Chapter Ninety-Five: The Flood Dragon Aspect Diagram Complete! The Demon Fish Ranch!

On the other side.

"Hiss... you killed Perot?"

In the tavern, Bai Xuanji was dumbfounded, utterly staggered with shock!

He had thought that this seclusion breakthrough, reaching the Blood Refining level, was already a further step up the ladder, elevating him to the ranks of the strong upon the Eastern Sea, counted among the highest echelons of the Bai family.

Yet, the moment he emerged from seclusion, he heard that Bai Xuan had actually killed Perot?

Were he to face Perot himself, he would by no means be a match for that single startling sword stroke. Hearing this news now, his mind went blank, leaving only shock!

"I've heard the family talk about it—Perot was arrogant and overweening, venturing alone onto the island. Bai Xuan led the Swallowing Sea's crew in an ambush, using divine arm crossbows to shoot him down alive. He died with his eyes open, refusing to close them in peace!"

Beside him, Bai Tiannian sighed with deep emotion. "Thinking back, I once personally taught Bai Xuan the basics of the Azure Scale Art. Never would I have imagined that now, Bai Xuan could lie in wait and slay a half-step Grandmaster. It's simply..."

For a moment, he could find no words to describe Bai Xuan!

"A prodigy, an absolute prodigy."

The scar on Bai Yuanjiu's face flushed red as he clapped Bai Xuan on the shoulder repeatedly. "Simply unbeatable! When you become a Grandmaster in the future and take the reins of the Bai family, remember to promote me to commander of the Second Fleet. I want to taste the feeling of giving a single order and leading fifty or sixty great ships out to sea, cleaving through the waves!"

Just as the group was conversing—

"Did you hear? The Bai family's number one genius set an ambush at sea and killed the single startling sword stroke, Perot. Truly astonishing."

"Yes, though there have been no shortage of half-step Grandmasters slain in battle arrays, this is still the first Blood Refining expert the Thousand Mountain Army has ever cut down, isn't it? Not to mention that genius is said to be only sixteen years old. Truly, the waves of the Yangtze push forward, one wave overtaking the next."

Several martial artists, who appeared to have come from outer islands, were climbing upward, conversing in admiration.

"Your reputation has spread all the way to the outer islands!"

Bai Yuanjiu and the others all heard this, filled with envy and awe.

Yet Bai Xuan understood in his heart.

"Just as I expected—even revealing a sliver of my strength stirs enormous waves. Paper cannot wrap fire. Slaughtering foes across the sea, whether half-step Grandmasters or Grandmasters... all have reputations that travel far. One radish, one hole."

Bai Xuan was well aware.

"To conceal one's true strength, one must change names and alter identities. This Perot affair has revealed a portion of my capability; the rest must remain hidden."

"Fortunately, the crew aboard the Swallowing Sea are essentially all my trusted subordinates, so there's no fear of keeping it from them. But the Sea-Subduing Spear—I must not use it casually in front of outsiders on the island from now on."

Bai Xuan knew in his heart that the best choice was to forge another weapon. Different weapon, different stature, different appearance... few would ever suspect they were the same person!

"Even when I use my real name, I haven't wielded the spear much. Only the old sailors of the Kaiyang and the Swallowing Sea know of my cold-iron spear."

"Now that I study under Granduncle, the White-Browed Marquis, it's hardly strange to set aside the spear and take up the saber instead."

He settled the matter in his mind.

The Sea-Subduing Spear's power was too great. As Bai Xuan, he had never actually needed to use it constantly—there were simply no enemies worthy of his strike.

"Pity... if only there were a method to carry a weapon on one's person, shrinking it to hide within the palm. That would be ideal."

Bai Xuan was rather helpless.

Carrying the Sea-Subduing Spear about—that great spear... who wouldn't notice?

Soon.

A day passed in a blur.

That evening, Bai Xuan once again hosted a banquet for Bai Xiazhen. The young man was overjoyed now—among the entire Bai family, there were precious few who truly recognized Bai Xuan, and he was one of them.

"You have no idea, I've been bragging about you everywhere... Heh, my Brother Xuan is the Bai family's number one genius, ambushing and killing Perot at sea! Hundreds of crossbows loosed at once, and the man was shot into a sieve on the spot!"

Bai Xiazhen blew his trumpet loudly. "Pity my grandfather hasn't returned yet. He's out at sea with his ships, even busier than before. Our Thousand Mountain Army now trades with at least dozens of islands, and much strategic material requires Blood Refining experts to escort!"

"Strange as it is to say, the Weapon Forging Manor used to treat our Bai family with neither warmth nor coldness—acquaintances at best, purely commercial dealings. But now, for reasons unknown, they're as hot as fire. They've even given us a ten percent discount on orders! It's an age-old marvel!"

Bai Xiazhen was scratching his head over the matter.

How many families had the Weapon Forging Manor dealt with across the sea? How many had ever received such a steep discount?

But Bai Xuan understood in his heart.

"That Yin Dharma King knows which way the wind blows."

Though that Dharma King was comparatively weak in direct confrontation, his abilities in management and battle arrays were extraordinary.

Several more days passed in haste.

Perot's death spread across the sea—not only throughout Thousand Mountain Island, but to all the surrounding islands as well. The Thousand Mountain Army had dispatched a young captain with several hundred soldiers to ambush Perot, loosing crossbows in unison until he was shot dead alive!

Many with discerning minds received this news with doubt, but since Perot was dead and his fleet destroyed, in just over ten days, the master of these waters had changed.

The one who seized control of this sea region was none other than "Blazing Smoke Palm" Jiang Yuecheng and his fleet among the Black Bandits!

On a small island.

