Chapter 216: One Sword, Slays the Jiao

It took about an hour for the fine drizzle to turn into a torrential downpour.

At this moment, the entire Huanglong River churned violently, its water level having already submerged Huanglong Village.

Only then did the villagers of Huanglong Village realize they needed to flee, but they had only half-finished gathering their belongings and could not bear to leave them.

So they gritted their teeth and kept packing.

Until the river waters and the storm completely trapped them, leaving them unable to escape.

Chu Danqing, positioned on higher ground, witnessed this scene but chose not to offer aid; instead, his gaze fixed on the Huanglong River.

He could see a massive dark shadow writhing forward beneath the river’s surface.

It looked nothing like a jiao dragon—more like some grotesque monster.

“Such a fierce and malevolent aura—if it truly escapes from Cangmang Guling, even if it never transforms into a dragon, no one can control this beast,” Zhong Ting swallowed hard and said.

Chu Danqing wasn’t particularly afraid—it wasn’t S-class, so it still fell within the first-tier range.

Though he wasn’t its match, he had allies.

Even the Son of Heaven might not be a match for this corpse-jiao.

Both sides were evenly matched, but the corpse-jiao had the advantage of timing and terrain.

A direct confrontation would almost certainly end in defeat.

The simplest way to avoid complications was to summon Guo Ming for help.

“Is the gap between Cangmang Guling and the outside world really that vast?” Chu Danqing truly didn’t know—if true, the outside world might be a training ground for reserve-tier Apostles.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re some wild man who crawled out of a deep, forgotten mountain forest,” Zhong Ting said seriously. “The difference isn’t slight—it’s immense.”

“After you retrieve what you need from the Yuanping King’s tomb, you can go outside and see for yourself.”

“Compared to Cangmang Guling, the monsters outside are downright docile.”

Chu Danqing smiled at this—he’d consider it after completing his mission.

With that, he activated the Shanhe Pact.

【You summoned Alliance Partner #1. This invocation consumed 1784 Park Points.】

【Alliance Partner has responded.】

【Alliance Partner’s cognitive rationalization has been successfully modified.】

The upgraded Shanhe Pact required only 1800 Park Points to summon an ally two tiers higher; after accounting for the Mastery and Proficiency reductions of 16 points, it came down to exactly 1784.

Compared to the original cost, this saved 216 points.

That equated to saving one summon cost for every eight summons.

Guo Ming stepped out of the vortex, his power surging violently as a sharp sword aura radiated from his body.

His aura of pressure instantly spread, shredding the surrounding rain into mist and carving out a vast empty space.

He then slowly retracted it and said, “I’ve been refining the form of this aura pressure since returning—I barely kept it under control after Chu Brother’s Royal Contempt amplified it.”

Guo Ming had originally possessed no aura pressure—he gained it only after being buffed by Chu Danqing’s Royal Contempt in the training chamber.

Later, sensing its potential, he returned to study it.

But without spiritual essence or the Royal Contempt’s boost, his progress was minimal—only a crude outline had formed.

Then, upon being summoned again and amplified by Chu Danqing, it surged wildly out of control.

“This place reeks of yin-sha energy—it’s clearly a natural gathering point for yin and malevolence. Not safe to linger,” Guo Ming sensed briefly and remarked.

Chu Danqing then explained the situation to him.

This sparked curiosity on Guo Ming’s face—he truly lived in a strange world.

“So, Chu Brother, you want me to slay this corpse-jiao,” Guo Ming said, his gaze fixed on the massive dark shadow beneath the Huanglong River.

He wasn’t afraid—its power paled beside his own. One sword might not kill it, but two would.

“The corpse-jiao isn’t hard to kill—it’s the timing and terrain that are troublesome,” Guo Ming’s eyes revealed caution.

It reminded him of the divine retribution in his own trial world.

“Don’t worry about timing or terrain—kill the corpse-jiao first,” Zhong Ting interjected. “Once the corpse-jiao is dead, this flood will naturally subside.”

Thanks to the Park’s identity concealment, Zhong Ting felt no unease at Guo Ming’s sudden appearance and offered his advice without hesitation.

“That’s true, but this corpse-jiao is bound to the timing and terrain—if I strike, I’ll have to fight both at once.”

“Chu Brother, could you… fill up the Blood Sacrifice Blade for me?” Guo Ming said awkwardly.

He’d experienced the Blood Sacrifice Blade’s effects in the training chamber—the noble percentage bonuses.

He was already at the third tier, his HP too high for Chu Danqing to trigger the 10% attack boost from the Symbiotic Armor.

“Alright,” Chu Danqing said without hesitation, pulling out his blood-drawing equipment.

He was already considering not only a painless self-harm active skill for summoning, but also passive skills that increased summon stats the more HP he lost.

He could build an entire alternative self-mutilation support system.

The bonuses from self-harm skills vastly outstripped conventional buffs.

