Chapter 544: Corpse Dragon‑eating Beast, Drought Demon

Venerable Dafang's attention was wholly focused on that small pill.

Hu Tu rolled up the vast black waves that swept in; he didn't even give it a look. A wisp of gloomy light rotated on the surface of the silver lantern in his left hand. The silver fire wall before him suddenly shot up into the sky, turning into a thin silver light curtain that covered the mountains and forests within a radius of tens of miles.

The black waves howled as they came, repeatedly striking the silver light curtain.

Silver flames rose on the light curtain; the black waves were unusually heavy, causing the light curtain to tremble violently. Large masses of black water were turned into steam by the silver flames and shot up into the sky. The silver light curtain was incredibly flexible; despite the black waves scouring it, even if large ripples arose, it showed no sign of breaking, remaining steadfast.

With a loud boom, a golden dragon whip descended from the heavens and lashed heavily at the silver light curtain. The curtain shook violently—this was Hu Tu's brothers making their move. The whip struck down repeatedly, and countless razor‑thin icy glints, like electric arcs, kept jumping and piercing the silver light curtain.

A wisp of silver fire attached to the golden dragon whip, and the flame quickly spread along the whip, instantly turning the brilliant golden dragon whip into a sheet of silver.

A completely dark‑yellow Wu Earth Divine Cauldron hovered above the light cover; from its mouth a vast surge of earthy qi howled down, within which faint outlines of mountains could be seen, falling like dumplings and relentlessly striking the light cover, denting it downward until the originally hemispherical cover was forcibly pressed into a patty shape.

A tablet shaped like a tiger tally, the Bing Fire Mirror, shot up into the sky; accompanied by a Spiritual Wood Pearl, the pearl released vast winds and thunder that wrapped the mirror and carried it up to a height of a hundred li, after which the Bing Fire Mirror spun rapidly, turning into a fire pillar several li thick and a hundred li long that came crashing down from the heavens.

With a loud boom, the Bing Fire Mirror struck dead center of the silver light cover.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—the five elemental forces united, and in their mutual generation and suppression they erupted with boundless power; the five‑colored divine light suddenly coalesced, stirring the winds and clouds above, and terrifying bolts of thunder rained down, hammering the silver light cover repeatedly.

Venerable Dafang's body twitched slightly; he raised his head, gazed at the frantic thunderbolts falling from above, and gently shook his head, saying: 'You ants, wait while I recover a little… Are you here to deliver treasures to me?'

The flames on the silver lantern blazed fiercely; the original bean‑sized point of light suddenly burst forth with ten‑thousand‑foot radiance, a finger‑thick tongue of fire shooting up hundreds of feet, like a fine light rope slamming into the nearly collapsing silver light cover.

The silver light cover blazed with light; the previously dented cover swiftly recovered, and the five Five Elements Treasures emitted a low rumble as the cover pressed them upward bit by bit, forcing them to rise into the sky against their will.

The five Hu Tu brothers' bodies trembled slightly; they felt an immense pressure bearing down on them, making it hard to breathe, as if even their divine embryos were being crushed by a great mountain, darkening their vision and threatening to make them faint at any moment.

The silver lantern's power was too great; the five Hu Tu brothers had completed less than ten percent of refining the five treasures, and they could not fully unleash the treasures' power—even working together, they were left in a sorry state by the silver lantern's might.

Linghu Qingqing's and Old Master Hu's faces darkened.

Linghu Qingqing gave a light cough and muttered to herself: 'Could it be that we need a few elders to step in personally?'

Old Master Hu let his face droop, looking at Linghu Qingqing without uttering a word.

His cultivation was inferior to Linghu Qingqing's, he possessed no supreme treasure, and given his status here, Linghu Qingqing's words were clearly not meant for him; he didn't even have the courage to interject.

Four thin‑built old men, though their waists were straight, appeared gaunt with age and a hint of weakness in their breath, silently appeared beside Linghu Qingqing. The four elders exuded a strange yin‑cold aura, which did not emanate from themselves but came from the cold qi clinging to their bodies.

It felt as if the four old men had just been freed from an ice‑sealed coffin, having walked out of the ice coffin, with the external chill of the ice coffin still clinging to them.

Wu Tie's gaze flicked over the four old men in an instant, and his thoughts stirred.

In the distance, the silver light cover was suddenly pierced by a strand of black‑and‑white spiritual light, a sharp angry howl shot up to the heavens, and Venerable Dafang's right‑hand Seven Treasure Ruyi swung forward violently, blasting a huge hole in the void.

With a loud boom, the black and white qi condensed in the void into a huge Taiji diagram; the Seven Treasure Ruyi struck the diagram, denting the black and white qi slightly but failing to break the Taiji diagram.

The Yin‑Yang Daoist laughed loudly, cradling the Nine Dragon Coffin in his left hand, slipped through the breach in the silver light cover, and with a palm seized the extremely tiny, immensely heavy golden pill. The black and white qi rotated, and the tiny golden pill cracked with a 'crack', split into two by the primordial yin‑yang power.

"Come, come, come, let me give you a good nourishing."

