Chapter 223 - 123: For This Lineage of Ours, the Master Must Stand Against the Chronic Afflictions of All Ages

Chapter 223: Chapter 123: For This Lineage of Ours, the Master Must Stand Against the Chronic Afflictions of All Ages

’Using Huang Chan’s identity to set up the Medicine Shop would be a great boon to the grand affair planned by my backers at the Mahayana Infinite Temple.’

’But...’

"You old baldy, I wouldn’t care if you took your wicked schemes elsewhere."

"But this time, the Ji siblings are both prime prospects for my sect. Even I, your Lord Tao, must attend to them with the utmost respect!"

"To tell you the truth, I, your Lord Tao, have been formally accepted into the Ten Thousand Laws Sect. I’m the real deal now, with the ability to communicate via Daoist Talisman."

"If you dare to stir up trouble here..."

"Believe it or not, I’ll make a formal report to the Sect and summon our comrades from the Three Mountains and Five Peaks of Beicang to come and put you down?"

The threat had been whispered in his ear back when Huang Chan first confronted Duan Chenzhou.

Huang Mi had heard this whispered threat, so he glanced over at Fan Nansong, who was watching him from the threshold like a tiger eyeing its prey.

The corner of his mouth twitched, and he sullenly stopped his hand, which had been itching to make a move.

The factions behind the Immortal Technique and the Pure Land Technique were so powerful that the Great Xuan was unable to suppress them completely. It could only tolerate their influence, allowing Daoist Temples and monasteries to spring up everywhere, their relationships with the various Vassal Towns and True Sects murky and ill-defined.

And here in Jiangyin Prefecture, there was his Little Wuxiang Temple and Fan Nansong’s Flying Immortal Temple.

Just as the Great Xuan resisted the Outer Dao.

The two Celestial Universes were locked in a struggle over the Dao. The clashes between Magic Soldiers and Buddhist Soldiers had raged for millennia. A Daoist priest and a Buddhist monk could barely look at each other without wanting to start a fight.

The two of them were at odds.

But there were exceptions.

Fan Nansong, and the Daoist Lineage behind him...

...were two different concepts.

It was the same reason why Fan Nansong turned a blind eye in Jiangyin Prefecture, pretending not to see Huang Mi’s diligent scheming on behalf of the Mahayana Infinite Temple.

Their personal squabbles had absolutely nothing to do with the Daoist Lineages and legacies behind them.

But if they were to disregard their positions and sabotage the plans of the powers behind them...

One day, a giant hand might just descend from the heavens and swat them dead, and they’d die without ever knowing why!

So, seeing the anxious look in Huang Chan’s eyes beside him...

Huang Mi could only say resignedly:

"Don’t worry. Aren’t the Flood Dragon and the four Grandmasters still there?"

"My position makes it inconvenient for me to get involved, but I doubt that Martial Artist is any match for a Great Flood Dragon on the verge of the Leakless realm, to say nothing of the four Grandmasters."

His words eased Huang Chan’s heavy heart somewhat.

At the same time, he watched Ji Xiu completely ignore his group of "Government Soldiers," striding straight for the pier without giving them a second glance, and he secretly gritted his teeth.

’Brat!’

’With Duan Chenzhou to protect you, you can still act so boldly.’

’If he’s gone...’

’Forget about me, what about all his other enemies...?’

’Will they let his sole protégé go free?’

’Just you wait!’

As for Huang Mi of the Little Wuxiang Temple, he gazed toward Anning Pier and sighed wistfully.

’Such is the benefit of ignorance being bliss.’

’Although Huang Chan is of great use to my future grand plan...’

’But to risk offending the Ten Thousand Laws Sect for this?’

’His backers could withstand the consequences.’

’But this humble body of mine...’

’...couldn’t take it at all!’

’Why risk my neck for such a paltry sum?’

...

Anning Pier!

A thousand-foot wave surged, revealing a Black-Scaled Flood Dragon. Its vertical pupils gazed coldly down on the desolate, impoverished little County as it let out a soft sneer:

"Your Boss spent an Earth Treasure just to have me come to a dump like this to kill someone?"

Beside it, a middle-aged man dressed in the garb of the Fishing Trade—looking like one of the Ferry Leaders—smiled upon hearing this.

"That’s right, Flood Dragon Monarch."

"My Chen Family was nearly destroyed by that ambitious wolf, the Duan Martialist. If his Master hadn’t died, I’m afraid the Eight Ferries would have all been forced to bear the Duan name by now."

"He’s not like my elder brother. If he were in charge..."

"...then there would be no more of the scheduled yearly sea sacrifices, no more offerings for all of you!"

Upon hearing this, killing intent flared in the Flood Dragon’s vertical pupils.

"If that’s the case, then he certainly deserves to die..."

Ever since being expelled from the Water Monarch’s Mansion, he had wandered the East Canghai. Unable to venture into its depths, his resources had dwindled day by day. Fortunately, to ensure calm seas and favorable winds, the Fishing Trade in Jiangyin provided countless offerings throughout the year.

If not for that, his life would be even more difficult, and his hope of one day returning to the Water Monarch’s Mansion would be even more remote.

’For that reason alone, this human cannot be allowed to live!’

The violent aura in the Great Flood Dragon’s heart surged.

However...

Yet, as it looked toward Anning County, the Great Flood Dragon’s eyes flickered with doubt from time to time.

"But why..."

"...do I keep sensing a flicker of reverence in this dump, a feeling that comes from the very source of my bloodline?"

"No, no... The Dragon Descendants and Young Lord Water Masters of the Water Monarch’s Mansion would have to be bored out of their minds to come to a backwater place like this."

"I must be going crazy from my desire to return, to be having these delusions about meeting one of the Dragon Descendants..."

It stirred up wind and waves, smashing through the wooden pier, and watched the county folk scurry away in panic like ants. It snorted, glanced at the four magnificent ships from Jiangyin Prefecture, and huffed lightly.

"Looks like that Duan Martialist fellow has no intention of showing up."

"In that case, having accepted the offerings from your Fishing Trade and these other families... I shall go ashore and, as an exception, take action myself!"

"Let those ants get a good look at the might of the East Canghai’s Water Descendants..."

BANG!

It hadn’t even finished its words!

A vast blade of light appeared in the distance, shining like a full moon and carrying an absolute will to annihilate all creation. In an instant, a chill ran down its scales, and it cried out in sudden shock and fury:

"I have yet to make my move! Who is this suicidal fool who dares to draw their blade first!?"

It was about to roar and capsize Anning Pier, sending tidal waves crashing ashore to reenact the ’Anning Catastrophe,’ but—

At that moment, a cold rebuke struck the Great Flood Dragon’s very heart, making its mind freeze solid, as if it had been plunged into a cellar of ice!

"All descendants of the Water Monarch’s Mansion, so long as you possess a single trace of its bloodline, are forbidden from causing disturbances in the Great Xuan Border Prefectures and Counties. Violators will be exiled to the depths of the East Canghai."

"How dare you act so presumptuously in my, the Young Lord’s, presence..."

"Do you truly have no desire to be welcomed back into the family at all!?"