Rituals, rain prayers, demon slaying, caring for the people... these are the duties of the Sect disciples.
Chen Xuan couldn't help but recall the scene when he first met Liu Shuyue.
Unsure what to say, he could only echo, "Alright, since there are so many benefits to demon slaying, we must indeed slay them. Is the thing you want to show me this Great Demon?"
"I want you to witness it all. Even if our plan to escape Qing State ultimately fails, someone will remember us." Liu Shuyue paused, "Chen Xuan, once you retrieve the Encyclopedia of Ancient and Modern, these stories will likely be recorded in it, right?"
What does she mean, retrieve the Encyclopedia of Ancient and Modern?
Wasn't that ability already traded away?
As he was lost in thought, he heard a long howl.
The sound was neither like a human nor a bird, extremely piercing, making one feel dizzy!
"It's here." Liu Shuyue looked towards the mountains.
So soon? I'm not even mentally prepared yet! Moreover, this sound is far from the dragon's roar he imagined.
Chen Xuan looked in the direction of the sound and saw a cyan "long snake" appear between the stone forest. It skillfully spiraled around the mountain pillars before flying into the air, swimming towards them. Indeed, it had no wings yet could fly, with two pairs of claws below, a large head, and gleaming long horns on top, resembling a legendary dragon.
But thinking about its preference for eating humans, this majestic posture appeared somewhat terrifying.
Meanwhile, a wind picked up on the hillside.
Just a moment ago, the weather was sunny, but now the sky had turned gray, and even the refugee camp below the valley became shrouded in mist.
"Don't worry, this is the weather change caused by the Vortex." Liu Shuyue voluntarily explained, "The Cyan Dragon can summon wind, thunder, and thick fog, which makes it very skilled at either trapping prey in the mist and toying with them to death or sweeping them up into the sky with the gale and killing them."
"...Do you want to borrow the Thousand Thoughts Sword first?"
"The Thousand Thoughts Sword is decent for slaying small demons but ineffective against such a Great Demon." She suddenly chuckled for some reason, "As expected of you... at times like this, you're still thinking about borrowing; you really consider business more important than anything."
"But people like you make me feel at ease." Liu Shuyue drew the long sword from behind her back, holding it in one hand, "At least you won't default on your debts."
"Naturally, in our line of work... it's all about sincerity." Chen Xuan didn't explain much, "Can I take it to mean that you're hiding a power stronger than the Thousand Thoughts Sword?"
"Naturally, one wouldn't sell their secret skills first." She said matter-of-factly, "However, though this ability is strong, it's not very usable, and you probably wouldn't favor it."
Really? Abilities like these, you only know once you have them in your hands.
"It seems like you counted on the Great Demon coming for sure." Chen Xuan raised his hand to shield his face as the wind had grown strong enough to make it difficult to keep his eyes open, "I thought these demons were sneaky, coming and going without a trace."
"Why hide? The Vortex is equivalent to a king of this area; have you ever seen a king who hides from outsiders when traveling?" Liu Shuyue dismissed it, "Not to mention the border areas, every few years it ventures deep into the Qing State to prey, causing hundreds of casualties in a single trip. Now with a large amount of food brought to its mouth, it couldn't possibly hold back."
"So rampant?" He couldn't help but be a bit surprised, "Then why didn't you slay it from the start?"
Or rather, why have none of the past Sect disciples exterminated this demon—since the Lotus Cloud Sect has records of the Vortex, which means it has existed for at least several hundred years.
This seemingly doesn't make sense.
After all, the Cyan Dragon is full of treasures, its blood can transform ordinary people into cultivators; large Sects might not care, but the Emperor surely wouldn't let it go easily?
The Emperor and ordinary troops cannot defeat it? But the Emperor can summon Sect disciples like Liu Shuyue.
"Because it is rumored that dragons are the embodiment of the ruler's fortune..." she said with a hint of self-mockery, "Threatening the dragon is equivalent to threatening the royal dynasty, so even if it's a Great Demon plaguing the region, even if everyone knows there is such a demon in the south, it still lives well. Thinking back, those predecessors were just like that..."
"You say the dragon is the embodiment of the Emperor's fortune? And you still want to slay it?" Chen Xuan was greatly shocked, "If this were to get out, would your position as the Immortal Master's assistant not…"
Seeing the other's unperturbed expression, he suddenly realized that perhaps some other changes had occurred in these unseen twelve days.
