Widely Recited

The boat he had rented was small, and so were its occupants. Seeing the boatman begin preparing lunch, Su Ziji said to Ye Buhui, "Everyone has been busy all night. Get some rest!"

Perhaps those whose memories had been altered believed they had already rested, but those whose memories remained unchanged knew they had stayed up all night. Ye Buhui was exhausted too, nodding repeatedly as she yawned.

She went into another cabin, and within minutes, adorable little snores could be heard.

"She fell asleep fast. Then again, she isn't even fifteen yet—just the age when one loves sleep." This body of Su Ziji's was only fifteen as well. The moment he lay crookedly on the bed, he became drowsy.

He did not know how much time had passed when it seemed he had entered the water. Ripples overlapped in layer after layer. In just an instant, Su Ziji opened his mouth wide and jolted awake.

The sky was still a pale golden dome, only much smaller now. There were no palaces or gardens around him at all, only shattered stones and broken steps—a landscape scarred by devastation.

"Phew—" Su Ziji let out a long breath. The Dragon Palace had become like this, to the point where footsteps were the only sound.

"Forget it. This is not my responsibility; there is no need to dwell on it." Suppressing the guilt he felt over having benefited from the Dragon Palace, Su Ziji followed a path to a patch of ruins.

This was one of the most intact buildings nearby, yet less than half of it remained. His gaze fell upon a jade cup that had rolled among the waterweed, its rim chipped. Together with the grand hall that remained only half in fragments, a bleak desolation rose in his heart.

Not long ago, he had still been speaking with the Dragon Lord. Now, when he saw the stretching palace complex again, all he could see was wreckage. Su Ziji could not help feeling melancholy.

Just as he thought this, a young girl turned out from the ruins. She looked somewhat familiar. When she reached him, she spoke little, merely giving a slight bow and gesturing for him to follow.

Su Ziji followed her. Though she still appeared to be a young girl and wore shells, she was a Shell Maiden, someone he had seen in the hall not long ago. But now, her shells were covered in scars, some even cracked open. That alone was not the worst of it. When he had seen her before, she had been full of life; now, although her hair and face remained the same, her eyes were lost and uneasy. Even in this safe place, she kept glancing around, like a startled little beast.

"Dragon Palace—how many years have passed?"

"Four hundred and seventeen years." As the Shell Maiden answered, her voice choked. Tears fell in a patter as she murmured, "Since His Lordship disappeared, the palace fell apart. There were originally quite a few who remained behind, but over these years, only I was left. Fortunately, I lived to see the young lord awaken."

Su Ziji fell silent. Four hundred and seventeen years—when the tree fell, the monkeys scattered. In the end, was it only this tiny Shell Maiden who had persevered? One look at her was enough to know how much hardship and exhaustion she had endured.

"What do you need me to do?" Su Ziji asked after a moment of silence.

"Now that the seal has broken and the Dragon Palace has been established, I will care for the young lord's blood food. I only ask that you teach the Dragon Lord's Coiling Dragon Heart Method to the young lord."

"That is easy!" After saying this, Su Ziji spoke no more and followed her straight to a moon terrace. Most of the terrace had collapsed, but one hall could still be seen, somehow remaining intact. The instant he entered, he immediately felt that the inside and outside were worlds apart. A young dragon lay upon a jade bed.

She looked very thin. Her two adorable horns had faded somewhat, and she was still asleep. Su Ziji could not help but be surprised. "The young lord has suffered too much depletion over these years. She has just eaten some blood food, and with the nourishment of the Dragon Palace's spiritual energy, she is sleeping as she recovers."

"But this is no serious matter. You may simply begin teaching her."

This was simple. Su Ziji did not even need to take out a book scroll. He merely stood still and began reciting.

Though it was merely a chess manual, as he recited, his voice rang clear and bright. Gradually, faint thunder seemed to echo through the sky, while a pale halo enveloped the young dragon on the jade bed.

He had only finished one passage when a line of words floated up: [Experience +1]. It vanished in an instant. Su Ziji remained expressionless and continued reading. Shortly afterward, another line floated up: [Experience +1].

Just as I thought. Like the Four Books and Five Classics, the Coiling Dragon Heart Method can forcibly grant one point of experience each time it is recited. Though it is the patient work of grinding water through stone, perhaps I can still improve through this method?

With that thought, Su Ziji's voice grew even clearer and brighter. He did not notice that, following his voice, the waters of the entire Coiling Dragon Lake began to ripple rhythmically, wave after wave.

Reed Thicket

A gust of wind swept through, carrying chilly waves that crashed heavily against Zheng Yingci, who lay sprawled on the reed bank. He could not help shivering.

The shock roused him. Still trapped in the nightmare of sinking into the lake and unable to break free, he finally moved only after vomiting another mouthful of water.

His eyes flew open, terror flashing across them, but in the next instant, he was stunned by the sight before him.

"I—I'm not dead?" He discovered that though he was covered in mud, he was not in the water, but lying on a reed bank. He could not help sighing in relief.

When he raised his head, more than half the dark clouds had dispersed. Sunlight streamed through the gaps, forcing him to lower his head from the glare.

His soaking clothes wrapped tightly around him like a cocoon, heavy as a thousand pounds and unbearably uncomfortable. His stomach and throat also felt as if something had been stuffed into them, leaving him in extreme distress.

Yet those very pains reminded him that he was still alive and had not died.

Zheng Yingci slowly braced himself, intending to rise. Then his gaze landed on the lake surface not far away, and his movements halted as his pupils contracted.

It seemed he had not been unconscious for long. The Zheng Family's burning ship was breaking apart and collapsing amid the flames. Just as he looked over, it collapsed with a BOOM, plunging into the water with tremendous force.

That terrifying scene reflected in his eyes, causing Zheng Yingci's entire body to stiffen.

"If I had not escaped in time, I would either have been buried in that sea of fire or lost my life in the water."

Zheng Yingci did not look away, searching desperately for any movement on the lake.

"What about the others? Chen Ziyi? Uncle Tian?" Zheng Yingci looked around in panic and confusion, then realized where he was. "This is Penggong Islet."

Penggong Islet was a tiny island in Coiling Dragon Lake. Rather than an island, it was better described as a heap of silt. The lake possessed not only natural belts of silt and reeds, but artificial ones as well. Two hundred and nineteen years ago, Peng Yuanshu, the governor-general of the previous dynasty, dredged Coiling Dragon Lake. The excavated silt was piled in the lake to form a small island, only fifty meters across. Later generations named it Penggong Islet in his memory.

Because it was too small and far too soft, it was naturally uninhabited, with only reeds growing thick and lush.

At this moment, Zheng Yingci was the only person there. Birdsong rose from the reeds and flew into the distance. In that empty stretch of land, there was no one else.

Zheng Yingci could not help sinking into self-doubt.

"Could it be that I am already dead?"

"If not, how could I explain sinking into the water one moment, then waking up on Penggong Islet over a hundred meters away the next?"

"It is possible that someone saved me, but I cannot see the boat that rescued me, nor the person who did it. Could an immortal have saved me?"

Zheng Yingci suspected that he had died at the bottom of the lake, and that he was now merely a wandering soul on Penggong Islet, mistakenly believing himself saved.

His gaze turned toward the lake. There was nothing nearby, but when he looked farther out, as if by pure coincidence, a corpse floated up from the water, giving Zheng Yingci a fright.

"It's a dead person!"