He achieved the pinnacle of martial arts starting with breaking through the limits of Tiger Fist.

Black reefs and shallows, boats moored along the riverbank.

Jiang Lin first observed the surrounding environment and, after confirming that it was safe, reached into the water.

With the "Waterway Map" unfolded, the situation at the bottom of the water was brought under control, and the "Treasure Guardian Beast" remained unchanged, curled up in the cave as usual.

"What's the next step?"

Seeing that he hadn't moved for a while, Lin Zheng asked him.

"Kill the fish."

Jiang Lin took two small knives from the cabin, threw one at Lin Zheng's feet, and then squatted down to start.

Although Lin Zheng had questions, he didn't ask any more. He followed Lin Zheng's example and began to gut the fish.

The two of them worked together and quickly finished processing the fish.

Jiang Lin's subsequent actions completely eroded Lin Zheng's confidence.

"What are you doing?"

Brother, this fish is very expensive.

You just throw it directly into the water?

"Just wait, you'll understand soon."

Seeing Jiang Lin holding a fishing net, ready to go all out at any moment, Lin Zheng gradually became nervous.

One incense stick, two incense sticks, three incense sticks.

"..."

Lin Zheng peeked out, his neck stiff from craning his neck.

"Um, this..."

Jiang Lin was also confused. What was going on?

After waiting for another incense stick to burn, Jiang Lin finally confirmed that something unexpected had happened.

"Asleep?"

Jiang Lin wasn't sure, so he had to investigate again.

As the mental model unfolded, Jiang Lin noticed something different this time.

The "Guardian Beasts" still formed a circle as before, but the blue circle was surrounded by a faint red light, which was easy to miss if you didn't look closely.

What's going on?

"Let's go ashore."

Jiang Lin found a protruding reef, moored the boat there, grabbed his equipment, and led the way off the boat to swim ashore.

"What are we doing?" Lin Zheng finally couldn't help but ask.

"There's something down there, but I don't know why it hasn't come out today."

Jiang Lin pointed to the rocky area below the shoal.

"So what do we do now?"

"Throw some stones down and see."

Jiang Lin decided to make a scene and see how people reacted.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Several large stones were thrown down in succession, creating huge splashes that startled the fish and caused them to scatter in all directions.

After another inspection, Jiang Lin was completely speechless; the thing was curled up in a ball and wouldn't move at all.

"I hope he's dead inside."

Jiang Lin gritted his teeth, picked up the harpoon, and called to Lin Zheng, "Let's go down into the water and take a look."

The two men took harpoons and dived into the water, slowly making their way towards the cave.

The water was less than three zhang deep, a depth that posed no challenge for the two of them.

Both of them grew up by a large marsh and were excellent swimmers.

The entrance to the cave is quite large, with enough room for two people to pass through.

As the two ventured deeper, a water beast coiled up at both ends appeared before them.

The guardian beast had its eyes tightly closed, seemingly enduring some kind of pain. Its skin was tinged with a faint blood-red hue, and its sharp claws were curled up beneath its body, twitching intermittently.

They seemed unaware of the arrival of the two.

Jiang Lin looked at the passage behind it, which was blocked by its coiled body. Without moving it, it would be impossible to pass.

Jiang Lin patted Lin Zheng beside him, gesturing for him to return.

"call"

Lin Zheng surfaced and let out a long breath, then followed Jiang Lin onto the beach.

"What is it?"

Lin Zheng was a bit at a loss; this thing was too ugly and made him uncomfortable just looking at it.

"Guardian Beast," Jiang Lin revealed the truth without any concealment.

"Wouldn't that mean...?"

Lin Zheng's eyes lit up. Upon recalling what was described in the book, he realized that it matched exactly what he had seen.

He knew very well what the name "Guardian Beast" meant.

Lin Zheng's breathing became heavier. "What's the next step?"

Jiang Lin shook his head. "This thing is blocking the road. There's no better way than to lure it out."

"How do we induce it?"

Jiang Lin felt troubled and hesitated for a moment before saying:

"The only option is for someone to go down and try to attack, then trap them in a net and shoot them with arrows. However, this would put a lot of risk on the person going into the water."

