Chapter 911: Poison Dragon Patriarch

After a single exchange, Chen Mobai remained motionless in mid-air, but his expression had become grave. This was because the outermost layer of the Pure Yang Immortal Robe's nine-fold defense had actually disintegrated. This indicated that the dragon formed by the Poison Dragon's control over water spiritual energy had reached the upper level of the fourth tier in power.

The seal on the Yellow Dragon Grotto-Heaven had developed cracks long ago, allowing the Poison Dragon's power to seep out. However, these signs disappeared after the Five Elements Sect reinforced the seal at Fengyu Dock. But today, they reappeared, and the power seeping from the Poison Dragon was clearly stronger and more terrifying than before.

Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing gazed at the colorful cloud dragon, formed by the coalescing and swirling demonic energy of the Poison Dragon above the water, a solemn look flashing in both their eyes.

"Is there a problem with the seal on the Dongwu side?" Zhou Shengqing asked. Of the three seals on the Yellow Dragon Grotto-Heaven, all but one set by Sun Huangwu of Dongwu were currently under the control of the Five Elements Sect. The current situation undoubtedly pointed to a flaw in the seal.

"Senior Brother, let's suppress this Poison Dragon avatar first," Chen Mobai said gravely. Even if there was an issue on the Dongwu side, they had to deal with the immediate threat.

Zhou Shengqing nodded, his gaze like lightning, quickly scanning the colorful cloud dragon's body for weaknesses. "I'll tie down its power; you prepare the killing blow, Junior Brother."

As he spoke, Zhou Shengqing drew a talisman in the air, and then a fourth-tier tree seed flew from his sleeve. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a towering tree that descended upon the colorful cloud dragon's head. The colorful cloud dragon immediately swung its sharp claws, raising its hands to support the sky. Vast and mighty water spiritual energy converged, forming an immense transparent dragon claw that propped up the descending Longevity Wood in mid-air.

However, seeing this, Zhou Shengqing's eyes gleamed. He struck out a talisman that landed on the Longevity Wood. Subsequently, fine roots began to emerge from the base of the towering tree, which was held by the dragon claw. Like long needles, they pierced into the transparent dragon claw, condensed from pure water vapor. Once the roots penetrated the dragon claw, they rapidly swelled and elongated, as if nourished abundantly. In the blink of an eye, the transparent dragon claw, originally nearly a hundred meters in circumference, rapidly shrank. Finally, with a "peng" sound, it dispersed into a myriad of water droplets.

Following the principle of water nurturing wood in the Five Elements, Zhou Shengqing, facing the Poison Dragon and possessing a fourth-tier tree seed, was no longer as vulnerable as he had been against Old Ancestor Jinfeng. He displayed the power expected of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Excellent tactics, Senior Brother!" Chen Mobai's eyes lit up at the sight. The Purple Lightning Sword, which had been ready to strike, flew out from the wide sleeve of his Pure Yang Immortal Robe. Like a streak of purple electricity, it instantly sliced the colorful cloud dragon in mid-air into two halves. Only then did a violent peal of thunder follow.

"Superb swordsmanship, Junior Brother!" Zhou Shengqing couldn't help but smile, speaking as he continued his actions, using the Longevity Wood to absorb the pure water spiritual energy gathered by the Poison Dragon.

"Hmm, these two youngsters are quite capable." At that moment, a deep voice resonated from beneath the water. The colorful cloud dragon, which had been sliced in half by the Purple Lightning Sword, surprisingly split directly into two streams of colorful rainbow light, darting towards Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing.

"Senior Brother, I've got this!" Chen Mobai's eyes flared. Knowing the Poison Dragon's formidable methods, he immediately activated the defensive restrictions of the Pure Yang Immortal Robe. A golden-glowing fireball enveloped him. While blocking the colorful rainbow light rushing towards him, the Purple Lightning Sword, under his mastery of the Sword Fiend Thunder Sound realm, arrived belatedly to intercept the colorful light lunging at Zhou Shengqing in mid-air.

However, to his surprise, the clash with the colorful rainbow light did not produce the violent commotion from before. Silently, the golden-glowing fireball suddenly seemed to melt and corrode under the colorful light, beginning to dissipate. Fortunately, Chen Mobai's Pure Yang Immortal Robe had nine layers of restrictions. With the continuous infusion of his Pure Yang True Qi, a second, slightly smaller fireball quickly appeared and enveloped his body. The colorful rainbow light melted three consecutive restrictions before it was completely blocked and vanished.

