All of us are one

Chapter 81 Soaring Through the Sky, Level 2

Major river basins.

The underground palace was brightly lit, and a man in red sat at a desk, writing on a piece of white paper in front of him with a brush.

"Greetings, Master." A woman in black strode into the hall and respectfully bowed to the man in red.

"Any results?" The man in red didn't look up, continuing to write with his brush.

"The assassination mission failed." The woman in black lowered her head, her voice low and fearful.

"Why did you fail?" The man in red frowned as he put down his brush, looking at the messy calligraphy on the desk.

"It was Old Monster Liang from Jiangnan who intervened," the woman in black replied respectfully.

"Since Old Monster Liang interfered, they can't be blamed for the mission's failure." The man in red waved his hand and asked, "Have the men been brought back?"

"Old Monster Liang only stepped in to protect the young leader of the Great River Alliance; he didn't attack our people," the woman in black replied. "The casualties all occurred during the mission."

"Yes, that's good." The man in red nodded slightly.

"Master, Old Monster Liang has identified us," the woman in black said.

"It's just a matter of revealing my identity. Old Monster Liang ultimately doesn't want to offend my Blood Rain, otherwise our people wouldn't be able to withdraw." The man in red said nonchalantly, "In the second realm of the Sky Soaring Realm, the Yuan Dan Realm, if they don't take longevity pills, has a lifespan of about three hundred years. Old Monster Liang doesn't have many years left to live."

Upon hearing this, the woman in black suddenly understood why the powerful Old Monster Liang had personally intervened to protect the son of Broken Water Sword. He was paving the way for his descendants and preparing for his own peaceful death in the future.

"Alright, you can go now." The man in red waved his hand, sweeping the calligraphy he had just written onto the ground.

"Yes." The woman in black bowed respectfully and then quickly retreated.

"Old Monster Liang doesn't have many years left to live. Before Broken Water Sword left for the Four Kingdoms Alliance, he met with him. They probably talked about something," the man in red murmured softly. "Now that Old Monster Liang is dead, will Broken Water Sword return?"

As the current leader of Blood Rain, the man in red believes that his strength is among the strongest in the True Essence Realm, which is the so-called ordinary top-level experts. However, the reason why he has not shown himself yet is that there are still two Yuan Dan Realm experts above him.

Blood Rain has a bad reputation, and he doesn't want to become one of the infamous achievements of Broken Water Sword, like the Thousand Machines Sect Master.

"When the sect ruled the Divine Martial Kingdom in the past, it spread many basic martial arts cultivation methods, which could be cultivated to the highest level of the Condensing Qi Realm 4."

The man in red thought to himself, "After being cut off from the sect for more than three hundred years, the Divine Martial Kingdom has produced many outstanding talents. More than ten people have broken through to the True Essence Realm, and there have even been monsters like Old Monster Liang and Broken Water Sword who have entered the Yuan Dan Realm."

"The Thousand Machines Sect Master's idea is good. He can take the opportunity of the surge of heaven and earth energy tearing the membrane of the secret realm when the Broken Water Sword breaks through to the Yuan Dan level to try to make contact with the sect."

"If this matter is truly accomplished, even with Duan Shuijian's exceptional talent, it would likely pale in comparison to the great achievement of retrieving this secret realm."

"Alas! Reaching the True Essence Realm in the Divine Martial Kingdom is already incredibly difficult, let alone breaking through to the Yuan Dan Realm or higher." The man in red sighed softly, a drop of ink from his brush falling onto the white paper.

"But whether you succeed or not, you only know after you've tried. Nothing in this world is difficult if you set your mind to it."

The man in red waved his hand, and the ink-stained white paper flew out, falling to the ground and mixing with other calligraphy scrolls.

……

The thin mist gradually dissipated over the surface of the Yangtze River.

After a period of repairs, the Dajiang Alliance fleet left behind a few ships that needed maintenance, while the rest of the ships that were not seriously damaged set sail upstream.

On the ship in the center of the fleet, Jiang Yanming and the white-robed elder, Senior Liang, stood on the deck, each holding a fishing rod and fishing.

"It's taken the bait again." The old man's hand holding the fishing rod trembled, and a small fish, about two fingers wide, fell onto the deck.

Seeing this, Jiang Yanming remained silent, but his brows twitched involuntarily.

"It seems I'm having a lucky day, Liang." The old man baited his hook, cast his line, and then turned to Jiang Yanming with a smile, "Young friend Jiang, it seems you'll be meeting a few more people."

"Senior's fishing skills are superb; I humbly admit defeat," Jiang Yanming complimented, then, feeling the fishing rod being pulled, he tried to reel in the line.

"It seems that young friend Jiang has also caught some fish," the old man said softly.

"Hmm?" Jiang Yanming turned his head upon hearing this, only to see the old man's hand holding the fishing rod tremble, and a large fish immediately flew onto the deck.

Seeing this, he felt like he had been tricked. He should have refused when the old man suggested fishing and added a prize.

"Young friend Jiang, you'd better work harder." The old man laughed heartily. "This fish weighs five pounds. Counting the previous few small fish, young friend Jiang will have to meet six people."

Jiang Yanming tried to pull the fish up, but found that the fish was quite strong. He had a flash of inspiration and used brute force to pull the rod. The rod, which was subjected to great force, bent and made a slight sound.

Crunch!

Finally, under Jiang Yanming's brute force, the bamboo fishing rod broke under the strain.

"Senior Liang, it seems this is the only way for today." Jiang Yanming saw the fishing rod break and immediately let it fall into the river.

The old man took in the whole scene without showing any displeasure, simply smiling and shaking his head, jokingly saying, "You little rascal..."

"Senior's fishing skills are superb, far inferior to mine. I have no choice but to resort to this tactic," Jiang Yanming said, bowing apologetically.

"Alright, let's fish here today," the old man waved his hand and laughed. "But according to our wager, you'll have to meet six of my eldest daughters."

"Of course," Jiang Yanming replied, bowing slightly.

He was only meeting the six legitimate daughters of the three major families in Jiangnan; it wasn't like he was going to marry them after meeting them. Naturally, he wouldn't go back on his word and break the bet agreement they had made.

The old man retrieved the fishing hook and line from the river, then asked Jiang Yanming, "What type do you like?"

"Didn't you say before, senior, that all your daughters are both beautiful and talented?" Jiang Yanming replied. "I don't have many requirements; I'll leave it to you to arrange things."

"It's the ones who are left to their own devices that are the hardest to arrange." The old man shook his head helplessly. "Fine, when you return to the Four Kingdoms Alliance in the future, have someone send a letter to the Liang family in Jiangnan. I will make the arrangements."

"Yes." Jiang Yanming nodded in agreement.

"Let's go back to the ship's deck." The old man walked ahead, holding a fishing rod in one hand. "I, Liang, have known Alliance Leader Jiang for a while, and I also have some connection with you, young man, so I'll teach you a couple of moves."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yanming quickly followed, asking with some confusion, "Senior Liang, I haven't yet condensed my Qi and blood; how can I learn the techniques you teach?"

"Why not? Just remember it for now," the old man said nonchalantly. "Your Great River Alliance's Zhenmeng Visualization Method is the Xuan Shui Visualization Method cultivated by your father, Alliance Leader Jiang. It belongs to the same water element as the visualization method I cultivate, so the techniques I teach you will definitely come in handy."

"Thank you, senior." Jiang Yanming nodded and followed the old man onto the ship's deck.