Chapter 631: Epilogue: Withdrawing Intact

The evil flood dragon plunged into the seawater, continuously rolling, its huge body kicking up large sheets of spray, but no matter how it struggled, the Nirvana fire kept spreading backward from its mouth.

This process was extremely swift, and the evil flood dragon soon realized it was at the end of its rope.

The flood dragon's head suddenly shot up from underwater, opening its fire‑spouting great mouth and lunging to bite me.

At that moment I only worried about one thing—make sure the Nirvana fire didn't burn the evil flood dragon's inner elixir.

The instant the evil flood dragon revealed its head, the ancient bronze sword descended from the sky.

Liu Junyan gripped the sword hilt with both hands, driving the blade deep into the evil flood dragon's mouth and pressing down…… amid the dragon's heart‑rending roar, the ancient bronze sword split open her lower jaw, throat, and chest……

A strong smell of blood instantly filled the space, the dragon's tail thrashed wildly on the sea surface, the pain forcing her to exert all her strength, the sharp blade slicing from head to tail, and as the evil flood dragon's mortal body crashed into the outer sea, the inner elixir had already been gouged out by the ancient bronze sword.

The inner elixir was wrapped in a layer of Nirvana fire; I leapt up and firmly grasped it in my hand.

The Nirvana fire completely extinguished; the next moment, the entire outer sea boiled up, countless seabed creatures surged from below and feasted on the fresh corpse of the evil flood dragon.

Liu Junyan landed steadily beside me, her breath calm.

I handed the inner elixir scorched by the Nirvana fire to Liu Junyan to look at.

The evil flood dragon's inner elixir was red, dark‑tinged, and somewhat murky.

"She still failed to survive the tribulation and become a true jiao; the quality of her inner elixir isn't as high as I expected." Liu Junyan evaluated somewhat disparagingly, "It's barely usable."

I had several worries: "If we give this inner elixir to Sister Qingying, will it have any adverse effect on her?"

Otherwise we might botch things up—this could cost Li Qingying her life!

Liu Junyan said, "No, it was just refined by the Nirvana fire; the yin‑evil qi has been purged, so it won't backlash on Qingying. As for how much essence she can absorb from it, that depends entirely on her own fortune."

I nodded and said, "It's fine; we'll stay by her side the whole time and be able to suppress any sudden developments promptly."

In short, this battle went very smoothly.

Just as I and Liu Junyan turned to leave, a crowd of people appeared on the sea surface at the outlet of the South Sea, murmuring tumultuously.

Leading them was none other than the South Sea Dragon King.

The South Sea Dragon King's aura swept over us like a flood, and Liu Junyan shoved me behind her.

Though the South Sea Dragon King hadn't moved, water mist roiled around us, seeming to form an invisible barrier that trapped Liu Junyan and me inside.

Immediately after, an old man's voice like a tolling bell seemed to come from all directions: "Though my daughter is headstrong, her guilt does not merit death; she could soon undergo another tribulation to become a true jiao. You two lured my daughter out to the outer sea, slaughtered her, and extracted her inner elixir—what is your intention?"

Ha, truly laughable.

Just now, when Liu Junyan and I attacked the evil flood dragon from front and rear, we caused such a commotion, the dragon's cries shook heaven and earth—did they all go deaf?

When the fight was underway, no one stepped forward; now that it's over and the inner elixir has been dug out, the South Sea Dragon King's repeated calls of "my daughter"—if the evil flood dragon's soul hasn't fully dissipated, I wonder how it would feel hearing that.

Liu Junyan showed no panic: "The evil flood dragon has stirred up storms in the outer sea for years, who knows how many coastal folk it has harmed; infamous, karmic burdens cling to it. Old Dragon King, are you sure this is your daughter? Don't mistake the person—take it back, lest you sully your lifelong purity."

The South Sea Dragon King, however, wouldn't buy that: "Whether it's true or not, we'll know after verification; whether she has committed many evils can't be decided solely by your family's word. Without evidence, you're merely slandering my daughter and provoking my entire South Sea Dragon Clan."

My heart tightened, and I instinctively clenched that inner elixir tighter.

The other side's attitude was hard‑lined; clearly they were after the inner elixir.

Liu Junyan had only been watching the evil flood dragon for two or three days; it's impossible for her to know its crimes in detail.

If this South Sea Dragon King proves intractable, we might truly be unable to withdraw unscathed.

Just then, a rasping voice slipped through the barrier from outside: "Old Dragon King, want evidence? I can speak out here, or we can go inside to talk."

It was Xiaoye's voice.

Before the South Sea Dragon King could respond, Xiaoye's voice rang out again: "In the first year of Guangxu, the flower‑selling fishing village was swallowed by floodwaters overnight, over a hundred lives lost……"

The barrier shuddered, and the figures of Xiaoye and Zhong Susu appeared within it.

Xiaoye stood with hands behind his back, smiling smugly as he recited: "In 1933, the Yuh River fishing village saw two offshore fishing boats……"

As Xiaoye laid out timeline after timeline, village after village, figure after figure before the South Sea Dragon King, the old dragon king's face grew ever uglier.

He gritted his teeth and cut off Xiaoye: "Ao Xiao, you're getting more and more insolent."

Xiaoye shrugged, feigning innocence: "Old Dragon King, I've been like this since childhood; you know it, my father's beard was plucked bald by me—hasn't that long been a joke after your tea and meals? You haven't just met me today."

He paused, then added: "Oh, and also, Old Dragon King keeps himself pure, so he certainly wouldn't keep company with my father's sort who spoils a wicked son; this evil flood dragon has done countless wrongs—how could it possibly be your daughter, right?"

One must admit, when a scholar meets a soldier, even if he's in the right he can't make himself clear.

When Xiaoye gets shameless, ordinary people really can't withstand him.

Which dragon king could be as bold as he is!

The South Sea Dragon King had originally come at us with firm resolve, but now Xiaoye had him blocked, unable to utter a word.

Xiaoye pressed his advantage: "Old Dragon King, you're benevolent and sympathetic to the hard cultivation of the yellow carp; I understand your feelings. If you truly wish to take on a foster daughter, once Qingying leaps the Dragon Gate and truly transforms into a jiao and dragon, she will surely come in person to thank you—virtue fathers have no weak daughters—and I'll pre‑congratulate the South Sea Dragon Clan on gaining another great general."

Xiaoye's roundabout speech left us dazed.

How did this topic shift from yellow carp to red carp?

And how did it go from an illegitimate daughter to a foster daughter?

This isn't nonsense!

The South Sea Dragon King's brows knotted into a frown, his stare at Xiaoye like he wanted to devour him.

Xiaoye still met the South Sea Dragon King's gaze with a smug smile, full of meaning.

After a long while, the South Sea Dragon King's brows gradually smoothed; he raised a hand to stroke his whitening beard and said, "Ao Xiao has a discerning eye for talent; when my foster daughter completes her tribulation and ascends, I will surely invite Ao Xiao to come to the South Sea for a gathering."

Xiaoye replied with a smile, "Better to obey than to show mere respect."

The South Sea Dragon King waved a hand; the barrier dissolved, and shortly afterward the sea surface returned to calm.

Xiaoye urged, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and go……"