Chapter 208: I Am Not Wrong! (Requesting Monthly Votes)

With Song Lu at the lead, the entire Purification Bureau gazed at the old Daoist Priest with anger and hatred.

This evil spirit could no longer suppress its form at all; not only had it grown bat-like ears and fangs, but a pair of eyes like those of a hornet had also sprouted!

The old Daoist Priest was utterly disappointed, his voice turning completely sinister and sharp: "Since you have entered my sect and been taught my sword art, it is impossible for you to refuse to slay demons and eradicate evil!"

From those pine branches, pine needles pierced into the bodies of the crowd one by one.

Xu Yuan lay in ambush underwater, reached out to grasp the Yin-Yang Guillotine, and gazed toward the evil flood-dragon.

In his right eye, that colossal creature vanished!

Xu Yuan closed his right eye and opened his left; the evil flood-dragon turned into an empty turtle shell!

This was the truth.

Some power within the turtle shell restrained a mass of black qi.

His own beast-tendon rope was wrapped around the turtle shell.

Xu Yuan frowned secretly.

Driven by the evil flood-dragon, the river water had already submerged the entire Daoist temple.

Xu Yuan then swam underwater into the temple.

Xu Yuan's target was that pine tree in front of the main hall.

He grasped the Yin-Yang Guillotine, closed his left eye, and opened his right.

He looked toward the pine tree.

There were phantom threads similar to the "Pulling Thread Technique" extending outward, reaching beyond the mountain gate, and connecting to every "Human Tree."

But Xu Yuan furrowed his brows.

Because in his right eye, the pine tree was no longer a pine tree, but a tattered whisk.

Those fine threads were the fine hairs of the whisk.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment; there was another tree within this temple.

Xu Yuan swam underwater again to the rear courtyard.

Holding the Yin-Yang Guillotine, he looked once more.

The old elm tree in the northwest corner had already turned into a dead tree.

Its branches were withered and black, similar to the "sword" held by the old Daoist Priest.

When the old Daoist Priest transmitted the "Green Cloud Great Nine Forms," Xu Yuan had seen only a single withered branch through the Yin-Yang Guillotine.

This proved that the "old Daoist Priest" was not a Yin Ghost.

Since the flood-dragon's journey began, as the old Daoist Priest and the evil flood-dragon fought to this point, Xu Yuan's "Ghost Doctor Stealing Life" had been continuously active.

However, Xu Yuan felt no enhancement to his physique.

Instead, his soul was constantly being replenished.

Yet it was not that kind of pure soul power replenishment.

This indicated that not only the old Daoist Priest, but even that evil flood-dragon, possessed no true physical body.

This place was bizarre; it was very likely a realm of illusion.

Xu Yuan then set about searching for the "root" of that withered branch.

His first suspicion fell upon the trees within the temple.

Fortunately, the Green Cloud Temple was not large, having only two trees.

The turtle shell and the whisk matched up.

In the main hall of the Green Cloud Temple, that statue of the Patriarch stepped on a mystical turtle and held a whisk.

Then, was the sword carried on its back truly that Dragon-Slaying Sword?

Did the withered branch, because it was an evil spirit, fear the Dragon-Slaying Sword?

The old Daoist Priest had only given Xu Yuan the sword case; the Dragon-Slaying Sword had always hung beneath the bridge.

But why would the whisk join forces with the withered branch to attack the turtle shell together?

Why would the turtle shell disguise itself as an evil flood-dragon?

Xu Yuan twisted his brows, deep in thought...

Pine needles pierced into the bodies one by one, and the eyes of the Purification Bureau crowd gradually became dull and vacant.

The pine branches then began to close downward; everyone was controlled by the pine needles, and Song Lu moved first toward the sword case that had fallen into the water.

"Who says we lack the Dao-heart to slay demons and eradicate evil!"

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out.

The old Daoist Priest's black wind and black sand had shrunk to a mass only half a zhang in size.

A bizarre and terrifying face flickered in and out of view within it.

Hearing these words, it looked over sharply, seeing only Xu Yuan emerge from the river water.

The old Daoist Priest was overjoyed: "Good disciple, you are not yet dead!"

