Dragon King's Son-In-Law, page 91
To earn the opportunity of glimpsing at the Heavenly Secrets, one must experience the painful total body transformation.
Even though the Nature Essence was flowing chaotically in his body, Hao Ren sat on the ground stubbornly, determined to pass it with his own effort.
If the pain he experienced last time felt like he was being skinned alive, this time, he felt as if his body was being cut into several pieces before being glued together!
Boom!
Ten sword energies shot out of his fingers, instantly blowing up the bushes around him.
“Congratulations, Gongzi Hao! You have reached Kan-level!” Premier Xia stepped forward and picked up the elixir box before congratulating Hao Ren with a relieved expression.
Hao Ren exhaled deeply and stood up. The Dragon Core and the five elemental array formation around it were now one system, and the first opening on the Dragon Core was now diligently absorbing the Nature Essence around it.
Dragon Cores were the foundation of the Dragon Clan. Due to the Dragon Cores’ Nature Essence absorption ability, the dragons were capable of much faster cultivation speeds compared to human cultivators!
After unlocking of the first opening, Hao Ren was now a cultivator instead of a beginner.
He didn’t need any certificate to prove it since one could feel it from his aura.
Hao Ren brushed off the dirt on his clothes and looked at Premia Xia who had been waiting for him.
“How come I see a blue light around you?” he asked.
“Hehe, your question shows that you have truly reached Kan-level. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth corresponds with white, green, blue, red and yellow. The blue light you see on me shows that I am a water-elemental dragon,” Premier Xia explained.
As they walked down the hill, Hao Ren suddenly saw an old man standing along the path in a traditional robe.
This old man greeted Hao Ren and Premier Xia when they approached.
There was a yellow light around him.
“He is the earth dragon who is responsible for these hills, and he is also referred to as the ‘Tudishen’ by the local mortals. When you were cultivating here for the last two days, he was here guarding you,” Premier Xia explained.
Hao Ren smiled and greeted this old man.
Then, this old man smiled before turning into a cloud of yellow light and vanishing.
“Most of the dragons are water-elemental dragons, and we are divided into the categories of stream, river, lake, and ocean, and the blue light on us goes from pale to dark. This old dragon who is guarding this land must have seen the deep blue on your body and knew that you are a member of the ocean dragons. To show his respect, he has been secretly guarding for you.”
Hao Ren didn’t know that this earth-elemental dragon had been protecting him until now. He wanted to express his appreciation, but that dragon had already vanished.
When that earth-elemental dragon saw a member of the East Ocean Dragon Clan here, he was unsettled. He was relieved when he saw that Hao Ren had just come here to cultivate. Afraid of interruptions, he had protected Hao Ren and prevented humans and wild animals from entering the area Hao Ren was in.
He was actually relieved to see Hao Ren leave in peace.
Hao Ren stopped at the foot of the hill and asked, “Premier Xia, why are you still here?”
“I will accompany Gongzi Hao back to East Ocean City,” Premier Xia answered.
“Huh?” Hao Ren was surprised, but he immediately realized that as the head organizer of the Dragon Palace, Premier Xia would undoubtedly go and help with the princess’s birthday party.
Seeing his nervous expression, Hao Ren knew that it was Premier Xia’s first trip on land, and Zhao Guang had told Premier Xia to give the elixir pills to him before returning with him.
“You go ahead this way and wait for me at the eastern entrance of the village. I’ll meet you there soon,” Hao Ren said.
“Very well, Gongzi Hao!” Premier Xia answered before finding the correct direction and taking off.
He looked so cautious as if he was afraid of getting lost in the small village. Anyway, he was a Kun-level Master, and Hao Ren didn’t think he would encounter any danger.
After returning to the old grandma’s courtyard, Hao Ren told her that he was going back today. Knowing that he had school, she didn’t try to keep him.
She and Grandma told Hao Ren to be careful on the highway.
