Uncle Qin picked it up, didn’t look at it, and threw it to the ground. Zhao Yi wasn’t surprised. After returning home, he first announced he was secluding himself as an excuse to avoid meeting his family, and instead, he secretly spent a day organizing a river-crossing ritual for himself, lighting the lamp on his own. The river-crossing ritual didn’t need to be too grand. When Liu Yumei did it for Li Zhiyuan, she just chose a cramped little room. These things emphasize sincerity of heart, similar to making a grand vow to the Heavenly Dao. Without a dragon lantern, even lighting a candle or holding a torch would suffice. After finishing these, Zhao Yi revealed everything to his family. When the elders learned he not only initiated the river-crossing but also cut open the seam of life and death, one of them fainted from rage, and the rest cursed him fiercely. Such as unfilial descendant, worse than a beast, accursed scoundrel... Zhao Yi originally let it go in one ear and out the other; they could say whatever they wanted. Anyway, he had already lit the lamp and crossed the river, and from now on, he would need to distance himself from his family. Listening more would make for deeper memories to cherish later. But when he heard one of the uncles say they had already sent the invitation to that old lady, and she had promptly replied, Zhao Yi was utterly stunned. After initiating the river-crossing, even without the seam of life and death, his perception of cause and effect became clearer. Additionally, having read the notes from his Dragon King ancestor, he had a basic understanding of crossing the river. For others, the first wave of river-crossing was usually dealing with some demons, starting with the simplest. Why was it different for him... Most importantly, what had he done to deserve facing the legacy of two Dragon Kings in the very first wave! The Jianghu has its rules, and the Heavenly Dao has its own watchful eyes. Even in deceit and betrayal, there must be a semblance of propriety, and all sides must be able to cover it up. Like when he faced that young man, he immediately turned the tables and shouted the slogan of cleansing the family name. That young man, wanting to kill him, had to weigh if the value of doing so was worth it. Now, those old coots in his family, who should have lived as dogs, handed over a legitimate reason straight to them. Since he desecrated their door first, they could rightfully send someone to hunt him down. Moreover, the awkward thing was, his family couldn’t help him because of the causality involved in the river-crossing. Zhao Yi pulled out a dagger and said to Uncle Qin, "I have severed ties with the Jiujiang Zhao, and my name has been removed from the family register!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Yi plunged the dagger into his own thigh, stabbing it through completely. Then, gritting his teeth, he pulled out the dagger, kneeling on one knee. Uncle Qin stood there, unmoving. Zhao Yi: "I have lit the lamp and crossed the river; I will either transform into a dragon or be buried in the river!" With that, Zhao Yi clenched the dagger and stabbed it into his other thigh, again piercing it through completely. After pulling out the dagger, he crouched on the ground, blood flowing. Zhao Yi: "The Jiujiang Zhao overestimate themselves, disrespecting the Dragon King, such sin deserves punishment; but as someone once of the Jiujiang Zhao family, grateful for their nurturing and legacy, I cannot erase it from the family register. I, Zhao Yi, swear this to the Heavenly Dao here! The merits earned from my future river-crossing will be shared with the Qin and Liu Families. If one day, by the grace of heaven, I succeed in crossing the river and become acknowledged as the Dragon King, I will personally apologize at the gate and guard the door for Dragon Kings Qin and Liu for three years!" Saying this, Zhao Yi stabbed the dagger into his shoulder, creating another through-and-through wound. When pulling out the knife, he failed at first, and it took two more tries before he succeeded. Three stabs, six wounds, three knives, six holes! Zhao Yi’s face was pressed against the carpet, his body trembling. He knew martial arts, and he was even clearer that the person in front of him was not easy to fool, so he didn’t deliberately choose the least harmful spots, but went straight in with every stab. Uncle Qin said nothing, turned, and left downstairs. Mr. Tian hurriedly ran upstairs and, seeing the young master in a pool of blood, immediately wailed and ran over: "Young master, young master, why do you put yourself through this, why!" "Grandpa Tian, stop crying..." "Young master, really, what can I say to you, why go this far, why!" "Grandpa Tian, if you don’t stop my bleeding, I’m really going to die." Mr. Tian immediately snapped awake, helping him stop the bleeding and apply medicine. "Young master, is this the supposed first wave of river-crossing? How terrifying, I was guarding outside, and didn’t even detect how that person got in." "Difficult? I find it quite simple. If each wave in the future just requires me to stab myself three times to pass, your young master will really become the Dragon King, haha hiss... it hurts!" "Young master, what should we do next?" "What to do? First, find a place to heal, and recover from these injuries before the second wave hits." Zhao Yi’s gaze then sharpened, speaking in a deep voice: "Zhao Mengyao is studying at a university in Jinling, and the location chosen by that old lady’s reply is also Jinling. Now I suspect the person I encountered last time in Shizhuo Village could be... no, he is quite possibly the legacy of the Qin and Liu families." "That young man is from the Qin Liu Dragon King family?" "How could there be such coincidences in the world?" "No, this isn’t a coincidence. It was initially just something the old guys discussed orally, without my consent or approval, yet suddenly they went ahead and sent the invitation on a whim?" "They say the patriarch had a dream at night, dreaming of two true dragons flying over Jiujiang.