The Yin‑Yang Daoist burst into laughter: 'This pill has an illegitimate origin; ordinary people must not use it, or they will fall into the demonic path. But you yourselves are not of the orthodox lineage either—using this pill is perfectly justified.'

A great roar came from the Nine Dragon Coffin, and a long, scale‑covered arm reached out, snatching half of the pill and dragging it inside.

At the same time, red light flashed; the Drought Demon clad in a red palace robe flew out of the Nine Dragon Coffin, seized the other half of the pill with one hand and swallowed it whole. With a 'boom', the moment the pill entered her mouth, the Drought Demon burst forth with rolling crimson flames, a terrible scorching aura that streamed through the silver light cover and swiftly swept across a radius of ten thousand li.

The mountains and forests for ten thousand li instantly withered; plants and trees turned directly to charcoal, then collapsed into flying ash.

The rivers and channels in the mountains and rivers dried up completely, not a drop of water remaining.

The originally fertile land became scorched, cracks split across the soil, fertile earth turned to scorched earth, and the once plump fish in the rivers and valleys turned into dried fish in just three to five breaths.

"Hehe, hehe, hehehe." The Drought Demon chuckled lowly, then suddenly backhanded a claw toward the Yin‑Yang Daoist's chest.

The Yin‑Yang Daoist smiled faintly and said softly: 'Mischievous!'

The black‑and‑white spiritual light flashed, and the Drought Demon's body twisted involuntarily like a pretzel, accompanied by a grating sound of bones breaking inside. She let out a mournful howl, screaming hoarsely: 'Master, I know I was wrong.'

The Yin‑Yang Daoist nodded with a smile and said softly: 'Knowing your mistake is good; be obedient from now on, or I will still have to punish you!'

A low‑pitched roar came from the Nine Dragon Coffin, and a black silhouette shot out.

The black figure stood a hundred zhang tall, its body resembling a suanni, with legs extremely thick and arms extraordinarily long—nearly twice the length of its torso. Its whole body was covered in large and small black scales, from the gaps of which grew countless black hairs.

Its head resembled a dragon‑horse, with a pair of dragon horns on its forehead, a mouth full of ferocious teeth, and a single breath could spew out thin streams of scorching flame.

This is a dragon‑eating beast.

In legend, it is a beast that feeds on divine dragons.

More importantly, in certain myths it is the ultimate form of the zombie clan.

The dragon‑eating beast is the supreme deity of the zombie clan.

Of course, dragon‑eating beasts vary in strength; this wholly black‑scaled one would not be considered top‑tier among its kind even in the age of ancient myth, but in the present age it possesses the power of a deity, enough to crush all directions and run rampant unchecked.

"Meat!" The corpse dragon‑eating beast's crimson eyes flashed with a ferocious light as it fixed its gaze on Venerable Dafang, hoarsely roaring: 'I have just awakened… flesh and blood… beauties, come together, tear him apart, and I'll give you thirty percent.'

The Drought Demon gave a cold snort and glanced askance at the corpse dragon‑eating beast.

This fellow is truly greedy by nature; greed and cruelty have merged into his very marrow.

Venerable Dafang, at his level of cultivation, his flesh and essence are exceedingly precious, a great boon to both the corpse dragon‑eating beast and the Drought Demon. However, though they join forces to take him down, the corpse dragon‑eating beast only promises the Drought Demon thirty percent of the spoils…

"Whoever kills him gets the larger share." The Drought Demon spat coldly, her body flickering; engulfed in blazing flames, she broke through the silver fire barrier and instantly appeared before Venerable Dafang, slashing a claw at his head.

"Just a Drought Demon!" Venerable Dafang bellowed with a hint of madness: 'How dare you steal my Great Elixir?'

His right hand slammed the Seven Treasure Ruyi hard against the Drought Demon's claw, and Venerable Dafang shouted sternly: 'However, after refining you all, the benefits that are mine will still be mine.'

The Seven Treasure Ruyi waved a flood of divine light; one strike twisted and deformed the Drought Demon's claw, shards of broken bone piercing through her flesh and bursting out.

The Drought Demon shuddered, let out a piercing scream, and stumbled far backward.

Her body shook violently; the bones broken by the Yin‑Yang Daoist and the injury on her right‑hand claw healed instantly, and she then turned into a afterimage, lunging fiercely at Venerable Dafang.

The five Hu Tu brothers had already recognized the Yin‑Yang Daoist—this fellow was the thieving daoist who had been continually snatching treasures from them these past days.

However, seeing the Yin‑Yang Daoist and Venerable Dafang vying for supremacy, the five Hu Tu brothers remained silent, merely activating the five treasures to forcibly seize the power of Venerable Dafang's left‑hand silver lantern.

Before Venerable Dafang lay only a thin layer of silver fire for protection; the Drought Demon, innately adept at controlling fire, especially on the great island where the Nine Dragon Coffin was nurtured, had her demonic qi completely dispelled, leaving only an utterly yang, righteous holy body.

The silver flames were overwhelmingly dominant and pure, yet they posed no threat whatsoever to the utterly yang, righteous Drought Demon who bore no trace of demonic qi.