Lin Zheng fell silent upon hearing this.

He had just seen this thing with his own eyes; it was nearly four meters long, its body as thick as a water bucket, and it had sharp claws that were half a foot long.

Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle.

"If all else fails, we can contact Senior Sister Long, but the returns will be..."

Jiang Lin spoke slowly, implying that the Long family's involvement would definitely take away most of the profits. He himself was fine, but Lin Zheng probably wouldn't get any benefits.

"Let's do it; fortune favors the bold."

Lin Zheng suddenly stood up, his face contorted in a grimace, much like that night when heads were tossed about.

You'd better think this through.

Jiang Lin couldn't help but remind him.

"We have to do it. My aptitude is not as good as Senior Sister Long's, and my comprehension is not as good as yours. If we don't take some risks, when will we ever be able to advance to the level of a martial artist?"

With that, he picked up the harpoon and walked into the water.

Jiang Lin quickly followed, first placing the bow and arrow and harpoon in an easy-to-reach position, then holding the net in his right hand and dipping his left hand into the water, ready to provide support at any time.

In the "Waterway Map", a pale white light and shadow quietly sneaks into the cave, and the blue light circle ahead is already very close.

After a brief hesitation, the figure made a forceful thrusting motion, then threw away the harpoon and fled quickly.

The blue aura reacted somewhat slowly, first shrinking sharply, then pausing for a few seconds before stretching out to chase after it.

Lin Zheng scuba-diveed towards the shore at full speed, while the water beasts behind him rapidly approached at incredible speed.

A chill ran through him, but there was nothing he could do at the moment, so he could only instinctively paddle and kick.

Lin Zheng barely swam to the shallows. Just as he was feeling a surge of joy, he felt a large wave of water rushing towards him, tripping him and causing him to fall to the ground.

In an instant, the water beast was within arm's reach, and he could even smell the stench emanating from its breath.

"It's over."

Lin Zheng felt a sudden darkness before his eyes as a vast, all-encompassing net descended, brushing against his body and covering him from behind.

"Don't just stand there, come and pull the net."

Lin Zheng quickly ran a few steps and snatched the net rope from Jiang Lin's hand.

As soon as he got his hands on it, he felt a huge pulling force that dragged his feet forward.

In an instant, Jiang Lin had his bow and arrow in hand.

Drawing the bow and nocking the arrow, lowering the horse's stance, all in one smooth motion.

"Boom"

The Leopard Tendon Black Iron Bow emitted a loud clang, and arrows as thick as a thumb flew out at lightning speed.

Within twenty paces, a five-stone bow, with armor-piercing arrowheads.

The arrow pierced the back of the water beast's neck at an angle, leaving a fist-sized hole in its blood. The violent impact caused its body to fall violently to one side.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Zheng used his feet to pull the whole thing out of the water and onto a shallow beach that was about half a person deep.

Before they could even rejoice, the "Guardian Beast" suddenly began to spin, and a tremendous force was transmitted once again. As the two forces clashed, the entire net was pulled taut.

As it rotates, the sharp claws continuously scrape against the wire mesh, producing a harsh metallic scraping sound.

"He's using this trick again."

Jiang Lin exhaled and fired the second arrow with a muffled whistle.

Blood splattered, and its rolling motion abruptly stopped. The arrow had just struck its forelimb, and as the arrow shattered, the entire forelimb was severed.

"Aww!"

In its excruciating pain, the "Guardian Beast" let out a frantic roar.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Zheng exerted his strength again and dragged it to knee-deep water.

With one limb missing, it was too weak to roll over and could only open its mouth wide, revealing its suction cup-like serrated teeth, and try to bite at the fishing net.

Jiang Lin strode forward, only ten steps away from the "Guardian Beast".

The bow is as full as a slew of moon, the arrow as swift as a shooting star.

The third arrow poured straight in from the bloody maw.

[Proficiency +180]

This number startled Lin Jiang, who hadn't expected it to increase proficiency.

Upon closer reflection, it seems reasonable.

If anything caught with a harpoon counts as fishing, then anything killed by arrows should also count.