Above the Great Dao
Chapter 199 - 109: Please Enter the Urn_2

Chapter 199: Chapter 109: Please Enter the Urn_2

"Is that Uncle Shangshan?"

A few people exchanged glances, stepped out of the crowd, and whispered, "It wasn’t easy for Uncle to raise this Jiao Long. He had always fed it the best meat, the finest spirit pills, and the choicest herbs. It ate even better than we do. Uncle would be devastated to know that Shangshan died here!"

"How did Uncle Shangshan die?"

Yan Shuo said, "It’s a Jiao Long, with formidable strength. Even those in the Nascent Soul Realm couldn’t subdue it. How could it be beheaded and killed by someone?"

The crowd’s faces turned grave; the strength to decapitate a dragon with one stroke incited fear!

They asked around and soon gathered some peculiar information, riding their horses to the stone arch bridge in Bridge Bay Town.

Yan Fang, disregarding the shock it might cause, flew under the bridge, clamped the hilt of the sword with his mouth, and dismounted the Dragon Slayer Sword.

Most townspeople weren’t around—the majority had gone down to bury the body, and no one questioned them.

The group examined the copper sword. It was ancient-looking, likely from the Qin or Han dynasty, a style seldom used nowadays.

The sword was sharpened, bearing unique patterns left by cinnabar and black dog blood, seeping into the copper blade.

Testing the blade, Yan Fang found it was soft—hard to imagine how this copper sword could have slain the massive Jiao like Shangshan!

"A nearby person said that a Talisman Master named Chen Shi forged the sword, creating a copper sword with just a hundred coins, hung it on the bridge, and killed Uncle Shangshan!"

Yan Shuo swallowed, moistened his dry throat, and said, "Is this Chen Shi the same one we just met?"

Yan Rong frowned and said, "I’ve heard about the method to forge Dragon Slayer Swords; it requires a hundred coins. These coins, passed through countless hands, gain the Yang energy of the populace, naturally becoming treasures against evil. Gathering these coins to forge them into a sword, augmented with Taoist secret scripts, can slay Jiao Long. It’s said that during the Tang dynasty, Taoists frequently hung Dragon Slayer Swords at key river locations by imperial and local military commands since Dragon Kings were anointed in various regions, to prevent them from colluding or causing trouble elsewhere. But it has been many years since the Tang dynasty, and the method to forge such swords has long been lost!"

He paused and said, "It’s not that Chen Shi is formidable, but the Dragon Slayer Sword is. Any Talisman Master who knows the method can forge this treasure. It was mostly likely taught to Chen Shi by Chen Yindou, tragically leading to the death of Uncle Shangshan."

Yan Qing hurriedly said, "Brother Yan Rong, Chen Shi used the Dragon Slayer Sword to kill Uncle Shangshan; this feud—"

Hesitating, Yan Rong replied, "We can’t just let this go. But first, we should return to Lei County, report this to Uncle, and let him decide."

The group agreed, mounted their horses, and headed straight for Lei County.

Yan Qing suddenly said, "We encountered Chen Shi at the cemetery; he seemed to be heading for Lei County too. Maybe we’ll see him there."

Chen Shi, carrying a Black Pot, followed the traces of the flood upstream and soon arrived at Lei County.

Lei County, situated by the river, backed by a vast quarry, which led to the even larger Gangjin Mountain range beyond—much bigger than Qianyang Mountain range but with round, not-so-tall mountains not as densely packed as Qianyang. Numerous lakes dotted the space between the mountains, with De River flowing through them, connecting one lake to another.

Gold mining thrived here; the quarry was initially established when gold was discovered and gold miners were often seen by the lakes and De River, wearing straw hats to block the sun.

Walking to the outskirts of town, Chen Shi saw two gold miners fighting; one used the Meridian Evil-Slaying Sword to chop off the other’s head, then snatched the gold the victim had sifted and stuffed it into his own pocket.

"Kid, you didn’t see anything!"

The gold miner, noticing Chen Shi, revealed a threatening glare and was about to kill when he realized Chen Shi was just a boy. He decided against it, adjusted the brim of his straw hat, and quickly walked away.

Chen Shi approached the dead gold miner, glanced, waved a Sword Qi that slashed the ground, lifting a mass of earth and stones to bury the body before continuing on.

Shortly afterward, he entered Lei County town with his Black Pot.

Unlike Xinxiang County, where many traders sold mountain goods, often men from rural areas traversing the mountains to the county, here, one could mainly see bustling gold miners, often in hemp jackets, shiny with grease, unwashed for who knows how long.

The miners’ skin, too, glistened shiny dark red from sun exposure, muscular and robust.

