https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-214-Astonishing-Proficiency-Thus-Prestige/12549660/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-216-So-Brother-Chu-Is-This-Strong/12549662/
Chapter 215: Black Flood Dragon and Green Devil Snake
Chapter 215: Black Flood Dragon and Green Devil Snake
"Black Dragon Pool and Myriad Manifestations Cliff."
Chu Ning could hear the murmurs of the disciples, their tones filled with hesitation and uncertainty.
He couldn't help but ask Zhao, the elderly man, "Are these two places particularly dangerous?"
"There are certain risks involved," the elderly Zhao nodded.
"Actually, these two places are not far from each other. The Myriad Manifestations Cliff is located near the Black Dragon Pool. The pool is a mandatory passage to the cliff, and within it lies a fourth-rank black flood dragon. Even for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, caution must be exercised."
Chu Ning nodded, no wonder the Qi Refining disciples sounded hesitant.
At this moment, Zuo Zhonghao spoke up, "Don't worry, Brother Chu. I'll go and invite a few senior brothers. We'll definitely be able to gather those spirit herbs for you." With that, he turned to leave.
"Hold on!" Zhao called out, "You can't take on this task."
"The black flood dragon in the Black Dragon Pool has advanced to a fourth-rank demonic beast. The sect has already dispatched a mission to slay it. Someone has taken on the task and is preparing to head there. If you ask them to accompany you, they might be able to help gather the black flood dragon's blood as well."
Chu Ning's eyes lit up at these words. The blood of a fourth-rank black flood dragon would be extremely beneficial for his pill concocting endeavors.
Without hesitation, he asked, "Brother Zhao, do you know who will be going?"
"You know the people who are going," Elder Zhao smiled. "Yesterday, they were Su Yuqing from your Pill Refining Pavilion and Cui Rongrong from the Artifact Refining Pavilion. They mentioned that they would be coming here today to join forces with a few fellow disciples."
"Su..." Chu Ning was slightly surprised. He wondered what had prompted Su Yuqing to suddenly want to slay the fourth-rank black flood dragon.
"Hey, aren't they the ones who just entered the Task Hall?" Elder Zhao pointed at a group of people who had just entered.
Chu Ning looked over and immediately recognized Su Yuqing, dressed in a palace attire. Beside her was a petite woman in a red shirt, presumably Cui Rongrong, as Elder Zhao had mentioned.
There were two others with them: a youth with a rugged appearance and an elderly man in a black robe.
As if sensing their gaze, the group turned to look at Chu Ning and his companions. Su Yuqing led them directly toward them.
When she reached Chu Ning, she smiled gently, "I heard a lot of people on the main peak discussing Brother Chu. I assume you had quite an experience up here?"
Chu Ning nodded, "Indeed, I'm still adjusting to it all."
A spark flashed in Su Yuqing's usually calm eyes as she looked at Chu Ning, "Brother Chu, everyone in the Nine Floret Sect strives for the prosperity of our sect. Your talent in pill refining is exceptional, and your skill in pill concoction is remarkable. You are someone who can greatly contribute to the sect's glory. Respecting you is respecting the sect's honor."
She paused, her eyes holding his, "I hope you can understand what I mean, Brother Chu."
Chu Ning nodded silently, digesting her words for a moment before changing the subject, "I heard that Sister Su and the others are preparing to go to the Black Dragon Pool to slay the black flood dragon. Is that true?"
Surprised by his knowledge, Su Yuqing asked, "How did you know about this, Brother Chu?"
Elder Zhao provided an explanation, after which Su Yuqing understood and said, "Indeed, the four of us plan to invite another fellow disciple to join us at the Black Dragon Pool. The black flood dragon's body is full of artifact refining materials that my friend Cui has her eyes on, and I also need its gallbladder to refine a certain pill. So, we invited Lu Jiangan and Dai Tong, these two fellow brothers, to join us."
As she spoke, she pointed to the plump old man and the youth with a rugged appearance respectively.
Then, her gaze fell upon Chu Ning, "We thought it would be more reassuring to have one more person with us. Brother Chu, since you need the spirit herbs from around the Black Dragon Pool, would you be interested in joining us? After we slay the fourth-rank black flood dragon, we can accompany you to the Myriad Manifestations Cliff."
