Chapter 284: Section 72: Ah, the Fishing Net Goddess!
The shimmering glow of corals rippled around the fishman youth at the bottom of the sea.
The youth sat on a rock, holding an elephant clam in his hands.
The clam exuded a Bronze aura, and its shell was covered with sharp spikes.
The youth skillfully held the clamshell, ensuring that his fingers were not pricked. Then, with force, he smashed the clamshell onto the stone beneath him.
After several blows, the clamshell cracked open, revealing the clam meat inside.
The youth opened his fish mouth, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and tore into it.
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The clam meat was fresh, tender, and delicious, practically melting in his mouth. His fishman body quickly digested it, and a great amount of magic energy filled him.
“Indeed, fishmen have an advantage in eating seafood raw. Their digestive organs differ from humans’, and they absorb demon energy from aquatic products more efficiently than humans do.”
A few days ago, an offhand comment from Zong Ge had opened a window for the fishman youth.
He tried eating seafood raw and reaped significant benefits.
It wasn’t just the Saliva Fish; other foods from the sea were the same.
The Human Race evolved to the present, where eating cooked food is much more suitable for human biology than raw food. The fishman youth consulted Cang Xu about this, and the old scholar told him: A very long time ago, the Human Race also ate raw meat. However, because they learned how to use fire from Elves and Dwarfs, the Human Race began to roast their food.
By doing so, they could effectively kill a large number of bacteria and viruses in raw food.
As a result, the illness rate of the Human Race drastically decreased, and their population rapidly expanded. Evolved to this day, the Human Race is the most populous among all races.
But this also led to the modern Human Race’s digestive system having difficulty adapting to raw food.
Fishmen are different; they are amphibians, having lived in water for a long time. This is true even for freshwater fishmen. Although these fishmen can come ashore, they spend most of their time soaked in water. Air is too dry for them, and being on land makes them uncomfortable.
Because they live in water for such long periods, fishmen rarely use fire, retaining the habit of eating their food raw.
Although their numbers have not increased as a result, after eons of evolution, their bodies are more resistant to germs, better at deriving nutrients from raw food, and their absorption is more efficient.
A brand-new path of cultivation unfolded before the youth’s eyes.
“I can eat seafood raw in my Fishman Form to obtain more efficient absorption. Then, I can change forms, becoming a Dragon-man, and carry on with my cultivation.”
Alas, the bloodline of the King of Flame Dragon was incomplete.
If the youth had mutated into a complete dragon, he could also eat other Magic Beasts raw directly.
The fishman’s digestive system was extremely developed and soon, the youth felt his stomach swelling.
The amount of food wasn’t much, but its Grade reached the Bronze Level, which was highly nourishing for his fishman physique.
The fishman youth quickly stood up, activated his Blast Fighting Spirit, positioned himself in a horse stance, and continuously swung his fists forward.
Although every punch was thrown into empty water, he still created raging currents at the bottom of the sea.
Following the cultivation method of Blast Fighting Spirit, he transformed the nutrients within his body into brand-new fighting energy.
A merchant caravan slowly swam by.
Leading them was a fishman knight in full armor, seated atop a sea toad.
The fishman knight was the first to spot the punching youth and raised an arm backward, signaling the trailing caravan to gradually come to a stop.
The cultivating scene of the fishman youth caught the eyes of many others.
The leading fishman knight watched with interest for a while, then called out, “mwagl, ggwall, walmm?”
The fishman youth heard the voice but did not cease his cultivation.
He continued to punch in silence.
Seeing that the youth ignored him, a flash of anger crossed the fishman knight’s face.
The other fishmen beside him began to chastise.
“What a pity, the nutrition from the elephant clam is abundant, but the Blast Fighting Spirit successfully transformed is not much.”
Blast Fighting Spirit is of the flame attribute, while the nutrients in the clam are suitable for producing water-attribute fighting energy.
The youth probably digested the nutrients from the clam, then he pulled up the harpoon weapon planted at his feet, and crooked a finger toward the fishman knight.
The merchant fishmen were stunned in that instant, and the fishman knight roared, “mamgrl! malw, lgmal, wawaaaaaaa!”
Out of pride, the fishman knight did not personally enter the fray but gestured, calling forth two Bronze Fishmen.
They were Blue Scales.
The fishman youth was quite familiar with this bloodline of fishmen, after all, he had killed quite a few of them.
The two Blue Scale fishmen grunted loudly and pounced at the youth.
The youth chuckled contemptuously, not dodging or avoiding, gripping his harpoon, he charged head-on.
Both sides swiftly closed in on each other.
The youth suddenly hurled his harpoon forward.
The two fishmen dodged left and right, successfully evading.
The harpoon lodged between them.
The fishman youth rushed toward the harpoon, while the two fishmen took the opportunity to launch a pincer attack on the youth.
The youth twisted his body to the side, kicking the harpoon with his foot, while his arm followed through with force, lifting the harpoon.
With that lift, abundant mud and sand were sent flying in all directions, suddenly obscuring the view of one of the fishmen.
Throughout these days, the fishman youth had made rapid progress. In his Fishman Form, engaging in underwater combat was now something he managed with ease.
He had a profound base in combat, using the environment to his advantage was simply second nature to him during a battle.
The fishman youth dove into the muddy cloud, making the other fishman miss his attack.
The fishman whose vision was obscured by the mud was retreating, when unexpectedly, the fishman youth burst out from within.
The fishman youth thrust his harpoon fiercely.
The fishman opponent twisted his body crazily, limbs propelling through the water, accelerating speedily.