"Three pirate ships lie wrecked here, all crews massacred. And you're telling me... a young captain ambushed and killed Perot?"

Jiang Yuecheng stood at the prow of his flagship, gazing down at the three pirate ships sunk among the island's reefs.

That day, when Bai Xuan's thrown blade had pierced through his palm, he had fled back in terror—yet he realized the blade was Perot's own. Its distinctive form was unmistakable.

A thought struck him, and he led his fleet to those waters. Sure enough, they swept through the remnants of the enemy fleet and even razed their lair to the ground!

"How easy. The Bai family killed Perot, but the Thousand Mountain Army never got the chance to claim the territory—I cleaned out his home first."

Jiang Yuecheng was quite pleased.

But when he saw the scar on his palm, his heart tightened, and his expression turned gravely serious.

"A young captain? More likely the White-Browed Marquis, or Bai Yuannian, was aboard that ship."

Having experienced it himself, he naturally refused to believe... that Bai Xuan had done the deed.

Even if Bai Xuan was a peerless genius capable of killing Perot, that twin-river qi-blood could not be faked.

What kind of terrifying genius could possess the oppressive might of two qi-blood rivers at such an age?

Jiang Yuecheng had never even considered the possibility.

"The Star-Hunting Bandits have eaten a bitter loss this time—a Grandmaster went to sea and slew one of their affiliates, then the deed was pinned on a young captain leading ordinary sailors in an ambush... I suspect they'll want to settle the score."

Jiang Yuecheng shook his head.

"Even if Sea-Severing Abyss has subdued Ten Thousand Blade Manor on the far side of the Eastern Sea, there are still Grandmasters with dominion over these waters!"

...

Bai family, Martial Arts Hall.

Bai Xuan sat cross-legged in an unassuming corner, his eyes bright as twin lanterns, gazing upon the Four Seas Azure Sky Flood Dragon Chart.

"The shifting of clouds—so this is how it is."

In Bai Xuan's eyes, the sky and the ocean were reflected, then faded away, leaving only a faint azure hue lingering within—a moment of enlightenment dawning in his heart.

"Unlike the Tiger Chart, whether it be clouds or waves, they are all illusions—means of concealing the flood dragon's true form. This can only be understood when one comprehends the final juncture."

"The azure flood dragon's true transformation lies in 'the head is seen, but the tail is not'—only a scale here, a claw there, never the true form. When the dragon's tail appears, then it strikes with certainty of death!"

Bai Xuan grew ever more enlightened regarding the mysteries of the Four Seas Azure Sky Flood Dragon Chart. The qi-blood within him began to shift once more!

His mastery of the sea was complete, his celestial insight fully achieved—he had no need to deliberate or interpret. A single glance revealed all the subtle transformations of qi-blood as clearly as patterns in the palm of his hand!

...

Three days later.

Bai Xuan left the Martial Arts Hall, only to receive a piece of news.

"For meritorious service in the assassination of Perot, you are transferred to the Demon Fish Ranch, to serve as Ranch Master?"

Bai Xuan raised an eyebrow. "I may still need to take ships out to sea; I might not have the leisure to manage a ranch."

His Mystic Flower ability required him to hunt sea beasts out on the ocean to grow stronger, and his fisherman's path also advanced fastest while at sea.

"Captain Bai Xuan need not worry," the messenger said, eyes filled with envy. "The Ranch Master's duty is merely to inspect and command—visiting occasionally will suffice. The day-to-day affairs will be handled by those beneath you. This Demon Fish Ranch continuously produces demon fish; it's jointly managed by the four great families. The previous Ranch Master was none other than the Shark-Slaying Divine Sword, old Master Wang. I hear his mood was rather sour when he left."

"I understand."

Bai Xuan immediately grasped the situation.

This so-called Ranch Master position was undoubtedly an enormous plum—nothing much to do, yet one could collect a great quantity of demon fish and line one's own pockets!

"This must be a position Granduncle the White-Browed Marquis engineered for me, to help close the gap in my qi-blood."

Bai Xuan was deeply moved.

Had he not revealed his talent, could he have obtained such a lucrative post?

Even someone like Bai Xuanji, who had just broken through to the Blood Refining level, would never qualify. Only a Grandmaster like the White-Browed Marquis could settle such a matter with a single word!

"I will assume the post today."

Bai Xuan said.

Before heading out to sea, he would cultivate in this ranch. When his term ended, he could set sail then—it would not hinder him in the slightest.

"Yes!"

The messenger left in haste, sighing inwardly. "So young, and he's already obtained charge of the Demon Fish Ranch? Even for a genius, this is blatant favoritism—nay, outright seizure of power by force."

"That Shark-Slaying Divine Sword of the Wang family is said to be quite furious."

The next day.

"So this is the Demon Fish Ranch?"

Bai Xuan stood before a wide bay, surrounded by dozens of connected courtyards, with several hundred soldiers patrolling the area. Even the squad leaders among them possessed the strength of three qi-blood breakthroughs, their vital essence surging!

In the distance, upon the vast sea, several warships patrolled the far waters, guarding this bay with such impenetrable rigor that even a bird could scarcely fly in!

Then Bai Xuan saw it.

A great eagle circled in the sky, then suddenly dove, about to strike at the water below.

Two twangs sounded—bolts shot forth, bringing the great eagle tumbling down!

"Such tight vigilance... This is indeed one of the most important places on Thousand Mountain Island—the Demon Fish Ranch."

Expectation gleamed in Bai Xuan's eyes.

Within this Demon Fish Ranch were demon fish of pure flesh and blood, each one comparable to a deep-sea giant squid—extremely precious. If he could feast on them daily, the speed at which his qi-blood accumulated would multiply severalfold!

(End of Chapter)