Chapter 262: Marketplace
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
It was extremely dangerous for a carp to leap through the Dragon's Gate even though it was not related to transforming into a dragon.
It was especially dangerous for Fang Yuan as he was already seriously injured. Hence, Fang Yuan had no choice but to use the Dragon Stinging Technique to preserve his life after breaking through.
It was called the Dragon Stinging Technique as it granted the user a second chance at life. It preserved the life force and energy of the user, and in an instant, it used up all his elemental energy, turning him into a foot long black carp.
On the upside, all his injuries were reduced by more than half.
"Because I am too heavily injured this time, I will need to maintain the Dragon Stinging Technique for quite a long period of time. Once it finally ends, I can smoothly breakthrough to the 4th transformation..."
He appeared greyish, as if his stats window got sealed up, and murmured to himself under his gills.
Any other demon would likely be dead if they experienced this right after breaking through. Even if they were lucky enough to escape death, they would be left in a state where they would lose all hope, went crazy, or transformed into all sorts of different creatures.
It was thanks to his vast knowledge and his high stats that he managed to survive the ordeal and keep his sanity.
"Even though I managed to tide through this dangerous ordeal…. This prolonged state of weakness would be the death of me!"
When Fang Yuan saw a crocodile swim past, he flicked his tail and quickly swam away from it.
If this was before he was weakened, the crocodile would have been eaten up by him, but he really could not afford to fight it now.
It would have been all for naught if he survived taunting the Water God, killed Ha Haer, jumped through the dragon gates, only to be killed by a normal crocodile.
The current of An River was very fast and was vastly different from the calm lake of QI. Luckily Fang Yuan managed to adapt quickly.
Additionally, there were certain advantages to maintaining the Dragon Stinging Technique.
The water god filed an arrest warrant for a 3-foot black carp that had enormous strength and possessed the abilities to manipulate water. This was completely different from his current state. The Dragon Stinging Technique would allow him to be unnoticed by even the powerful demons, there would be no threat to his identity being revealed.
"Mmm, I should use this chance to gain my footing in the An River. After that, I can follow the river to its source and seek out the Golden Court Lake!"
Fang Yuan was prepared to stay on the run.
At least he knew how the Golden Court Lake was connected to the An River. When comparing size, the Golden Court Lake was much bigger than the Qi Lake, it could be considered as an inland ocean!
Of course, it was a vast distance away, it was as if he was travelling from the northern lands to the southern skies!
"I should take a few days to recover before going on my way again."
Fang Yuan looked at his surroundings, he immediately flicked his tailed and hid in a bush of seaweed.
.....
Half a month later.
"The effects of the Dragon Stinger Technique will be wearing off soon. I should take advantage of my current state and be on my way!"
There were of hidden dangers all around him. In addition, there were constant patrols by the water spirits. Fang Yuan had heard that the Qi Lake Water God had issued an arrest warrant for a 3-foot black carp and sought help from the demon of An River. He felt uneasy and decided to leave his current hiding spot for somewhere even further.
Based on his current appearance and his abilities to conceal his spiritual aura, he would not raise any suspicion even if he was swept by a spiritual will.
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…. F*CK, the swimming speed of a normal carp is just too slow!!!"
Fang Yuan was absolutely exhausted when he finally reached the main tributary of the An River. It was a huge plane of slow-moving water.
"Mmm, there is someone."
The river was very broad. There was bait being thrown into the river from both shores, it was apparent that someone was fishing.
"Could it be….. Have I finally met the humans of this word? I almost thought this world was only dominated by spirits and demons!"
Fang Yuan felt really playful, he weaved between the fish hooks and would sometimes stop to eat the fish bait before playfully tugging on the fish hooks.
"Mmm, I am full now, I should continue on my journey."
He burped and was prepared to leave. All of a sudden, he was startled.
A 10 foot long carp was in the middle of foraging for food when he saw Fang Yuan and charged towards Fang Yuan.
"If this was before, I would have killed you with a single water arrow!"
Fang Yuan cried out, before escaping.
In his weakened state, he was merely a normal black carp, with average swimming speed. He was almost caught a few times by the carp, before finally taking cover in the seaweeds.
He was met by dangers after dangers. He saw a hidden current up ahead and was very happy "F*ck you!"
He focused and shot across the hidden current as soon as he saw a break in its flow. The carp who was following right behind him was caught in the current and swept to god knows where.
"An idiot like you wanted to eat me?! Go eat yourself ass*ole!"
Whilst in the middle of his celebration, a huge net was cast in his direction.
"Mmm?"
Before Fang Yuan could react, he was caught in the net and pulled out of the water.
Hua la!!
Only him, some seaweed, some crustacean were left in the net after the water was drained.
"Is this a fishing boat?"
Fang Yuan heart sank "I celebrated too soon"
"Ahh… such a bad haul again!"
