Chapter 207: How Could a Golden-Scaled Fish Be Confined to a Pond?

"Chirp chirp..."

From the bushes outside the small courtyard came the faint chirping of insects.

Under the old osmanthus tree, Nangong Ye sat obediently beside the chess table, her phoenix eyes full of confusion, unable to understand how her Sect Master, whom she had only seen in paintings, had suddenly returned and was with Xie Jinhuan...

Could it be that Xie Jinhuan's Hidden Immortal Sect elder is my master...

Then wouldn't Xie Jinhuan and I be senior and junior disciples, making Linghu Qingmo the one who turned the world upside down...

Tsk tsk...

Bu Yuehua rested her hands on her waist, her plump bottom propped on a stone stool, her posture also very obedient. Seeing the Ancestor had not returned for a long time, she spoke in a low voice:

"Sister Nangong, is there something between you and Xie Jinhuan..."

Nangong Ye shuddered, displaying the sharp edge of ice freezing a thousand miles:

"What do you mean?"

Bu Yuehua leaned her arm on the chess table, her eyebrows curved like sisters chatting:

"True Person Qixia made a good point. No matter how strong you are, you are still at the peak of the First Grade, while Xie Jinhuan is almost the strongest martial artist below the Super Grade. If anyone is to protect the Dao, it should be him acting as your bodyguard. Before, you hid your identity, and I thought you feared he would take advantage of the situation, but given the situation just now, if I don't back you up, you really have no excuse."

Nangong Ye knew that refusing to pay respects just now with a stiff neck was rash, but she truly had no choice. Thinking it over, she replied:

"I have my own plans and cannot tell outsiders. You had better keep your mouth shut, or before you weren't even my match, and now that my master has emerged from seclusion..."

Bu Yuehua indeed feared the vast family and business of Mount Zihui, but she was not stupid. She could see that Nangong Ye and Xie Jinhuan definitely had a problem, she just didn't understand how big the problem was for now. Thinking it over, she said softly:

"How could I speak nonsense and ruin your plans? But originally we agreed that I would fight in the arena and you would cover my identity. If I won the championship, I would give you twenty percent of the profits. Now I can't win the championship either. This matter probably needs to be renegotiated..."

?

Nangong Ye's eyes cooled: "The arena fight at Sanjiangkou, I already kept your secret and let you participate. If you couldn't win, that's your own problem..."

Bu Yuehua raised her hand slightly: "That was yesterday's business. In the future, do I still have to keep your secret?"

"?"

Nangong Ye realized she had been blackmailed; yielding might mean being eaten alive for a lifetime. How could she loosen her grip? She raised her hand directly:

"If you are confident you can leave Mount Zihui today, you might as well tell Xie Jinhuan the truth."

Bu Yuehua sighed and said nothing more.

Nangong Ye knew the demoness didn't dare speak now, but that might change after descending the mountain. Her Yang poison was not yet resolved, so she was no match for the demoness. She had just called her a good sister; she couldn't immediately ask the master she had just met to discipline this demoness. As she was secretly pondering this, she heard a sound:

Swish~

The pitch-black big Meiqiu landed on the roof, looking around curiously:

"Gugu?"

Then Xie Jinhuan, in a white robe, appeared from the cliff edge, leaped down in front of the two, and looked around:

"Where is Senior Qixia?"

Nangong Ye sat up straighter, her gaze serious:

"Xie Jinhuan, this is Mount Zihui. Don't be so startling. That senior just said he went to handle some matters and told us to wait..."

Xie Jinhuan knew Bai Mao the nun could go mad at any moment; how could he dare let her run around wildly:

"Where did she go?"

"Don't worry, the elders at the mountain peak know what they are doing..."

What sense of propriety did she have?

Just now she was almost 'Jie Jie Jie~' blood-sacrificing the demon bandits!

But Bai Mao Nangong Xianzi came without a shadow and left without a trace, and even took the Ghost Wife away. If she didn't come out herself, no one could do anything.

Xie Jinhuan looked around, could only try to have Meiqiu fly into the sky to search for her, and then his gaze turned to the sister flowers sitting on both sides of the chess table.