On the other side, the Purple Lightning Sword suddenly erupted with an unprecedented roaring resonance! Streaks of purple lightning arcs burst and flashed from the sword's blade, blasting and vaporizing the strands of colorful light and rainbow energy that had attached to it.

"Master, this demonic energy is incredibly poisonous!" The Purple Lightning Sword's voice sounded with a hint of surprise and doubt. It was already a fifth-tier quality sword, yet even so, after being enveloped by the colorful poisonous energy, it still felt waves of discomfort.

"Don't worry, you're its counter!" Chen Mobai transmitted a message to the Purple Lightning Sword. The latter was a lightning sword of extreme yang and rigidity; encountering such poisonous energy, as long as its power was sufficient, it could purify it entirely.

"It's not that I'm afraid, it's just uncomfortable." The Purple Lightning Sword replied tactfully.

"Slay this Poison Dragon, and you get ten high-grade spirit stones!" Chen Mobai directly offered an unprecedentedly high price.

In an instant, the Purple Lightning Sword, suspended in mid-air, roared, unleashing a circle of deep purple electric arcs. Then, accompanied by a violent rumble, it plunged deep into the water surface like a streak of purple heavenly lightning!

The surface of Cloud Dream Lake churned as if suddenly brought to a boil, with bubbles beginning to rise. Amidst the dazzling colorful light, a deep purple lightning bolt was conspicuously bright. Although Chen Mobai himself did not enter the water, his spiritual consciousness merged with the sword. With the infusion of his Pure Yang True Qi and the Purple Lightning Sword's full cooperation, the power of this fifth-tier sword artifact was unleashed to about sixty or seventy percent of its potential.

Under the rapid pursuit of the Sword Fiend Thunder Sound, the source of the Poison Dragon's demonic energy, hidden beneath the water, soon could no longer conceal itself. Accompanied by a colossal roar, a small, colorful snake burst from the water's surface. Its translucent body was sleek and elongated, enveloped by swirling masses of colorful mist, resembling a true multicolored dragon.

After emerging, the colorful snake shot directly towards Chen Mobai. It was like a long, multicolored spear, incredibly sharp! But Chen Mobai showed no fear. He activated the Nine Yang Blazing Flame formation of the Pure Yang Immortal Robe, then, with his right hand behind his back, retrieved the fifth-tier Heaven Origin Pearl from his domain and held it in his palm. However, he seemed to be overly cautious. The spear formed by the colorful snake had just broken through three layers of the Pure Yang Immortal Robe's defense when it was overtaken by the Purple Lightning Sword, empowered by the Sword Fiend Thunder Sound realm. Amidst the roar of purple lightning, the colorful snake was sliced into two by the Purple Lightning Sword.

"You're the Poison Dragon? You seem a bit too weak..." Chen Mobai shook his head, a hint of disappointment in his eyes, as he looked at the colorful snake severed before him.

"Youngster, this was merely a strand of my hair transformed. And do you truly believe you've won?" At that moment, the severed head of the colorful snake suddenly opened and closed, beginning to speak.

Chen Mobai's brow furrowed immediately. His Empty Valley Sound sense then detected violent demonic energy fluctuations reacting within the two halves of the snake's body. He immediately injected his Primordial True Qi into the Heaven Origin Pearl held in his palm behind his back. Subsequently, the two halves of the colorful snake's body exploded, transforming into a vast cloud of multicolored mist that completely obscured the central area of Cloud Dream Lake.

In the sky, a flock of Black Plague Birds was flying from a distance. However, upon merely touching the spreading colorful mist, they silently melted into bloody sludge. Several reefs protruding from the water also turned into stone paste after being covered by the colorful mist. The only thing the colorful mist did not dissolve was water. However, the water absorbed this highly poisonous mist, and soon, the poisoned corpses of fish, shrimp, crabs, and even demonic beasts floated to the surface. These bodies, upon contact with the colorful mist above the water, followed the fate of the Black Plague Birds, turning into pools of bloody sludge that stained the water red.

After quite some time, the poisonous mist caused by the colorful snake's self-destruction finally began to dissipate. Chen Mobai gently waved his sleeve, dispersing the residual mist lingering around the Heaven Origin Pearl.

"Cough, cough, cough... Junior Brother..." Zhou Shengqing's somewhat weak voice reached him. Chen Mobai turned his head to see that Zhou Shengqing's face was pale, and his figure had become slightly transparent. This was a sign of severe True Qi depletion for a Dharma Body Nascent Soul. Nevertheless, relying on the powerful defensive capabilities of the fourth-tier tree seed and the Scripture of Eternal Life, he had endured this wave of attack.

