Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 83 - 40: Under the Yuanjiang River, Tracking (Part 2)
"Wait for me in the river. I’ll go back and prepare some things first."
Su Yu immediately returned to Thousand Feather City and purchased some items at the Thousand Feather Commerce Association.
He spent a full ten taels of gold to purchase a 100-slot storage bag, several sticks of Demon-Attracting Incense, some Demon-Exorcising Incense, and other potentially useful tools.
This storage bag was different from their personal space; the stacking limit for similar items was only 100, it couldn’t store living things, and didn’t have a preservation function. Food stored in it would deteriorate over time, and equipping it would occupy a slot for magical treasures.
It’s generally used by merchants for transporting goods or as a warehouse.
After making all the preparations, Su Yu hurriedly left Thousand Feather City, flying westward.
But he didn’t notice that there was a person holding a mirror on the western city wall, observing him.
"Boss, I saw him. He just left the city heading west."
"Follow him, we’re coming right away."
On a Taiyi Cyan Spirit Ship a hundred meters above the Yuanjiang River, not far from Thousand Feather City, Kong He’an closed the communication and turned around, loudly calling to his subordinates who were busy leveling up:
"Everyone, gather up."
His subordinates quickly flew over, and he immediately prompted the Taiyi Cyan Spirit Ship to rise into the air, heading towards Thousand Feather City. One subordinate quickly asked:
"Boss, did you find him?"
"That little brat left the city, let’s go intercept him."
"Finally caught him, this time we’ll make him pay."
Kong He’an looked into the distance, coldly saying:
"Kong He’an’s benefits aren’t obtained so easily. Either he compensates for my losses, or he loses twenty years of his life. Let’s see what he chooses."
He knew well enough that in situations like this, it’s all about skill, and not getting it means he lacked the skills.
But thinking about how two low-health bosses were snatched from under his nose, and how a group of them couldn’t outcompete just one person, he couldn’t swallow this resentment.
At the bottom of the Yuanjiang River, Su Yu had already reunited with Ao Run.
He sat atop the massive head of the dragon, with the Black Water Profound Pearl creating a waterless space that undulated up and down beneath him.
The dragon continually dove deeper into the water, soon reaching depths of three to four thousand meters, an area rarely visited by anyone, yet still not the deepest part.
The Yuanjiang was two to three kilometers wide, with depths of tens of thousands of meters, much deeper than the Mariana Trench.
That place he certainly wouldn’t go, not even Ao Run dared to go.
Despite his great strength, he was only over level 100.
In the profound depths of tens of thousands of meters in the Yuanjiang, even ordinary small monsters were above level 100, and level 200+ monsters appeared regularly. No matter how strong Ao Run was, he couldn’t be a match for a level 200+ monster.
The bottom of the Yuanjiang was rugged, but the underwater vegetation was extremely rich, teeming with all kinds of bizarre aquatic plants, and occasionally deep-water hidden Aquatic Race spirits.
Shrimps spirits over ten meters long.
Green-backed crabs spirits with shells twenty to thirty meters wide.
Turtle demons lying motionless at the bottom of the river like massive stones.
Huge river snails and clams deeply embedded in the riverbed.
And then there are loaches, eels, water centipedes, and various other strange Aquatic Race spirits.
Their levels are at least seventy or eighty, and occasionally you see monsters above level 100, but they are mostly ordinary experience monsters. Although their levels are over a hundred, their strength is not formidable, far less than the dragon; upon seeing a dragon from a distance, they immediately flee.
Whenever this happened, Ao Run became even more exhilarated than Su Yu, charging forward like an arrow and engaging in a fierce battle.
Su Yu was thrown off and could only summon his flying sword to assist from the side.
The dragon was the main tank and DPS; he only needed to assist occasionally. The dragon alone could handle the situation, collecting tens of thousands of killing experience points and gaining one or two points of cultivation in just a few minutes.
These ordinary, deficient-template level 100+ monsters, although exceeded the hundred level mark, were still designated experience monsters, specifically for Loose Immortals who surpassed the Celestial Tribulation to level up.
Such monsters generally appeared in deep mountains, large rivers, lakes, and the sea.
Unlike in the Chensha River, where they only appeared at the deepest center, in the Yuanjiang about three to four kilometers deep, they appeared occasionally, but were commonly found at over ten kilometers deep.
