Chapter Ninety-Six: Wang Cheng: Your Dragon Qi? No, It’s All Our Dragon Qi!

"What is this...?"

Yan Yunxiao, whose transformation within the cocoon of light was only halfway complete, had been struggling to withstand the immense suction of the Obedient Dragon Pearl. Suddenly, as a Nine Provinces Order Talisman and a "Dragon Scion" legal position merged into her body, she felt a wave of relief, and the rate at which her dragon essence was leaking plummeted.

Not only could she delay the loss of her own essence, but she could now intercept the dragon essence drawn from the East Sea eye by those great ship-captains, using it to replenish herself. Furthermore, this talisman, having perished and been reborn, was reshaping itself entirely according to her energy and destiny as it recovered, fitting her dragon form perfectly. It was indistinguishable from a talisman painstakingly cultivated by a true Dragon Scion, and it seamlessly spliced itself with the "Four Departments Restrictive Qi Talisman" she had originally acquired as a pearl diver.

"Little Cheng, what is going on? You haven't even officially taken the position of 'Courtier,' so how did you learn their signature trick of 'selling offices and trading titles'? I know the rules. I will give you whatever payment you want right now; if I have it, you can take it."

The situation was urgent, so Yan Yunxiao could only attribute this to the secret arts of a Courtier and thought no further.

Wang Cheng had originally intended to ask for a piece of her dragon molting, but since he had already secured a wish-granting promise earlier, he felt it would be a waste to ask for her intimate garments for what was essentially a fix for an unexpected emergency. Thus, he said:

"Consider this a joint venture between the two of us; the talisman is our shared asset. I provide the technique, you provide the platform, and we split the proceeds four to six."

Indeed, Wang Cheng planned to contribute his expertise to partner with Yunxiao in running a "thief company," siphoning off the dragon essence accumulated in the East Sea eye from the formation painstakingly built by the Nobleman and Pu Shouying. By intercepting and reverse-syphoning the flow, he would take a sixty percent cut of all the dragon essence harvested.

"Hmm? You want the larger share?"

Yunxiao arched her brows. Even between close kin, accounts must be settled clearly. Though she was sometimes naive, she was not unintelligent, and she felt an equal split would be more reasonable. To her surprise, Wang Cheng immediately denied it:

"No, I only want to set aside twenty percent for my old man. We each take forty percent, and let Old Wang take the remaining twenty to cover his deficits."

Only then did Yunxiao look at him deeply through the cocoon of light. Whether this "cheap brother" truly possessed the talent of gods and demons remained to be seen, but she was now starting to believe the message sent by the King of Jinghai: "My son's greatest strength is his commendable filial piety."

Even though they were taking forty percent each—the lion's share—and leaving only twenty for the old man, one had to remember that when Emperor Gaozu of Han became emperor, even his father, Liu Taigong, had to bow to his son. This was all the dragon essence accumulated in the East Sea over six or seven years; two percent, let alone twenty, would be enough to make even the most model father and son turn on each other with blades drawn.

With no further objections, she nodded and agreed: "Fine, let's do it!"

She immediately channeled the "Nine Provinces Order Talisman" within her to trigger the spiritual response of the "Decree" and issued an order to the dragon essence flowing through her and Wang Cheng:

"Decree: The North Sea is vast and hides the starlight, the energy vortex spirals to absorb the eight wildernesses. The Central Origin transforms into an ocean to contain the firmament, and the sea of energy creates a vortex to swirl around the North Star. All rivers return to the sea; greatness comes from capacity. Devour!"

The dragon essence being drawn from the East Sea eye and the King of Jinghai was suddenly intercepted in large part as it passed through them. Yunxiao had possessed fifth-rank cultivation before her reincarnation, and her dragon form was more than ten times the size of an ordinary person's; the force of her pull was far beyond anything Wang Cheng could compare to. Even stealing under the watchful eyes of a fourth-rank "Dragon Scion," she moved with ease.

