Chapter 3152

He would dare to fight an ordinary seventh-level demonic beast, but a seventh-level flood dragon was truly beyond his capabilities. He glanced at True Monarch Hunyuan, wanting an explanation.

"So many years have passed, it's possible the restrictions have been broken," True Monarch Hunyuan explained. "If a seventh-level demonic beast forcefully attacked the restrictions, no matter how strong their defenses were, the spirit stones used to maintain them would run out of spiritual energy, rendering the restrictions useless. Perhaps the restrictions are still there, but a seventh-level flood dragon has occupied this place as its lair."

Tens of thousands of years had passed; anything was possible, and no one could be certain.

"That's certainly possible," Bai Yuqi analyzed. "If it's a seventh-level flood dragon, ordinary treasures would struggle to contain it."

Even if they wanted to use their previous tactics, employing treasures and formations to trap the seventh-level flood dragon, they would be in trouble if there were still restrictions they hadn't broken, and the flood dragon managed to escape. If someone had to lure the flood dragon, only Wang Mengbin could do it. Anyone else wouldn't be able to escape far. If there was an ambush, Wang Mengbin would be in serious trouble. They were in a dilemma; any choice carried risks.

"Not necessarily," True Monarch Hunyuan offered his opinion. "Perhaps it's a sixth-level flood dragon. How could a seventh-level flood dragon be so common?"

"I'll go set up a two-way teleportation formation!" Bai Yuqi suggested. "That way, if it truly is a seventh-level flood dragon, we'll have an easier escape." Even teleporting over ten miles and then using other restrictions would give them a certain chance of shaking off a seventh-level flood dragon.

Wang Mengbin nodded, and they retraced their steps. Bai Yuqi and the other three went to set up the formations, while Wang Mengbin remained with True Monarch Hunyuan. They spent three days setting up multiple sets of sixth-level formations, including the two-way teleportation formation. Once the formations were ready, the six of them gathered.

"You'll come with me," Wang Mengbin instructed. "We'll go into the valley together."

"Are you kidding?" True Monarch Hunyuan scoffed. "With my current cultivation level, if we encounter a seventh-level flood dragon, you can escape, but I can't." True Monarch Hunyuan's face darkened. He was currently at the Soul Transformation stage, utterly defenseless against a seventh-level flood dragon. Wang Mengbin, on the other hand, was a lightning cultivator who could easily use lightning escape techniques to flee.

"Do you have the right to refuse?" Wang Mengbin said coldly. "I never swore not to kill you."

"I'll go, but only if you give me a seventh-level escape talisman, or at least a sixth-level one," True Monarch Hunyuan stated firmly, looking as if he was prepared to die. "Otherwise, just kill me now!"

Wang Mengbin nodded and took out a shimmering silver talisman and a pale golden talisman. Runes flickered across their surfaces, exuding astonishing spiritual energy. He handed them to True Monarch Hunyuan.

"These are our Wang family's unique secret talismans, the Seven-Star Spirit Escape Talismans," Wang Mengbin said gravely. "They are single-use items. If there's a seventh-level flood dragon, I will hold it off for a moment, and you use the Seven-Star Spirit Escape Talismans to get away. I warn you, don't try any tricks, or you will die a miserable death."

What he gave was not the Seven-Star Spirit Escape Talisman at all, but rather the Seven-Star Spirit Control Talisman. He didn't trust True Monarch Hunyuan; if a seventh-level flood dragon truly appeared, True Monarch Hunyuan's death wouldn't matter.

True Monarch Hunyuan gleefully accepted the Seven-Star Spirit Control Talisman and followed Wang Mengbin towards the valley. True Monarch Hunyuan applied several layers of defense to himself and simultaneously conjured a red shield that rotated continuously around him. His face was filled with vigilance, displaying an extremely cautious demeanor.

The red mist in the valley was highly corrosive. When it touched their protective spiritual light, it caused wisps of green smoke to rise. After a while, Wang Mengbin and True Monarch Hunyuan reached the end of the valley, where a cave more than ten zhang wide appeared before them. Wang Mengbin extended his divine sense into the cave, but it was blocked by a powerful force, preventing him from probing its interior.

Wang Mengbin conjured over ten bee puppets, attaching a wisp of his spiritual sense to each, and controlled them as they flew towards the cave. As soon as they flew into the cave, a deafening dragon's roar echoed, and a massive crimson fireball shot out, engulfing them. When the firelight dissipated, all ten-plus bee puppets had vanished.

Wang Mengbin frowned and led True Monarch Hunyuan inside. Upon entering the cave, a scorching aura assailed them. Before long, they found themselves in a cavern roughly one hundred mu in size. The stone walls glowed red, as if they had fallen into a pool of subterranean fire. Carved into the stone wall on the left was a lifelike crimson flood dragon. It seemed to come alive, moving on the wall before flying out.

"A formation!"

Wang Mengbin frowned and looked at True Monarch Hunyuan, whose face was filled with shock; he seemed unaware of the crimson flood dragon's existence.

"That's not right!" True Monarch Hunyuan said in confusion, his face incredulous. "What I set up back then was a defensive formation, not an offensive one. Could it have been set up by another Integration cultivator?"

A deafening dragon's roar erupted, and the crimson flood dragon lunged forward. Wang Mengbin rubbed his hands together, and countless silver electric arcs surged from his body, striking towards the crimson flood dragon. Simultaneously, he brandished his Five-Thunder Halberd and met its charge. With a dull thud, the Five-Thunder Halberd struck the crimson flood dragon. The dragon's tail then swept violently, hitting the red shield. True Monarch Hunyuan, along with his shield, was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto the ground. He spat out a large mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.

The crimson flood dragon opened its gaping maw and unleashed a thick stream of crimson flames, engulfing Wang Mengbin.

"Retreat quickly!" Wang Mengbin's voice emerged from within the flames.

No sooner had he spoken than True Monarch Hunyuan took out the Seven-Star Spirit Control Talisman, intending to slap it onto himself. Just then, a dazzling silver light illuminated his body, and the stone wall rippled, revealing an opening about one zhang wide. A man's loud roar, echoing throughout the heavens and earth, resounded. True Monarch Hunyuan's body trembled, and his face contorted in pain.

A cluster of silver lightning gleamed, and Wang Mengbin appeared, his expression icy. "Spatial divine ability! You're not True Monarch Hunyuan; you're from the Void Heaven Clan!"

Evidently, True Monarch Hunyuan had been feigning all along. Whether it was demanding talismans or conjuring treasures, it was all an act. He didn't trust Wang Mengbin at all and did these things only to dispel Wang Mengbin's suspicions, aiming to use this opportunity to escape control. True Monarch Hunyuan was currently at the Soul Transformation stage. Wang Mengbin's use of the Soul Suppressing Roar had surprisingly failed to kill him, indicating that True Monarch Hunyuan clearly possessed some secret art capable of weakening the power of divine sense attacks. It couldn't have been a treasure; True Monarch Hunyuan had few treasures on him, and Wang Mengbin and the others had stayed close by, never letting him out of their sight. He simply had no opportunity to acquire a treasure that could counter divine sense attacks.

Wang Mengbin opened his mouth and shot out a thick five-colored lightning arrow, flying straight towards True Monarch Hunyuan.

"Fellow Daoist, wait! This old man is from the Void Heaven Clan—" True Monarch Hunyuan's face turned pale with shock. Before he could finish his sentence, the five-colored lightning arrow pierced through his body. With a shriek, a miniature Nascent Soul flew out of his body, and Wang Mengbin swiftly seized it.