Chapter 152: Slaying Three Flood Dragons as a Meeting Gift

On the altar, the solemn, murderous god statue was wreathed in curling incense smoke.

A youth of slight, slender build stood quietly, his blood-streaked palm resting on the hilt of his blade.

The blade seemed to be drawn out unhurriedly, yet in a single instant it plunged into the Fifth Prince of the Blackback Blackback Jiaolong Lord's belly—and a flash of azure light burst forth!

Cloth and flesh alike split apart in utter silence.

Shen Yi reached in, pulled out the flood-dragon core, and casually flung the body out of the temple.

The middle-aged man's towering frame, in the span of a few breaths, transformed into a hundred-zhang-long flood-dragon body that slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash—thrashing on the mountainside like a wounded loach.

"You all carry on."

Shen Yi gave a small nod. Though he did not believe in gods, he could understand these people's helplessness.

Even in a place like his previous life, people still clung to such beliefs—let alone in a chaotic age already overrun with demons and monsters. So long as it wasn't some demon in disguise like the River God of Water Cloud Township, he couldn't be bothered to deal with it.

He turned and stepped out of the River God Temple.

The worshippers who had been queued in a long dragon were now in a panicked, tangled mess. Even though Shen Yi had deliberately tossed the flood dragon farther away, the tremendous tremor had still sent many of them tumbling to the ground.

Yet the moment they saw the youth in ink-black robes walk out, the panic on their faces swiftly turned to astonishment—and finally, in unison, to a dazed, blank stare.

Several dozen demon hunters were likewise staring, somewhat dumbfounded, at the flood dragon on its last breath.

Then they saw Shen Yi walk toward the flood dragon, wave his hand casually, and another streak of azure light sank into its massive, ferocious head.

【Slain a flood dragon of the Elixir Formation Realm. Total lifespan gained: 5,100 years. Remaining lifespan: 1,500 years. Absorption complete.】

Two Silver Bell demon hunters steeled their courage, stepped forward, and cupped their fists: "Might we ask which of General Chen's personal attendants you are, my lord?"

Let alone an ordinary attendant—even in the presence of the General Who Suppresses Demons, demon hunters need not be so stiff. Yet the shocking scene before their eyes still made them instinctively tack a "my lord" onto their address.

"Shen Yi."

Right before their eyes, Shen Yi drew the flood dragon's essence blood into the Silver Bell.

The two demon hunters' expressions instantly turned strange. So he was one of their own… but when had their ranks gained such a ruthless figure?!

"Which direction are the other two in?" Shen Yi asked politely. Perhaps because the small flood dragon and Zhang Hengzhou shared a closer bloodline, the sense of intimate connection he'd felt after swallowing the flood-dragon core had grown much fainter when tracking the others.

"…" The demon hunters sighed. They had seen it clearly enough—the man had arrived by a teleportation art—and they figured this matter probably had nothing to do with them.

They dropped any petty airs and simply handed over the two wisps of flood-dragon aura they'd had such a hard time obtaining.

"Then we'll have to trouble you, Lord Shen."

Merit was merit, but until the Regional Commander returned, two fewer deaths was always a good thing.

"My thanks."

Shen Yi took the aura, gripped the flood dragon's whiskers, and with that enormous corpse in tow, once again rose into the air and vanished on the spot.

After he departed, the mountainside grew noisy once more.

The worshippers inside the temple all poured out, eyes wide, staring at the sky where the youth had vanished. Then they rushed back beneath the god statue, shoving and jostling as they kowtowed with loud thuds.

"The River God has shown his spirit!!"

……

Linjiang Prefecture, Water Cloud Township.

The Jiang He was no longer its usual calm self—its waves surged and churned like a bottomless maw choosing whom to devour, daunting to behold.

Countless cloud-patterned ink-black robes snapped and fluttered in the river wind, which carried a faint, fishy reek of water.

This place lay in the middle stretch of the Yangchun River.

An old man draped in black-glowing mystic armor, gripping a Slain Hunyuan halberd, stood in silence at the river's edge, his crimson cloak looking somewhat faded.

