Yes, I became a god just by exercising.

Chapter 149 Nightmare Octopus Acquired, A Gift from the Story Quiz Answerer
The waves, laden with white foam, crashed against the shore, splashing water droplets all over us.

This stall isn't in a great location, as it's situated in a low-lying area on the coast, gradually rising on both sides.

This resulted in water droplets frequently splashing onto the poor fisherman's back, soaking his indigo linen shirt, a problem the other stall owners did not have.

Even as Xia Fa approached, the poor fisherman maintained the posture of one hand in the wooden bucket, his head bowed, his eyes slightly closed, and his face, reddish-brown from the sea breeze, serene and tranquil.

He had fallen into a deep sleep.

Moreover, Xia Fa could tell that he wasn't having nightmares.

The poor fisherman hadn't actually touched the nightmare octopus; he was simply asleep.

But what kind of person would fall asleep while setting up a stall?

Xia Fa silently observed him for a while, assuming that this poor fisherman must be exhausted from fishing every day, leaving early and returning late, which was why he fell asleep at his stall.

In fact, because I was so tired, I fell into a deep sleep without even dreaming.

To dream, whether it's a pleasant dream or a nightmare, one needs to be in the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage, but his eyeballs didn't move much.

Xia Fa silently withdrew his gaze, his eyes sweeping over the poor fisherman's stall, when he suddenly exclaimed "Eh!"

He squatted down and, with one hand, scooped up a particularly fresh crab from a basin of silvery fish.

Those are fiddler crabs commonly found on the beach, with eyes like matchsticks, and their left claw is particularly huge, almost half the size of the crab's body.

Inside the claws of this fiddler crab, there was a liquid that looked like gold flowing, reflecting a luxurious light in the sunlight.

Golden-clawed crab, a supernatural creature mutated from the fiddler crab.

Ordinary fiddler crabs are so small that they have almost no meat, and no one wants them even for a penny.

However, the golden liquid inside the claws of the golden crab can be drunk directly after being broken, and it has the effects of calming the soul, communicating with spirits, and temporarily enhancing the activity of spiritual intuition.

This caused the price of a golden crab to reach two hundred gold pounds each.

Xia Fa held the golden crab in his hand, but for some reason, the crab trembled and didn't even dare to pinch him.

"Boss, boss."

Xia Fa called out softly twice, and the poor-looking fisherman, who was clearly fast asleep, suddenly slumped down and woke up with a start.

He wiped the sand off his face, which he had probably gotten on his face accidentally when he was out fishing for crabs. He then looked up and gave Xia Fa a simple and honest smile, but there was a hint of timidity in his smile.

"Sir, what...what would you like to buy?"

Xia Fa held up the golden crab in his hand:
"this."

The poor-looking fisherman was somewhat surprised:

"It's just a fiddler crab, it's not worth much. If you like it, sir, you can have it."

Xia Fa's heart stirred slightly. He glanced again at the dead shrimp and fish that the poor fisherman had deliberately selected on the ground, as well as the live fish and shrimp in the wooden buckets of various sizes.

Looking up, I was met with the fisherman's honest yet weary face, a testament to his hard work.

The fisherman's eyes were pure; he earned his living simply with his own hands, never cheating or swindling, and his conscience was clear.

Xia Fa then bent down slightly, patted his shoulder, and whispered:

"This isn't a fiddler crab, it's a golden trekking crab, a supernatural creature. You've heard of supernatural creatures, right? This golden trekking crab is worth two hundred gold pounds."

As soon as he finished speaking, two hundred-pound notes silently slipped into the poor fisherman's pocket.

The poor fisherman clearly noticed, his body trembled incredulously, and his eyes immediately showed emotion, even welling up with tears:

"Sir, you...you..."

Xia Fa smiled, stood up, and although his lips were moving, no sound came out.

But his voice clearly rang in the fisherman's ears.

"This is a perfectly normal deal. I think you know how to prevent those vicious captains or thugs from finding out about this money, right?"

The fisherman nodded vigorously, his voice choked with emotion:

"I understand, thank you, thank you sir!"

He often heard that there were good people among the extraordinary, but most of them were just using their knowledge of mysticism to "pan for gold" and "find bargains" at the coastal market.

I never expected to meet such a wonderful extraordinary person today!
Xia Fa smiled slightly, said nothing more, and turned to continue walking towards the other stalls.

But a question arose in his mind.

In the past, although fishermen worked hard, they could still earn enough to make a living thanks to the abundant seafood in the Barron Ocean, and even save up for decades to build a decent little attic in the slums of Rum City.

But why is it that, as he looked around today, many fishermen didn't seem to be selling a very large variety of seafood?
Some fishermen, even those who are exhausted to the point of collapse, don't even have a single large catch like grouper or lobster on their stalls.