If this had been the youth’s first underwater battle, he would have surely let his opponent escape.
But now, the youth was well-versed in fishman anatomy, and by observing his opponent’s movements, he knew where he would be next.
Thus, with a flick of his wrist, the harpoon changed direction, just in time to stab the evading fishman. It was almost as if the fishman had deliberately run into the harpoon in his hand.
The youth skewered the fishman to death with a single thrust, and at that moment, the other fishman broke through the mud to launch a sneak attack at his back.
The youth didn’t turn to fight, instead stepping forward, moving past the body of the fishman he had just killed.
He raised his arm and flung it backwards in a sweeping motion, hurling the Fishman corpse at the enemy.
The pursuing Fishman was smashed by the body, its speed reduced, exclaiming angrily, “tamd!”
As it just cleared away the corpse, a harpoon filled its field of vision.
Pu chi.
A soft sound—the youth’s harpoon directly penetrated the Blue Scale Fishman’s skull.
Another one dead.
The Fishmen roared furiously, overwhelmed by rage.
Seeing two of his subordinates killed right before his eyes, the Fishman Knight bellowed a few times and charged toward the Fishman youth himself.
He was of the Black Iron Level of Cultivation, and his mount, the Sea Toad, possessed the aura of the Bronze Level.
The Fishman youth engaged with him, quickly becoming entangled in a bitter struggle.
The Fishman Knight wielded a long spear and bore down from his elevated position while the Sea Toad charged recklessly.
The youth restrained his Fighting energy, only displaying Bronze Level capabilities.
He continuously retreated, drawing into the coral, using the terrain to move and dodge deftly.
The environment within the coral was complex, but the Fishman youth, honed by recent training, weaved in and out of the coral caves and deftly utilized corners to obscure the Fishman Knight’s vision, causing him to lose target temporarily.
The more the Fishman Knight fought, the more frustrated he became, frequently unleashing Combat Skills.
The coral suffered as a result, shattered into pieces by the Fishman Knight, with mud and countless coral fragments spreading in all directions.
Amidst the mud and sand, the Fishman youth continued to agilely dodge, evading attack after attack.
He was naturally gifted with the ability to judge position by sound, and in the sea, he could sense the incoming attacks even better through the flow of water.
“Although Fishman scales are much weaker in defense compared to Dragon Scales, they have one advantage—they can sense changes in the water flow more keenly.”
“Though Fishmen are far inferior to the Dragon Clan, each species has its specific advantages. Sometimes, being at a disadvantage is also a kind of advantage.”
Fresh insights began to emerge within the youth’s heart.
He appeared to struggle, as if a moment’s delay could lead to his death on the spot, but in reality, he was composed.
He was intentionally delaying, to probe the Fishman Knight’s capabilities.
After all, this was his first encounter with such well-equipped Fishmen.
After fighting a while longer, the Fishman youth concluded that the Knight’s range was limited to the Combat Skills he repeated.
The Fishman Knight had only three Combat Skills: a sweeping and stabbing with the cavalry lance, and a coordinated charging move with his mount—all quite ordinary.
Suddenly, the youth transformed into his Dragon-man Form, revealing his Silver Cultivation and instantly killing the Fishman Knight and his mount with a single blow.
He then attacked the Fishman trade caravan, setting off a storm of blood and flesh.
Caught off guard, the Fishmen screamed continuously, desperately fleeing.
But it was already too late.
In a short while, the entire Fishman trade caravan lay dead.
The youth began to clean the battlefield.
Upon inspecting the body of the Fishman Knight, he unexpectedly found that the armor was not normal—it was actually Fishman bones grown on the exterior.
Exoskeleton.
The red light from the Blood Core spread and then drew back in.
The demon energy within the Blood Core had increased significantly, and new Bloodlines were many.
Of course, the Fishman Knight was of the most interest to the youth.
“To think it’s a Silver Level Bloodline?”
“Hmm… for now, I’ll call you the Steel Bone Knight Bloodline.”
The Fishman Knight’s exoskeleton was ultra-hard, comparable to steel—the youth had confirmed this during their clash.
The youth had found a Bloodline suitable for himself, a match for his Silver Fighting Spirit.
The youth’s haul was substantial.
Apart from the Bloodlines, there were many high-quality pearls, Water Element essences, Luminous Pearls, and seaweed reaching Silver Level in the caravan’s cargo.
“How should I carry all these back?” the Fishman youth found himself in a dilemma.
He did not have portable spatial storage equipment with him.
Such a thing was very rare.
Generally speaking, spatial storage equipment that one could carry was also quite limited in space.
Ultimately, the Fishman youth could only choose a part to take back, burying the rest on the spot further away.
After handling everything, the Fishman youth dragged four large Treasure Boxes, struggling toward the fleet’s location.
As he approached the surface, he found himself in a quandary again.
It was relatively easy to sneak back into the Captain’s cabin alone, but with four large boxes, each big enough to fit two adults, it was much trickier.
However, as the youth was pondering, a fishing net was suddenly dropped from below the surface.
The youth smiled faintly.
Moments later, he stealthily returned to the Captain’s quarters alone.
Suddenly, there was an uproar on deck.
“Lan Zao, you’re amazing!”
“You caught four treasure chests!”
“My god, come take a look, these are all top-quality pearls!”
“Silver, Silver Level seaweed, likely spell-casting materials.”
Lan Zao was shocked, “I caught all these?”
“Miracle!”
“Thanks to the divine, thanks to the Goddess!”
In an instant, his faith in the Goddess of Fishing Nets greatly deepened.