoring of several others rose and fell, while the air was filled with an indescribable mixture of scents.

Li Qing lay on his wooden bed, but he felt no sleepiness.

As for the bag of River Snails he had bought during the day, he had taken advantage of the small crowd in the evening to find an abandoned small stove in a corner of the back kitchen.

He had found some firewood and secretly boiled them.

Fifty wen for over five catties.

He shelled them and ate the meat.

The faint trace of Spiritual Qi perceived by the Clone merged into his main body, but it was like a stone sinking into the ocean, causing no ripples at all.

Li Qing smacked his lips; even a mosquito's leg is meat, so he treated it as a protein supplement—it was better than being hungry.

At least this stuff was filling, more substantial than the meager rations from the dining hall.

He closed his eyes, and the contents of the Jinling Waters Gazetteer and the Common Vicious Beast Illustrated Handbook surfaced in his mind.

In the gazetteer, the waters of the Great River were roughly divided into several areas.

The Reed Marsh where he had encountered the Third Tier Fierce Beast Iron-Toothed Crocodile last time was marked as "Dangerous, Do Not Approach."

Meanwhile, the waters where he had hunted the Sharp-toothed Fish were relatively ordinary.

Li Qing fixed his gaze on a downstream section of the river marked in the gazetteer as "Jumble of Rocks Shoal."

The current there was swift, and the riverbed was filled with jagged rocks; the notes indicated that crustacean aquatic tribes frequently appeared there.

In the handbook, among the First Tier Fierce Beasts, there was one called the "Iron Pincer Crab."

Its habit was to live among the rocks at the bottom of the river; it had astonishing defense and Great Strength in its dual pincers, with its weaknesses being the abdomen and joints.

It seemed that the two books he bought in the city today were of great use to him.

Tonight, he would go there and take a look.

His mind set, his consciousness descended.

The noise and odors of the room receded, replaced by the darkness and tranquility of the flowing river water.

[evolution value: 216.3/500]

The numbers on the panel were clear.

The Spirit Turtle Clone opened its eyes; with a body size of one and a half meters, it was already considered a large creature in the small tributary.

During the day, it only dared to swim along the riverbed.

It paddled its four limbs, expertly gliding out of the tributary and merging into the dark and vast Great River.

The moonlight was obscured by clouds, leaving the river surface in total darkness.

Li Qing was exceptionally cautious, following the water map in his mind to stay far away from that deadly Reed Marsh.

A Third Tier Fierce Beast was not something he could mess with yet.

He stayed close to the riverbed, swimming against the current toward the downstream Jumble of Rocks Shoal area.

Along the way, several oblivious Great Black Carps swam by.

[Devoured Black-Backed Fish, evolution value +0.7]

[Devoured Fat Silver Carp, evolution value +0.8]

The ordinary fish and shrimp in the Great River were indeed much meatier than those in the small creeks.

Li Qing showed no mercy, having a snack along the way as his evolution value slowly ticked up by a few points.

Before long, the terrain of the riverbed ahead began to change.

The flat silt and sand were replaced by reefs of various sizes.

The current crashed against the rocks, forming undercurrents and whirlpools.

He had reached the Jumble of Rocks Shoal.

Li Qing slowed down, the ghostly light in his turtle eyes flickering as he fully opened his senses.

Within the crevices of the rocks and the shadows, many auras were hidden.

Beneath a massive rock, two points of red light flickered.

Li Qing approached silently; it was a giant crab, dark green and black all over, as large as a washbasin.

Its two eighty-point large pincers glinted coldly as it waved them alertly.

[Iron Pincer Crab (First Tier Fierce Beast)]

[Irascible temperament, hard shell, pincers can crush stones, weaknesses: abdomen, joints.]

It was exactly as described in the handbook.

"I'll start with you!"

Li Qing lunged forward.

[Water Control] talent activated!

The water around the Iron Pincer Crab instantly became turbulent, with several small whirlpools pulling at its body.

This caused its massive body to stumble, losing its center of gravity.

Enraged, the Iron Pincer Crab waved its giant pincers and snapped them violently toward Li Qing's turtle head.

Li Qing had anticipated this; he retracted his head while simultaneously activating [Armor Defense], causing faint blue spirit patterns to light up.

Clang!

The giant pincers snapped hard against the front edge of the turtle shell, producing a sound like metal striking stone as sparks flew.

Li Qing only felt a slight vibration and was completely unharmed.

This defensive power—how comfortable!

Taking advantage of the moment when the Iron Pincer Crab's old strength was spent and its new strength had yet to form, and while it was being restrained by the current, exposing its side joints,

[Great Strength] erupted!

Li Qing's turtle head shot out like lightning, and its sharp beak accurately bit down on the joint of one of the Iron Pincer Crab's walking legs!

