Chapter 473 - 455: A Dragon Atop a Flood Dragon

The more Liu Wu thought about it, the stranger it seemed, and her curiosity about Su Yu grew.

But she didn’t take the bell. With a giggle, she said, "If you don’t want the bell, you should return it to the girl in person. I’m not the right person to pass this along."

Su Yu nodded and took the bell back. He hadn’t really thought it through.

It was better to clear up this kind of misunderstanding face-to-face.

Liu Wu continued to chatter on, sharing the city’s gossip, like how Pavilion Master Qian, a mighty Divine Storage Realm master, had been beaten up by his wife.

The young master of the Feng family wanted to learn Spear Technique from Master Gu Duzui but was rejected.

At an auction, Mrs. Bai made a move, publicly driving up the price of a piece of divine iron and swindling Master Liu out of a fortune.

"Commander Su, you have no idea how despicable that old hag Mrs. Bai is. Everyone knows she’s filthy rich, and she still deliberately jacks up prices..."

"Speaking of Master Liu, he’s had some rotten luck. Some damn scoundrel got his White Barbarian Rhinoceros drunk, and it crashed into Mrs. Bai’s carriage... Ever since then, that old hag has been latched onto him, causing trouble at every turn."

SLAP!

Liu Wu slammed her palm on the old locust wood table, making the teacup jump and spill some of its contents.

"Master Liu has already issued an order: a handsome reward for anyone who finds out who that little thief is!"

Su Yu couldn’t help but feel his lip twitch. He had just been enjoying the drama, not expecting it to be about him.

"Commander Su, if you have any information, you can tell me. According to our current intelligence, an unfamiliar young man appeared at the training grounds around that time. It’s highly likely he’s from your Outer City!"

Su Yu’s expression remained unchanged as he looked at Liu Wu. Seeing nothing unusual in her demeanor, he knew she wasn’t testing him and relaxed.

"Rest assured, Commander Liu. If the little thief is from the Outer City, I will definitely help keep an eye out!"

"Good. If you can find him, I’ll owe you a favor!"

As the two were talking, Shi Yueshan’s figure hurried back.

"You two, Master Jin has given the order. We are to defend our positions to the death for the next two days. He has also reported the situation to Pavilion Master Qian!"

"Pavilion Master Qian is probably gathering all the Masters to discuss this matter as we speak!"

"The three of us should first discuss our plan moving forward!"

Shi Yueshan was meticulous and serious in his work. He went over the patrol status of every fortification with the other two, not missing a single spot.

An hour later, the three of them had finished organizing and marking all the key points along the entire Celestial Mirror River.

"Next is to arrange our defensive forces!"

Shi Yueshan’s expression was grave. He pointed to several locations along the canal in the Inner City and said, "I will guard these spots. I am at the Middle Dragon Tendon Realm. As long as no Profound Bone Realm Hall Masters from the Black Lotus Sect slip into the Inner City, we’ll be fine!"

After speaking, he looked at Liu Wu. "Commander Liu, you are also at the Middle Dragon Tendon Realm, right? With your speed, you’ll be in charge of mobile support. How about you provide it, especially near the Hanging Mirror Gate?"

A serious expression flashed across Liu Wu’s pretty face as she nodded. "Don’t worry, Commander Shi. The Black Lotus Sect also suffered heavy losses in their previous attacks. According to the latest intelligence, it’s impossible for their Profound Bone Realm Hall Masters to show up again! Leave the Hanging Mirror Gate to me!"

Shi Yueshan nodded seriously, then finally looked at Su Yu. "Commander Su, it’s your area that I’m most worried about!"

"You are only at the Tiger Tendon Realm. Although you can match someone at Muscle Forging Realm Perfection, it’s still not enough!"

"If the Black Lotus Sect sends an expert at the Small Dragon Tendon level or higher, and you can’t stop them, they’ll only need a moment to slaughter the river workers and destroy months of construction work."

Su Yu had been feeling a bit puzzled listening to them. ’What are this ’Small Dragon Tendon’ and ’Middle Dragon Tendon’ they’re talking about?’

He now asked directly, "Commander Shi, when you speak of Dragon Tendon, are you referring to that hidden realm?"

"Oh, you don’t know about the Dragon Tendon Realm? You guys in the Outer City are really cut off from the news."

Liu Wu immediately interjected.

Su Yu gave her a cool glance and said, "Indeed, I do not. Perhaps Commander Liu could enlighten me?"

Liu Wu realized her remark was inappropriate and playfully stuck out her tongue.

"Commander Su, I’m sorry. I’m just a twenty-year-old girl. If I say the wrong thing, please don’t take it to heart."

Su Yu was a bit speechless. ’This girl really runs her mouth. Good thing I already know what she’s like.’

Otherwise, he would have thought she was mocking him on purpose.

’But it also means she really does think that way.’

"Ahem... Let me explain," Shi Yueshan interrupted, beginning his explanation.

"It’s normal for ordinary Martial Artists not to know about the Dragon Tendon Realm, because it’s not a realm most people can come into contact with. A Martial Artist who has cultivated to Muscle Forging Realm Perfection faces two paths. One is to break through directly to the Profound Bone Realm. The other is to continue breaking through to the hidden realm, the Dragon Tendon Realm!"

