Chapter 246 - 131: The Titled Technique on the Sword Plaque Repels the Dragon and Tiger; Miss Beicang, Xiao Mingli, Pays Respects to Anning

Chapter 246: Chapter 131: The Titled Technique on the Sword Plaque Repels the Dragon and Tiger; Miss Beicang, Xiao Mingli, Pays Respects to Anning

The vast, boundless East Canghai.

As Ji Xiu rode on the flood dragon’s back, that brilliant and majestic Prefecture City... grew smaller and smaller.

As for the Celestial Blade School surrounding the Prefecture City, it had already faded from sight.

Ji Xiu stood on the flood dragon’s back, his black hair whipped into a frenzy by the raging wind.

He shouldered a ’Sword Plaque’ inlaid with flowing gold, upon which was inscribed the golden calling card, ’Five Declines Celestial Saber,’ as he made his way back to Anning County.

The great Black Flood Dragon beneath him parted the waves, swallowing the sea as it sped along. Without turning its head, it remarked with a sigh:

"Boss Ji, that Sword Plaque you’re carrying... I’m afraid it’s no simple thing."

"At first, when your Master mentioned it, I didn’t believe him. But now, looking at the calligraphy... if it wasn’t personally written by a Martial Saint, it would never possess such Divine Charm."

"Just a couple of glances at it make my whole body tingle as if shocked by electricity. It’s like sitting on pins and needles, as if my entire Qi Mechanism has been completely locked down."

"An ordinary Qi Cultivation Grandmaster is absolutely incapable of achieving such a feat."

Cangming Monarch clicked his tongue, his heart filled with envy.

As the saying goes, comparisons are odious. An ancient adage of the Human Race, and it truly doesn’t deceive this flood dragon either.

Even though he was born with the body of a flood dragon, a Dragon Descendant who would be comparable to a Human Race Grandmaster upon reaching adulthood, he had been exiled here just for shattering the Bright Moon Jade Cup in the Water Monarch’s Mansion.

On the surface, he could summon the wind and rain, receive offerings as a Tributor to a Grand Lineage, and act all high and mighty in the Prefecture City.

But in truth, among the behemoth powers that truly mattered, those that transcended the level of a mere Prefecture City... he wasn’t even worth mentioning.

But this ’Boss Ji’ was completely different.

Before, Cangming Monarch had only thought that he’d gained the friendship of Young Master Bai Shuo. In terms of background, however, he had nothing to show for himself. If someone from the Water Monarch’s Mansion were to arrive, they wouldn’t even give him a second glance.

A country bumpkin, no matter how powerful, who had broken through the Two Limits and stood above an entire prefecture, might seem impressive and be hailed as a youthful prodigy.

But in the end, he was still just a mortal man, one who tempered his Flesh, Bone, and Skin.

Could he even compare to the descendants of Celestial Pillars and Giant Houses, who kicked down the door to the Qi Cultivation Grandmaster realm at sixteen or seventeen?

The title of Young Lord is only bestowed upon the Dragon Monarch’s legitimate daughter. In the future, upon her coming-of-age, a grand banquet would be held for the ’great powers’ to arrange a political marriage.

And those who came and went for such an occasion—which of them wasn’t a young Grandmaster ranked on the Juvenile Dragon Stele, or a Daoist Celestial Being from an Outer Dao, or someone with an Immortal Descendant True Inheritance?

Between those two sides, there was a vast, insurmountable chasm.

It was just like him, a True Flood Dragon who was a ’Half-Dragon Descendant’. On the surface, he had some status, a future, and had been granted the special honor of Cultivation within the Water Monarch’s Mansion.

Yet, just for knocking over his host’s cup, he was expelled and exiled. It was the same principle.

Sometimes, the world inside the door and the world outside are two completely different places.

Having one foot in the door versus being fully inside are two entirely different concepts.

But the surviving lineage of the Sword Dao Ancestral Court... and this Sword Plaque... they represented a key to get ’inside the door’.

Even if it was a thing of the past, long since fallen apart, it was still once one of the Ten Directions Celestial Pillars, a legacy left behind by a contemporary Giant.

Carrying such a name, even if it meant being hunted by enemies across the world and viewed with hostility—what kind of existence were those people, those factions?

Without exception, they were all at or above the level of a True Sect or a Titled power!

To be noticed by these great figures, to be placed on their game board, was itself a form of leverage and a mark of capability.

At the same time, it also represented a ’future’.

At the very least, if the Dragon Monarch of that Water Monarch’s Mansion were to find out...

With this additional layer of identity...

...he would truly take notice of the name Ji Xiu.

As he chatted idly with Cangming Monarch, Ji Xiu learned some of the hidden secrets of the Water Monarch’s Mansion and the East Canghai.

Meanwhile, the Anning Pier he had departed from drew ever closer.

Gazing at the corner of the small Anning County that had come into view, and then thinking back to the Jiangyin Prefecture he had just left, Ji Xiu felt as if a lifetime had passed, though it had only been a day and a night.

’No wonder everyone wants to climb higher, to venture outside and see a different world.’

’Only now do I understand why Zhao Jiu, the Lord of Anning County, is always muttering about wanting to be transferred back to the Prefecture City.’

’I used to think it was better to be a chicken’s head than a phoenix’s tail, that it was more comfortable here in Anning County.’

’But it’s just like how Anning County hasn’t produced a single Grandmaster in decades.’

’I hadn’t even entered Jiangyin Prefecture, and I’d already met several in a row.’

’If you want to see how high the heavens are and how wide the seas, you really can’t just stay cooped up in some corner of the world.’

CREEEAK...

Shouldering the Sword Plaque and riding the Black Flood Dragon, by the time he entered Anning Pier, dusk was already falling.

After telling Cangming Monarch to lurk and swim around the pier on its own and not to disturb the nearby laborers and merchant ships,

Ji Xiu strode with the gait of a dragon and the pace of a tiger back to the Ji Residence.

Putting everything else aside, his gains from this trip were truly substantial.

He had obtained the Thunderstruck Tribulation Wood, cultivated his Jade Skin, and learned the first Chapter of the ’True Sect Level’ Great Five Decline Celestial Saber...

He had even carried the Titled Blade Plaque—a vessel for a Martial Saint’s Ultimate Skill that he could study and observe daily to improve his Innate Talent for the Sword Dao—all the way back across the eight-thousand-li East Canghai!

From this day forward, a piece of the Sword Dao Ancestral Court’s Orthodoxy now resided in the remote and rustic Anning County!

With so many benefits and insights, plus the two Secret Martial arts he had now received in advance...

Before the Jiangyin Prefecture Courtyard began recruiting Prefecture Students at the start of spring in the first month, and before he followed his Master Duan Chenzhou’s instructions to go find Gu Baichuan and ask for a qualification,

...it was time to use this free period to settle down and polish his skills.

He would strive to...

...the moment he stepped into the Prefecture City, take all those disciples from the Thirty-Six Professions and the various halls and Schools—those who wished to compete for Prefecture Official Merit and become the Nobles of the Great Xuan with their own Fiefdoms...

...and crush them all, one by one, under his feet!