Upon hearing Su Yuqing's proposal, Chu Ning fell into contemplation. He had originally planned to release a task through the Task Hall to see if he could obtain the pill refining ingredients he needed. However, now that he knew that he could acquire three types of ingredients in one go, it was an opportunity not to be missed.
If Su Yuqing's hunting team had sufficient members, he could ask them to help gather the black flood dragon's blood and the Spirit Consolidating Grass as well.
A fourth-rank demonic beast was only equivalent to the latter stages of the Foundation Establishment realm, and with so many people here, aside from himself and the other three at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, the elderly Lu Jiangan was even at the latter stage.
Chu Ning didn't feel that the danger was significant, so he nodded and said, "Alright, I'll come along."
Upon hearing Chu Ning's agreement, Su Yuqing's face lit up with delight.
Chu Ning immediately instructed Wang Ping to return on his own.
Then, the group left the Task Hall, and Su Yuqing took the opportunity to reintroduce everyone to Chu Ning.
Lu Jiangan and Dai Tong both greeted him with smiles, addressing Chu Ning as Senior Brother.
After all, Chu Ning's position as the chief executive of the Pill Refining Pavilion was well-known.
Chu Ning acknowledged Dai Tong's greeting, but no matter what, he refused to agree when Lu Jiangan addressed him as Senior Brother.
"Senior Brother Lu is at the latter stage of Foundation Establishment. I wouldn't want to cause you any inconvenience, Senior Brother Lu."
Hearing Chu Ning's words, Lu Jiangan eventually addressed him as Junior Brother.
At this moment, Cui Rongrong giggled and said, "Last time, I specifically told Senior Sister Su that when Senior Brother Chu is free at the Pill Refining Pavilion, I want to go and meet the pill refining genius praised by Elder Ge."
"The Elder Ge that Rongrong is referring to is undoubtedly Elder Ge Liuyang from the Artifact Refining Pavilion."
Chu Ning smiled but didn't respond.
He had heard too many praises and respectful words during his visit to the main peak, and he didn't know how to respond to them all.
The group left the main peak and flew towards the depths of Jiuhua Mountain on their magical artifacts.
Taking this opportunity, Su Yuqing briefed Chu Ning about the Black Flood Dragon.
Black Flood Dragons were quite common in the Jiuhua Mountain range, ranging from first to fourth rank.
Usually, if the Black Flood Dragons were below the fourth rank, the sect wouldn't specifically target them for elimination.
However, if a Black Flood Dragon near the sect advanced to a fourth-rank demonic beast, the sect would often choose to take action out of concern that it might further advance to a fifth-rank demonic beast and pose a significant threat to the sect's disciples.
The one they were about to hunt had only recently reached the fourth rank half a year ago but had already attacked several Jiuhua Sect disciples passing by the Black Dragon Pool.
Therefore, it had been marked for elimination.
Coincidentally, Cui Rongrong needed a set of dragon scales from a Black Flood Dragon for artifact refining, and Su Yuqing needed its gallbladder for pill refining, so she took the initiative to accept this task.
Lu Jiangan and Dai Tong, both from the Artifact Refining Pavilion, had come along to assist Cui Rongrong.
With all of them at the mid Foundation Establishment stage or above, their flight speed was quite fast.
However, the Black Dragon Pool was still quite a distance from the Jiuhua Sect, and it took them almost a full day to reach the vicinity.
The group hovered in the air, and Chu Ning subconsciously released his spiritual sense, probing downwards.
The next moment, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
His spiritual sense had come into contact with the pitch-black surface of the Black Dragon Pool, but he was unable to probe any further.
Hearing Chu Ning's exclamation, Lu Jiangan seemed to guess what he had tried and said, "Junior Brother Chu, the water in this Black Dragon Pool is very peculiar; spiritual sense cannot penetrate it.
A Golden Core elder from the sect once suspected that there might be some treasure within the pool, so he went deep into it to investigate.
However, in the end, he didn't find anything.
It is said that the Black Flood Dragon in the pool used to be just a small serpent, but now it has grown into a fourth-rank demonic beast."
