Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Knowing that he couldn’t hide it from Zhao Kuo, Hao Ren thought for a second then nodded. “It was left to me by the Old Dragon King.”
He looked to Zhao Kuo again and stated frankly, “Third Uncle, if you’re interested, you can have it.”
“What would I want it for!?” Zhao Kuo stared at Hao Ren and scolded, “The old man must have his reasons for leaving it to you and not me. Do you expect me to fight over something with a kid like you?”
“Uh…” Getting scolded by Zhao Kuo for being bold and generous, Hao Ren surely was at a loss for words.
On the other hand, even though Zhao Kuo had no particular intention in making such a remark, Hao Ren found meaning in it on his own.
Before, he did not think much of the whole situation. But upon hearing Zhao Kuo’s words, he felt that he had gained some insight.
“Perhaps these sword techniques have to be paired with Zhao Haoran’s 1,000-year cultivation strength?” he thought.
Zhao Hongyu had said that a technique that was stored in a jade slip wouldn’t be a simple technique. Yet, when Hao Ren practiced the sword techniques, he only found them to be mystic and nature essence-consuming. They weren’t that fierce…
“Maybe the potential of this set of sword techniques could really only be revealed when the practitioner is on the same level as Zhao Haoran?” Hao Ren thought, “If that is the case, then this would certainly be no ordinary technique, and the decision to transfer all of his power to me must have been carefully thought through and premeditated.”
Hao Ren felt touched when he realized how highly Zhao Haoran thought of him. He thought it was a pity that he had not officially become Zhao Haoran’s grandson-in-law, yet Zhao Haoran had already vanished from this world.
“What are you looking at? We’re heading back!” Seeing that Hao Ren was lost in his own thoughts, Zhao Kuo grabbed him by his clothes, soared into the sky, and headed back to the palace at once.
At this time, Zhao Guang, Zhao Hongyu, Zhao Yanzi, and some elders were having breakfast in the palace. Zhao Yanzi was eating silently as if she was immersed in her own thoughts.
“Zi, how are you doing with your preparations for Grade Nine?” Zhao Hongyu asked.
“Ah… oh…” It took Zhao Yanzi a few seconds to react. “I’ve gone through most of it.”
“Good,” Zhao Hongyu nodded her head approvingly. “There’s less than half of a month left before the start of your new school yet. If there’s anything that you don’t understand, make sure to ask Ren about it. You’ll be entering Grade Nine soon, and you can’t afford to lose focus.”
Recalling the incident from last night, a hint of unnoticeable glow appeared on Zhao Yanzi’s face, and she couldn’t help but protest. “Mom, why must I study so hard!?”
“Learning the common way of life is also a type of cultivation. If you can’t even be good at being a mortal, how can you be a good cultivator?” Zhao Hongyu asserted.
Pouting, Zhao Yanzi knew she could never win a debate against Zhao Hongyu and could only give up resisting.
“Big brother!” At this time, Zhao Kuo rushed in. “I’m leaving today!”
Since Zhao Kuo had a voice like a foghorn, Zhao Guang and the others who were focused on their meal had been rattled by his remark. With no regards to Hao Ren’s pride, Zhao Kuo dropped Hao Ren off as if he was a little chicken.
With a couple of grains of rice stuck to the corner of her lips, Zhao Yanzi looked away as soon as she noticed Hao Ren’s presence and pretended to be still angry.
Accompanying Zhao Hongyu for breakfast, Elder Xingyue looked to Zhao Kuo in surprise.
“Today?” Zhao Guang asked with a shred of doubt.
“Now!” Zhao Kuo nodded determinedly.
Zhao Guang knew that Zhao Kuo was destined to travel again since he had finished using the mystic crystal, but he didn’t expect Zhao Kuo to be so impatient.
He thought Zhao Kuo would at least stay for a few more days to spend some time with Elder Xingyue.
Since Elder Xingyue had to stay behind in East Ocean Dragon Palace to coach the female cultivators, there was no way she could leave with him.
“Let me… seeing you off.” Elder Xingyue said as she slowly got up.
“Thanks… Elder Xingyue.” Zhao Kuo responded as he briefly cupped his hands before his chest.
