From then until the day of paying the Life Saving Tax, Owen Bertram could actually slack off.
However, Owen still took Little Loach to the riverbank. Even if he found pearls these days, he would only hand over two.
He opened the gourd to let Little Loach out... but the fellow got stuck in the gourd's mouth!
As it stretched its mouth out, along with the two whiskers by its lips, its head couldn't come out.
Panicked, its body thrashed around inside the gourd. Under the sunlight, the pair of whiskers cast a faint golden glow.
Owen scolded, "Stuffing your face all the time, you'll get fat to death."
But he couldn't ignore the little fellow. Owen found a rock and carefully smashed the gourd open without hurting Little Loach.
Once out, the fellow happily wriggled around on the ground.
It had grown to three feet long and was as thick as an arm; no one would believe it was a loach anymore. If you said it was a python, everyone would agree unanimously.
Owen was also taken aback, "You're some kind of loach monster, right?"
Little Loach seemed displeased. It raised its head, its two pale gold whiskers trembling majestically.
Owen laughed heartily, took out a pill from his pocket, and dangled it in front of Little Loach's eyes.
Little Loach was sneaky; its whole body began swaying along with the pill.
"Want to eat it?"
Little Loach nodded repeatedly. Owen casually tossed it, and Little Loach sprang after it only to realize the pill was still in Owen's hand.
Little Loach dashed back, rubbing against Owen's leg like a little dog.
"Hahaha..." Owen laughed heartily, opening his palm, "Here."
Little Loach swallowed it in one gulp but remained unsatisfied, continuing to circle around Owen.
Owen waved his hand, "You can't eat anymore. These are for cultivation, I heard from the village elders that eating too many will cause your body to burst."
Little Loach grew frantic, spinning in circles, signaling it wouldn't happen to it.
Owen had no choice but to take out another. The fellow wasn't satisfied and continued to eat. Owen fed it ten pills in total, even becoming scared himself, afraid that at any moment the little fellow would burst with a pop, just like the elders said, turning into a pile of minced meat.
After eating its fill, Little Loach became lazy again and lay beside Owen, belly up, squinting while it basked in the sun to digest.
"Hey, you need to work after you've eaten."
Little Loach wriggled a bit but still refused to move.
Owen thought for a moment and decided to let it be. After all, they already had enough for this period's Life Saving Tax, so they could afford to slack off a bit.
A man and a... loach monster lay lazily by the river, basking in the sun.
Owen took out another pill, hesitated, and decided not to eat it himself, instead saving it for Little Loach. In case there's a day when there isn't enough food, he can't starve the little fellow, right?
Despite his grumbling, Owen genuinely cared for Brother and Alexia.
After a full Shichen (2 hours), a huge warm current suddenly surged from Little Loach, different from before. This time, the warm current seemed to carry another type of power that circled Owen's body before settling at his right chest.
At its center was a complex symbol, gradually forming.
Owen felt refreshed as if he had been in a dazed state before, now feeling lighter in his body.
He turned his head to see Little Loach rolling on the ground. As it rolled, its body began to shrink, returning to its original size, barely a finger-length long.
Then, the fellow continued rolling before growing again, this time to over four feet long!
Shrink!
Grow!
Shrink!
Grow!
Little Loach was having a great time. Owen looked at the smashed gourd and could only ask one question, "Why?"
Seizing the opportunity while the fellow shrank, Owen Bertram made a lightning-fast move, grabbing its tail and throwing it into the river: "Get to work!"
As the Little Loach fell into the water, it turned into a four-foot-long behemoth, churning up large currents and scaring the Fierce Fish away.
Then, the Little Loach followed the current and plunged headfirst into the Great River.
Owen Bertram attached his soul to the Little Loach's body.
With its size now, the Little Loach was quite impressive in the Great River. When it first entered, the search was slow as it was being very cautious.
However, this time, the Little Loach swam at breakneck speed, no longer paying much attention to safety. In a short time, it covered dozens of miles of riverbed and reached unexplored areas.
All of a sudden, Owen Bertram saw something sticking out of the riverbed, covered in silt and entangled in various water plants.
He controlled the Little Loach to dive closer.
As it approached the ten-yard range, a sharp aura penetrated through.
If it were a regular Fierce Fish, it would be split in half on the spot. However, for the Little Loach, the scales sloughed off the aura.
It charged forward, and the closer it got, the stronger the sharp aura became.
Within five feet, Owen Bertram controlled the Little Loach to flick its tail, creating a surge of water that washed away the silt and aquatic plants on the unidentified object.
It was a Flying Sword, diagonally inserted into the riverbed.
Compared to the sabre that Uncle had given him, it did not seem to be inferior at all.
The Flying Sword had no hilt, double-edged, with a sleek and streamlined appearance, controlled entirely by spiritual energy.
The Little Loach fluidly swam around the Flying Sword, moving up and down, examining the object closely twice before snapping a piece off the sword's blade with its mouth!
Owen Bertram wasn't entirely sure if the Bone dagger could cut through this Flying Sword. Since the Little Loach wanted to eat it, he decided to let it give it a try.
Little Loach: Give it a try then.
Success!
Owen Bertram was also astonished, as this little creature kept surprising him more and more.
As it happened, Owen Bertram let go of control and allowed the Little Loach to take the initiative.
The Little Loach swam around the Flying Sword, taking a bite with each circle. At its current size, it was now much larger than the sword and in no time, the entire Flying Sword had been swallowed.
However, this time, no warmth flowed through the small creature, and Owen Bertram faintly sensed some changes in its body. So, his soul once again attached itself to the Loach, which twisted uncomfortably in the river water.
Owen also felt the indescribable sensation in his throat, becoming unbearable.
He manipulated the Little Loach to quickly dart to the riverbank and forcefully flicked its tail to leap out of the water.
Before its body landed, the Little Loach could no longer hold back and opened its mouth to spew.
A tiny, pearl-sized pill shot out at an imperceptible speed.
Puff puff puff puff...
On the riverbank, there was a dense forest.
This beans-sized pill pierced through dozens of massive trees before drilling itself deep into a huge boulder. The Little Loach sucked it back in, disappearing into its mouth.
No one had felled these trees for countless years. Because of Cold Poison, the trees grew in bizarre shapes but their trunks were exceptionally hard, like iron.
Ava Bertram could only pick up fallen branches for cooking every day.
But with just a cough, the Little Loach blasted through dozens of trees and almost shattered a massive boulder!
"Armor-piercing bullet?"
"No, it should be... a Sword Pill?" Owen recalled some movies he had seen in his past life but felt there was some difference: "Is this the result of eating those magical instruments?"
The Little Loach was somewhat bewildered, not knowing how such a thing could suddenly appear in its body.
However, with this newfound ability, Owen stroked his chin: "I have a bold idea!"
He shared his idea with Little Earthworm, who immediately wriggled in the shape of a V on the ground, expressing its strong agreement.