Ji Yuan really wanted to return the old dragon’s bow, but he felt dizzy, and lacked the strength to do so. If he hadn’t put all of his strength into suppressing the strong pressure he experienced, blood would already be coming out of his seven orifices. Thus, he had no way of returning the salute.

To outsiders, it appeared that this “guest of honor” actually dared to recline in his seat and accept a bow from the Dragon Lord, as if his respect were only a matter of course.

Even more peculiar, when the Dragon Lord saw this behavior, he showed a delighted expression, and no anger whatsoever.

However, the vast majority of the aquatic creatures present had no idea why the Dragon King, sitting in the most important seat in the hall, would suddenly bow and thank the guest to his right. They could only speculate in their hearts.

A few people did have some understanding of what had just transpired, including Bai Qi of Chunmu River. They were all shocked, and harbored various feelings, but no one dared to voice their questions as the Dragon Lord¹ was talking.

Seeing that his daughter was unable to control herself, the old dragon glared at her and said:

“Ruoli, hold back your dragon energy. Don’t disturb my birthday banquet!”

“Understood!”

In fact, Ying Ruoli had the urge to transform into a dragon and swim up the Tongtian River right this instant, but it wasn’t the right time. She could only do her best to curb her aura. After a few breaths, the pressure that made the dancers and monsters delivering food tremble finally disappeared.

The old dragon turned to face the guests with a wide smile on his face.

“Hahahaha… I apologize for my daughter’s rudeness, and for disturbing everyone’s fun. Let the dance and music resume, and let the banquet continue!”

In accordance with the old dragon’s command, the monsters regained their composure and resumed their work. The banquet hall was once again filled with singing and dancing. However, many underwater monsters were no longer paying attention to the banquet or entertainment.

Ying Feng had been left dumbfounded by his sister’s performance. Even now, when the singing and dancing had resumed once more, he could not sit still, so he apologized to his close friends among the aquatic creatures surrounding him.

“I’m sorry everyone. I suddenly remembered that I haven’t gone to toast Uncle Ji yet. I should go quickly!”²

As he spoke, Ying Feng picked up his wine jug and glass and made as if to stand up. However, Gao Tianming, the dragon from Tianshui Lake, grabbed Ying Feng’s hand and refused to let him go.

“His Royal Highness, you must tell us what just happened just now. Did the River Goddess gain any benefits with regards to her dragon body?”

“Hey, Gao Tianming, please let me go. Not even I know what’s going on right now. I’m even more restless than you are. Let me first find out what happened!”

“Alright, alright, Your Highness, don’t forget to tell us as soon as you figure it out!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Ying Feng responded vaguely, then quickly stood up. With the wine jug and glass in hand, he walked around the dance floor towards Ji Yuan.

At this moment, the Dragon Daughter was concentrating and calming her breath. Seeing her brother approaching from a distance, she subconsciously glanced at Ji Yuan, only to find that Uncle Ji had probably temporarily lost interest in the banquet, and had started studying the tableware of the underwater palace again.

Ying Feng carried the wine jug and glass, slowing as he approached Ji Yuan’s table. He glanced to the main seat on the raised platform. His father glanced at him incredulously in between watching the dance.

Seeing that Ji Yuan didn’t seem to be interested in the banquet, Ying Feng approached with small steps, trying to put on a friendly smile on his face.

“Uncle Ji, I was so busy toasting with all of the guests, and now I have finally finished greeting them all. Now I can come spend some time with my closer family members!”

Closer family members?

Even though Ji Yuan felt sore all over, he still lifted his head to look at this young dragon. Just a moment ago, wasn’t he the one who had been enthusiastically calling him ‘Ji Yuan’ before and after every sentence? Now he was suddenly calling him ‘Uncle Ji’?

“Come, Uncle Ji, I’ll pour you a glass!”

Ying Feng poured Ji Yuan a glass of wine in a very familiar manner. Ji Yuan simply decided to tell Ying Feng.

“Your Royal Highness, Mr. Ying has just told me to drink less, so I will not drink this cup. As for what happened just now, it would be more appropriate for you to ask Goddess Jiang!”

“Yes, yes, Uncle Ji is correct!”

Ying Feng finished pouring the wine in Ji Yuan’s glass and drank another glass himself. He didn’t dare act arrogantly in front of Ji Yuan at the moment. He simply nodded and quietly slipped away to sit at the same table next to his sister.

“Little sister… what just happened?”

Ying Feng spoke in a low voice. Meanwhile, Ying Ruoli was busy adjusting ands composing herself, so she ignored him.

“Little sister… You’re driving me crazy. You must have received some benefit from Uncle Ji, right? What was it, that made Father, who usually doesn’t even bother with formalities or occasions, show his respect and thank him?”

In truth, Ying Feng also wanted to add, “And why didn’t I get it?” The Dragon Daughter looked at him unhappily and whispered to him.

“You should have come here to toast from the beginning. Don’t just think about the benefits. Father said that his gift was too much. It’s already a wonderful luck for me to have received it once. Even if you still want it, just forget about it…”

Her words almost drove Ying Feng crazy. Did that mean that his younger sister had truly received incredible benefits, but he couldn’t get any?

Ji Yuan naturally knew His Highness the Dragon Son was thinking. However, the reason the Dragon Daughter could successfully open her heart and achieve such an incredible effect was entirely because of the harmony with her state of mind. This so-called “wonderful luck” was just that. If the Dragon Son were to go through the same trial and mental barriers, then it might not have any effect, regardless of success or failure.

