Chapter 281: Chapter 272: A Small Test of Skill

Wang Meng found this increasingly interesting. The flute’s song grew longer and more drawn-out. It wasn’t shrill, yet it became louder and louder, spreading farther into the distance. The once-calm sea began to stir with ripples that swelled into large waves, pushing out toward the horizon.

Before long, the sea began to surge violently. Jiangg Qingqing put away her jade flute, and everyone prepared for battle.

BOOM...

The sea exploded, throwing up a colossal wave as an enormous head emerged more than ten meters from the water.

HISS...

It opened its great maw and let out an ear-splitting shriek, as if it intended to shatter their very skulls.

The Water Traveling Boat rocked violently. Jiangg Qingqing stepped forward, a brilliant purple light shining in her eyes. She spread her arms, blocking the Shadow Flood Dragon’s Brain-Piercing Demon Sound.

"Attack!" A murderous glint flashed in Yanm Yuyue’s eyes. Lv Buwei threw his head back and roared, ripping the shirt from his body. He leaped from the Water Traveling Boat and charged ferociously toward the Shadow Flood Dragon, running across the waves and swinging his massive War Axe.

RAAAARGH~~~

He leaped into the air, bringing the giant War Axe down on the Shadow Flood Dragon’s head.

The Shadow Flood Dragon’s lantern-like eyes glared at Lv Buwei. At that moment, the purple light radiating from Jiangg Qingqing intensified. "Hurry, everyone! I can’t hold on for much longer!"

As Lv Buwei charged forward, Yanm Yuyue and Li Lishang were already flanking the beast, attacking from both sides.

The Shadow Flood Dragon was about to unleash its Brain-Piercing Demon Sound but was thwarted by Jiangg Qingqing. Lv Buwei’s War Axe had already struck its forehead.

The Shadow Flood Dragon shrieked, and a massive tail suddenly shot out from the water.

BAM...

Lv Buwei was sent flying, along with his axe.

Just then, Yanm Yuyue arrived. The Long Sword in her hand flashed with a biting light as she slashed furiously toward the Shadow Flood Dragon’s vital spot.

The vital spot is a weakness for any Flood Dragon. At that moment, the single horn on its head discharged a bolt of lightning.

Yanm Yuyue hastily dodged. Li Lishang had already seized the opportunity to close in, his Sword Qi hacking viciously at the Shadow Flood Dragon’s vital spot.

SHING...

A direct hit!

The sword had indeed found its mark, but before Li Lishang could celebrate, a second tail shot out from an impossible angle and struck him squarely in the chest. There was the sickening crack of breaking bone and a pained scream as Li Lishang was sent flying.

"Everyone, be careful! It’s a Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon!"

The Shadow Flood Dragon, its vital spot struck, flew into a rage. It thrashed its body wildly, creating a massive whirlpool that threatened to engulf them all. Wang Meng had already pulled Li Lishang from the water. ’Looks like I’m the rescue squad,’ he thought wryly.

"Abandon the boat!"

Yanm Yuyue shouted. Lv Buwei leaped out of the sea as well. What rotten luck. They had only intended to kill an ordinary Shadow Flood Dragon. In this part of the sea, only one in a thousand was a Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon. Talk about a stroke of shitty luck.

’If I’d known, I would have brought more people.’

The blow to its vital spot wasn’t fatal, but it had thoroughly enraged the Shadow Flood Dragon. As it churned the sea, it unleashed its Brain-Piercing Demon Sound without restraint.

The sound ravaged the sea, causing the surface to erupt in constant explosions. Jiangg Qingqing’s face instantly turned deathly pale. Her hair whipped around her, and her eyes turned completely purple.

She didn’t even have the strength to speak. Yanm Yuyue and Lv Buwei tried to charge in, but the frenzied Shadow Flood Dragon launched a barrage of water arrows. To be touched by one was death; to be grazed, a grievous wound.

Yanm Yuyue was soaked to the bone, and the pressure was mounting on her as well. ’There are many who resent my position, but my leadership brings great benefits to Heaven-Dominating Hall. If I fail my very first mission, the opposition will only grow louder.’

