Chapter 199: Tier Four Red Flood Dragon
Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Tier Four Red Flood Dragon
When it came to being hunted by Hua Wuji, Li Ping subscribed to the "better safe than sorry" philosophy.
So, as soon as he returned to Immortal Peach Mountain, he summoned Gumu Sheng and purchased the spiritual materials for puppet-making that Gumu Sheng had gathered.
Li Ping did a quick inventory. All together, the spiritual materials Gumu Sheng had collected were likely enough to build another Tier Two Upper Grade puppet.
He nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, "Gumu Sheng, I’ve run into some trouble. I need to lie low for a while and might not be back for several decades."
"What?"
At these words, Gumu Sheng couldn’t hide his shock. "Big Brother, what’s wrong?" he asked urgently. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Li Ping shook his head. He suspected he had provoked a Late-stage Core Formation cultivator.
Never mind a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Gumu Sheng; even if Fenglan Master were still alive, he wouldn’t have dared to get involved.
Of course, he hadn’t planned on troubling anyone to begin with.
If he hadn’t chanced upon the secret hidden in Yan Liming’s memories during the Soul Searching, he might have had to ask Yu Menghan for help, paying the price of his own freedom to leave the Western Wilderness.
But since he now had a place to hide, Li Ping chose to lay low and see how things developed.
At this thought, Li Ping smiled and patted Gumu Sheng’s shoulder. "It’s nothing serious, so don’t worry. But there’s no need to collect any more spiritual materials."
Since he had decided to hide away in the secret realm to cultivate in seclusion, he wouldn’t show his face again until he reached Late-stage Foundation Establishment.
That could take decades. Even if Gumu Sheng gathered the spiritual materials, Li Ping would have no way of coming out to retrieve them.
Therefore, there was no longer any need to collect them.
"Big Brother, I understand, I..." Worry was etched on Gumu Sheng’s face.
Being as sharp as he was, he naturally guessed that his Big Brother must have run into serious trouble.
But it was trouble far beyond the capabilities of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, which was why his Big Brother wasn’t telling him the truth.
"Alright, that’s settled then." Li Ping stood, subtly indicating that it was time for his guest to leave. "You can inform Zhang Tie and the others later. I won’t be speaking with each of them individually."
Seeing that his Big Brother looked like he was in a desperate hurry to flee, Gumu Sheng, though worried, didn’t dare delay him any further and quickly agreed to leave.
Once Gumu Sheng had left, Li Ping packed all his belongings into his storage bag before calmly making his way to the Immortal Peach Mountain administration office to terminate his lease.
Li Ping was received by the Old Ancestor of the Meng family, who was rather surprised to hear he was terminating his lease.
However, their relationship wasn’t close enough that they could speak freely with one another. So, when Li Ping casually fabricated a story about returning to his homeland, the Jiang Kingdom, to seek opportunities, the Meng family’s Old Ancestor simply smiled, offered a few words of congratulations, and said nothing more.
Once the lease was terminated, Li Ping left the Immortal City without a moment’s pause, transforming into a streak of cyan light as he sped into the distance.
Once he was a hundred li away from the Immortal City, he eagerly took out the Blood Banner. Pouring his magical power into it, a crimson cloud billowed out and enveloped him.
The crimson cloud then shot toward the depths of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range at an astonishing tunneling speed!
’I’m outta here, outta here! Go faster, you damn cloud!’
...
The Qi Kingdom, stronghold of the cultivators from the four Demon Dao sects.
It was a vast area set within a sprawling mountain range, where the cultivators of the four sects had each claimed a large territory to rest and regroup.
Recently, because the Daoist Guardian Alliance was deliberately avoiding conflict, no major battles had broken out between the two sides.
The Core Formation cultivators of the four Demon Dao sects were all meditating to recover their strength. Only small squads, led by Foundation Establishment cultivators, were sent out in a continuous stream to wreak havoc across the Qi Kingdom and plunder its cultivation resources.
