My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 743 Dragonbone Boat

"You mean the Tongtian River is the shortcut to Bazhou?"

Is there a river that reaches the heavens in this far north?
Chen Mu frowned and looked at Tang Zong.

Having spent over a year at Tangshan Academy, Zhu Yu's magic sword flew everywhere, and he had a map of the surrounding three hundred miles in his mind.

He had even inquired about places thousands of miles away, but he had never seen a single major river.

Moreover, as far as he knew, there were not many large waterways in the entire Yizhou; instead, there were mostly small rivers and lakes, like stars in the sky.

"There's indeed no Tongtian River on the surface," Tang Zong laughed. "But underground..."

Is the Tongtian River underground? The Tongtian River, which stretches as far as the eye can see and is comparable to a vast ocean, could be underground?
Chen Mu was utterly astonished.

"The Tongtian River in Yizhou is underground!"

"Moreover, deep underground in Tangshan, there is a portal leading to the Tongtian River," Tang Zong said directly.

"You're not lying to me?" Chen Mu looked at Tang Zong suspiciously.

Having been at Tangshan Temple for over a year, I have used my supernatural ability to listen to the surrounding area many times, and I have not overlooked the underground of Tangshan either.

There are many underground water veins, but they are all relatively small in scale, and most of their water sources come from melting snow and ice from glaciers that seep into the ground, making it unlikely that they are connected to the Tongtian River.

Deeper still lies a vast lava lake that created the Tangshan Hot Springs.

That lava lake...

Chen Mu's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

“That lava lake really does lead to the Tongtian River,” Tang Zong chuckled.

That's really true.

Chen Mu couldn't help but think of the Loach Dragon Fire Path.

That was the underground lava river he traveled when he moved from Yunzhou to Haizhou, with its entrance and exit both at the bottom of the river.

Thinking about it this way, it's not impossible that the underground magma lake in Tangshan leads to the Tongtian River.

……

After the decision to leave was made, the entire Tangshan Hospital became busy.

Tang Zong took the lead in handling personnel arrangements and the collection of supplies.

Even the navigation artifacts had been prepared in advance.

"A keelboat? That's what you call a keelboat?"

On the wooden corridor, Chen Mu sat in a bamboo chair, looking at the small pendant in Tang Zong's hand with surprise.

The pendant was about the size of a palm, with a long, serpentine shape that looked like a black cast iron loach at first glance.

"The Dragon Bone Boat was obtained by the Tang family ancestors by chance. It can be large or small, and has a universe inside that can fully accommodate everyone in Tangshan Academy."

As he spoke, Tang Zong threw the black loach pendant onto the ground outside the corridor, chanted incantations, and his magical power surged.

hum!
The air vibrated, and the tiny loach expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just over ten breaths, the palm-sized pendant transformed into a strange, giant loach, five or six meters long and as tall as a person.

Its body surface is covered with fine scales, and it moves slowly, shaking its head and wagging its tail, as if it were alive.

Tang Zong stopped what he was doing, his face pale, and looked at Chen Mu with a bitter smile.

"His true form could grow twice as big, but unfortunately I can only push it to this extent."

"To control it to move on water is even more difficult."

Chen Mu suddenly realized.

No wonder Tang Zong was willing to pay a huge price to follow me.

Now it seems that it wasn't that this guy didn't want to, but that he couldn't.

With Tang Zongdao's level of skill, he was not able to control the dragon bone boat at all, so he could only take himself with him.

Tang Zong sighed and handed Chen Mu an ancient jade tablet with a pained expression.

"According to the records of our ancestors, the jade tablets were discovered together with the dragon bone boat."

"The inner workings contain the key incantation for the Dragonbone Boat, which allows one to freely control the Dragonbone Boat."

"Please, Your Excellency, accept this." Tang Zong said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, Chen Mu raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He had seen many magical artifacts, such as the White Ghost Ship and the Cloud Bat Flying Boat.

They also have a unique internal structure, but their external size is extremely large.

This is the first time I've ever seen a magical vessel like the Dragon Bone Boat, which can change size at will.

Such a precious magical artifact, are you really just giving it to me like this?
"The magical artifact is excellent, but no one can use it. Leaving it in the Tang family will only leave it gathering dust on the shelf," Tang Zong said with a wry smile.

"Giving it to the capital will actually allow us to stay away from the chaos in Yizhou."

"It's worth it!" Tang Zong said through gritted teeth.

Such decisiveness—is this still the same greedy and cunning Tang Zong of the past?

Chen Mu glanced sideways.

"Aren't you afraid I'll just take your magical artifact and run away?" he said with a playful smile. "How about we sign a contract?"

"Need not!"

“I believe in the Imperial Academy,” Tang Zong said with a serious expression.