Crack!

Amidst the crisp sound, the hard joint shattered, and the crab leg was violently torn off!

The Iron Pincer Crab was in pain and struggled frantically.

Li Qing would not give it a chance; his turtle mouth struck again, biting another joint on the other side and tearing with great force.

Within a few breaths, this Iron Pincer Crab with its astonishing defense was dismembered of most of its limbs, collapsing on the riverbed, only twitching.

Li Qing bit through its relatively weak abdominal shell, ending its pain.

[Killed First Tier Fierce Beast Iron Pincer Crab, evolution value +10]

[Obtained ferocious beast essence blood x1]

[Devoured Iron Pincer Crab flesh, evolution value +0.5]

...[Devouring complete, provided a total of evolution value +7]

Between the kill and the devouring, one Iron Pincer Crab contributed 17 evolution value points!

Worth it!

"Extract essence blood."

A warm current surged, and the Clone's body size seemed to become a few points more robust.

Li Qing was in high spirits; coming to this Jumble of Rocks Shoal was the right choice!

He repeated the process, roaming all over this rocky area.

Relying on his powerful defense, Water Control restraint, and Great Strength bursts, combined with his foreknowledge of weaknesses, his efficiency in hunting Iron Pincer Crabs was extremely high.

Occasionally, he also encountered a few First Tier Fierce Beast "Stone-Patterned Pythons" hiding in the rock crevices, which were slightly weaker than the Sharp-toothed Fish.

They similarly became meals for Xiao Jia.

[Killed First Tier Fierce Beast Iron Pincer Crab, evolution value +18]

[Devoured... evolution value +7]

[Killed First Tier Fierce Beast Stone-Patterned Python, evolution value +12]

[Devoured... evolution value +4]

...System notification sounds rang out continuously, and the evolution value rose rapidly.

Li Qing fought with increasing courage.

During the day, he was a servant at the martial arts hall, keeping his head down, watching people's faces, running errands, and having to endure hunger.

At night, he became a Spirit Turtle, roaming freely in the Great River, hunting Vicious Beasts and plundering energy!

This contrast gave him an inexplicable sense of exhilaration.

Ah Fu, Lu Yunfei—they were all nothing but buffoons.

Strength!

Only strength is the foundation!

While hunting his third Iron Pincer Crab, Li Qing found something deep within the rock crevice where it dwelled.

He discovered several stalks of faintly glowing water grass, which were far inferior to the ink spirit grass from last time.

However, compared to the Clear Water Grass priced at a hundred taels in the Hundred Herbs Hall, the Spiritual Qi seemed even denser.

[deep water orchid (Low-grade Spiritual Plant)]

[Contains water-attribute Spiritual Qi.]

"An unexpected surprise!"

Li Qing showed no mercy and swallowed all three stalks of deep water orchid.

[Devoured deep water orchid, evolution value +10]

[Devoured deep water orchid, evolution value +10]

[Devoured deep water orchid, evolution value +11]

Three stalks of grass contributed another 31 evolution value points!

This was much faster than the hard work of hunting Vicious Beasts.

Li Qing's spirits were greatly lifted, and he searched even more carefully through the rock crevices.

Time flew by in his absorbed hunting and searching.

By the time he had finished off his fifth Iron Pincer Crab and second Stone-Patterned Python, and had also consumed a large amount of Spiritual Qi-rich fish, the eastern horizon was already faintly turning pale.

It was time to go back.

Li Qing glanced at the System panel.

[evolution value: 337.42/500]

He did a quick mental calculation; from last night's 216.3 to the current 337.42,

In a single night, it had risen by a full 121.12 points!

He was another giant step closer to the 500 points required for the next evolution!

Exhilarating!

Li Qing controlled the Clone with lingering excitement, quietly leaving the Jumble of Rocks Shoal and returning to the safe tributary.

He found a secluded spot to hide and swallowed a few small shrimp along the way.

His consciousness returned to his main body.

The snoring in the room continued, and the air remained foul.

Li Qing opened his eyes, his gaze piercingly bright.

He stretched his body, and his joints made slight cracking sounds.

Having absorbed several drops of ferocious beast essence blood and sharing the strength gained by the Clone,

The quality of his main body was also improving subtly; he felt full of energy and strength.

However,

Gurgle!

His stomach began to protest again.

The consumption of his main body grew larger as it was strengthened.

Li Qing smiled bitterly; during the day, he still had to face those cat-sized portions of the dining hall meals.

Nonetheless, his heart was at peace.

The Great River was his treasure house, his hunting ground.

As long as he stayed steady, stayed low, and developed, becoming stronger was only a matter of time.

The next evolution was getting closer and closer.