by Dragon King
“Grandpa…” Zhao Yanzi cried and was sadder than when she heard about Zhao Haoran’s death.
“Alright, don’t cry.” Hao Ren wiped off the tears at the edges of Zhao Yanzi’s eyes with his finger.
Zhao Yanzi sometimes wanted to prove that she was independent and not a child, but she was still not an adult.
“Wa…” Zhao Yanzi only cried harder. Hanging onto Hao Ren’s neck, she directly jumped into his arms.
Hao Ren was knocked back on the grasses, and Zhao Yanzi lied on Hao Ren’s body, taking it as her mattress to cry on.
Zhao Hongyu stood on the highway dozens of meters away from the lake. She had her back against the Porsche, and her eyes turned red when seeing Zhao Yanzi crying so hard.
“Wa…” Zhao Yanzi cried out all her emotions and finally wiped her tears. Then, she got up from Hao Ren’s body.
Hao Ren’s shirt was entirely ruined by her, and a few buttons were missing.
Little White jumped out from Hao Ren’s storage space and licked Zhao Yanzi’s wrist.
“Little White…” Zhao Yanzi hugged Little White tightly, and her tears slowly stopped.
She knew that Zhao Haoran was already 1,000 years old and would die one day, but she couldn’t help but feel sad when her grandpa passed away.
Hao Ren stood up and pulled up Zhao Yanzi from the grasses.
Zhao Yanzi wanted to get rid of Hao Ren’s arm instinctively, but she suddenly felt deeply dependent on him and in turn held on to his wrist.
When she was sad, only Hao Ren could comfort her. Hao Ren had too good of a relationship with Xie Yujia, which made her jealous. But on the other hand, Hao Ren cared about her as well.
When they returned to the highway, Zhao Hongyu was already in the car.
The red Porsche drove toward the gate of the mansion on the private highway.
Little White snuggled into Zhao Yanzi’s arms and gently licked her palm.
When the Porsche crossed the bridge on the Hudson River, Zhao Yanzi was already asleep.
“Auntie, there is one thing I’m not sure if I can ask. Zi… has she ever met her grandma?” From the back seat, Hao Ren asked Zhao Hongyu.
Hao Ren thought back to how close Zhao Yanzi was to his grandma, and he wondered, “Had she ever met her grandma?”
“Zi’s grandma passed away after giving birth to Zhao Kuo,” Zhao Hongyu said.
“Oh…” Hao Ren nodded slightly.
“In fact,” Zhao Hongyu paused for a few seconds and peeked at Zhao Yanzi through the rear-view mirror. After seeing that she was completely asleep, Zhao Hongyu continued, “The stronger the individual and the race, the harder it is to reproduce. That is a natural law.”
“What Auntie means is…” Hao Ren was a little confused.
“In a sense, dragons are a kind of demon beasts, but we are different from ordinary demon beasts. Dragons are born in the human form and have the cultivation treasures – dragon cores. The stronger the demon beasts, the harder it is for them to have offspring. For example, in the Demon Sea, one demon king may have dozens of demon queens, but he would be fortunate to have more than one kids. However, for those demon beasts that couldn’t transform into the human form, it is easier for them to reproduce,” Zhao Hongyu said while driving.
“Eh…” Hao Ren had some ideas now.
“Zi’s grandma spent all her energy in the process of giving birth to Zhao Kuo. This risk is hard for you to understand. The higher the realms of the parents, the greater the risk it is to reproduce. However, the benefit of that is the offspring would be much more talented and stronger.”
“For the dragon kings, to guarantee the strengths of the descendants, they always decide to reproduce when their powers are at the peak. Zi’s grandpa reached Qian-level when he was 700 years old, and then he decided to have children,” Zhao Hongyu said.
Hao Ren nodded. He looked at Zhao Yanzi who was asleep beside him and understood why Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu had her when they were almost 300 years old.
Zhao Hongyu took the risk of dying for Zhao Yanzi to have better talents.
“In fact… on whether I should give birth to a son, Zhao Guang had some disagreements with his dad, and it affected their father-son relationship,” Zhao Hongyu said calmly.
