“Alright,” Yan Mingchuan suddenly spoke, breaking the tense atmosphere around them. He recalled that the girl who had fallen into the water had glanced at him several times before forming the team, she had likely wanted to team up with him. “Yunqi, you calm the others down first. I’m going down.”
With that, he gripped his longsword tightly and was about to leap into the icy water.
However, a figure in purple moved faster than him, diving into the water first. Seeing this, Yan Mingchuan followed without hesitation.
The pool water was indeed freezing.
The moment Gu Er fell into the water, she felt it cutting into her skin like blades of ice, the bone-piercing cold instantly engulfing her. The crushing weight of the pool seemed to grind her body apart, her limbs going numb in the extreme cold, every ounce of strength drained from her.
Her consciousness began to blur, everything before her eyes turning hazy and indistinct, darkness like an invisible giant hand gradually swallowing her whole.
At that moment, a massive cavern appeared before her at the bottom of the pool, fierce currents violently dragging her toward it.
Gritting her teeth, Gu Er desperately gripped the rocks around her, her knuckles turning white from the strain. She fought to steady herself, refusing to let her body drift with the current.
Deep at the bottom of the pool.
Some ancient and powerful creature slowly opened its eyes, a cold, eerie light flickering within them like two ghostly flames in a winter night. It sensed the abnormal churning of the water and… a familiar yet unfamiliar aura.
Just then, the system screamed at the top of its lungs in her mind: [It’s a flood dragon! There’s actually a flood dragon here! No wonder there was no illusion trial for this recruitment, so this is the big problem, a flood dragon awakening!]
Gu Er’s heart jolted, and she began swimming desperately upward. Just as she was about to lose hope, she suddenly felt a powerful force surging through the water.
It was the flood dragon, awakened. Its massive body swam through the depths, urgently trying to approach the source of that aura! It stirred up a tremendous undercurrent, sweeping Gu Er along with it, pulling her toward where it was.
Meanwhile, the youth in purple, following the whirlpool stirred up by the flood dragon, searched desperately through the dark depths of the pool.
Finally, he spotted Gu Er struggling in the water. He swam to her side with all his might, reached out his arm, and pulled her tightly into his protection. Then, using every ounce of strength, he carried her toward the surface.
…
The moment Yan Mingchuan entered the water, the icy currents enveloped him, freezing his face pale. He quickly circulated his spiritual energy, a faint halo forming around him, which somewhat alleviated the cold.
While warding off the bone-chilling chill, he dove deeper along with the current, his gaze urgently searching for that figure in green.
When he saw the youth in purple bringing Gu Er up toward the surface, joy rose in his heart, and he quickened his pace to follow.
In the cavern, the pool water suddenly churned into layers of waves, crashing against the shore with a splashing roar, startling the children inside, their faces changed in panic as they scrambled to flee!
Finally, the youth in purple brought Gu Er to the surface, with Yan Mingchuan close behind.
They swam desperately to the shore. The moment Gu Er climbed out, soaked through, her hair plastered messily to her face, she ignored her exhaustion and urgently shouted to the children in the cavern: “I saw a flood dragon! Everyone, retreat now!”
“Gu Er, are you serious?” Zhong Daoxue, who had just been about to rush over and help her up, froze, her small face scrunching in shock.
“It’s real, hurry!” Gu Er stood up, and saw a massive sphere of water rising in the center of the pool, churning violently.
Her heart grew even more frantic, the flood dragon was about to emerge, but there were still over a dozen children in this cavern!
At that moment, the cavern began to shake, rocks tumbling from the ground, and the pool water started surging violently.
The sphere of water in the center rose higher and higher, then formed a waterfall shape.
The water cascaded down violently, revealing the towering figure behind the watery curtain!
The massive flood dragon slowly rose from the depths. Its body was like a towering black mountain, scales glinting in the sunlight. Its whiskers drifted in the wind, and its enormous claws swung through the air, sending up waves several zhang high.
Its vertical golden pupils reflected the face of every person in the cavern, but in the end, its wandering gaze settled on Gu Er’s pale little face.