Before the vast Yangchun River, even a General Who Suppresses Demons at the Embracing Elixir Realm—one who had nurtured a Yin Spirit—seemed somewhat powerless.

Chen Qiankun did not know whether the old flood dragon was alive or dead, nor whether it was still in the Yangchun River.

But so long as that old dragon did not show itself, he could only hold his post by the river.

For apart from him, there was not a second person in all of Linjiang Prefecture who could keep that creature in check.

The one closest to Old Man Chen Qiankun was not a Deputy General, but a young man of sturdy, muscular build, dressed as a three-stripe Captain.

"I finally got some time off, and the moment I step out I'm facing a flood-dragon clan backed by an Embracing Elixir Realm cultivator—getting on your nerves a bit, old man?" Chen Qiankun said with a smile tugging at his lips.

"No, I just feel like I'm not useful for anything here. It's a bit shameful," Fang Heng said, slowly tightening his fist.

"You're still young. It's us old ones who are past it—failed to buy you youngsters enough time." Chen Qiankun sighed. Back in his own youth, his cultivation realm hadn't even matched these kids'.

Thinking of this, he consoled him: "You're already someone your peers have to look up to. No need to compare yourself to a bunch of old fogeys."

"Look up to?" Fang Heng gave a self-mocking smile, offered no rebuttal—yet a certain figure inexplicably flashed through his mind.

Just then, a demon hunter came rushing up.

Chen Qiankun's smile faded: "Did you manage to capture them?"

This time more than ten veteran Silver Bell demon hunters had come, spending three to five days on it—they ought to have something to show for it.

"No, but…" The demon hunter got halfway through and abruptly fell silent.

"But what?" Fang Heng asked, worried.

Then he noticed Old Man Chen had already turned his gaze skyward.

Under the gaze of every member of the Zhen Mo Si, three enormous flood dragons appeared in the hazy sky, their bodies hanging limp—black scales gleaming coldly, each one no smaller than the one from Qingfeng Mountain.

At that moment, they came crashing down toward the ground with the speed of lightning!

Boom—

Many Captains and Deputy Generals looked horrified; each raised an arm slightly to shield his face, instinctively blocking the stench of blood that came rushing at them.

Once the dust had scattered, they saw the youth stepping down slowly from between the flood dragons' corpses.

Some were strangers to that fair, clean face, but others knew it intimately.

"…"

Fang Heng held his breath, scratching at his hair in helpless confusion.

Chen Qiankun raised his brows slightly, gazing at the three lords of the notorious Yangchun Jiang Jiao clan — all three utterly lifeless now, their abdomens ripped open, the manner of death strikingly familiar.

Then his gaze fell upon the young man's face.

"Shen Yi greets General Chen."

The young man in ink-black robes stepped before the crowd and offered a slight clasped-fist salute.

The insignia on his collar belonged exclusively to Chen Qiankun — by all rights, the two of them should have been old friends of many years.

But at this moment, both of their expressions were strictly business… looking as though they weren't all that close.

"But all three Flood Demon lords were cut down by Lord Shen in one go." The demon hunter shrugged and finished the second half of his sentence.

Hearing this, a touch of complexity crossed Chen Qiankun's face.

He had glanced at the other once when leaving Qingfeng Mountain, and now seeing him again, the young man still seemed to carry that same understated, unhurried air — yet at the same time, he appeared to have undergone a world-shattering change.

"Actually, I've been waiting for you all along."

The old man sighed, a smile spilling from the corner of his lips: "But I was also afraid you'd come looking for me."

The Regional Commander had five disciples of extraordinary talent, and Chen Qiankun, having lived over eight hundred years, also wished for a similar young man to inherit his mantle.

But he also felt that keeping such a talent by his side would be something of a waste — for the young man, joining the demon hunters would be the more challenging choice, and yet the one more beneficial to his future.

Saying this, he cast a deep look at Shen Yi: "Only, what I never in my wildest dreams expected was that you and I would meet again in this manner."

Three Flood Demon lords, no weaker than Zhang Hengzhou, as a meeting gift…

It was rather too generous.

So generous that even this old general's long-dormant heart surged like the Yangchun River before him, stirred into towering waves.

(End of Chapter)