Chapter 450: The Power of Authority, Xiao Qiu Shui's Master Banquet!

Chapter 450: The Power of Authority, Xiao Qiu Shui's Master Banquet!

Under the cover of night, Jiang Ning quietly returned to his courtyard, having been away from home for a long time. The only one to greet him was a red carp leaping out of the lake, shimmering with a golden-red glow under the cold moonlight.

With a splash, the fish fell back into the lake, shattering the mirror-like surface and creating ripples that spread, revealing countless silver scales.

"Linglong, come here!" Jiang Ning called out, gazing at the broken lake surface. His voice penetrated the water.

In the next moment, a rainbow-like figure broke through the water's surface, tracing a perfect parabola in the air before landing in Jiang Ning's outstretched left palm.

Even though Linglong had over a hundred years of cultivation, her size remained palm-sized, no different from an ordinary fish. She blinked her protruding fish eyes at Jiang Ning and slowly blew a bubble from her mouth.

"I have something good for you!" Jiang Ning smiled.

He extended his right-hand finger and popped the bubble Linglong had blown. Instantly, fresh red blood oozed from his fingertip.

This divine lineage affiliate, empowered by this authority, had undergone a transformation, and Jiang Ning decided to use Linglong as an experiment.

The next moment, Linglong began to suckle the crimson blood from his fingertip.

After a while, Jiang Ning withdrew his finger.

"Go and digest it, and tell me tomorrow how the effect compares to before." As his words fell, Jiang Ning tossed Linglong back into the pond.

With a plop, Linglong disappeared into the lake, leaving behind ripples. Jiang Ning then returned to sleep.

The next day, as dawn broke, Jiang Ning opened the door.

"Young Master!"

Green Ripple, who was scattering fish food in the courtyard, turned at the sound of his voice and saw Jiang Ning. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jiang Ning smiled.

"I didn't expect you to return so suddenly!" Green Ripple exclaimed, her face filled with joy.

Jiang Ning smiled and asked, "Have there been any events at home during this time?"

"Yes!" Green Ripple nodded emphatically.

"There are two letters for you," she said.

"Two letters?" Jiang Ning was slightly surprised.

"Yes!" Green Ripple nodded.

"Let me see them!" Jiang Ning said.

"Okay!" Green Ripple replied, placing the plate of fish food on a stone pillar by the lake and quickly walking away.

Watching Green Ripple's departing figure, a faint smile appeared on Jiang Ning's face. Returning home made him feel comfortable and relaxed.

His gaze then turned to the lake, where the fish were fighting for the food Green Ripple had scattered, creating splashes.

At Jiang Ning's call, a rainbow-like figure appeared on the lake's surface—Linglong.

"How is it?" Jiang Ning asked at the lake's railing.

As he spoke, he casually grabbed a handful of fish food and tossed it into the lake. The ornamental fish in the lake required regular feeding, as the natural food in this man-made lake was insufficient to sustain them.

"Master, my cultivation has now reached one hundred and fifty years!" Linglong's crisp voice echoed across the lake.

"One hundred and fifty years?" Jiang Ning's eyes flashed with surprise, and he asked, "How many years did you gain last night?"

"About eleven years!" Linglong replied.

Eleven years! Hearing this answer, Jiang Ning's eyes flashed with surprise once more.

The previous night, relying on his perception, he had fed Linglong about two hundred milliliters of blood, which, after rounding off, resulted in a ten-year increase in her cultivation.

According to his understanding, the human body contains about three thousand five hundred to six thousand milliliters of blood. Taking the middle value, it would be around five thousand milliliters.

If he were to draw out all this blood at once and feed it to Linglong, it would give her two hundred and fifty years of cultivation, allowing her to become a so-called Great Demon.

Drawing it out four times, assuming the effect didn't diminish, would grant Linglong a thousand years of cultivation.

With this realization, Jiang Ning couldn't help but marvel. The comparison made him even more aware of the incredible potency of his blood.

An idea suddenly popped into his mind: What effect would it have if he fed himself his own blood?

But as soon as this thought arose, he dismissed it. Feeding fresh blood was acceptable to him, but feeding his own flesh to other creatures was not something he was willing to do.

Even with blood, he didn't dare to feed too much at once. Blood is the essence of the human body, and losing too much can damage one's foundation.

Not to mention completely feeding it to others, which would have a significant negative impact on him and might even cost him his life. The stronger the physical body, the higher the quality of the blood, and the more concentrated the essence it contains.

Recovery, on the other hand, would be even more challenging.

Unlike ordinary people, who might recover from their physical deficiencies with a good ginseng and some rest, his current physical strength required an unimaginable amount of precious medicine to achieve the same.

However, he was no ordinary being.

