Dragon Tamer

Pu Shiming glanced at them, nodded, and headed outside the inn, towards the place where the River Immortal Ghost that Zhu Minglang had killed appeared.

Zhu Xuehen moved to the other side of the inn and stood under a large camphor tree. She stood in front of the tree with her back to Zhu Minglang, her coiled hair and the collar of her dress exposing her snowy white neck.

Zhu Minglang saw that she wasn’t speaking and remained silent himself.

It had always been like this over the years; Zhu Xuehen wasn’t particularly talkative. Sometimes she would just leave behind a Sword Score without a word, and Zhu Minglang would know he had to recite it in its entirety.

Zhu Minglang had always called Zhu Xuehen an elder, but more often, she seemed like an ice-cold and proud older sister. She wasn’t much older than he was. After joining Miao Mountain Sword Sect, Zhu Minglang was thrown by Elder Sword Sovereign into the Abandoned Sword Forest to live with Zhu Xuehen.

Usually, Elder Sword Sovereign was rarely seen, and it was Zhu Xuehen who more often taught Zhu Minglang swordsmanship. So to outsiders, Zhu Xuehen seemed more like Zhu Minglang’s master.

The wind was strong, after all it was winter, and the branches of the camphor tree swayed, producing sounds like an old man’s pained moans.

Zhu Xuehen turned around, as usual, without any pleasantries, she got straight to the point, “Where is the woman who was with you?”

“Which lady are you referring to, Aunt?” asked Zhu Minglang, puzzled.

“The one I saw in the Ancestral Dragon City-State,” Zhu Xuehen said.

“Nan Lingsha?” Zhu Minglang replied.

“Do you know what their identities are?” Zhu Xuehen pressed on.

“They are from the Li Family of the Nan Clan of the Ancestral Dragon City-State; isn’t that quite obvious?” Zhu Minglang was in turn baffled.

“Li Chuan is not an isolated land; its surroundings are filled with various strange forbidden lands. Some of these forbidden lands are more terrifying than many ancient temples in the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent. It is lost territory from some continent, and at least it is not part of the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent,” Zhu Xuehen said seriously.

“The world is both splitting and adjoining. I too have had such speculations,” Zhu Minglang nodded in agreement.

“The Imperial City has already grasped some crucial clues. If nothing goes wrong, their other identities will soon be noticed,” continued Zhu Xuehen.

“What identity?” Zhu Minglang inquired, not understanding.

“Outsiders.”

“Every resident of Li Chuan Continent, for the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent, aren’t they all outsiders? Or rather, to the people of the Li Chuan Continent, isn’t everyone from the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent an outsider as well?” Zhu Minglang stated.

Two continents, originally not intending to connect, were now adjoined to each other; to one another, they were all people from beyond their own worlds.

Zhu Minglang didn’t feel that this identity was particularly noteworthy; after all, the world was boundless and there were still many unexplored places. The Supreme Court Courtyard Continent might as well be considered small and backward from the perspective of another world.

“What do you think my cultivation base is now?” Zhu Xuehen suddenly asked.

This question truly stumped Zhu Minglang.

Zhu Xuehen’s cultivation base was particularly strange.

When Zhu Minglang was at Miao Mountain Sword Sect, he could be called a sword cultivator prodigy, his rate of cultivation progression surprised all the masters and was considered heavenly.

There was no one else around Zhu Minglang at the time, so he always used Zhu Xuehen as a benchmark, aiming to surpass her one day.

However, each time he ascended to a new realm, Zhu Minglang felt as though Zhu Xuehen’s cultivation base had also climbed to a new level.

It was the same now.

Being almost a King-level Dragon Shepherd himself with far greater insights than ordinary cultivators, when he looked again at Zhu Xuehen’s cultivation, she had indeed progressed…

Of course, this wasn’t all that strange.

After all, it’s impossible for one to be the only person making progress in this world.

For Zhu Xuehen to reach King-level was only a matter of time.

“King-level,” Zhu Minglang said aloud.

“Then, how many people in this world do you think could defeat me?” Zhu Xuehen continued to ask.

“This… Aunt, although being at the King Level is very impressive, to my knowledge, all the big Sects and Family Doors have some old monsters who are King-level strongmen. Looking over the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent, there should also be no shortage of people with King Level cultivation base. Moreover, Aunt should be at the King Level preliminary or lower tier, so facing those in the middle and peak levels, it would probably be very difficult,” Zhu Minglang very sincerely said.

“Thousands of people can defeat me, but within a maximum of three years, there will be less than ten people who can,” Zhu Xuehen gave Zhu Minglang an extremely confident answer.

Zhu Minglang looked at his young and aloof aunt, feeling waves churning in his heart.

She truly was his master.

This arrogance was exactly the same!

“I believe Aunt can do it,” Zhu Minglang nodded.

“They can do it too,” at this moment, Zhu Xuehen’s tone suddenly changed.

“They?” Zhu Minglang was slightly stunned.

“Li Yunzi, Nan Lingsha.” Zhu Xuehen stated their names and continued indifferently, “Some talents are innate; they are the same kind of people as me, but they are also very dangerous.”

“Why are you telling me all this, Aunt? What exactly do you want me to do?” Zhu Minglang became even more confused.

The identities of the Sisters Li Nan were something Zhu Minglang roughly knew about; they were descendants of the Divine Consorts and likely belonged to one of the oldest families with significant potential for cultivation, blessed with exceptional talent and possessing an ancestral inheritance…

But Zhu Xuehen suddenly saying she was the same kind of person as them made Zhu Minglang even more puzzled.

Could it be that Zhu Xuehen was also a descendant of the Divine Consorts, one of the earliest founders of the Dragon Shepherd, or someone who had divine revelations to become a God and Mortal?

Their exceptional talents and superior bloodline meant they could improve their cultivation base much faster than anyone else??

“Stay away from them.”

After saying those words, Zhu Xuehen didn’t say much else and walked along the path towards the river.

“So Aunt, the way you always act like a stranger to me, is it also because of this reason?” Zhu Minglang asked.

“Yes,” Zhu Xuehen responded.

“Well, that’s a relief. I thought I had completely disappointed you.”

“Disappointed indeed. I hope one day you can see my true cultivation base, and then you will be qualified to hear some words,” she said.

Zhu Minglang watched Zhu Xuehen’s retreating figure.

So proud!

If one didn’t know any better, they might think there was a blood feud between them.

At the very least, they used to be family members who lived and worked together closely.

But what exactly did Zhu Xuehen tell him?

That they are the same kind of people??

What kind of people??

Do they possess a legacy that is beyond this world’s understanding and shoulder a grand mission, not wanting to burden him?

Or are they heavenly beings who descended to experience life but must not harbor any sentiment for mortals, bound to return to the Heavenly Court when the time comes?

If it’s the latter, Zhu Minglang could understand why Zhu Xuehen seemed to want to completely sever ties with him once and for all.

But Zhu Minglang felt that Zhu Xuehen was also not quite at ease with his decision to abandon sword cultivation.

Indeed, he had let her down, for with her character, she would not whimsically teach a disciple.