’The three who came today are on relatively good terms with me. At least they won’t feign compliance while secretly undermining me. Our team was more than enough to handle a Shadow Flood Dragon, but who would have thought we’d run into a two-tailed one? It’s a pack leader. Our current lineup is no match for it.’

’If we suffer casualties, the losses will far outweigh any potential gains.’

The pair tried various methods but couldn’t break through. Most critically, Jiangg Qingqing was at her limit.

’We have to retreat, now.’

Yanm Yuyue gritted her teeth. Just as she prepared to give the order to retreat, the Brain-Piercing Demon Sound washed over her, and her body suddenly went rigid.

Jiangg Qingqing’s face was terrifyingly pale; she couldn’t hold on any longer.

Wang Meng knew he couldn’t wait for Yanm Yuyue’s command. If he didn’t act now, they would all die here.

Placing his right hand on the small of Jiangg Qingqing’s back, he slowly channeled a stream of his Heart Spirit into her, replenishing her nearly depleted reserves.

Wielding Broken Heaven Edge, he strode across the waves. He was the only one unaffected by the Brain-Piercing Demon Sound; he didn’t even need to resist it.

Water arrows zipped past him. The Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon, focused entirely on unleashing its Demon Sound, never imagined someone could be immune. Its water arrows were noticeably weaker. In the blink of an eye, Wang Meng was beside the creature.

He struck viciously with Broken Heaven Edge.

CLANG! It was useless!

The Flood Dragon’s Brain-Piercing Demon Sound intensified. Its giant eyes suddenly glared at Wang Meng, emitting a crystalline blue light. It wanted to devour this ant’s Heart Soul!

At that very instant, a golden glint flashed in Wang Meng’s pupils, and he unleashed his Divine Sense.

Even the faintest wisp of Divine Sense was imbued with the Power of Laws. A normal Cultivator wouldn’t be able to perceive it, but a Demon Beast like the Shadow Flood Dragon immediately sensed the danger and tried to retract its Demon Soul attack.

But Wang Meng wasn’t about to let it go. If this thing broke free, they would all die here for sure.

’This wisp of Divine Sense is indeed incredibly weak. If I still had my Godhood, I could have made its head explode instantly.’ But for now, all he could do was hold it in place.

The Brain-Piercing Demon Sound stopped. Yanm Yuyue and Lv Buwei, just recovering from the piercing headache, saw Wang Meng in a direct standoff with the Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon.

They exchanged a look and attacked simultaneously. Yanm Yuyue’s Sword Qi arrived first, striking the Shadow Flood Dragon squarely on its vital spot. Scales flew everywhere.

Yanm Yuyue was stunned. ’The Shadow Flood Dragon... didn’t even try to dodge?’

At that moment, Lv Buwei’s War Axe descended. He had swelled to twice his normal size, and like a beast from the Barbaric Wilderness, he brought his giant axe down mercilessly on the Shadow Flood Dragon’s vital spot.

It wasn’t just one strike!

In that single instant, his War Axe rained down dozens of high-frequency blows.

SHLICK...

With that sound, the Shadow Flood Dragon’s head was severed. The cranium flew through the air as blood gushed from its neck like a fountain.

Jiangg Qingqing managed to steer the Water Traveling Boat over to pull Li Lishang from the water.

Li Lishang was the most severely injured. The unguarded attack had nearly cost him his life.

Even as the Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon’s head flew through the air, the group could hardly believe it.

Yanm Yuyue pursued the severed head. With a rippling slash of her Long Sword, she cut a brilliant blue Inner Core out of it.

This was the goal of their mission.

Back on the Water Traveling Boat, Jiangg Qingqing’s bewitching eyes never left Wang Meng, while Lv Buwei wiped blood from his body.

"Hell yeah, that felt amazing! That was the most satisfying swing I’ve taken in years! Wang Meng, you’re a beast!"

Lv Buwei spoke freely. If Wang Meng hadn’t completely immobilized the Shadow Flood Dragon, it would have dodged after his first strike. But he had landed forty-seven consecutive blows, and the beast hadn’t moved an inch. It felt as if it hadn’t even channeled its Demon Power to resist.