Chen Shi settled in a tea house and asked the Tea Doctor for information.

The Tea Doctor laughed and said, "These gold miners are mostly scholars; some even have titles like Scholar, but even being a Scholar, what good does it do if they can’t find work? They just shed their Scholar robes, don short jackets, and go gold panning."

He poured tea and continued, "Don’t be fooled by their rough appearance—they can recite essays and write lengthy treaties with ease, masters of letters."

Chen Shi nodded lightly and said, "In our county, does anyone keep a dragon? I hunted a Spiritual Beast in the mountain and want to sell it for some money."

"Raising a dragon? Only County Magistrate Yan keeps a Jiao Long," Doctor Ma said. "Their Jiao Long is exceptionally large, eats a lot, often comes to the market to buy Spiritual Beast Meat. You can even hear the dragon roar at midnight, similar to a cow’s moo, but magnified dozens of times, shaking your chest with its resonance!"

Chen Shi sipped his tea, found it unpalatable, and asked Doctor Ma for a plate of fruits and jerky. He fed the jerky to Black Pot and ate the fruits himself.

After finishing the fruits, he had also learned who the County Magistrate was, what was his cultivation level, where he lived, and who was in his family.

Chen Shi paid for his meal and stood up to leave.

As Doctor Ma cleaned the table, he said to the Shopkeeper, "Enemies have come for County Magistrate Yan’s family. That young man who just left was most likely here for revenge. He asked very detailed questions, even about how many people were in the household."

The Shopkeeper asked, "You told him?"

"I did." ƒrēeNovelFire.com

The Shopkeeper stomped his foot and said, "You’ve endangered someone again! That young man, seeking revenge, will hardly be a match. He’ll surely end up feeding Magistrate Yan’s Jiao Long!"

He chased out of the tea house but saw that Chen Shi and Black Pot had already disappeared into the crowd. He returned to the tea house, grim-faced, and glared furiously at Doctor Ma.

Doctor Ma felt wronged and dared not talk back.

Chen Shi arrived outside the County Government Office, surveyed its layout, and circled around, his gaze landed on the Ten Thousand Soul Banner floating midair.

The Ten Thousand Soul Banner of Xinxiang County had over eight thousand resentful spirits in it, not yet forged into a complete banner.

However, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner in this county was already complete, harboring far more than ten thousand souls!

This treasure had enormous power. Chen Shi assessed that he could not withstand the might of this artifact.

He approached the exterior of the Xuanwu Pavilion, a manor with a pavilion built atop an artificial hill resembling a turtle and snake, hence its name, Xuanwu Pavilion.

This place was where the Yan Family in Xinxiang Province trained their children. Yan Jingsi, being busy with official duties, would usually come to the Xuanwu Pavilion after work to teach the Yan family’s children.

After observing for a while, Chen Shi noticed not many Yan family children came and went; only five, but their cultivation levels were strong, four of whom had achieved Golden Core.

"County Magistrate Yan Jingsi is indeed skilled at teaching," Doctor Ma had said. "When he came to this county, he was already in the Nascent Soul Realm, and after arriving, he performed multiple Nascent Soul Emergences, becoming saintly and radiating divine light. This man, unbeatable."

He thought for a bit and then said to Black Pot, "There are many masters in Xuanwu Pavilion, and it’s heavily guarded. I cannot enter. I’ll do what I can, but I am incapable of confronting Yan Jingsi."

Both Yan Jingsi and the Ten Thousand Soul Banner were exceedingly fierce.

The gap was too large; even if Chen Shi had advanced to Golden Core Second Rank, a mere touch from the other side could take his life!

Chen Shi turned to leave when suddenly a loud laugh rang out. "What a small world! Brother Chen Shi, we meet again!"

Chen Shi looked over and saw Yan Rong, Yan Fang, and others dismounting their horses, approaching him with laughter.

"Brother Chen, since you’ve come to our Xuanwu Pavilion, you can’t just arrive elated and leave disheartened."

Yan Rong extended his hand invitingly, smiling, "May I have the honor of your presence inside the Xuanwu Pavilion?"

Chen Shi paused slightly, wasn’t this a way to enter Xuanwu Pavilion?

He nodded slightly and said, "I’ll be intruding, then."

Yan Rong, beaming, led the way in front and chuckled, "Someone alert the County Viceroy, tell him Chen Shi of Xinxiang County has visited and is already at Xuanwu Pavilion! Brother Chen, you must stay and enjoy a family banquet of the Yan family. The County Viceroy is my uncle, and he has been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."

He gave Chen Shi a meaningful look.

Chen Shi blinked. "Is Yan Jingsi coming?"

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