This business was a perfect match of strengths, and it held great promise. Both were overjoyed, thinking in unison: *Haha, your dragon essence? No, it is all our dragon essence!*

*Thump... Thump...*

The sound of dragon roars echoed in their ears, an endless stream of essence continuously nourishing their destiny, fortune, talismans, and supernatural powers. Yunxiao’s transformation accelerated, the patterns on Wang Cheng’s "Dragon Robe" became more vivid, and his dragon-like features grew increasingly distinct.

Slowly, the Nobleman outside noticed something amiss.

He lowered his gaze to look at Pu Shouying, his voice chilling: "Captain Pu, what is happening? Why does this noble feel that the speed of the Nine Dragons Spitting Pearls has slowed down? This is more than a thirty percent drop, is it not?"

Pu Shouying, responsible for maintaining the formation, naturally sensed the anomaly. However, the Nine Dragons Spitting Pearls formation was something the Nobleman had unearthed from the Dragon Scion inheritance for him to set up; it was his first time using a grand formation of this scale. He had no idea how to troubleshoot the problem, nor did he know what would happen if two "Nine Provinces Order Talismans" appeared in the same formation.

But he soon discovered another issue.

"Nobleman, has the activity in the Dragon-Locking Well also diminished?"

After the formation was activated, the Dragon-Locking Well, the eye of the formation, had been flooded with dragon essence swarming in from all directions, filled with rolling brilliance and boundless light. That wasn't even accounting for the cocoon of light beneath the radiance, which was completely opaque from the outside. Yet, they could clearly hear that Lady Yan's wailing had stopped.

The two inside the well realized their oversight and hurriedly elbowed each other, faking strained, suppressed groans of agony. Just as the sounds were about to escape their lips, Wang Cheng suddenly realized: he was disguised with a living corpse's skin, and his identity as the son of the King of Jinghai had not yet been exposed. He didn't need to cry out just yet, so he swallowed the sound back and instead provided cover for Yan Yunxiao, filled with feigned grief:

"My Lady, are you alright? Wake up! Hold on!"

"Why is the part that already transformed reverting? Stop absorbing, stop absorbing!"

Neither the Nobleman nor Pu Shouying believed a word of the nonsense coming from the boy who had pitted them so miserably, but they could find no flaws in his performance. Moreover, since they were already deep within the formation, the dragon essence driving the feng shui was like a runaway carriage—there was no changing course now.

The Nobleman could only grit his teeth and order: "Captain Pu, increase the intensity!"

"Yes, as you command."

Pu Shouying also understood the principle that brute force could overcome any obstacle; if there was a malfunction he didn't understand, perhaps a little more power would fix it. The sunk costs the Pu family had invested in the Nobleman were too high; the advisor had no choice but to throw himself into the fray.

He pinched a seal, channeled the "Classic of Mountains and Seas: Dragon-Shaking Sutra," and used his own fifth-rank cultivation as a treasure-seeker to add a heavy weight to the Nobleman’s efforts.

*Woo... woo...*

The speed of drawing dragon essence from the East Sea eye suddenly surged. Wang Cheng and Yunxiao fed even more heartily, but this time they were cautious. They first actively cooperated with the formation's operation, restoring it to its full ten-tenths suction rate, and then controlled their interception of the dragon essence to five-tenths of the normal state.

"With us as middlemen skimming the profit, you're set for life."

They maintained a steady flow, letting just enough water reach the downstream "Obedient Dragon Pearl" to avoid provoking the Nobleman. If they built a dam so tight that they left no room at all, and ended up with a shocking result of "a friend within the sea, six-to-zero at the ends of the earth," their thin veil of pretense would be torn to shreds.

After repeated tug-of-war, time flew by. Both were making a fortune in silence, and Wang Cheng felt himself growing stronger with every passing moment.

In particular, one of the fundamental abilities of the Ocean-Crossing Star-Leading Art, "Dragon Transformation," showed the most significant change. The dragon robe wrapped around his body, suddenly expanding to ten feet, then twelve, thirteen, fifteen, before abruptly shrinking dozens of times over.

"Able to be large or small, short or long, soft or hard, yielding or firm. The body grows like a dragon, then shrinks like a vegetable snake. One who is soft and yielding is naturally flexible and spiritual!"

This art of transformation had already reached a high level of mastery.

