Chapter 214: Fallen to Earth, Become the River

Da Bao had never used the Killing Form before, yet he showed no trace of clumsiness.

An instinct from his bloodline allowed him to wield this power with ease.

It was as simple as eating and drinking.

Xuan Nü Zhi crawled out from the shattered blood claws, looking utterly disheveled.

His golden armor was shattered, his imperial robe completely ruined.

His body bore massive injuries from the Blood Fury’s power.

Yet Xuan Nü Zhi was not dead—he still struggled relentlessly toward Chu Danqing.

Before he could get close, the Yue Lan Wu Ying moved first.

The totem crashed down directly onto his waist, splitting Xuan Nü Zhi in two.

“Dragon… dragon…” Xuan Nü Zhi’s withered eyeballs locked onto Chu Danqing, his skeletal claws stretching out to claw at him.

Yue Lan Wu Ying naturally wouldn’t let that happen—he punched straight into Xuan Nü Zhi’s hands.

“What is a dragon?” After the threat was neutralized, Chu Danqing crouched down and asked the Xuan Nü Zhi pinned beneath the totem pole.

But Xuan Nü Zhi paused, then suddenly turned his head to look back.

Chu Danqing followed the direction of his gaze—it was upstream of the Huanglong River.

The river water surged endlessly, like a long dragon in constant motion.

It did look like a dragon, but what was so unusual about that?

Because it resembled a dragon, it was named Huanglong River—nothing strange about that.

“False dragon,” Xuan Nü Zhi said, then sharply turned his head back to Chu Danqing and asked: “True dragon.”

Chu Danqing was speechless. He knew what a dragon was—he indeed possessed things tied to dragons.

The Nine Tripods Diagram contained dragon sons and dragon veins; it was no surprise the natives had noticed.

Xuan Nü Zhi had been powerful in life, buried for a thousand years in Cangmang Guling—he noticing something off about Chu Danqing was normal.

As soon as he finished speaking, he stretched his neck forward to bite Chu Danqing’s throat.

But before it even extended two centimeters, Yue Lan Wu Ying’s fist had already swung.

It shattered Xuan Nü Zhi’s entire skull in one blow.

Shards exploded instantly; the elongated neck slumped lifelessly.

Yet Xuan Nü Zhi was still not dead—his remaining parts continued to twitch, as if trying to reach out and tear a chunk of flesh from Chu Danqing.

A fine idea—but too slow.

The Huangtian Zhi Zi and Huangjin Lishi quickly cleared all the monstrous entities and returned.

As for Da Bao, he accepted Bai Bai’s healing and regained his composure.

Without the Rampage and Fearless states to sustain it, the Killing Form receded, reverting to his original form.

Da Bao, now recovered, looked utterly bewildered—Rampage stripped his reason, and the Killing Form deepened that loss, letting instinct and intuition dominate.

So he had no idea what had happened.

But it didn’t matter. With Da Bao’s intelligence, even if he learned what happened, he’d forget it moments later.

With Xuan Nü Zhi’s death, a Fine-quality chest appeared.

The chest bore shimmering patterns across most of its surface.

Clearly, the deaths of the other monstrous entities had been counted toward it.

As for the quest—it was not yet complete.

The quest wasn’t for Chu Danqing to kill Xuan Nü Zhi, but to rescue the villagers of Huanglong River.

Fortunately, Chu Danqing arrived in time—if he’d been any later, Xuan Nü Zhi would have devoured the villagers as sacrificial offerings, failing the quest and strengthening Xuan Nü Zhi.

Xuan Nü Zhi had just emerged from his grave—he needed to replenish himself to restore full power.

So to make the chest fully shimmering was simple: don’t accept the quest, wait for the villagers to be sacrificed, then kill the possessed monsters and Xuan Nü Zhi.

That would yield a Fine-quality chest with full shimmering patterns.

But for Chu Danqing, not only had he already accepted the quest, even if he’d known beforehand, he wouldn’t have done it.

The Huangjin Lishi began counting and calming the villagers; Chu Danqing opened the Fine-quality chest.

【You opened: Chest (Fine-quality), obtained: Python-patterned Funeral Robe, Paradise Points ×2900×3】

“Isn’t this the robe Xuan Nü Zhi wore?” Chu Danqing examined it closely and noticed several differences.

The robe’s color was lighter, its decorations fewer.

Clearly, a lower-tier version.

Had it been a full shimmering chest, it would’ve been the Purple Cloud Python Robe plus full ceremonial golden armor—complete version.

Perhaps even come with other unexpected bonuses.

【Python-patterned Funeral Robe】

【Type: Equipment · Funeral Garment】

【Quality: Fine】

【Durability: 100/100】

【HP +5000】

【MP +5000】

【Python Pattern (Passive): Defense +300】

【Cloud Cluster (Passive): MP Recovery +10%】

【Fortune and Longevity (Passive): All skill effects +30% against undead, ghostly, and related bloodline races】

【Equipment Requirement: Possess Yin-affinity inherited skill】

In his hands, Chu Danqing could clearly feel the ferocious Yin energy coiled within.