Chu Danqing’s HP-percentage-based summon boosts were mild by comparison.

The only drawback was reduced HP weakening combat effectiveness.

HP represented life force—lowering it inevitably degraded bodily functions.

Unless one followed a berserker system like Da Bao, most systems saw combat power decline as HP dropped.

Fortunately, this drawback didn’t trouble Chu Danqing—he didn’t fight, so reduced combat power was effectively irrelevant.

“Is this enough? If not, I can activate the Five Elements Spirit Array and the Dragon Vein Power for you.”

“By the way, I can switch to the Pao Long Son,” Chu Danqing asked.

Due to the corpse-jiao’s flood, the storm and rising waters had expanded into a vast expanse.

But once he switched, the next return to Ba Xia could only happen at this same time tomorrow.

The cooldown was 24 hours.

With all these buffs stacked, Guo Ming felt he might surge straight to the peak of third tier—or even brush against the threshold of fourth.

“Done!” He agreed without hesitation.

Chu Danqing immediately spent 20% of his mana to activate the Dragon Vein Power.

Then he switched his Dragon Son—the Ba Xia form faded, replaced by the Pao Long form.

Simultaneously, the Five Elements Spirit Array activated, forming a hundred-meter domain around them.

With multiple buffs stacked, Guo Ming’s power surged uncontrollably—even he struggled to adapt.

Remember, the Five Elements Spirit Array provided fixed bonuses, but these two were percentage-based.

“Su Nü, watch over Chu Brother—I’ll be back soon,” Guo Ming left Su Nü Sword beside Chu Danqing for protection.

Then he shot forward like a streak of light toward the center of the Huanglong River.

Su Nü’s spirit emerged, wielding a sniper rifle, staring blankly at Chu Danqing.

“Little sister, don’t stare at me like that—it’s making me nervous,” Chu Danqing asked cautiously.

After all, he had killed Su Nü’s former master.

Though Su Nü’s spirit had been reforged and purified into Guo Ming’s likeness,

Chu Danqing still couldn’t be sure—he feared the worst.

So he tried to flatter her.

Su Nü’s spirit blushed from neck to face at Chu Danqing’s words.

“Chu Brother, you jest—what little sister? I’ve merely accompanied Brother Guo for a long time,” Su Nü’s spirit ignored the rest of his words.

Her mind was fixed on the two characters: “little sister.”

Chu Danqing’s eye twitched—he’d overthought it. Her transformation was complete; there was no lingering grudge to fear.

“No, you’re the only girl who’s stayed by Brother Guo’s side the longest,” Chu Danqing replied. “Who else could it be?”

Chu Danqing thought his group of men was too rough—he needed a woman to balance the yin and yang.

Not that he didn’t want a female ally—he’d only ever experienced feudal societies in his trial worlds.

Women’s status was abysmal, limiting resource access and making compatible partners rare.

“Then I…” Su Nü’s spirit began emitting sword qi from her head.

Chu Danqing swallowed hard and sidestepped slowly.

Steam was fine—but sword qi was deadly.

He could see the rain being sliced apart by the qi; if it landed on him, it’d leave a hole.

Su Nü Sword’s quality was a question mark—meaning it surpassed excellence. How could he possibly withstand it?

“I say, Brother Guo is too shy,” Chu Danqing suddenly changed tone. “Little sister, you’ve got to push harder—make it official first, then everything else is easy.”

“Once the rice is cooked, I’ll help you with Brother Xiong—the matter will be settled.”

Chu Danqing kept offering terrible advice.

Su Nü’s spirit was genuinely convinced—Chu Danqing’s words made sense.

“I’ll try it. I’ll need your help, Chu Brother, and Brother Xiong’s afterward,” Su Nü’s spirit agreed immediately.

Chu Danqing was about to say more when a thunderous boom erupted from the center of the Huanglong River.

Then he saw towering waves explode into countless pale, severed limbs.

【Mission complete. You received: 10,000 Park Points, +4 Attribute Points.】

Chu Danqing never even saw what the corpse-jiao looked like—Guo Ming had already killed it.

With the corpse-jiao dead, the storm and flood lost their driving force. Though they didn’t calm instantly, they no longer raged as violently as before.

When the corpse-jiao died, the torrent and flood lost their driving force; though they did not calm immediately, they lost their initial fury.

"After tonight, the rain and the river current should recede." Zhong Ting said, trembling.

Chu Danqing was communicating with the Su Nu Sword Spirit and did not see Guo Ming act.

But Zhong Ting was different—he watched Guo Ming’s every move. One sword stroke not only reduced the corpse-jiao to unrecognizable fragments, but also split the Huanglong River in two.

Had it not been for the saying that cutting a river with a knife only makes the water flow more, he would have seen a deep gorge right now.

Moreover, the rain falling from the sky had been cleaved into visible, razor-like seams.

He had thought the Son of Heaven’s Child was strong enough—until this even stronger one appeared.

(End of Chapter)