The yellow dragon in the lake broke the water’s surface, straightened its body, and looked down upon the three women standing on the wooden bridge. This mystical creature, hornless but scaled, was known among northern cultivators as the “earth mole,” said to be the offspring of a dragon and a Kun fish. Its serpentine body bore four limbs, and two golden whiskers swayed gently. Its dragon eyes carried emotions akin to those of humans, and it was certainly not to be underestimated. The portion of the beast already above water stretched six zhang in length. Its two claws pressed against the lake’s surface, and as it narrowed its eyes, a faint, ethereal breath of pale blue mist drifted from its mouth, as if mocking the overconfidence of the cultivators on the bridge.
A dragon, a creature of the dragon lineage, was a favored child of heaven and earth, said to possess unparalleled majesty. Especially prized was the dragon pearl it carried, a treasure of legend that few had ever seen. Even cultivators skilled in detecting dragons through aura and geomancy rarely glimpsed a true dragon in their lifetimes. Most of the Guanyin Sect’s cultivators were overwhelmed with awe and fear—this was a living, breathing dragon! Any talisman or artifact associated with dragons was priceless, yet the charcoal-selling girl on the bridge showed no surprise. She had already seen a black dragon in Difei Mountain. Compared to that black dragon, which had stolen the first sacred site of Taoism, this yellow dragon was insignificant. The current missing Wudang Sect leader, Li Yufu, had gained fame precisely by slaying a dragon in Difei Mountain.
The charcoal-seller quickly formed hand seals, leapt into the water, and began a graceful sprint across its surface, circling the yellow dragon. She chanted the nine-character mantra, “Lin Bing Dou Zhe Jie Zhen Lie Xing,” while forming nine hand seals, including the Inner and Outer Lion Seals. Of the eighty-four flying swords she wielded, three remained still while the other eighty-one formed nine small arrays, which in turn formed one grand sword formation. Each sword hovered above the water at different heights, their tips pointing downward, emitting pure energy. As the energies intertwined, they seemed like countless water snakes darting about, eventually forming a Vase Seal Formation that encircled the unyielding yellow dragon.
After completing the seals, the charcoal-seller appeared relaxed, muttering that she would definitely catch this long worm. Yet, she did not underestimate her foe. With a graceful glide across the water, her slender body tilted, and with a delicate hand, she traced seemingly random patterns across the surface. Then, with a soft cry of “Rise!” she pulled forth from the water a jade tablet, like the ceremonial tablet carried by officials in the imperial court.
The water she had drawn forth was used as the material for a talisman—an unheard-of technique. Continuing to circle the yellow dragon, she moved with solemn dignity, chanting, “Heavenly Emperor, with a stroke of the brush, the Dao is written.”
The jade-green water tablet radiated brilliant light, and a swirling purple energy emerged. Moving behind the dragon, she clasped the tablet with both hands, assuming the posture of a minister paying homage to an emperor. With a deep voice, she intoned, “Evil and filth, retreat! May the Dao’s energy endure forever! So it is commanded!”
All profound talismans in Taoism were modeled after the laws of heaven and earth. The earlier sword formation the charcoal-seller had used was inspired by the dragon-binding formations of the Shu mountains. Now, her “tablet talisman” was uniquely crafted. As she suddenly raised her hands and struck downward, a massive tablet of energy appeared in midair, crashing toward the dragon’s back.
The dragon, motionless as a statue, finally reacted. It raised a claw and gently pressed it against the water. The floating sword formation above the lake trembled violently, nearly collapsing. Yet the eighty-one swords, evenly distributing the force of the dragon’s strike, managed to remain intact. The dragon, still facing away, seemed to show a flicker of surprise, pondered briefly, then turned its head, biting down on the energy tablet. With one powerful snap, it shattered the tablet into fragments. Simultaneously, the physical tablet in the charcoal-seller’s hand cracked with fine fractures. The dragon shook its head, its whiskers swaying, then suddenly widened its eyes, baring its massive jaws in a terrifying roar, like a wrathful celestial general, at the tiny girl beneath it.