Seeing Bing Tuozi was as cold as Bingshan as always, her figure tall and tight, her slender body hiding explosive power capable of crushing a child, like a heroine who stood alone in the world, walking a thousand miles alone, showing no courtesy to anyone...

Sister Hua was elegant and virtuous, her hair bun pinned at the back of her head with a purple-blue petal butterfly hairpin. Her temperament was sexy and semi-mature, her figure soft and juicy, like a conservative, reserved, gentle, and considerate Sect Master's wife, chaste and fierce to the outside world, but obedient and compliant to the inside, naturally giving people a sense of closeness...

By such comparison, Sister Hua indeed had more of a Sect Master's bearing...

Xie Jinhuan hesitated for a moment, first looking at the semi-mature big car:

"Sister Hua, are you Sect Master Nangong?"

"?"

Nangong Ye's heart stiffened slightly.

Bu Yuehua blinked her peach-blossom eyes, looking slightly bewildered:

"Do I look like her?"

Xie Jinhuan hadn't looked closely while floating in the sky just now, but he did notice something was wrong. At this moment, he gestured toward the courtyard:

"Even if you ran here to find me, why come to this place? This is the back mountain of Mount Zihui. In theory, it is a forbidden area. Did no one from Mount Zihui stop you? And Senior Qixia suddenly sent me away..."

It's over...

Nangong Ye sensed the situation was wrong, maintained the expression of the ice-cold heroine, and interjected to explain:

"We followed the direction and came here, saw no one, so we stopped here. Mount Zihui didn't discover us. 'Senior Qixia sent you away because the high elders at the mountain peak have their own plans. He just told us some matters concerning the Qingming Sword Manor, which were inconvenient to reveal to you...'"

Saying this, she looked at the demoness next door:

"Right?"

Bu Yuehua, with the demeanor of a gentle Sect Master's wife, turned her gaze to the night view outside the mountain, as if she hadn't heard.

After all, Nangong Ye didn't even consult her; why should she help cover up?

Seeing this, Xie Jinhuan looked at Bing Tuozi:

"Heroine Mu, do you have something you are hiding from me?"

Nangong Ye tensed her whole body. Seeing Xie Jinhuan looking at her with suspicion, she hurriedly added:

"I don't want to hide it from you. It just concerns the inheritance of the Qingming Sword Manor. It's not good for you to know, um... Senior Qixia thinks I am more suitable to be the Manor Master. Sister Hua is not very happy and doesn't want to deal with me. But in my heart, I feel Sister Hua has higher cultivation and is more suitable to be the Manor Master in every way..."

Bu Yuehua saw that Nangong Ye's tone was no longer harsh, so she turned back and continued to help:

"Sigh~ Ancestor Qixia's words actually make sense. I must continue to work hard on my cultivation from now on. These are internal sect matters; it's normal for Sister Mu not to tell you, so don't be overly suspicious."

The senior and junior sisters played along in perfect harmony. Even though Xie Jinhuan was somewhat suspicious, he dared not indulge in wild speculation. He felt in his heart that he should ask his ghost wife about this; she had been present at the time and should know the situation inside out...

"Hmm... you are all fellow disciples, and your goal is also to make the Qingming Sword Manor reach a higher level. You may argue, but in private you are sisters, so do not harm the harmony..."

"That is natural."

Bu Yuehua's smile was gentle, but her peripheral vision glanced toward Nangong Ye next to her, feeling that this matter was probably not simple.

After all, what was Nangong Ye's personality before? Whenever there was nothing to do, she would chase and beat him up; when had she ever spoken a single soft word to him?

Yet now, to conceal her identity as a 'Guardian', a mere bluff made her so anxious that she softened her tone toward him. The matter hidden behind this, if dug out, could be enough to eat for a lifetime...

Nangong Ye knew that letting a demoness cover for her would surely lead to being controlled, but she had no choice. Fearing her master's return would expose the ruse, she urged:

"Senior Qixia asked the two of us to wait here. He didn't mention you; you go wait outside first. We'll come find you once we're done."

"Oh..."

Seeing Bing Tuozi stand up and push him, Xie Jinhuan felt it was inappropriate to stand there continuing to ask questions left and right. He first followed the mountain path, arriving at a pavilion outside that offered a bird's-eye view of the peaks to wait.