"I nearly died." As Xu Yuan spoke, he snatched the sword case from the river water before Song Lu could reach it.

"Master, how is this sword to be wielded?"

"Hahaha!" The old Daoist Priest laughed loudly: "Good disciple, truly worthy of being the sect's eldest disciple designated by this master!

Wielding this sword is not difficult; since this master has given it to you, it is yours. You need only move your mind to control it."

Xu Yuan nodded: "This disciple will attempt it."

Thus, as Xu Yuan thought "Draw Sword," a "Zing!" sounded from the sword case, and a gleaming, cold-lighted treasure sword flew out!

This sword, following Xu Yuan's will, spun continuously around him outside his body, swift as lightning.

"What a sword!" Xu Yuan praised. "Truly the Dragon-Slaying Sword!"

"Good disciple! I will hold back that evil flood-dragon for you. Quickly use this sword to slay it, or once it successfully completes its flood-dragon transformation, it will bring a calamity of widespread suffering!"

The old Daoist Priest, impatient, summoned a gale and charged at the evil flood-dragon.

Xu Yuan sneered inwardly: We have spoken so much, yet that evil flood-dragon lurks beneath the water, not even taking the opportunity to ambush?

"Good!" Xu Yuan readily agreed.

He urged the fire wheels beneath his feet, and with a whoosh, he too took flight.

The old Daoist Priest once again engaged the evil flood-dragon in battle.

Unknowingly, the evil flood-dragon exposed its back to Xu Yuan in mid-air.

The old Daoist Priest roared: "Good disciple, strike quickly!"

Xu Yuan also roared: "Slay demons and destroy evil!"

That sword shot downward with a swoosh, and with a hiss, pierced the seven-inch vital point of the evil flood-dragon!

"Aaaah—"

The evil flood-dragon let out a earth-shattering scream, its massive body thrashing in the river water.

Blood quickly stained the entire Dahe River; waves surged sky-high, crashing against the surrounding riverbanks.

"Hahaha!" The old Daoist Priest laughed heartily at the sky: "It is done, it is done!"

Its form reappeared.

The black wind and black sand surrounding it also began to dissipate.

"Slaying demons and protecting all living beings under heaven—how could that be wrong?"

"Two hundred years ago, I, this old Daoist, was absolutely not wrong!"

Suddenly, the evil flood-dragon rolled in the river water and charged toward a certain spot on the riverbank.

Xu Yuan suddenly saw that the terrain at that spot was slightly higher, already surrounded by vast floodwaters, forming a solitary island in the river.

At some unknown time, a small boy had been standing atop it.

He looked to be only four or five years old.

Behind the small boy were several dozen people; they had brought their families and carried their meager rations on their backs.

Standing on the solitary island, their eyes filled with despair, suffering and helpless.

Only the small boy at the very front, seemingly too young to understand, did not realize what kind of desperate situation he faced!

A huge wave surged from the river water, and the small boy vanished into the foam.

A couple in the crowd, disregarding everything, cried out and rushed into the water.

Soon, the couple also disappeared into the vast floodwaters.

The river water continued to spread; the high ground was shrinking bit by bit, and everyone instinctively huddled together.

But it would not be long before they too would be submerged.

Xu Yuan's brows furrowed tightly.

When did this small boy and these villagers appear?

Xu Yuan activated "Gaze at Fate" and looked toward that patch of water, but it was empty; the small boy's "Fate" was nowhere to be seen.

All the villagers were clearly standing there, yet they had no "Fate."

They were neither human nor evil spirits!

However, this use of "Gaze at Fate" was not entirely fruitless.

The black line-like evil spirit "Fate" seen during the day still hung suspended in the high sky, condensed into a single line.

But below, it split into three strands.

One strand connected to the evil flood-dragon, one to the whisk, and the third to the old elm tree.

From the old elm tree, it extended further, linking to the old Daoist Priest.

Yet there was no fourth strand connecting to the Dragon-Slaying Sword!

Splash...

A massive flood-dragon head suddenly rose from the river water.

Hanging from that huge red horn was the small boy.

His parents clung to his back.

(End of Chapter)