Chapter 146 - 145: Dragon King, Please Enlighten Me
A figure descended from the sky, crashing into the Nu River, raising a monstrous wave that directly capsized the massive passenger ship.
The people on the ship fell into the river one after another,
while those great cultivators floated on the water surface, stepping on planks.
At that moment, everyone was horrified to discover,
that the person just swatted down by the dragon’s claw was the grandmaster sent by Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion.
The grandmaster appeared extremely disheveled, quickly struggling out of the water, and said in a loud voice, "Mo Jingzhou, do you intend to be an enemy of Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion?"
On the river surface, Qi Baiyu sneered coldly at the grandmaster from Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion, saying, "Stop spouting nonsense. If Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion had the capability to invade Yunxi, you wouldn’t be getting beaten up like this."
The grandmaster’s face stiffened in anger, "Qi Baiyu, you..."
"Clang"
A sword sound echoed through heaven and earth,
The long sword on Qi Baiyu’s back flew into the air,
A sword crossed the sky, a torrent of sword qi like an ocean,
The entire sky was filled with a single sword, with flying snow pierced by sword qi, as if the world was left with only one sword from outside the heavens, making everyone’s soul tremble with oppression.
Qi Baiyu’s silhouette had already disappeared, resonating in the space with a voice:
"Dragon King, please enlighten me!"
...
The horizon was in chaos, the snowflakes in the sky suddenly stopped falling, all floating in the air. In the next moment, the endless snowflakes flew back into the horizon, with the roaring river water creating thunderous noise, massive river waves shooting to the sky, resounding with cracking sounds, and tornados bursting and shooting out like meteors in all directions.
Sword lights shot out in all directions within the clouds, like a meteor shower, with the vast sky filled with sounds of swords as if spring thunder, dragon roars raging and roaring.
Above the Nu River, everyone was shocked as they watched the chaotic horizon.
The grandmaster had a solemn expression,
while the other great cultivators were full of helplessness,
though they were in the same Dao Realm,
the gap was indeed too vast,
Qi Baiyu could battle fiercely with the famous Nu River Dragon King, yet they didn’t even have the qualifications to understand the duel between the two, only sensing the endless heaven and earth primordial qi frantically dissipating and circulating.
The grandmaster from Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion was able to comprehend the battle between the two, but the more he watched, the heavier his heart grew, and the more he felt blood boiling in frustration.
As a grandmaster of his generation,
he couldn’t even last three rounds against the Nu River Dragon King,
while Qi Baiyu, who was merely in the Dao Realm, could display such grandeur.
The great river boiled, rolling back up against the flow, water waves rising vigorously upwards to heights of ten, a hundred zhang... as if transforming into water dragons that reached the heavens, covering the entire sky.
Within those sky-bound water clouds, sword qi descended like a galaxy, crashing down with the power of thousands of tons, sounding like thunder, splashing water beads like jade, creating a spectacular scene.
After a long time,
the chaos in heaven and earth suddenly quieted,
Qi Baiyu fell violently from the chaos, landing hard on the capsized ship, splashing terrifying waves, appearing somewhat disheveled, hair disheveled, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.
At this moment, a torrential rain poured from the sky,
denser than the drifting snowflakes,
Qi Baiyu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked up at the horizon, and said deeply, "Dragon King, the day my sword becomes complete, I will surely return to seek your guidance!"
In the pounding sound of rain, a booming voice came through: "Qi Baiyu, within three years at most, you’ll have a position among the top grandmasters of the world. I’m looking forward to seeing you again with your sword complete!"
"Farewell!"
Qi Baiyu left without a trace of hesitation, kicking a plank off the ship with one foot, stepping on it to return the way he came.
The people from Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion were shocked and hurriedly chased after him.
"Alliance Leader Qi, are you not going to avenge your grievances?"
Qi Baiyu replied calmly, "I will, but on the day my sword becomes complete."
A great cultivator said, "Alliance Leader Qi, actually, although Mo Jingzhou can defeat you, he can’t really do anything to you. You could enter Canglan City, use its people as leverage—Mo Jingzhou has a wife and children, he wouldn’t ignore them to spare Gu Zhan that scoundrel..."
The sound cut off abruptly,
as if in a trance, sword light flashed in the falling snow,
A streak of fresh blood sprayed from that great cultivator’s neck, his eyes widened as he fell heavily into the icy river water.
Qi Baiyu looked at the remaining people from Chengyang Marquis’s Mansion, speaking coldly, "I, Qi Baiyu, do things without needing advice from others. A loss is a loss, making me use such vile methods is an insult to my Sword Dao!"
...
Beside the Nu River, among the boundless flying snow, stood a pavilion.
The skeletal Mo Jingzhou sat weakly in a chair, face pale, spitting out a mouthful of blood, weakly saying, "This Qi Baiyu indeed lives up to the name of Sword Spirit. If I weren’t suppressing him with my realm, I wouldn’t be his match."
An elderly man said worriedly, "Master, your body is already on the verge of collapse, you shouldn’t have fought this battle. It’s not like the old days, if it were back in your prime, no matter how exceptionally talented Qi Baiyu was, he wouldn’t be your match for even one round. But things are different now, you’re fighting with your life!"
Mo Jingzhou adjusted his breath and said, "It’s fine, it’s nothing but dying a couple of years earlier, I don’t have long to live anyway. I can’t leave Yang Yuzhi’s kindness unreciprocated."
"But the cost is too great," the elder said.
Mo Jingzhou slowly stood up, saying, "It’s good to have a battle, I’ve been absent for a long time, and Canglan Dao’s people are already wavering, with many harboring disloyal thoughts. Having this fight can make them restrain themselves."
...
In the martial world, there is always something strange,
and that is the speed of news travel, always incredibly fast.
When Gu Zhan arrived at Pingyang Prefecture, he had already heard about the battle of Nu River, which was spreading like wildfire in Pingyang Prefecture.
The Nu River Dragon King, who hadn’t appeared for many years, made a grand move.
With a single strike, he seriously injured a grandmaster,
and also stopped the rising star, the Sword Spirit Qi Baiyu, in the Nu River, preventing him from landing.
Although Qi Baiyu was a Dao Realm Great Cultivator, he had many records of defeating grandmasters, so no one saw him merely as a great cultivator.
Therefore, this battle at Nu River,
was tantamount to the Dragon King defeating two grandmasters,
his fame could not be more prominent.
When Gu Zhan heard this news, he immediately realized, this was what the Dragon King promised Yang Yuzhi to do.
However, the protection probably wouldn’t last long.
Nonetheless, it didn’t matter very much.
Gu Zhan gripped the hilt of his blade, a trace of coldness flashing in his eyes,
Soon, the world will also hear of the name Gu Zhan!
Outside the carriage, came the voice of the driver: "Young Master Gu, should we go to Shuixie Manor or directly to the Hundred Households Office?"
Gu Zhan said solemnly, "Directly to the Hundred Households Office."
The carriage moved forward slowly.
Gu Zhan suddenly asked, "By the way, is there an Inner Power Heart Method leading to the Dao Realm available in this Pingyang Prefecture’s Hundred Households Office?"
The driver replied slowly, "Yes, there is a technique called the Creation Skill. Almost every Hundred Households Office in Yunxi has this cultivation technique. It is said to cultivate to the First Realm of the Dao Realm, the Enlightenment Realm. However, throughout history, no one has ever succeeded."