Chapter 20: Ready and Waiting to Slay the Dragon

A flash of inspiration struck; Luo Zhou sensed a vision of the future where he slew the Old Crocodile Dragon.

Overwhelmed with excitement, he ignored the time of day and immediately set out to find the scenery depicted in the vision.

He soon located it: Shallow Water Bay, one of the three rivers within the city.

The assassination site was pinpointed with absolute precision.

The next time it rained, he would wait there, activate his Invisibility Talisman, and wait for the Old Crocodile Dragon to arrive. Then, with a single "Turning the Rivers and Seas," he would sever its connection to the river water.

Then, with a Dragon-Slaying Stab, he would kill the Old Crocodile Dragon!

Luo Zhou laughed loudly. There was only one problem left: "Turning the Rivers and Seas"!

"Turning the Rivers and Seas" was composed of nine great abilities Waves, Whirlpool, Vortex Guard, Ferocity, Drifting, Buoyancy, Flow Control, Surge Burst, and Tide Rage!

He already possessed five: Waves, Vortex Guard, Buoyancy, Flow Control, and Surge Burst.

But truth be told, aside from the defensive Vortex Guard, the other five were somewhat useless. The remaining four were essentially trash with extremely low value.

He was still missing Whirlpool, Ferocity, Drifting, and Tide Rage. Time waited for no man; he had to act immediately.

Luo Zhou had no intention of waiting until tomorrow; he had to complete this today.

He began calling for people, starting with Zuo Sanguang.

Zuo Sanguang’s mind was full of anticipation; he wanted to play games during the day, but since Luo Zhou had been in a bad mood, he hadn't agreed. Now that Luo Zhou called, he followed him immediately with great joy.

Next, he went to fetch the brothers Wang Qiang and Wang Gang.

By this time, it was already evening, and the Wang brothers had long since gone home. In truth, they had only come to collect their wages during the day and had returned home at noon to rest. With the wages Luo Zhou provided, they enjoyed four dishes every night and a few ounces of wine—a life akin to that of the immortals.

When Luo Zhou had come looking for them, they were terrified, thinking their employer had discovered their absenteeism. However, upon realizing that Luo Zhou didn't care and only wanted them for a task, they relaxed, knowing their good life would continue.

Luo Zhou thought for a moment, a thought occurring to him, and said

"Call all the members of your Wang clan to me."

Wang Qiang and Wang Gang were stunned. Besides them, he needed more people?

Luo Zhou feared the two of them wouldn't be able to gather the remaining four abilities. Last time, he had obtained two in one go; this time, by calling more clan members, he would strive to gather them all at once.

These four abilities were actually parts of a single divine ability, which was why he had obtained two previously. This time, Luo Zhou intended to obtain all four remaining ones.

Seeing their bewildered expressions, Luo Zhou said

"For every Wang clan member you call, I will give him two taels of silver. For you two brothers, I will give an extra tael each!"

The mention of silver worked better than anything else. They immediately began calling people!

There were hundreds of Wang clan members in the city. He didn't need all of them; twenty people would suffice, provided they were direct descendants of the Wang family, sharing the same bloodline as Old Baldy Wang.

Zuo Sanguang looked at the crowd surrounding him, feeling a bit dazed.

Luo Zhou began to command!

"Surround him, start scolding him, and then each of you give him a hit. Hit him lightly—just enough to make the point!"

Twenty people formed a large circle and began cursing Zuo Sanguang in unison.

"You fool! You big idiot!" "You little brat, I'll beat you to death!" "I'll knock your head off!"

Then, one by one, they pushed him—one shove from you, one from me. With twenty people pushing at once, Zuo Sanguang nearly collapsed.

As he was being jostled, Zuo Sanguang couldn't help but cry out in his heart

"What kind of madness is this? So many people scolding and hitting me! Someone save me, please save me..."

Through his mental sense, Luo Zhou realized that Zuo Sanguang was truly the best "tool person" for extracting abilities.

He immediately stepped in, shouting loudly

"Stop bullying people! Watch me act as a hero! You all must be punished!"

He went over, delivering a kick and a punch to each person. With the help of the Immortal-Rank Pine Strength, although his raw strength hadn't increased much, his control over it had improved significantly. Otherwise, with ten thousand one hundred catties of strength, a single punch or kick might accidentally kill someone.

Nevertheless, despite his caution, all twenty Wang clan members were knocked down.

Fearing the punishment wasn't severe enough to be effective, Luo Zhou didn't hold back. Some lay on the ground groaning, though it was hard to tell if the pain was real or feigned.

Luo Zhou laughed heartily. "Fun, how fun!"

He then distributed the money, giving two taels of silver to each person. Once the silver was in hand, no one complained of pain anymore; they all left happily. Wang Qiang and Wang Gang received a bit extra.

Luo Zhou thought for a moment and said

"Wang Dong's house was occupied by Liu Jinpeng, a remnant of the Sanjiang Gang. The Sanjiang Gang has been destroyed and Liu Jinpeng is dead. That house now belongs to you!"

Wang Qiang and Wang Gang never expected such good fortune. They grinned from ear to ear and ran off to see the house.

