"What is this thing?"
Su Mu picked up a small black iron ball spit out by Little Mahi, which looked like a marble from childhood, only made of iron.
"Is this a treasure?"
"Did you just grab a random iron lump from the riverbed?"
Su Mu casually tossed the iron ball to the shore and said, "Little guy, how about you catch some edible Treasure Fish for me."
The next second, after Little Mahi understood, it nodded and dived back into the water.
[Favor Points +5]
Upon hearing that he gained 5 Favor Points, Su Mu was overjoyed.
It seems he made the right decision in contracting a Water Beast.
.....
Su Mu stood up, dusted off his hands, and prepared to continue his afternoon nap.
He didn't blame Little Mahi. Although it was contracted to him and could understand his words, its intelligence was probably not high. Otherwise, it wouldn't have brought him random scraps of metal from the riverbed thinking they were treasures.
Just as Su Mu lay down, he sensed a spiritual signal from the riverbank and got up to find Little Mahi had returned.
It spat out a white Silver Dragon Fish from its mouth.
"What a beautiful Silver Dragon Fish!"
Su Mu picked it up and examined it closely, noticing its beautiful color, golden pupils, and silver-reflective fins.
"Nicely done, this is indeed a Treasure Fish."
"Go ahead, find me a few more!"
Upon receiving Su Mu's praise, Little Mahi seemed very happy, swimming in circles before diving back into the river.
.....
Using the Silver Dagger he won through a lottery, Su Mu slit open the Silver Dragon Fish's belly, cleaned out its intestines, and then came to his stone cottage, where he continued to build a simple grill using river rocks and skewered it with wooden sticks.
He found some dry wood and leaves, gathered Spiritual Power at his fingertips, and ignited Spiritual Fire to set the wood ablaze.
With that, Su Mu hummed a little tune as he sprinkled seasoning.
Since acquiring [Huang Rong's Cooking Tools], Su Mu never lacked cooking equipment, from pots and pans to sauces and oils, everything was at hand.
"The skin of this Silver Dragon Fish is truly tough."
"After all this time grilling, it hasn't even browned."
Su Mu grilled with Spiritual Fire for a good half an hour before the Silver Dragon Fish began to change color.
After a full hour, the fish started to sizzle with oil, releasing a fragrant aroma, causing Su Mu to swallow involuntarily.
"And now for the soul sauce, pour it on~"
Su Mu poured his prepared marinade over the fish, instantly releasing its fragrance.
He opened his maw wide and took a bite.
The flesh was firm, tasting more like beef than fish.
In no time, he devoured the entire Silver Dragon Fish, which weighed over a pound.
For some reason, eating this pound of fish made Su Mu feel very full. With his Qi Refining Perfection appetite, a hundred pounds of beef was just a normal meal for him.
A wave of drowsiness hit him, and Su Mu fell asleep on the riverbank's pebbles.
In his dreams, Su Mu felt his body undergoing mysterious changes, his flesh and blood boiling.
When he woke again, he found himself feeling different, an indescribable clarity.
[Host: Su Mu]
[Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Stage Eight]
[Mastered Divine Techniques: Water Control, Swimming]
[Mastered Techniques: Cyan Heaven Dragon Transformation Technique]
[Water Beast Tamer: Apychelodraco]
[River Affinity: 0.03%]
[River Favor Points: 150]
Through the system panel, Su Mu discovered his cultivation had surged to the eighth rank of the Foundation Establishment!
Directly rocketed from Qi Refining Perfection to Foundation Establishment Stage Eight!
It was like sitting on a rocket. It seems that Silver Dragon Fish was even more precious than the first carp he obtained. Truly a Treasure Fish!
However, Su Mu soon discovered a blind spot.
Apychelodraco?
What the heck is Apychelodraco?
Could it mean Little Mahi?
The only Water Beast he contracted was Little Mahi; it must be just a different name in this world. To Su Mu, it's simply a Mahi.
....
Soon, there was another commotion on the shore.
Su Mu's eyes lit up. Did Little Mahi bring another treasure?!
As he approached the riverbank, he saw Little Mahi covered in wounds, its eyes red, with even a trickle of blood seeping from its eye sockets.
Seeing this, Su Mu asked, "Little guy, did you get into a fight?"
"You little one, don't go provoking those big fish."
The next second, Little Mahi opened its mouth and spat out a smooth Flesh Pill. Su Mu pinched it in his hand and felt its fleshy texture.
"Where did you get this from?"
It was the first time for Su Mu to see such a thing, just a small meatball, still contracting in his hand.
Though he didn't know where Little Mahi found this item, judging by its battered state, it must have been after a fierce battle, perhaps snatched from a water monster?
Poor little creature indeed.
Su Mu didn't understand medical skills, let alone how to heal a fish.
Can Favor Points be used to heal it??
[Would you like to use 2 Favor Points to heal the "Apychelodraco"?]
The system seemed to hear Su Mu's thoughts and proactively inquired.
Yes!
Use it decisively!
Just two points, generously reward my valiant warrior!
[Healing successful!]
The Little Mahi that was battered and bruised just a second ago, has now returned to perfect condition.
At this moment, Su Mu felt the gratefulness from Little Mahi towards him, as it excitedly circled around Su Mu's feet.
