Hidden Dragon

The final Hidden Dragon Ranking foreshadowed the list of those who would be Leaping Over the Dragon Gate, drawing everyone's attention.

Even some Immortal Seedlings who had no need to leap over the Dragon Gate turned their eyes to this ranking.

This wind had also swept into those magnificent residences adorned with carved dragons and phoenixes.

There were three Immortal Seedlings this time.

And the most distinguished among them was undoubtedly the superior Immortal Seedling Yan Shui Rou, who had been awarded a Dragon Gate Token.

At that moment, she brought a copy of the Hidden Dragon Ranking to a side courtyard.

There, a petite woman who looked to be in her early twenties, her face cool and aloof, was using a blood-refining art to try to forcibly master her blood and qi and attain an impervious body.

"Xiaoyu."

Seeing the woman, Yan Shui Rou called out, "Do you have enough Blood-Nourishing Pills? If not, I'll ask Emperor Ming for more."

"I have enough."

The woman answered.

Then she gently advised, "Sister Rou, once you owe a debt of favor, repaying it takes time and effort. You don't need to get too entangled with the Yan Family."

"In theory, yes. But when you have value to match, a debt of favor isn't a burden. Instead, it becomes a bridge connecting both sides, bringing them closer together. Once enough sunk costs have accumulated someday, a mutually beneficial partnership may even see master and subordinate trade places without either realizing it."

Yan Shui Rou spoke calmly.

"Three years ago, I came to understand one thing: Heaven helps those who help themselves. The only people we can truly rely on are ourselves."

The woman spoke.

"Three years ago?"

Hearing her mention three years ago, Yan Shui Rou understood something.

"Speaking of three years ago, I happened to receive a piece of news."

Frowning slightly, she handed the Hidden Dragon Ranking straight to her. "Look at the ninth person on the list."

The woman took the ranking. Seeing the name "Li Xian" stirred nothing in her.

But when her eyes swept over the words "formerly named Li Xian, a native of Qinghe County" and "Lijiang's Four Great Talents," she froze slightly.

Immediately afterward, she turned her attention more fully to the ranking.

"Ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking? Li Xian?"

"Yan Kaigui and Liu Yanran are utterly useless!"

Yan Shui Rou said coldly, "Liu Wufeng and Yan Zhenjiang are disappointing too. The mighty Dingfeng Marquis and Prince of Yueyang actually let some greenhorn turn their world upside down!"

The woman read the detailed information about "Li Xian" on the page.

Her expression grew dazed...

But after only a moment, she steadied herself again.

She set the ranking straight down.

"Sister Rou, it doesn't matter anymore."

She said calmly, "Ever since that rainy night three years ago, anything about him, any news of him, has had nothing to do with me. Whether he's sad or happy, good or evil, whether his life is sweet or bitter, I don't want to pay attention anymore. In my heart, this person is already dead."

"Dead? After the way he treated you back then, you think a few airy words about considering him dead will settle it? It's not that easy."

Yan Shui Rou snorted coldly. "Xiaoyu, you're just too kind. That's why you let him take a mile every time you gave him an inch, until you ended up with nothing, cruelly abandoned."

"With your help, Sister Rou, he paid the price for what he did, his reputation utterly ruined. That's enough."

The woman did not look at the Hidden Dragon Ranking. "If he managed to climb out of the abyss himself, that's his own ability."

"Climb out? Who said he's climbed out?"

The corners of Yan Shui Rou's mouth curved upward. "Without my say-so, who gave him permission to climb out?"

"Sister Rou, it doesn't matter anymore."

The woman said, "After half a year of secluded cultivation, I feel more and more that worldly love and affection are like clouds and mist passing before the eyes. What we rely on and hold to is borrowed from others; what we think of and desire demands too much of things outside ourselves."

She said calmly, "The sun rises and the moon sets, the tides rise and swell. Of all the myriad things, nothing endures forever. Only by cultivating myself, seeking the Dao without and truth within, illuminating the heart and seeing my nature to realize my true self, until I ride the true course of heaven and earth, harness the changes of the six qi, and roam without limit, can I finally attain freedom and liberation."

