Chapter 323 - 157: Grade 5 Spiritual Object ’Glazed Trout’, ’Water Avoidance’ Innate Talent, Treading the River to Return, Immortal Robe in Advance

Chapter 323: Chapter 157: Grade 5 Spiritual Object ’Glazed Trout’, ’Water Avoidance’ Innate Talent, Treading the River to Return, Immortal Robe in Advance

"A mere East Canghai? How could that possibly stop a natural-born Wave-Riding White Flood Dragon?"

"You all just wait here. I’m going to go have a chat with your Ferry Leader and await my apprentice’s good news!"

With that, Duan Chenzhou flicked his sleeve and left for the Ferry Leader’s residence, leaving the others staring dumbfounded, all thinking this elder was far too nonchalant!

Inside the residence.

’What’s with this master and apprentice pair, losing their minds and causing a ruckus here in the middle of the night?’

’Ah, whatever. I’ve managed this East Suburb Ferry for so many years, and with my family connections, everyone from top to bottom is already one of my own.’

’As long as Duan Chenzhou and Ji Xiu don’t go around shouting their own names, word won’t get back to the Fishing Trade. Let them do whatever they want.’

’Duan Chenzhou comes from a Fisherman’s Son background. He’s roamed the rivers and seas for so many years, how could he not know the difficulty of Catching Spirit Fish? Yet he’s still here yanking my chain in the middle of the night. Who knows what trick he’s got up his sleeve...’

Qii Zhao rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. He had just sat down when he saw Duan Chenzhou follow him in. He asked in surprise:

"Weren’t you going to catch Spirit Fish with your apprentice?"

Duan Chenzhou sat down without being asked, calmly poured himself a cup of tea from the table, and took a light sip.

"He’s more than enough on his own. What would I go for? I’d probably just get in the way."

Qii Zhao, who had been sitting, suddenly shot to his feet when he heard this.

"You’re being serious!?"

Qii Zhao’s face twitched.

"You’ve knocked around this river for twenty or thirty years. How can you not know the secrets of the East Canghai?"

"You’re sending him out alone to cast a Spirit Net, scatter Spiritual Bait, and pilot an Upturned Boat under the cover of night. Forget about what he might catch—aren’t you worried something might happen to him?"

"Out on the East Canghai, even just ten li out, if something unexpected happens and you run into some dangerous creature... forget Powerful Martial Artists, even Qi Cultivation Grandmasters have died out there!"

The Ferry Leader’s tone was full of warning, his expression dark.

But in the next moment, Duan Chenzhou’s words made his mind buzz, as if it were about to explode.

"Casting nets, scattering bait, poling a boat to fish... those are the methods of a fisherman who roams the rivers and seas but lacks sufficient skill."

"My apprentice, even with nothing to his name, can command the rivers and seas."

"Just you watch."

Seeing Duan Chenzhou’s rock-steady composure, something in Qii Zhao’s chest tightened. He could no longer hold back his anger, his teeth grinding with a ’GNASH’.

"This is how you train your apprentice?"

"I’ve heard about this kid’s story. He rushed here from a remote County, traveling a thousand li, attended your funeral, and then guarded your estate. He gave you, a ’dead man,’ more than enough face."

"If I had an apprentice like that, I’d treasure him so much I’d be afraid he’d melt if I held him in my mouth! But you? To train his ’Water Attribute,’ you send him to swim in the Canghai alone?"

"You’re completely insane!"

Having said his piece, Qii Zhao quickly clasped his hands behind his back and strode out.

When he stepped onto the pier and heard the boat captains who had surrounded Ji Xiu earlier talking amongst themselves, his face grew even darker. He turned to Duan Chenzhou behind him, pointed at his nose, and started yelling:

"Bones and sinews like a dragon, skin like jade, a Furnace of Qi and Blood, the Purest Gang!"

"You couldn’t pick out more than a handful of talents like that in all of Jiangyin Prefecture!"

"Fine, fine, fine."

"You wanted a bet, didn’t you?"

Qii Zhao took a breath. Seeing there were still people around, he couldn’t call out the Name of the cloaked Duan Chenzhou, so he just said viciously:

"Today, I’ll bet on whether your apprentice can catch a Spirit Fish!"

"If he manages to catch one, we’ll do it your way."

"But if he doesn’t..."

"You can stop being his ’Master,’ and let me take over!"

"A fine sapling like him is being wasted in your hands."

As Qii Zhao spoke, his heart ached with regret. Hearing this, Duan Chenzhou couldn’t help but chuckle.

"So your dagger is revealed at last. But that’s not going to happen."

"My apprentice is a treasure. Besides, he’s a grown man. How can you bet on him back and forth like he’s some kind of commodity?"

"No, absolutely not."

By now, more than half a double-hour had passed.

Seeing that Ji Xiu’s Qi Mechanism had vanished completely, Qii Zhao couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore. He quickly called for men, about to launch a boat and search for the boy himself.

However...

SPLASH, SPLASH!

"Dragon Head, look... what is that!?"

A commotion like a tidal wave suddenly thrashed its way from the turbulent surface of the distant Canglang River, growing closer and closer, accompanied by a tremendous noise!

It made Qii Zhao freeze in place. He snapped his head up, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open.

"Is that...!?"

SPLASH!

