Unsheathed

The river had never been assigned a river god, so it was indeed plausible that there was a black flood dragon lurking in its depths, but she was unconvinced that a flood dragon alone could pose such a potent threat to the capital.

Ultimately, she couldn't help but lament her own misfortune. She was able to embark on the path of cultivation by herself thanks to a book left behind by some powerful cultivator, but she had never received the guidance of a proper master.

Hence, her immortal abilities were rather lackluster. If she had been a more competent cultivator, then she would've easily been able to derive a concrete conclusion on whether it was a good idea to go on this trip.

The young boy flashed a toothy grin.

He had heard that his aunt was an extraordinary person. It was said that during the tenth month of his grandmother's pregnancy, she had a dream that a deity had entered her room with an infant in his arms before personally handing the infant to her. It was immediately after this that his aunt was born.

She was exceptionally smart and talented at a young age, excelling in musical instruments, Go, and calligraphy. In her formative years, a traveling cultivator had passed by their clan and bestowed upon her three golden hairpins and a garment by the name of Bamboo Robe, telling her that she was blessed by the hands of fate. After that, she had grown into a stunning young woman renowned far and wide for her exceptional beauty.

However, finding a marriage partner for her had proven very difficult. Her father had previously arranged two marriage partners for her, the first of whom was the Tanhua of the imperial examination.[1] They were on the verge of marriage when the Tanhua in question was caught up in an imperial examinator bribery case.

In the wake of that incident, her father didn't dare to look for another scholar for her. Instead, he sought out a handsome young martial artist. Once again, they were on the cusp of marriage when a terrible calamity befell the young martial artist's clan. Disillusioned and heartbroken, the young man left the Five Mountain Nation, and he had since made a name for himself in the Orchid Residence and Green Shrine Nations.

Even to this day, he remained unmarried, and it was said that he still longed for his marriage partner that could've been.

His aunt was already over thirty years of age, but she was still just as stunning and beautiful as a celestial maiden that had walked straight out of a mural.

She had always been very reclusive and insistent on keeping a low profile. Even when she went out to offer up incense in the temples and monasteries, she made sure to avoid the most popular days of worship. Other than that, she only ever met with a small handful of close friends. Otherwise, the boy firmly believed that even despite her age, there would be countless outstanding young bachelors pining for her hand in marriage.

Just like his sister, the boy was also really looking forward to traveling to the capital of the Great Seal Script Empire, but for his own reasons. Prior to each edition of the Go tournament, the Great Seal Script Empire would release two lists, namely for the top ten martial artists and top four beautiful women.