Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 128: This Gift Is a Bit Much

“Uncle Ji, are you saying that Bai Qi of Chunmu River still has a chance to transform into a true dragon?”

Ying Ruoli was very concerned about this matter. Not only did her voice become louder, but her tone also became much more urgent. It wasn’t because Bai Qi was particularly important, but rather that the answer impacted her as well.

Ji Yuan looked at her, and could roughly understand the Dragon Daughter’s inner thoughts. Then, he spoke a sentence that the creatures that cultivated in this world had never come into contact with.

“The Great Dao has fifty, Heaven develops forty-nine, and humanity evades the one!”¹

Although Ji Yuan’s tone was plain, the literal meaning of his words were profound. Even through the Dragon Daughter felt that she couldn’t understand it, she nonetheless knew that “Uncle Ji” was definitely not spouting nonsense.

Ying Ruoli pondered for a while, and a vague feeling emerged. She raised her head and her bright gaze met Ji Yuan’s half-lidded eyes.

“Uncle Ji, do you think I can successfully transform into a true dragon in the future?”

Ji Yuan sighed in his heart. If she didn’t have confidence in herself, how could she possibly think about transform into a true dragon?

The Dragon Daughter didn’t seem to be very interested in the conversation up until now. It seemed that he still needed to show her some dignity as a so-called “uncle.”

As he faced Ying Ruoli with a lidded gaze, Ji Yuan’s eyes seemed almost lifeless, making the Dragon Daughter feel as if he was not looking at her current body at all, but rather at how she might transform into a true dragon.

“Although the old white flood dragon is very skilled in Taoism, he has twice failed to transform into a true dragon, and his scales and armor have fallen off as consequence. However, if given another chance, do you think he would dare attempt the transformation a third time?”

Ji Yuan’s question stumped Ying Ruoli. She subconsciously looked at Bai Qi, who was drinking alone in the corner of the hall. Although he appeared aloof, he could not hide his unwillingness and helplessness.

‘I’m certain he would!’

The Dragon Girl came to this conclusion in her mind even knowing that, if he truly were presented with a third chance and he still failed, the old white flood dragon would definitely end up dead.

“Haha, I think the River Goddess has already arrived at the answer in her heart. Then let me put it this way; apart from your cultivation level, the only thing holding you back from a true dragon transformation is your determination. If you have both, you are already half of the way to reaching the transformation state!”

The Dragon Daughter’s heart beat faster.

“Then what about the other half?”

Her question made Ji Yuan want to laugh or cry helplessly. She had a true dragon as a father, wasn’t this an undeniable advantage compared to other dragons?

But at this point, Ji Yuan had also understood what was going on. This dragon girl was likely truly afraid of dying, having her power reduced, or having her path to a true dragon transformation cut off. It might just be that her father was too powerful, and she had so many resources at her disposal, so the pressure was too great, and had been impacting her for too long.

It was very similar to some of the children of wealthy and powerful families in his previous life. They were obviously very talented, but no matter how hard they tried, they would always live in the shadow of their parents.

The expression on Ji Yuan’s face faded a little to something more natural. There seemed to be a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, and his tone was much softer than before.

“Ying Ruoli, it’s not easy to be the daughter of a true dragon, am I correct?”

It was possible that even the Dragon Daughter herself hadn’t realized this fact. Now that Ji Yuan pointed it out, she felt it resonate with her heart, and didn’t know how to answer him for a moment. She subconsciously looked at her father, only to find that the old true dragon seemed to be paying attention to the two of them as well.

“Haha, it’s inevitable that such heavy pressure leaves one out of breath…”

Ji Yuan suddenly remembered a trick he had learned from somewhere in his previous life, one that had nothing to do with Taoist scriptures or literary classics.

“Well, since you’ve been calling me ‘uncle’ so many times, I might as well teach you some things!”

With Ying Ruoli’s case, the issue was a problem with her mentality. No matter how much her acquaintances reassured her, it might be useless. Or perhaps, neither the Dragon Daughter nor the people around her had even noticed the issue. However, Ji Yuan noticed it now.

With an immortal sword by his side and a true dragon who had searched for him for three years, no one would think it unusual for a person with his impression to instruct someone.

Of course, Ji Yuan himself didn’t quite know that the Old Dragon had indeed been searching for him for over three years, so he didn’t even consider placing himself on such a high pedestal. All he wanted was to give the Dragon Daughter some psychological hints.