Although not bosses, due to their level being over 100, Su Yu, at his current level, could still gain cultivation by defeating them.
Though not much, just one or two points, it was still something.
Realizing this point, Su Yu was in no hurry to urge Ao Run onward; instead, he leisurely traveled along the riverbed.
Moreover, there was an unexpected bonus. Due to these level 100+ monsters, even if the materials they dropped weren’t high in value, they were still far superior to low-level drops. Even a fish scale could sell for thirty to forty coppers.
Grinding level 100+ monsters around forty would see a slight increase in drop rates. About two or three kills could yield spoils, typically twenty to thirty pieces per drop, translating into nearly one or two taels of silver as income.
Being diligent could easily yield one or two hundred fishes in a day, equating to a minimum income of fifty taels of silver.
If luck favored him, yielding some high-value materials, and with the occasional discovery of spiritual medicine or minerals from the deep water riverbed, his daily income might even reach one to three gold taels.
Su Yu felt like he had discovered a new continent and soon put aside the task of finding the Cyan Cold Lotus.
Inside the Taiyi Cyan Spirit Ship a hundred meters above the Yuanjiang River, more than a dozen cultivators gathered, led by Kong He’an. The group was intently watching the mirror held by Xia Ning in his hands.
"Are you sure he’s at the bottom?"
With certainty, Xia Ning said:
"I’m sure. I’ve used this water mirror search method many times, when has it ever been wrong?"
Kong He’an nodded, waving a large hand, and the group jumped off the flying ship into the water.
"Later on, we’ll split into four teams, two in each group. Xia Ning, you’ll follow me. Once we find the person, separate and encircle him. We must capture him alive."
"Got it!"
"Understood."
The dozen of them gradually separated across the water.
About half an hour later, the group had slowly descended to the riverbed. Xia Ning held the mirror while following the team. Shortly thereafter, Kong He’an turned back asking:
"How much further?"
Examining the slightly blurry image on the mirror, Xia Ning replied:
"Approximately two thousand meters more, it’s very close."
Kong He’an nodded, then commanded:
"Prepare the Invisibility Talismans and Qi Concealment Talismans."
Seconds later, a dozen figures gradually faded, becoming transparent and merging with the lake water.
A kilometer below, Su Yu and the dragon had arrived at a riverbed cliff. Beyond it stretched a trench, two to three kilometers wide, whose length was unknown and depth unseen; they halted in front of it.
Su Yu surveyed the pitch-black abyss, finding no fish above or around, a nameless dread crept into his heart. He turned to Ao Run:
"Do you dare to go down?"
The dragon’s huge head shook back and forth:
"Do not enter; it is dangerous here."
"Is there a monster hiding inside?"
Ao Run nodded.
Su Yu decisively leapt up, prepared to swim across from above the trench, but barely flew a hundred meters when Ao Run warned:
"Come back."
He hurried back, seeing Ao Run pointing a claw to the side:
"Go around; we must not go over."
Just as the words settled, Ao Run suddenly turned, sensing something behind, its massive head shaking as if sniffing. After a moment, it said in a deep voice:
"I feel something is watching us."
Su Yu looked behind him with bewilderment, seeing nothing.
Nevertheless, he trusted Ao Run’s senses, saying:
"Send a Gui Water Divine Thunder over there."
The dragon extended its claw; the blue Gui Water essence gathered within a few hundred meters, forming Gui Water Divine Thunder that exploded, sending an invisible current sweeping in every direction, but revealed nothing.
"Damn it!"
Kong He’an, having retreated a thousand meters away behind a large rock, punched it furiously, rage spilling from his face:
"He actually tamed that dragon!"
Already disgruntled before, seeing this scene made Kong He’an even more indignant, jealousy nestled and growing in his chest.
"This should have been mine."
At this point, Xia Ning approached, softly asking:
"Boss, he really took that dragon as a spirit pet. What do we do now?"
"What of it being a dragon, not even a dragon can save him."
Gritting his teeth, suppressing the anger within, Kong He’an spoke softly:
"Fang Zeyang and Tianqi, you both go ahead, lure a few level 100 monsters to distract the dragon. We’ll seize the opportunity to ambush from behind and eliminate him before the dragon realizes."
"Okay."
