Chapter 216: So Brother Chu Is This Strong

Chapter 216: So Brother Chu Is This Strong

(Note: In the previous chapter, the demonic beast at the latter stages of the Foundation Establishment should be a Fourth Rank instead of a Fifth Rank, my mistake, apologies, it has been corrected.)



As Chu Ning's spiritual sense perceived this scene, he heaved a slight sigh of relief.

At the same time, his attention returned to the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon that he and his companions were attacking.

However, he noticed that the dragon had managed to avoid all its vital spots, causing their attacks to fail to inflict any damage.

Witnessing this, a cold glint flashed in Chu Ning's eyes. This Black Flood Dragon was definitely not a newly advanced Fourth Rank demonic beast.

Otherwise, the combined efforts of four mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators would not have been so easily dodged without a single vital spot being struck.

Aside from himself, Lu Ke'an's tiger demon, condensed using the Fiery Flame Technique, possessed offensive power comparable to that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Having regained his composure, Lu Ke'an immediately shouted, "Be careful, there are two snake demons!"

Chu Ning's voice turned solemn as he said, "Not two, but three!"

Upon hearing Chu Ning's words, everyone was startled.

They all looked up and indeed saw a black shadow rushing towards them from behind, quickly approaching their vicinity.

It was yet another Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon.

The aura of this last appearing Black Flood Dragon was noticeably weaker than the first one.

At this moment, they realized that this last Black Flood Dragon was the one that had just advanced to the Fourth Rank.

The Black Flood Dragon did not attack them at this moment, but instead, its eyes glinted with a cunning look.

The two Fourth Rank demon snakes also behaved similarly, their tongues flicking as they eyed Chu Ning and the others like prey.

The sudden appearance of three Fourth Rank demonic beasts instead of one weighed heavily on everyone's minds.

"How did the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon from Bihu Lake and the Fourth Rank Green Demon Snake from Songcuigu end up here in Heishuitan?" Lu Ke'an asked, his face grim.

A hint of paleness appeared on Su Yuqing's delicate features, but it was quickly replaced by a determined look as she spoke, "Brother Lu, there's no use discussing that now. It will be very challenging for the few of us to deal with these three Fourth Rank demonic beasts, and we might even be in danger of falling at any moment.

In a moment, we'll hold them back and let Brother Chu escape first."

Before anyone could respond, Chu Ning was taken aback by Su Yuqing's suggestion.

If the appearance of three Fourth Rank demonic beasts had surprised him, Su Yuqing's words shocked him even more.

Before he could fully process her suggestion, Lu Ke'an took the lead and said, "Good! I've heard that Brother Chu possesses exceptional talent in pill refinement, and Elder Ling has high hopes for him to revitalize the sect's pill refinement techniques.

We have already made a grave mistake by inviting Brother Chu to take part in this dangerous expedition. We must ensure his safety at all costs."

As soon as Lu Ke'an finished speaking, Cui Rongrong and Dai Tong voiced their agreement.

"I agree!"

"Me too!"

Su Yuqing heaved a sigh of relief and immediately turned to Chu Ning, saying, "Alright then, Brother Chu, we'll hold them back in a moment, so you find an opportunity to leave quickly."

Chu Ning was left a little dazed by their suggestion, but he nodded, "Let's fight them first and see how it goes. If we really can't win, we can escape together."

Hearing this, a hint of anxiety appeared on Su Yuqing's usually calm and collected face.

"Brother Chu, don't get involved in this. Just leave now.

You are someone who can make great contributions to the prosperity of the sect, and you must not come to any harm here, or we will be sinners of the sect."

Lu Ke'an and the others nodded in agreement.

At this moment, the three snake demons seemed to have finished toying with them and launched their attacks simultaneously.

The Fourth Rank Green Demon Snake continued its assault on Lu Ke'an.

The two Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragons, with the one that appeared later taking the lead, transformed into black lights and pounced towards Dai Tong and Cui Rongrong.

As for the first Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon, it opened its mouth and sprayed a cloud of green mist towards Chu Ning and Su Yuqing.

Chu Ning raised his hand to cast a spell, but he was astonished to find that Su Yuqing had suddenly activated a defensive shield and stood in front of him.

"Brother Chu, run!" Su Yuqing exclaimed.

