Within the Dragon Palace, song and dance accompanied the sweet strains of pipes and strings, and hosts and guests alike made merry.
Ao Qian sat upright upon his throne, stroking his wine cup with a smile at the corners of his mouth. After looking around, he suddenly spoke:
"Why are you not drinking, Fellow Daoist Xuan Di? Do you feel ill at ease?"
As he spoke, he raised his cup toward him from afar.
"Do not worry. Come! Let me share a drink with you."
Xuan Di occupied the foremost seat on the left. Ever since being seated there, he had kept a low profile.
At those words, Xuan Di raised his cup with a faint smile.
"Thank you for your concern, Dragon King. I simply have little taste for what fills the cup."
For reasons unknown, this Water-Controlling Dragon King had struck up a conversation with him. Perhaps he had noticed Xuan Di sitting in silence and wanted to look after him.
Ao Qian drank with a smile, then spoke softly, his manner warm.
"The Weak Water and Water-Merging paths have always been close. It is only that, in the near century since True Person Ji Shang, we have had no dealings, and so our friendship has grown somewhat distant..."
"After this, you may send your disciples to visit my overseas Water Palace more often, Fellow Daoist, and renew our old friendship."
Xuan Di found this strange. He had never heard his master mention any friendship with Dragonkind, yet the Dragon King's expression did not seem feigned.
One thing, however, was true: the streams and spring veins of the world arose in Qiang Valley and converged at Heli, with myriad rivers joining their currents and surging into the sea. The kinship between the Weak Water and Water-Merging paths did