Looking at her like this, Yan Shui Rou pursed her lips. "That's exactly why I can't stand him!"

A trace of pity lay buried deep in her eyes. "How lively you used to be, Xiaoyu! Well-read and well-mannered, innocent and adorable. But now... where's even a trace of your old youthful vitality and spirit?"

"Before, my world held only books, only Qinghe Courtyard, only him..."

A faint composure rested on the woman's calm face. "He made me break the shackles of books and recognize my true self. I should thank him."

She extended her hand. "After that happened, I shut myself in the courtyard for three months. When I stepped outside again and the sunlight fell on me, never in my seventeen years of life had I felt the world to be so real."

Yan Shui Rou glanced at her, then finally turned her head away in irritation. "Suit yourself. If you want to suffer through martial training, then train. That Dragon Gate Token will belong to you alone. Six years ago, if you hadn't kindly given me steamed buns for three months straight, I would have starved to death in that alley long ago. I hope you remember that no matter when, I'll always stand behind you and support you."

With that, she turned and left the courtyard.

After watching her leave, the woman withdrew her gaze.

Casting aside all distracting thoughts, her heart clear as ice and pristine as a mirror, she immersed herself in cultivation once more.

Meanwhile, soon after Yan Shui Rou left the courtyard, a maid came to report.

"Fairy Yan, Heir Apparent Yan is outside requesting an audience."

"Yan Kaigui?"

Yan Shui Rou's expression was indifferent. "He still has the nerve to come? If I weren't waiting to watch the show, would he still be alive after those clever little tricks he thought could fool me?"

She waved a hand. "Have him thrown out."

"Yes."

The maid answered and was about to carry out her orders.

But just then, something else occurred to Yan Shui Rou. "Wait."

This pawn might still have some use.

She was not as magnanimous as Xiaoyu.

After a little thought, she said, "Just tell him I'm at a critical point in my cultivation and can't be disturbed. Ask him to go back for now."

"Yes."

Asking the Dao Mountain.

A party of six riders, travel-worn and dust-covered, appeared outside the small town built at the foot of Asking the Dao Mountain.

"We're finally here."

The cloth shielding her from the dust lifted, revealing Hongyu's somewhat weary face.

Half a month on the road, riding more than two thousand li.

Even for martial artists with stronger physiques, this was by no means a pleasant experience.

"There's still some time before dark. Let's head straight up Asking the Dao Mountain and register at the Rising Dragon Pavilion to take part in this grand occasion of Leaping Over the Dragon Gate."

Zhou Juechen spoke.

"Master, are you... really going to leap over the Dragon Gate too?"

Hongyu looked at him.

"Wasn't that decided long ago?"

Zhou Juechen smiled faintly. "Even when I was at blood exchange and marrow washing, with less than a ten-percent chance, I decided to stake everything on one attempt. Now that I've attained an impervious body and have at least a ten- or twenty-percent chance, how could I hesitate in the slightest?"

Seeing this, Hongyu could hardly try to dissuade him further.

But the worry in her eyes would not fade.

At every Leaping Over the Dragon Gate, the successful stepped over the bones of the failed to shed their serpent forms and become dragons.

Apart from those true prodigies in the Hidden Dragon Ranking's top ten, who dared guarantee they would have the last laugh?

They did not even dare guarantee they would survive this Dragon Gate Convention.

Just as the party set off again, intending to head up the mountain, several people hurried over from the direction of the town.

"Might you be Li Xian, the Gentleman Sword, ninth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking-Li Hidden Dragon himself? Long Yu of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion offers greetings."

"Hahaha, Li Hidden Dragon, you're finally here! Li Qiong of the Tai Xu Sword Palace greets you!"

"Li Hidden Dragon, Master Zhou, do you still remember me, Ren? Young Sect Master Yuan of Canglang Mountain and I came here especially to welcome Li Hidden Dragon."

(End of chapter)