Chapter 521: Poisonous Flood Dragon

“Poison Flood Dragon!”

Han Li inwardly exclaimed, his face unusually showing a trace of fear.

This demonic beast was bright red in color, with a body stretching a hundred zhang long, almost identical to the Ink Flood Dragon Han Li had seen before. It was a genuine flood dragon, and moreover, one of the notoriously ferocious Poison Flood Dragons. The spiritual light flowing on its bright red scales appeared almost tangible, unmistakably marking it as a true eighth-level demonic beast. The pressure it exuded was something Han Li had only ever felt from those old monsters at the Nascent Soul stage.

Flood dragons were among the few ancient spiritual beasts that had survived from primordial times. Not only did these demonic beasts cultivate far faster than ordinary ones, but once they achieved cultivation, their magical powers far surpassed those of other demons at the same level. It was even possible for pure-blooded flood dragons to defeat opponents a level higher.

If the ancient texts were accurate, although this Poison Flood Dragon was an eighth-level demonic beast, it wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even against a ninth-level one.

No wonder Han Li was so alarmed. He almost immediately thought of fleeing, but reason held him back from acting rashly.

Two streaks of light were still shooting toward them from afar, and they didn’t seem friendly. Escaping amidst the chaos would be better than recklessly revealing his position now.

Even so, Han Li quietly draped the blood-colored cloak over his shoulders and, with a slight shake of both hands, discreetly summoned the Five Elements Ring and Flower Basket into his grasp.

Only then did he feel somewhat reassured.

By now, the Poison Flood Dragon had stopped its long hiss. It twisted its massive head to glance at the giant turtle still struggling against the lightning, a strange glint flashing in its eyes.

Then, it emitted an intimidating blue light, its enormous body rapidly shrinking and transforming within the glow.

Moments later, a humanoid flood dragon, roughly the size of an ordinary person, stood in its place.

Its head remained the ferocious flood dragon’s head, completely unchanged. Its limbs had transformed into human-like appendages, covered in bright red scales from head to toe. A thick flood dragon tail still swayed back and forth behind it.

Witnessing this transformation, Han Li was utterly horrified.

The humanoid Poison Flood Dragon stood barehanded upon the waves as if on solid ground, not swaying in the slightest.

However, after taking human form, the flood dragon’s emerald-green eyes inadvertently glanced toward Han Li’s concealed position. The icy malice in its gaze instantly sent a chill through Han Li’s entire body, his palms sweating profusely as he gripped the two ancient treasures.

Fortunately, just then, the golden light from afar and the red mist from another direction arrived almost simultaneously.

The Poison Flood Dragon immediately disregarded Han Li, its cold gaze shifting to the three figures now visible in the air.

Within the golden light was an elderly Daoist with an immortal aura, a treasured sword strapped to his back and a horsetail whisk in hand. He wore a golden Eight Trigrams robe and stroked his beard as he examined the humanoid flood dragon, his face a mask of astonishment. Yet, beneath the surprise, a flicker of greed shone in his eyes.

Standing not far from the Daoist were two middle-aged men with strikingly similar appearances. Both had corpse-like, ashen faces and wore identical fiery red robes. The only difference was that one carried a massive red gourd on his back, while the other held a ghost-headed staff about ten feet tall.

The two of them first glanced at the giant turtle and flood dragon below, then at the Daoist opposite them, remaining expressionless and silent.

Among the three, the old Daoist was at the early Nascent Soul stage, while the two middle-aged men were only at the late Core Formation level. Yet, to Han Li’s surprise, these two red-robed men stood with unwavering confidence before the flood dragon and the Nascent Soul Daoist, showing no trace of fear.

“Hehe! I never expected to meet the two Brother Huos here. This humble Daoist pays his respects!”

The old Daoist’s eyes darted a few times before he suddenly addressed the two red-robed men with a smile.

“We didn’t expect to encounter Senior Jinxia here either. If Senior intends to hunt the two demonic beasts below, my brother and I will gladly yield them to you.”

The red-robed man with the gourd twitched his face slightly, speaking with an unchanged expression.

Hearing this, the old Daoist felt a wave of frustration.

The Poison Flood Dragon below was equivalent to a ninth-level demonic beast. Even with his arrogance, he didn’t believe he could subdue it alone. If not for relying on his powerful treasures, he wouldn’t even dare consider targeting this flood dragon.