Standing by Zhao Kuo, even Hao Ren wanted to smack him in the head. However, after thinking about the distance between their respective realms, Hao Ren gave up on that idea.
Even Hao Ren couldn’t withstand Zhao Kuo’s timidity and cowardice toward his relationship with Elder Xingyue. However, Zhao Kuo’s pursuit had always been the Heavenly Dragon Realm, and a romantic relationship was just not his priority.
After blankly watching the two of them walk out of the palace, the people in the palace couldn’t help but let out faint sighs.
“Ren, come join us for breakfast.” Zhao Guang waved at Hao Ren.
“Sure…” After sitting down, Hao Ren picked up a bowl of rice and began devouring it instantaneously.
For the past month, he had never had a decent meal. He could only chew on small berries when he was hungry and drink rainwater when he was thirsty. Even though the palace was only a few hundred steps away from Purple Bamboo Forest, he never gave in to the arduous conditions and didn’t try to sneak into the palace.
Glaring at him, Zhao Yanzi was angry and anxious. Soon, she looked away and turned toward the door of the palace instead; she began to miss Zhao Kuo already. Since she was sad about Zhao Haoran’s death, she now felt truly alone with Zhao Kuo leaving.
Ever since Zhao Yanzi was a child, Zhao Kuo had always been spoiling her. As a result, Zhao Yanzi was very close and attached to him. Now that Zhao Kuo had left after only being back for a short while, Zhao Yanzi felt a little hollow.
Moments later, Elder Xingyue returned to the palace.
“Is he gone?” Zhao Guang asked.
“He’s gone,” Elder Xingyue replied calmly.
Zhao Guang nodded pitifully.
Hao Ren also secretly sighed. Zhao Kuo was a tough man after all, decisive and straightforward even when leaving.
Zhao Yanzi quickly got up and rushed out of the door. However, Zhao Kuo was nowhere to be found.
At Zhao Kuo’s speed, he was already thousands of kilometers away.
“Ren, you can tutor Zi on her schoolwork today. We’ll be heading back tomorrow,” Zhao Hongyu said.
“Ok, Auntie.” Hao Ren agreed with a nod of his head.
Since he also needed to go to Beijing to watch Zhao Jiayi’s basketball game, tomorrow would be a good time to leave.
With her pouty lips, Zhao Yanzi began counting the dates with her fingers; there were less than two weeks left of summer break. The best days she could have before starting Grade Nine were about to pass her by just like that.
With that being said, there would be a small surprise by the time school began, and it seemed like Hao Ren still didn’t know it yet.
After they finished breakfast, Zhao Guang went on to deal with the East Ocean Dragon Palace’s affairs with the help of Zhao Hongyu, and Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi went to their room to prepare for the upcoming school year.
With the ocean breezes blowing, the air in the room gave off a hint of saltiness unique to the ocean. In her shirt, Zhao Yanzi sat at her desk while facing the window. Her hair was dancing to the pleasant breeze, and the edges of her blouse swayed along softly.
It was a very comfortable environment for their tutoring session.
Hao Ren had already read all the books, and it would take him almost an entire day to help Zhao Yanzi go through them once.
After dinner, Hao Ren went out to the beach to carry out his cultivation. Cultivating in the morning and at night had become part of his routine.
Now that Zhao Kuo was no longer on the island, Hao Ren actually felt a little lonely since he had one fewer opponent to practice with.
“The Heavenly Dragon Realm…” Hao Ren looked up to the white clouds above him.
The only reason Hao Ren was trying incessantly to enhance his ability was so that he could be able to protect those close to him. But for Zhao Kuo, all that he was after was achieving the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
At this point, cultivating the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll was slightly dull for Hao Ren. Standing on the beach with his feet half a step apart, Hao Ren began practicing the Mystic Water Sword Techniques instead. Since this was a set of sword techniques so strong that it could even injure Zhao Kuo, it was a lot more profound than the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll.
The spiritual core that contained Zhao Haoran’s 1,000-year cultivation strength was still slowly turning in Hao Ren’s Qihai Acupoint. Streaks of incredibly profound energy firmly surrounded the spiritual core, preventing the nature essence from leaking out.
