Dao Skill, a Visualization Map?
Watching the door close, Ji Xiu felt a bit awkward, but his mind was racing. Ji Wei’s few words had piqued his curiosity.
Jiang Li, however, was completely at ease. Her eyes were clear as she leaned against Ji Xiu’s chest after Ji Wei left and suddenly said,
"In this era, heroes are as numerous as carps crossing a river, an endless stream."
"You are cultivating the Bone Tempering Chapter of the ’True Dragon Nine Transformations,’ a top-tier Foundation Establishment Technique that transforms a mortal body into a Dragon Species."
"Once a True Flood Dragon Spine supports your entire backbone, never mind any future opportunities,"
"that alone will be enough to give you a shot at a Titled Martial Dao seat. You’ll have the potential to found your own sect and be revered as an ancestor."
"But your sister..."
"She entered the Dao in a single day, possesses the heart of an innocent, and has an inexplicable clarity. She’s a natural-born candidate for the path of Immortals. In theory... she has even more potential than you do at your current stage."
"Moreover,"
"she has the protective glow of a Dharma Protector from an Outer Daoist Sect. It’s a barrier created by a major figure. Although it seems to have been significantly weakened, an ordinary Qi Cultivation Grandmaster... would still find it difficult to break."
"Tsk, I misjudged. So you’re not playing out some rags-to-riches story, you kid. You’re just riding on your sister’s coattails."
True Dragon Nine Transformations, founding a sect and becoming an ancestor?
Ji Xiu’s heart had just begun to surge with excitement. He was thinking about how this woman, revived in Lin Ruxue’s body, held him in such high regard.
She had seen just the tip of the iceberg and already determined he had a shot at a Titled Martial Dao in the future?
But when he heard the last part of her sentence, his face, which had already darkened when Ji Wei had boisterously shut the door, turned even blacker in an instant.
’What does she mean, riding on my sister’s coattails?’
’Everything I’ve achieved in this life is thanks to the Primordial Daoist Talisman and my own hard work!’
’I haven’t even begun to enjoy my sister’s wealth and glory, so don’t you dare slander me!’
However, with Ji Wei’s interruption, the question Ji Xiu had been about to ask got stuck in his throat. Now that he’d collected himself, he couldn’t help but ask in a solemn voice,
"Let’s not talk about that for now. Miss Jiang, when you say ’residual memories,’ does that mean...?"
He helped Jiang Li lean back against the edge of the bed.
The woman’s gaze was languid. Hearing his question, she seemed completely unconcerned and made no attempt to hide anything, simply giving a casual "Mm-hmm."
"Mm-hmm. It’s just as you guessed. A pity about that young woman named Lin."
"I am a wisp of a Wandering Ghost, adrift in this county. I have resided within a Jade Talisman she has worn for more than ten years."
"The fact that she was noticed by a ’Grandmaster’ back then was also thanks to me subtly guiding and enlightening her."
"It’s just a shame that fate is so fickle and unpredictable."
"But I’ve seen far too many so-called heaven-sent prodigies."
"Compared to them, she was like a single ripple in the Vast Sea, barely making a splash."
"And as it happens, I am but a single wisp of a Divine Soul without a vessel. If I didn’t borrow her physical body as a raft, I was fated to dissipate. So, I had no choice but to borrow it."
Hearing this, Ji Xiu’s expression showed understanding. He finally had some clarity on the situation.
Frankly, he had only met Lin Ruxue twice.
The first time was when he gained his freedom from the Groom, brushing past her as she returned to her School. The second was a chance encounter under the moonlight beneath Feiyan Tower, where they exchanged only a few pleasantries.
Out of consideration for the Lin Residence and the Second Miss, he had acted out of kindness when he found her on the main road, on the verge of death. By bringing her back, he had already fulfilled his obligation.
But this woman of unknown origin named ’Jiang Li’ had, at the moment he was looting the Divine Shrine from the corpse and attracted the attention of the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General,
used her Divine Soul to forcefully intervene and help him. She had saved his uncultivated Divine Soul from being struck by the Dharma Guardian General of the Central Yellow Sect. That counted as establishing a connection.
Although he didn’t know how she had ’borrowed a body to return to life,’
Ji Xiu mulled it over. When he had found Lin Ruxue, she was already cold. If she had been ambushed and killed by Wang Hongzu, it would make sense that she had died on the spot.
And Jiang Li called herself a ’Wandering Ghost.’ If she had been slumbering inside some object Lin Ruxue carried, like a ring or a Jade Talisman, acting as a sort of vessel...
...then it would make sense for her to reawaken after Lin Ruxue’s death.
With his growing experience, Ji Xiu’s understanding of the Prefecture City and Qi Cultivation Grandmasters was no longer as shallow as it once was.
The Prefecture City was filled with countless heroes and descendants of Grand Lineages. Yet, out of all those heaven-sent prodigies, very few would ever become Qi Cultivation Grandmasters.
As for Xue Shaobai, the face of his School and one of the so-called ’Two Swords of Jiangshui,’ he was a true prodigy among men. A young woman who could catch the eye of such a figure... must have had something extraordinary about her.
Ji Xiu never believed that he was the only one blessed with opportunities.
His own sister, Ji Wei, could perform ’Divine Traveling Through the Realms and Entering the Myriad Dreams,’ join a great sect like the ’Ten Thousand Laws Sect’ that taught Immortal Cultivation Techniques, and practice Dao Skills.
So, it was only natural for others to have their own fortuitous encounters and gain the favor of a Grandmaster.
It was just a shame that Lin Ruxue’s fortune was thin; she didn’t have that kind of destiny.
But by a strange twist of fate, his little sister Ji Wei had accidentally shaken Wang Hongzu to death. In doing so, she had avenged Lin Ruxue and settled that piece of cause and effect.
"Jiang Li, Jiang Li..."
Ji Xiu mulled over the name, feeling that the surname ’Jiang’ was indeed familiar.
Then he suddenly recalled a banquet at the County Yamen with Lord Zhao the County Magistrate. The magistrate had been listing the Nobles of the Great Xuan, and the No. 1 name he had mentioned was ’Jiang’. The realization struck him with a jolt.
Jiang was the surname of the Great Xuan’s imperial family!
Unspeakably noble!
The Lord of the Profound Court, who presided over the entire world, was said to be a descendant of the very founder who established the ’Three Gates and Nine Realms’!