To use a more accurate description in terms of cultivation, it could be understood as a kind of “reflecting on the inner heart.”² Although Ji Yuan’s spiritual practice had not reached the level of being able to help others meditate on their inner heart, he still had the Edict technique’s sound, whose effect, in theory, would only be stronger.

At this moment, he could feel the turbulent energy in Ying Ruoli’s mind. Although he had never tried this technique before, Ji Yuan inexplicably felt that this timing was quite suitable.

“Let go of the barriers in your heart, close your eyes to find inner tranquility, and clear your mind!”

Ji Yuan’s voice carried a hint of Edict, imperceptible to others amid the noise and the music. However, it was extremely clear in the ears of the Dragon Girl. Her distracting thoughts were naturally swept away. She closed her eyes, and a bright light appeared in her mind.

Ji Yuan’s “identity” also made this easier. The fact that he was at her father’s side made the Dragon Daughter instinctively trust him. Otherwise, she would not be able to let go of the barriers in her heart.

“Look in front of you, look at the rice fields, lakes, rivers, mountains, cities… all the criss-crossing waterways…”

Ji Yuan knew that a cultivator’s immersion into their inner world was extremely rapid. As a River God, Ying Ruoli would not be any worse than his expectations. With the help of the sound of the Tao from the Edict, it seemed as if real mountains and rivers appeared in Ying Ruoli’s mind, and she had even become a Flood Dragon lurking in the water.

“You have cultivated for hundreds of years, all for this moment. Now, you have nearly achieved success. Heavy rain has been falling from the sky for over half a month. Ying Ruoli, now is the time to escape the flood. Why don’t you leave quickly?”

In Ying Ruoli’s mind, in her inner world, his words turned into reality. The water level around her continued to rise, and heavy rain and thunder crashed from the sky.

“No! There is a city ahead, I can’t go this way!”

The dragon girl subconsciously murmured, causing Ji Yuan’s eyes to light up. His which made Ji Yuan’s eyes lit up, and his spiritual eyes opened completely. His voice still contained a trace of the “Imperial Edict,” and a trace of mysterious yellow energy appeared.

“Since you already know what path to take, why don’t you move quickly?”

In her mind, Ying Ruoli could only feel that all of the scenery around her had become completely real. She could feel the strength of the wind, the temperature of the air, the rain, thunder, lighting, and the heavy impact of this torrential rain on the living beings around her.

Ji Yuan’s words, “move quickly,” seemed to ring out like thunder. Instead of heading towards the rivers and waterways beside the city, the flood dragon resolutely headed towards the towering mountains on the other side, following another set of waterways.

Under the induction of Ji Yuan’s qi, he seemed to be able to see what Ying Ruoli was seeing in her mind. Not even Ji Yuan expected that this kind of meditation would actually have such an effect.

At this moment, the flood dragon was moving inside her inner world, guided along by Ji Yuan’s murmurs and the sound of the Tao. The mountains in front of him seemed to replace the infinite pressure in the heart of the Dragon Daughter. There was the power and expectation of her true dragon father, the absence of her dragon mother, her own worries and depression, all coming together to make the mountains even more imposing. Compared to the mountains, her waterways seemed more like a small stream…

The young flood dragon wanted to back down several times, and even thought of changing her route, but every time she thought of it, the thunder in the sky seemed to grow louder, and the rain more fierce. The cities were already flooded, and countless creatures wailed.

If the flood dragon changed its course, countless creatures would drown. The exaggerated tragedy and the strong desire for life formed an aura that gathered in the sky, and even the Dragon Daughter could feel it intensely.

Crashing through the mountains was only slightly more difficult than transforming into a true dragon. It felt like a natural chasm of ability, but with this urgency added, the resentment of countless creatures struggling to survive seemed to far exceed even the Ying Ruoli’s own fear…

Things were getting out of Ji Yuan’s control. Perhaps it was because they had previously spoken of the white flood dragon’s miserable state, but Ying Ruoli had begun to put herself in Bai Qi’s situation. The young flood dragon was still moving through the water, gathering strength, but now there were no scales on its body.

Perhaps due to the effect of the sound of the Edict combined with the mysterious yellow energy, Ying Ruoli had suddenly changed her state of mind in response to a sudden deep obsession. Ji Yuan had a vague feeling that, if this Dragon Daughter failed in her inner world, her determination would be severely damaged.

