Translator: 549690339 |
A flat boat sped across the calm Lake Dongting.
Yu Changliu, who had returned to human form, stood at the bow of the boat gently paddling. An invisible force emanated from the lake surface, accelerating the boat’s progress, constantly startling the fish and shrimps in the lake.
Shen Yuan, seated in the cabin, finally let out a sigh of relief as he watched the small Maine Coon, Bai Xue, busy with a yarn ball.
Because he had made the kitten cry in jest earlier, Shen Yuan spent a great deal of time trying to comfort the creature, but it remained sullen nonetheless.
It wasn’t until a few minutes ago, when Shen Yuan churned out a yarn ball from his storage ring, that Bai Xue’s mood improved.
Gazing over the lake, Shen Yuan felt that he had completed his mission satisfactorily after killing Prince Ji Du and adopted a swift return mode.
Just as it happened, Yu Changliu had made it back to Yunmeng Village and had graciously volunteered to see Shen Yuan off.
Shen Yuan did not refuse. Yu Changliu spent a significant amount of time at the village’s dock, finding this antique-looking flat boat amidst a heap of wrecked ships demolished by the flood.
However, as Yu Changliu had half-dragon bloodline, he naturally had power over the water stream, so the speed of the flat boat might not be worse off than the motor boats.
Occasionally, eye-catching golden flashes cut through the water as pangolins leaped deftly from the lake, their tails slapping the spray in an attempt to splash Bai Xue.
Inside the cabin, Bai Xue disdainfully glanced at the playful pangolin, seemingly not interested in its childish water playing, and subsequently curled up beside Maine Coon and continued to toy with the yarn ball.
This scene reminded Shen Yuan of their first arrival at Lake Dongting.
Although both times featured an old man rowing the boat, their condition upon departure was completely different from their arrival.
The flat boat that sped on was now approaching the shore, its speed began to slow down, making the rocks and dense woods on the shoreline visible.
At this moment, the silent Yu Changliu suddenly spoke, his aged face full of gravity:
“For this disaster, I, on behalf of the Yunmeng Village, the residents along Lake Dongting, and Lord Dragon Sovereign, am deeply grateful to you, sir!”
As he spoke, Yu Changliu deeply bowed to Shen Yuan.
Then, Yu Changliu continued:
” However, during my recent journey to the provincial city, I was accompanied by Qing Province Governor, and they witnessed the scene of you slaying the evil dragon in Lake Dongting.
Your action here is great merit, but there’s a lot of infighting within the Imperial Court. Various factions are constantly quarreling. If the Imperial Court initiates contact, I implore you to be cautious.”
Yu Changliu’s reminder took Shen Yuan by surprise.
“Thankyou for your reminder, Village Chief Yu.”
Inside Yunmeng Village that got shattered by the flood and located at Lake Dongting.
The Superintendent of Imperial Astronomical Bureau stepped into the collapsed Dragon Sovereign Temple, amidst the murky and cluttered water.
Behind him, Liew Songyuan, the Qing Province’s Imperial Astronomical Bureau Superintendent, closely followed suit, not daring to slack off in the slightest.
“Teacher Superintendent, I still have a question.”
“Hoe Yao and Village Chief Yu Changliu of Yunmeng Village know more about the banished immortal than we do, so why do we not ask them for more information?”
The superintendent paused for a second, and stared deeply at Liew Songyuan, remarking:
“While we can indeed obtain information from Hoe Yao and Yu Changliu, how do you think the banished immortal would react to our discreet snooping and tracking of his whereabouts?”
Liew Songyuan was taken aback, only speaking up after some lengthy consideration:
“Perhaps the banished immortal might be a bit displeased.
But this is just a conjecture, maybe such trivial matters won’t attract the attention of the banished immortal at all?”
“Discard that little thought of yours,” the Superintendent of Imperial Astronomical Bureau reproached severely.
” He is different from anyone you have dealt with before.
We must avoid any possibility of aligning the banished immortal against the Great Xia’s Imperial Court. Even the slightest bit of dissatisfaction needs to be avoided!
