Chapter 1003: The Hypocritical Huangfu Rong

Over half a year ago, ten members of the Sea Race besieged Golden Scorpion Island. Five of them pursued a human female cultivator, but she managed to escape instead. The pursuing Sea Race members claimed she possessed a third-order flood dragon with an incredibly fast escape speed. After this incident became known, the Demon Race frequently mocked the Sea Race.

The high-ranking members of the Sea Race issued an order: the next time they encountered this human female cultivator, they must kill her and use her corpse to defend the honor of the Sea Race.

Wang Qingling rolled her eyes at the middle-aged man and retorted impatiently, "With just you? Xiao Bai happens to need healing, and you're just offering yourself up. Xiao Bai, don't be polite; eat him." The Icewind Flood Dragon shook its head and tail, then pounced on the middle-aged man.

Wang Qingling released her Earth Dragon Earthworm. The Earth Dragon Earthworm burrowed underground, causing an earthen mound to rise from the ground and circle around Wang Qingling. The area for several miles around rapidly transformed into a vast yellow desert.

Just then, a green escape light also arrived above the small island, revealing itself to be a massive green peacock and a young man in green robes with a face like white jade. The young man in green robes was tall and slender, with a white jade belt around his waist, looking every bit a dashing noble. There were several horrifying bloody gashes on his back, revealing glimpses of bone, and his aura was weak. He possessed a cultivation level at the seventh layer of the Core Formation stage, but he was severely injured at this moment. Behind Huangfu Rong, two black escape lights followed.

Huangfu Rong was somewhat surprised to see Wang Qingling and the Icewind Flood Dragon, as few people could subdue a third-order flood dragon as a spirit beast. He didn't know that the Icewind Flood Dragon had evolved from an Icewind Python, making it even more powerful than ordinary flood dragons. Huangfu Rong looked hesitant. If he hadn't been severely injured, he would have been willing to join Wang Qingling in fighting the Sea Race. However, he was now severely injured, and his spirit beast had also sustained minor injuries. If they fought to the death, he had little confidence in winning.

Judging by the Sea Race's tone, they utterly loathed Wang Qingling. If he abandoned her and fled, he might survive. The Huangfu family was one of the ten great families of the South Sea, known for its strict discipline. From childhood, Huangfu Rong had been taught that if a fellow clan member was in trouble, they must be rescued. However, if a cultivator from another family was in trouble, it depended on the situation – it was often better for someone else to die than for oneself. If he left Wang Qingling and fled, putting aside whether he could escape the danger, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

"Hurry down!" Wang Qingling's impatient voice rang in his ear. "Let's escape through the ground. The Sea Race excels at water evasion techniques. If you don't want to die, hurry down. What are you dawdling for?"

Seeing that Huangfu Rong hadn't descended or made a move, Wang Qingling guessed his thoughts: he was likely thinking of "better someone else dies than me," wanting to escape and have her help him hold back the two Sea Race members. It was a case of kindness being unappreciated. Regardless, Wang Qingling had offered her assistance, yet Huangfu Rong actually intended to abandon her and flee. Indeed, it was hard to know what was truly in someone's heart. Spirit beasts were better; they weren't so devious. If you treated them well, they treated you well in return.

Hearing this, Huangfu Rong hesitated briefly, then patted the green peacock beneath him, and the green peacock swiftly descended towards the ground.

A deafening roar sounded as a thick beam of black light shot forth, instantly appearing behind Huangfu Rong, about to pierce through his body. High in the sky, a hazy green eagle claw suddenly appeared, viciously clawing towards Huangfu Rong's skull. The red octopus and golden shark were not idle either, each releasing crimson flames and golden lightning, striking towards Huangfu Rong. These attacks reached Huangfu Rong instantly, terrifying him beyond belief. With a thought, his body suddenly glowed with dazzling golden light. Countless golden runes flew out from him, revolving ceaselessly around him, transforming into a thick golden light screen that protected his entire body. He flicked his sleeve again, and a shimmering green shield shot out, instantly expanding and revolving ceaselessly around him. Upon closer inspection, one could find over a dozen tiny cracks on the surface of the green shield, but they were quite small and wouldn't be noticed without careful observation. Strong winds arose from all directions, and countless yellow grains of sand flew up, transforming into a yellow high wall, tens of zhang tall and about a zhang thick, blocking Huangfu Rong.

