Chapter 620: Section 407: Cultivation of Fishman Combat Skill
The battle in Cold Wind Valley slowly drew to a close.
From the very beginning, the ambush was discovered by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps. The outcome was decided when Zong Ge overpowered the Golden Fighter.
Zong Ge and Zi Di chose not to pursue the Golden Fighter or Silver Mage. In the end, the mercenaries of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps joined forces to destroy all the Alchemy Puppets that were covering the enemy’s retreat.
After the battle, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had 3 dead and 17 wounded. Among them, 8 were lightly wounded, and 9 were severely injured.
The last stretch of Cold Wind Valley, having become a battlefield, was unrecognizable.
The slopes on both sides were blasted beyond recognition, and the narrow exit was almost entirely covered due to the collapse of the slopes on either side.
Traces of flames charring the ground were everywhere, the broken and scattered remains of Alchemy Puppets were strewn about, and there stood ice blocks over a meter tall. Some sealed the remnants of Alchemy Puppets, while others had entombed the mercenaries of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
Those mercenaries had been frozen to death, their faces still maintaining the expression of horror from their final moments.
Some Alchemy Puppets had self-destruct capabilities, their explosions generating intense cold freezes everything nearby.
When the self-destruct occurred, Zi Di and Zong Ge were somewhat caught off guard.
But soon enough, Zong Ge responded correctly by using the Little Thunder God Flying Hammer.
It must be said that once again, the Little Thunder God Flying Hammer played a crucial role. It could completely counter those Alchemy Puppets capable of Ice Burst. The paralyzing attack effects could destroy them in advance, preventing the Ice Burst.
Otherwise, the casualties of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps would have risen significantly!
Zi Di led the mercenaries in cleaning up the battlefield, melting ice blocks, and collecting as many Alchemy Puppets as possible.
These Puppet fragments were quite valuable, some even retaining their core. More importantly, Zi Di hoped to find clues among them that could be followed to uncover the identity of the mysterious enemy.
Zong Ge meanwhile was inspecting the battlefield.
He focused on examining the combat marks left by the Golden Fighter.
Through hammer imprints and deep footprints made by stomping the ground, combined with his recollection of the recent fight, Zong Ge solemnly said to Zi Di, “The opponent intends to conceal his identity; the Golden Fighter I fought with did not use his main weapon.”
“He had temporarily used a long-handled warhammer, but during the fierce battle, mostly employed slashing and cutting motions, ramming and other attack patterns, only used in the opening stages.”
“According to my judgment, his main weapon should be something like a sword or axe.”
The mysterious Golden Fighter, in order to hide his identity, did not exhibit his full strength.
Zi Di felt a sinking feeling, “His main weapon is likely to be of the Golden Level, with distinguishing features, so he deliberately avoided using it.”
“In their eyes, I am Yao Ma, a Silver Mage. You blocked the ferocious assault of the Golden Fighter and even managed to gain the upper hand with the help of your weapon. They understood that taking us down would come at a significant cost and would not happen swiftly.”
“The signal flare launched by Xu Ma and the others previously added cleverly to their psychological pressure.”
“Since they wanted to hide their identities, naturally, they would not want this fight to attract spectators.”
“Therefore, they withdrew on their own initiative.”
“What I can’t figure out is, why would these two target the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps?”
Zong Ge recalled the previous battle, “The Golden Fighter gritted his teeth and showed intense hatred and anger. Perhaps, their target was not the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, but me.”
“To be precise, ‘Lord Long Fu!'”
Zi Di was even more perplexed, “If this hatred is not feigned but real, then these two, harboring such animosity towards Lord Long Fu, are very likely connected to the Saber Gang.”
“But we have bought all the information about the Saber Gang.”
“The local gang has little contact with forces outside of Snowbird Port. Could someone be seeking revenge for Teng Donglang by ambushing us?”
“Although Teng Donglang died at the hands of our squad leader, he perished in a valiant duel. According to the customs here, seeking revenge for this would actually erase the honor of Teng Donglang’s heroic death in battle.”
“Maybe it’s the enemies attracted by the Bu Quan affair? But that doesn’t make sense either. Even if the Alchemy Guild is unwilling to let go, they should be aware of our contract with Bu Quan. Killing us wouldn’t be a wise strategy to recover Bu Quan.”
“Could there be a power that has seen through our commercial plans and wants to crush us to monopolize the Kingdom’s market for Mount Potions?”
“No, our potions have not yet been distributed nationwide. They are only selling like hotcakes in Snowbird Port, and that part of the profit should not be enough to deploy a Golden Level to ambush us. More importantly, such actions would not stop our commercial plans.”
