Chapter 317: The Dragon Crosses the River

Sink the heart to the dantian, and qi naturally condenses; nine turns of reincarnation conceal the true spirit, spiritual sense retracted, evading heavenly fate, soul and spirit united, guarding primordial clarity.

Above the dreamlike Yuntai.

Li Rui sat cross-legged.

Muttering incantations under his breath.

This method is called the Nine Hidden Secrets of Heaven's Design, a technique passed down from a once-mighty sect in the north, now utterly destroyed.

It is not for combat.

Its sole function is to completely conceal one's aura—Li Rui paid an enormous price, leveraging ties to the Marquis's mansion, just to obtain it.

The Nine Hidden Secrets of Heaven's Design is of extremely high rank.

The only problem is that it is exceedingly difficult to master; even in that ancient sect, few succeeded. But none of that mattered to Li Rui.

Li Rui meditated on it daily, aided by the Great Dream Immortal Insight.

He finally achieved success.

A faint smile curled at Li Rui's lips as he exhaled slowly.

"No one should be able to see it now."

The True Dragon aura had always been a thorn in his side. Though the great serpent was dead, there was no telling if other beasts might detect it—then trouble would never end, and he'd never sleep soundly.

Beasts differ from humans. Humans might fear his status, but beasts wouldn't care if he was the Marquis's martial instructor or Jiang Lin's friend—they'd charge without hesitation.

The True Dragon aura must be hidden.

As long as the technique remained incomplete, he would not leave the city.

Now that the divine art was perfected, a long-standing burden had finally lifted.

At dawn.

Li Rui awoke from the dreamlike Yuntai; the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Having mastered the Nine Hidden Secrets of Heaven's Design, he felt refreshed and light-hearted.

He pushed open the door.

As usual, he ate, then practiced.

That day.

The clear, sunny Qinghe River suddenly churned with turmoil.

Fishermen downstream claimed to have seen a true dragon swimming upstream; boats drifting on the river were tossed violently by the waves, yet no one fell in.

Someone on the shore pointed at the water and cried out:

"Look! It's a dragon!"

As the cry spread, more and more people gathered, soon crowding the riverbank.

Some were crushed into the river.

Those familiar with water fared better, but those who couldn't swim were in dire straits—thrashing wildly, sinking within moments.

Locals who lived by the river knew: never jump in immediately to save someone drowning.

A person who can't swim panics instinctively, grabbing at anything nearby—often pulling the rescuer down with them.

Wait until the drowning person exhausts themselves, then act.

Then something astonishing happened.

Those who couldn't swim and fell into the Qinghe River were washed ashore by the waves—many fell in, yet not one drowned.

The crowd watched, convinced it was a divine miracle.

Soon,

More and more people knelt and bowed before the Qinghe River.

Big brother, an evil jiao has appeared in the Qinghe, stirring up chaos.

Tan Hu heard the news.

He hurried to find Li Rui.

One of the Anning Guard's duties was suppressing demonic disturbances.

Beasts always fled at the sight of Anning Guard members—yet now an evil jiao dares to openly invade the Qinghe, directly defying the Anning Guard and slapping them in the face.

Slapping the Anning Guard's face meant slapping Li Rui's face.

Cao Wei had been dispatched by Nie Siming to patrol the border; Li Rui was left in charge of Qinghe.

Any incident in Qinghe City was Li Rui's responsibility.

So the moment Tan Hu heard, he rushed to Li Rui.

"An evil jiao?"

Li Rui's brow lifted slightly.

This was truly rare—Qinghe had a dragon? He'd lived here for decades and never heard such a thing.

'The Qinghe's aura has indeed changed far beyond what it once was.'

As the saying goes: deep waters nurture dragons. The fact that a dragon came to Qinghe only proved its extraordinary nature—how else could it attract one?

"Take me to see it."

Intrigued, Li Rui immediately decided to follow Tan Hu to the Qinghe River to investigate.

Wang Zhao and Yang Yong, upon hearing, were equally curious.

They called out to Liu Tiezhu in the backyard.

Soon, the whole group rushed excitedly toward the Qinghe.

They had no fear that the evil jiao could cause real trouble.

This was Qinghe.

Among all of Yunzhou, only Yunzhou City surpassed Qinghe in depth and power—it ranked among the top three.

With the Earth Immortal Crane guarding for a thousand years, and Nie Siming stationed here, nothing could go wrong.

Since there was no great danger,

Of course they had to go see what this evil jiao was really like.

The people of Yu held a special affection for dragons.

Two bell-tolls later,

Li Rui arrived at the Qinghe River with Yang Yong and the others, swept along by the crowd.

He froze in shock.

Where was the chaos of a dragon wreaking havoc? The river was calm, serene. Hundreds of Qinghe residents knelt on the banks, their devotion more sincere than even their ancestral worship.

"This—"

Tan Hu was equally stunned.

He'd been told a dragon appeared in the Qinghe—but now it looked more like a river-god worship ceremony.

Li Rui's eyes widened in surprise.