In the corner of the main hall, Bai Qi, the River God of Chunmu River, was no longer as aloof as before, and he could no longer sit still in his seat. Now, he held a glass of wine in his hand, and was looking around for people of higher status to ask some questions in an unconventional fashion.

As for his question, it was naturally about Ji Yuan’s identity. However, none of the aquatic monsters knew who this “honored guest” was. They only knew that the Dragon Lord attached great importance to this person. However, this was all basic nonsense; everyone could see the man sitting on the right hand of the Dragon Lord, with the Dragon Daughter herself accompanying him at the next table over. Who wouldn’t be able to understand his importance?

The main banquet lasted the whole night, before finally all the guests left. The banquet would still continue in the underwater palace over the next three days, but the birthday host, the Dragon Lord, might not attend. In fact, the main part of the birthday banquet had now passed, so many aquatic creatures decided to leave early.

It was around noon on the third day. In a coral garden deep within the underwater palace, Ji Yuan sat opposite the old dragon at a stone table.

The water here was still extremely clear; it was said that it had been taken from the East Sea³ in order to maintain and cultivate this garden of vibrant corals.

The scenery was as beautiful as the images of underwater corals he had seen on TV in his previous life. There were even tiny multicolored fish swimming around. The environment was clean and bright, and the water ripples were clear and transparent as air.

“Hahahaha… Mr. Ji, I won again, this time by nine and a half points!”

The old dragon laughed heartily. He let a servant girl⁴ clean up the chessboard while he personally poured Ji Yuan another glass of wine. Meanwhile, Ji Yuan frowned and thought hard.

It was clear that the outcome of the chess game had been decided by the time the game was halfway through. Ji Yuan had wanted to give up, but the old dragon refused to let him admit defeat, and insisted that every round be finished.

‘This old dragon is not at the same level as Master Yin at all! ’

Ji Yuan originally thought that his chess skills would have greatly improved after playing chess against himself, but it was obviously not enough to match the old dragon. Moreover, his own strategy tended towards the pattern of two chess piece supporting one another, while the more orthodox patten of chess was two pieces fighting each other.⁵ Although Ji Yuan had the wisdom to see through a completed chess game, it was still not enough.

“One more round!”

Ji Yuan continued correcting the deviations between his derivative chess playstyle and the orthodox playstyle in his mind. He searched for points of convergence between the two strategies, and was also able to supplement the deficiencies of his derivative chess game from a new perspective. The crystal chessboard in front of him seemed to slightly overlap with this new frame of mind.

‘Whether fighting or coexisting, the goal is always to occupy space on the chessboard. ’

At the beginning of this new game, the old dragon found that, after having lost so many games, Ji Yuan’s chess style began to change. He no longer played as rigidly in accordance to the rulebook as he had in the beginning. Instead, he had a strange feeling of following and being stuck together, as if his black pieces were not trying to block the white, but rather following suit and drawing squares on the chessboard together, just like a child learning to play chess and randomly clicking pieces together.

As he played, the old dragon found that his strategy had gone astray. Suddenly, Ji Yuan went on the “offensive,” and he discovered that he could no longer “stick” one of his pieces together with the others.

“Father, Bai Qi of Chunmu River hasn’t left yet, and he says he wants to meet with you again!”

At this moment, Ying Ruoli hurriedly walked into the garden, and the old dragon immediately stood upon hearing her words.

“This Bai Qi is still a River God, after all. It’s not a good idea to leave him alone like this. Mr. Ji, this old dragon will be going to meet with him!”

Ji Yuan: “…”

Just when he saw a chance at winning, this old dragon slipped away. After considering for a moment, he decided to take his leave as well.

“Mr. Ying, I’ve been imposing on you for quite some time. If I don’t go back, the fisherman from whom I’ve rented the boat will report me to the authorities. Besides, Bai Qi has other intentions, and I don’t want to get into trouble.”

The old dragon stopped and looked back at Ji Yuan. A smile appeared on his face as he considered.

“Mr. Ji is right. Besides, you have to wait for Master Yin to enter the capital, so you really can’t stay here too long. However, it would be difficult for Bai Qi to find you again…”

This last sentence came from the old dragon’s true feelings. It was truly not easy to find Ji Yuan. If Bai Qi didn’t already know where he was, he wouldn’t be able to find Ji Yuan even if the latter were fishing out in the open on the Tongtian River.

Ji Yuan smiled, and said:

“Mr. Ying, when you go to meet him, please bring a message to the River God of Chunmu River from me: ‘To seek an obsession is not the way of fate; the right path is through true cultivation. A dragon must act with integrity; a deity must protect their region. With a heart free of desire, worship and offerings will come naturally.’”⁶

The old dragon frowned when he heard these words, but he nodded and left without asking any more questions. Meanwhile, Ji Yuan was led back to his awning boat by the Dragon Daughter, and left the underwater palace from the back gate.

1. I probably should have brought this up earlier, but hey I guess I’ll mention it now: “Lord” here is “Jun” – I previously left it untranslated for the tiger Lu Shan Jun, but that doesn’t really make sense here (“Dragon Jun”??) so I’m translating it.
2. T/n: LOL shameless hypocrite
3. 东海 (Dōng Hǎi): East China Sea, but also used as “East Sea” in mythology (and when you’re not sure if the country is actually “China”)
4. 妖姬 (yāojī): a beautiful lady (usually a maid or concubine)
5. It’s a little unclear, but it seems to be saying that JY, because of 1) playing against himself, and 2) the fact that he has magical chess pieces of any color, tends towards a more cooperative game rather than an aggressive play style
6. Another fun poetic line: each phrase is exactly 5 characters. The short version of his speech: good fate comes from good deeds, so act with integrity and don’t chase obsession.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read