Hao Ren wanted to ease their minds by telling them that he wouldn’t be alone, but he was afraid that there would be more questions for him if he did.
After promising that he would call Grandma as soon as he got back to East Ocean City, he got into the car.
After driving through several narrow and winding concrete paths, Hao Ren got to the eastern entrance of the village.
Premier Xia was waiting impatiently in his grey short-sleeved shirt, and he looked like a little kid who was expecting to be picked up at the end of the school day.
“Premier Xia, get in the car,” Hao Ren said as he stopped the car and rolled down the window.“God of the Soil and the Ground”, also known as Tudi, is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion.
164 Heavenly Dragon Realm
At Hao Ren’s call, Premier Xia circled Hao Ren’s white Ford and didn’t know how to get in the car.
Realizing that Premier Xia was a newbie on land and not familiar with cars, Hao Ren got off the car and opened the door for him.
Premier Xia touched the ‘metal box’ tentatively for a while before finally climbing in.
Hao Ren was amused. “Premier Xia, don’t worry. Just treat it as a Dharma Treasures.”
“Right, right. I have been overcautious,” Premier Xia said.
Hao Ren started the car, and the white Ford began to move. As he looked out the window, Premier Xia sat up nervously, not daring to move a muscle.
The car began to accelerate when it got onto the main road.
Just as Hao Ren was about to enter the highway, two dashes of silver light slipped into the car.
He turned and saw Lu Linlin and Lu Lili sitting in the backseat, smiling.
“Congratulations! Gongzi!” they said at the same time.
“Have you been following me in the last two days?”
“We dared not to disobey your order. We knew that you would be returning today, so we are here to welcome you back!” Lu Linlin said.
Hao Ren smiled helplessly, wondering if she was telling the truth. Although he had broken through to Kan-level, he still had some burdens on his mind.
After seeing that Hao Ren was silence, Lu Lili added, “Gongzi looks cool even when he’s angry.”
She felt embarrassed immediately afterward, and her face turned a bit red.
Hao Ren didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to ask Premier Xia, “You mentioned that the Core Formation Realm is equivalent to Zhen-level and the Nascent Soul Realm is equivalent to Qian-level. Can you explain it to me?”
By now, Premier Xia had gotten a bit used to the car after sitting in it for more than ten minutes. He relaxed his hands that had been tightly holding the handle on the door and coughed before saying, “There are almost no human cultivators in the mortal world, and the once popular cultivation methods were lost long ago. Gongzi Hao, you don’t have to pay much attention to it.”
After a moment of consideration, he continued, “Human cultivation is different from ours. Their cultivation realms are divided into Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Formation. The Qi Refinement Realm is equivalent to the cultivation of our Spirit Concentration Scroll. It’s the basic stage, and only the ones who are on the Foundation Establishment Realm can be called cultivators. The Foundation Establishment Realm is equivalent to our Kan-level, the Core Formation Realm is equivalent to our Zhen-level, and the Nascent Soul Realm is equivalent to Qian-level. After the Nascent Soul Realm is the Soul Formation Realm, and the cultivators in this realm can fly around the world at will, live as long as the Earth itself, and shine as bright as the Sun. Even though they are not Heavenly Immortals, they are Earthly Immortals.”
“Is Qian-level the pinnacle of a dragon? Is there a level equivalent to the Soul Formation Realm?”
“We don’t have Soul Formation Realm. However, once we reach top-tier Qian-level, we can activate the Heavenly Tribulation. After we pass the Heavenly Tribulation, we would become Heavenly Dragons!” Premier Xia said in high spirit.
“Heavenly Dragon…” Hao Ren murmured, wondering which one was more powerful, the Heavenly Dragon or the Soul Formation Cultivator.
He turned to glance at Lu Linlin and Lu Lili and found no light on them. He asked Premier Xia, “Why don’t Linlin and Lili have lights around them?”