Hao Ren understood it.
For Zhao Kuan, due to loss of dragon essence, his descendants lost the chance of inheriting the East Ocean Dragon Clan. Zhao Kuo was determined to reach the Heavenly Dragon Realm and also decided not to have children so that the East Ocean Dragon Clan wouldn’t have a potential civil war when it came to the right of inheriting the throne.
Among the three brothers, only the elder son Zhao Guang could inherit the East Ocean Dragon Clan, and his descendants were the most suitable to become the next generation dragon king.
However, since Zhao Guang was worried about Zhao Hongyu’s safety and didn’t want to have another child, it separated the father and the son.
“Cultivation is inherently going against heaven’s will. My realm is not as high as Zi’s grandma, and it was already very dangerous when I gave birth to Zi. If I have another child, it’s hard to say whether I can keep my life.”
Zhao Hongyu slowly pulled over and turned to look at Hao Ren. “So, I hope you treat Zi well.”
Hao Ren looked at her and suddenly realized that they were already back at the center of New York City.
Zi was still asleep with Little White in her arms, and her lips glittered in pink.
“I know.” Hao Ren suddenly understood Zhao Hongyu’s request more deeply.
494 An Item of the Immortals??
When Zhao Hongyu found Zhao Kuan again, Zhao Kuan and Xie Ming were chatting happily in an outdoor café on Fifth Avenue.
Hao Zhonghua and Cheng Qian were talking about some latest development in technology. Zhao Kuan’s two sons wanted to speak with Xie Yujia about China, but Xie Yujia was reading an English magazine and had no intention of engaging in a conversation with them. Therefore, they didn’t bother Xie Yujia and instead talked about the NBA match with each other next week.
“What’s going on, who’s bullying you?” Zhao Kuan looked up and saw Zhao Yanzi’s red eyes.
“Cousin! Who’s bullying you; we’ll fight him for you!” Zhao Yanzi’s two cousins hurriedly stood up.
Zhao Yanzi was a few years younger, and her two cousins were protective over their cute cousin even though they didn’t see each other often.
“It’s nothing!” Zhao Yanzi rubbed her eyes and turned to look at Hao Ren.
Hao Ren was wearing a new shirt. It was bought in a nearby store when Zhao Hongyu was looking for Zhao Kuan.
Things sold on Fifth Avenue were expensive, and an ordinary shirt cost more than US$1,000. But Zhao Hongyu didn’t even flinch when she slid her credit card.
“Ren, why don’t you stay the night at our place,” Zhao Hongyu looked at Hao Ren and said.
Hao Ren looked to Zhao Yanzi who was pouting and didn’t speak.
“That is ok. I’ll stay at Uncle Xie’s place tonight,” Hao Ren said.
“You…” Zhao Yanzi tilted her head to the side and widened her eyes.
She thought, “I was heartbroken today, and I still haven’t recovered. I thought he would at least…”
“Haha, that’s fine. The return trip is tomorrow. Just like before, we’ll meet at the airport,” Zhao Hongyu didn’t force Hao Ren and said gently.
“Sure,” Hao Ren answered.
He was not familiar with Zhao Yanzi’s second uncle, so he didn’t want to spend the night over.
Xie Ming and Zhao Kuan were almost done chatting. The remaining details for their partnership would be discussed another day.
The two groups went separate ways, and Zhao Yanzi looked at Hao Ren with a wronged expression on her face. The few times that she cried her heart out were all in Hao Ren’s arms, so she developed an indescribable dependence on him.
Xie Ming was especially happy after chatting with Zhao Kuan, and he showe
d Hao Zhonghua around New York. With help from Mingri Group, his expansion plan in the U.S. would soon begin.
They went home and had a great farewell dinner. Xie Ming wanted Hao Zhonghua to stay longer, but he knew the latter was busy in China and coming to the U.S. for a reunion was already an achievement.
Xie Yujia was reluctant to let go of Hao Ren for a while, but she wanted Hao Ren to become more powerful. She didn’t need Hao Ren’s protection, but if Hao Ren became more powerful, he could protect himself better.
