66: Chapter 66 A Thousand Miles Along the River

Not only was Gu Xiao unable to understand Li Nianyu's actions, but Li Xiuyuan couldn't either.

"What do you want with me?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

He didn't have any particular opinion of Li Nianyu, just that the girl was truly thick-skinned; anyone else seeing a flood dragon like him would basically be scared weak in the knees, but Li Nianyu was not like that at all, even daring to make a peace sign at him.

"Oh, I'm here to bring you something."

Mentioning business, Li Nianyu's expression finally became serious.

It's just that the girl's tense, solemn expression was a bit too forced.

"My great-grandfather's surname is Li, and the Li family is one of the Twelve Ancient Families, descendants of Prefect Li Bing. Great-grandfather had a dream in which he saw the Lord River God. Ancestor Prefect Li Bing said that if any descendant dreamed of such a situation, it meant the Lord River God was about to awaken."

"That evil dragon bewitched successive kings and enjoyed a thousand years of human incense. Once it awakens, it will surely be a great catastrophe. Therefore, Great-grandfather asked me to find you and hand this scroll of the map of the thousand-mile river journey to you."

As Li Nianyu spoke, she unzipped her backpack and buried her head inside to rummage around; the sound of various snack plastic bags colliding rang out, and after searching for a good while, Li Nianyu finally pulled the scroll out from the very bottom.

Reasonably speaking, such an important item should have been properly taken care of, but judging by the snack crumbs on the outside of the scroll, it didn't seem to have been kept very well.

"This map of the thousand-mile river journey was personally drawn by my ancestor, Prefect Li Bing. It marks every undercurrent, spiritual cave, and key node for dragon transformation beneath the Yangtze River."

"However, Great-grandfather said this item cannot be easily handed over to you; we must first test your character."

Li Xiuyuan lowered his eyes to look at the scroll stained with snack crumbs, and with just a slight movement of his will, the scroll floated up from Li Nianyu's hands and hovered in mid-air.

Test my character? What a joke. Hand it over.

"Hey, hey, hey?! How can you just snatch things!" Li Nianyu was just about to reach out to stop it, but she found she couldn't jump at all, as if fixed in place by an invisible force.

Li Xiuyuan ignored her, and the scroll automatically unfurled before his eyes.

This scroll was indeed written by a predecessor; even though it used very special materials, many places had yellowed over the years.

The bottom of the Yangtze River was even more dangerous than he had imagined; the scroll marked a total of 216 undercurrents, 108 spiritual caves, and 36 dragon transformation points.

The map of the thousand-mile river journey was of immense help to a flood dragon; one could even say it was a nanny-level guide specifically prepared for flood dragons.

"Does your great-grandfather have anything else to say?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

Li Nianyu shook her head: "No, Great-grandfather originally wanted to see what your character was like. If you passed, he would give you the map of the thousand-mile river journey; if you didn't, he would have me take it back."

Hearing this, Li Xiuyuan felt like laughing. He didn't know whether to call Li Nianyu naive or what.

The map of the thousand-mile river journey was lethally tempting to a flood dragon; if his character didn't pass, would he really let Li Nianyu take it back?

"Call your great-grandfather."

Li Xiuyuan felt there was nothing to discuss with Li Nianyu; he needed to talk to the Li family's great-grandfather.

Li Nianyu took out her phone and dialed a number. The call was answered after two rings; it seemed they had been waiting.

"Hello?" Patriarch Li Baolu's aged voice sounded.

Just as Li Nianyu was about to speak, the phone flew out of her hand and hovered in front of Li Xiuyuan. Li Nianyu jumped up to grab it, but couldn't reach.

"Hey! My phone!"

Li Xiuyuan couldn't be bothered with her. "Patriarch Li Baolu?"

This deep, resonant voice made Patriarch Li Baolu shudder, and his thin, withered body, sitting in a wheelchair, trembled slightly.

"You must be the flood dragon of Yunfeng Mountain?" Patriarch Li Baolu asked cautiously.

Li Xiuyuan got straight to the point: "Speak, what tricks did you play with the map of the thousand-mile river journey?"

On the other end of the line, the breathing suddenly stopped.

After a long silence on the other end, when Patriarch Li Baolu spoke again, his voice was tight: "Why do you say that?"

"You said you came to test my character, and if I didn't pass, you would take the map of the thousand-mile river journey back. Don't you think something is wrong with that?"

"If I had poor character, would I let this simple-minded girl take the map of the thousand-mile river journey away?"

Li Xiuyuan's voice remained flat, but every sentence, every word, felt like a thousand-pound hammer striking Patriarch Li Baolu's heart.

Patriarch Li Baolu's breathing became heavier.

Li Xiuyuan continued: "Your Li family has such deep-seated enmity with the Lord River God, and it needs a flood dragon vessel to resurrect. If my character were poor, you would likely be thinking of killing me to prevent the Lord River God from obtaining a vessel."

When he said this, his tone was as calm as if he were talking about the nice weather, but on the other end of the line, Patriarch Li Baolu's back had already started breaking out in a cold sweat.

He never imagined that this Rising Beings's intelligence would be so heaven-defying, able to deduce his entire scheme through a small logical loophole in his words!

Is this guy really a Rising Beings?!

"I..."

"No need to explain." Li Xiuyuan interrupted him: "I can understand this. If I were you, to prevent the Lord River God from resurrecting, I would do the same."

"But, this idea is too naive."

"With the Ancient Grotto-Heaven appearing, there are many opportunities. Most of the aquatic tribes in the Yangtze River will go in to try their luck. With spiritual energy recovering and infinite fortunes, there won't necessarily be only me as a flood dragon."

"What the Lord River God lacks is a flood dragon vessel, not me, Li Xiuyuan."

Patriarch Li Baolu on the other end of the line was silent for a long time, then a bitter laugh was heard: "You are right, I am an old fool."

They say the older people get, the more confused they become. Patriarch Li Baolu truly believed this now. His scheme, which he thought was rigorous, had been completely seen through by Li Xiuyuan.

This Patriarch Li Baolu wasn't particularly confused; at least he could listen to reason and quickly admit his mistakes. After realizing that the Li family and Li Xiuyuan had the same enemy, he revealed the problem with the map of the thousand-mile river journey.

On the surface, there didn't seem to be any big problems with the map of the thousand-mile river journey, but once Li Xiuyuan tried to inject spiritual energy, he would be ambushed.

The Li family ancestor, Prefect Li Bing, had left behind a damaged ancient hidden weapon for his descendants, called the sleeve needle.

This thing could be shot into a Rising Beings's body without them knowing, becoming a hidden bomb. As long as the Rising Beings used spiritual energy, the sleeve needle would take effect, exploding into 180 fine needles inside the body, dispersing into all meridians.

This thing could be said to be infinitely insidious. Even if it couldn't kill Li Xiuyuan, it could cause him severe damage.

Hearing this, Li Xiuyuan secretly rejoiced in his own suspicious nature. If he hadn't considered so much and had just unfurled the scroll, he would likely have really been ambushed by the Li family.

"There must be a battle between me and that Lord River God. One river cannot contain two dragons." Li Xiuyuan said.

"My Li family is willing to assist you with all our might. If there is any place you need my Li family, just ask."

"I will borrow your map of the thousand-mile river journey. As for the rest, there is no need to interfere."

On the other end of the line, Patriarch Li Baolu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.