"Can I really do it?"
The East Canghai, the Dragon Monarch Banquet!
’The greatest prodigies of the world, all gathered for a grand competition?’
Hiss!
’As I thought, the immense benefits of being anointed with Dragon Blood don’t come easy.’
He was just a Martial Artist who had barely made a name for himself in the five-hundred-mile Anning County.
’And you want me to travel eight thousand miles into the depths of the East Canghai to attend the Dragon Monarch’s banquet?’
But...
Seeing Duan Chenzhou Breaking Realm to become a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, witnessing his momentary, wild abandon as the swirling snow danced around the Qi Waves emanating from his body...
Ji Xiu felt a surge of hot blood rise in his heart.
His Master could roam the Jiangyin Prefecture and crash into the East Canghai.
As his disciple, how could he be any less? How could he be satisfied with reigning over the mere five hundred miles of Anning County?
’Once I complete the Nine Transfigurations of Dragon Blood, achieve the Jade Bone Glaze, reach the stage of Blood-Melting Gold, and break through the Second Great Limit...’
’Then I’ll learn the Secret Martial Art, the Crescent Celestial Saber, cultivate a Skin Refining Technique, and plunge headfirst into the currents of the world, into the Prefecture City of Jiangyin!’
The Dragon Monarch Banquet, a gathering of the world’s finest talents?
Others could go.
’So why can’t I, who possesses the Primordial Daoist Talisman and cultivates the ultimate end of all things?’
Just as boundless ambition swelled in Ji Xiu’s heart,
Duan Chenzhou, hearing Bai Shuo speak, suddenly froze. He then examined Ji Xiu closely, his eyes widening.
"Eh..."
"A Dragon Bloodline!?"
Watching Ji Xiu accept Bai Shuo’s pact, it seemed as if two completely unrelated threads of fate had just converged...
It suddenly reminded Duan Chenzhou of his own Master’s deeds.
Decades ago.
A prodigy of the Sword Sect had entered the Canghai Water Mansion, defeated the Sword Sect, shattered an Heir, suppressed the Outer Dao... He had dominated an entire generation, stealing the show at that year’s Dragon Monarch Banquet. In the end, the Dragon Monarch himself had spoken, granting a certain Dragon Maiden her freedom.
This scene was so much like that year, it made his eyes sparkle with excitement.
"Kid, you’ve got your Ancestral Master’s spirit!"
"Do you know how that Ancestral Master of yours, the one they said was a master of swindling, conning, kidnapping, and robbing, managed to cultivate the Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate?"
Ji Xiu was completely bewildered.
"Huh?"
"How... did he cultivate it?"
He, too, was very curious how this incredibly mysterious Ancestral Master, as described by Master Duan, had managed to hide a secret technique from the Water Mansion within their own school.
Duan Chenzhou pointed at Bai Shuo, then at Ji Xiu.
"He did it the same way you are."
His casual remark...
Made Bai Shuo’s eyes widen in shock. She looked at Duan Chenzhou, then back at Ji Xiu.
"The Ancestral Master... Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate..."
"So that’s where your Bone Tempering Technique came from?!"
So.
The Sword Sect prodigy her own aunt had been gazing towards Beichuan for, waiting decades to see again, was the Ancestral Master of the very person she had chosen to invest in!
That certainly explained the origin of Ji Xiu’s Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate.
However...
’Swindling, conning, kidnapping, and robbing?’
’That seriously contradicts the image my aunt described: a Swordsman with eyebrows like carved blades and a face like cold frost, who had mastered the Martial Saint’s Inheritance known as the Great Five Decline Celestial Saber and wielded Unparalleled Treasure Soldiers.’
Feeling the massive discrepancy, Bai Shuo couldn’t help but ask another question.
"Then... where is that Ancestral Master now?"
She wanted to say that her aunt had always wanted to see him again.
But to this, Duan Chenzhou merely gave a faint reply, one that seemed to hold endless complexity.
"He failed to gain a Title and perished."
Hearing this, Bai Shuo lightly covered her mouth, murmuring after a long moment.
"I see..."
...
