Free Web NovelChapter 602: Chapter 602: Raging Waves (Part 1)
The mighty river roared as it surged through the canyon, suddenly taking a sharp turn eastward.
The river, imbued with the power of nature, endlessly battered against the sheer cliffs on both sides, crashing heavily onto the rocks exposed above the water, splashing countless droplets into the air.
Underneath, countless hidden reefs were scattered like stars, forming numerous deadly whirlpools along this stretch of waterway.
Zhang Yuan walked several miles along the canyon, gaining a basic understanding of this section of the Nu Tao River.
The biggest challenge for the Wu Family in opening up the Nu Tao River’s channel lies right here.
Because even without any strange entities, merchant ships and cargo vessels cannot pass through this waterway at all.
Of course, if a powerful person were willing to take action, clearing the visible and hidden reefs bit by bit wouldn’t be a problem.
The issue is, which powerful person would be willing to do such laborious work?
The Wu Family in He Yuan does not have that kind of influence!
Now that the Wu Family has sought Zhang Yuan’s help, they truly found the right person.
Zhang Yuan stopped in a calm River Bay District.
He took off his outer clothes and retrieved a Water Armor from his Storage Space to change into.
Zhang Yuan once had a set of Dragon Carp Armor, known as a formidable tool for underwater action and combat, but it was long since destroyed.
The Water Armor he put on now was certainly of good quality, but couldn’t compare to the Dragon Carp Armor.
Yet when Zhang Yuan activated the extraordinary abilities of the White Dragon Loach, bestowing himself with an intermediate level of Water Profound Communication,
as he leaped into the river, it was like returning to a long-lost home.
A feeling of indescribable leisure and relaxation enveloped Zhang Yuan along with the Nu Tao River.
He exhaled a string of bubbles contentedly, then stealthily moved upstream.
It had been a long time since Zhang Yuan used the abilities of the White Dragon Loach.
Although there were rivers near West Plain City, all his battles were conducted on plains, mountains, even gobi and deserts, with no opportunity for this Divine Nest Host to exert its strength.
It took Zhang Yuan only ten breaths of time to regain the feeling of diving into the deep sea!
Despite the turbulent river, his upstream speed suddenly quickened, traversing several zhang in the blink of an eye.
It wasn’t long before numerous hidden reefs appeared in front of Zhang Yuan.
These reefs were like tigers blocking the way, hindering Zhang Yuan’s progress, and the swift currents between the rocks severely impacted him.
But the intermediate Water Profound Communication ability granted Zhang Yuan extraordinary underwater maneuverability.
Even though the underwater environment here was extremely unfriendly, he adapted quickly and reversed the situation by using these currents to control his dive, more agile and free than a fish in the river.
Zhang Yuan smoothly navigated through the treacherous reef-strewn area.
Suddenly, he acutely sensed an anomaly around him.
Turning his head, he saw a black shadow darting out from the rocks with the momentum of an arrow leaving the bowstring, charging straight at Zhang Yuan.
Its vicious intent was overwhelming!
Zhang Yuan immediately recognized it as a large black fish five or six feet long with densely patterned scales covering its surface and menacing, fist-sized eyes.
However sudden the large black fish’s attack, it was a fool’s dream thinking it could harm Zhang Yuan.
Zhang Yuan did not dodge, raising his hand with fingers splayed towards the charging black fish.
He suddenly activated the water control technique granted by his intermediate Water Profound Communication ability.
The massive black fish, weighing at least one or two hundred catties, just opened its gaping mouth when it suddenly felt the surrounding water freeze in an instant, not only halting its movement but also exerting immense pressure.
Crack!
The very next moment, the small overlord of the water’s eyes bulged out, and its hard skull suddenly dented in a large part, spraying a large discharge of foul blood from its mouth.
Zhang Yuan’s water control technique had crushed it on the spot!
Having dealt with this small calamity, Zhang Yuan did not perform any ceremony over it.
He directly stored it in his Storage Space.
Such a large black fish should make a delicious dish whether cooked in sour soup or roasted; anyway, it was not worth much Source Material, just a mere three or five hundred points.
He continued swimming forward, passing through the entire hidden reef area.
At this moment, Zhang Yuan suddenly turned around underwater, the Overlord Halberd firmly in his grasp.
Using the undercurrent of the river, he shot forward like a torpedo, man and weapon alike rushing at high speed towards a huge reef, with the Profound Soldiers in his hand suddenly emitting a blazing flame-like radiance.
Thud!
The long halberd pierced the reef without any resistance, penetrating deeply by several feet.
The Gang Force contained within the halberd shaft erupted violently, causing the lower half of the massive reef to explode into countless fragments.
The upper half fell with a thundering crash.
Zhang Yuan, quick-eyed and fast-handed, reached out and stored it into his Storage Space.
Lucky that he had left enough space; otherwise, fitting such a large rock would’ve been challenging.
Splash!
Having just destroyed a hidden reef, Zhang Yuan broke through the surface of the water, flying over a dozen steps through the air before landing steadily on the riverbank, water vapor swirling around him.
He waved a hand, and the large reef from his Storage Space was thrown out.
It landed heavily on the nearby pile of rocks.
Feasible!
Zhang Yuan nodded slightly.
The fact confirmed that using the Storage Space to transport hidden reefs was a very correct approach, and his own strength served as a replacement for explosives. Clearing this path along the northern foot of Liping Mountain was merely a matter of time.
Although this waterway was several miles long, only three to five places needed actual clearing.
Otherwise, it would be an impossible task for Zhang Yuan to complete.
Even so, Zhang Yuan estimated it would take him at least about a month to complete this task.
It’s fair to say, although the Wu Family gave many things, his efforts were substantial!
Over the next two days, Zhang Yuan frequently dived, mapping out the underwater situation of this stretch of the Nu Tao River clearly and recording it for future "construction".
But during this process, he did not encounter any Water Ghosts.
The rumored ferocious and cunning great entity of the Nu Tao River was nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps even strange entities disliked residing in such an environment—there are no suitable targets even for mischief.
On the third day, Zhang Yuan drifted downstream, entering the waterways of the Nu Tao River in the He Yuan region.
Searching for traces of the rumored strange entity.
The He Yuan area belonged to the plains, the terrain vast and the land fertile, and here the Nu Tao River lost its ferocity in the mountainous canyon, with the flow becoming much calmer.
But the water became significantly deeper, with Zhang Yuan having explored depths of sixty to seventy zhang in some places.
This was clearly not the limit of the Nu Tao River.
However, he encountered only very few and weak Water Ghosts, easily dispatched.
Zhang Yuan did discover several sunken ships at the bottom of a river section.
Unfortunately, these were cargo ships, whose transported goods had long since decayed, with no gold and silver treasures left to scavenge.
With this, Zhang Yuan reached the vicinity of He Yuan City.
