Chapter 246: Applying Flood Dragon

Wind Rises in Kyushu

Wind Rises in Kyushu

Deep within the mine, Lu Ye received a message from Hao Ren: "Brother Yi Ye, it's time to retreat!"

The surviving cultivators of the Qing Tian Sect had been alerted, and news must have already reached their stronghold. This location was only thirty li from the Qing Tian Sect's base. If they didn't leave now, it would be difficult to escape once the sect sent reinforcements.

Lu Ye also knew this place was not suitable for a prolonged stay, so he did not linger in battle. Led by Yi Yi, he exited through a cave opening.

The mine's exits were numerous and led in all directions, primarily to facilitate escape. Mining in the Spirit Creek Battlefield was unsafe; if there were too few entrances and exits, they could easily be blocked. Therefore, almost every sect's mine had many such openings.

This convenience allowed Lu Ye to avoid returning the way he came.

Rushing out of the mine passage, a bird-like cry immediately sounded not far away. Lu Ye picked up Amber, dropped it on the ground, and allowed it to transform into its true form. He then swung onto the tiger's back and charged in that direction.

A moment later, he rendezvoused with Hao Ren and his sister, and they fled frantically.

They had initially thought that by stirring up such a hornet's nest, they would surely be pursued. Lu Ye had already made plans: if few people came, he would fight back with Hao Ren and his sister; if many came, he would separate from them and continue to flee by activating his flying wings, drawing the enemy's attention.

The flying wings were extremely fast; usually, even a ninth-level cultivator flying with a spiritual artifact couldn't catch up.

But after fleeing for a while, there was no movement behind them at all, which greatly surprised everyone.

An hour later, the three individuals and one tiger, who had been rushing, stopped on a small hill. No pursuers came, so there was no need to flee.

Hao Ren spoke: "Brother Yi Ye, I think we misunderstood something."

"What?"

"The people from Qing Tian Sect probably won't come after us." He had just communicated with Luo Fu, and this assessment was given by Luo Fu.

"How so?"

"Look... first, a few of us killed three ninth-level cultivators, then we stormed into their mine. From Qing Tian Sect's perspective, they must think a large group of cultivators has come to harm them. Otherwise, there's no reason for so many of their people to die, and those three ninth-level cultivators didn't even have time to send a message back before they died. With such concerns, coupled with the dark and windy night, how would they dare to send out forces rashly? They're probably all holed up inside their stronghold's defensive array right now."

Lu Ye listened and realized things might indeed be as Hao Ren described.

Only they knew their own situation; Qing Tian Sect didn't. Three ninth-level cultivators guarding the mine were dead, and the mine had been breached. Qing Tian Sect would certainly be suspicious. Furthermore, with the darkness of night, they indeed wouldn't dare to launch a rash attack.

"Brother, have you gotten smarter?" Hao Qing looked at Hao Ren with a surprised expression.

Hao Ren glared at her, naturally not telling her that it was Senior Brother Luo Fu who said it.

"However, we can't let our guard down. After dawn, Qing Tian Sect will definitely send people to investigate the mine. They'll probably figure out the truth then."

One wondered what Qing Tian Sect's mood would be when they realized the mine attack wasn't by a large group, but by only a few individuals.

Aboard the large ship-shaped flying spiritual artifact, the leader, Luo Fu, ended his communication with Hao Ren, his expression unreadable.

Qing Tian Sect hadn't sent anyone in pursuit. What was the point of all this? He had brought out all the sect's forces. He couldn't just take everyone out to see the night scenery and then go back, could he? For a moment, he was utterly perplexed and frustrated.

A short while later, Lu Ye, riding Amber, and led by Hao Ren and his sister, arrived before a lake.

The night breeze swept by, the lake water rippled, and even the air seemed much clearer.

Now certain that Qing Tian Sect had not sent pursuers, the group's mood relaxed. Earlier, while killing those Qing Tian Sect cultivators in the mine, Hao Qing had gotten a lot of sticky blood on her. They primarily came here to clean up.

Lu Ye, however, didn't mind.

Hao Ren lit a bonfire, took out a large piece of beast meat from his storage bag, and set it over the fire to roast. Judging by his technique, he was clearly skilled in this.

Lu Ye looked up towards the distance, where Hao Qing stood by the water's edge, muttering something unclear. Then she suddenly threw a large object into the lake, which splashed with a loud thud, sending water everywhere.

As if noticing Lu Ye's confusion, Hao Ren explained: "It's said there's an Ying Jiao in this lake; it likes blood offerings, but it usually doesn't harm people. So, cultivators who come here for water or rest just need to throw some bloody food into the lake."

"An Ying Jiao?"

"I haven't seen it either. It's probably just a very long, large snake."

Lu Ye and Amber simultaneously thought of tender, white snake meat, and their stomachs rumbled with hunger.

Hao Ren chuckled: "There are legends everywhere in the Spirit Creek Battlefield, who knows if they're true or false? Anyway, as far as I know, no one has ever seen that 'Ying Jiao'. It's probably just a baseless rumor."

A moment later, Hao Qing returned clean, her hair dripping wet. The beast meat was also roasted, and the group shared it.

Having been busy for most of the night and having fought a major battle earlier, they were naturally quite tired. Lu Ye and the Hao Ren siblings sat in meditation to rest, while Yi Yi was in charge of keeping watch.