Was it really just about a lack of disaster relief food?
Chen Xuan was about to inquire further when a gust of wind made him instinctively turn his back. When he turned around again, there was no one beside him.
Where did she go?
Could it be—
He looked up, unable to hold back an exclamation in his heart, damn, she can actually fly!
Liu Shuyue indeed flew up! She continued ascending against the wind, quickly shrinking to a mere speck. The Cyan Dragon had also flown out of the Wanshan Wilderness, charging towards them.
Is this the battle of immortals?
Chen Xuan felt his heart pounding; although he had dealt with Liu Shuyue for so long, he'd never seen her go all out.
To what extent will a battle between an immortal and a demon reach?
Is it really safe to watch from the hilltop?
Countless thoughts sprang into his mind, yet his body executed the most instinctive reaction—he took out his phone, opened the camera mode, and aimed it at the cloud-swollen sky.
Liu Shuyue threw her sword, fingers together pointing to the top of her head, the sword stood like it was possessed by the wind, suspended above her fingertips!
Then, the blade emitted a brilliant seven-colored glow!
The Cyan Dragon opened its bloody maw, and it was then that Chen Xuan realized just how enormous this dragon was, its mouth alone could easily fit a train locomotive.
Liu Shuyue swung her sword.
She simply waved her fingers down, without any superfluous movements.
The ferocious wind suddenly fell silent.
In an instant, the dazzling glow surged from the sword tip, like a brightly thin thread, sweeping down towards the dragon's head! The dragon still had its mouth open, but the electricity flickering on its horns suddenly went out, as if short-circuited by the sword.
"Did it hit?"
This thought had barely arisen when the dragon's body split apart, a horrifying wound appeared on its giant abdomen!
But that wasn't all the strike achieved.
Because immediately the sky also tore apart!
The rolling clouds parted along the sword mark, the previously gray sky seemed cleaved in two, revealing its originally clear and sunny appearance.
This sword not only struck the dragon but also sliced through all the gales and demon fog it conjured!
Whoa...
The stagnant sound resumed again, but what Chen Xuan heard was no longer the uproar of wind and thunder, but the patter of rain.
It started to rain.
Logically, the rain after the storm should be fierce.
But this was no ordinary rain.
It was as gentle as spring rain, but the raindrops were red and reeked of blood.
He looked down at his feet, the blood rain quietly soaked everything, tinting the originally verdant ground with a dark hue.
Is it over just like that?
She slayed a dragon with just one sword?
Chen Xuan suddenly felt poetic, longing to recite verses like "One sword's light chills nineteen states" or "Like the descent of divine power from heaven," but in the end, he felt "Awesome" was the most fitting.
This! Is! Cultivation!
Clearly, it wasn't him who slew the dragon, but he still felt his blood boiling.
Someday, he might be able to achieve such a feat—
He raised his head, seeking Liu Shuyue's silhouette again, only to freeze. The sky cut open didn't return to normal, even the original blue background now had a tear. Through that tear, he could actually see numerous high-rise buildings...
High-rises?
Was he seeing things?
He rubbed his eyes and incredulously looked again, this time even activating the Divine Eye Technique, greatly magnifying his view.
The series of high-rises became clearer, he could see not only the glossy glass curtain walls but also some billboards standing on rooftops.
"Tianheng Life Responsibility Co., Ltd?"
He inadvertently read aloud, then suddenly inhaled sharply; wasn't that the landmark building near his community!?
...
...
The red warning lights in the room spun crazily, the wailing alarms almost breaking eardrums.
"Can someone turn off that damn siren! No matter how loud it screams, we can't fly over!" Wang Baihu hurriedly packed up equipment, shouting to a colleague at the office desk, "Has the threat level been confirmed?"
"Yes! The system identifies it as..." the colleague paused for a moment, then exclaimed in shock, "Grade A pollution intrusion!"
"What's the location?"
"Celestial Ridge District, Peace Avenue direction, Captain Wan is heading that way."
"Got it, I'll head over now." The young man jogged to the underground parking lot, seeing his partner Honglian already seated at the driver's side of the special car waiting for him. As soon as he got in, the partner stomped on the pedal.
"Slow down, I haven't closed the door yet!" Wang Baihu exclaimed as he grabbed the handle, hooking the door handle with his toe to shut the door, "Phew... Grade A intrusion, this is going to be huge fun."