Using this old flood dragon as a reference, Shen Yi had a reasonably clear picture of where his strength now sat.
Roughly a step above the highest-tier core-nurturing demon lords.
Good. Time to get started.
He shook the blood off his hand and looked back down.
“What is this thing?”
The old flood dragon’s full-force tail swing had been physically held in place by a single human practitioner. The shock was beyond expression. It had never underestimated Qingzhou’s Demon Suppression Generals — even with the breakthrough, Jiang Qiulan and You Longtao were still on the bank, and above them all, the Martial Immortal General.
Which was exactly why it had only intended to kill Chen Qiankun — pay back the demon king for the medicine, then return to the Yangchun River and stay there.
But neither the Mysterious Ice Seven-Kill Sword Intent nor the most formidable divine spirit it could imagine compared to what was in front of it.
This young man could contest control of the Yangchun River itself. He had physical strength without equal. And there was something in his qi — a bloodline scent uncannily similar to its own.
Strange beyond any explanation.
The old flood dragon looked down at Chen Qiankun on the bank, then back up at the black-armored figure in the sky.
It had survived all these years under the Qingzhou General’s watch. Watched brother after brother die. Never once acted impulsively.
Because of that patience.
The demon king could go to the river himself and ask for the medicine back.
With that thought, the vast flood dragon body began slowly descending toward the water.
Then — the vertical pupils contracted again.
The black-armored figure standing on the river waves had simply vanished from sight.
A moment later — a sharp pain erupted across the flood dragon’s forehead.
Shen Yi pulled the mixed-iron halberd free. In the spray of blood, his form dropped down. A hard sweeping kick cracked into the flood dragon’s lower jaw, and the mountain-sized head was thrown backward by the force.
He gripped the halberd with both hands and drove the crescent blade into the neck.
Rip—
With the cyan light behind it, the mixed-iron halberd cut clean — from the throat all the way down to the abdomen.
Thick blood ran freely, staining the Yangchun River’s surface red.
He released the halberd, kicked the end of the shaft, and the weapon drove through the flood dragon’s body like a released arrow.
The old flood dragon had never taken damage like this. The tearing pain brought a ferocious surge to its eyes. It opened its massive mouth to bite at its own abdomen — and the young man was gone again.
Reappearing behind it, Shen Yi caught the halberd and drove it into the back.
“ROAR!!“
Under the force, the enormous body was thrown uncontrolled into the river surface, raising terrifying waves.
The flood dragon thrashed, gathering the river’s force again and driving it at the young man.
Having experienced what came before, the old flood dragon had stopped expecting to injure this Demon Suppression General. It only wanted to use the river’s cover to return to the depths.
But the surging waves that had been meant to overwhelm him simply coiled in the air, settling into a flowing dragon-shape that carried Shen Yi steadily overhead.
He stood on it, halberd in hand, looking down at the river below.
Then — cold wind swept across the Yangchun River. A fine, needle-like rain began to fall.
The old flood dragon felt a chill rise across its body — something seemed to be freezing even the demon core. Where the rain touched the black scales, the scales dissolved visibly before the eye.
Deep fear rose in it.
Not only from the pain — from the unsettling familiarity of what was happening.
Everything this young man had used — it had seen all of it before. The cyan light from Peacock Valley. The flood dragon clan’s water control. The blue-faced lion demon’s yin-wind and corrosive rain.
These were famous divine abilities from among the demon world’s elite. And here they were — all of them — gathered inside a single human practitioner.
“You monster—!!”
The flood dragon let out a desperate shriek. Against this obliterating corrosive rain, it didn’t dare hold the enormous original form. It shifted to a human shape and turned to flee.
The shriek rang across the entire bank.
Countless Division practitioners stood frozen, all of them looking at the black-armored figure in the sky.
Commanding wind and rain. Gathering water into a dragon.
He had arrived stepping on the river waves. He stood there quietly, and every creature in this river had lost all will to resist.
In the distant village—
The widow and the madman stared at the frightening movement on the river with wide eyes.
“River god—”
She’d only been taking a rough measure with a ruler back then. How had she — how had she ended up measuring out an actual river god?
No wonder he’d had the villagers eat the river demon’s flesh and blood.
That had been punishment. The prestige of the real thing, offended by an impostor.
Under the eyes of everyone present—
The black-armored young man tossed the halberd back toward the bank. It planted itself cleanly beside Chen Qiankun.
Shen Yi became wind. As the old flood dragon in human form was about to enter the water — the dark blade swung a streak of black, and the ferocious flood dragon head was separated from the body.
Demon core extracted. Blood qi collected.
【Core-Nurturing Flood Dragon slain — Total Lifespan: 9,200 years. Remaining: 2,600 years. Absorbed.】
By the time all of this was done, the flood dragon hadn’t even had time to return to its original form. Shen Yi tossed it lightly toward the bank.
It hit the ground and expanded back to mountain-peak size.
“Thank you for your efforts, old general.”
Shen Yi walked back to the two of them, dropped the flood dragon’s head to the side, and watched it resume its full scale.
The old general had played his role well. The flood dragon had come right here and nowhere else — saved a significant amount of time.
That full demon core contained cultivation no less than the blue-faced lion brothers combined.
“Ah—?”
Chen Qiankun and Liu Yuchuan looked at each other.
He genuinely couldn’t identify what part of the process warranted thank you for your efforts, given that he’d had his weapon taken the moment fighting started.
“I have a question, if I may.”
He pressed his brows together with some hesitation. “Are you actually a river god?”
“…”
Shen Yi looked at him in silence, his expression distinctly peculiar.
Chen Qiankun bit down, slapped his own forehead hard. He was a core-nurturing practitioner. And he’d just asked the same question an ordinary villager would ask.
The problem was that what he’d just watched genuinely had no explanation.
It wasn’t just him.
The old flood dragon — before dying — had screamed monster in absolute despair.
Even demons couldn’t explain it.
Liu Yuchuan had a strong sense of the old general’s feelings. He himself had adjusted somewhat faster. He’d been through something similar before.
Just swap the fox demon for a flood dragon.
Just—
Liu Yuchuan suddenly wanted to slap himself.
A Condensate Perfection fox demon and a fully-achieved core-nurturing flood dragon were not remotely interchangeable.
“So — the flood dragon is dead?”
Chen Qiankun lowered his hand. Something faintly bewildered in his eyes.
Five days.
The greatest threat to his peace of mind for six hundred years — lying on the bank.
Did this mean — he could finally relax?
(End of Chapter)