Chapter 38: The Ambition of the Well Dragon King

Or perhaps that exalted person was merely passing by, possibly not from the Qi mansion; otherwise why would they relent?

Zhan Li also slowly put away the other gold-colored seal paper in his hand; that was his trump card, and if truly impossible, inviting the power of ghosts and gods to enter his body, he had not lacked hope to fight the opponent to the death.

His eyes darkened, and after a moment he glanced toward the Qi family's direction.

Now his mission had failed; he could only return first to report back, awaiting the next mission.

His eyes held some gloom; when he earlier accepted this mission, he had been full of confidence, determined to change the Qi family's attitude.

Yet before him it was difficult to account for!

……

Inside the rear quarters of the main house, when Qi Yuxian brought out the iron container she had found and saw Qi Yi and Heavenly Void Daoist, the demonic sealing technique afflicting Madame Zhou was quickly undone.

Although this demonic sealing technique is strange and vicious, as long as the demonic sealing object is found, dispelling the spell is not difficult.

Meanwhile, Old Lady Zhang was taken away by Qi Yi and locked up, ready for thorough interrogation.

Many of the reasons behind this, Qi Yuxian did not conceal, and she told Qi Yi everything in detail.

At the main gate, Qi Yi and Heavenly Void Old Daoist walked side by side out of the rear quarters.

"Old friend, in your opinion, who lent a hand this time to help the Qiao family repel that external foe?"

Qi Yi gazed toward Heavenly Void Old Daoist with both eyes.

After Qi Yuxian voiced her suspicions, Qi Yi also expressed agreement; at this critical juncture, the chance of discovering that Old Lady Zhang had buried the demonic sealing object was infinitesimal.

How could it be so coincidental to discover an acupoint at this juncture?

And those several crossbow bolts!

He reckoned to himself that, without the aid of an exalted person this time, the Qi family would not have so easily rescued Qi Zhou.

Heavenly Void Daoist shook his head.

"Fengyang Prefecture has always produced outstanding talents; perhaps a passing exalted person took offense at the covert one's deeds and lent the Qi family a hand!"

Heavenly Void Daoist also felt astonished; when had the Qi family acquired other exalted persons, that even his spiritual sense could not detect them?

This shows that the covert person's cultivation might not be inferior to his!

Qi Yi secretly sighed: "It could be considered that a fortunate person has heavenly favor; luckily I passed this trial, only regrettable that I could not meet that exalted person, nor form a good karmic bond with this exalted person."

Fengyang Prefecture is overcast with wind and rain; at this time the Qi family's fortunes are turbulent, but if another strong person could be stationed there, it would undoubtedly give them greater autonomy.

Fortunately, Madame Zhou came to no harm this time; otherwise the Qi family would not only have to face pressure from several powers in Fengyang Prefecture, but also endure interrogation from the Dingyuan Marquis Manor.

The two enumerated some of the exalted persons in the prefecture, but ultimately came up empty-handed.

……

After Zhang Yi finished distributing the good-person cards, he simply remained at his lodging, quietly accumulating internal spiritual power.

The practice of the Spirit Nurturing stage requires him continually to transform spiritual power to nourish his three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit, to harmonize his own spiritual power; upon reaching a certain level, he then attempts to map his life palace to complete the Foundation Establishment process.

This step is crucial.

The accumulation of internal spiritual power and the nourishment of the soul may be faster for him than for ordinary cultivators.

Because his soul is innately immensely strong.

Zhang Yi is quite confident about this.

His divine sense is extremely sensitive, and after breaking through the Spirit Nurturing stage, the area covered by his divine sense is greater than the ten-zhang radius recorded in the Tong Mountain Pure Nine Chapters.

It might be as large as several dozen zhang.

If not for his innately strong soul, Zhang Yi could not explain this.

Moreover, the speed of spiritual power accumulation lies in his innately pure body and the purity of his spiritual roots; although he has not actively tested his physique, Zhang Yi can be certain that he possesses some talent in this regard.

These talents can reduce some of the arduous training.

It will not take decades or even centuries of grinding at this stage.