The Drought Demon circled Venerable Dafang, launching a fierce assault with fists that left afterimages across the sky, pounding down heavily.

Venerable Dafang was no slouch either; no matter how fiercely the Drought Demon attacked, his right hand wielded a Seven Treasure Ruyi in continuous strikes, each blow shattering her bones inch by inch—were it not for her extraordinary toughness and powerful recuperative ability, he would have already pulverized her with the Seven Treasure Ruyi.

Everyone could see that this Seven Treasures Ruyi had boundless power, but Venerable Dafang seemed unable to fully control this Seven Treasures Ruyi.

Between him and the Seven Treasures Ruyi, there still seemed to be a layer, an invisible membrane that prevented him from touching the core of the Seven Treasures Ruyi.

The five Hu Tu joined forces to suppress the Silver Lantern, while the Drought Demon and Venerable Dafang were locked in a stalemate. The towering Corpse Hound lurked nearby for a moment, then suddenly its form flickered, turning into a black afterimage that instantly appeared behind Venerable Dafang, and it struck with a palm toward Venerable Dafang's head.

"I've been waiting for you a long time." Venerable Dafang laughed loudly, he abandoned the Drought Demon, his right hand suddenly expanded to several zhang in size, and the Seven Treasures Ruyi also enlarged accordingly, then he smashed the Ruyi hard onto the Corpse Hound's palm.

With a tremendous boom that shook heaven and earth, the Corpse Hound's claw was shattered outright; the huge claw exploded into a mass of black mist, which turned into countless black qi arrows shooting outward.

The Corpse Hound let out a monstrous roar and suddenly turned and fled.

"Where are you running? Die for me!" Venerable Dafang's eyes flashed with killing intent; he fiercely waved his right hand, directly unleashing the Seven Treasures Ruyi, which turned into a blinding divine light that smashed down upon the Corpse Hound that had fled tens of li away.

The Yin-Yang Daoist laughed; he let out a wild laugh, and from his eyes shot a black and a white beam of divine light, like giant dragons coiling and flying through the air, locking onto the flying Seven Treasures Ruyi and twisting it into a spiral.

Venerable Dafang cried out "Oh no!" and fiercely waved his right hand, beckoning the Seven Treasures Ruyi.

If the Seven Treasures Ruyi were in Venerable Dafang's hand, even with the power of the Yin-Yang Two-Qi Vessel, the Yin-Yang Daoist could not so easily snatch it away. But Venerable Dafang had not truly mastered the Seven Treasures Ruyi, and to make matters worse he actually flung it away with a shake of his hand—this was practically delivering meat to the doorstep, so how could the Yin-Yang Daoist stand on ceremony?

"Hahaha, thank you, fellow Daoist... I, the poor Daoist, am leaving!" The Yin-Yang Daoist laughed wildly to the heavens; his left hand's Nine Dragon Coffin spewed forth a blast of icy yin energy, which locked onto the bodies of the Drought Demon and the Corpse Hound, and with a "hiss" sucked them both back into the Nine Dragon Coffin.

Afterwards the Yin-Yang Daoist opened his mouth; the Yin-Yang Two Qi sealed the Seven Treasures Ruyi, pulling it back flying into his mouth, and he swallowed it in one gulp.

The Yin-Yang Daoist's body transformed into black-and-white spiritual light; with a "whoosh" he shot straight up into the high sky, smashing a huge hole in the silver light curtain above, and in an instant soared up hundreds of li, about to escape.

Just now, among the four weak-breath elders beside Linghu Qingqing, two elders suddenly appeared soundlessly above the Yin-Yang Daoist.

"The treasure of my Linghu family is not so easily taken. Get lost!"

One elder shouted loudly, he wielded a sword with both hands; a two chi four cun long bronze ancient sword in his hand brought forth myriad sword shadows, accompanied by a heavy breaking-the-air sound as it smashed down toward the Yin-Yang Daoist.

From within the Nine Dragon Coffin held by the Yin-Yang Daoist came a heaven-shaking roar; two long, black-scaled arms shot out and unleashed three consecutive punches that struck the descending sword shadows.

Myriad sword shadows blasted the Corpse Hound's arms into a mass of scale wounds; each sword cut ran deep to the bone, and great spouts of black blood sprayed out, forming on the ground a bloody lake with a radius of hundreds of li.

With a tremendous boom, a thousand-zhang-wide crimson fireball, blazing with scorching intent, shot out from the Nine Dragon Coffin and slammed heavily onto the two elders. The fireball exploded violently; instantly the original ten-thousand-li radius scorched wasteland expanded tenfold, and even though the two elders had heaven-reaching cultivation, they were blasted by the fireball until they vomited blood and were hurled hundreds of li away.

"Grandmother's life-essence blood..." came a mournful cry from within the Nine Dragon Coffin: "The pill just now gave ninety percent of its benefit... Grandfather, you owe me!"

The Yin-Yang Daoist laughed loudly, black-and-white spiritual light flickering; he had already vanished without a trace.

The two Linghu family elders who had been blasted away vomited blood again; they shouted in unison, pointing fiercely at Venerable Dafang: "Seize it, seize it, that lantern—never let it go again!"