As it turned out, this wait was quite long. About two quarters of an hour later, movement finally appeared.

Hoo~

Turning to look, he saw the white-haired little aunt with the air of an immortal and the bearing of a Daoist, landing outside the pavilion. Her magnificent robes trembled a few times; her aura floated like an immortal, carrying a touch of elder-like kindness and warmth:

"You have waited long."

Xie Jinhuan saw that the white-haired Nangong Xianzi was not covered in blood from head to toe. Relieved, he stepped forward and clasped his hands:

"Senior, are you preparing to return?"

True Person Qixia shook her head and spoke straight to the point:

"Your performance guarding the tomb in the mountains today was good. This Daoist should have given you a reward, but since I have not yet emerged from seclusion and there is nothing within the sect that catches my eye, I will try to open your Dragon Vein to see if you have this opportunity."

Open the Dragon Vein...

Xie Jinhuan had only ever had his Dragon Tendons pulled by Seeing Mo Mo, Seeing Bing Tuozi, and Wan Yi, so he was slightly confused by these words:

"Is it opening the Dragon Spine? I've already opened that before..."

Opening the Dragon Spine is a necessary stage for cultivators, aimed at unblocking the bones, tendons, and Qi meridians to achieve 'straight bones and flexible tendons'. It belongs to the ninth to seventh-grade stages, and all schools perform it.

What True Person Qixia intended to open was naturally not this. She walked into the stone pavilion, stood before Xie Jinhuan, and explained with deep seriousness:

"The Dragon Vein is not the Dragon Spine. Ancient books say, 'The vessel is the residence of blood.' The meaning of 'vessel' is bloodline, while 'Dragon Vein' is quite special. It is a name I coined myself; in years of cultivation, I have never seen anyone else have this."

Xie Jinhuan blinked his eyes, not fully understanding.

True Person Qixia looked around left and right, feeling this place was inconvenient, so she took Xie Jinhuan and cast the Ten Thousand Li Divine Travel Spell. In an instant, they arrived atop a mountain peak among the cluster of peaks.

Xie Jinhuan had thought the white-haired Daoist nun was about to cast a spell, but instead he saw that face, originally brimming with spiritual energy, suddenly change its momentum, revealing a sense of majesty. Then, her black, bright eyes faintly showed a glint of gold.

Golden eyes, black pupils, like a dragon or a serpent!

The moment this strange phenomenon appeared, a pressure enveloped the mountain peak, causing a thousand birds to startle and fly. From a distance, it looked like a black cloud rising from the wilds:

"Gaaah— Gaaah—"

But facing the pair of dragon eyes directly, Xie Jinhuan felt no fear or trembling. Instead, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had locked eyes like this somewhere before:

"Senior, your eyes..."

True Person Qixia displayed her might and discovered that this child was actually unafraid. She was truly surprised in her heart, and immediately her thoughts shifted slightly.

Then, a sound that could not be heard yet undeniably existed, a deep-sea dragon roar, rang out deep within his mind:

"Roar—"

Hearing only the sound, Xie Jinhuan could feel the massive form stretching a thousand li, towering like a majestic mountain range spanning heaven and earth, standing just inches away. The oppressive force, like Mount Tai pressing down, was so strong that one felt as small as a worm or an ant, facing a deity descended to the world!

Xie Jinhuan felt this pressure was even more formidable than Wei Wu Yi's dragon-like spirit, but he indeed felt no discomfort. He immediately asked:

"Senior, this is..."

True Person Qixia maintained the appearance of an immortal with one hand behind her back, examining Xie Jinhuan carefully:

"This counts as 'Dragon Might', a spirit cultivated through arduous practice via a special talent. It can frighten away ghosts and gods; those with low cultivation cannot even stand steadily.

"To cultivate such a spirit, one must first have a 'catalyst', then endure a thousand hardships and dangers across rivers, crossing hundreds of suspended sword bridges, before it is possible to 'transform from a serpent into a dragon'.

"Without it, even if you cultivate to become the Human Emperor, that is the might of a Human Emperor, not Dragon Might."

Xie Jinhuan roughly understood the meaning—to cultivate such a thing, one must first be covered in golden scales. Even if a catfish cultivates to the end, it is still just Benbo'er Ba...

(End of this chapter)