The nourishment from the water source was enough to quickly restore his physical deficiencies.

Then, he waved his hand, signaling Linglong that she could leave.

At that moment, Lu Yi hurried over with quick, light steps.

"Young Master, here's your letter!" Lu Yi handed the letter to Jiang Ning.

Taking the letter, Jiang Ning recognized the sender from the elegant handwriting on the first envelope.

It could only be the 17th princess of the Xia Royal Family, with her graceful penmanship.

Ever since Lin Qingyi's departure, the delivery of letters had been carried out by a mysterious visitor who never revealed their true identity.

The previous month, Jiang Ning had even seen this mysterious person with his own eyes.

It was a man with a stiff expression, filled with disharmony, clearly wearing a human mask.

Jiang Ning didn't delve further into the identity of such a person.

After all, the royal family would always have their fair share of people who only listened to them.

A thought flashed through his mind.

Jiang Ning tore open the envelope and quickly scanned the contents.

A moment later, he folded the letter and put it away, a strange look flashing in his eyes.

According to the letter, Ji Ming was already back in the royal capital.

He had only traveled for half a year, falling short of his initial plan for a year.

The reason was simple.

He had gone to Dali Prefecture.

According to Jiang Ning's understanding, Dali Prefecture was once the Jiuli Tribe eight hundred years ago.

The Jiuli Tribe had been one of the greatest enemies of the Xia Dynasty during its founding.

After being pacified, it became Dali Prefecture.

According to Ji Mingyue's letter, Dali Prefecture hadn't seen a drop of rain since last year's midsummer.

Wherever Ji Mingyue and Ji Minghao traveled in Dali Prefecture, they saw nothing but wild fields of white bones.

Countless refugees and rebels of all sizes filled the place.

Amidst the chaos in Dali Prefecture, they encountered a rebel force, and Ji Minghao led the team to break through the siege, but he was heavily injured and had to return to the royal capital ahead of schedule.

A thought flashed through Jiang Ning's mind, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He sighed with relief that Ze Shan Prefecture, where he lived, was still peaceful.

This peace was largely due to the environment.

Ze Shan Prefecture, with its abundance of mountains and water, was not a prosperous place.

But having many mountains and water also meant better resilience against natural disasters like droughts.

Even with the obvious climate anomalies, Ze Shan Prefecture hadn't reached the point of famine despite months without rain last year.

Then, he opened the second letter.

On the blank paper, there was only one line:

"On the 10th of May, I will come to find you before the banquet of the Celestial Human Master Xiao Qiushui!"

The 10th of May?

The banquet of the Celestial Human Master Xiao Qiushui?

Jiang Ning's eyes narrowed.

He knew this letter was from Ye Zhengqi.

After putting away the letter, Jiang Ning turned to Lu Yi beside him and asked, "What day is it today?"

"It's the 1st of May, Young Master!" Lu Yi replied.

The 1st of May!

That meant the Celestial Human Master Xiao Qiushui's banquet was in just nine days!

Jiang Ning's heart remained calm, without a ripple.

Times had changed.

Even facing Xiao Qiushui, he had no fear.

Completing the Diamond Invincible Body had given him the strength to suppress Xiao Qiushui in close combat.

Mastering the Earth-Shrinking-to-an-Inch divine ability granted him the ability to come and go as he pleased.

Under such circumstances, how could Xiao Qiushui, who had just entered the Celestial Human Master realm, make him feel intimidated?

Moreover, as long as everything went smoothly and the weather remained clear, he could also advance to the Third Grade within a month, joining the ranks of the Celestial Human Masters.

"Aning?" As Jiang Ning appeared in the front yard, Liu Wanwan looked at him in surprise.

"Sister-in-law!" Jiang Ning smiled.

"Aning, when did you return?" Liu Wanwan asked.

"Last night!" Jiang Ning replied.

Then he asked, "Where's my brother?"

"He's practicing martial arts in the courtyard!" Liu Wanwan smiled faintly.

"I'll go find my brother!" Jiang Ning said.

"Okay!" Liu Wanwan nodded.

"By the way, sister-in-law!" Liu Wanwan turned to Jiang Ning again.

"Sister-in-law, please steam a few more meat buns for me; I'm hungry!"

"No problem!" Liu Wanwan smiled and said, "How about some dumplings too?"

"That's perfect!" Jiang Ning's eyes lit up, nodding repeatedly.

He was very familiar with Liu Wanwan's cooking skills, having enjoyed them for so many years.

No matter how exotic the delicacies from the outside world were, they couldn't compare to the dumplings or hand-pulled noodles made by his sister-in-law.

He often sighed, feeling that his brother was lucky to have such a virtuous wife and loving mother.