As if by tacit agreement, the Core Formation cultivators of the Daoist Guardian Alliance also remained secluded.
Instead, they too dispatched squads led by Foundation Establishment cultivators to venture out from the cities and engage the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the four Demon Dao sects.
On the highest peak in the sprawling mountain range.
Resting here was Old Demon Lu, the Grand Elder of the Spirit Control Sect. His cultivation had reached the peak of the Late-stage Core Formation, and he also possessed a Tier Three Late Stage Red Flood Dragon Spirit Beast.
The cultivator and his flood dragon, when joined in battle, were equivalent in strength to two Late-stage Core Formation cultivators.
Though the other three sects each had their own powerful techniques, how could they possibly withstand an assault from two opponents of the same tier?
Thus, he held the unofficial title of the number one cultivator in the Demon Dao!
Inside the palace, however, Old Demon Lu’s attitude toward his Red Flood Dragon Spirit Beast was remarkably reverent.
It was as if the Red Flood Dragon were the master, and he, the spirit beast.
Suddenly—
A spiritual light suddenly burst from the Red Flood Dragon, illuminating the room as brightly as day. When the light receded, the Red Flood Dragon reappeared. It was now noticeably larger, and a majestic, crimson, ethereal face had materialized upon its head.
This ethereal face had cheeks covered in fine scales, and from its forehead grew two small, forked horns that glittered like fire jade.
Upon seeing the ethereal face appear, Old Demon Lu hurriedly called out in reverence, "Master."
"I refined this Soul Splitting at great cost," a voice like rolling thunder boomed from the ethereal face, its tone as coarse as a wild beast’s. "It can only slumber and recuperate within the body of my blood descendant, and it can only act a single time. You have awakened me. Does this mean you have conquered Donghua Mountain?"
Hearing the implied blame in the question, Old Demon Lu quickly began to explain, recounting in detail everything that had happened since they entered the Western Wilderness.
"Useless trash! It’s been nearly three hundred years, and you still can’t deal with the cultivators from a backwater hole like the Western Wilderness? You’ve wasted my Ice Liquor Frost for nothing!" the ethereal face chided mercilessly after hearing the report.
Hearing the rebuke, Old Demon Lu gave a bitter smile internally, but his expression remained unchanged.
He was a cultivator with an Abnormal Spiritual Root who had formed his Golden Core in less than a century in the Great Zhou. He’d had a magnificent future ahead of him.
But while adventuring in the East Sea, he’d had the misfortune of encountering a Tier Four Red Flood Dragon. Faced with its massive, blood-red maw and desperate to survive, his only option had been to recognize the Red Flood Dragon as his master and pledge his life to its service.
The Flood Dragon Race were the kings of the deep-sea Demon Race. Their members held a lofty status among demon beasts, and their young were always protected within the heart of the clan’s territory, never found alone.
That was why he had drawn the envy of countless cultivators when he first returned to his Sect with a Red Flood Dragon Spirit Beast.
But who could have known that he himself had become the slave of a Tier Four Red Flood Dragon, and his Red Flood Dragon Spirit Beast was merely the vessel in which its master’s Soul Splitting resided?
"Master, I attempted to form an alliance with the Tuluo People, but the information was leaked, allowing Donghua Mountain to prepare their defenses. In the end, our plan failed at the final hurdle," Old Demon Lu explained hastily. He added with a sigh of resignation, "Now the Academy Palace cultivators are hiding in Donghua Mountain like turtles in their shells. We have absolutely no way to deal with them."
"Especially that Xiao Changkong," Old Demon Lu added. "He possesses the Ancient Treasure, the Seal of All Living Beings. Even with the Red Flood Dragon fighting by my side, I am no match for him."
A look of surprise crossed the ethereal face. ’The Seal of All Living Beings... that Ancient Treasure is actually in the Western Wilderness?’ it mused. ’Hmph. Those bastards from the Confucian Sect are certainly willing to part with their treasures.’
