Chapter 145: The Old Demon Battles the Ancient Fiend

Legend has it that the flood dragon is the offspring of a blue luan and a massive python, possessing the ability to stir up winds and summon rain. Its descent into the world invariably brings cataclysmic floods. True to this myth, as the earth shook and mountains trembled, countless gaping fissures split open across the valley. Dozens upon dozens of surging water spouts roared into the sky, threatening to submerge the entire foothills of Mount Nanbian. When this millenary flood dragon broke free from its seal, it had long since shattered the subterranean water veins. Fortunately, it had not yet fully escaped its confinement; otherwise, had the valley collapsed, the deluge would have cascaded thousands of miles, rampaging east and west to swallow the cities and villages along both banks.

The old fiend of Dongxuan harbored vicious and ruthless intentions. Although he had fallen into a trap and realized the situation was perilous, having lost the initiative, he sought to strike first. From the dark clouds, seven or eight clusters of green starlight suddenly plummeted, each the size of a rice bowl, numbering seventy or eighty per cluster. Verdant and sparkling, resembling starlight lamps, they flickered with a hazy aura. The moment they touched a target, fierce green flames instantly surged, sweeping across the heavens and earth to envelop the hundred-foot-long dragon body. Although the old flood dragon had lost its consciousness, it still emitted a mournful howl, and the ripples in the water became chaotic.

This green fire was known as the Profound Yin Illusion-Reality Demonic Flame. It had been given as advance payment back then by the True Man of Five Desires when he invited the Patriarch of Dongyin to jointly refine the Lesser Sumeru Immortal-Trapping Cable. Originally one of the thirteen great divine abilities in the *Profound Yin True Scripture*, the Innate Profound Yin Cold Flame ranked among the top three in sheer might. Once successfully refined, it became the utmost yin and freezing substance in the world, impervious to any magical treasure. However, since the divine fire was extremely difficult to form, the Dongxuan Old Fiend took a shortcut by blending the seeds of the Fivefold True Fire and the Blood Spirit Flame into it, forging a unique and specialized spell. This demonic flame could transition between extreme cold and scorching heat, igniting upon contact. Although lacking the absolute dominance of the Innate Profound Yin Cold Flame, its utility surpassed it. It was his ultimate trump card, a technique he deemed too precious even to pass down to his disciples. With just this single move, he intended to annihilate the flood dragon.

Yet, the old flood dragon was, after all, a colossal beast and arch-fiend that was merely half a step away from surviving the dragon-ascension tribulation. Its serpentine body was remarkably sturdy. Though its thick scales and massive armor burned away layer by layer, they continuously regenerated, allowing it to cope, however barely. Nevertheless, this consumed a tremendous amount of vital essence, and the demonic flame clung to it like marrow-eating maggots, utterly impossible to shake off. If this continued, even with the profound primordial energy stored within its body, it would likely fail to endure. Although its sentience had been blasted away by heavenly lightning, it retained its innate instincts. With a single lash of its elongated body, the entire cavern wall trembled violently, and boundless spiritual water energy surged tumultuously from the subterranean water veins. As the leader of scaly creatures, the dragon naturally possessed extraordinary innate endowments. With this single movement alone, it summoned the spiritual qi of the entire water vein, enveloping its entire dragon body. A continuous hiss echoed; though quantity could not surpass quality, it nonetheless suppressed the ferocious might of the demonic flame.

Opening its jaws, it spewed thousands of Bingze heavenly lightning bolts, vaguely forming an array. This was the flood dragon's innate ability. Normally, upon surviving the lightning tribulation, it could have advanced further by weaving the divine lightning into a net, forging the Bingze Primordial Breath Divine Lightning Net. Beyond that lay the surging tides of the lightning marsh, capable of splitting mountains and shattering seas. Yet, lacking sentience, the old flood dragon relied solely on instinct to absorb the essence of the sun and moon, ignorant of how to cultivate spellcraft; otherwise, its power would have doubled, and the Patriarch of Dongyin would not have had such an easy time. The dark cloud and the hundred-foot-long body remained entangled, occasionally erupting with fiery rage and lightning radiance, causing the rocks of Mount Nanbian to collapse and triggering continuous earthquakes.

On the other side, apart from Yu Xiao, who was still utilizing the Kui Water Qi-Gathering Array to seal the spring eye, the other three had already engaged the Dongxuan disciples who were sealing the mountain, intending to first prune the old fiend's wings. Lu Yurong's Exquisite Immortal Sword transformed into a dozen-zhang-long sword light, sweeping back and forth. Single-handedly, she held off the four most proficient cultivators among the disciples. This Senior Brother Bai was one of them; the God-Hooking Divine Pillar in his hand constantly emitted Goulie divine light, which was adept at attracting and capturing metallic objects. However, the Exquisite Immortal Sword was forged from immortal jade and remained largely unaffected. As her sword light swiveled, the woman waved her hand, and out of thin air, several Taiyi Divine Sword Nets materialized, enveloping several of them like a fisherman casting a net. The Taiyi sword Qi was piercingly sharp; the four ghostly soldiers in front of one disciple holding an alms bowl were instantly sliced into countless fragments. A wisp of subtle sword Qi grazed across his waist, and in a fraction of a second, his body was cleaved in twain, dead beyond a doubt, demonstrating the terrifying prowess of refining sword light into threads. Seeing this, another disciple panicked and hastily released five flying swords to protect his body. Regrettably, his sword light was impure, gleaming in mottled shades of cyan and crimson. When the Exquisite sword light slashed down with full force, it shattered three of the swords in succession, and then, with an exceptionally ingenious shift—

