A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

Song Jin'ao arrived at an empty room behind the drill ground and met the county magistrate Liu Jie, whose face was grave.

"Brother Liu, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing Liu Jie's pale face, Song Jin'ao couldn't help but ask him. Liu Jie looked at Song Jin'ao and said, "Brother Song, things have changed!"

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao's expression changed slightly: "What's wrong?"

Liu Jie took a deep breath and said, "The day before yesterday, during the morning court session, my colleagues, instigated by the Imperial Tutor Weng Tonghe, submitted a memorial to the Empress Dowager, demanding that power be returned to His Majesty. The Empress Dowager was furious, declaring that Western learning was unacceptable and the ancestral laws could not be abolished!"

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao's face turned extremely grim. He asked, "Are the officials in the court still safe?"

Liu Jie said, "It's safe, though. The Empress Dowager doesn't want to break off relations yet, so she only reprimanded us without taking any real action. However, this serves as a warning to our colleagues."

"Our plan must be accelerated. I just received a letter from Brother Sitong, urging us to pass the martial arts examination, establish a martial arts school in Tianjin as soon as possible, and win over local gentry and江湖人士 (jianghu figures) for support. We cannot afford to fail!"

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao said, "Three of my disciples have made it to the finals today, so there shouldn't be any problem."

Liu Jie said, "We must not let our guard down. This is the most dangerous time for us. We cannot afford to make any mistakes. The heavy responsibility of the nation rests on Brother Song's shoulders."

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao clasped his hands and said, "To sacrifice oneself for the country in times of crisis is to regard death as returning home. Brother Liu, rest assured, with me here, nothing will go wrong!"

The two men clasped their hands in a fist salute, their eyes filled with determination.

Only reform can save China!

With a heavy heart, Song Jin'ao returned to his courtyard, where food and wine were already laid out.

Looking at the courtyard full of disciples, Song Jin'ao felt much more at ease. He decided to stop thinking about anything else and focus on passing the martial arts exam first.

Everyone sat down, clinking glasses and exchanging toasts. After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Song Jin'ao said, "The finals are in two days. This is of utmost importance. We must secure a top-four spot; we cannot afford to lose."

After saying this, Song Jin'ao looked at Li Ziping and said, "Ziping, your senior and junior brothers are all at the Ming Jin level. It's already quite an achievement that they made it to the finals. So, the hope of advancing rests on your shoulders. Are you up to it?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ziping picked up his wine cup and said, "Master, don't worry, let alone the top four, I will do my best to win the Martial Arts Championship for you."

The title of "Martial Arts Champion" is the top scorer in this year's martial arts examination. This title is far more prestigious than that of "Martial Arts Scholar." It is different in terms of both future prospects and recognition in the martial arts world.

If Li Ziping can truly win the martial arts championship, it will be a huge help to Song Jin'ao. You have to understand that a martial arts school that produces martial arts scholars is incomparable to a martial arts school whose disciples have won the martial arts championship, in terms of influence and other aspects.

Upon hearing this, Song Jin'ao looked at Li Ziping and said, "Alright, Master is waiting for your martial arts championship!"

Chen Shouyi also raised his glass and said, "Then let's wish Junior Brother Ziping all the best in achieving the highest rank in martial arts!"

Everyone raised their glasses, and Zheng Xuan also raised his glass in celebration. Although he had shone brightly in the examination hall today, his strength was ultimately only at the Ming Jin level. The gap in realm could not be easily bridged.

After everyone had been drinking for a while, Zheng Xuan suggested that he should go home.

Everyone knew that Zheng Xuan had a beautiful wife, so they tried to persuade him to stay, but when they saw that he was determined not to, they didn't force him to stay. Zheng Xuan took advantage of the fact that the city gate was not closed and left the city.

After leaving the city, as night fell, Zheng Xuan arrived at the Haihe River. Walking along the riverbank, slightly drunk, he looked at the bright moon shining on the river and suddenly stopped. Then, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, he plunged into the water.

He then began to practice visualizing the River God image in his meditation.

The full moon hangs high, casting a lonely, cold shadow; the river is ten thousand feet deep, its waves ceaseless, its flow unimpeded—this is the River God.

Zheng Xuan churned and surged in the Haihe River, and finally, at a certain moment, his movements paused. The next moment, his whole body relaxed, and he directly entered a higher realm.

Corpse Retriever Sequence Eight: Water Patrolman!

After consuming the Ice Heart Lotus Root for nine months, Zheng Xuan, under the influence of alcohol, broke through to the long-awaited Sequence Eight, Water Patrol Envoy, on this full moon night!

The advancement in the corpse retriever ranking directly affected Zheng Xuan, increasing his swimming ability by one level and making him even more attuned to water.

Of course, none of these are the most important things. The most important thing is that the Corpse Retriever Sequence 8 provides a skill called [Other Shore Advancement].

This skill is an advanced supplement to Zheng Xuan's Sequence 9 [Drowning Soul Control]. There are two points: first, it can advance the most vulnerable ninth-order drowned soul to an eighth-order wandering soul; second, the number of drowned souls that Zheng Xuan can control has increased from one to three.

Drowned Soul, the ninth rank is the lowest level of Drowned Soul, with limited abilities and difficulty in affecting the physical level.

The eighth rank is different; it can be upgraded to a wandering soul. First, the soul body is more solid, second, the ghost's spiritual perception is more than doubled, and it can already use water power to affect physical objects.

Thinking this, Zheng Xuan summoned Erdan over. Looking at Erdan's thin body and weak soul, Zheng Xuan immediately activated his ability [Other Shore Advancement].

The next moment, Erdan's weak soul body began to solidify and grow stronger. When the advancement was completed, Erdan was a head taller and his soul body was even more solidified.

Erdan exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Zheng, I feel like my whole body is full of power, and I can fight for you now!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan looked at Erdan and asked, "How will you help me?"

Upon hearing this, Erdan said to Zheng Xuan, "Big brother, you go swim."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan immediately began to swim, and Erdan came directly beneath Zheng Xuan. The next moment, Zheng Xuan felt a force suddenly appear on his body, pushing him forward and greatly increasing his speed.

He doesn't even need to exert any effort; Erdan can carry him and swim in the water.

Moreover, if Zheng Xuan wanted to accelerate, Erdan could simply push him, and Zheng Xuan would be able to leap a distance as if he were on land, using the reaction force.

What excited Zheng Xuan even more was that Erdan told him, "My spiritual sense has greatly improved. I can even vaguely sense the location of the spirit fish in the water."

The spirit fish—Zheng Xuan could never forget it. The main reason why the Bagua Sect had so many Dark Force martial artists was that Gong Ying had asked the leader of the Fishing Gang to catch several spirit fish to help the disciples advance in their cultivation. He himself had been searching for the spirit fish for several months, but without any success.

Today, the Corpse Retrievers' Sequence advanced, and Erdan advanced to the eighth rank. His spiritual sense improved, making it possible to find the spirit fish. If he can find the spirit fish within the next two days, wouldn't he have a chance to enter the eighth rank of martial artist and reach the Dark Force level?

Once he reached the Dark Force realm, he would have a chance to take the martial arts examination, and might even make it into the top four. Thinking of this, Zheng Xuan looked at Erdan and said, "Erdan, go find that damned spirit fish for me!"

"yes!"

Erdan received the order and immediately swam away to find the spirit fish.