Seeing the Dragon

"Sister Youfei, I think my eyesight has gotten better." Li Qingxian did not let this ready-made teacher slip away.

After quite a while, Jiang Youfei remained turned sideways with her back to Li Qingxian. "At Tenth Rank, you establish the dantian; at Ninth Rank, you open the Spirit Eye. You obtained the Divine Firmament Thunder Seed and had your body strengthened by the Flood Dragon Transformation Pill. You are probably half a step into Ninth Rank and may very well have opened your Spirit Eye, though you cannot use it continuously."

"I've heard of Spirit Eyes. Captain Zheng said he was blind with his eyes wide open. Like most people, opening a Spirit Eye only improves one's eyesight a little. Only a very few can obtain a true Spirit Eye. What is your Spirit Eye?" Li Qingxian asked.

"When I opened my dantian, I gained the Illuminating Sword Body. My Spirit Eye is 'Edge Sense'; it can perceive the weaknesses of both friend and foe."

Li Qingxian suddenly understood. "No wonder you could pierce through the joint defenses of twelve Fourth Rank Demon Sect members with a single sword strike. You relied on Edge Sense, didn't you?"

"Yes," Jiang Youfei said.

"How do I use the Spirit Eye?" Li Qingxian asked.

"Focus your intent on both eyes."

Li Qingxian drew a deep breath and settled his thoughts upon his eyes. He immediately felt the Thunder Dragon Fire Seal release a faintly cool current that flowed into them.

The world before him changed abruptly.

High in the heavens, a golden dragon coiled through the sky, looking down upon the world, its might bearing down on all realms.

His own eyes overlapped with the dragon's eyes, and the world transformed completely.

The entire continent became streams of strange currents. They flowed up mountains and surged across the earth, each in a different color, some swift and some slow.

Jiang Youfei suddenly turned around and stared in shock at Li Qingxian's crimson-gold eyes, which reflected the azure sky as auspicious clouds wound around them. "No! Stop it, quickly!"

Li Qingxian hurriedly blinked and stopped using his Spirit Eye.

"What is it?"

Jiang Youfei's gaze was complicated. "It seems you truly are a prodigy among Fate Cultivators. Your Spirit Eye may be the legendary 'Seeing the Dragon.'"

"Seeing the Dragon..." Li Qingxian had never heard of it before.

"I'll teach you another Daoist art to conceal such phenomena. Mm..." Jiang Youfei gave a muffled groan. "Help me up."

Li Qingxian reached out and supported Jiang Youfei by the arm.

Jiang Youfei steadied herself against the carriage wall. With a wave of her right hand, brush, ink, paper, and inkstone appeared from thin air. She finished writing, handed the page to Li Qingxian, and said, "This is the cultivation and usage method for 'Obscuring Eye.' It can hide all Spirit Eye phenomena and keep others from noticing them. Also... I can't teach you any more. If I do, Master will scold me..."

Jiang Youfei sat curled up in the corner of the carriage, thin and small, her white clothes stained with blood. She looked exactly like a little girl who had suffered a terrible grievance.

"Thank you, Sister Youfei. I'll ask Uncle Zhou for the other Daoist arts and Fate Arts. The Night Guard must have quite a few." Li Qingxian smiled.

"The Night Guard does have some second- and third-rate Daoist arts, but it likely has no Fate Arts."

"I remember now. Back then, Heaven's Mandate Sect joined forces with the Founder of Great Qi to gather Fate Arts inheritances from across the land and suppress the weaker sects. The court's Fate Arts are all stored in the Directorate of Celestial Observations. That is Heaven's Mandate Sect territory, so they may not let me see them," Li Qingxian said.

Jiang Youfei put on a stern little face. "The Director of the Directorate of Celestial Observations is no ordinary person. With the lingering traces of Divine Firmament Heavenly Thunder and the remnants of the demon formation concealing things, he may not know the details. But if you use Seeing the Dragon recklessly in the Divine Capital, he will discover it immediately."

"The consequences are serious?" Li Qingxian asked.

Jiang Youfei nodded forcefully. "They may very well dig out your eyes."

At that moment, Zhou Hen's voice came from outside. "We've reached the edge of the demon formation. Be careful."

Not long afterward, Li Qingxian felt a thread of scorching heat sweep past him, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

Jiang Youfei said, "This is pestilential qi triggered by the lingering demon qi. It can cause tiny creatures invisible to the eye to grow and mutate. Remember to cleanse your whole body with mana later."