If it weren’t for his extremely strong control over his expressions, Ji Yuan would have broken out in a cold sweat.

It wasn’t just his sense of responsibility, but also the fact that he was at his friend’s birthday party; not even a good friend would let him off lightly if he shattered his daughter’s mentality!

His expenditure of mysterious yellow Qi intensified as Ji Yuan made a desperate effort. Since she had put herself in Bai Qi’s shoes, she had to put herself in a desperate situation and survive!

In the inner world, the closer the scaleless young flood dragon grew to the mountains, the greater the fear in her heart.

“You dared attempt the true dragon transformation three times; you have already embraced the possibility of death. How can you be worthy of your hundreds of years of cultivation if you retreat in the face of battle? How can you be worthy of the pain of losing your scales? The critical moment of choice has long passed. Your determination and faith are those of a dragon; you can only move forward, and never retreat. If your determination wavers, so will your dragon body. Ying Ruoli, you neither cling to life, nor are you afraid of death. Destroy the mountain!”

In the inner world, the young flood dragon’s eyes shone a brilliant white. Red vapor rushed out from its nose. Dragon energy rose steadily as the waters rose and the flood rushed towards the mountain.

“Compared to the humiliation of a third failure in the true dragon transformation, death is nothing to fear!”

The sound of the Tao in the sky was like the rumbling of a bell, constantly echoing in her ears.

‘Why fear death? ’

The flood surged around the peak as the mountain was engulfed in thunder. The flood dragon rolled itself up in the flood and attacked.

Boom!

The indestructible black mountain in the inner world exploded with the force of the flood, opening up an enormous river channel running through the mountains. The dragon sailed across the river and straight into the sea.

Although in truth, transforming into a true dragon was not as simple as merely entering the sea, the symbolic aspect made it true in this inner world. The Dragon Daughter seemed to have succeeded.

. . .

“ROOAAAR!”

A faint dragon roar rang out from beside Ji Yuan. Even though the sound was too low to be heard, the power of a true dragon spread through the room, frightening the dancing beauties and the surrounding monsters to the point where their bodies stiffened and trembled.

Ying Ruoli had woken up from her trance. Although nothing seemed to have changed, she had gained the confidence that she would someday be able to transform into a true dragon.

“Uncle Ji…”

Ji Yuan supported himself with one hand on the table. On the surface, he looked fine, but in fact, he didn’t didn’t even have the strength to speak.

The Dragon Daughter’s movements had silenced the entire hall. Obviously, she couldn’t have gone crazy. The guests all began to speculate what had happened. Some of them had a strange feeling, but couldn’t explain it.

The whole process had seemed to take a very long time for Ying Ruoli, but in fact, to the outside world, the Dragon Daughter had just closed her eyes, Ji Yuan had spoken a few words, and it hadn’t even stirred up any attention… until the dragon aura spread through the room.

Old Dragon Ying Hong faced Ji Yuan, cupped his hands, and bowed solemnly.

“Mr. Ji, this gift is a bit much!”

The River God of Chunmu River in the corner of the hall had originally been paying attention to the Dragon Daughter. However, upon hearing the old dragon’s gratitude, he seemed to realize something, and looked at the cultivator next to her.

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T/n: Everyone give it up for JY, who is definitely never beating the “immortal mater” allegations anytime soon, for accidentally

JY: My old friend has a birthday banquet, I’m a little scared of monsters but I guess I’ll go

Monsters: *terrified*

JY: *eating happily*

JY: Hmm this lady needs some encouragement

JY: *accidentally helps the dragon lady break through like 3 cultivation barriers*

JY: Good job, me, great words of encouragement

Everyone else: …I refuse to believe this man is stupid, so he must be a genius

1. [1] 大道五十，[2] 天衍四九，[3] 人遁其一: saying from the Book of Changes. As with many Book of Changes quotes, there are TONS of interpretations, but here you go: 1) “The Great Dao has fifty” – symbolic number fifty represents the totality of all possibilities in the universe, 2) “Heaven develops forty-nine”: Heaven follows nearly all of these possibilities in the universe as a set of structured patterns, 3) “Humanity evades the one” – the concept of free will, that humanity has the potential to “evade” this final predetermined fate because Heaven is not the totality. My interpretation in this context is “heaven may work in predetermined ways, but there will always be a chance to change fate”
2. Lit: “knocking on the heart’s gate,” refers to a cultivation method focused on introspection/inner reflection