Chapter 82: Chapter 77: Becoming a Fish Dragon, Charging the Dragon Gate, Entering Epiphany! Jiangyin Shuipo Lake, Chaotic Heaven Righteous Army, Master’s Sect, and Ancestral Master
"You don’t understand. You don’t understand Duan Chenzhou as a person, or how far he has progressed along the Power Barrier."
He spread his hands and sighed.
"Take me, for example."
"Right now, I am only one step away from becoming a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster."
"I’m just waiting for the Four Departure and Four Extinction Days, when the sky freezes over the earth. The Abyss Ruins will once again cast its projection in the Earth Dragon Cave, causing the Demonic Qi to surge. The many Great Demons of the Earth Dragon Cave will then storm into Anning, devouring flesh and blood to strengthen themselves."
"Then, we can summon the Central Yellow Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General. Under the pretext of purging the Demon Fiends and protecting the common folk, we will wait until the Great Demons have had their fill and hundreds of thousands of people are driven to despair..."
"At that moment, a Dharma Body will manifest to save the world, allowing us to gather a massive following of devout Believers."
"Despair gives birth to the most fervent faith. And even if Jiangyin Prefecture comes to purge us later and we are forced to withdraw, this faith... it won’t be swayed. In fact, they will grow to hate the prefecture and reject their so-called ’Justice’!"
"Then, by harnessing the Qi from that faith and using a Central Yellow Secret Technique, I can break through the Qi Sea barrier in one go and become a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster. It’s practically a certainty!"
"For the Tendon Barrier, I cultivated a Superior Pile Skill to forge Golden Muscle and Jade Veins. For the Bone Barrier, I used the Golden Bone Secret Method to reach the state of Mercury Blood Silver Marrow... My foundation is solid enough, wouldn’t you say?"
Wei Changjiao gritted his teeth, his hair practically standing on end.
"But that fiend... he achieved the Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe!"
"Three years for the tendons, ten for the bones, and a lifetime for the skin! That skin is the hardest to temper. But if one succeeds and breaks through the Power Barrier’s Three Limits..."
"It’s said that this is considered the Perfection of the Flesh Secret Treasure, allowing one to acquire a Treasure Body!"
"For an ordinary Qi Cultivation Grandmaster, a Powerful Martial Artist is an insurmountable obstacle. This holds true even if the Martial Artist hasn’t broken through a single Great Limit to Perfection. And I am no exception to this rule."
"But Duan Chenzhou managed to slay Ren Hengjiang, who had already broken through a Great Limit. He robbed the Purple Mist Daoist School of Jiangyin Prefecture of its prized prodigy, and the entire School behind it was furious!"
"I don’t know what kind of Treasure Body that fiend possesses, but if I were to face him..."
Wei Changjiao shook his head.
"I’m afraid my chances of victory would be uncertain at best."
Yang Daohan was dumbstruck. As a mere gang leader from a small place, he had never known—or even heard of—such secrets.
’I thought that even if Duan Chenzhou was strong, losing an arm must have crippled him significantly.’
But who would have thought that according to his own "big boss"—the sole Lord Order Emissary of the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General under the Central Yellow Sect in Anning County—the man was this formidable...
’Am I supposed to just watch as that little bastard thrives under the protection of such a powerhouse, advancing all the way to the Prefecture City?!’
’But...’
’If that happens, I’ll never be able to rest in peace!’
However, Wei Changjiao suddenly changed the topic.
"But, Old Seventh, you’re one of my men, and Yang Yan was my nephew."
"Duan Chenzhou is a force to be reckoned with. Without absolute certainty, I won’t go seeking vengeance at his door."
"But..."
"I know you’re desperate for revenge. I can’t make a move, but there is someone who can."
Yang Daohan froze, asking instinctively,
"Who...?"
Wei Changjiao, the Central Yellow Sect Commander of Anning County, smiled faintly. He looked toward the Earth Dragon Cave and said, word by word,
"The Qi Cultivation Grandmaster who fled from Jiangyin Prefecture to Anning County years ago, ranked thirty-seventh on Jiangyin’s Outsider Kill List. He was pursued across half the East Canghai by Sword Elder Xue Shaobai of the Little Five Decline Sword Sect, and was supposedly killed right before the Earth Dragon Cave—"
"The Ghost Hand Judge, Wang Hongzu!"
"He..."
"is also a Divine Commanding Envoy of the Central Yellow Teaching Saints, just not from the Spirit Summoning and Saint Manifesting General’s branch."
"Back then, he miraculously survived the Little Five Decline Sword. On his last breath, he fell into the Earth Dragon Cave and was saved by a Great Demon within. He has spent all these years recovering..."
"As it happens, he heard that Xue Shaobai’s disciple has returned and is preparing to eliminate Han Ying, that deserter who serves under Luo Daocheng of Jiangyin Prefecture. So he has snuck into the city to settle an old score!"
"We both serve the Central Yellow Sect, and although his temperament is perverse, that can be both a good thing and a bad thing."
"And as luck would have it..."
"I’ll have him grab that brat surnamed Ji along the way, so you can have your revenge!"
...
「The moon was bright, the stars were few.」
The pained expression on Duan Chenzhou’s face had still not completely faded.
He looked at Ji Xiu, who had pulled up a small stool to chat with him, and let out a heavy sigh.
"Such a shame. If that old coot, your Ancestral Master, hadn’t vanished without a trace, I would have made him get you the Dragon Blood needed to complete the final volume of Mortal Transformation: Soaring Dragon Gate and break through the Great Limit of Mercury Blood Silver Marrow!"
"But there’s nothing to be done."
"Some things are just decided by fate."
Ji Xiu simply smiled at this.
"It’s alright, Master Duan. Without you, I would never have been able to build such a solid foundation."
"As for whether I can make it to the end..."
"As long as I’ve tried my best, my conscience will be clear."
"I don’t ask for too much."
Seeing that Duan Chenzhou still looked regretful about his sudden ’epiphany,’ Ji Xiu couldn’t help but laugh to himself.
’Later on...’
’There’s plenty more where that came from, Master Duan.’
’This is just the beginning.’
’But then again, what kind of person is this Ancestral Master? And what about Master Duan’s Master’s Sect...’
Ji Xiu was curious. Since they had some free time today, he decided to bring it up.
"But it’s been so long, Master Duan, and you’ve never told me about our Master’s Sect or our Ancestral Master."
"I’m more or less the sole heir of our lineage, right?"
"Even now, I only have a vague understanding of your situation."
"The night is long. Could you clear up some of my confusion?"
"I’ve been stuck in the mire of Anning County since I was a child. I’ve never seen the prosperous world outside."
"We have some free time today, so how about we, master and disciple, just have a little chat?"
Ji Xiu scratched his head.
Having been his disciple for so long and gone through so much together, their relationship was completely different from the initial awkwardness.
At least in his eyes, Duan Chenzhou was a person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He couldn’t speak for how others saw him.
In response, Duan Chenzhou pondered for a moment, then sighed, a world-weary look on his face.
"You’re right."
"It’s time I told you about the world outside."
"Listen closely. Our lineage..."
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