The Oron is a wild lobster found only in the waters near the Kingdom of Augu. Due to its large size and firm, sweet meat, it has always been a favorite of nobles and frequently appears on the tables of the wealthy.

He walked for a while longer, and the stalls became increasingly sparse and scattered. It seemed that he was almost at the end of the coastal market, beyond which lay the circular beach.

Seeing that he still couldn't buy the Nightmare Octopus, Xia Fa couldn't help but shake his head.

It seems the only option left is to try my luck at the Mist God Hunting Grounds and see if I can encounter a Mist Scale Dragon cub while venturing deep into the southwestern area of ​​the hunting grounds.

Although the probability is extremely small, there's no doubt that as the area where the extraordinary beings in the Mist God Hunting Grounds hunt supernatural creatures expands, the commotion they create also grows larger.

The young Mistscale Dragons, being naturally alert and able to sense danger, will definitely hide themselves, making them even harder to find.

"Three hundred thousand gold pounds..."

"No, it's 320,000 gold pounds..."

Thinking about how difficult it was for him to accumulate 500,000 gold pounds, and how he was about to lose the 300,000 gold pounds that were within his grasp, Xia Fa felt somewhat lost.

Just then, two slightly dilapidated fishing boats came ashore. The fishermen opened the hatches and found that they had just filled a bucket with fish and shrimp. They all shook their heads with grim expressions, sighed deeply, and got off the boats.

Seeing that the beach was empty except for people in the distance, the two began to curse under their breath.

"That son of a bitch with the green beard has even taken over the nearshore waters, forbidding us from fishing. Now we can only go to those small bays, but what good catch can we get in those places?"

"Sigh, don't even mention it. I only sleep three hours a day now, and I fish in those small bays every day. As a result, I can't even afford rye bread anymore. My child doesn't want to eat fish and keeps complaining about being hungry at home."

"Greenbeard deserves to go to hell! Even pirates don't behave like this! Doesn't the Church care? Doesn't the royal family care?"

“I heard from the priest that Greenbeard recently pledged allegiance to one of the five emperors of the sea, so…”

"Five emperors of the sea? Good heavens!"

Upon hearing the mention of the five emperors of the sea, the indignant fisherman was immediately terrified, his face filled with fear, and he immediately stopped talking.

He even looked around in a panic, as if he was afraid that the five pirate emperors would appear around him and kill him at any moment.

Xia Fa had overheard their conversation through the sounds carried by the wind, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Since Dick Tudor mentioned the need for information on the five pirate emperors at sea during the "Fate Carnival" dream conference, Xia Fa had also looked into it briefly.

But once he learned more, he was utterly shocked. Because those five pirate emperors were actually… all rulers!

However, upon further reflection, it makes sense.

After all, the Kingdom of Augus was nominally ruled by both His Majesty Octavian and Marshal Gaius.
For thousands of years, the Kingdom of Augu, the Empire of Boyue, and the Cloth Bag Dynasty have maintained a tripartite balance of power, with none able to subdue the others.

In this situation, it is very easy to deduce that the Wave Moon Empire and the Cloth Bag Dynasty probably each have two rulers.

This balance was achieved by chance; otherwise, if any one of these kingdoms had only one ruler, or no ruler at all, it would have been destroyed by the other two kingdoms long ago.

In this way, with six rulers in total across the three kingdoms, wouldn't the five emperors at sea have been eliminated long ago if they weren't rulers?

It is precisely because the five pirate emperors were all rulers that such a pirate paradise was created, a place of freedom and opportunity, but also one that was bloody and cruel enough.

"I've heard that of the five pirate emperors, two strictly supervised their subordinates and rarely committed crimes, while the other three were basically the source of chaos and bloodshed at sea..."

Xia Fa's gaze narrowed slightly. He suspected that this green-bearded man was one of the three pirate emperors who were either brutal, bloodthirsty, or indifferent.

"Find out some time to investigate. If this green-bearded man is only a demigod or below, then we should take care of him..."

Xiafa, of course, showed no mercy to these mad and indifferent pirates who came to seize the livelihoods of the poorest fishermen, especially since he now knew how to interfere with the divination of the ruling position.

However, what's still missing is a secret ability that can influence the flow of time, or a secret treasure seal.

Seeing the two fishermen each carrying a bucket of fish heading straight for the coastal market, Xia Fa, having caught nothing, also prepared to return to the Mist God Hunting Grounds.

He turned around, and just as he stepped onto the sand on the beach, he suddenly felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

Xia Fa was taken aback at first, but then a sudden surge of joy filled his heart!
He looked down and saw a black octopus clinging to his lap, trying to climb up his pants with its suckers.

Because he was wearing pants and shoes, he didn't notice it at first.

