The Legend of Fangren

Chapter 133 Struggle to Cross, Struggle to Cross

The Black Stone Dragon Carp—it turns out it's actually a dragon species.

Fang Shi followed behind the troops and saw the whole situation. He landed by the lake and opened the book. He already had an impression of this type of mythical beast.

The eastern region belongs to the element of wood, and the most prominent feature of wood is its scales. The legendary representative of this element is the Azure Dragon. The name "Dragon Carp" already contains the character for "dragon," and there has been a legend since ancient times about carp transforming into dragons. This shows its close relationship with dragons and further highlights its preciousness.

Its jet-black, glossy scales, if refined into a mystical weapon, would undoubtedly be extremely powerful. Even the military departments of the two cities surrounding it are subtly leaning towards the banks, forming a competitive force, which undoubtedly shows that this dragon carp is a highly coveted prize.

Not to mention that many other families and sects have also set up camps in the empty spaces by the lake, even if they are doing so under the guise of protecting the people, it cannot change the underlying situation.

Fang Shi was all alone, but he also wanted to get involved.

After this training trip, Luohe will embark on a long journey. The "Wu" in Wushilongli refers to the black color of water, which complements Luohe's metal nature. If it can be crafted into a water-attribute artifact, the metal energy injected into it will allow it to exert its power effectively, making it quite suitable.

Fang Shi quietly arrived at a secluded spot by the lake and hid in the woods to observe the situation. More and more people gathered by the lake, and even some cultivators who were originally clearing out low-level mystic beasts in the forest on the other side heard the news and rushed over here despite the beast tide.

The great formation of Qingyang City's city walls has been restored, so there is no need to worry about the beast tide attacking the city. However, there are still many mystical beasts roaming around. The mystical beasts' keen senses can still detect that the great mystical beast is in the vicinity, so there are still many mystical beasts that should be aggressive.

No mythical beasts dared to harass the shores of Duhu Lake.

It was just past dawn, and a layer of mist still floated on the lake. Beneath the deep water, a huge black shadow loomed, turning the entire lake a dark gray. As the underwater non-human territory, no one dared to go into the water to fight, and they could only wait on the lakeshore.

Fei Xuange summoned his subordinates and said, "I have just planted the Azure Thunder Root Seal on this dragon carp. It is injured and is temporarily hiding at the bottom of the lake. It will not come out. Send out three teams of troops to clear out the beast tide around Qingyang City. We will return in the afternoon to prepare for battle."

"Understood."

Thus, half of the Emerald City's military force was immediately dispersed, and the families and sects around the lake breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this scene from afar.

It seems that the officials and families under the Ministry of War of Emerald City are powerful and have no intention of competing with them for this opportunity. Fei Xuange glanced at the group of people by the lake with some disappointment. The families and sects in Qingyang City, and even the Ministry of War, are more concerned about the so-called opportunity than the common people. Although the city wall formation has been restored, the tide of Xuan Beasts outside the city has not yet subsided, and there are still villages around that may suffer. Yet these guys have recruited most of the able-bodied men from the families of their retainers and cultivators to come here, as if they are afraid of not being able to grab the treasure.

That's just how the world is; it's truly lamentable.

"It seems that this great mystic beast won't be coming out anytime soon."

Upon seeing the troop movements of the Ministry of War, Fang Shi guessed that Vice General Fei's earlier attack had injured the Great Mystic Beast. At this moment, the Dragon Carp at the bottom of the lake was probably frantically devouring the mystic beasts and monsters in the lake to recover from its injuries.

The crowd by the lake was watching intently. If he wanted to obtain a few pieces of dragon carp to make equipment for Luohe, it would be very difficult. Moreover, the great Xuan beast was five levels higher, and if it were made into a Xuan weapon, Luohe would probably have difficulty controlling it at present.

"Wrong! I've got it!"

Fang Shi suddenly had a brilliant idea.

He immediately ran deeper into the forest, making sure no one by the lake could notice him. Then he dug a hole several blocks deep and then dug horizontally into the lake. Once the hole was dug through, the lake water flowed back in, creating a waterway in the forest that connected to the large lake, thus connecting him to the things in the lake.

The fishing rod can be used to decompose and obtain objects by tracing the cause and effect of substances in the water. Now, the Black Stone Dragon Carp is in the lake and is injured. It is likely that its profound energy and blood have mixed into the lake. If the fishing rod can decompose these substances, it can fish out a first or second-tier Black Stone Dragon Carp. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Gods and ghosts don't know, and people don't compete. It's very peaceful.

Sitting down at the edge of the well, Fang Shi threw down the float.

He only dug a square opening three meters wide and two meters deep at the top of the well, so that he wouldn't have to worry about catching a huge mythical beast that would pull him into the water. In addition, he decomposed several trees in the forest to obtain saplings, planted them around the well, and used bone powder to accelerate their growth into trees, thus completely concealing himself and the well in the forest.

Then he took out a rope and tied himself to the trunk of a large tree to increase his weight, so that he wouldn't be pulled into the water like last time.

Everything is ready; all that's left is for the fish to take the bait.

Outside the tree circle, the sects and families waiting by the lake were getting impatient, and some of them guessed that the Black Stone Dragon Carp was very likely seriously injured and died at the bottom of the lake.

Everyone in Qingyang City knew that although the lake was large, it was actually formed several years ago by the collapse of an underground cave, and there were no rivers in front of or behind it.

The river is just a lake formed by rainwater. Although the lake is deep, there are no rare or mysterious beasts there, and there are no high-level creatures to speak of.

If that fifth-order great mystic beast really died at the bottom of the lake, then whoever makes the first move gets it first. If no one makes a move and the fish and shrimp in the lake eat the flesh of the great mystic beast, wouldn't that be a waste of resources?

Before long, in less than an hour, some people couldn't sit still anymore.

"This treasure of the great beast is the key to the prosperity and rise of my family. We must not give it to others and risk being suppressed in the future."

Some smaller families and sects lost patience and began sending people to take boats into the lake to wander in the shallow waters, casting steel hooks and chains to retrieve the fish carcasses.

Once the first person does it, another will follow. Seeing that someone has done it, more people can't resist and start going into the lake.

Seeing so many people go down to the lake, the remaining people felt a sense of luck and thought that with so many people blocking their way, they might as well give it a try. So even many rogue cultivators stepped onto the lake surface, hoping to get a share of the spoils.

Only the wealthy families and sects, as well as the Ministry of War, remained calm. They had similar experiences in their family histories and understood that if the Great Mystic Beast died, the dissipated Mystic Qi would also be a disaster.

A living Great Mystic Beast can startle all other beasts, causing them to flee in panic; a dead Great Mystic Beast, however, emits mystical energy that can make all other beasts greedy for food, gathering from a hundred miles away to fight over it.

If the great mystic beast had truly died in this lake, the lakebed would probably be in complete chaos by now. Those low-level shrimp and fish that ate the great mystic beast's flesh would either die suddenly or evolve. Those that died suddenly during their evolution would also be better spiritual meat, allowing the remaining surviving mystic beasts to continue eating it, which would have a buffering effect. Within a day, a bunch of third-tier mystic beasts and a few fourth-tier mystic beasts would probably emerge from the bottom of this lake.

If you rashly go into the water now, you might become bait for the fish.

The Ministry of War in both cities remained indifferent, simply because these families and factions were not aligned with the official families in the city; in the end, they were all in competition. Since the Ministry of War was subordinate to the official families in the city, they naturally paid little attention to it.

None of those who went into the lake noticed that the surface water was no longer black due to its depth; even the thinnest layer on the surface was as black and dense as the thunderclouds from before.