“Hehe, Gongzi Hao, the colored lights and auras are the essences emitting from our Dragon Cores, and we use these colors to recognize each other. Since Linlin and Lili have no Dragon Cores, they don’t have lights around them,” Premier Xia explained patiently.
“What color do you like, Gongzi? We can emit colors for you to look at…” Lu Linlin said playfully. Colorful lights began to appear around her, making her look like a little bulb. Of course, ordinary people can’t see these lights.
Hao Ren ignored her.
He turned his attention to the road ahead and asked Premier Xia, “What color does Su Han have? She has a Metal Water Body Type?”
“The Metal Water Body Type… Hum… If she shows her essence, the color should be purple. However, if the cultivators are two levels higher than you, they can easily disguise and cover their essences from you. If you don’t see colored lights on someone, this person is either a mortal or a dragon who is two levels higher than you,” Premier Xia said.
Hao Ren nodded as he thought for a few seconds. The lower-leveled cultivators had no secrets in front of higher-leveled ones. It meant that any cultivator who was at Kan-level or higher would see that he was at the low Kan-level.
After all, the brightness of the light emitted showed which level the cultivator was on.
“Also, the Inspectors have their own ways of disguising themselves and recognizing others. That is why even I can’t recognize the Inspectors who purposely hid their identities,” Premier Xia added.
It was these stealth techniques and disguises that made the Inspectors terrifying.
Inspectors like Su Han and Qin Shaoyang who had revealed their identities were easy to deal with. The real trouble lied with those secret Inspectors who lurked in the shadows like secret agents.
On the other hand, it was the establishment of Inspectors that made the forces in the Dragon Tribe cautious of their behaviors since they were under the Inspectors’ watch!
The rules and regulations prohibited them from flying in the sky at will, harming the mortals, and killing each other.
They had protected the Dragon Tribe from exposing themselves to the mortal world, and they had made sure that the mortals could go on with their lives and continue the race.
These rules were apart of the covenant made between the human cultivators and the Dragon Tribe before the human cultivators ascended into the Heavens as a group.
To some extent, the handful of Soul Formation Cultivators in the mortal world were the forces that balanced the power of the Dragon Tribe. If the Dragon Tribe had decided to go back on their promise and mistreat the mortals, these cultivators would have attacked the dragons together!
The car passed the toll gate and entered the highway.
Hao Ren stepped harder on the gas pedal, and the car quickly accelerated to 100 km/hour.
Premier Xia sighed as he looked out the window, “Is this the car that you mentioned last time? The speed is quite fast, almost as fast as flying on a mid-tier Dharma Treasure!”
Hearing Premier Xia’s laments, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili who were sitting in the back seats smiled at each other with their hands over their mouths.
“This Dharma Treasure doesn’t need Nature Essence and can be driven by mortals. It’s amazing!” Premier Xia continued to lament.
Hao Ren shook his head helplessly. It was fortunate that Premier Xia was only here to host the party and would return to the Dragon Place tomorrow. Otherwise, he would cause a scene on land.
The three-hour ride from Zhejiang Province to East Sea City was not boring when Premier Xia and the Lu sisters kept Hao Ren company.
Night had fallen when they arrived at East Ocean City. Premier Xia didn’t dare to bother Dragon King’s family, so he decided to spend the night at Lu Qing’s home.
Hao Ren decided to join him and also spend the night at Lu Qing’s.
Coming out from the garage, Premier Xia was both cautious and curious about the things that he had never seen before, such as the elevator, electrical lights, and hot water shower.
He touched this and that and would be alarmed when he triggered something like the TV or lights, thinking that he had made some unforgivable mistake.
Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were having fun while they showed him around. They also didn’t know what was what when they first came onto the land, but they learned fast.
Comparatively, Premier Xia was slower than them in accepting new stuff.
After one night, Hao Ren felt that his Kan-level had gradually become stable, and he could release and pull back the five-elemental sword energies at will.
However, his strength was still weak. His most powerful attack could only make a dent on a steel plate that Lu Qing gave him for experimenting.