The charcoal-seller, still holding the water tablet, slid backward across the lake, her long black hair flying wildly in the dragon’s mighty breath. She retreated until she was just a few zhang from the shore, then released the tablet, which did not fall but hovered in place. She muttered, “Dare you spit on me? I’ll make you regret it!” Glancing at the sword formation, she resumed her swift movement across the water, chanting softly, “One thought births a dark canopy from the Xuan Platform; one thought grants me communion with the Dao; one thought elevates me to the highest heavens. Let this thought be proclaimed to the Nine Heavens!”
With each “thought,” the remaining three swords soared higher into the moonlit sky. The charcoal-seller herself radiated a golden-purple glow, appearing like a deity to onlookers. The yellow dragon, sensing the familiar energy, seemed momentarily wary, then erupted in fury. With both claws, it struck the water, and the hidden claws beneath the lake churned the depths. A cornered beast might still fight, but this dragon, nearly at the threshold of full transformation and capable of living as long as heaven and earth, was no mere beast. The entire lake boiled like a pot on a stove, white mist rising in torrents, shaking the heavens and earth. Though the charcoal-seller’s three swords pierced the lake from above, one was knocked aside by the dragon’s tail while two struck its back, the dragon showed no sign of grievous injury. Instead, its rage intensified, its four claws rising and falling, its head lifting, its tail thrashing, roaring like thunder, sending waves crashing onto the shore. The cultivators of the Guanyin Sect had already retreated, save for the charcoal-seller’s senior apprentice sister, who remained unmoved on the bridge. She no longer gazed toward the mountaintop but instead looked with a hint of pity at the yellow dragon whose dragon essence could be traced back to the highlands. Calmly, she commanded, “Yingyi, draw the dragon’s energy into the Vase Seal.”
The woman on the bridge, swaying slightly, nodded. She formed hand seals and inhaled deeply, drawing the wild, chaotic dragon energy from the lake into her body.
The yellow dragon, which had been facing the charcoal-seller, soon sensed the theft from behind. Slowly, it turned its massive head, fixing its gaze on the two cultivators on the bridge.
The Sect Leader frowned and said, “Charcoal girl, stop playing.”
The charcoal-seller chuckled and called out, “Alright, alright!” She slid a jade pendant from her sleeve, its surface carved with two dragons in a tail-biting formation. With a pained expression, she sighed and crushed the pendant.
Her senior apprentice sister gazed toward the shore and calmly ordered, “Sun Ya, summon the Thunder Binding Talisman.”
A young male cultivator responded immediately, opening the satchel at his feet to reveal a stone tablet carved with a reclining dragon. It was square and heavy, weighing no less than a hundred jin. Each of its six sides had a hole, within which red lightning crackled. The young man lifted the tablet, roared, and hurled it toward the lake.
On the bridge, the Sect Leader issued calm commands, “Qi Longzhong, form the Mirror Seal!”
Another middle-aged cultivator, enduring immense pressure that nearly choked him, leapt forward in one powerful bound and crouched at the lakeshore. He plunged both arms into the water, and from him outward, the lake began to freeze at an alarming rate.
At this moment, the charcoal-seller had already shattered the twin-dragon pendant, summoning two smaller chis that paled in comparison to the yellow dragon. On the bridge, the female cultivator Yingyi continued to siphon the dragon’s energy. The young cultivator Sun Ya’s dragon tablet hovered above the lake as a bolt of heavenly lightning struck it from above. Golden light radiated, and lightning crackled. Golden threads spread across the lake, forming a divine net of golden law. Meanwhile, the cultivator responsible for the Mirror Seal had already frozen the entire lake, its surface now thick with frost.
Everything was ready, save for the final move.
The charcoal-seller, whose robes concealed countless high-grade talismans, was about to unleash her ultimate artifact when, just as she was poised to subdue the dragon, an anomaly occurred!
The yellow dragon vanished without a trace.
Simultaneously, the Sect Leader disappeared from the bridge.