During his cultivation, Lu Ye checked the condition of his spiritual apertures. More than half a month ago, he had already opened 135 apertures. Now, he only needed to open one more to reach 144 apertures, and at that point, he would be at the eighth level of cultivation.

Higher cultivation wasn't necessarily always a good thing. For example, when he killed Yuan Guang, he gained 27 merit points. But if he had been at the eighth level when he killed Yuan Guang, he would have only gotten 18 points.

This was one of the reasons he came to the inner circle without waiting to advance to the eighth level. His seventh-level cultivation might have been a bit lower, but the merit points gained from defeating enemies of a higher cultivation level were truly substantial.

Lu Ye then took out the storage bags he had confiscated earlier to open them. Opening storage bags was usually quite challenging, but thanks to Madam Yun's guidance, his lock-picking skills were improving daily, allowing him to open one without much time.

While he was busy, Amber, whose body had shrunk, jumped onto his lap and nudged his stomach with its head.

Usually, when Amber acted this way, it was only for one thing.

Lu Ye understood instinctively. He took out the scale armor, and Amber leaned in and took a fierce gulp, absorbing a visible blood-red streak.

As always, Amber stiffly collapsed, its body glowing faintly red, shimmering against its natural golden demonic energy.

Ever since obtaining this scale armor from the Dragon Spring in Hundred Peaks Mountain, Amber would periodically take a gulp from it. Lu Ye also kept it in a Spirit Gathering Array during his cultivation. Yet, after such a long time, the blood energy within the scale armor had not diminished much.

This showed the richness of the vital blood contained within.

Second Senior Sister Shui Yuan had once studied this scale armor but couldn't identify what it was. She only guessed that some secret must be hidden beneath the Dragon Spring.

Lu Ye planned to return to the Dragon Spring once his cultivation was strong enough to investigate. He particularly remembered that when he underwent body tempering in the Dragon Spring, two blood-red, massive pupils had suddenly appeared in his mind.

Putting away the scale armor, Lu Ye continued to unlock the seals on the storage bags.

On the lake surface, a ripple appeared out of nowhere, followed by layer after layer of ripples spreading silently outwards. In a short time, the ripples became dense and countless. A moment later, a single horn emerged from the water, and a dark shadow moved beneath the surface, as if some colossal creature was swimming by.

"Lu Ye!"

Yi Yi, who was keeping watch, called out softly.

Lu Ye heard the unusual tone in her voice and quickly looked up to survey his surroundings. With just one glance, he met two glowing green eyes. Vertical pupils were visible in those eyes, each eye the size of a washbasin, and extremely noticeable even in the pitch-black night.

Meeting those eyes, Lu Ye immediately felt an immense sense of dread and danger.

Looking closer, he could vaguely discern some features of the eyes' owner: a massive snake head with a fleshy horn growing on it. Its body was covered in dense snake scales. On either side of its belly, there were faint protrusions, as if something was about to grow out from within.

He couldn't tell how long it was because most of its body was submerged. But its body was at least as thick as a large water vat.

Their eyes met, and Lu Ye didn't dare to move for a moment. He could sense that this creature before him was probably on the same level as Little Ash from their own stronghold. Both had reached the maximum capacity the Spirit Creek Battlefield could accommodate. Even if powerful individuals like Feng Yuechan and Li Baxian came to challenge them one-on-one, they wouldn't be able to win.

Fortunately, after the large snake appeared, it didn't immediately attack. Its two massive eyes simply stared at Lu Ye.

Lu Ye didn't know why it was staring at him.

"Brother Hao, Brother Hao!"

Lu Ye called out softly.

Hao Ren, unaware of what had happened, responded to the call, "What's wrong?"

"What was that thing you said was in this lake earlier?"

"An... Ying Jiao!" Hao Ren suddenly cried out in fright because he had also seen the massive pair of eyes. Hao Qing, standing nearby, was startled.

His reaction was swift. He quickly pressed down on Hao Qing, who was about to jump up. As a result, Hao Qing remained in an odd posture, kneeling on one knee with her body hunched.

Cold sweat slowly trickled down their foreheads, and the atmosphere grew tense.

None of them dared to move recklessly, as they all sensed that this Ying Jiao was not to be trifled with. If any inappropriate action angered it, they might not see tomorrow's sun.

"Brother Hao, didn't you say this thing was just a rumor?"

Hao Ren had just mentioned to him that there was an Ying Jiao in the lake, and now they saw it. Lu Ye didn't know whether to feel honored or unlucky.

Hao Ren's voice trembled: "I've never seen it either! My sister and I have been here several times, and it's never appeared before."

"Think of something. Why is it constantly staring at me?"

"Yes, let's think of something." Hao Ren took a few deep breaths, calming his panic. "That's right, it likes blood offerings. Everyone, don't move recklessly. I'll get it something to eat. Maybe it's hungry."

As he spoke, Hao Ren slowly stood up.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye's attention was focused to the extreme, ready to soar into the sky immediately if the Ying Jiao showed any unusual behavior.

He didn't flee immediately upon seeing the Ying Jiao, mainly because he was afraid of enraging it, which would lead to a bad outcome for Hao Ren and his sister.

But if this Ying Jiao truly harbored malicious intent towards them, he would have no choice but to fly away and escape.