"Next time, don't pick fights with big fish. You'd get swallowed in one gulp with your small size."
"But, you did a great job treasure hunting today, really great!"
"Wait here, I'll bring you something delicious."
With that said, Su Mu returned to the stone house and took out a pack of "Wild War-Blue Carp" fish bait.
This "Blue Carp" fish bait was something Su Mu won in a lottery a few days ago,
Speaking of this "Blue Carp" bait, Su Mu has quite a lot to say about it.
It's suitable for wild fishing and for catching big fish in various freshwater waters. It works wonders on crucian carp, carp, grass carp, bream, with a distinct fishy aroma. It contains a large amount of protein fiber, which is perfect for luring big fish.
The method to prepare the bait is also quite simple.
The bait-to-water ratio is 1:0.9. In deeper waters, you can add about 10% pull silk powder, and during bait pulling, the bait-to-water ratio is 1:1~1.1, adding 15%~20% pull silk powder.
This is the bait preparation method he learned from Emperor He Qiang, a surefire way to avoid coming home empty-handed!
Su Mu opened it, mixed it evenly, rolled it into a ball, and threw it directly in front of Little Mahi.
"Dig in!"
"This is a rare treat! You definitely can't find this here. This is a piece of technology and treasure from my hometown, guaranteed to make you dizzy with delight!"
However, Little Mahi sniffed it, then backed away a bit, sniffed again, as if testing, also as if confirming.
Su Mu wondered if it was just his illusion, but he seemed to see an expression of extreme disdain on Little Mahi's face.
What's this??
Even this gets scorned?
This is good stuff!
This ball alone, I could at least catch over ten pounds of fish. Now I've let you enjoy it all by yourself, am I not treating you well??
"Why aren't you eating?"
Su Mu frowned and asked.
Upon hearing this, Little Mahi immediately gulped down the entire ball of bait.
Seeing this, Su Mu finally showed a satisfied smile: "That's the way."
"Go ahead, have fun."
"Bring treasures if you see any, play on your own if not."
Su Mu wasn't a merciless capitalist, he couldn't keep oppressing. He detested those heartless capitalists who disregarded the lives of the Palus the most.
In this aspect, Su Mu considered himself a pretty humane farm owner.
.....
With Little Mahi around.
Su Mu was wondering if he should contract a few more water beasts?
This river doesn't seem simple either; eating two treasure fish here directly sped up my cultivation.
Moreover, the key point is, the frequency of transmigrators appearing here is quite high!
Could it be, this is the birthplace of transmigrators??
But then, why can other transfusers leave their birthplace to adventure and make a name for themselves, while I'm stuck here with a bug....
Forget it, why overthink.
Better hurry and gather favor points, refine this darn river so I can leave.
Thus, Su Mu continued his river patrol.
As he walked, he suddenly noticed a whirlpool appearing in a section of the river ahead, churning the once calm river surface.
He remembered it wasn't there yesterday, so why did it appear today?
It doesn't seem like a good thing, such a big abnormal whirlpool, what if passersby fall into it?
To maintain the peace of the river and protect the safety of passersby, Su Mu decided to resolve this abnormal whirlpool.
Typically, spiral water eddies formed when water flows over a low point are whirlpools.
Either, the riverbed developed a gap, with an underwater grotto below, creating a vortex with continuous water inflow.
The first situation is normal, but the second is not.
Su Mu took off his clothes and dove into the water, heading towards the whirlpool.
The closer he got to the whirlpool, the stronger the pull, seemingly shredding Su Mu's body. Just three meters away, Su Mu dared not approach further, as the tearing force was too strong, and he didn't want to take risks, despite being an eighth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator.
But this river was strange, it was better to be cautious.
Su Mu dived to check if the riverbed had any gaps.
But when Su Mu reached ten meters deep, he felt his whole body swelling, as if it was about to explode, he didn't dare to dive further.
He resurfaced, returning to the shore.
Staring at the whirlpool, he thought of something, deploying the water domain [Static] Water Control Divine Technique, perfectly covering the whirlpool.
Su Mu prepared to forcibly correct the whirlpool.
The next moment, the whirlpool indeed calmed under Su Mu's forceful stoppage.
"Looks like the problem isn't with the riverbed...."
Su Mu stroked his chin, muttering.
[You've mended the "whirlpool", maintained the river order, favor points +3000]
When he heard the system's reward announcement, Su Mu was dumbfounded.
What's this??
Three thousand points!!
Did I hear right?
Usually, it's just a few points gained each time, but now this guy suddenly got three thousand!
Could it be, fixing a whirlpool brings a reward of three thousand points, great, excellent!
In an instant, Su Mu became wealthy.
He fought the urge to gamble, deciding to convert the three thousand points into affinity first, he shouldn't keep more points on himself, because whenever he had more, Su Mu just wanted to gamble.
[Favor Points -3000]
[River Affinity: 0.03%] → [River Affinity: 0.06%]
Just four thousand favor points away from "0.1%"!
Whirlpool, whirlpool, I really need you now!
Su Mu followed the riverbank, continuing forward, hoping to encounter another whirlpool, after all, fixing one whirlpool meant three thousand favor points.