Chapter 330: The Tribe Is Still Waiting for Me |
This Bloodthirsty Sea Mite had a very strong sixth sense; as Mogu approached, it detected danger.
Its tail swelled, like a stretched hide drum, then suddenly expanded.
The thin membrane ballooned out, the body turning somewhat translucent, revealing veins and internal organs inside.
"Crunch—"
The seawater surged, the mite tore out a long white spray and fled rapidly backward.
It had only gone halfway when it was forcibly stopped.
Because Mogu moved faster; he stepped on the mite's back, pinning it firmly to the seabed.
A flash of astonishment crossed the Fish-man Chieftain's eyes—he had not seen the movement clearly just moments ago.
That only proved Mogu's speed far surpassed the creature's.
The Bloodthirsty Sea Mite sensed something and thrashed its two antennal whips wildly, its mouthparts opening and closing.
"It has something like Silver Blood inside?"
Mogu shook his head.
"Then kill it." Qin Ziwen averted his gaze.
Splat!
Mogu stamped down with force, piercing the mite, then picked up the corpse and casually slung it over his shoulder.
"That's the sixth type." Qin Ziwen silently tallied in his mind.
The Fish-man Chieftain said, "This mountain range only has these two types of superhuman sea beasts. There is another shelled creature in another direction, not far from our tribe.
The other superhuman sea beasts aren't here; they're far away, the nearest being half a day's journey."
"No rush. We can catch more of those Bobbit Worms from before. As for that shell, I've already hunted it." Qin Ziwen knew the shelled thing the chieftain meant was the shattered clam.
Of course, in Fish-man parlance there was no word equivalent to "clam"; anything with a shell was simply called a shell.
Compared to the clam, the Silver Bobbit Worms seemed to be worth more.
Although Qin Ziwen didn't know the exact value of Silver Blood, the fact Mogu remembered it and mentioned it deliberately meant it was certainly unusual.
Afterward they spent quite some time at the seabed and caught two more Silver Bobbit Worms.
The Fish-man Chieftain said, "The really big worms are inside the mountain's core. The surface of the range only has small worms. I'll go back to the tribe and search our stone slabs to see if I can find a suitable path."
Qin Ziwen replied happily, "I'll trouble you then. If I can make a proper dietary supplement in the future, I'll bring it to you."
The chieftain was somewhat tempted, but ultimately shook his head; no matter how much stronger he became, he still couldn't handle the Thousand-Eyed Death God when it awoke again, so it was better to exchange for something else.
"Could it be something that helps ordinary members ascend to Superhuman?"
Qin Ziwen considered for a moment, "No problem, but I don't have any right now."
"Getting your promise is enough."
After saying that, the Fish-man Chieftain glanced at the passageway a few more times and prepared to turn away.
Qin Ziwen called after him from behind, "Would you like to visit my Shedding Abyss?"
The chieftain froze, "I can go?"
"You're Luoen's father, of course you can."
The Fish-man Chieftain fell silent for a while and then said, "Qin, thank you. I've only seen Shedding Abyss recorded on the ancestral temple's stone slabs. I've never actually been there."
When he followed Qin Ziwen's steps and arrived at Home, he was full of curiosity about the surrounding buildings.
Qin Ziwen led him to the Fish-man Burrow, passing by the Celestial Star Arrow Gallery along the way.
The Fish-man Chieftain heard muffled "thud thud" sounds from inside.
He turned and, through the open door, paused in his tracks; he saw Fish-men inside taking turns shooting arrows.
Qin Ziwen explained, "Fish-men are strong. Not practicing archery would be a waste."
A Fish-man that looked only about 1.6 meters tall hunched his back, lifted a longbow with his left hand, hooked the thin right arm around the bowstring, and pulled back.
The string stretched taut like a full moon.
Keep in mind, this was a three-stone bow.
The Fish-man Chieftain stood and watched for a moment, a little dazed.
Living under the sea, they had never encountered bows before.
The sea environment made bows unusable, yet the chieftain had still heard of them.
They then went down to visit the Fish-man Burrow. The water was pristine and clear; the surrounding water even contained a substance he couldn't easily describe. Subconsciously, he could sense this substance was beneficial to Fish-men.
Compared to the cold, dim, and murky seabed, this place was undoubtedly closer to where he imagined Fish-men once lived in the Shedding Abyss.
Standing on the bottom of the pool, the Fish-man Chieftain reached out as if to grasp something, but his hand closed on nothing.
He sighed for a long time, "The environment here is better than our tribe's. If they can live here, I feel relieved."
Qin Ziwen smiled without speaking; if he didn't let the chieftain personally see the environment, how could he later continue recruiting people from the Fish-man Tribe?
"Descendants that breed here have a chance to revert to ancestral traits." Qin Ziwen dropped a bombshell.
"Really? That's wonderful..." The Fish-man Chieftain reluctantly glanced around once more. He observed the algae farm and the pastures up close.
These were the cards he had given Qin Ziwen, yet now he looked like someone seeing them for the first time.
Finally the Fish-man Chieftain said, "I must go back."
"Aren't you staying a bit longer?"
"No." The chieftain's tone was resolute. "They're living here, so I can rest easy, but my tribe has many kin waiting for me."
After he left, Qin Ziwen was somewhat moved, "The Fish-man Tribe already has things that could help ascend to Superhuman, but they can't use them themselves."
The Fish-man Chieftain had even given him a Breakthrough Card in his cards.
Instead they needed to go out of their way to obtain something that could assist with ascension from the chieftain's own hands.
"This is the true importance of the Shedding Abyss." Mogu said. "Master, treasures that can assist mass ascension are rare, but they are far less precious than Breakthrough Cards."
Qin Ziwen was initially surprised, then felt it made sense. "Because Breakthrough Cards allow you to choose among three tiers of tasks?"
Mogu nodded, "Exactly. Most treasures that help you break through to Superhuman only result in the most basic Superhuman state. Breakthrough Cards, though they require task completion and are not easy, can directly grant access to Hero-level and King-level."
I see...
Qin Ziwen understood.
In that light, taking the lowest-tier task with a Breakthrough Card offers the worst cost-performance ratio.
"By the way, you should extract Silver Blood from the worms you brought back."
Mogu led Qin Ziwen to the side where four Silver Bobbit Worms hung, wounds downward, draining their blood all at once.
These four worms didn't have much blood; combined, they barely filled one basin.
Perhaps because they lived in the sea, the blood was somewhat clear and contained many pale specks floating within; if you didn't look closely, you might mistake them for impurities.
They were poured into a pot and boiled over high heat.
The purification method was plain and unpretentious—the most primitive distillation.
As the boiling continued, the blood gradually evaporated. Toward the end, the liquid in the pot grew steadily smaller, until finally only specks of silver light remained.
Seven silver beads, each the size of a soybean, were left at the bottom of the pot.