As he stepped onto the riverbank, the tranquil Qinghe erupted into towering waves, causing the devout on shore to cry out in awe: "It's come! The River Dragon King has manifested!"

Someone pointed at the swirling vortex in the river's center.

The legend of the River Dragon King of Qinghe was ancient.

Li Rui had heard it for as long as he'd lived here.

When he worked as a stable boy for the Zhu family,

One of the Third Master's young sons drowned while playing by the river—Zhu's patriarch insisted the family had offended the River Dragon King, and ordered a three-animal sacrifice. Li Rui still remembered the scene.

Mostly because the Zhu family was unusually generous that day—they got to eat braised pork for once.

And since then, no one in the Zhu household had ever drowned again.

The story grew more fantastical among the servants.

Later, as Li Rui's horizons broadened, he realized: there was no River Dragon King—just some mountain spirit or beast causing mischief.

It was all coincidence.

Nothing wrong with the content—look carefully!

Yu did have river gods—but those were great demons officially sanctioned by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Qinghe had never had an official river god.

The vortex in the river's center grew larger, eventually covering half the river's width—like a beautiful bride lifting her veil, the moment most gripping to the heart.

The Qinghe people on shore strained their necks, eager to glimpse the River Dragon King.

Yang Yong and the others felt the same.

Tan Hu was thrilled, already eager to test his strength against the dragon.

Li Rui's expression turned strange.

Finally,

After a full incense-burner's time, the crowd's anticipation reached its peak.

The river's surface roared.

Out burst a being with pure white scales, slender form, twin wings on either side—exactly as the legends described the divine dragon.

Seeing the dragon appear,

Wang Zhao and Yang Yong's faces also turned strange.

This River Dragon King of Qinghe… looked suspiciously like Li Rui's little white snake.

Li Rui said nothing.

Because that River Dragon King is Little White Dragon.

Little White Dragon had somehow returned to Qinghe from Yunzhou, and he had no idea about it at all.

But the people along the Qinghe River reacted completely differently.

"It really is the River Dragon King."

"Oh my heavens, I've seen a true dragon!"

Instantly, the sounds of kowtowing and prayer along the Qinghe never ceased.

Then they saw.

The "River Dragon King" glided its long dragon body slowly ashore, and before the stunned gazes of the crowd, came before Li Rui and bowed its head.

A true dragon bows its head!

Li Rui's reputation was already immense in Qinghe.

Almost everyone recognized the man who could subdue the dragon as Li Canjun of the Qinghe Peace Guard.

"It's Master Li!"

Another wave of exclamations erupted.

These people knew Li Rui was a fierce fighter, a god of war in Qinghe—but they never imagined the River Dragon King of Qinghe would bow to Li Canjun as a subject to his emperor.

Extraordinary.

A true immortal has emerged in Qinghe!

Li Rui's lips twitched:

"Enough, that's enough."

Then he said.

Loudly to the people around him: "This is Elder Dragon, a true river deity officially appointed by the imperial court, tasked with guarding Qinghe."

At these words.

The crowd finally understood.

Some well-informed individuals had heard the court had appointed a river deity for Qinghe, but he had always remained within the Annan Marquis's mansion, so very few had seen him; yet rumors claimed he was a dragon.

Now it all matched up.

But ordinary folk had no idea about official investitures.

They clung to one simple truth.

That Master Li of Qinghe had subdued the River Dragon King.

At this moment.

The County Jail Warden arrived with the constables, just in time to witness this scene; upon hearing it was Qinghe's river deity, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Master Li, thank heaven you're here."

The Jail Warden, seeing Li Rui had already resolved the matter, beamed.

If Li Rui hadn't been here today, it might have been a flood drowning the Dragon King's temple—a bloody battle—and the county office would've suffered, and he'd bear the blame.

Li Rui smiled faintly: "Officer Zhao, disperse these people."

Not long after.

The devoted believers along the shore, reluctant and turning back every few steps, all dispersed.

An hour later.

The once-mighty Little White Dragon appeared within the Canjun's residence.

It grinned:

"Big Brother, didn't you feel mighty today?"

Li Rui was speechless.

Today's spectacle was clearly Little White Dragon's meticulously planned homecoming drama, meant to bring him honor.

'Little White is truly getting more and more astute.'

Little White Dragon was ecstatic: "Big Brother, now that the big dragon is dead, the Marquis has assigned me to serve as River Deity. I've patrolled the river for days, and when I reached Qinghe City, I knew I had to see you."

Li Rui nodded.

Previously, Little White Dragon had stayed at the Annan Marquis's mansion to evade the big dragon's pursuit—Yuan Dingting had known this all along.

Now that the big dragon was slain, Yuan Dingting would never relegate Little White Dragon, Qinghe's River Deity, to a mere koi in his mansion pond; letting Little White return to Qinghe was only natural.

"Little White, do your best now—aim to become a river deity, even a sea deity."

Little White Dragon was even more proud:

"With Big Brother around, I'll at least become the Chijiang River Deity."

(End of Chapter)