When he cultivated during the night, he recalled the stone monument in the Taoist Temple on top of GreenStone Mountain again. After the characters and inscriptions reorganized on their own and gave a new meaning, Hao Ren had finally understood that the inscription needed to be read in different sequences.
The inscription was the general guideline of the five-elemental cultivation; it explained the five elements from the perspective of the Heavenly Dao. Hao Ren thought it was just a simple method to master water elements and was on the wrong path. At his current realm, Hao Ren couldn’t understand the deeper meanings behind the inscription; it was too profound for him.
While the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll was a cultivation technique, the inscription on the stone monument was a highly technical article about cultivation theory.
After a night of cultivation, Friday came.
Zhao Yanzi’s birthday party would begin at six o’clock in the evening, but the guests could enter after five. The venue was the Starlight Restaurant, the best in East Ocean City. It was also the place where Hao Ren’s family met Zhao Yanzi’s family.
Lu Qing drove Premier Xia to the restaurant while Hao Ren drove Lu Linlin and Lu Lili back to school.
According to the practice of East Ocean University, there was no class for the two days after the mid-term exams. The third day was a Friday; even though there was no class, but there would be class conferences, talks with the counselor, and distribution of report cards.
Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were a bit nervous about their exam results since it was their first time taking exams.
They had considered sneaking into the office and taking a peek at the grades, but they decided against it due to their respect for Vice Principal Lu Qing.
Hao Ren stopped his car at Academic Building A in which the Film Program would be holding the class conference. Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were getting off here.
“Gongzi, we can’t attend tonight’s party. You must be careful!” Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were reluctant to go.
“Ok. Got it.” Hao Ren was a bit nervous about tonight’s party.
When Hao Ren just parked his white Ford, he saw a Mercedes-Benz stopping beside him.
The window rolled down and revealed Huang Xujie’s face. He took off his sunglasses and gestured at the steering wheel. “Sophomore, want to try this car?”
Hao Ren ignored him since he had no interest in a test drive on campus. At this moment, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili got off the white Ford.
Huang Xujie’s eyes widened as he was surprised that the two beauties were in Hao Ren’s car.
He was furious when Lu Linlin and Lu Lili went around to Hao Ren and pressed their palms on their lips before touching Hao Ren’s cheeks.
“Goodbye! Gongzi!”
Without even looking at Huang Xujie, they entered Academic Building A.
Hao Ren was surprised by their actions. However, when he saw Huang Xujie gritting his teeth, he knew that the twins did it on purpose to make Huang Xujie jealous.
He started the car and drove to Academic Building F. Most of his classmates had arrived, and they all turned to look at him when he walked into the classroom.
The previously unknown Hao Ren had now become a celebrity of the school. With Lu Linlin and Lu Lili following him everywhere he went, his fame was amplified multiple many times.
Class President Xie Yujia walked up to the teaching platform in the front and announced the overall performance of the class and the major activities planned for next term.
Then, the counselor went up and gave a lecture about the overall development and some problems in the class.
The report cards were handed out to everyone except for a few who needed to go to the counselor’s office. They would have to have a private talk with the counselor before getting their grades back.
Zhou Liren, Cao Ronghua, and Zhao Jiayi all got their report cards. They were exhilarated when they found that they had passed all their exams. Xie Yujia’s notes were indeed helpful.
However, Hao Ren was one of the few whose report card was kept with the counselor. After the class conference, he needed to go find the counselor and have a talk. These students were either those with poor grades and might be expelled or those who have repeatedly broken the school’s regulations and needed a warning.
The ‘special’ students went in for the talk one by one. Half an hour later, it was Hao Ren’s turn.
Faced with the rarely-seen counselor, Hao Ren didn’t know what to say.
“Hao Ren, your problems are quite complicated. I’ve seen your file and found that your entrance examination score was quite high. However, during the last two years, your academic performance just hovered above the passing line,” the counselor looked up at Hao Ren and said.