The deep-blue flood dragon was about fifteen meters long. It stood upright on the water, staring directly at Gu Er, then erupted into a deafening dragon roar from its maw.
If anyone could understand the flood dragon’s language, they would surely grasp the full extent of its complaint: “Senior Sister, if you’d come alone to mess with me, fine, but why did you have to bring a whole group of kids along for the ride!”
The dragon roar thundered like a clap of thunder. It was the first time the children had ever seen a flood dragon with their own eyes, such a massive, terrifying creature, and they froze like statues, faces pale as ghosts. Some were so frightened their legs gave out, collapsing to the ground!
The boy who had just stripped off his clothes to dive into the water and save Gu Er quickly snapped back to reality. He grabbed the girl in yellow beside him and ran outward, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Run! That flood dragon looks starving, it might eat us!”
Those words were like a thunderbolt striking the already chaotic crowd! The children erupted into pandemonium and bolted in every direction.
“Help!”
“Don’t eat me! I’m so young, I haven’t lived enough yet!”
…
The children scrambled out in a noisy stampede, their footsteps echoing endlessly through the cavern.
Yan Mingchuan’s expression was taut as he raised his sword, holding it between himself and the flood dragon, ready to fight at any moment.
Lu Yunqi’s face also darkened, he hadn’t expected a flood dragon to be lurking in this tiny pool!
The elders monitoring the valley watched the performance of these pre-selected disciples and nodded slightly.
The most impressive was Yan Mingchuan. Fang Zhiran’s face was practically glowing with pride as he couldn’t help but praise, “My disciple remains calm in the face of danger, is brave enough to save others, trains diligently, and has a strong will, he’s a fine prospect for a sword cultivator!”
“That Lu kid isn’t bad either, he doesn’t show an ounce of fear in front of that massive flood dragon!”
Song Bojian nodded with satisfaction, a gratified smile spreading across his face. “My future disciple will surely achieve greatness!”
But the very next second, in the Spirit Secluded Valley, Lu Yunqi, with a child tucked under each arm, shouted to Yan Mingchuan, “Mingchuan, I’m leaving the rear guard to you! Go create a miracle! I’ll carry our hopes and survive!” And with that, he dashed out of the cavern with the other children.
Song Bojian: “…”
Tsk.
The only two who remained perfectly composed in the cavern were the boy in purple and Yan Mingchuan.
Gu Er had wanted to run with Lu Yunqi and Zhong Daoxue, but the moment she took a step forward, the system stopped her, saying that as the female lead, she couldn’t retreat.
Tsk.
She wasn’t even the real female lead, why couldn’t she retreat?!
For all she knew, the actual female lead was already close to Foundation Establishment by now, not like her, a useless waste who couldn’t even manage to guide qi into her body.
The thousand-year flood dragon’s golden pupils reflected Gu Er’s face, staring fixedly at her.
That face, it could never forget it.
Seven hundred years ago, when Gu Er first entered Lingyun Sect, everything in the sect was novel to her.
Once, she wandered into the Spirit Secluded Valley by mistake and plucked a few spirit herbs, which happened to catch the flood dragon’s eye. The thousand-year flood dragon assumed she was a thief, and the two fought fiercely by the pool’s edge, neither able to gain the upper hand.
After that battle, an odd friendship blossomed between Gu Er and the flood dragon.
Gu Er often took advantage of her leisure time, or after returning from some fight elsewhere, battered and bruised, clutching a jug of wine, to hum a little tune and make her way to the pool in the Spirit Secluded Valley.
Before long, the flood dragon would lazily surface, its massive body coiling through the water, its eyes no longer bearing the ferocity of their first meeting but instead carrying a hint of warmth.
Gu Er would nimbly leap onto the dragon’s back, find a comfortable spot to lie down, tilt her head back for a big gulp, then offer the jug to the dragon’s mouth: “Try it, fine wine from the mortal world! Way more interesting than the water you drink!”
The flood dragon snorted disdainfully, yet still gave it a cautious lick, then shook its head violently from the spiciness, making the girl burst into laughter.
Sunlight filtered through the water’s surface, dancing across the girl’s radiant smile and reflecting in the flood dragon’s gentle golden pupils.