Chu Ning nodded and said, "This mountain is rich in spiritual energy. If a demonic beast is born with a high innate rank and is able to cultivate here undisturbed by cultivators, it's not surprising that it has grown into a fourth-rank demonic beast."
"That's true," Lu Jiangan laughed.
"This Black Flood Dragon is extremely cunning. Before it advanced to the fourth rank, it would immediately hide in the depths of the pool upon seeing any cultivators and never caused any trouble.
That's why the sect never bothered to eliminate it.
Who would have thought that after advancing to the fourth rank, its temperament would suddenly change, and it would start attacking people repeatedly."
As Chu Ning and Lu Jiangan were talking, Su Yuqing had already taken out a spirit herb that resembled an orchid from her storage bag and handed it to Lu Jiangan.
"Luring Demon Grass."
Chu Ning immediately recognized this spirit herb.
Its real name was Spirit Jade Orchid, but because it had a strong attraction to most demonic beasts, it was commonly known as Luring Demon Grass.
Lu Jiangan held the Luring Demon Grass, and the group landed about a hundred meters from the Black Dragon Pool.
Just as they had hidden themselves, sudden rustling noises came from the direction of the Black Dragon Pool. "It should be the black serpent," Chu Ning muttered to himself. Earlier, Lu Jiangan had specifically instructed them not to use their divine senses to probe the serpent until it entered their ambush range, so as not to startle it. So, for now, Chu Ning could only rely on his eyes.
In the distance, a black shadow could be seen slithering towards them from the direction of the Black Dragon Pool. Soon, the shadow came to a stop about thirty zhang away from Chu Ning and the others. At this distance, Chu Ning could make out its features clearly. It was a long serpent, nearly ten zhang in length, with a body thicker than a water bucket. Its head was crowned with a red and purple snake hood. "Hmm? The aura of this serpent doesn't seem like that of a fourth-rank demonic beast," Chu Ning muttered, his senses tingling with a sense of unease.
At that moment, the black serpent was about five or six zhang away from the Luring Demon Grass. Instead of going straight for the grass, it opened its mouth and sprayed a cloud of green mist towards the area within two or three zhang of the grass. After the mist was sprayed, all the plants in the vicinity withered and died, except for the Luring Demon Grass, which remained untouched. Only then did the black serpent slowly crawl towards the grass, circling it as if sensing for any abnormalities.
Chu Ning and the others had not tampered with the Luring Demon Grass, and after the serpent confirmed that there were no traps, it struck, its tongue shooting out to coil around the grass. "Now!" Previously, they had agreed to attack the moment the serpent swallowed the grass. Without hesitation, Chu Ning grasped the Fire Phoenix Feather Spear in his hand and swung it with force. Instantly, a fire-attributed demon tiger with the shape of a red-eyed tiger pounced towards the black serpent.
At the same time, not far from Chu Ning, Su Yuqing brandished a red jade scepter-like artifact and cast a spell towards the serpent. Cui Rongrong drew her short dagger and threw it at the serpent, while Dai Tong wielded an axe-like artifact, sending a beam of yellow light towards the serpent's head, likely a earth-attributed artifact. Everything went according to plan, but at that moment, Chu Ning suddenly looked up, his gaze shifting towards Lu Jiangan's position behind them.
As he released his attack, Chu Ning also unleashed his divine sense to perceive their surroundings. Lu Jiangan, the most senior among them with his late Foundation Establishment cultivation, had not attacked the black serpent. As Chu Ning's divine sense swept the area, he was taken aback by what he sensed. A green snake, no bigger than an ordinary flower snake, was darting towards Lu Jiangan, who was about to launch his own attack. "A fourth-rank Green Devil Snake?" Chu Ning recognized the snake demon with just a glance, and he could sense that it was also a fourth-rank demonic beast. Moreover, its aura seemed even more powerful than that of the black serpent they were currently fighting.
Lu Jiangan, a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, was quick to react. His expression changed slightly, and the fire-attributed spell he had been about to cast at the black serpent was redirected towards the Green Devil Snake. Simultaneously, a white light shield appeared around him, blocking the attacking snake.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
