The surroundings were filled with dense water plants, except for a bare patch right ahead, without any piles of rocks, which seemed suspicious, as if it wasn't naturally formed.
Liang Qu hid among the water plants, asking the two beasts, "Did you find something here?"
Ah Fei nodded.
Ah Bu vigorously gestured with his claws, indicating that the creature was as long as a fat catfish but even wider than its body, and had a thick shell on its back.
Liang Qu circled the ten-meter-wide muddy pit and found the situation to be much like what Ah Bu described.
It had a long, limb-less shape with a tail, covered in thick spiky armor, and an extended snout.
At first glance, it resembled a limbless crocodile—a water beast Liang Qu had never seen before, but quite familiar in a way.
Judging by its aura, it was slightly stronger than "The Immovable" but not by much, likely an old spirit beast.
That was manageable, Liang Qu thought to himself.
Aside from many common spirits, most spirit beasts couldn’t be defined by obvious traits due to the sheer variety.
Every spirit beast's characteristics were entirely different, and it was impossible to summarize their strength just by appearance.
One would lose their life trying to memorize them all, needing to learn them one scroll at a time.
Since replicating from appearance wasn't feasible, assessing aura strength was the way to judge.
Tiger-Hunting Martial Masters would harness their immense strength without restraint, their aura overwhelming enough to frighten weak-hearted folks into fainting on the spot.
With no organized societal structure, the Great Demons couldn’t develop diverse techniques like humans to achieve countless wondrous effects.
Even if they learned some, they remained crude compared to human arts.
Unless it was a supreme Great Demon with astonishing intellect, one could often gauge their strength through instinct alone.
On this basis, if a spirit beast’s aura intensity was similar to or weaker than a Wolf Smoke Martial Master, it was called a spirit beast.
Such beings were distinct from ordinary life forms, possessing exceptional features like scales hard as refined steel, enormous strength, and incredible speed.
The Hornwood Crocodile, Tiger-Head Catfish, Stone-Claw Crab, and Heavenly Water Centipede all belonged to the rank of spirit beasts, distinct from ordinary creatures.
Stronger than a spirit beast, and it would be termed a demon, capable of causing chaos in a region.
If it were a Great Demon, only the Imperial Court would dare handle it.
Fortunately, Great Demons often had their own territories and looked down upon eating ordinary people—whom they considered plain and troublesome—to digest.
Interestingly though, small spirit beasts were not necessarily stronger than regular creatures.
In the Jianghuai Marshlands, beside the Grand Marsh Crocodiles, other large crocodiles roamed.
They were neither spirits nor beasts but could grow up to five meters long and weigh over two thousand pounds, capable of easily overturning small boats and swallowing fishermen whole.
When such a crocodile encounters a spirit grass carp, the outcome isn’t assured.
Liang Qu learned a lot at the Martial Hall, including how to discern aura strengths.
Some senior brothers had, one by one, demonstrated the aura differences of various realms to him, especially those from the Wolf Smoke Realm beginning with the third senior brother.
It was truly imposing and left a deep impression.
In a few days, Liang Qu also needed to learn how to conceal his aura fluctuations, so that others couldn’t tell at a glance.
"Ah Wei, sneak up and bite it, aim for its belly where it’s not armored," Liang Qu instructed, as the Heavenly Water Centipede stretched and transformed into a hundred-foot-long blue centipede, slipping into the sludge.
A small bump rose on the muddy ground, extending a short distance before disappearing.
Liang Qu and the three beasts lay quietly in the grass.
Half an hour later, the calm muddy ground suddenly bulged up.
"Got it!"
Sand and mud poured down like quicksand.
A massive six-meter long beast with armored back emerged from the ground, thrashing about like a raging dragon, scattering sand and dust everywhere, submerging the surroundings in turmoil.
It whipped its long tail furiously at the mud, causing the earth to tremble like a great drum, battering the entire mire into a bouncing surface.
A blue ball was ejected from the mud and sand, leaving white streaks in its wake.
The wounds inflicted by the Heavenly Water Centipede were excruciating, and the armored water beast glared intently at the ejected blue ball, charging out as if pursued by a tsunami of water.
The blue ball transformed into a centipede in the water, swiftly swimming back to Liang Qu's wrist.
Grabbing hold of the Heavenly Water Centipede, the resistance behind Liang Qu vanished, and an unseen force propelled him forward, leaping three meters away in a single bound.
The armored beast missed its target and plunged headlong into the mud.
It viciously tore at the water plants, its massive body whipping the water into a frenzy, shattering debris and preparing to charge out once more.
Just then, a piercing wave crashed into its brain like a sharp blade, stirring intensely.
The agonizing pain turned the beast's eyes red, making it oblivious to the movements at its side.
A green beast shot out from the grass, its scales like fine steel, slamming hard into the armored beast's waist and belly.
The "Immovable" had been lying in wait for this moment, skillfully leveraging the water's force to pin down the armored beast, which lunged like an arrow only to be broken in half.
The armored beast turned to bite back, but its tail was seared with pain.
The fat catfish had bitten down hard on its tail, sharp teeth tearing into flesh, blood spurting everywhere.
Using the collision force, it yanked back with a forceful head toss, managing to rip off a third of the beast's tail.
The half-severed tail flailed about in the water, driving the armored beast into a wild rage as it snapped its jaws at the "Immovable" neck.
The "Immovable" refused to be outdone, biting back.
Thus, a seesaw battle began.
The armored beast's back spikes pierced "Immovable's" snout, but it too suffered from the crushing force, its bones creaking under pressure, a weak sensation creeping over its body when attempting to tear off flesh.
The poison was taking effect!
The timing was perfect.
The “Immovable” summoned all its strength to lift the armored beast.
It struggled violently, its long tail slicing through the water plants like a scythe, leaving neat cuts in its wake.
The fat catfish opened its mouth, and another invisible wave drilled into the armored beast's brain like a dagger, causing unbearable pain.
Liang Qu dashed beneath it, his forearm as taut as a steel cable, thrusting his Subduing Waves Spear.
The spear blade parted the water without a sound and pierced the soft underbelly.
Liang Qu gripped the shaft with one hand, pressed it with the other, twisted his waist, and swung the long spear in a wide arc, carving a deep blood line through the creature's belly.
Blood erupted, swirling in the water, pulling out large swathes of internal organs.
A desperately critical blow!
"Retreat!"
Liang Qu leaped away again.
Ah Bu and the fat catfish followed closely, with one more punch lurking in the grass, the man and three beasts retreated six measures.
The armored beast’s eyes went white, its consciousness slipping entirely, thrashing solely on instinct a final few times before going still.
Liang Qu approached cautiously, spear in hand, piercing the eye and brain, with not a stir from the creature.
Finished.
So simple.
Contrasted with the hazardous first fight with the Crab Monster, this was effortless.
No person or beast was harmed.
Wait, Ah Bu got injured.
Its snout bled a lot from being jabbed by spikes on the creature's back while biting.
Overall, a great victory!
“Come on, let’s bring it up and feast!”
Having used Water Leap thrice in a row, Liang Qu was drained, so he had the two beasts drag the armored beast up.
Ah Bu and the fat catfish pushed the armored beast on its back with their heads to keep its innards from spilling out before working together to lift it above the water.
In the thicket, the punch shook briefly, successfully finding a severed tail and clamped it with pincers, trailing behind the two beasts gleefully.
(End of Chapter)