Considering this, Xie Yujia didn’t force him to stay. After all, it was an excellent opportunity to have a master guide his cultivation.
Xie Ming drank with Hao Zhonghua lamentingly, and the two drank until their ears were red. Xie Wanjun and his parents also joined, making the atmosphere even more turned up.
“Let’s go out for a walk!” Xie Yujia gently pulled Hao Ren’s arm.
“Eh…” Hao Ren was dragged outside by Xie Yujia.
The streets in this residential area were very quiet, and two-story houses of the same style were aligned in a straight line on either side of the roads.
Since it was close to the Independence Day in the U.S., many families had the U.S. flags on their balconies which were fluttering in the wind.
The two walked along the street in silence.
At the end of the residential street were the busy city streets. Hao Ren and Xie Yujia turned back as they walked in the night’s breeze, still not talking.
However, this silence was somehow heart-warming. Everything was said in silence.
When they went back to the house, Hao Zhonghua and the others were still drinking. Xie Yujia and Hao Ren went up to the second floor, and Hao Ren took Little White out of his necklace and put it by Xie Yujia’s hand.
“In the following month, Little White is yours to take care of.”
“Eh.” Xie Yujia took Little White between her arms.
Little White was struggling when it was held up by Hao Ren, but it immediately became tame in Xie Yujia’s arms.
“Many cultivators are requesting elixir pills on Fifth Heaven. Don’t work too hard and take care of your body first,” Hao Ren said.
“Ok.” Xie Yujia put Little White in her bracelet.
Her bracelet was modified by Zhen Congming as well. This jade bracelet was given to her by Old Grandma when they were at the trading convention on Fifth Heaven, and it was later turned into a storage space by Zhen Congming. Even though its storage size was incomparable to Hao Ren’s necklace, it was more than enough for Little White.
Hao Ren smiled and walked into his room.
Today, he got the jade slip Zhao Haoran left him, but he had not properly studied it. Worrying that his dad would come and check on him, Hao Ren didn’t plan on going to Fifth Heaven but instead stayed in his room.
After locking the door, Hao Ren sat on his bed and meditated quietly so that his body returned to its calmest state. Then, he gradually released his spiritual senses.
The Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll required the cultivation of all five elements and the control of tens of thousands of sword energies at once. Since it was extremely demanding on the spiritual senses, Hao Ren’s spiritual senses was a few times higher than cultivators in the same realm.
The spiritual senses slowly entered the jade slip, went through dozens of broken array formations, and accessed the core content.
This tiny jade slip contained dense characters and images. Through his spiritual senses, Hao Ren studied the jade slip and saw the content clearly little by little.
This Mystic Water Sword Techniques had no introduction and directly went to the techniques.
There were 32 sword techniques, and each of them had 18 variations. In sum, there were 576 strikes documented.
Hao Ren used to practice the fundamental boxing techniques of the East Ocean Dragon Palace. Compared with this Mystic Water Sword Technique, it was extremely crude and primitive.
Although the fundamental boxing techniques required the physical coordination with nature essence, it was far from any variations in this sword technique.
Hao Ren had helped Zhao Yanzi study the Big Dipper Constellation Scroll. That sword technique was also a cultivation technique. Zhao Yanzi could increase her realm by practicing the sword techniques.
One the seventh-level, Yaoguang, was achieved, she would have mastered this technique and become very powerful.
As for this Mystic Water Sword Technique, there was no mentioning of how to gather nature essence and how to increase realms. Everything was about sword strikes.
The variations were hundreds and thousands of times more ingenious than the ones in Zhao Yanzi’s Big Dipper Constellation Scroll!
Hao Ren concentrated on reading the first variation of the first sword technique. He deciphered the characters according to the images, and his hands moved and gestured in the air.
Hao Ren slowly practiced the movement of nature essence which was precise to acupoints, and he suddenly became exhausted.
His spiritual senses were entirely drained by the jade slip and got kicked out.
Hao Ren touched his chest and back and found that his whole body was drenched in sweat.
Reading the jade slip alone was more exhausting than practicing the fundamental boxing techniques dozens of times, not to mention practicing this sword technique!