When cultivators reach the Spirit Nurturing stage, their lifespan can indeed gradually approach its limit, nearing two hundred years.

Being able to afford it is one thing; being able to undergo less grinding is naturally better.

……

In his leisure, Zhang Yi also recalled another matter; he had his few veteran underlings go buy brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Merely looking at the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone bought by Xiao Xie, Zhang Yi still shook his head; Xiao Xie had obviously been deceived by the prefecture's swindlers, who passed off inferior goods as quality, lacking the seasoned sharpness honed by his own personal attendant, yet he did not blame him, and afterward picked up the brush to begin drawing.

Soon, a graceful figure gradually appeared on the paper, her hand also holding a stone mirror.

This is precisely the likeness of the "ancestor" within the ancestral hall.

After some time, Zhang Yi began to miss somewhat the female ancestor in the clan's ancestral hall.

Regretting that distance might prevent ancestral worship, Zhang Yi considered whether he could alter the method, for example by tracing a portrait of that ancestor and then conducting "remote ancestral worship".

He did not know if it could be done, but he still decided to give it a try.

After the entire portrait was completed, Zhang Yi had Xiao Xie hang it in the room to dry, awaiting the purchase of gold ingots to attempt the sacrifice.

Afterward, Zhang Yi stepped out of his dwelling in the faint morning light.

At this time the Qi family grew ever more lively, as the birthday of his maternal grandfather approached, guests from afar arrived in an unending stream, and Zhang Yi and Lady Zhang Qi were already on the road.

Moreover, there was another younger brother and sister.

He raised his head; although it was early morning, the harsh sun already showed its edge.

Fengyang Prefecture, as well as the great drought in the surrounding prefectures, continued.

Only the vicinity of Fengyang Prefecture City had the Lock Dragon Dam storing water, and consequently it became ever more prosperous and flourishing.

Zhang Yi did not go out; during this period the number of vagrants outside kept increasing, even though the prefect specially assigned extra personnel for patrols, the outside became ever more chaotic.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhang Yi came again to the flower garden.

The two hibiscus plants, under the sunlight, greedily absorbed that speck of pure morning yang energy, moistening themselves.

Zhang Yi's gaze, however, fell upon a nearby hanging well; the Myriad Worlds Spirit Awareness Sphere in his mind throbbed, yet he once again heard the heated discussion of two voices.

He showed a faint smile at the corner of his eye, and simply sat openly in the pavilion beside the well to eavesdrop.

At first, the two were just complaining or chatting about gossip among the various mansions in the city, but a certain part of their talk gradually caught Zhang Jian's attention.

"Big brother, when will we be able to leave here? The bottom of the well is too gloomy, dark and cold!"

"Nonsense, we are the Well Dragon Kings; if we leave the well, where would we go? To the Whitewater River!"

That last tone was a bit annoyed.

"Actually, there is still hope; the Dragon Lord of the Whitewater River has long been trapped, a dragon stranded in shallow waters—why should we fear him?"

Another voice obviously sounded unwilling to be lonely.

"This is also an opportunity; Fengyang Commandery and the surrounding commanderies are suffering drought. If we can somehow bring down sweet rain, we will surely attract the worship of the people of those surrounding commanderies, and we might thus cast off the identity of the Well Dragon King and seize this great Whitewater River; the divine office of the Whitewater River is far better than that of the cramped Well Dragon King!"

Listening to the two voices' argument, Zhang Jian's gaze twitched.

There was a hint of brightness in his eyes.

He did not know whether the foundation‑building methods of other great Dao sects required qi‑fortune, but the "Clear‑Nine Chapters of Tongshan" explicitly states that a supreme Dao foundation forged with great qi‑fortune is closer to the Heaven‑Earth Dao and suitable for cultivation.

If we could resolve the drought afflicting Fengyang Commandery and its surrounding commanderies, this would surely bring down a great deal of qi‑fortune, not only helping one to manifest the Life Palace and test fate for foundation‑building, but also making it easier to go to the ancestral shrine to "shear wool" (i. e., gain benefits).