Little Loach struggled, opening its mouth. The Sword Pill's speed was reduced a little in the water, but due to the vortex's suction, its actual speed increased.
The Giant Turtle didn't even notice and was struck by the Sword Pill right in its mouth. The pill pierced through and shot out from the side of its tail.
Owen Bertram was hiding underwater, holding a bone dagger in his hand, and shook his head slightly.
Little Loach's Sword Pill, used to deal with these fierce creatures, was simply like cheating.
Originally, he thought that he would need to step in to help against a powerful overlord like the Giant Turtle, but after just two encounters, the turtle had signed its own death sentence.
However, due to the enormous size of the Giant Turtle, it didn't die immediately, struggling and writhing in pain in the water. This was when the situation became even more dangerous.
Little Loach disappeared with a whoosh, and Owen turned his head to see it had already burrowed into the mud nearby, only poking its head out to look at the dying Giant Turtle.
For some unknown reason, Owen was reminded of a traditional dish from the ancient Da Ying Empire: Gazing at the Stars.
Boom, boom, boom——
Huge waves were set off in the river, and the water quickly turned red. The Giant Turtle didn't understand until its death— even though it was much stronger, how did it suffer such a heavy blow in the blink of an eye and reach the end of its life?
Owen, on the other hand, was thinking that the Giant Turtle was already the strongest creature in this river. Perhaps it was time for Little Loach to go and take a look at Mingjiang.
Finally, the Giant Turtle stopped moving, and its massive body slowly sank. Little Loach leaped on it, bit off its tail with a snap, and then chewed it loudly.
Then, Little Loach dragged the Giant Turtle to a spot near its nest and began to enjoy its meal.
Now, Little Loach no longer needed to worry about the blood attracting any dangerous creatures. If any came, they would only add to the appetizer.
Owen swam a lap underwater before heading back to shore. Little Loach didn't have time to "work" today. It would take a long time for it to eat the entire Giant Turtle, and after eating it... it would be so bloated that it would roll around. So, the day passed in a feast-induced haze.
"Degenerate!" Owen shook his head in remorse.
Fortunately, Pearl still had inventory, and they had just paid the tax yesterday. They didn't have to worry about pearl harvesting for half a month now.
Owen wasn't too concerned about the conflict with the tax officers yesterday.
In front of everyone, he attacked, wounding Team Leader and Abbott severely. However, the Extinct Village had a unique environment and everyone in Waves Prefecture knew that no one wanted to enter the village to investigate.
Ordinary tax officers would not step past the Thunder Pond's border when collecting taxes.
Vanessa Thoughts of Shadow was a local of Waves Prefecture, and she also lived outside the village, unwilling to enter it.
Only those cultivators from outside who didn't know the importance of the situation, like those three men and two women, would arrogantly barge in.
Uncle was a different case, holding a determination to sink or swim.
As for why he killed those two on the way, it was because Owen could tell at a glance that they would seek revenge. They would surely retaliate afterward.
With his current strength, he wasn't afraid of their retaliation. But why not strangle any potential threat right at the source?
What if it developed into a genuine threat in the future?
Moreover, he had a younger sister at home. People like Team Leader and Abbott, who were despicable, wouldn't care about the so-called "do not involve family" rule. On the contrary, they would definitely love to use this kind of tactic.
It was a meritorious deed to kill those two evildoers without any wrongdoing.
And he made his move in secret, leaving no evidence that he was the one who killed them.
Owen made himself a straw hat, covered his face, and leaned back against an old tree root, dozing in the sun.
By noon, there was a commotion in the water that woke Owen. When he looked over at the riverside, he burst into laughter: Little Loach had eaten too much, its belly bloated and its body heavy. It could no longer make it to shore by its own power.
The little creature's tail struggled to paddle while its two pale golden whiskers stretched out to coil around a tree on the bank.
Even with all that pushing and pulling, its eyes were still round, and it couldn't make it up to the shore.
"Hahaha ..." Owen laughed rudely before going over to help pull Little Loach ashore.
Little Loach lay flat on the riverbank, truly too stuffed even to roll around.
Owen Bertram could tell that Little Loach must have eaten more than just the giant turtle - the bloody scent of the giant turtle must have attracted other ferocious creatures, which Little Loach had eaten as snacks.
It wasn't until mid-afternoon, when the sun began to move towards the west, that Little Loach finally finished digesting.
A huge warm current surged from Little Loach's body, and Owen Bertram let out a comfortable moan.
The warm current flowed around Owen Bertram's body, before settling in his lower abdomen once again.
In the acupoint of this large cavern, the great seal that resided there suddenly grew three to four times its original size after being supplied with this warm current.
From Owen Bertram's own perspective, it was originally only as big as a private seal, but now it was almost the size of an emperor's jade seal.
Although Owen Bertram didn't know what its use was, he thought... bigger is better!
Right?
If anyone disagreed, they could only say... they were still too young, and their life experience was insufficient.
Owen Bertram was very satisfied. The delay of a day's pearl collection job didn't matter.
Just as he was about to put Little Loach back into the wooden bottle and happily end a day of fishing, Little Loach began to convulse again, slowly opening its mouth and spitting something out.
It looked a bit like a turtle shell.
"A shield?"
Owen Bertram picked it up and rinsed it clean with river water.
It really was a small round shield. The main component was most likely the giant turtle's carapace, fused with other materials the little fellow had eaten recently and finally formed.
It was about two feet in size, and a faint heterotext appeared at its center, unclear and hard to discern exactly what character it was.
Owen Bertram tapped it with his finger. The sound was thick and mellow, but it didn't feel heavy in his hand.
Because of his experience with the bone dagger, Owen Bertram didn't underestimate this item. He took out the bone dagger and stabbed the shield with about forty percent of his power.
The shield made a muffled "thud" sound, like it was sneering.
Owen Bertram looked and there wasn't even a single white spot left on the shield.
"What a great item!"
The bone dagger had the power to cut most magical instruments, so Owen Bertram stabbed the shield again with all his might.
This time, a small white spot was finally left on the shield.
Owen Bertram couldn't help but fondle the shield, but suddenly realized a problem: when faced with danger, if he hid behind the shield, the turtle shell shape of the shield would make him look too much like a "shrinking turtle."
"Who cares, as long as it's useful."
"What's the use of looks and pretentiousness, they're like passing clouds to me."
Owen Bertram happily stuffed the shield into the brocade pouch. He then opened the wooden bottle, but Little Loach refused to go in, hooking one of its whiskers onto Owen Bertram's wrist and dragging him towards the river.
"What now?"
Little Loach entered the water, and Owen Bertram attached his artisan soul.
Little Loach dove deeper and quickly reached the giant turtle's nest.
This was an extremely spacious underwater cave. Once inside, Owen Bertram realized something was amiss. Although the cave walls were covered with thick river mud, it was still clear that the cave was man-made, and built with huge stones half the size of a person.
Little Loach swam towards the depths of the cave, which became narrower the further in it went.
The giant turtle was too large to fit in there.
However, after eating the giant turtle, Little Loach's body had grown to two and a half zhangs in length and as thick as a water bucket, so it could still easily squeeze through.