Su Yu’s gaze grew more serious as he listened intently.

"However, both paths are extremely difficult. We won’t even talk about the breakthrough to the Profound Bone Realm; most Muscle Forging Realm experts might never achieve it in their lifetime. Strictly speaking, breaking through to the Dragon Tendon Realm is even harder than breaking through to the Profound Bone Realm!"

"To break through to the Dragon Tendon Realm, one must consume a special Dragon Tendon Pill and have a sufficiently strong foundation just for a sliver of a chance to break through their limits step by step!"

"The difference in strength between Martial Artists who have broken their limits is immense. To make it easier to measure, the Martial Artists of Black Stone City have unofficially divided this level into Small Dragon Tendon, Middle Dragon Tendon, and Great Dragon Tendon."

"However, these are all just labels for combat strength, not true Martial Arts Realms. Only by breaking the limits of the Jiao Tendon and completing a final transformation can one step into the legendary Dragon Tendon Realm."

"Only such a person is qualified to be called a True Dragon prodigy."

"But even those who haven’t truly broken through to the Dragon Tendon Realm have far greater combat power than someone at ordinary Jiao Tendon Realm Perfection. Take Tiemu Chuan for example—he couldn’t take three of my moves!"

Shi Yueshan said this calmly, but his gaze still rested on Su Yu.

Su Yu naturally understood his meaning. By using Tiemu Chuan as an example, he was simply telling Su Yu that the Tiemu Chuan he had defeated was not a true expert in the Inner City.

"Thank you both for the explanation. But how does this Dragon Tendon Realm compare to the Profound Bone Realm?"

Having now broken through to the Jiao Tendon Realm, Su Yu felt he could fight an expert who had just entered the Profound Bone Realm. He might even be able to defeat the weakest of them, since he had many techniques and abundant combat experience.

A trace of confidence flashed in Shi Yueshan’s eyes. "With my Middle Dragon Tendon strength, I can fight someone who has just broken through to the Profound Bone Realm. I might even be able to suppress them; you never know for sure until you fight. But even if I couldn’t win, I could still escape!"

"An expert with Great Dragon Tendon strength can suppress an ordinary Profound Bone Realm cultivator!"

"As for an expert who has truly stepped into the Dragon Tendon Realm, we call them a True Dragon prodigy! A monster like that is a true genius who can fight and defeat higher-level Profound Bone experts!"

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Su Yu’s eyes as he asked, "Are there any True Dragon prodigies in the Inner City?"

"Of course there are! The top three from the last Martial Examination were all True Dragon prodigies. Those who made it into the top ten almost all have Great Dragon Tendon combat power. As for the top twenty, even the weakest among them has reached the Middle Dragon Tendon level."

Liu Wu giggled. "And I placed sixteenth in the last Martial Examination!"

"I was fourteenth in that same Martial Examination!" Although Shi Yueshan’s expression was tense, he couldn’t hide a trace of pride.

After hearing their explanations, Su Yu had a rough idea of where he stood.

’Based on my own estimations, I can fight someone at the Profound Bone Realm, so my strength should be somewhere between Middle Dragon Tendon and Great Dragon Tendon.’

’I might even be a cut above the two of them.’

’And I haven’t even reached Jiao Tendon Realm Perfection yet. I’m relying entirely on the augmentation of my martial will. It seems there’s still a lot of room for improvement!’

"You two, for the upcoming canal patrols, please leave the Outer City to me. As for the Inner City’s levees and the Hanging Mirror Gate, those are vital points. I’ll leave them in your care."

"Commander Su, are you confident in defending the Outer City’s waterway? If you need it, I can have another one of Master Jin’s commanders support you tomorrow."

Shi Yueshan asked, his expression grave.

"Rest assured, Commander Shi. I am sufficient for the Outer City. Besides, if the Black Lotus Sect really does launch an attack, your Inner City canal is the real target!"

Seeing Su Yu so calm, Shi Yueshan, despite his many worries, nodded in agreement.

"Then I’ll be troubling you both for the next two days!"

After discussing the plan, Su Yu and Liu Wu didn’t linger and both got up to leave.

Not long after the two left, Shi Yueshan’s gaze fell upon the messy table in the room. He instantly felt his skin crawl, and his mind went blank with a buzz.

"Who! Who messed up my table!"

Just outside the door, Liu Wu, who hadn’t gone far, giggled again. She turned to look at Su Yu and said, "Commander Su, see you in a bit!"

Su Yu nodded and walked straight away.

Liu Wu watched his retreating back and giggled again.

’Just wait until that Chen Ling finds out you’re giving her bell back. She’ll eat you alive! Hehe, there’ll be a good show to watch then.’

’He’s always enjoying other people’s drama, and now he’s the star of his own!’

...

「Black Stone City. Night. Near the Hanging Mirror Gate.」

Hundreds of Black Lotus Sect disciples hid in the shadows on both banks of the Celestial Mirror River, watching the patrolling soldiers from afar with murder in their eyes.

Judging by their movements, they were clearly planning to launch a direct assault tonight!

It was unknown whether Feng Han had passed on false intelligence or if the Black Lotus Sect was simply cunning, but they had moved up their attack by a day!