A well-built fisherman pulled the net onto the deck, threw the seaweed away, and picked up Fang Yuan "This carp is all we have, we can either sell it or cook some fish stew…."
Fang Yuan was not unlike any other ordinary fish, he flopped for a while, before foaming at the mouth. There was really nothing he could do.
After all, not only was he a third of his original size, he was literally a fish out of the water. It was likened to a dragon trashing in the shallows or a tiger in the open savanna.
Hua La!
He was thrown into a basket of fishes. The fisherman hauled a few more nets and threw all the bigger fishes into the basket with him. They were transferred into a water-filled basin.
"Hmm… It looks like fishes in this basin are for sale, he would not kill us for now. What luck?"
Fang Yuan was deep in thought "I am going to get eaten either way, be it roasted or steamed, such a depressing situation to be in…."
He looked at the other fishes around him and glared at them "What are you looking at? SCRAM!"
"I am going to be eaten… I am going to be eaten….."
There was a green fish with a slight bit of spiritual awareness, but that was about it. He looked slightly retarded and was swimming in circles furiously.
"Mmm?"
This basin was rather small, it only contained Fang Yuan, the green fish and 2 other spotted fishes with no spiritual awareness.
The last fish was an interesting one.
"Hey you, where are you from?"
Fang Yuan wrestled through the crowd and said hi to a fish of his type.
In from of him, was another carp. The carp was much shorter than Fang Yuan, he was only about half a foot, did not have much meat. He looked beautiful, had scales of a golden and reddish hue and long flowing whiskers. The carp looked similar to Fang Yuan when he was still of the 3rd transformation. The carp was either gifted with such good looks, or he had cultivated.
"…."
The Golden Red Carp looked at Fang Yuan and blew bubbles innocently.
"F*ck! Don't you dare play dumb with me…. Hey hey, we are caught and are about to be made into soup, if you have any tricks, this is the time to use it!"
Fang Yuan rammed into the carp.
The golden red carp merely stared at him, motionless.
"Could he really be a retard?"
Fang Yuan was out of options when he knew that this method could not work.
Not long after, the boat docked. With a jerk, the basin was lifted and brought into the pier.
"Fishes for sale!"
"Fishes for sale!"
…..
The pier was not very big, but there was still high human traffic and was quite crowded.
Fisherman filled the sides of the pier, selling fish.
"Ladies and gentleman, come take a look at my fishes! Freshly caught and still full of life!"
Although the fisherman spoke slightly differently, Fang Yuan could still make out what he was saying.
The fisherman picked up the green fish. The green fish was flopping about furiously. If It was himself, he would have feigned death to prevent himself from being sold and cooked.
"My love, you must be tired after your long journey. These fishes looks good, how about I buy one for you to regain some strength?"
A couple walked to the stall.
Fang Yuan evaluated the couple. The man was in his early 20s, wore a green shirt and had a piece of jade hung around his waist, it was of good quality too. His pupils were of a deep black, he could feel the authority of an officer from his eyes. Following behind was a student, beside him was a sweet looking lady. She had difficulties moving and had a small belly and looked to be pregnant.
"My love! My love, this fisherman's fishes are the best!"
The fisherman saw the young man, and his eye sparkled "Look at how fresh these fishes are! Especially this golden red carp, that's a rare catch! A stew made with him would be very nutritious for the lady! "
"Oh, let me take a look!"
The officer wearing green shirt stopped and looked at the fishes.
Fang Yuan looked on coldly, but he caught the gaze of the fisherman. The fisherman was eyeing the jade piece on the officer and looked at the lady with a perverted gaze.
"They are indeed good, I have read somewhere that golden red carps possessed spiritual energy and would be great for my lady!"
He looked at his wife "My dear... What do you think?"
"Me?"
She hung her head low, she did not want her husband to spend so much on her and could not make a decision. She looked at the carp and was shocked "It...It seems to be crying!"
"Mmm?"
The officer saw it too "Wow, it is spiritually aware!"
"How could we kill something that was spiritually aware? My dear, how about we buy it and set it free?"
She looked at her husband, her eyes were filled with a loving gaze "Let's take it as we are earning good karma for me and our children."
"Al… Alright!"
He would not have normally agreed to that, but the officer was feeling generous "We are getting this carp!"
"I really could not tell, he was the acting type!"
He looked at the teary eyes golden red carp and was speechless, "You really are good, but I not really not thick-skinned enough!"
"That would be one silver, it is a golden carp after all!"
The fisherman was all smiles and decided to rip the couple off.
"That is very expensive, but for the sake of my wife and children, I will take it!"
The officer took out the money and paid him.
After paying, he pointed to fang yuan and the green fish, "Release the golden carp, but give me these 2 fishes, stew one, and steam one!"
"F*CK!!!!"