Chapter 34 - 34: Blood Battle at the Deep Pool
The sky was clear for thousands of miles, and the Li Chuan Plain had already come into view, with the silver outline of the Li Chuan River winding in the distance.
The Ice Morning White Dragon’s size had not reached that of the Eagle Beast
Dragon, and carrying the weight of two people was somewhat strenuous for it. Its ability to maintain high-speed flight now was mainly due to its control over wind magic…
Teacher Duan Lan seemed still unable to emerge from the shadow of Ke Bei’s death, her gaze lifeless.
“We’re almost there,” Zhu Minglang pointed to the ground.
Seeing those three rivers, and that the rivers were slowly converging in the midst of the plain, it meant that they were not far from the Ancestral Dragon City-State.
Once at the Dragon Taming Academy, if the unfettered Luo Xiaoruo dared to come after them again, it would be akin to seeking his own death.
“Yuu-
The Ice Morning White Dragon let out a warning cry.
Zhu Minglang furrowed his brows, turned around and looked back. The clear sky behind them was a sea of red, and in the higher skies, a dazzling ball of flames was rapidly approaching.
The wave of heat had already hit their faces; the persistent Luo Xiao and the Gold-plated Fire Dragon had finally caught up!
“We’re very close to the Dragon Taming Academy,” Zhu Minglang could already see a large blue lake at the far end of the river.
There lay the Dragon Taming Academy. Given Bai Qi’s flight speed, they were afraid they’d be intercepted by the overpowering Gold-plated Fire Dragon midway.
A roar from the Zhan River Dragon suddenly rang out, and an illusory imprint appeared, revealing an azure-scaled Jiaolong flying out of thin air, surrounded by circles of water waves, colliding with the approaching Gold-plated Fire Dragon.
“Qianlin!” Duan Lan had not summoned it; the Zhan River Dragon had taken the initiative to come out of the Spirit Realm!
Forcibly breaking out of the Spirit Realm could cause certain harm to its owner, but this Zhan River Dragon clearly did not wish to see its owners brutally slain by the claws of the Gold-plated Fire Dragon; it was trying to buy the final moments for Zhu Minglang and Duan Lan!
“Quickly call the Zhan River Dragon back,” Zhu Minglang urged hastily.
Bai Qi was already gathering the wind. With its utmost speed, it might reach the Dragon Taming Academy before the Gold-plated Fire Dragon caught up…
Of course, there was also a great risk involved.
Bai Qi had not much strength left, devoid of combat power, unable to assist the Zhan River Dragon.
The situation for the Zhan River Dragon fighting alone against the Gold-plated Fire Dragon would not be much better than that of the Eagle Beast Dragon.
“Come back,” Duan Lan once again opened the summoning imprint, to call the Zhan River Dragon back to the Spirit Realm.
But the Gold-plated Fire Dragon had already arrived. Luo Xiao saw the blue summoning imprint at a glance and immediately commanded the Gold-plated Fire Dragon to crash into the location of the imprint.
“Teacher Duan Lan, be careful, he’s attacking the imprint!” Zhu Minglang, seeing what was happening, quickly warned.
The Zhan River Dragon showed no sign of returning, and Duan Lan did not close the portal. Then they saw the heavy body of the Gold-plated Fire Dragon crashing into the imprint, shattering it completely in midair as if it were made of glass.
“Pfft-
A mouthful of blood spilled out. Duan Lan suffered a severe soul shock, completely losing her vitality and nearly falling from the back of the Ice Morning White Dragon.
Zhu Minglang quickly grabbed Teacher Duan Lan, who floated like paper, and saw that her garment was dyed red with blood. He then glanced at the Zhan River Dragon, which was relentlessly battling the Gold-plated Fire Dragon…
The decision of the Zhan River Dragon was correct.
With Bai Qi’s maximum speed, they would not reach the Dragon Taming Academy.
But why must Teacher Duan Lan and the Zhan River Dragon suffer so? One was to keep a path to survival, refusing to retract the imprint even when faced with the enemy, knowing that it would harm her soul. The Zhan River Dragon, even more so, left the Spirit Realm to save its owners, willingly using its body to block the Gold-plated Fire Dragon…
“Yuu-
The Ice Morning White Dragon didn’t slow down in the slightest, continuing to head towards the Dragon Taming Academy.
Its wings were already so sore that it couldn’t flap them, only gliding along with the art of Wind Controlling.
Every Dragon pet had its own thoughts; even if Zhu Minglang chose to fight, it wouldn’t obey.
Bai Qi only wanted Zhu Minglang to survive.
With a gaze as pristine as ice and snow, the Ice Morning White Dragon looked back in flight at the Gold-plated Fire Dragon.
It seemed to be etching the appearance of the Gold-plated Fire Dragon deeply into its memory.
Given some time, it would surely tear this rampant Fire Dragon to shreds!
Similarly, anger was stirring within Zhu Minglang’s heart. It had been years since someone had incited such loathing in him!
The grudge of today, Zhu Minglang would repay tenfold!
Amid the crimson sky, countless azure scales peeling off the Zhan River Dragon’s body, it was drenched in blood from head to tail. Even with abundant mana, it could not contend with the Gold-plated Fire Dragon.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!” Luo Xiao raged like thunder. This Zhan River
Dragon had delayed his pursuit of Zhu Minglang, and now he watched as the Ice Morning White Dragon was about to fly into the domain of the Dragon Taming Academy.
“Throw it away and pursue!” Luo Xiao commanded.
The Gold-plated Fire Dragon had wanted to swallow the Zhan River Dragon’s head whole, but upon hearing the order, it viciously threw the dying Zhan River Dragon towards the ground.
