Chapter 624: Corpse Qi

Jia Baoyu was ultimately not the material to train his strength or practice martial arts—the first generation of the Rongguo and Ningguo mansions won their titles on horseback, the second generation was already just gilding their resumes in the military, and the third generation, the generation of Jia Baoyu's father, had completely turned to the path of playboys and civil officials. The fourth generation, Jia Baoyu, now looked like the ancestor of all rascals, the leader of the playboys, and a guy who grew up in a kingdom of women.

The Ningguo Mansion was even worse than the Rongguo Mansion... The third generation had a scholarly seed, but he entered the Dao, and those who followed were a nest of playboys, each worse than the last. "Guarding the empty shell of a Duke's mansion, the title keeps dropping in rank, and they never thought about joining the military again to fight, to seek a title for their wives and children, a bunch of cowards."

Thinking about it, although the Tianshui Earl Bai family's title was far inferior to the top nobles like the Four Kings and Eight Dukes, they had focused on the military for generations. Although they had no great achievements, they had managed to preserve their family name—it wasn't that hereditary titles were truly irrevocable; this hellish dynasty was not like the Ming Dynasty at all, but more like the Qing Dynasty.

This dynasty, having been established for only a few decades, already showed signs of decay. Just as Si Wu said, this dragon energy had been an old dragon from the very beginning, and there were still frequent battles on the borders. But fortunately, it seemed they had won them all? It was just that the cost was incredible, mountains of gold and silver flowing out. The results could only be said to be that they didn't give the other side a chance to invade, usually only beheading a few.

As for deep-striking into the northern grasslands, southern barbarian jungles, or western barbarian wilderness, this dynasty hadn't done that for twenty or thirty years; they were truly powerless to do such things. Anyway, as long as the country was prosperous and peaceful, that was enough.

Jia Baoyu would go to the clan school to study and gather with friends, but he had never been to Bai Lang's Tianshui Earl Mansion before. A few days after the Autumn Festival, the gatekeeper of the Tianshui Earl's house reported that the young master from the Rongguo Mansion was visiting. Bai Lang opened the main gate to welcome him, only to see Jia Baoyu standing inside, accompanied by a warm sedan chair, two sedan chair carriers, several young maids, an old nanny, and several servants.

Bai Lang was alone, and he was half a head taller than Jia Baoyu, approaching with long strides. When he saw Jia Baoyu, Bai Lang's eyes lit up. The boy wore a purple-gold crown inlaid with treasures, a golden headband with two dragons snatching a pearl across his brow, a bright red arrow-sleeve robe with hundred-butterfly-among-flowers embroidery in two-colored gold, tied with a long-tasseled palace cord of five-colored silk, covered by a stone-blue eight-round embroidered cloak, and wearing small court boots with green satin and powder soles. He looked like a woman, quite flamboyant.

And Jia Baoyu looked at Bai Lang, who wore only a half-old arrow-sleeve robe and a pair of trousers, his hair just casually tied in a bun, his feet in a pair of cowhide boots, with no ornaments on his body, just a rope hanging around his neck with a jade fish appearing and disappearing. Yet he was heroic and spirited, like a fierce tiger, not only half a head taller than Baoyu but also half a person broader in the shoulders and body.

"I don't know why you are visiting today, Brother?" Bai Lang didn't know what this guy was looking for him for, but it turned out Baoyu was just curious to see. Bai Lang invited him to the drill ground, "There is a corridor and a warm pavilion below this drill ground. Brother, you can stay there; I am going to continue training."

Bai Lang had already finished playing with the stone locks—he didn't necessarily need to do this to practice martial arts. For him, practicing martial arts was actually enough by sitting in meditation and filling his dantian with his own true Qi, but Bai Lang wanted to practice back through external martial arts. Si Wu did not appear on the drill ground; Bai Lang knew he seemed to be using a special ability to travel all over the world. For a Saint, it seemed that time and space were not problems, "I really envy his ability." By the way, Bai Lang thought of the Gold Cloth; he suddenly remembered he had never seen Si Wu wear the Gold Cloth. "I must see it if I have the chance."

He thought so, but his hands didn't slacken—Bai Lang took a long spear from the weapon rack and began to dance it with a shake of his arms. Cold light shot out, and the long spear thrust out like lightning, each time bringing back a small plum—these plums were placed on top of small wooden sticks, and Bai Lang pierced back these plums without knocking over any of the sticks. The ingenuity of this force was truly peak.

Jia Baoyu couldn't see the difficulty in this; he just thought it was a street performance. However, Bai Lang practiced all eighteen weapons one by one, and finally, with an eight-dou bow, he shot arrows continuously, pinning them into the bullseye, which still made this guy of "similar" age to Bai Lang cheer loudly, "Brother, do you also want to win a title with a sword and spear?" He asked Bai Lang the same thing.

And Bai Lang smiled, "Then Brother, do you also want to restore the glory of the Rongguo Mansion's military family?" Jia Baoyu's face darkened quickly, and not long after, he took his leave. Since then, Jia Baoyu had never been to the Tianshui Earl Mansion again. "I really don't know what he came for? What exactly was he doing?" A year passed quickly, and Bai Lang buried himself in his practice. "It's about time. It's time for you to take a move from me and see if you can comprehend the art of soul control." On this day, Si Wu also looked at Bai Lang and said, quite seriously.

"Let's go, no need to be here." Both of them nodded, and soon they used the void-dancing method to run quickly outside the city. Bai Lang's movement technique wasn't fast enough yet, and Si Wu grabbed his shoulder, turning into a meteor and soaring into the sky, crashing directly into the Yanshan Mountains.

"There is no one for miles around here, it's a good place for practice." Si Wu said, "I also know your thoughts. Since we are about to part, I'll show you. Come! My Cloth!" Si Wu reached out and pointed upward, and a golden light shot straight into the sky from his index finger, piercing through nine layers of clouds.

A golden meteor fell from the sky and stopped in front of Si Wu. Bai Lang saw that this was a golden box, with the Cancer constellation carved on the outside. The box unfolded automatically, revealing the golden crab inside... The crab automatically disassembled, turning into golden light to cover Si Wu's body. When the light solidified, Bai Lang saw Si Wu as the Cancer Gold Saint—his white cape fluttering in the wind.

"This time I am teaching you the art of soul control, so my Cancer Cloth is just right." Si Wu said, "Get ready, squeeze out all your power!" Golden light began to swirl around this Gold Saint, and Bai Lang felt infinite power brewing within it, "Is this the Cosmo?" he thought.

Accompanied by pale phosphorus fire swirling on Si Wu's index finger, the dim Praesepe star cluster of Cancer appeared behind the Saint. "Corpse Qi," Si Wu said, while fixing his gaze on Bai Lang, his index finger slowly pointing at him, "Be careful, I won't hold back. Corpse Qi! Underworld Wave!" ===== CHAPTER 625 =====