Zi Di speculated at length but could not figure out where the enemy came from or why they harbored such intense hatred.
“Whatever the case, we should leave this place as soon as possible,” Zong Ge said, retracting his gaze from the many traces of battle on the field.
Zi Di felt a chill in his heart.
They did not know how many enemies might be lurking in the dark, and if the two who fled were going to call for reinforcements, they could not afford to stay here any longer.
Thus, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps quickened their pace, and after leaving the Cold Wind Valley, they went straight to the next town without stopping.
Fortunately, they were not far from the town, and as they got closer to the town, there were more carriages and pedestrians on the road.
By evening, the group officially arrived at the City of Close Kin.
At the city gate entrance, they underwent inspection by the guards.
The dust-covered and wounded Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps quickly drew attention.
When Zong Ge handed over the identity proof issued by the City Lord of Snowbird Port to the guard, someone asked excitedly, “Excuse me, are you Lord Long Fu?”
Zong Ge nodded expressionlessly.
This slight gesture immediately caused a stir of gasps and admiration.
“Lord Long Fu, you are truly remarkable, slaying Gold with Silver!”
“I bought your Magic Image; you wiped out the Saber Gang, you are a great hero.”
“How did you manage to do it?”
“Can you take me as your disciple?”
The crowd at the city gate grew larger, and the scene became increasingly chaotic.
Even the guards looked on with eyes full of admiration.
After the inspection was complete, an old guard quickly returned the identity proof to Zong Ge: “The City of Close Kin welcomes you and your team, but please hurry on.”
Zong Ge led the mercenaries quickly into the city.
Before the night fell completely, they found an inn to settle down in.
The injured were given priority for accommodation, and the hired Priest entered the rooms to cast Healing Divine Techniques on them.
The innkeeper was thrilled to meet Zong Ge and Zi Di, offering them a reduced rate for lodging and meals, saying that having the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps stay was an honor for him.
Late at night, the messenger who had arrived early at the City of Close Kin secretly requested a meeting with Zong Ge and Zi Di.
He was sent by Sanda through the Teleportation Array, bringing news about Lan Zao.
Thus, Zong Ge and Zi Di became aware of Lan Zao’s recent situation.
Zong Ge spoke in a calm tone, “Lan Zao is lucky to have survived, but from now on, it will be up to him. He is just a Bronze after all, and I don’t have high hopes for him becoming a qualified spy.”
“Lan Zao is not dead, Lord Squad Leader, do you know about this, and where are you now?” Zi Di’s longing suddenly overflowed.
After settling down, she especially missed the Dragon-man youth.
Leaving Snowbird Port and before reaching the next town, Zi Di had a conflict with Zong Ge, resulting in a serious divergence of opinions.
The ambush that erupted in the Cold Wind Valley temporarily suppressed the differences, and after the battle, both Zi Di and Zong Ge tacitly did not bring up the earlier conflict.
But both were acutely aware of it.
Zi Di, relying on her status and abilities as a Mage, tried to take control.
But Zong Ge had his own thoughts.
Lacking Zi Di’s excellent negotiation skills and not being eloquent, he demonstrated his strong will through his actions.
Zong Ge’s actions at the valley exit made clear his will—if there is no cooperation, then I can act alone!
Indeed, it was his active exposure that triggered the enemy’s ambush upon leaving the Cold Wind Valley.
Zi Di had to join the battle, thus being forced to accept Zong Ge’s plan of action.
“Lord Squad Leader, if only you were here…” Zi Di sighed inwardly.
She felt a headache coming on.
The disagreement in the Cold Wind Valley made her fully realize that her character, values, and actions were very different from Zong Ge’s; both wanted to take the lead and neither was willing to submit to the other.
And to think this journey had only just begun.
“There are also mysterious enemies, unknown in size and motive, lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to strike us… Sigh.” Zi Di felt helpless and anxious.
Ocean Nest.
In the landing pod, the Fishman youth was training combat skills alone.
The Combat Skill he practiced was new, called Fast Swimming. After performing this skill, he was able to move his limbs and tail in the water, gaining greater propulsion and significantly increasing his swimming speed.
In the War Merchant’s data archives, there were over 20 Combat Skills named Fast Swimming. The content of these skills was generally not very different, and the one the Fishman youth chose was particularly suitable for Fishmen.
Combat Skills are a way to utilize Fighting Energy, and different races modify these skills according to their physical structure.
