Chapter 264 - 137: Your Celebration Meets My Funeral, You Must Bow! Anning Ji Xiu Remains

Chapter 264: Chapter 137: Your Celebration Meets My Funeral, You Must Bow! Anning Ji Xiu Remains

The air at the dock was thick with tension.

The Martial Artists of the Fishing Trade’s Guard Team stepped onto the dock, the air reeking of fish. The bones of each man crackled with a resounding CRACKLE. Their Qi and Blood was abundant, and every last one of them seemed like a Hall Master from a county Boxing Hall, having refined their Force deep into their very bones.

Dozens of men had now gathered. The immense Qi and Blood rising from them seemed to twist into a single rope, pressing down on Ji Xiu like a howling gale. Their combined presence was terrifying.

"Where did a greenhorn kid like you come from? Did you sneak onto a merchant ship from some backwater county to get to Jiangyin?"

"Don’t you even know the ’rules’ of Eight Dock in Jiangyin Prefecture?!"

The waters of the Jiang surged, crashing against the dock.

The members of the Fishing Trade’s Guard Team looked at Ji Xiu. He was dressed in simple clothes, a white cloth tied around his head, and his face was extremely young and unfamiliar.

He didn’t match the description of any of the Grand Lineage Members or disciples with a True Inheritance affiliated with the Fishing Trade.

Besides the man and woman behind him, he didn’t even have a single servant. Yet he dared to step into Jiangyin Prefecture with a Spiritual Object, completely clueless...

One of them seemed to understand at once, and his eyes filled with the disdain ’prefecture city people’ held for ’county folk’:

"Anything gained from a ’sea voyage’ must be declared upon landing at the dock, and you must pay the ’Fishing Trade’s rent.’"

"The Fishing Trade established this dock and invited a Grandmaster Dragon Head to oversee Eight Dock. That’s the only reason all the fishing stalls and Upturned Boats can operate smoothly and make a profit."

"We might let ordinary things slide, but to hide a Spiritual Object for yourself right in front of the Dragon Head..."

"You have no respect for the rules!"

Standing beside Gu Qix was a coarse-featured Martial Artist whose organs rumbled like war drums. RUMBLE.

He heard the roar of the Dragon Head’s Qi Sea next to him and saw the Spirit Testing Talisman fall. His voice boomed like thunder as he immediately understood what was expected.

The Dragon Head had spoken.

Putting a kid with seemingly ’no background’ in his place...

It would be as easy as lifting a hand!

THUD! THUD!

Heavy footsteps stomped on the slick dock path, sending fishy water splashing into the air. This Fishing Trade Boss thrust a palm at Ji Xiu, Gang Qi covering nearly his entire arm.

From his form, he was clearly an Outer Gang expert who had reached a high level of mastery. Within the Fishing Trade, his status was likely just a step below the Bosses who ran fishing stalls under the Grand Lineage!

Back in the county, even old man Liao Yuanhua of the Whale-Slaying Saber, in his advanced and frail age, probably wouldn’t have been a match for him.

"Don’t—"

Gu Qix’s expression shifted slightly the moment he got a clear look at Ji Xiu’s face. He hesitated.

But the subordinate at his side, assuming he had understood his intentions, had already rushed forward to attack. This made Gu Qix’s face twitch violently, and a complex look entered his eyes. After a moment’s thought, he kept his hands at his side.

’Forget it. This kid’s Master is gone. Sure, last time he relied on the Duan Martialist to put an arrow through the Fishing Trade’s Great Sacrificial Banner, making quite a show of power.’

’But he’s only seventeen or eighteen. How much of the Duan Martialist’s skill could he have possibly learned?’

’I heard rumors from Anning County that this kid is quite capable, but at most, he’s only at the level of breaking through to Mercury Blood Silver Marrow.’

’A Martial Artist who has condensed their Outer Gang surpasses the Mercury Blood Silver Marrow level by a full Great Realm, which is two Small Realms.’

’No matter how talented this kid is, with such a massive gap in strength, putting him in his place will be more than easy. He can’t make any waves.’

’However...’

’This boy is wearing a white cloth on his head, the very picture of someone in mourning.’

’I bet he doesn’t know yet that all the lanterns and festive banners hung up high all over this dock...’

’...were put up precisely because his Master is dead, right?’

A flicker of pity passed through Gu Qix’s mind.

The kid had some talent. If he had apprenticed himself to an ordinary Grandmaster, he might have had a bright future.

But unfortunately, of all the people to follow... he had to choose the Duan Martialist, that unorthodox, murderous bastard!

Did that guy really think he was invincible just because he became a Grandmaster? That he could turn the tables?

He should have known this is the Prefecture City!

Even his own Master, Wang Xuanyang, had to play by the rules, be reasonable, and climb his way up one step at a time back in the day.

He hadn’t even reached the Dragon and Tiger level; he was just a Second Grade Qi Sea.

But in just over a month, he caused a huge ruckus, kicking down the signboards of several famous Grand Lineages on Daoist School Street.

He also gravely offended three of the Upper Nine Professions—the Fishing, Medicine, and Firewood Grand Lineages. First, he traded their lives for an Earth Treasure, but that wasn’t all.

Just a few days after letting them go, their Direct Lineage masters and disciples were all found with their necks snapped overnight!

If you say that had nothing to do with you, who would believe it?

No wonder those people pulled all sorts of strings and even went to the Black Market to post a reward list with an astronomical price. They put a bounty on his Qi Sea Realm head that was comparable to a Leakless Realm Sect Leader Level expert.

The old debts weren’t even settled, and new enmities were forged. With all that piled up, if he wasn’t going to die, who was?

As Gu Qix, the Dragon Head of the Fishing Trade in charge of the dock, a hundred thoughts spun through his mind.

Meanwhile, the Guard Team’s Boss had already thrust his iron-sand palm, covered in hissing Gang Qi, toward Ji Xiu! SSSS!

On the great river, iron chains linked the vessels.

Merchant ships were moored one after another. Countless pairs of curious eyes, drawn to the rare commotion, turned to look at the dock.

But they failed to notice...

...that behind them, on the originally calm surface of the river, waves had suddenly begun to stir. A massive shape, hidden beneath the water, was hurtling toward the dock!

「At the same time!」

Ji Xiu’s gaze turned cold. Watching the bullying Martial Artist approach with a rolling Qi Wave, he simply raised an arm and spread his fingers.