Hao Ren began using his hundun nature essence and meticulously pulled on the shred of mystic energy that was not under his control until the spiritual core started to show a tear.
Boom… The nature essence of peak Qian-level gushed out at once. Instantly, the feeling of an explosion rushed through the meridians in Hao Ren’s entire body.
Qingling, Shaohai, Daling, Laogong… The nature essence rushed through these acupoints.
Hao Ren immediately began performing the numerous variations of the first sword technique in the Mystic Water Sword Techniques.
A sword condensed from sword energies appeared in Hao Ren’s hand.
He briskly glided forward over a thousand meters and pointed the tip of the sword toward the ocean waves.
After living on the Purple Bamboo Island for a month, he knew where all the generals and soldiers were stationed and made sure never to disturb them when he was practicing.
Shoo, shoo, shoo… Bursts of nature essence flowed out from the meridians on Hao Ren’s arms.
As the tip of the sword touched the surface of the ocean, no change was seen.
Just when Hao Ren started to suspect that something had gone wrong, a portion of the ocean surface collapsed.
Hao Ren’s sword technique created an immeasurable crater in the ocean that was a few thousand meters deep!
The few dozens nearby military campsites of East Ocean that were at the bottom of the ocean were destroyed by this!
Due to the strong repulsive force, Hao Ren was sent flying into the sky.
He quickly released two sword energies and steadied himself.
“Blech…” Hao Ren spat out a mouthful of blood abruptly and felt as if his internal organs were about to explode as well.
It was certainly no joke trying to use Zhao Haoran’s Qian-level power.
Tens of thousands of soldiers of East Ocean, including the guards of Summer Palace, quickly rushed over to check one after another.
“It’s alright, it’s alright! It was just me trying to practice a technique!” Since Hao Ren did not expect it to cause such a situation, he could only quickly use his nature essence and announce as loud as he could.
The generals and soldiers looked to Hao Ren in disbelief. They were deeply shocked and couldn’t help but admire Hao Ren at the same time.
After all, even their former Commanding General, Zhao Kuo, might not be able to exert such power that shook the entire ocean.
When he finished the announcement, another mouthful of blood gushed out along the corner of his mouth.
He was only curious to see the effect of using this set of sword techniques with Zhao Haoran’s power. Unfortunately, he found that he was unable to withstand Zhao Haoran’s immense power after all.
Right away, those streaks of mystic energy quickly sealed up Zhao Haoran’s 1,000-year cultivation strength. Now, Hao Ren’s meridians were severely damaged; he might vomit blood for two days. If he were to keep this up, it could cost him his life.
Even Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Guang had come out to examine the situation. With the sky shaking and the earth rocking, they thought that Purple Bamboo Island was about to collapse.
“This is the true power of a peak Qian-level cultivator…” Hao Ren now had a better idea of the gap between the levels and did not dare to use Zhao Haoran’s power again carelessly. He returned to the palace hastily, took a cold shower, and went back to Zhao Yanzi’s room.
Huddling under her blanket, Zhao Yanzi saw Hao Ren walk in and immediately began to blush. She turned her back toward him and thought, “What did this jerk go out for? He is making me wait so long…”
Supporting his slightly dizzy head, Hao Ren crawled onto the bed while putting one arm on Zhao Yanzi’s shoulder and the other around her waist, resting his hands on hers.
Zhao Yanzi’s heart was beating quickly. However, Hao Ren remained in this position for several minutes without any further advances. Shortly, Zhao Yanzi ran out of patience and turned around to face Hao Ren.
“What a jerk…” With his lips against the silky skin of Zhao Yanzi’s shoulder, Hao Ren had fallen asleep once again!
For the rest of the night, Hao Ren was completely exhausted and had fallen into a sleepy stupor. He felt as if he was on an expedition in the vast universe; he was bumping into small planets and comets, one after another…
Although the Light Splitting Shadow Sword Scroll had been naturally healing and restoring Hao Ren’s meridians, he woke up to find his hands, cheeks, neck, shoulders, and even his chest… covered in bite marks!
Yet, Zhao Yanzi was sleeping sweet and sound in his arms.