Old Demon Lu didn’t dare utter a word.
After a cold snort, the ethereal face spoke again, seemingly lost in thought. "Since they have the Seal of All Living Beings and are intent on turtling up, it would indeed be difficult for you to breach Donghua Mountain with your strength alone."
"I had intended to save this Soul Splitting for a more critical moment, but it seems I have no choice but to use it ahead of schedule. However, to avoid violating the ’Truce Pact,’ I cannot be seen by any Immortal Alliance cultivators when I make my move."
The ethereal face’s coarse voice echoed in Old Demon Lu’s mind. "Challenge that cultivator, Xiao Changkong, to a private duel—a single battle to decide the victor. When the time comes, I will strike and kill him directly!"
Receiving the Tier Four Red Flood Dragon’s promise to act, Old Demon Lu’s spirits soared. "Yes, Master!"
He immediately dispatched his subordinates to Donghua Mountain to challenge Xiao Changkong.
The terms of the duel were simple: a one-on-one battle. The victor would become the lord of the Western Wilderness, and the loser would be forced to submit.
Perhaps it was out of consideration for reducing the casualties among Low-tier Cultivators and bringing a swift end to the war, or perhaps it was simply because Xiao Changkong had absolute confidence in his own strength. In any case, he agreed to the duel.
The duel was set for three years from now.
But he had one condition: before the duel, the four Demon Dao sects had to withdraw from the Qi and Yuan Kingdoms.
After some negotiation, and in order to carry out his master’s command, Old Demon Lu suppressed the dissatisfaction of the other three sects and led the great army of the four Demon Dao sects to retreat and make camp in the Yuan Kingdom.
With the war in the east temporarily settled, another major event occurred within one of the four Demon Dao sects: the Blood Shadow Sect.
Wei Yiling, a Core Formation Elder of the Blood Shadow Sect, had defected.
However, aside from the cultivators of the Blood Shadow Sect, the matter was quickly forgotten by everyone else.
It was overshadowed by a far greater development, one that had the potential to alter the entire political landscape of the Western Wilderness.
In three years, Xiao Changkong, the number one cultivator of the Daoist Guardian Alliance, would face Old Demon Lu, the strongest expert of the four Demon Dao sects, in a one-on-one duel.
Regardless of the outcome, the war that had engulfed the entire Western Wilderness would finally come to an end.
...
’This is the place?’
After traveling tens of thousands of li deep into the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, Li Ping finally arrived at the location of the secret realm from Yan Liming’s memories.
He hadn’t dared to rest for even a moment along the way, as a flicker of his spiritual sense had begun to issue a warning.
Evidently, the matter of Hua Hong’s death had attracted the Blood Shadow Sect’s attention. It was even possible that Hua Wuji himself had now freed up his hands and was personally investigating.
Before Li Ping stood a gray-white cliff face.
Following the instructions from Yan Liming’s memory, Li Ping took a round, cyan mirror from his storage bag. As he infused it with magical power, the mirror began to emit a hazy glow.
A moment later, a beam of cyan light shot out from the mirror, striking the gray-white cliff face.
The cyan beam acted as a catalyst. Instantly, a vast cyan light erupted from the cliff face, surging forth to form a circular, one-zhang-high tunnel in the blink of an eye. The tunnel shimmered with cyan light, obscuring whatever lay at its end.
Li Ping nodded to himself in approval.
The entrance to the secret domain was on this gray-white cliff, but the domain itself wasn’t within the stone. It existed in a separate space.
Without knowing the method of entry, one could smash the cliff to rubble and never hope to find the secret domain.
WHOOSH!
Li Ping retrieved the cyan mirror and, transforming into a streak of cyan light, flew directly into the glowing tunnel.
After he entered, the glowing tunnel slowly closed and vanished.
Only the gray-white cliff face remained, looking just as it had before, as if everything that had just occurred had been nothing more than an illusion.