The capital, land of the grand metropolis, a place of favorable terrain.
A young man dressed in a blue robe and white clothes stands atop Zhaoshi Mountain, gazing afar at Iron City.
According to the Dragon Seeking and Vein Breaking technique, Zhaoshi Mountain is where the Dayong Dragon Vein resides.
"Isn't the Zhaoshi Dragon Vein synonymous with the Zhao's world?"
Xu Qing retracts his gaze and looks again towards the distant mountains.
Amid the misty clouds, there seemed to be a mighty dragon stretching for miles, with the Fuyong Imperial Mausoleum built right at its crucial point.
"The Zhao family is both the master of Dayong's Dragon Vein and the fatal weakness of this dragon vein."
Now that Xu Qing has found the Dragon Vein, drawing out the hidden Qi-dragon is no easy feat.
Though Xu Qing knows the Dragon Fishing technique, it catches 'true dragons,' not the Qi-dragon that gathers fortune.
"The Dragon Fishermen often use the cries of a young dragon as bait, spreading the sound through the veins of water, luring the great dragon to take the bait..."
"Or they observe celestial phenomena, waiting for the right time. If a meteor burns across the sky, it signifies a falling dragon. The fallen dragon likes to disguise as loaches or carp to avoid disaster, and if identified correctly, the dragon can be captured..."
Xu Qing deduces that these Qi-dragons, tied to national destiny, rely on the earth's veins, so at most, they cause earthquakes when faced with the threat of national collapse, rather than falling from the sky.
Eliminating the second method, the young dragon's cry is the only option left.
Although he doesn't have a young dragon, he holds a trace of the Emperor's fortune, which equates to a young dragon.
Xu Qing couldn't believe that the Qi-dragon, having lost a portion of its fortune, wouldn't want to devour the 'little dragon' in his hand.
Understanding the intricacies involved, Xu Qing uses himself as bait, augmenting himself with a trace of the Emperor's Purple Qi, and roams Zhaoshi Mountain.
Hundreds of miles away, deep within Zhaoshi Mountain, a Qi-dragon emerges from the earth's vein, hidden among the clouds, eyeing the young man wandering the mountain path.
The Qi-dragon is elated; a year ago, it was wounded again, and now, a portion of the lost fortune has appeared before it. It is like recovering what was lost, how could it not be delighted?
But when the dragon sees the Emperor's fortune fall on a fair-skinned young man, the mountain fog churns.
The Qi-dragon of Zhaoshi Mountain carries the national fate of Dayong, guided by a trace of the Grand Ancestor Emperor's will, meant to protect Dayong's prosperity.
Now the dragon deduces that this young man will become a calamity for the nation. According to the Grand Ancestor Emperor's will, his path should be eliminated, and his fortune seized.
But the contest of fortune is different from ordinary struggles; it depends on the strength of fate. Only a strong fate can seize a weaker one.
The Qi-dragon ponders briefly, then alters its form, turning into a tress-wearing child, hidden under the stone rail of the mountain path, crying for help.
On the path to Fuyong Imperial Mausoleum, Xu Qing faintly hears a child crying for help in the distance.
He follows the sound, and when he reaches the stone rail on the cliff, Xu Qing calls out from afar, "Who is crying for help?"
Near the cliff's edge, the child responds sorrowfully, "Sir, save me! I am a child from a village below, coming up here because my grandfather suddenly fell ill at home and my father has been gone for long cutting wood in the mountain. I wanted to find him but accidentally fell into this ravine. Please, sir, have mercy and save me."
Xu Qing raises his eyebrows at the words, clapping his hands with a smile, "Well said, I am always kind-hearted, I will save you now!"
Saying so, Xu Qing walks to the stone bars, but when he looks down, not a shadow is down there.
At this moment, behind him, a child with a topknot suddenly appears from an angle, with a vicious look, using all his strength to push the young man over the cliff!
But just as the child touches the young man, trying to push him off, he feels no weight of a living person, but rather like pushing a feather.
The tress-wearing child pushes too forcefully, almost tumbling over due to inertia!
Yet, just as the child barely steadies himself, a familiar voice suddenly sounds from behind him, accompanied by a massive force on his lower back.
"I always help people to the end; since your home is at the foot of the mountain, let me send you back!"
The child falls upon hearing this.
Suddenly, a small, light-purple dragon leaps from the bottom of the cliff, attempting to soar away.
"Where do you think you're going!" Xu Qing shouts, releasing his advantage dragon, which, with an open mouth, absorbs the small dragon formed from Emperor's Purple Qi.
Having secured the fortune, Xu Qing smirks, "With the Imperial Mausoleum here, how could any woodcutter dare come up here? If they really had the courage to risk getting beheaded, they wouldn't be a woodcutter..."
Xu Qing continues roaming near Zhaoshi Mountain. When he is about to reach the temple where past emperors are worshipped, a simple-faced woodcutter is sitting against a tree, his legs bandaged with cloth and faint traces of blood.
Seeing Xu Qing ascend the mountain, the woodcutter immediately calls out, "Young Master, please wait!"
Xu Qing raises an eyebrow, asking indifferently, "What is it?"
The woodcutter sighs, "I am from a village below, and because the Imperial Temple was struck by dry thunder the other day, damaging its gateway, I was summoned by the Imperial Court's Taichang Temple to cut wood for repairs. But unfortunately, I injured my leg bone while cutting wood, making it impossible to walk."
"I have a wife, children, and elderly parents at home. If anything happens to me, how would they survive?"
"Heaven's mercy must have sent me young master for help. I hope you'll be kind and save me."
Xu Qing avoids answering the question, asking instead, "How old is your son?"
"He's almost fourteen, but the child has suffered from indigestion since childhood, looking about eleven or twelve years old."
Xu Qing finds it amusing; Emperor Jingxing ascended to the throne exactly fourteen years ago, yet this child didn't have indigestion, nor did he resemble an eleven or twelve-year-old child.