Chu Ning's eyes flickered slightly.

While he was somewhat surprised by the importance the members of Jiuhua Zong placed on the sect's prosperity and glory, the current situation did touch him in a way he didn't expect.

However, the idea of escaping under the protection of a female cultivator was something Chu Ning couldn't bring himself to do.

With a casual wave of his hand, Chu Ning unleashed several flames, followed by the Wind and Fire Ravaging Lands Technique.

A wall of fiery wind formed, instantly sweeping away the green toxic mist sprayed by the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon.

At the same time, Chu Ning gripped the Fire Phoenix Feather Spear in his hand and, in a flash, passed by Su Yuqing, charging straight towards the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon.

In mid-air, Chu Ning also released a circular object from his hand.

It was the male ring from the Mother and Child Twin Fire Rings.

"Brother Chu, you..." Su Yuqing cried out in surprise as she witnessed this scene.

But the next moment, she was left dumbfounded.

The Black Flood Dragon, which had been sent flying by Chu Ning's attack, suddenly hesitated in mid-air as if it had lost its resistance.

Instead of continuing its attack on Chu Ning, it seemed to be caught in a daze.

Illusion Technique! What Su Yuqing didn't know was that Chu Ning had just used the secret technique of the Illusion Technique, creating an illusory realm.

Even the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon had fallen into Chu Ning's illusion and couldn't distinguish reality from fantasy.

The triangular eyes that usually held a cruel and cunning look now appeared confused, losing their malicious gleam.

Seizing this opportunity, Chu Ning's thrown male ring from the Twin Fire Rings struck heavily at the "vital point" below the snake's head.

At the same time, Chu Ning's spear pierced the black-purple snake crown on its head.

Attacking two vital points in succession caused the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon to howl in pain, snapping it out of its daze.

Chu Ning was amazed by the black flood dragon's robust defense. Despite his consecutive attacks on its vital points, the dragon only seemed slightly injured and retained its ability to resist.

"Sister Su, go help the others. I'll handle this dragon."

Noticing Su Yuqing's astonishment at his performance, Chu Ning reminded her, "You go help the others. I'll take care of this dragon."

Su Yuqing snapped out of her daze and glanced at Chu Ning with delight. Although still concerned, she flew towards Cui Rongrong and Dai Tong on the other side.

Despite both being at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, they were at a disadvantage against the advanced Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon. Its strong defense rendered their attacks ineffective, leaving them perplexed.

In contrast, Lu Ke'an, on the other side, seemed evenly matched as he faced the Green Demon Snake alone.

The Green Demon Snake couldn't penetrate Lu Ke'an's defense to inflict real damage. However, its erratic speed posed a significant challenge for Lu Ke'an.

With Su Yuqing's departure, Chu Ning felt more liberated to unleash his full potential.

Since using the Illusion Technique earlier, Chu Ning hadn't employed it again. The demonic beasts were highly vigilant, and in such a tense battle, his Illusion Technique might not be effective.

Of course, the main reason was that Chu Ning didn't feel the need to rely on the Illusion Technique.

At this moment, Chu Ning hovered in mid-air, his body surrounded by flickering flames.

He cast one Fiery Flame Technique spell after another, and the male ring from the Twin Fire Rings continuously unleashed attacks, all landing on the black flood dragon's body.

The black flood dragon had already been slowed down by Chu Ning's initial strike, and now, although he didn't always hit the vital spots, each attack was powerful.

Even the black flood dragon couldn't help but hiss in pain under the onslaught.

As Chu Ning pressed his advantage, the Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon's triangular eyes began to show fear.

Initially, it kept lunging at Chu Ning, but gradually, it seemed to do nothing but dodge.

It was then that the dragon noticed several shadows of Chu Ning appearing in front of it, along with several powerful tiger demons charging at it.

A glint of fear flashed in the dragon's triangular eyes, and it turned to flee towards Black Dragon Lake.

But just as it turned, a fire ring struck it head-on.

And behind the dragon, there were no tiger demons to be seen.

"Those attacks earlier were illusions."

With its decent intellect, the black flood dragon seemed to realize something.

But it was too late. The fire ring accurately hit the snake crown that Chu Ning had previously pierced with his Fire Phoenix Feather Spear.

