BXBX NOVEL Chapter 216 - 211: Water Controli
After killing two experts from the Nine Insect Gang, his pouch swiftly swelled up with loot.
Old Master Huang contributed over thirteen thousand taels, and this inner disciple named Wu Hao contributed 1950 taels, adding up to fifteen thousand taels. Coupled with the seventeen hundred taels he earned from treating that medicinal herb for the Fang Family, his fortune was rapidly approaching twenty thousand taels.
Though there were some expenses afterward, he still had over sixteen thousand five hundred taels remaining.
He felt like every member of the Nine Insect Gang was plump with wealth.
He didn’t consider that to become an inner disciple or an Executor, one would already be superior among men; how could their wealth be meager?
At that moment, he was eagerly waiting for the sound of hooves to emerge once more.
Approaching the third watch of the night, sudden commotion arose from the front courtyard.
The sound of flowing water was loud and clear.
Startled, Qin Niu hurried out to investigate.
It turned out to be a commotion caused by the Diamond Ink Turtle in the fishpond.
Having consumed an elixir, it was probably at the critical moment of advancing in grade, or it might have already completed its advancement.
This was indeed a bit alarming.
This timid turtle, neither advancing earlier nor later, chose precisely this moment to do so.
If it were to attract the attention of that formidable Nine Insect Gang member, that would be a big problem.
In fact, the majority of insects and beasts tend to advance at night.
It likely has to do with their habits.
Qin Niu quickly made his way over, gazing toward the Diamond Ink Turtle in the pond.
The water churned as it submerged near the bottom of the pond.
“I’ll take you to the backyard!”
He directly scooped the Diamond Ink Turtle out from the bottom of the water.
Its size had grown to that of a sea bowl, no longer a little turtle but having transformed into a large black turtle.
He could feel the surging energy within it, violently fluctuating.
Taking it to the backyard, Qin Niu, to avoid catching the attention of the powerful individual, directly threw the little turtle into the water well.
Then, he covered the well with its lid,
Leaving it to struggle on its own.
He could still hear the well water churning, making loud noises.
About an hour later, the noise gradually subsided. Qin Niu also heaved a sigh of relief.
Although he now possessed the cultivation of the Innate Realm and could basically slay most experts with a single slash, he still did not dare to be careless.
If he were to encounter a ruthless character, his end could come in a matter of minutes.
With his prudence and caution, he would only act if he was certain he could defeat the adversary with ease.
Otherwise, he would continue lurking, slowly increasing his strength.
He surmised the Diamond Ink Turtle’s advancement was nearly complete.
Qin Niu checked its attributes.
Male Diamond Ink Turtle
Grade: Five-Level Turtle Testudines Longevity, upgrade experience 100000/1000000
Lifespan: 857 years.
Energy: 1100002
Skills: Swimming Second Order 71/100, Hibernation First Order 0/10, Qi Wave Defense First Order 0.01/10, Water Control First Order 0.34/10
Talent: Timid, Defense, Water Command
He hadn’t expected it to advance two grades.
Beast Cores were wonderful things.
Merely one of the two secondary cores produced during the main core refinement process was enough to propel a beast pet from Grade Three directly to Grade Five.
Although Qin Niu already owned a Grade Seven Golden Toad, this little black turtle was something he had raised by hand from a youngling.
He felt that a single secondary core shouldn’t have had such a significant effect.
It was likely due to the continuous feeding of the Pig King’s meat to the little black turtle, which quickly boosted its strength, nearing Grade Four already.
Then, with the aid of the elixir, it broke through Grade Four with strong momentum and ultimately managed, arduously, to advance another grade.
A Fourth Grade Beast Pet was now considered a respectable force to reckon with.
Theoretically, the strength of a Fifth Grade Beast Pet should be greater than that of a Fifth Grade insect pet.
Insects inherently have a disadvantage in size.
Thus, the universally accepted rule of thumb is that insects are considered one grade lower than beast pets.
That is to say, a Fifth Grade insect could only match the strength of a Fourth Grade Beast Pet.
There is a condition involved, of course—the two must not have mutual restraints.
For example, pangolins and anteaters are the natural predators of ants and termites. Even a Fifth Grade Termite facing off against a Grade Three anteater would most likely be forced to flee in a panic.
The same natural suppression exists between cats and mice, eagles and rabbits.
Some believe this is a suppression caused by inherent bloodline grades.
The strength comparison between pets is often not determined solely by grade.
It hinges largely on their combat experience, skills, talent, and whether they happen to suppress their opponent in terms of abilities.
Even a feeble mosquito can drive a mighty lion to an enraged impotence.
This time, aside from having advanced two grades, the lifespan of the Diamond Ink Turtle also increased by two hundred years.
It made him, the owner, envious to the point of tears.
Qin Niu had struggled hard and cultivated to his current state, and even after breaking through to the Innate Realm, his lifespan still had not exceeded two hundred years.
Turtles are seen as symbols of longevity and inherently hold an advantage in terms of lifespan.
It had also gained an additional talent and skill.
The new talent was Water Command.
The skill was a new one, Water Control.
Turtles, being amphibians, spend more time in water than on land. Qin Niu was not surprised that it had developed a Water Control skill.
It was just a shame its size was still quite small; otherwise, in the future, carrying it with him would be like having a high-level life preserver, no longer needing to worry about drowning.