Atop the mountain, she glared at a middle-aged scholar who gazed into a white bowl before him.
“Don’t push your luck, Xie!” she growled.
The scholar lifted his head with a smile. “Dantai Qingjing, don’t act like an old hag just because you’re older. It’s not becoming of a lady.”
The Sect Leader sneered, “You, Xie Feiyu, watched your nation fall, your family crumble, and yet you hid away, unwilling to even acknowledge your own daughter. And you call yourself a true man?”
The scholar chuckled, “Women, always long-haired and short-sighted.”
Dantai Qingjing, her tall frame dark with fury, was clearly furious beyond measure. Though the Guanyin Sect had long remained aloof from worldly affairs, believing that rise and fall were decreed by fate, this man had once declared that as long as he remained in the Tai’an City, no southern cultivator would be allowed to cross the Guangling River. It was an unnecessary provocation against the Guanyin Sect.
The scholar, whose age was impossible to discern, did not look at her expression but instead gazed into the bowl. Inside swam a tiny yellow dragon, no more than an inch long. Alongside it were two small chis and a red dragon, all of similar size.
“There are no more dragons in Shu. They are all in my bowl.”
He smiled faintly and said, “We are both merely following the tides of fate, knowing that the heavens have their own order. You wish to use this dragon to restore the vitality of Xu Fengnian, the Prince of Beiliang. That would disrupt the balance.”
Dantai Qingjing sneered, “And yet you helped Chen Zhibao capture the dragons of Shu, paving the way for him. Did that not disrupt the balance?”
The scholar shook his head. “You still have much to learn of the Dao. Though we are both menders of heaven’s law, I am the one who plans, while you cultivators are merely the laborers.”
Dantai Qingjing’s lips curled slightly, her gaze one of pity, much like when she had looked upon the yellow dragon.
The scholar glanced around, smiling gently. “I know you have a backup plan—the flying swords of Deng Tai’a. I may not be much of a fighter, but I can always outrun you, can’t I?”
Only the tall woman remained atop the mountain, but from its peak to the Shu region, a series of thunderous booms echoed.
Beside her, two men appeared—unremarkable middle-aged man, and a one-armed old man.
Deng Tai’a and Sui Xiegu.
She cast a questioning glance.
Deng Tai’a, who had silently delivered a strike of a ground immortal, rubbed his chin with a self-deprecating smile. “That guy had oil on his feet? He ran fast—I couldn’t catch up.”
Dantai Qingjing sighed, a touch of regret in her voice. “Where will you go next?”
Deng Tai’a replied calmly, “To find my apprentice. I will absolutely not go to Beiliang. Master Sui will be enough company for you.”
Sui Xiegu glanced at the tall woman with a grin. “Little Dantai, since the first day I saw you all those years ago, I’ve chased after you for over eighty years. Won’t you give me a chance? If you say yes, I’ll pass all my skills to that charcoal girl.”
Dantai Qingjing completely ignored the old lecher and descended the mountain.
Sui Xiegu grimaced.
Deng Tai’a, several generations younger than the other two, teased, “Old Master, courting a woman isn’t like sword fighting. You can’t be so direct.”
Sui Xiegu glared. “You’re no different—a bachelor yourself! At my age, I’m still a bachelor too!”
Deng Tai’a laughed heartily. “May your words bring good fortune, old master.”
After the laughter faded, Deng Tai’a murmured, “Old Wu wasn’t such a stubborn old fool after all. He finally did something that made me feel good.”
Sui Xiegu nodded. “Ninety-nine swords from the tomb, plus my old blade, makes exactly a hundred. That should be more than enough to deal with the northern barbarians.”
Deng Tai’a hesitated slightly before adding, “If possible, maybe I should add one more sword. But by that time, the outcome may already be decided. Whether it’s a timely aid or a mere embellishment, it may not matter.”
Sui Xiegu roared with laughter. “Never mind the rest! When that time comes, the finest swords of all of Central China, plus those thirty thousand Beiliang blades—what a sight that will be!”
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