Chapter 313: Dragon Palace Grudges, Part 1
In the north of Anyang, banners fluttered as the massive army of the State of Cai set out for war, once again bringing the threat of war to Anyang’s northern frontier. Yan Zhengqing remained calm and steady, commanding the army’s counteroffensive.
Meanwhile, on the eastern coast of Anyang, clear seawater lapped against the golden beach; there stood an altar built entirely out of jade. The jade used was unusual—half black, half white—arranged in a Taiji Eight Trigrams pattern, forming a stark contrast. The altar was also very tall, standing at a full zhang (over 3 meters) in height.
Upon seeing the altar, Li Xian chuckled and glanced at Ling Zhifeng, “You really went all out with the preparations. This must have taken a long time.”
Ling Zhifeng wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. “Of course. Finding this much pure black and white jade wasn’t easy. But forming a blood pact with the Dragon Clan isn’t something to be taken lightly; dragons are born with royal blood, so we must be cautious.”
Legend has it that in ancient times, the world was divided into four categories: scaled creatures, feathered creatures, beasts, and insects.
Among them, the Dragon Clan ruled the scaled creatures; the Phoenix reigned over the feathered ones, the Qilin over the beasts, and the Golden Cicada over the insects.
These monarchs were truly born of royal blood, favored by Heaven and Earth. Just like how a tiger is born the king of the forest, it’s an inherent nature. Monarchs are noble by birth.
If no preparation is made and a blood pact is formed rashly with a dragon, the human bloodline will be suppressed, leading to many negative consequences. The most severe of which could result in something akin to being “bound” or “enslaved.”
Therefore, to form a blood pact with the Dragon Clan, one must use an altar to suppress the royal blood of the dragons—only then can humans and dragons stand on equal footing.
“Hmph. That Dragon King has no good intentions in wanting to form a blood pact with the young master. But with me here, the young master can rest easy. The sea will soon belong to Anyang! Hahaha…”
Li Xian looked at the smug, upturned-nose Ling Zhifeng and grinned wryly, “Mr. Ling Zhifeng, I don’t think that was the question I asked.”
Ling Zhifeng rolled his eyes, “Young master, your teeth are so white.”
“Pfft…” Nearby, Xu Ren, Li Yuanming, Yan Ze’an, and Xia Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh.
Li Xian’s face darkened with exasperation, but he eventually took out the conch and blew it. Before long, the sea began to churn, and the Dragon Princess appeared, accompanied by a man with a sickly expression and a slightly golden hue to his skin. Judging by how carefully the princess attended to him, there was no doubt—he was the Dragon King.
As soon as he appeared, the man flashed to Li Xian’s side, glanced at Li Xian, then at Ling Zhifeng, and finally at the altar. His voice was loud and resonant, “I didn’t expect anyone in Anyang to understand such formations and techniques.”
His booming voice stirred the sea, and the clouds in the sky began to churn violently. Under this voice, even Li Xian felt his head rumble.
Nascent Soul Stage—so this is the power of the Nascent Soul Stage? Li Xian was astonished inwardly but didn’t show weakness. “Perhaps the Dragon King doesn’t know that in recent years, humanity has undergone new changes. Knowledge of cultivation techniques has been widely disseminated.
In Anyang, for example, one can purchase a basic version of The Complete Encyclopedia of Cultivation for just 100 taels of gold. It contains 140 carefully selected cultivation techniques and covers almost every cultivation issue imaginable.
It was compiled by 20 Nascent Soul stage cultivators and over 400 Golden Core cultivators—4.5 million words, over 8,000 illustrations, 37,000 pages, more than 1,100 volumes. It is currently printed and published by the Anyang Daily Press.
The full set costs 100 taels of gold, with a wholesale price of 88 taels.”
The Dragon King…
The Dragon King was dumbfounded. What was going on? Having secluded himself in cultivation for years, he knew very little about the affairs of the mortal world.
The Dragon Princess, Ao Qingxue, rolled her eyes at Li Xian and explained to the Dragon King, “Father, the mortal world has changed a lot. I’ll explain everything in detail later. In this era of resource scarcity, humans are spreading cultivation techniques widely to find more talent and maintain their standing in the immortal realm.”
The Dragon King nodded with approval, “That is true wisdom. Alright, King Xian, let us begin.”
Forming a blood pact wasn’t all that complicated—Ling Zhifeng handled everything. Li Xian and the Dragon King simply needed to shed blood. Ling Zhifeng, on the other hand, was very busy: chanting incantations, scattering talismans, stomping constellations, waving hands in Yin-Yang patterns. The sword of Five Elements churned, the banners of the Five Directions unfurled. Taiji and Eight Trigrams’ shadow imprints filled the air, and a hazy aura spread in all directions.
Dark clouds loomed above, streaked with strange purple lightning. As Ling Zhifeng continued the ritual, the clouds and lightning sank lower. Suddenly, a burst of thunder and lightning engulfed the altar. Ling Zhifeng was blasted away, smoke trailing from his charred body.
Meanwhile, Li Xian and the Dragon King were enveloped in lightning. Purple serpents of lightning slithered about, forming patterns resembling cloud seals or ancient demonic script.
Everyone nearby was tense. Ling Zhifeng clambered to his feet and coughed out black smoke. “Hey, someone help me up—I’m seriously injured!”
Xu Ren and the others ignored him. Li Yuanming glanced at him and said, “You’re shouting too loudly to be truly injured. Just wait there for a bit.”
Only a few soldiers helped Ling Zhifeng up. Though he was scorched black from the lightning, he seemed fine. Standing up, he smirked at Li Yuanming, “Don’t worry when I’m on the job—I’ve been preparing for this for a long time, just for today.”
Xia Qingqing looked at the altar still wrapped in thunder serpents and asked worriedly, “Are you sure it’s alright?”
“Don’t worry, Princess. Not only is it fine—there’s a benefit too. The young master might even gain some dragon abilities, like powerful water control.”
The Dragon Princess Ao Qingxue immediately asked, “Then what will my father gain?”
“Uh…” Ling Zhifeng scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Princess, I’m sorry… I honestly can’t think of any special ability humans have. This kind of blood pact transfers part of the racial talents, usually the most powerful ones.
The dragon race’s greatest gift is, of course, water manipulation.
But humans… well… don’t seem to have any innate gifts…”
“So you’re saying my father got the short end of the stick?” Ao Qingxue’s expression turned sour.
“Humans do have talent!” Xu Ren spoke up at the crucial moment. “The greatest talent of humans is their creativity. No other race possesses this. And King Xian’s creative ability is especially unique.
But creativity is abstract—it’s a composite ability. Even if the Dragon King acquires the trait, he might not be able to use it effectively.
This blood pact is witnessed by Heaven and Earth, so it must be fair. But whether the ability can be used afterward is a separate matter.”
Xu Ren deftly shifted responsibility: if the ability isn’t usable, it’s the Dragon King’s problem—not Heaven’s.
Ao Qingxue gave Xu Ren a glance and huffed, “I think scheming is humanity’s greatest ability.”
With that, she turned her attention back to the altar. The lightning surrounding it had already begun to dissipate.