The An River was one of the two most important great rivers in the Great Qian Kingdom.
It originated on the West Sea Plateau, passed through the two prefectures of West Sea and Lingbei, with several tributaries joining it along the way, and finally entered the sea through Longzuo Prefecture. Its total length stretched for roughly tens of thousands of li.
As the local tyrant of the An River, the Flood Dragon Gang commanded an enormous territory. The nearly ten-thousand-li stretch from Lingbei to the river mouth—the middle and lower reaches of the An River—was all within the Flood Dragon Gang's sphere of influence.
To facilitate management, the Flood Dragon Gang established a branch every thousand li, with each branch overseen by a leader in the Celestial Realm.
Together with the second-in-command, "Crimson Jade Flood Dragon" Jiang Yusong, who accompanied Long Wuji year-round; the third-in-command, "Slaughter Spirit Hand" Du Tiangang; his adopted son, "One-Eyed Flood Dragon" Zhao Wuqing; and others, the Flood Dragon Gang had more than fifteen Celestial Realm experts in total.
Among them, there were three or four leaders in the late Celestial Realm alone. Their strength could not be called anything but formidable.
In the middle reaches of the An River lay the Lingbei Immortal Jade Branch.
This branch was located at Immortal Jade Ridge, at the northernmost edge of Lingbei Prefecture. With mountains at its back and water before it, it was separated from the Great Qian capital by only a river—the closest point along the entire An River to the Great Qian capital.
By the river stood a sizable shipyard, the site of the Immortal Jade Branch.
Inside the shipyard, a young man in white held a teacup, unhurriedly skimming away the foam.
On the tea table before him sat a chessboard carved from spirit