Whipping up flames, the Gold-plated Fire Dragon flapped its enormous wings and chased after the Dragon Taming Academy…
The Zhan River Dragon fell faster and faster; if it were to smash directly onto flat ground, it would surely be a bloody, indistinguishable mess.
But right below it was the Li Chuan River. Its body plummeted into the churning waters, its blood spreading throughout the river, forming large, shocking patches.
Before long, it floated to the surface again, belly-up like a discarded corpse, drifting along the swift current of the river, aimlessly carried along by the waves with no telling where it might end up.
At Phoenix Embankment Town, by the bridge, a few vendors jovially exchanged goodbyes, lifting their shoulder poles, ready to head home for dinner.
Selling peaches, Fang Niannian too, shouldered her bamboo basket, except hers didn’t contain peaches but stinky, fishy silkworms. She walked unwillingly towards the lakeshore with a disgruntled expression.
Pouting, Fang Niannian really didn’t understand why selling some goods meant she had to end up as a nanny teacher. Why on earth did they dump a giant, black, ugly Crocodile Spirit on her to feed? Even a caretaker’s fee wasn’t worth it!
At the lakeshore, after feeding the Great Alligator Spirit her full, Fang Niannian, in a mood of blind boredom, suddenly had a bright idea.
“You go catch me a few big white fish from the Dool to take home and stew for a whitening soup. Just consider it your pay for today’s feeding,” Fang Niannian said to the black Crocodile Spirit in the water.
The Great Alligator Spirit had long been bored. Zhu Minglang had set strict limits on its roaming area, and since someone was taking it to the Waterfall Pool, it wouldn’t count as wandering everywhere!
Following Fang Niannian, the Great Alligator Spirit walked through Phoenix Embankment Town. Even though it stuck to the alleys, it still encountered some pedestrians; thankfully, the people of Phoenix Embankment Town had seen enough spiritless Dragon Shepherds to not find someone walking a crocodile out of the ordinary, as long as they kept out of the way.
Circling down to the Waterfall Pool, Fang Niannian rolled up her sleeves and began perfunctorily directing Big Black Tooth.
“You dumb lump, you giant clumsy fish, do you have the blood of sows in you, why did you stop chasing halfway…”
Just as Fang Niannian was about to jump into the water to fish out of sheer frustration, a huge silhouette appeared in the rapid waterfall, crashing down into the pool like an ancient water serpent.
Suddenly, the smell of blood permeated the air, scaring Fang Niannian to a pale fright, causing her to tumble into the water.
Fortunately, she fell into a shallow area. As she got up from the water, Fang Niannian then looked at the creature that had fallen from the waterfall, and to her shock, it was a dragon!!
How could a dragon be falling from above!!
Furthermore, this dragon… appeared to be dead, its body lifelessly thrashed by the waterfall currents, showing no sign of life or vigor.
“Oh Oh
Big Black Tooth saw the dragon and kept calling out, swimming over to the dragon which looked like a corpse.
“Do you know it??” Fang Niannian asked, puzzled.
The pool was vast, and the scent of blood quickly diffused, especially the blood of a real dragon. It wasn’t long before the creatures living in this pool began to emerge from below the water, including some demon spirits that made their nests behind the waterfall. They were all drawn by the scent.
Fang Niannian watched with terror as various demons began to pop out of the pool, too frightened to speak loudly anymore.
Why hadn’t she seen so many monsters in this pool before??
Was it because of the dragon’s carcass that they all wanted a share??
Indeed, the monsters gathered around the blue dragon, and given the number of demons, it wouldn’t take long for the big dragon to be picked clean to the bones!
“Woo
“Woo
The Great Alligator Spirit stood guard by the dragon’s side, showing no intention of moving away. Feeling the threat from all around from the little demons, it roared at the large group of water demons.
“Big Black Tooth, what are you doing? They want to eat the dragon’s corpse!” Fang Niannian shouted.
The Great Alligator Spirit continued to roar fiercely, its eyes locked on the approaching little demons.
One of the demons, a pool snake, bared its fangs and was about to lunge. At that moment, the Great Alligator Spirit struck first, pouncing like a ferocious crocodile, biting the burly venomous snake and tearing it in half before all the little demons!
The surrounding little demons, wary, backed away a bit, but more and more demon spirits, lured by the scent of dragon blood, came, forming circles around the Zhan River Dragon, staring fiercely at Big Black Tooth.
Fang Niannian had no idea what the hell the big stupid crocodile was doing.
With its cultivation base, a crocodile close to dragon transformation, it could have easily claimed a large share for itself. As long as it didn’t wish to monopolize the blue dragon, other denizens of the pool would not have attacked it.
Why was it angering all the monsters in the pool??
“Oh
The Great Alligator Spirit roared again, but this time, the cacophony from the gathering monster group drowned out its roar. All the demon spirits had a fierce glint in their eyes as they pounced on the Zhan River Dragon, which lay before them like a gourmet dish.
Big Black Tooth still didn’t back down. It met the pool’s little demons in battle, causing the waters to turn a bloody red in the fierce struggle.
“I’ll go get help. Hang in there, big guy,” Fang Niannian realized that Big Black Tooth wasn’t trying to hoard but was protecting the Zhan River Dragon.
Ignoring her drenched clothes, she ran towards the direction of the Dragon Taming Academy.
The roars grew dense, and the little demons that normally hid in the deep pool now became incredibly ferocious and aggressive. The corpse of a two-hundred-year-old Violent Catfish would have been an object of competition for them, let alone a true dragon..