The male ring from the Twin Fire Rings then penetrated the snake crown, and the next moment, a burst of fiery waves erupted within the dragon's body.

The ten-zhang-long Fourth Rank Black Flood Dragon fell heavily to the ground, rolling uncontrollably.

Soon, its vitality was completely incinerated by the overwhelming destructive force!

At the same time, Chu Ning's expression shifted, and he shouted, "Watch out for the Green Demon Snake!"

As Chu Ning's voice fell, Lu Ke'an's voice also rang out.

"Be careful!"

At that moment, the Green Demon Snake abandoned Lu Ke'an and darted towards Su Yuqing, Cui Rongrong, and the others.

Apparently, the demon snake's intelligence allowed it to assess the situation and identify the easiest targets.

The snake was small and incredibly fast.

Although Chu Ning's warning was timely, the group couldn't react fast enough.

A green shadow appeared in front of Su Yuqing in the blink of an eye, about to strike the female executive of the Pill Refinement Pavilion.

"Hiss!"

The next moment, the green shadow in the air let out a hiss and retreated.

Immediately after, a white light shot out from the green shadow, forcing the Green Demon Snake to retreat again.

At this moment, the startled Su Yuqing realized that a wolf-shaped puppet had appeared in front of her, along with a white three-tailed spirit beast.

The wolf puppet had blocked the green shadow's attack, and the white light had come from the three-tailed spirit beast's mouth.

Lu Ke'an also returned, just in time to face the Green Demon Snake. He prepared to cast a spell, but the demon snake seemed to sense the danger.

It abruptly changed direction in mid-air, dodging Lu Ke'an's attack and shooting towards the depths of the mountain.

"Trying to escape?"

Just then, a figure flashed and blocked the snake's path. It was Chu Ning, who had used the Wind Escape Technique.

The Green Demon Snake's beady eyes narrowed as it recognized Chu Ning, the one who had slain the Black Flood Dragon and ruined its plans. A glint of malice flashed in its eyes.

Suddenly, the snake crown on its head detached and shot towards Chu Ning's throat with even greater speed than the snake itself.

Chu Ning couldn't dodge completely, despite his quick reflexes.

He swiftly activated several defensive shields around his body, but the snake crown was uncanny, piercing through the shields without causing even a ripple.

However, the shields did manage to slow down the snake crown slightly.

Seizing this opportunity, Chu Ning flicked his finger, casting a Wind Manipulation Technique on the snake crown, simultaneously propelling his body upwards slightly.

Thus, the snake crown, which was meant to strike Chu Ning's throat, hit his body instead.

The Green Demon Snake watched with satisfaction.

Any cultivator struck by its penetrating fangs was doomed to die.

However, what left the four-stage green demon snake utterly bewildered was that after the incredibly piercing fangs hit Chu Ning's body, they simply fell to the ground.

At this point, the four-stage green demon snake realized something was amiss.

The snake crown was swiftly recalled to its head, and the green demon snake attempted to change direction in mid-air to escape.

But by then, it was already too late.

The green demon snake was fast, but so was Chu Ning.

With his extraordinarily powerful spiritual sense, Chu Ning could easily lock onto the green demon snake with his spiritual awareness, no matter how fast it tried to be.

Wind Manipulation Technique!

After locking onto his target with his spiritual sense, Chu Ning immediately cast the Wind Manipulation Technique on the four-stage demon snake.

This caused the snake, renowned for its speed, to momentarily pause in mid-air.

And in that brief moment, a flash of white light from Chu Ning's hand had already caught up to it.

It was a net-like object that enveloped the green demon snake in a tight bind.

Although it appeared to have holes, the net immediately contracted, taking the shape of a bag that completely enclosed the demon snake.

Thus, the four-stage green demon snake, comparable to a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, was captured alive by Chu Ning!

Upon witnessing this, Chu Ning waved his hand, a smile playing on his lips, and recalled the white net.

This net was the same one he had obtained from Song Ye back in the Thousand Lakes and Islands. He had seen Song Ye use it to capture the Fire-Winged Demon Rabbit, and after acquiring it, he had successfully tested it on Ling Xiaobai. He found that the net was exceptionally sturdy and possessed excellent defensive capabilities.