Xia Fa bent down and grabbed the black octopus. He immediately sensed extraordinary power within it, and it seemed quite strong.

It is... the Nightmare Octopus!
At this moment, Xia Fa couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "It's true what they say, 'I searched high and low without finding it, but it came to me without any effort.'"

Who would have thought that the nightmare octopus he had searched the entire coastal market for would crawl out of the beach and onto his leg?

After regaining his composure and dispelling the drowsiness in his mind, Xia Fa conjured a narrow-necked metal bottle with his left hand using the power of the Etheric Source.
He bent down, filled the container with seawater, and stuffed the nightmare octopus inside.

Then, they made a cork and plugged it into the narrow-necked metal bottle.

With a series of rapid popping sounds, numerous small, oxygen-filled bubbles appeared in the seawater inside the metal bottle. This was naturally created by Xia Fa using the wind element from the Ether Source.

This way, there's no fear that the Nightmare Octopus will die from lack of oxygen when we arrive at the Mist God's Hunting Ground.

"Not bad……"

A relieved smile spread across Xia Fa's face. In any case, he finally got the Nightmare Octopus, and without even spending any money.

He took the golden crab out of his pocket, bit off its claw, and sucked the golden liquid inside. He found it to be sweet with a hint of salt, somewhat like the taste of urine.

Then, Xia Fa threw the whole golden crab into his mouth, chewed it up with a crunch, swallowed it with a thud, his throat bulging, and it went down into his stomach.

He felt refreshed and immediately turned around and headed towards the direction of the Mist God Hunting Grounds.

……

After half an hour.

This time, Xia Fa did not choose to enter through the exit, but instead crossed the boundary formed by the inscribed iron pillars and fence directly with his hunting license.

Then, he headed straight for the southwest area of ​​the Mist God Hunting Grounds.

Although it had only been less than three hours since they left, when Xia Fa passed by the habitat of the mountain dragon bear, he was surprised to find that the place, which had been destroyed and left only with rocky ground, was now covered with vines and branches.

"An extraordinary plant?"

Xia Fa observed for a while and then made a decision.

Not only are there supernatural creatures in the Mist God Hunting Grounds, but there must also be extraordinary plants.

However, most of the extraordinary plants are harmless, and some can even produce fruits that are extremely beneficial to the human body, so they are not within the scope of this hunt.

Unless, of course, these extraordinary plants transform into human form and begin to harm people, but that would require an extremely long evolutionary period.

Without giving it much thought, Xia Fa continued to venture deeper southwest, and soon the jungle became dense again, once again entering a labyrinthine world of plants.

After traveling more than 100 kilometers, Xia Fa stopped.

Further ahead lies the Sky Worm Mountains, a mountain range that originally existed in the Augu Kingdom, stretching for tens of thousands of miles with countless mountains of all sizes.

After the Mist God Hunting Grounds descended, the Sky Worm Mountains served as the southwestern boundary.

"This is pretty much it..."

Xia Fa stood in a clearing surrounded by trees with huge pink flowers, and a naturally formed plant hut not far ahead.

However, this plant cabin is made of intertwined vines and covered with decaying fallen leaves.

Xia Fa walked through the fallen leaves and pollen to the middle of the open space, took out the narrow-necked metal bottle, and uncorked it.

The Nightmare Octopus had been guarding the bottle opening, about to break free and run towards freedom, but Xia Fa pressed it back down.

He flicked the bottle neck, creating a metal seal with tiny pores.

In this way, the Nightmare Octopus's aura can be released, but it cannot escape.

Moreover, the ordinary animals around couldn't break open the bottle and eat the Nightmare Octopus.

Moreover, Xia Fa was there to watch over them.

After placing the narrow-necked metal bottle on the open ground, Xia Fa tore aside the vines and walked into the natural vine-covered cottage.

He sat cross-legged on the ground and waited quietly.

Pollen fluttered down, and there were rustling sounds everywhere, probably from small animals crawling or running among the bushes and leaves.

Ahead, on the ground covered with fallen leaves, small insects such as cockroaches, centipedes, and scorpions scurried back and forth. Xia Fa even spotted an earthworm as thick as his little finger.

The sounds of frogs croaking and cicadas chirping came from the trees from time to time, and Xia Fa's heart gradually calmed down.

He waited patiently.

A full half hour passed, and the Mist Scale Dragon cub still hadn't appeared.

Another half hour passed, and the Mistscale Dragon cub still hadn't appeared.

Suddenly realizing he couldn't waste any more time like this, Xia Fa thought for a moment and simply took out a conical bottle filled with black potion from his bag.

This is a small gift from the person who asked the question.

"What exactly is this for?"

Xia Fa was curious and began to explore.

(End of this chapter)