Moreover, as it continued to evolve and its Water Control skill improved, he believed it wouldn’t just be for frolicking in the water.
Potent aquatic monsters, even if only a fish or shrimp, could be invincible beings within their watery domain.
The beast pet had grown stronger, and Qin Niu, as its master, naturally felt elated.
However, the absence of horse hoof sounds outside made his nerves remain taut.
That person riding a horse into the village could not have avoided leaving eventually.
As long as they left the village, they would inevitably pass by the road in front of the door.
The continued silence of horse hooves indicated that person had not left the village since entering.
Had they infiltrated to lie low in one of the villagers’ homes, or had they entered the mountains to lie in wait, hoping Qjn Niu would walk into their trap?
Or had they followed the scent of Wu Hao’s corpse and accidentally wandered into the maze of the Ancient Banyan Tree?
If it were the last case, Qin Niu would have cause to celebrate.
As the night gradually faded and the sky showed a glimmer of dawn, the stranger still had not emerged from the village.
This couldn’t help but keep Qin Niu on edge.
He made up his mind that if the person had not left soon, he would report the matter directly to Chairman Li of the Insect Master Association.
If the enemy proved too powerful, he still had one more card to play.
The Fang Family had promised to help in times of trouble at a moment’s notice.
And since the Fang Family needed Qin Niu to cure that high-grade herb, they wouldn’t just watch him be killed. As long as he asked for help, the Fang Family would likely get involved.
At dawn, Qin Niu watched as the sky brightened, but the mysterious person who had entered the village still hadn’t left.
He decided to investigate discreetly first.
Even if he wanted to report to Chairman Li, he needed to get a clear grasp of the situation first.
Last night he had only heard faint hoof sounds and couldn’t even be sure what kind of animal had made them, let alone confirm that someone was riding it. How could he report that?
Rashly heading into the mountains or running to Xie Laizi’s house to snoop around would be a death wish.
This needed to be handled without undue haste, finding a way to subtly gather information.
After eating breakfast, he showed no intention of leaving the house.
Xiao Qing had cultivated up to the tenth level of mortals and was urgently wishing to advance to the Acquired Realm soon.
“Master, aren’t we going up the mountain to cultivate today?”
“No hurry. These next two days, you should meditate on the Seven-Star Sword Technique at home and cultivate in seated meditation. Don’t go out,” Qin Niu instructed her.
“Alright!”
She clearly seemed reluctant but dared not defy Qin Niu’s orders.
Qin Niu shouldered a hoe and a basket and stepped out.
The field of sorghum had been harvested and was lying fallow.
Because of the constant pest troubles, planting anything amounted to nothing.
The food supplies he had stored were enough to feed himself and Xiao Qing for an entire year. Moreover, he now had plenty of Silver Money and could buy more food.
Now, pretending to be a farmer and working in the field would serve as a cover.
It would at least not likely draw that person’s attention.
Once outside, he discretely observed the tracks on the road.
Regrettably, until now, he had only mastered Insect Trace Identification. He had acquired very few skills in the realm of beast control.
Despite being a high-level Beast Tamer, that was only because he had successfully subdued the Red-Eyed Golden Watcher, which allowed him to advance.
Having a high rank was meaningless without the corresponding skills in controlling beasts.
There were some traces left by livestock on the ground, but he couldn’t discern anything from them.
After an inconclusive secret check, Qin Niu headed straight for his own thin acre of farmland.
In just over a month, various weeds had overgrown the field.
He released the Termite.
“Fourth, eating plants is your innate instinct, lead the Worker Ants to help weed. The Soldier Ants will take care of defense,” he said.
When he first started raising Termites, his ambitions had been quite modest.
He had only aimed to be a low-level Insect Master.
Given that Termites primarily fed on plants—wild grass, leaves, tree trunks, roots—they were all fair game and easy to keep fed.
Once their numbers increased, they could help him weed the crops.
After all, the thing that grew fastest on this thin acre was the weeds, not so much the crops.
Weeding had always been the most troublesome task for him.
If the Termites could help eliminate those hard-to-deal-with weeds, it would give him much relief.
Now, the Termites he raised had become very powerful.
If they were simply tasked with weeding, it would indeed be a waste of their abilities.
In reality, he was not that foolish.
Accompanying the Termites in the mountains, he could easily catch some rare insects that could be sold for a couple hundred Wen Money or even fetch a high price of a few Silver Coins.
How much could farming bring in a year?
Land like this could count itself lucky to yield five hundred Wen Money.
In a year of heavy taxation and poor harvest, there might even be a loss.
The Termites no longer needed to fear predators like frogs, spiders, snakes in the fields.
They could even easily kill these predators.
Qin Niu released them into the field and let them be.
He busied himself with hoeing, weeding, and turning the soil.
Digging down, all he found were stones.
That’s the nature of thin soil—barely arable and extremely poor in quality.
He turned over the earth, planning to plant wheat in the second half of the year.
Previously, farming was for survival, but now he was purely enhancing his planting skills to lay the foundation for future high-grade plant cultivation.
“Master Qin, you’re still farming by yourself even though you’ve become an Insect Master?”
Xu Zhenchang passed by carrying a pole and noticed Qin Niu working in the field, he specifically came over to greet him.