Luo Zhou thanked Zuo Sanguang by giving him fifty Spirit Fragments directly. Zuo Sanguang was overjoyed and couldn't help but shout, "We are the best of friends!" As long as there were Spirit Fragments to be earned, he would do anything.

"Brother Luo, I'm going back to rest for a few days. Once I'm better, we'll continue!" "Good, good, good!"

All that remained was to wait!

With nothing to do at night and only one Dragon-Slaying Stab left, Luo Zhou took out high-quality spirit wood and began refining. He refined two more Dragon-Slaying Stabs, consuming eighteen strands of Frost Qi. With three Dragon-Slaying Stabs, he would have enough!

Suddenly, in the middle of the night, angry shouting and fighting erupted from the residential ward.

Luo Zhou checked, only to find that the Wang brothers were fighting each other. They were clashing over the unfair distribution of Wang Dong's house, cursing each other's ancestors and parents, completely forgetting they were brothers in that moment...

Luo Zhou was speechless. He ignored them; let them do as they pleased. The ward head eventually stepped in and drove them both away, and neither of them got the house... However, their relationship eventually restored itself.

At midnight, in a trance-like state, Luo Zhou felt countless ocean tides and towering waves that destroyed everything in their path!

"Water..." "Waves, Whirlpool, Vortex, Ferocity, Drifting, Buoyancy, Flow, Surge, Tide..." "Turning the Rivers and Seas, towering waves!"

"Reward Goodness!" "Awarding abilities: Whirlpool, Ferocity, Drifting, and Tide Rage. All nine abilities are complete, fused into one, obtaining the divine ability: 'Turning the Rivers and Seas'!"

Luo Zhou couldn't help but burst into wild joy. It was finally complete; he had obtained the divine ability "Turning the Rivers and Seas."

Feeling it silently, he knew that as long as he struck with his palm, the divine ability would surely activate!

He didn't sleep. He immediately went out, walking and sprinting continuously, leaving the city to find the wilderness to test the power of "Turning the Rivers and Seas."

Arriving in the wilderness where no one was around, Luo Zhou struck out fiercely with a palm toward the space in front of him.

As he unleashed the divine ability, he couldn't help but roar

"Turning the Rivers and Seas, towering waves!"

Did he really have to shout the name to use it? To shout the name while attacking? Wouldn't that make him one of the "Ten Great Idiots"? Wouldn't people laugh their heads off?

Whether he wanted to or not, once the divine ability was triggered, Luo Zhou would shout uncontrollably!

The ability was unleashed: Turning the Rivers and Seas, towering waves!

With a roar, it was as if an endless flood had appeared, forming massive waves that carried a frantic, chilling, and domineering force, destroying everything.

*Boom!* An impact like a giant wave erupted, true qi exploding and sweeping in all directions. The waves were half-real and half-illusory; they didn't physically exist to the eye, but were the manifestation of magical power. Wherever this flood went, trees were pulverized, grass was uprooted, and rocks were shattered—it was far more ferocious than a real tidal wave.

He felt the sensation closely and conducted repeated tests.

Luo Zhou discovered that if used on land, the impact range of the waves was only about two zhang square (a square area of 2x2 zhang). However, if used by a lake or river, provided there was a source of water nearby, the impact range expanded to a full four zhang square. The coverage area was four times larger with water than without.

However, the actual power of the waves within the area remained the same.

Such a strike would surely kill a Body Tempering stage cultivator, but a Qi Refining stage cultivator with a Qi Shield could resist it, suffering injury but not death.

He was invincible among his peers.

However, using this divine ability came at a cost. Every time he unleashed a strike, one strand of true qi was consumed from his dantian. This was equivalent to consuming one year's worth of Qi Refining stage true qi to trigger one strike of the divine ability.

He tested it three times, consuming three strands of true qi.

One strand of Frost Qi, twenty-two strands of Water-Wavering Qi, twenty-two strands of Misty Qi, six strands of Geomagnetic Qi, two strands of Water-Tide Qi, three strands of Heavy Dust Qi, and one strand of Three-Eyed Qi.

In truth, Luo Zhou knew the refinement methods for these specialized true qis. Once the qi in his dantian was exhausted, he could condense it himself once he reached the Qi Refining stage.

With this, the divine ability "Turning the Rivers and Seas" was ready, the Dragon-Slaying Stabs were ready, the Invisibility Talisman was ready—everything was prepared.

Luo Zhou headed to Shallow Water Bay to wait...

Waiting for the rain, waiting for the Old Crocodile Dragon to appear, to slay the dragon and exterminate the pest!

He would kill that old bastard to avenge the tens of thousands who died. Regardless of deep backgrounds, immense strength, past or future, or the "greater good" and "development of the era"—those who died innocently deserved someone to cry out for them, to meet tooth with tooth and blood with blood!

Kill, kill, kill! He must kill! Even if it meant death and the destruction of his clan, even if he were torn into a thousand pieces, he would kill!

Then, Luo Zhou discovered that it did not rain today, and the Old Crocodile Dragon did not come.

It didn't just fail to rain on the 19th of June; it didn't rain on the 20th, nor the 21st... it didn't rain for the entire month of June...