Chapter 198
Chapter 198
For some reason, I desperately wanted it to succeed!
Rationally speaking, as a human, I had no idea whether the emergence of another powerful nonhuman being would be good or bad for this world if the python demon completed its flood-dragon ascension.
On a personal level, however, I hoped it would make it.
Perhaps its struggle against the might of heaven and nature reminded me faintly of myself.
That was right!
Before heaven and nature, all living creatures were incomparably small.
But did that mean the invisible forces of destiny and fate truly could not be changed?
No!
I believed they could.
My bazi had been exceptionally light from birth, and I possessed the so-called Divine-Baleforce Mystic Qi destiny.
Not only was I born to die young, but I also attracted danger and the covetous attention of evil beings far more easily than most. Even my body was weaker than an ordinary person’s.
Yet I had still made it this far, one step at a time!
And I firmly believed that as long as I continued growing stronger, I would eventually shatter the so-called fate that decreed I could not live past fifteen.
I would defy Heaven and change my destiny. It was as simple as that!
Now look at this great python demon that had cultivated for more than a thousand years.
It must once have been an ordinary little snake.
Through some fortunate coincidence, it had set foot on the path of cultivation. Then, after enduring unimaginable hardship one step at a time, it had finally become a great demon capable of transforming into a flood dragon.
Now it was undertaking its ascension and contending against the might of heaven and earth.
If it succeeded in changing from a snake into a flood dragon, it would have truly broken free of its old constraints and defied Heaven to transform its destiny!
Perhaps its refusal to yield beneath the heavenly lightning had inspired me. Whatever the reason, I wanted it to succeed more than anything.
The raging storm continued, though the thunder in the sky had temporarily ceased.
The summit had fallen silent again.
Everyone waited.
One minute passed.
Then three minutes.
Then five.
Everyone began to think it was hopeless.
Perhaps the python demon had already died by the time it entered the river.
Maybe nothing more than an enormous corpse had been swept in by the flood from the mountain.
Yuan Fei spread his hands.
“It looks like this python demon’s flood-dragon ascension still failed. I suppose that makes sense. Some ancient texts I’ve read claim that fewer than one in ten python demons succeed.”
Li Miao sighed ruefully as well.
“That’s right. We corpse retrievers make our living on the water, and we’ve also heard how extraordinarily difficult it is for a flood dragon to be born. They’re creatures that defy Heaven, so the unseen forces of the world naturally suppress them. That’s why–”
Before he could finish, a series of lowing cries suddenly rang out.
Moo! Moooooo!
The voice sounded somewhat weak, yet it was clear and powerful.
It pierced the roar of the downpour and resounded through the mountains.
It rang in the ears of every person present.
At the same time, a massive explosion of spray erupted from the surface of the Chuan River at the foot of Longduo Mountain, and a towering column of water shot into the sky.
An enormous figure emerged from the water, twisting its body. Illuminated by lightning tearing across the sky, it possessed a strange, formidable beauty steeped in mystery.
My entire body trembled, and I instinctively shouted, “It’s alive! The python demon isn’t dead. It… It really succeeded! Magnificent! It defied Heaven, changed its fate, and withstood Heaven’s might!”
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized something was off. I sounded far too delighted.
I hurriedly coughed twice to cover up my loss of composure, then asked nervously, “Old Cao, are we in any danger?”
Once my excitement passed, reason returned, bringing concern with it.
Old Cao smiled and waved a hand.
“There’s no need to worry, Xiao Wu. If the ancient legends are correct, this is precisely when a newborn flood dragon is at its weakest. How could it possibly have the time or energy to deal with us?”
Li Miao nodded in agreement.
“Brother Cao is right. That python demon–no, I suppose we should call it a flood dragon now–still needs to undergo its transformation. We were already no different from tiny, fragile ants to it when it was a python demon, let alone now that its ascension has succeeded.”
We silently watched the newborn flood dragon rise from the floodwaters.
It transformed amid the raging wind and rain!
I could even make out the skin on the two long protrusions atop its head splitting apart, revealing the two sharp, bony horns hidden within.