They drank together, watched fireflies dance in the night sky together, though Gu Er was always muttering strange things.
At first, the flood dragon wanted nothing to do with her, but she’d always sit by the pool chattering away, forcing it to come out and keep her company every time.
Gu Er was also passionate about scrounging up shiny trinkets for the flood dragon, glass beads haggled from the market, glowing gems found in secret realms, though every time, her senior brother would trade them away for spirit herbs useful for cultivation.
He hadn’t looked closely earlier, but now he could see that the person before him was much younger than the one in his memory, only about seventy or eighty percent similar in appearance. Perhaps she was that person’s child.
The flood dragon suddenly felt rather sour: “Damn it, we were friends, after all. She didn’t even tell me she’d found a dao companion, and she didn’t let me meet the kid even after it got this big.”
Counting the time, it was about time for Lingyun Sect’s once-every-fifty-years disciple recruitment. Those little kids who just ran out must be the ones taking the test.
With that thought, the thousand-year flood dragon came up with an idea. It planned to throw out a couple of simple moves to scare the children, then pretend to be defeated. After all, they were just kids, it couldn’t strike too hard.
“Gu Er, you all need to get out of here fast! I’ll hold off this flood dragon as long as I can!” Yan Mingchuan said, striking first as he leaped into the air with his sword, bringing it down in a heavy slash toward the flood dragon!
The thousand-year flood dragon let out a long roar, blocking his sword with its massive tail, then wrapped the tip around Yan Mingchuan’s wrist and hurled him into the cavern wall!
It knew it couldn’t use too much force against a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy, so it deliberately held back.
The purple-robed youth moved at that moment. The flood dragon’s attacks were completely erratic, so he channeled his spiritual energy to dodge the waves, his steps shifting like phantoms as he instantly appeared before the flood dragon. He spun around and slammed a heavy palm strike onto its head!
An opening!
The thousand-year flood dragon narrowed its eyes.
“ROAR!!”
The flood dragon let out a screeching cry, then, as if struck and rendered incapacitated, twisted its body and dove deep into the pond. The ripples on the shore receded like an ebbing tide, and the wildly dancing currents followed it back into the water.
This scene looked exactly like the purple-robed youth had repelled the flood dragon, and the beast was fleeing in panic.
Gu Er stood right beside him, watching the flood dragon twist twice before sinking into the depths. Something about this felt oddly familiar, and she couldn’t help muttering to herself: “? Why does this look so much like acting?”
Though the acting skills were hardly worth praising, no matter how you looked at it, it was just plain silly.
“Wait… the flood dragon just… went back like that?” Lu Yunqi cautiously poked his head into the cave entrance, staring at the now-calm pond water with a look of astonishment.
Gu Er stepped forward to help Yan Mingchuan up, noticing the children poking their heads into the cave entrance one by one, with half their bodies still outside, as if ready to bolt at any moment.
“Hmm…” Gu Er figured that since this was Lingyun Sect’s territory, the flood dragon was probably cooperating with their trial. So she pointed at the purple-robed youth and said, “The flood dragon has already been defeated by this genius.”
The children immediately surrounded the purple-robed youth, their reverent gazes fixed on him as they showered him with endless praise.
The youth’s face showed neither joy nor sorrow, his lips merely curving into a faint smile. “The flood dragon won’t come out anymore. You all should hurry and figure out how to pick the spirit herbs.”
Hearing this, the children suddenly remembered they were still in the trial and quickly scattered to find ways to gather the herbs.
Zhong Daoxue ran over to Gu Er, grabbing her shoulders with both hands and spinning her around to carefully check if she was alright.
Gu Er was soaking wet, her clothes clinging tightly to her body.
A hint of playfulness colored her smile, her bright, spirited eyes shimmering like rippling waves. Strands of ink-black hair stuck to her cheeks, with droplets of water sliding down. She should have looked pitiful, yet at this moment she was beaming with a warm, sunny smile.
“I’m fine, Sister Daoxue. Don’t worry about me.”
The purple-robed youth glanced at her, his gaze lingering on her for just a moment before quickly looking away.