「At dusk, in the Anning County Yamen.」
Lord Zhao the County Magistrate was happily hugging a hand warmer and counting on his fingers with his servant, Elder Liang, calculating when Gu Baichuan would return to Jiangyin Prefecture and when he himself would get promoted...
Suddenly, a Junior Official came to report that someone had presented a ’Business Card’. Lord Zhao frowned in surprise.
"Eh?"
"Since when did anyone in this Anning County learn such etiquette?"
A Business Card was used by members of great clans who understood propriety. It was a post exchanged during formal visits, and it usually detailed one’s origins and family status quite clearly.
They were common in Jiangyin Prefecture, but here in Anning County, he, Lord Zhao the County Magistrate, hadn’t seen one in a long, long time.
"Let me have a look..."
"Oh, so it’s the direct grandson of that fellow from the Medicine Shop, one of the ’Nine Lords’ of the Jiangyin Trading Company from the Upper Nine Professions..."
"He’s brought the legacy of the Wind and Cloud Association and wants to consolidate the Three Major Professions to enter the mountains and search for the ’Jade Marrow Cold Lotus’ for Pill Master Xu Li, is he?"
An eager expression appeared on Zhao Jiu’s face.
"Why, that’s a dear brother I haven’t seen in ages! Quickly, quickly..."
However, at that moment, Elder Liang coughed and whispered in his master’s ear, relaying the firsthand news from Anning Pier.
Instantly, Zhao Jiu went "Uhh," caught in a dilemma.
"Alas, he offended my other dear brother from another mother. This kid isn’t here to demand I hold someone accountable, is he?"
"That won’t do. It’s like choosing between the palm and the back of my hand. Besides, all the credit this county has earned is because of..."
He hadn’t even finished his sentence.
When Elder Liang quietly added,
"By the way, Master Jiu."
"You asked us to send some men to keep an eye on Duan Chenzhou. Just a short while ago..."
"At the West Street Ji Residence, not long after Duan Chenzhou went in... an Anomaly of the Qi Sea arose. If I’m not mistaken, he has advanced."
"The phenomenon lasted only a moment, so very few people saw it. We only caught a glimpse because we were paying close attention."
SLAP!
Zhao Jiu’s brow furrowed. He looked at the烫手名刺 in his hand, a veritable hot potato, and tossed it aside with a snort.
"I am a coarse man, unaccustomed to these refined trinkets."
"It’s already late, and it’s snowing. If he were sincere, couldn’t he have picked a better time?"
"No wonder he offended someone the moment he arrived. Serves him right for getting beaten!"
"What old friend? We’ve only met a few times, that’s all. Huang the Seventh... a junior from a younger generation. I have no impression of him!"
"And if there’s some grievance... Heh, my county is a picture of clarity and justice. What grievance could there be? There is no injustice to report!"
"No connection, no grievance. It’s freezing cold out. Time for bed, time for bed."
With that, Lord Zhao the County Magistrate stood up, yawned, and looked at the falling snow outside the window with a chuckle.
’Huang the Seventh, no matter how famous your grandfather is, or how much he dotes on you, that’s all in Jiangyin.’
’As the saying goes, a distant official is no match for the one on the spot.’
’Not to mention, I owe the Ji Family’s Son a favor. Morally and logically, I can’t make a move against him.’
’And even taking a thousand steps back.’
’Even if I did make a move on him...’
’Duan Chenzhou has already formed his Qi Sea. Your grandfather is a world away. What’s he going to do to me?’
’You’d better be smart and leave. Otherwise, if my hand is forced, I might just have to pull a "Candlelight and Axe Shadow," just like I did with the Three Great Gangs...’
...
「Late that night.」
Ji Xiu sat across from Bai Shuo.
He watched with his own eyes... as a drop of shimmering gold blood slid into a cup.
His eyes sharpened. GULP. A sound escaped his throat as his cultivation technique began to circulate, his body instinctively filled with craving and agitation!
He cast aside all distracting thoughts.
Ji Xiu forced himself to focus his mind, and then...
"Primordial Daoist Talisman..."
"Advance me the final scroll—"
"’Dragon Gate Jump’!"