“Looks like we’ll have to explore the rest on our own.” He glanced at the left passage, “The smell of blood is too strong, probably something alive in there. Let’s check the right side first.”
The right passage was relatively dry, its floor covered with loose stones. After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the path opened into a vast cavern.
At the centre of the cavern was a pool of inky green water, its surface cloaked in white mist, emitting a faint, pleasant fragrance.
“This is…”
Hu Mazi leaned toward the pool, about to touch it, when Chen Ping yanked him back.
“Don’t touch it! This water’s dangerous.”
Chen Ping pointed at the floating mist, “It seems fragrant, but it’s highly toxic. Inhaling it will let demonic energy corrode your meridians.”
He pulled a porcelain vial from his pack, crushed a pill, and sprinkled the powder into the pool.
The moment the powder hit the water, it sizzled, the inky green surface bubbled, and the white mist dissipated rapidly, like snow under a blazing fire.
“As expected, it’s poisonous.”
Chen Ping withdrew his hand, “This pool is likely a barrier for something. Let’s go around it.”
They carefully skirted the pool’s edge, the cavern walls studded with more ghost crystals, their light growing brighter, faintly revealing a stone platform on the opposite shore, something seemingly placed atop it.
Suddenly, a massive wave surged in the pool, and a black tentacle, thick as a bucket, shot out, whipping toward Hu Mazi’s back!
“Watch out!”
Chen Ping reacted swiftly, shoving Hu Mazi aside while summoning his Dragon-Slaying Sword. A golden sword aura slashed out, cleaving the tentacle in two.
Black blood sprayed, reeking with a pungent stench, corroding small pits into the ground where it landed.
A piercing shriek echoed from the pool as countless black tentacles erupted from the water, writhing like giant pythons, attacking the two ferociously.
“It’s a demonic flood dragon!”
Hu Mazi recognised the creature, “Ancient texts say the Burial Demon Abyss has a guardian beast that feeds on toxic water. I didn’t expect it to be hiding in this pool!”
Chen Ping’s eyes narrowed, his Immortal-Slaying Sword turning into a streak of light, slashing at the oncoming tentacles.
But the tentacles seemed endless, regenerating as soon as one was cut, their speed increasing, forcing the two to retreat.
“This won’t do, we need to find its main body!”
Chen Ping shouted, unleashing his spiritual energy without restraint. His golden shield expanded, repelling all attacking tentacles, “Master Hu, try your jade pendant!”
Hu Mazi raised the pendant overhead, its white light surging like a small sun, illuminating the entire cavern.
The creature in the pool seemed to fear this light, its roars turning pained, the tentacles’ attacks slowing.
“It’s working!”
Hu Mazi, invigorated, held the pendant and advanced toward the pool’s centre.
Wherever the white light shone, the black tentacles recoiled into the water, and the inky green pool began to churn, as if something was about to emerge from its depths.
Seizing the moment, Chen Ping flashed to the pool’s edge, his divine sense surging, finally locking onto a massive shadow at the bottom.
It was a black flood dragon, dozens of zhang long, with curved horns on its head and eyes like two blood-red lanterns, glaring viciously at the two on the shore.
“Filthy beast, you’re courting death!”
Chen Ping snorted coldly, his Dragon-Slaying Sword tracing a golden arc through the air, slashing toward the pool with world-shattering force.
The sword aura struck the water, raising towering waves, parting the pool like torn fabric, revealing the flood dragon’s scale-covered, colossal body.
The dragon let out a furious roar, its massive jaws opening to spew a stream of black venom, surging toward Chen Ping.