Moreover, when used skillfully, it often yielded unexpected results.

And today, it had proven its worth once again.

On the other side, Su Yuqing and the others were overjoyed at the sight.

Meanwhile, the newly advanced four-stage Black Flood Dragon seemed to sense the danger and attempted to flee towards Black Dragon Lake.

But by now, it was too late.

Initially caught off guard by the three four-stage demon snakes, Su Yuqing and her companions had been unable to stop the Black Flood Dragon.

However, with Lu Ke'an's help, the four of them combined their efforts and soon slew the dragon.

It wasn't until the second four-stage Black Flood Dragon lay motionless on the ground that Su Yuqing, Lu Ke'an, and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, their gazes turned to Chu Ning.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chu Ning had made his way to the first Black Flood Dragon he had slain and was collecting its fresh blood with jade bottles.

The four of them exchanged glances, each seeing the shock reflected in the others' eyes.

When they first encountered the three four-stage demon beasts, their immediate thought was to ensure Chu Ning's escape.

And even after Chu Ning took action, Su Yuqing remained worried.

It was only when Chu Ning managed to restrain one of the Black Flood Dragons that she slightly relaxed.

Yet, she never expected that Chu Ning would single-handedly deal with the two most powerful demon beasts, killing one and capturing the other alive.

His prowess and strength far exceeded that of Lu Ke'an, a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

How formidable!

At this moment, the four of them couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

For a while, no one spoke.

Su Yuqing watched as Chu Ning continued to collect the Black Flood Dragon's blood into jade bottles. She was the first to speak, asking, "Chu Ning, do you have any more jade bottles? We can collect the blood from this Black Flood Dragon as well."

"Sure!" Chu Ning replied, immediately tossing over several jade bottles.

Su Yuqing, Lu Ke'an, Cui Rongrong, and Dai Tong then helped collect the dragon's blood.

As Chu Ning intended to use the blood for refining body-strengthening pills, he couldn't afford to kill a Black Flood Dragon every time he needed the ingredient.

He was delighted to have acquired several bottles of the blood.

Once they had finished collecting the blood from both Black Flood Dragons, Chu Ning took out several talismans he had prepared beforehand and affixed them to each jade bottle.

This would prevent the Black Flood Dragon's blood from losing its medicinal properties over time.

Seizing the opportunity, Su Yuqing also extracted and preserved the gallbladders of the two Black Flood Dragons.

When Chu Ning was done with his tasks, Cui Rongrong happily exclaimed, "Finally, we can obtain the Black Flood Dragon's hide! Chu Ning, if it weren't for your diverse skills, we would have had to flee for our lives."

"Indeed," Lu Ke'an agreed, his gaze fixed on Chu Ning with a look of admiration.

"That green demon snake was incredibly fast, highly venomous, and had astonishing defensive capabilities.

Even though it didn't use its full strength against me, I still found it challenging to deal any significant damage, despite employing various techniques."

Lu Ke'an shook his head in amazement as he continued, "I never expected that not only would Chu Ning remain unharmed against this desperate four-stage green demon snake, but he would also be able to capture it alive.

Your abilities and prowess truly leave me in awe."

"I understand now why Chu Ning wasn't worried earlier," Su Yuqing said, a smile playing on her lips as she looked at Chu Ning.

"It turns out you already had a plan in mind!"

Dai Tong, the robust man, remained silent, but the look in his eyes as he gazed at Chu Ning reflected a newfound respect.

Previously, their respect for Chu Ning might have stemmed primarily from the sect's long-standing ideals and beliefs, influenced by his talent and skill in pill refining.

However, at this moment, their respect for Chu Ning as an individual had genuinely deepened.

This was undoubtedly due to the strength and abilities he had displayed.

Indeed, Chu Ning had a plan. He possessed a variety of techniques, although some, like the Reincarnation Divine Light, might not have been effective against these demon beasts.

But as someone who had escaped both a sixth-stage demon beast and a Golden Core cultivator, he saw no reason to flee from a few four-stage demon beasts hastily.

Moreover, he had yet to accomplish the purpose of his visit.

Chu Ning smiled but didn't respond to their comments. Instead, he pointed at the two slain Black Flood Dragons on the ground and asked, "What should we do with these?"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end