The moonlight shone brilliantly, scattering across the water’s surface.

It also illuminated a figure in the distance—not a tiny, lone boat tossed about by the wind and waves, but something more like a ’Flood Dragon in the water’ commanding the river and sea!

!!

Qii Zhao’s jaw dropped.

He watched as the young man’s wild hair, dotted with water droplets, danced in the wind. The boy was half-submerged, bare-chested against the waves. In a one-handed grip, he held a massive fish—an arm’s length long, clear as crystal, with scales that refracted a rainbow of colors and a shape like a halberd. He had the creature by a vital point, and was Riding the Wave straight back toward the Jiangyin Prefecture branch of the river!

At the same time...

As a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, his vision was extremely sharp, allowing him to see with perfect clarity.

The young man wasn’t just treading on the river waves; he was stepping on the heads and tails of countless Treasure Fish from the sea, all vying to be near him!

Moreover, they were of no small age. They had been infused with the water’s Spiritual Qi. While not true Spiritual Objects, they were comparable to Great Medicines or mountain delicacies aged for decades, even a Hundred Years!

At the Power Barrier realm, he could tread upon the river as if it were flat ground, capturing a spiritual creature with one hand no matter how tempestuous the waves!

As Ji Xiu drew closer, Qii Zhao saw the faintly shimmering Water Pattern on his forehead, a manifestation of the ’Mountain and Sea Search’ Daoist Talisman...

Qii Zhao couldn’t help but wonder to himself.

’Could it be that this boy truly has the destiny of a ’Flood Dragon in the water’!?’

"Old Qii, you’ve lost."

Duan Chenzhou, his cloak whipping in the sea breeze, grinned at the sight.

A single sentence left Qii Zhao speechless. He watched as the Spirit Fish, a ’Glazed Trout,’ struggled in vain. It was held firmly in the young man’s one-handed grip as he stepped onto the pier...

He could only force a bitter smile.

"Qii Boss, I also gathered a school of large fish along the way. It should be worth a single cast of the nets."

"Consider it a gift for troubling you, Dragon Head, in the middle of the night!"

Ji Xiu’s hair was disheveled. He briefly stimulated his Qi and Blood, steaming the cold moisture from his body and cloaking himself entirely in True Gang, presenting a heroic and martial figure as he looked at Qii Zhao.

In response, the latter was speechless for a long moment. Only after Ji Xiu finished speaking did he wave his hand, ordering the eager-eyed boat captains to cast their nets and bring in the entire haul, at which point the commotion finally died down...

[The Tutor commanded the river and sea, catching the ’Fifth-Grade Spiritual Object’ Glazed Trout, exercising the ’Hunting the Sea’ authority. Daoist Talisman progress has greatly increased!]

[The Tutor, like a Flood Dragon in the water, made great fish of decades and even a Hundred Years of age into a staircase of flesh, becoming like the ’Lord of River Waves.’ Daoist Talisman progress has greatly increased!]

[Current Authority—Mountain and Sea Search: 62% → 75%!]

[The Tutor’s Daoist Talisman has achieved Great Success, deriving a new Innate Talent: Water Avoidance!]

[From now on, you are like a fish or flood dragon, as if you have grown gills. You can move stealthily underwater and, even if you dive eight thousand li deep, you can breathe freely without relying on wondrous items or precious treasures!]

Having captured the Glazed Trout, Ji Xiu felt his Qi Number become more attuned to the East Canghai, and his eyes brightened slightly.

’The Daoist Talisman leveled up, and I gained another Innate Talent!’

’Riding the Wave, Water Avoidance...’

’When these two are combined, doesn’t it mean that if I wanted to, I could start from Jiangyin Prefecture and infiltrate all the way to the East Canghai’s Overlord-level Power, the ’Water Monarch’s Mansion,’ as easily as flipping my hand?’

’As long as I don’t tell anyone.’

’Even if someone claimed I was a Newborn Great Demon from the sea who had undergone rebirth, shed its demonic form, and taken on a human body, with power comparable to a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster...’

’Who would dare disbelieve it!’

...

「Jiangyin, Beicang Marquis’s Mansion!」

After bidding farewell to Duan Chenzhou and Qii Zhao, Ji Xiu returned to his residence in the Marquis’s Mansion while the sky was still dim, just before dawn.

Deciding it would be better to wait until daytime to visit Xiao Mingli so as not to disturb her rest, Ji Xiu placed the ’Glazed Trout’ into a water tank.

Then, he entered his room and sat cross-legged. With a bright glint in his eyes and a lick of his lips, he excitedly took out the silk book that Duan Chenzhou had given him!

Immediately, the Primordial Daoist Talisman...

...erupted in a brilliant light—

[Volume Three of the Feathered Immortal Robe, the ’Nishang Scroll,’ detected!]

[Does the Tutor wish to refine it and use Cloud Luo True Gang to condense the ’Nishang Immortal Robe’ and advance to the peak of the Power Barrier realm!?]

In that instant, a single thought flashed through his mind!

And then...

Ji Xiu’s entire skin began to emit a layer of brilliant light. On closer inspection, it was as if his Gang Qi was wrapping tightly around his body like a silkworm’s cocoon, heralding the greatest physical ’transformation’ he had ever experienced...

And this was the main event!