We can scrutinize the scene and arrange the information because this is our job at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. However, we cannot snoop by any other means.”
“This is not only about respecting him, but also about protecting ourselves.”
“Until we have a full understanding of his current state and his attitude towards the Great Xia’s Imperial Court, we must avoid direct encounters with him.”
“This might be hard for you to understand, but all you need to do is to follow this guidance.”
The superintendent of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau stopped speaking as he arrived before the main hall of the Dragon Sovereign Temple.
Gazing at the ruins of the main hall of the Dragon Sovereign Temple, his eyes sparkled with a profound divine light, and he declared calmly:
” Despite being protected by the power of the water realm, this main hall was shattered with one blow. The residual mana ripples are continuous like waves, suggesting it was destroyed by the stacked waves of a profound divine power from a highly skilled cultivator.
The residual power of incense fire in the air indicates that the attacker was a figure of an Incense Fire God. Although he hasn’t reached the realm of Incense Fire God and the Golden Immortal Realm, he is extraordinary. The common practitioners at the Qi Training Stage would not be his match.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Songyuan quickly noted down the words of the superintendent in his booklet.
As they continued on, the superintendent fixed his gaze on the deep sword mark on the ground.
The remaining Sword Qi was extremely faint, but even he felt a startlingly murderous intent.
“What a great sword!”
“There were no fancy moves or sword techniques, just a single strike that terminated life, extinguishing the will of the Incense Fire. Truly extraordinary!”
After a brief pause, the superintendent evaluated, “This sword, is quite similar to the Ancient Sword Immortal’s Way, it can cut through Qi Training.”
While Liu Yuansong patiently recorded these words, he suddenly asked:
“Were both parties in this combat at the Qi training stage?”
“Just?” The superintendent’s gaze suddenly chilled:
“It seems that your cultivation has improved a lot, even daring to use the word ‘just’ to describe the Qi Training Stage.”
Liu Yuansong quickly replied with a pale face:
“Teacher Superintendent, I certainly did not mean that.
The main thing is that the battle in Lake Dongting was so astonishing that it was surprising to find that the battle that broke out in Yunmeng Village was merely between Qi Training Stage practitioners.”
The superintendent swept his sleeve and huffed, heading toward the other end of the ruins.
“Seven months have passed since the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge returned, but the recovery of Spirit Energy is slow. The various rules in this world are hard to complete, and the higher realm practitioners are constrained by this world.
True Beings who have stepped into the Refining Spirit to Return to Void Stage have descended upon the world, but under normal circumstances, they can only bring out the peak realm of the Qi Transformation Stage.”
“There are only two possibilities to step into the Qi Training Realm. The first is to start cultivation after the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge and advance to the Qi Training Stage.
However, this is not a realm that can be achieved purely with talent, it requires a unimaginably great fortune.
There are only a handful of people in the Great Xia who can achieve this, including some direct disciples of sacred land sects.”
“As for the second, it is for those strong ones who descended into this world to cautiously lift the suppression on themselves, forcefully accept the incomplete rules of this world, and restore their higher state.
But this, undoubtedly, is a self-defeating cycle. Accepting an incomplete world can damage your foundation and make it difficult to progress in this life.”
Liu Yuansong has already advanced to the late stage of the Qi Transformation Stage. He was the most gifted one in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, hence he was accepted as a disciple by the superintendent.
He thought he was just a step away from the Qi Training Realm, so he didn’t take it seriously. It was only after listening to the explanation of the superintendent that he understood what the seemingly small gap truly represented.
It represented an insurmountable chasm.
Under the guise of the Qi Training Stage, the real power had reached an unfathomable realm.
Looking at the ruins before him once again, Liu Yuansong had a sense of awe in his eyes, and he saw the superintendent had already reached the other end of the ruins.
There, a large area of the ground had collapsed, the muddy flood water continuously washed over the pit, and the shattered bricks and stones were spread out like a spider web.
Under Liu Yuansong’s gaze, the superintendent seemed to have sensed something, and a look of shock finally appeared on his usually calm face.
“Shattering Void, Space Rift!”

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