No doubt, the four bulging growths on the underside of its body, submerged beneath the surging floodwaters, were splitting open as well to reveal four sharp, newborn claws.
Just then, a new development occurred!
Not far from the flood dragon thrashing in the Chuan River, an enormous wave suddenly rose from the flood. It came so abruptly that it was clearly no ordinary swell.
Boom!
Water exploded outward, and a figure every bit as enormous as the flood dragon emerged amid the churning waves.
Its broad, jet-black back and tall, upright fin looked astonishing beneath the flashes of lightning, creating an overwhelming visual impact.
It was clearly an absurdly enormous fish!
Judging by the shape of its back and fin, this was obviously a freshwater fish native to the Chuan River, yet it rivaled an ocean whale in size.
Li Miao’s pupils abruptly contracted, and horror spread across his face.
“Th-That’s… the River God of the Chuan River! Why would it show up now?”
Li Miao had practiced corpse retrieval on the Chuan River for years. A year earlier, while dealing with the child corpse Xiao Sheng near Xiaowan Village, he had also seen this creature underwater twice.
He recognized the River God at a glance.
Of course, even without that history, it would not have been difficult to guess. Other than the River God, what aquatic spirit or demon could grow so enormous and remain unafraid of a flood dragon’s presence?
This might only be a weak, fragile, badly wounded newborn flood dragon that had just completed its ascension from a python demon…
But it was still not something an ordinary creature could casually approach!
Boom! Crack! Crack!
Thunder and lightning continued to tear across the sky.
But since the flood-dragon ascension was already complete, the lightning no longer deliberately struck the flood dragon.
“Brother Li, why has the River God suddenly appeared? What is it trying to do?”
I asked curiously. Before Li Miao could answer, however, I muttered to myself in shock.
“Could it be planning to take this opportunity to attack and kill the newborn flood dragon? Is it afraid the newcomer will seize its position as River God over the Chuan River around Fubei County and the neighboring cities?”
That was a flood dragon!
The thought filled me with dread.
Li Miao replied solemnly, “That’s certainly possible. Logically speaking, the River God should have been weaker than the python demon even before its transformation. The python has now completed its flood-dragon ascension, but three ferocious bolts of heavenly lightning struck it directly. Its vitality is gravely depleted, and its demonic energy has been almost completely exhausted.”
“Even after becoming a flood dragon and transforming rapidly, it has had too little time to recover, despite frantically absorbing the water-aspected spiritual energy permeating the area. At most, its strength has probably returned to twenty or thirty percent of what it was before. If the River God truly commits to a fight to the death, it has a considerable chance of winning. Of course, it would probably suffer serious injuries too.”
My heart tightened.
For some reason, I had never liked the River God of the Chuan River, whereas I felt an inexplicable sense of kinship with this flood dragon, as though we shared the same struggle.
“But what could the River God possibly gain from this?”
The moment I asked, I realized how foolish the question was.
What could it gain?
The demon core, blood, flesh, and vital essence of a flood dragon, of course!
Whether it was the flood dragon transformed from the python demon or the River God in the river, their names could sound as grand and imposing as anyone pleased. At their core, they were still two demons.
Two demons powerful beyond anything human beings could contend with.
For demons, killing one another and devouring their opponent’s demon core, flesh, blood, and vital essence was one of the fastest and easiest ways to increase their cultivation.
Previously, the River God and large numbers of the sunken dead had gathered near that mysterious treasure at the bottom of the river. Clearly, it had wanted to advance further even then.
Now this python demon had transformed during a once-in-a-century deluge, linking itself to the water-aspected spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the Chuan River to complete its ascension.
As the River God of the Chuan River, this creature had undoubtedly sensed it!
It had probably been waiting nearby for quite some time.
I felt that I had more or less pieced together the truth.
The newborn flood dragon had also sensed the River God’s killing intent. It turned its massive, newly horned head and fixed its red-lantern eyes on the enormous fish.
The practitioners watching from the summit erupted into startled cries and animated discussion once more.