With his current strength, he could ignore the requirement and wear it directly.

But it would hinder his own performance—he’d need to expend corresponding MP to dissolve the Yin energy and avoid self-harm.

And he couldn’t fully block it, because the bonuses and effects relied on the Yin energy to function.

Especially the Fortune and Longevity passive.

Hence the requirement for a Yin-affinity inherited skill—it lets you ignore the Yin energy and convert it into a benefit.

“From Rank 1 onward, the divergence grows ever greater,” Chu Danqing put it away.

He had no intention of equipping it—since gaining the Mental Attribute passive, Herd Mentality, stacking ten layers gave him +100% MP recovery efficiency.

At this stage, he no longer lacked MP; as long as he didn’t activate the Five Elements Spirit Array, his MP sufficed to maintain all his summons.

As for the increased HP and MP from equipping it—he wouldn’t get that. The Yin energy would be dissolved, so the boost would vanish.

Even the MP recovery effect would be greatly diminished—only the Defense bonus would remain fully intact.

“This divergence greatly promotes the Paradise’s commerce and economy.”

“But it also greatly strengthens each system’s power,” Chu Danqing thought, helpless—this trial world’s rewards were entirely unsuited to him.

Everything it produced was thoroughly underworldly.

So these rewards could only be exchanged.

At least they wouldn’t depreciate.

As for the Hamster Faction wanting to hoard them—that was their own business; Chu Danqing wouldn’t interfere.

He intended to convert them into real power, not leave them behind for enemies to claim after his death.

Chu Danqing’s gaze fell on the villagers. At first, fear had caused chaos.

But after ten tall, muscular men physically calmed them, the chaos subsided quickly, and everyone grew quiet.

On the other side, Zhong Ting sensed the battle had ended and arrived with Sanwa Zi.

As for judging who won—it was simple.

The death of monstrous entities caused their malevolent aura to dissipate.

What had once been overwhelming now vanished entirely—clearly Chu Danqing had won.

Zhong Ting had prepared himself for the worst upon arrival, yet seeing the pile of monstrous corpses, he hesitated.

When he looked at Chu Danqing, his eyes held shock.

Even the strongest living Kui Xing Ti Dou couldn’t achieve this—let alone so effortlessly.

Chu Danqing’s clothes weren’t even dirty; only Da Bao bore wounds, but they’d already healed.

“You’re just in time—we’ll head back to Huanglong Village together,” Chu Danqing said—he had questions for Zhong Ting.

Xuan Nü Zhi’s reaction had been strange, and the Huanglong River’s water had risen over three inches—perhaps another trouble brewing.

Zhong Ting nodded, glanced at the villagers, and set off toward Huanglong Village with him.

On the way, Chu Danqing explained the situation to Zhong Ting, omitting anything related to himself.

He and Zhong Ting were merely strangers; Zhong Ting was wary of him, so Chu Danqing wouldn’t reveal everything.

“False dragon,” Zhong Ting repeated the phrase, then said: “Too few clues—I have no recollection of it.”

“But regarding dragons, there’s a legend about the Huanglong River—it’s said that seven thousand years ago, during the Yin Dynasty, a great shaman slew a yellow dragon here, and its corpse became this river.”

“The yellow dragon fell to earth and became the river—hence its dragon shape.”

“But you can just listen to this—it’s not true; likely fabricated by shamans and sorcerers.”

“I’ve studied history—this tale appears only in mythic and supernatural records; nothing in the Kui Xing Ti Dou’s canonical texts.”

Here, Zhong Ting paused, then continued: “If we set aside that tale, ‘false dragon’ plus the Huanglong River’s rising water level—I recall something.”

“Corpse Jiao transforming into a dragon.”

Chu Danqing heard this and asked, “Do you mean a jiao ascending to dragonhood?”

“Yes,” Zhong Ting nodded. “A hui becomes a jiao after five hundred years; a jiao becomes a dragon after a thousand.”

“Thus, the process of becoming a dragon involves using floods or stormy weather to leave caves or pools, traveling along rivers toward the sea.”

“It’s not uncommon for a corpse-jiao to arise in the vast, ancient Guling.”

“The Huanglong River is the only waterway—if it wishes to reach the sea and ascend, it must take this path.”

“If this truly is a jiao ascending, then the recent rise in the Huanglong River’s waters is precisely this corpse-jiao gathering power,” Zhong Ting said, his expression grave.

Guling is far from the sea; if it carries floods and storms along the way, countless lives will be destroyed. Well, even without this jiao’s ascent, the warlords’ chaos would still bring mass death.

“The corpse-jiao you speak of—could it be like the corpse-centipede, cultivated from human corpses?” Chu Danqing asked cautiously.

“Of course, what else?” Zhong Ting looked puzzled—your strength is so great, how could you not know this basic fact?

Chu Danqing had expected something strange, but even so, these words broke his composure.

He could only marvel at how utterly versatile human corpses were in this trial world.

Bury one in a fengshui gem of a spot, and you can cultivate any bizarre creature—no logic, no reason, nothing makes sense.

(End of Chapter)