For example, the Blast Fighting Spirit and Blast Fist the Dragon-man youth used before were Dragon-man versions.
The Deep Sea Monster Fish only had a Meditation Room and no fighting room, which made it inconvenient for the Fishman youth to practice his skills.
Space was limited aboard the Deep Sea Monster Fish, and the situation was even worse. The survivors had collected many treasures from Twin Eyes Island, piling them inside the Deep Sea Monster Fish, cramming even the corridors so there was hardly any room to step.
Fortunately, during the stay at Snowbird Port, many of these antiques and treasures were dealt with, some moved to other ships, and a lot were spent in transactions with the City Lord of Snowbird Port, finally clearing some space.
Even so, the Fishman youth still lacked suitable space for practice, with most of the cabins being too small.
The biggest cabin was probably the landing pod.
The landing craft was located in the belly of the fish, equipped with the functions of water accumulation and drainage.
When welcoming outsiders from the sea into the vessel, it was the landing craft that opened, swallowing both outsiders and the sea water.
Afterwards, the landing craft would close, expel the sea water, and open the doors leading to the interior cabins, letting the outsiders in.
Active water accumulation occured mostly when the Deep Sea Monster Fish was sinking. By absorbing a large amount of external sea water, it also increased the weight of the ship.
Because he was practicing Fast Swimming Combat Skill, the Fishman youth simply let the landing craft fill with water up to half the cabin, turning it into a temporary enclosed swimming pool.
He paddled to his heart’s content in the water.
At the beginning, his Fast Swimming Combat Skill was not proficient, and he didn’t control his speed well, bumping into the surrounding metal walls and causing himself pain.
After becoming much more proficient, the Dragon-man youth still found that, after executing Fast Swimming, his speed fluctuated unpredictably and was difficult to control.
After investigating, he discovered the problem—Fast Swimming Combat Skill and Blast Fighting Spirit didn’t match.
The Blast Fighting Energy cultivated by the Blast Fighting Spirit technique had distinctive explosive characteristics.
Paired with attack Combat Skills like Blast Fist, it was a perfect match. However, when used with Fast Swimming Combat Skill, it often caused the Fishman youth’s swimming speed to fluctuate wildly and become uncontrollable.
This was because the Blast Fighting Energy could not be handled with precision.
“Should I change my Fighting Energy?” the Dragon-man youth hesitated in his heart, unable to make this decision for the time being.
He was in a difficult position.
Trapped within the Ocean Nest, given the worst-case scenario, he would need to fight Holy Domain sea beasts underwater. Under such circumstances, the Fishman Form was far more reliable than the Dragon-man Form, as the Dragon-man Form could not breathe freely underwater. The deep sea was not the main battlefield for the Dragon-man Form.
But it was clear that the combat power of the Fishman Form was far from that of the Dragon-man Form.
Although it came with four Magic-like abilities covering healing, reconnaissance, attack, and support, its defensive capabilities were greatly reduced, providing no sense of security for the youth.
Moreover, the Dragon-man youth’s previously mastered combat techniques, such as Blast Fist, Machine Gun Bullet Fist, and rampaging skills, were also significantly less powerful in the Fishman Form.
The reason was obvious, those Combat Skills were matched with the King of Flame Dragon Bloodline, and clashed with the current Fishman Bloodline.
The Fishman youth had changed his Fighting Energy before, he had transitioned from Bai He Fighting Energy to Blast Fighting Energy. He knew the process was quite strenuous.
If he wanted to enhance the combat power of his Fishman Form, he would have to change not only his Fighting Energy but also practice the corresponding Combat Skills.
And to form a complete combat power without any obvious weaknesses, just one Fast Swimming Combat Skill was definitely not enough. At least three or four Combat Skills were needed.
For that, the Fishman youth needed to undergo massive amounts of practice.
Even though he now possessed shortcuts for cultivation, such as the Big Arena Badge, he didn’t have suitable opponents to draw combat experience from. Starting from scratch, even with his exceptional warrior talent, it would still take some time to see results.
But what made the Fishman youth most hesitant was—he couldn’t give up his Dragon-man Form.
Suppose he escaped the Ocean Nest, his most commonly used form would still be the Dragon-man Form. So, if his Fighting Energy were to change to something else, picking it up, he would still have to switch back again.
This could be very troublesome.
Now, the Fishman youth placed his greatest hope on the reconnaissance results of the Alchemy Puppets.
Those double-eared Reconnaissance Puppets had already been deployed one after the other.
The Fishman youth, from a young age, slowly amplified their sound waves to the extent that almost awakened the Holy Domain sea beasts.