Tsk!
"Now it's really not a good idea to just run away." Chen Mu sighed and shook his head.

If this guy really wanted to use the contract to bind himself, Chen Mu would dare to use the Nine Revolutions Tribulation Technique to withstand the backlash of the contract and run away.

but now……

"Let's go back and pack up the supplies."

"We'll leave once we're ready." Chen Mu smacked his lips and waved Tang Zong away.

……

A few days later.

Six hundred li south of Tangshan Temple, a cold, strange wind howls.

In a mountain hollow, the scene was one of bloodshed, with corpses scattered everywhere.

Numerous wolf-headed beasts covered in scales and lion-like beasts with fur as red as fire lay dead on the ground.

Puffs of black smoke appeared out of nowhere, rolling and sweeping outwards like surging waves. Wherever they passed, the corpses of strange beasts were completely swallowed up. Even the crimson ice and snow stained with blood were scraped away without a trace.

On the southern peak of the mountain valley, Chen Mu appeared.

An invisible aura emanated from his body, completely isolating him from the cold, violent wind and snow on the mountaintop, keeping him three meters away.

"With these beast carcasses, we can refine another gourd of Spirit Nourishing Wine." Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction.

This was not the first time he had manipulated the Five Ghosts Black Smoke to gather the corpses of strange beasts.

As more and more herds of strange beasts migrate to the north, conflicts inevitably arise in order to compete for suitable settlements.

Chen Mu used the Zhu Yu magic sword to observe the beast horde, appearing wherever there was conflict.

While observing the movements of the strange beasts, they also stored up materials for refining the Spirit Nourishing Wine.

Over the past few days, he has produced five and a half gourds of Spirit Nourishing Wine, enough to last for two months.

The previously scarce Nourishing Spirit Wine was replenished immediately.

"Judging from the general direction these strange beasts are moving, they are clearly heading towards Tangshan. Are they chasing after the earth's spiritual energy?" Chen Mu pondered.

After observing these past few days, he has come to a rough guess as to why the strange beasts are migrating.

It wasn't just the chaos caused by the extraterrestrial demons of Yizhou that affected them; the more important reason was probably their pursuit of vital energy.

"It must have been the work of those Yin Ghost Sect members from Kangzhou Lock Dragon Temple."

Chen Mu said with certainty.

Destroying the earth's veins, scattering the gathering of vital energy, and establishing a City God's Taoist temple to distribute the earth's spiritual energy evenly are all methods commonly used by the Locking Dragon Academy.

This can benefit ordinary plants and animals and mortals who have not cultivated, but it is a catastrophic disaster for strange beasts and monsters.

Just like fish out of water, strange beasts and monsters will die from lack of vital energy.

Even if they manage to survive, their spirituality will be extinguished, turning them into beasts controlled by instinct, completely severing the possibility of triggering the ancestral reversion of their bloodline.

The northern lands are remote and the icy, snowy landscape is unsuitable for ordinary human survival, so they have never been affected by the Dragon Locking Institute.

The originally barren northern lands have become a place rich in spiritual energy, which has attracted the migration of strange beasts.

"Right now, they are just ordinary herds of strange beasts."

"Sooner or later, a great monster will attack."

"Just like that burrowing toad that died by crashing into the ground before."

"Tangshan Academy is really no longer a place to stay," Chen Mu shook his head and sighed.

……

On the mountainside of Tangshan, in front of a thatched hut.

The tiny, black loach, no bigger than the palm of your hand, danced leisurely in mid-air, just like a fish swimming in water.

"It can be the size of your own, and contains a universe within."

"It can escape through water and fly through the sky, and is impervious to water and fire. It can even break through the air and fly for short distances."

"Good baby!"

Thinking of Tang Zong's pained expression, Chen Mu felt even happier.

With a thought, a translucent gray stone door appeared before his eyes.

Loach Dragon Spell: 6423/10000;
"I never expected that the experience gained from the Loach Dragon Spell would be so easy."

Chen Mu was quite excited.

The dragon boat was quite ingenious. He had thought it would be difficult to control, but in practice it went very smoothly.

Besides the assistance provided by the Spirit Treasure Cardinal Chapter, an ability that hadn't been used for a long time played a significant role in this.

Chen Mu looked at the gray stone door again.

Mastery: 5286/10000/Tier 3;

This was a skill he mastered when he was piloting the flying kite.

Later, while operating the water-avoiding shuttle, he passively gained some experience, but it did not attract much attention from Chen Mu.

Unexpectedly, this accelerated his mastery of the dragon spell.

"At the pace of the past few days, in another three to five days, I'm afraid I'll be able to reach my limit and completely master the Dragonbone Boat!"

After a moment's thought, Chen Mu immediately smiled.

(End of this chapter)