Jiangg Qingqing licked the seawater from her lips, her pale complexion lending her an even more bewitching air. As a Demon Cultivator, she loved interesting things. To think that someone in the new generation was also skilled in Heart Spirit Techniques, and could even face off against a Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon...

Yanm Yuyue sensed something in their surroundings. "Qingqing, we need to leave now! The blood will attract more of them!"

Lv Buwei hoisted Li Lishang onto his shoulder, and the five of them took to the sky.

Shadow Flood Dragons weren’t social Demon Beasts, but the smell of their own kind’s blood sent them into a frenzy. All at once, the surrounding sea erupted with a series of loud splashes as enormous heads emerged, searching for prey. By then, however, Wang Meng and his group had already flown toward the Teleportation Array in the sky.

Out here, a short stay was a blessing, but linger too long and it became a living hell.

Chapter 8: Settled

The five who returned to the Hundred Battles Pavilion were a sorry sight, looking like drowned rats.

Li Lishang was sent off for treatment. A Sword Cultivator wasn’t a Body Cultivator; taking a surprise attack from a Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon head-on was a heavy blow for him. Lv Buwei was also injured, but his wounds were much lighter, a testament to the powerful physique of a Body Cultivator.

The only ones who were relatively unscathed were Wang Meng and Yanm Yuyue. Master Wang had come purely to do a job, and now the debt was paid.

"Senior Sister Yanm, I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m heading out."

Wang Meng gave a cupped-fist salute and left. They would be distributing the mission points next, and that had nothing to do with him.

Jiangg Qingqing stared blankly at Wang Meng’s departing figure. A bit of color returned to her pale face. Her main issue was the massive consumption of her Heart Spirit. She could have handled a normal Shadow Flood Dragon, but the two-tailed variant had been a little too fierce.

"Sister Yue, who exactly is that man? How can he have such profound mastery of the Heart Spirit?"

Jiangg Qingqing was very confident in her own Heart Spirit mastery; it was a rare talent possessed by only a select few.

Yanm Yuyue shook her head slightly, biting her lip. "No one understands him."

Yanm Yuyue didn’t know just how strong Wang Meng was. She had heard rumors of him leading Thunderlight Hall to create one miracle or another, but those kinds of achievements were meaningless in the Great Yuan Realm. She had also heard his innate talent was poor, which was the greatest possible disadvantage in the Great Yuan Realm.

But Yanm Yuyue had never believed it. ’The one chosen by *that* person couldn’t possibly be so weak.’

Today had merely confirmed her suspicions.

"Sister Yue, I think we should recruit him into our Dragon King Faction!" Jiangg Qingqing was still thinking about that warm infusion of Heart Spirit. Without its support, she would have been grievously injured, a far cry from her current state.

Those who cultivate Heart Spirit Techniques are especially sensitive to Heart Spirit and are usually instinctively repelled by others’. Yet when Wang Meng’s Heart Spirit entered her, she felt no resistance at all. It was as if her own Heart Spirit instinctively found his reliable, even craved it.

This sensation had a profound effect on Jiangg Qingqing herself.

Yanm Yuyue looked at the dazed, distant look in Jiangg Qingqing’s eyes and cleared her throat. "Qingqing, that man is dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Jiangg Qingqing was stunned for a moment. She hadn’t expected that assessment.

"It’s a long story. Besides, I don’t think he would join the Dragon King Faction anyway."

Yanm Yuyue went to claim the reward for their mission. For a Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon, the reward should be doubled.

Every Cultivator at the Cultivation Academy wanted to earn enough points to take the Star Alliance membership test, whether for themselves or for their Sect. Accumulating points from the very beginning was undoubtedly the best strategy.

The Hundred Battles Pavilion Steward responsible for mission turn-ins seemed captivated by Yanm Yuyue’s beauty. It took him a moment to react before he accepted the Inner Core. "...Is this from a Two-tailed Shadow Flood Dragon?"

"Yes."

"You completed it with only five people?" The Hundred Battles Pavilion Steward was in disbelief. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)