Wang Cheng glanced at Yan Yunxiao coiled beside him. With an abundant supply of dragon essence to squander, he was convinced that one day he would be able to match her in size. Even in his movements and changes, there was the faint sound of wind and thunder. It was clear that the first level of the Ocean-Crossing Star-Leading Art had reached near-perfection after only two or three days of cultivation; his "Star Observation," "Dragon Transformation," and "Wind and Thunder" had all made significant strides.

Yunxiao’s gains were equally impressive. Receiving an unlimited supply of dragon essence originating from the same source as the "Divine Qi of the First Emperor of Han," her transformation into human form accelerated rapidly. Wang Cheng could vaguely see through the semi-transparent cocoon that another piece of silver dragon skin, no longer fitting, was gradually peeling away, and her true form had expanded significantly.

The entire dragon moved through the well, coiling around the central Dragon-Locking Pillar again and again, letting out pained roars. This was no longer a disguise; the pain of changing tendons and marrow, of altering one's very species, was beyond the imagination of outsiders—far more arduous than childbirth.

As time passed, her size gradually shrunk to that of an ordinary person. Her strip-like body developed the delicate, alluring curves of a woman, and her dragon claws elongated into the slender hands and feet of a young girl. Her long legs, in particular, looked—even just by their silhouette—to possess enough terrifying power to kick through a steel pillar.

The power of a dragon and elephant was no mere figure of speech.

Using the "Yin Transformation" method, she exhaled a breath, and the dragon skin she had just shed instantly turned into a gorgeous silver-white palace gown, undergarments, and embroidered shoes, which draped over Yan Yunxiao. With a spin, the cocoon of light vanished completely, revealing her to Wang Cheng.

The dragon lady, successfully transformed into human form, was like a bright moon fallen into the mortal world—ethereal, refined, poetic, and picturesque, enough to leave one intoxicated.

Wang Cheng’s breath hitched, and he remained lost in a daze for a long time. When he had ruthlessly killed Tang Miaofu earlier, he hadn't felt that he was wasting something precious, nor had he felt much of anything. But now, he had to admit:

"Just by looking at Yunxiao, it is obvious who is the righteous one and who is the villain."

A beauty's appearance might be diverse, and Tang Miaofu had indeed been a seductive creature, but in terms of pure temperament, compared to Yunxiao, it was like the difference between clouds and mud. One was a withered flower, a rotten fish, a public carriage; the other was flowing clouds and a bright moon. Wang Cheng felt that even comparing them was a desecration of Yan Yunxiao.

The only thing that spoiled the view was the iron chain still locked around her left ankle, adding a touch of pitiable vulnerability to her noble, ethereal air.

It wasn't until Yunxiao frowned and stamped her foot hard that the chain which had trapped her for over twenty years finally loosened with a *clatter* and fell to the ground. The Dragon-Locking Well, which could bind a dragon, no longer posed any obstacle to her.

Yunxiao looked up and exchanged a smile with Wang Cheng, who was the complete opposite, now possessing three parts of dragon-like features. She held up a fair, delicate thumb:

"Little Cheng, not bad. If you went into the rivers, lakes, and seas pretending to be a transformed dragon and 'cultivated' with those female demons, I doubt anyone would recognize you as a human. Just two words: Authentic! When you have time, sister will introduce you to a few female demons I’m familiar with. In Plum Blossom Lake, upstream on the Nine Dragons River, I know a transformed pond snail girl. She is particularly fertile, which would be perfect for the Wang family, which only has one heir per generation."

"Pond... snail? Let's skip that; I can't handle such a thing."

Wang Cheng was about to retort that she was as bad at giving compliments as ever, when he suddenly felt the "Craftsman's Silver" in his pocket stir again, far more violently and for a longer duration than ever before.

"My Craftsman's Silver is vibrating, which means there is ownerless incense merit nearby?"

The two looked up at the "Nine Dragons Spitting Pearls" formation above, and at another object that had been sucked in along with the dragon essence.

They shared a knowing look, their four eyes lighting up simultaneously.

"Now, even if 'breaking and entering' turns into 'armed robbery,' we don't have to worry about flipping the table."