RUMBLE!

The yellow high wall was shattered to pieces, sending dust flying everywhere.

The Icewind Flood Dragon let out a long roar heavenward, opened its gaping maw, and unleashed a large volley of crystal-clear white ice cones, overwhelmingly striking towards the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man quickly summoned five shimmering red flying knives, shattering the incoming white ice cones. The Icewind Flood Dragon shook its head and tail, then plunged into the seawater.

"Oh no, they're escaping underground!" The middle-aged man's expression changed dramatically, and he said with a frown. By this time, the dust had cleared, and Wang Qingling and Huangfu Rong had vanished. The two Sea Race members quickly dived to the seabed, only to find that the Icewind Flood Dragon had disappeared.

Beneath the small island, Wang Qingling and Huangfu Rong sat on the Earth Dragon Earthworm, rapidly moving deeper underground. An earthen-yellow light barrier enveloped the two of them, and Huangfu Rong's face was full of shame.

"I am Huangfu Rong," he said politely, cupping his fist to Wang Qingling, "May I ask for the Immortaless's name?"

"Wang Qingling," she replied. "As a disciple of the Huangfu family, why were you attacked by the Sea Race?" Wang Qingling asked curiously. Had Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan participated in this great war, Wang Qingling and her two companions would not have been sent to support Golden Scorpion Island; they would certainly have acted alongside Wang Changsheng and his wife.

Huangfu Rong gave a bitter smile and replied, "There were traitors; the front line collapsed, and the Demon Race invaded Repel Demon City. We scattered to flee for our lives. If Immortaless Wang hadn't rescued me, I probably wouldn't have had a chance to survive." The Demon Race, Sea Race, and Barbarian Race had joined forces, driving large numbers of demon beasts to attack human cultivators. Huangfu Rong's vital magic treasure was damaged, and he himself was severely wounded. Had he not met Wang Qingling, he probably would have been eaten by demon beasts.

"What? Repel Demon City has fallen?" Wang Qingling asked in surprise, "It's only been half a year; has the Fire Pig Sea Region also fallen?"

Huangfu Rong nodded solemnly and said, "That's right. We can only retreat to the rear. The Fire Pig Sea Region is now dominated by the Demon Race, Sea Race, and Barbarian Race. It's better to escape by burrowing underground; escaping through the sky makes it easy to encounter the Demon Race and Sea Race."

Wang Qingling sighed and said, "This is the only way then. Fortunately, I raised an Earth Dragon Earthworm, otherwise, we wouldn't even be able to escape."

The Earth Dragon Earthworm ranked thirtieth on the Heavenly and Earthly Spirit Worm List. It possessed the bloodline of an earth-attribute true dragon and was highly skilled in earth evasion techniques. Even Core Formation cultivators practicing earth-element cultivation methods might not be able to burrow deeper or faster than the Earth Dragon Earthworm.

"I am deeply grateful for Immortaless Wang's life-saving grace," Huangfu Rong said sincerely. "Once we reach a safe place, I will certainly repay you generously."

Wang Qingling pursed her lips. Huangfu Rong had just wanted to abandon her and flee! She hadn't forgotten, but she didn't bring up what had just happened, as arguing with Huangfu Rong now would be useless. She told the Earth Dragon Earthworm to speed up its escape.

The Earth Dragon Earthworm let out a strange cry, its body glowed intensely with yellow light, and its escape speed more than doubled. Not long after, the two individuals and the creature disappeared into the ground.