So, after frowning for a moment, the old Daoist simply coughed dryly and stated bluntly, “You two jest. This humble Daoist alone is no match for the Poison Flood Dragon below. Similarly, even with your Heaven-Shattering God Sand, you two couldn’t trap this beast to death. If we join forces, however, we might stand a chance. Would you two be interested in giving it a try? An eighth-level demonic beast hasn’t been seen in years. If we’re fortunate enough to succeed, I won’t claim the eighth-level demonic core, but the flood dragon’s spirit must be allowed for this humble Daoist to extract.”

Daoist Jinxia fixed his gaze on the two red-robed men, speaking slowly.

These words seemed to catch the two red-robed men off guard. They exchanged a glance and, after some unspoken communication, the staff-wielding middle-aged man nodded briefly and replied, “Very well! Since Senior has spoken thus, it’s settled. We two juniors don’t want to miss this opportunity either. We’ll risk it once!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the other man flipped his hand, and the fiery red gourd from his back somehow appeared in his grasp.

Hearing this, the old Daoist was overjoyed. He raised his hand, and a green jade ring shot from his sleeve, expanding with a humming sound as it met the wind.

Below, the Poison Flood Dragon, which had been coldly watching the three, seemed to understand their words. A fierce glint flashed in its eyes, and without a word, it opened its mouth and shot a blood-red light straight at the old Daoist, disappearing in an instant. Meanwhile, its own figure vanished from the sea surface without a trace.

The next moment, the Poison Flood Dragon teleported behind the two red-robed men. With a wave of its hands, blue light flashed from its ten fingers as it struck down fiercely. A loud clang echoed as a giant green hand suddenly blocked the attack.

It was the red-robed cultivator’s ghost-headed staff, which had automatically transformed into a ten-foot-tall fierce ghost to save them.

Even so, the Huo brothers were badly frightened. Their corpse-like faces showed a trace of terror.

Simultaneously, they gently offered up the red gourd. With a sound like wind chimes, countless red crystalline sands poured out from the gourd, engulfing the area within a hundred zhang in a fiery red world, trapping the Poison Flood Dragon within.

Meanwhile, the blood-red light spat out by the flood dragon tangled with the jade ring shot by the old Daoist like a living creature.

Seeing Daoist Jinxia’s grave expression and his obvious reluctance to let the blood light near him, it was clear the blood light was equally formidable.

Forced to fight two enemies at once, the Poison Flood Dragon was clearly buying time for the demonic turtle to undergo its tribulation.

Similarly, the old Daoist and the two red-robed men, fearing the flood dragon might flee if the situation turned dire, were content to gradually drain its magic power before launching a sudden fierce attack. As for the giant turtle, even if it finished undergoing the tribulation, it would be severely weakened and no longer a threat.

Thus, the three humans and one demon battled fiercely in the sky, while below, the giant turtle’s tribulation reached a critical point. Instead of individual lightning bolts, clusters of silver thunderballs now fell from the sky, striking the giant turtle and causing it to tremble violently, roaring incessantly.

Witnessing this, Han Li, hidden to the side, was overjoyed.

He certainly didn’t entertain any thoughts of profiting from others’ conflict—that level of battle was beyond his intervention. Whether the victors were demons or humans, dealing with a Core Formation cultivator like him would be effortless.

Now that he finally had a chance to escape, he hurriedly channeled all his magic power into the blood-colored cloak, instantly transforming into a streak of blood light that shot through the sky.

Han Li’s astonishing escape light startled the battling trio and the demon, but they quickly disregarded it.

Although the blood light was extremely fast, they could still discern Han Li’s cultivation level at a glance—an early Core Formation cultivator was utterly insignificant to them.

Fearing that his cave might be discovered by these demons and cultivators, Han Li’s blood light didn’t head toward the misty sea but instead fled in another direction.

Relying on the incredible speed of the blood-colored cloak, Han Li covered thousands of li in one breath. Seeing no pursuit, he relaxed, switching to an ordinary escape light to continue forward.

After flying for the better part of a day, Han Li randomly chose a deserted island to rest on temporarily.

After lingering in the nearby sea for several days, estimating that the great battle should have concluded, Han Li cautiously flew back.

Sure enough, the area near the misty sea was now calm. Demonic beasts, cultivators, and heavenly lightning had all vanished without a trace, as if nothing had ever happened.

Han Li stood thoughtfully on the nearby sea surface, then slowly released his spiritual sense to scan the surrounding waters. Suddenly, his heart stirred. With a flash of blue light, he abruptly sank into the sea. After the time it takes to eat a meal, Han Li emerged from the water, holding an object in each hand.