It also allowed him to benefit, satisfying his culinary desires.

Side Courtyard.

"Big Brother!" Looking at the man practicing boxing in front of him, Jiangning opened his mouth.

Hearing the familiar voice behind him, Jiang Li immediately turned around.

Then he was overjoyed.

"Little brother, when did you come back! Why didn't you tell your big brother when you came back!"

Jiang Li took big steps towards Jiangning and then gave Jiangning a heavy punch to the chest.

"So tough!" Jiang Li grinned.

Jiangning smiled.

"By the way, little brother, were you injured in Baisha County? I heard there was a lot of turmoil in Baisha County, and many people died!" Jiang Li asked.

Jiangning shook his head: "The turmoil in Baisha County was just some trouble caused by the Bai Shen Jiao. How could it hurt me!"

"Little brother is so promising!" Looking at Jiangning's confident and composed expression, Jiang Li was full of emotion.

"Big brother, how is your strength?" Jiangning asked.

Hearing these words, Jiang Li grinned.

Then he clenched his fist, and large chunks of muscles immediately bulged on his arms, looking ferocious.

"Did you see that! These solid muscles! Big brother started practicing strength a long time ago."

"Eight-Grade Divine Power Realm, not bad, not bad!" Jiangning nodded.

"That's not all!" Jiang Li chuckled.

The next moment.

Jiangning took out a small porcelain bottle.

"Big brother, drink this!"

"What is this?" Jiang Li took the small porcelain bottle, looking puzzled.

"Anyway, it's not something that will harm big brother!" Jiangning said.

"I wouldn't doubt you if you said that!" Jiang Li said.

"Then drink it!"

"Okay, I'll drink it!" Jiang Li nodded.

Then he pinched the small porcelain bottle and poured it into his mouth.

The next moment.

He felt a drop of liquid heavily falling into his throat.

With the drop of liquid, he immediately felt his whole body's qi and blood gradually rising, and his body temperature slowly increasing.

Seeing this, Jiangning smiled.

Then he left.

In that small porcelain bottle was a drop of pure essence blood that he had just condensed.

A drop of essence blood was more effective than a hundred drops of ordinary blood.

But this effect was not much for him right now.

After practicing the Five Animal Fist for a few days and soaking in the water for a few days, he would fully recover.

However, it could greatly enhance Jiang Li's martial arts strength.

Returning to his own courtyard.

Jiangning opened the control panel and took a look.

[Skills]: Five Animal Fist (5 times breaking limit 5763/6000) (Attributes: Five Internal Organs Storing Essence, Five Elements Spirit, Fist Master, Bear-Tiger Body, Five Elements Body)



During his time in Baisha County, he mostly practiced boxing.

Only when he was stationed at the vegetable market, distributing ritual water, and preventing turmoil for those three or four days, he was not suitable for practicing boxing, so he switched to reading books to gain experience in increasing his knowledge and literacy.

Hence, the accumulation of experience points for the Five Animal Fist reached a new level.

It was not far from reaching the sixth time breaking the limit.

But he had no waves in his heart.

It was useless to have full experience points, and the gap in Origin Energy points was too big.

Now he only had a little over two thousand Origin Energy points.

The Five Animal Fist alone required five thousand Origin Energy points to break the limit.

The gap was too big, and he currently had no solution to it.

At this moment.

A figure of a woman suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Why don't I go and borrow some more money from her?"

That woman was also Wang Qingtan.

After pondering for a moment.

He slowly shook his head: "Forget it! I already owe her a lot! If I borrow more, I won't be able to pay it back, and I'll have to marry her to repay the debt."

Then.

He started practicing boxing.

Waiting for dinner later.

Afternoon.

The scorching sun baked the earth, and although it wasn't yet summer, the temperature was not much lower than the summer heat.

"Sister, are we really going to collect debts?" Wang Qinghan held Wang Qingtan's arm and asked hesitantly.

"Of course!" Wang Qingtan nodded heavily: "Why did I borrow money? It was to collect debts."

At this point, a letter flashed through her mind.

It was a letter from her cheap master.

Thinking about the content of the letter, she felt a bit of a headache.

A master, and also her master, in terms of etiquette and law, she had no right to oppose him.

But she wasn't alone, and she needed to consider her father and her sister.

The thought flashed through her mind.

A figure of Jiangning flashed through her mind.

"I wonder if Jiangning, the Eastling County Inspector, can help me?"

The next moment.

She secretly shook her head.

Forget it!

I won't bother him!

At this moment, worries filled her brows.

The Eastling County Inspector had some influence in Eastling County.

But outside Eastling County, she knew it wouldn't be as useful!

That matter required a master to solve it!

Or someone with more weight.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end