Chapter 234 - 127: If One Day I Stand Tall Among the Titled, I Will Name the Celestial Blade Lineage the ’True Sect

Chapter 234: Chapter 127: If One Day I Stand Tall Among the Titled, I Will Name the Celestial Blade Lineage the ’True Sect

"Master, are there really this many Grandmasters in Jiangyin Prefecture?"

"It seems like one pops up at every other stall..."

With his sleeves fluttering in the wind, Duan Chenzhou glanced at Gu Qix on the docks and said nonchalantly,

"The Qi Sea Realm is a stage one naturally ascends to after polishing one’s sinews, bones, and skin to Perfection and obtaining a Qi Scroll."

"All it takes is a bit of talent, a lot of grinding, and most importantly, a legacy Qi Scroll."

"This step isn’t difficult. The hard part is how to achieve a Superior Qi Dao, how to break the Three Limits, and how to walk even farther on the path afterward."

"There aren’t a huge number of Grandmasters in Jiangyin Prefecture, but they’re not few and far between either."

"Take the Fishing Trade, for example, which claims to be one of the Upper Nine Professions..."

"Of the Eight Dock crossings, the east, south, west, and north crossings all have a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster presiding over them. The other branches are more or less the same."

"But even among those in the Qi Sea, the difference in power can be as vast as heaven and earth."

Duan Chenzhou raised his eyes and looked off toward Gu Qix.

"How can someone who has only broken the body’s Two Limits possibly compare to you, who cultivates a top-tier Secret Sect Technique, blasted open the Three Limits, and forged a Treasure Body to achieve Qi Dao First Grade?"

"I once heard your Ancestral Master say that the young prodigies from the Celestial Pillars, the Giant Houses, and Xuanjing can, upon breaking the Three Limits and forging their Treasure Bodies, cross realms to kill Grandmasters without suffering a single scratch."

"Once they become Grandmasters, not even three or five ordinary Qi Dao Martial Artists would be their match!"

"Those are the figures you should emulate and become, not some shoddily made product that disregards your own future."

"Here, like these pieces of trash."

He stepped on Chen Chuhe, whose eyes spat fire, and on the Grandmasters from the Wood Element and the Second Daoist School. Taking a deep breath, his eyes flashed with menace. He bellowed, his Qi Mechanism surging like a thunderclap,

"They came to kill me to settle an old grudge. That is the cause."

"But their skills were inferior. They were defeated and captured by my hand. This, too, is their fate."

"All the professions and halls can come knocking on my door, so why shouldn’t I be able to pay them a visit in return?"

"The Prefecture City isn’t some backwater County. Every family and every trade has communication Talismans, so..."

"I, Duan, will give you half a double-hour."

"If one Earth Treasure is not delivered to the docks..."

"These four Grandmaster heads, along with these disciples from the main branches, will bleed out into the East Canghai today!"

CRACK!

Duan Chenzhou brought his palm closed, as if pinching off the airflow. His sonorous voice carried far and wide, reaching Gu Qix’s ears...

...causing the Dragon Head presiding over the docks to tremble inwardly.

If it had been anyone else, there might have been room to question the sincerity of his words, to negotiate and haggle.

But Gu Qix knew that Duan Chenzhou, this reckless hothead...

...was a man of his word!

So, without another word, his heart heavy, he hurried off to communicate with the various professions and halls using a Talisman...

Meanwhile, Ji Xiu had finished listening to Duan Chenzhou’s speech.

Looking at the bound Grandmasters from the Grand Lineages and grand halls like Chen Chuhe, as well as the True Inheritance disciples from various professions like Huang Chan and Chen Chuan, he couldn’t help but feel it was a shame.

"Master, all these heads are only worth one Earth Treasure?"

"Isn’t that a bit low..."

Hearing his disciple’s greedy words,

Duan Chenzhou couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He nudged the Third Master of the Fishing Trade with the tip of his boot.

"Do you think Earth Treasures are as common as cabbages?"

"They might not even be willing to give up this one, these Three Professions and Two Halls."

"A complete Earth Treasure can be slowly nurtured, its branches and leaves continuously harvested to refine into Spirit Dao Grand Pills and Treasure Medicines. It is a true family heirloom!"

"The Daoist Schools are backed by their respective Schools; their good stuff is all kept back at the main sect gates. The branches in the prefecture can’t possibly produce something like this."

"Only these few Grand Lineages might be able to grit their teeth and part with one."

"This body of yours is a genuine Gold-Selling Cave. If it were any other time, I, your master, would have just killed these guys and been done with it. Why would I go through all this trouble?"

HISS!

Hearing this, Ji Xiu recalled the Jade Marrow Cold Lotus he had given to Old Huang and sighed, his hands behind his back.

’I really am quite righteous and benevolent, aren’t I? You could even say a promise from me is worth a thousand pieces of gold, right?’

’Judging by how even these professions and halls only have a few Earth Treasures in their collections...’

’You probably couldn’t buy a treasure like that even for a thousand taels of Red Gold!’

However, before the New Year of the Central Yellow Calamity, Old Huang had taken Zheng Jun and followed Xu Li onto a merchant ship bound for the Prefecture City.

Right now, they should be in Jiangyin Prefecture.

’I wonder if, after all this blows over...’

’...he’ll hear the stories of my master and me riding a flood dragon to the prefecture gates, forcing all the professions and halls to bow their heads?’

The Canghai wind was cool.

Ji Xiu, having galloped through the night, gazed at the brilliantly lit Prefecture City on the sea...

...and pondered silently.

...

「Within Jiangyin Prefecture.」

The Marquis’s Mansion annex, bearing the name ’Beicang,’ stood within the Inner Mansion City. Its guard posts were extremely strict, and any disturbance, no matter how slight, would be reported inside.

From the outside, without passing through layers of clearance...

...not even a mosquito could fly in.

Because.

This was the residence of the only figure with the Title of ’Marquis’ native to the entire Jiangyin Prefecture.

One could say that even the Prefecture Lord, the Dean, and the Garrison Commander!

These three titans, who oversaw the prefecture’s government, academy, and army, would all have to bow their heads to that ’Marquis Beicang.’

Deep within the Marquis’s Mansion, in Shuyu Pavilion.

Within this courtyard, constructed entirely from cold stone walls.

There was a clear and profoundly deep Cold Pool. In it swam ice-soul silver-finned fish, so cold that specks of frost clung to their scales;

Just one of these Spirit Fish, if sold in the prefecture market, would fetch at least several dozen gold. It could be used as an ingredient in a Spirit Grade Great Pill, making it exceedingly precious. Its flavor was also superb; as a delicacy, it was listed as one of the Jianghuai Eight Wonders.