The sword light transformed into a blue luan with long feathers and white claws, spreading its wings for tens of zhang. It emitted a clear cry akin to immortal music, yet that disciple suddenly felt the Dongyin true qi inside his body surge erratically, refusing to obey him in the slightest. Before he could even ponder, he saw the divine bird flash past right in front of him, clutching a heart in its beak. His vision went black, and he plummeted downward. The bird's cry was actually the sound of the sword itself, representing the technique of materializing sound through sword Qi within the Emei sword formulas. Eliminating two foes in the blink of an eye—this was the true capability of the Emei sword immortals. Ever since the founding patriarch, Master Ren Shou, carved out an unconventional path—forsaking the cultivation of the nascent soul and instead harnessing the fierce and baleful energies of heaven and earth to forge the inner elixir sword-pill—the might of their sword Qi had increased exponentially, possessing unrivaled sharpness. Unless one's cultivation surpassed that of the Emei members or one possessed formidable magical treasures, matching them was exceedingly difficult.

As for Senior Brother Bai's God-Hooking Divine Pillar, it was an exotic treasure. Though seven or eight deep gouges had been hacked into its surface, it could still barely fend off the attacks. Another disciple, known as Du Heng the Heavenly Demon Cable, was the Patriarch of Dongyin's senior-most disciple. Utterly loyal and possessed of the highest cultivation among them, he had been taught several formidable spells. This Heavenly Demon Cable was also a Tier-Gang spiritual treasure, allowing him to narrowly survive.

It was only at this moment that Lu Yurong revealed her form, standing suspended in mid-air with the Exquisite Sword in hand, exuding a striking heroism. Brimming with righteous zeal, Du Heng still wished to rescue his master. He tossed the Heavenly Demon Cable upward, and amidst a rattling din, it expanded dozens of times over, transforming into an iron prison to trap her, shouting aloud, "Junior Brother Bai, I shall temporarily trap this woman! You go and rescue Master!"

Who would have thought that while this Senior Brother Bai shouted his assent in response, he merely feinted and bolted outward. This Bai Yu was naturally cowardly and devoid of loyalty; seeing that the situation was dire, he intended to abandon his master and flee. Having flown halfway, a sudden sense of alarm gripped his heart, and he hurriedly unleashed his treasured God-Hooking Divine Pillar, wrapping himself in demonic aura and precious light. A streak of white sword light struck the God-Hooking Divine Pillar with a crisp chime, missing his life by a mere hair's breadth. Cold sweat poured down Bai Yu in shock as he hurriedly scanned his surroundings, only to find empty air. Concluding that the enemy must possess an invisibility treasure, he continually pinched incantations, instantly summoning seven or eight resentful and ferocious wraiths with distorted visages and incessant wails to scout the vicinity.

Decisively, the white sword light split into ten Taiqing sword qi rays, shooting toward those ghostly entities and instantly piercing clean through four of them. Taiqing sword qi was the ultimate pure energy of heaven and earth, peerless in subduing filth. Those ghosts slowly crumbled into powder from their wounds and dissipated into the air. Meanwhile, the white sword light wove a tight and rigorous offensive web all around Bai Yu, wave after wave of sword radiance rolling forward like a mighty river tide. Senior Brother Bai swung the God-Hooking Divine Pillar frantically up, down, left, and right, the Goulie divine light flashing without a moment's respite. Rarely able to catch anything, even when it occasionally struck home, it merely caused the sword light to shudder slightly. Zhou Qian, remaining vigilant, hurriedly split the blade into several illusory shadows to confuse him, keeping himself out of harm's way.

It was also Bai Yu's misfortune that the two immortal implements he happened to encounter were neither made of metal nor iron: one was exquisite immortal jade, and the other was millenary willow wood. Neither was subject to metal-suppressing effects; otherwise, given the uncanny nature of the Goulie divine light, it could have stirred up quite a massive trouble.

As the old saying goes, prolonged offense breeds fatigue, and prolonged defense ends in defeat. Having failed to find a countermeasure, Bai Yu remained pinned down. Zhou Qian, rarely having the opportunity to practice sword-control techniques in actual combat, achieved a sudden flash of insight while his mind and sword merged as one. Faintly grasping certain ethereal laws, his sword light expanded and contracted, slipping through a minuscule gap between the precious light and the demonic aura at an exceptionally ingenious angle. Transforming into a white glare three to four zhang long, he pressed the attack overwhelmingly, churning Bai Yu into mincemeat. Unawares, Zhou Qian had actually comprehended the principle of sword-light extension and contraction, leaving him merely half a step away from true sword-flight.

This maneuver also heavily drained his magical power. Zhou Qian's face paled, rendering him incapable of even driving the Invisibility Banner. He revealed his form, recalled his flying sword to encircle the God-Hooking Divine Pillar, and descended. Grasping the pillar in his hand and probing its interior, he sensed that this was indeed an exotic treasure. It seemed devoid of formal restrictions, yet the peculiar textures and fissures within formed an array of their own, as if naturally sculpted by heaven and earth. Testing it out, he found its operation exceedingly simple: the mere infusion of magical power spontaneously generated a golden radiance, which was thoroughly profound.

As for Xiang Xiaohuy and He Xiaoshu, they had likewise turned the remaining disciples of lesser cultivation upside down with a terrible slaughter, laying bare the vast disparity between orthodox major sects and heterodox factions. In terms of foundation and mastery, the two sides were worlds apart. Take Senior Brother Bai, for instance: while his magical power was several times greater than Zhou Qian's, he possessed only a single treasure—the God-Hooking Divine Pillar—along with a couple of crude soul-summoning tricks, utterly devoid of any true divine abilities. He was simply no match for them. On the banks of the Xiang River that day, the two Emei women had likely just disdained to kill him.