It was completely silent outside. Hao Ren checked the time and realized that it was already midnight.
Zhao Hongyu was knowledgeable and knew that the techniques stored in these types of jade slips were incredibly precious. Therefore, she told Hao Ren to cultivate on his own and never mention it to others.
Azure Dragon handed the jade slip to Hao Ren in the mansion because it was a place where even the inspectors from the Dragon God Shrine couldn’t spy on.
It was said that treasures attracted misfortune. The jade slip Hao Ren got might catch the attention of the Dragon God Shrine.
In fact, there were some things about this jade slip that Azure Dragon didn’t mention in detail.
About 20 years ago, Zhao Haoran got this jade slip from somewhere by chance and decided to live in seclusion in the U.S., handing the East Ocean Dragon Clan to Zhao Guang.
This tiny jade slip was protected by dozens of array formations. Zhao Haoran felt that this was the last chance for him to break through to the Heavenly Dragon Realm, so he spent 20 years carefully disarming the array formations one by one.
The ingenious and complex sword techniques within made Zhao Haoran realized that this was an item of the immortals. It was probably from the Heavenly Realm which was above Eighth Heaven, and Zhao Haoran dedicated himself to studying it.
However, his spirit was limited. Breaking the array formations took him 20 years. By the time he studied half of the sword techniques, his body was already on the brink of collapsing.
At this time, there was news about the West Ocean Dragon Clan invading the East Ocean Dragon Clan, and Zhao Haoran decided to give up on studying the jade slip and fight for East Ocean Dragon Clan one last time.
He passed the jade slip to Hao Ren because he saw Hao Ren practice Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, which was a type of sword cultivation. Also, whether Hao Ren would come to his mansion or not was the ultimate test.
If he had known that he could obtain a set of immortal sword techniques in his old age, he would have switched to cultivating the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll after the war ended several hundred years ago.
He handed his dying wish to Hao Ren, which was also why he passed on his 1,000 years of cultivation strength to Hao Ren.
It was all about fate.
When Zhao Haoran saw Hao Ren, even though the latter was weak, he knew that the kid was trustworthy and righteous.
Loyalty, faith, righteousness, benevolence, and courage were the five virtues Zhao Haoran valued the most, and Hao Ren had them all!
Hua… Hua… The night wind blew outside, and Hao Ren got up to close the windows.
>
Suddenly, he thought of something and tried to practice the first variation of the first sword technique. He picked up a feather duster by the window and activated his nature essence.
Following one acupoint after another, the feather duster drew a bright arc.
Hao Ren turned slightly and gently flicked with his fingertip, and the feathers on the duster all stood up straight, looking sharp like blades.
Hao Ren wanted to turn once more but found himself unable to do so. This one move drained all his nature essence.
495 Special Training with Zi
Hao Ren’s arms were sore, so he put down the feather duster and took a long breath.
The Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll was used to tune the body by absorbing nature essence. By the same principle, it could also release nature essence and condense sword energies.
Sword array formation was an effective way of organizing sword energies that amplified their power, but Hao Ren’s only effective combat techniques against enemies in close-range were the fundamental boxing techniques and using his hundun lightning on his hands.
When fighting against a master like Zhao Kuo, there was no chance for him to use his sword array formation at all.
Zhao Kuo was very proficient in using tri-point double-edge swords. If he wanted, he could get someone to forge a tri-point double-edge sword for him that was as powerful as dharma treasures.
Then, he would be able to pressure Hao Ren and defeat him easily.
Human cultivators favored bombarding each other with dharma treasures, so Hao Ren’s Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll was sufficient for dealing with them. As for dragon cultivators, they were inclined to engage in close-range combat. For example, before Hao Ren could release a sword array formation, Su Han could already place her long sword on Hao Ren’s technique even though her sword technique wasn’t the best.
Hao Ren sat on his bedside and slowly restored his nature essence with the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll. The dragon core was like a reservoir; with more openings, its capacity grew bigger.
It was difficult to expand the reservoir, but it only needed time to fill it up again. Also, the process of continually draining and filling it up again would put pressure on the reservoir, making it grow in size and potentially get another opening in the dragon core.