"I don't know how..." Li Qingxian said.

Jiang Youfei bared her little white teeth and, helplessly, wrote out another spell, "Silk-Washing Garment," before tossing it to Li Qingxian. "The last time. Master must not find out."

"Alright!" Li Qingxian took the Silk-Washing Garment spell with a beaming smile. Just as he was about to read it, rolling thunder suddenly sounded in the distance.

"You killed my Ministry of Justice Vice Minister? Then be buried with him!"

Everyone in the convoy stared in horror toward the Divine Capital to the north. A purple-green giant hand, a hundred zhang long, came hurtling toward them like a heavenly cloud descending.

Two layers of Sun and Moon radiance covered the purple-green giant hand.

"It's over..." Despair filled the hearts of the survivors.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Youfei sprang to her feet and shielded Li Qingxian behind her.

Her small body seemed filled with boundless strength.

The next instant, Jiang Youfei's body swayed, and Li Qingxian hurriedly caught her by the arm and waist.

Jiang Youfei collapsed limply into Li Qingxian's embrace and whispered, "Run! That was the voice of a Ministry of Justice Vice Book of Documents, a Second Rank high official..."

"Minister Qin, why lower yourself to the level of juniors? They were merely passing through. Those little demon wretches were struck dead because Heaven opened its eyes." A clear voice rang out. A flaming talisman sword rose from the Divine Capital, then plunged down in a dive, dragging a long tail of fire. Though it had set out later, it arrived first, stabbing into the purple-green giant hand and pinning it firmly to the ground.

Leaning against Li Qingxian, Jiang Youfei let out a breath of relief. "It is Master Wu, head of the Dao Register Academy and a member of the Nine Talismans Sect. We are safe now."

Li Qingxian carefully supported Jiang Youfei with his right hand while lifting the window curtain with his left to look outside.

In the direction of the capital, clouds churned.

"You stinking ox-nosed Daoist, you dare block me?"

"I've already blocked you, yet you still ask whether I dare? Why so much nonsense?"

"In three days, this old man will pay a visit to the Dao Register Academy!"

"Oh."

"You... Hmph!"

Everyone in the convoy let out long breaths of relief.

Master Wu's voice sounded above the convoy. "Zhou Chunfeng's favor is truly costly..."

"Thank you, Master Wu," Jiang Youfei said.

The surroundings fell silent.

Li Qingxian said, "When we return, I must thank Uncle Zhou properly. For the two of us, he must have invited Master Wu to stand guard long ago."

Jiang Youfei nodded.

"Mm, I'm a little sleepy..." After saying that, Jiang Youfei slowly slid down onto the couch and closed her eyes.

Li Qingxian jumped in fright and hurriedly placed his hand beneath her nose. Her breathing was weak, but steady.

Still uneasy, he said, "Little Uncle Zhou, ask whether the Heavenly Cloud Sect has anyone skilled in medicine. Have them take Sister Youfei's pulse. I'm afraid her injuries are too severe."

A woman in Daoist robes came in and checked Jiang Youfei's pulse. Delight appeared on her face. "The Holy Maiden's pulse is weak, but she has merely lost too much blood. There is no serious danger. The pills she took were already extraordinary, and the Thunderlight Fire Seal protected her body at the time. At most, she will recover completely after half a month of rest."

"Then I can rest easy." Li Qingxian breathed a sigh of relief.

The carriage continued on its return journey. By the time the sun set, they were still on the road.

A thread of Fortune arrived as expected.

After returning to Azure Firmament Abbey, the group avoided the others. Li Qingxian carried the sleeping Jiang Youfei into her chamber, where Sister Fang looked after her.

Li Qingxian went downstairs and saw Zhou Hen standing outside the small courtyard. "Little Uncle Zhou, come in and sit with me."

Zhou Hen shook his head, both hands gripping the hilts of his saber and sword as he continued guarding the courtyard gate.

Li Qingxian walked beneath Jadefall Pavilion and watched the milky-white waterfall cascade down a moss-covered stone wall, pondering the path of his future cultivation.

Before long, Xiaoya hurried back. She first went upstairs, then only after quite a while did she come to Jadefall Pavilion. She bowed to Li Qingxian and said, "I'm sorry, Little Mister Li. It wasn't that I didn't want to care for the Holy Maiden. Something happened on the Holy Son's side, and I only just finished dealing with it."