"If this poisonous mist drifts towards Fengyu Dock, it could have severe consequences. Please lend me your Golden Mist Pearl, Senior Brother." Chen Mobai stated. Although the colorful poisonous mist, once dissipated and diluted, no longer posed a threat to Nascent Soul cultivators like them, if lower-cultivation cultivators inhaled it, their Dao bodies would likely collapse instantly, and their vitality would be severely damaged.

Zhou Shengqing nodded and immediately tossed the Golden Mist Pearl to Chen Mobai. After integrating it with his Samadhi Sutra, Chen Mobai quickly activated the magic pearl's power to its fullest extent. He controlled the surrounding air currents, gathering all the dissipating colorful poisonous mist towards his palm. In a short while, it transformed into a dense, vibrant, multicolored sphere of mist.

"This could be used to refine magic artifacts." Chen Mobai, who had initially intended to use True Fire to refine the poisonous mist, suddenly thought of something. He took out a spirit-sealing tube and sealed the mist inside for storage. Zhou Shengqing knew Chen Mobai was a quasi-fifth-tier artifact refiner and was quite looking forward to his results.

"The Poison Dragon avatar just now possessed fourth-tier power. I wonder if it was released after the seal was broken, or if it was a demonic beast from Cloud Dream Lake possessed by its spiritual consciousness..." After dealing with the poisonous mist, Chen Mobai used his Void-Penetrating Spiritual Eye and Empty Valley Sound to confirm there were no powerful demonic beasts hidden beneath the water, then voiced his opinion.

"The Poison Dragon's true body must still be within the Yellow Dragon Grotto-Heaven. If the seal had truly been broken, what we encountered today wouldn't have been merely its avatar." Zhou Shengqing said. Chen Mobai nodded, and then the two of them flew directly across the central border of Cloud Dream Lake, heading towards Dongwu.

On an island a hundred miles from the center of Cloud Dream Lake, an ice mirror hovered in mid-air, reflecting the entire scene of the two Nascent Soul cultivators from the Five Elements Sect battling the colorful snake.

"Chen Qingdi of the Five Elements Sect truly lives up to his reputation as a Daoist heir raised by the One Yuan Dao Palace in the Eastern Barrens. With such a level of sword mastery and that fifth-tier flying sword, even if the Poison Dragon were to emerge, it might not necessarily be his match." After the colorful snake self-destructed and the multicolored poisonous mist spread, it seemed to disturb the ice mirror spell. The image on the mirror surface began to blur, and a handsome young man in silver robes couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"No matter how formidable Chen Qingdi is, he's no match for you, Saint Son Yujing!" Beside the silver-robed youth, Tu Daohua spoke with a fawning expression.

"Even if I could kill him, I would certainly pay a huge price. After all, Chen Qingdi is a sword cultivator, and I have no need to fight a sword cultivator to the death." The silver-robed youth was named Wen Buyue, the Saint Son of the Jade Mirror Demonic Sect, a major demonic cultivation sect. Sixty years ago, he had overcome his Heavenly Tribulation in the Desolate Ruins and formed his Nascent Soul. However, when he formed his Nascent Soul, his luck was poor. Although he evaded the schemes of fellow demonic cultivators, he also attracted the attention of powerful demonic beasts in the Desolate Ruins. Ultimately, Wen Buyue forcibly endured his Heavenly Tribulation using a secret technique and repelled the invading demonic beasts from the Desolate Ruins, but he was severely wounded in the process. It was precisely because of this that, over the years, Wen Buyue had operated discreetly in the three border regions of Dongzhou, fearing his tracks would be discovered. In the past, Granny Ming's Moon Splendor Blade was refined by Wen Buyue himself.

"Reporting, Master, my father's side is all ready. We can break the seal at any time, just waiting for Chen Qingdi to pass by!" Besides Wen Buyue and Tu Daohua, there was another person present: Sun Baili of the Sun family, who practiced demonic arts. It was he who spoke.

"Then let's wait and enjoy the show." Wen Buyue smiled as he spoke. At this moment, the image in the ice mirror returned to normal, showing Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing heading towards Dongwu.

After entering the Dongwu territory, Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing did not conceal their aura. They flew directly towards the Sun family's treasure ship fleet above Cloud Dream Lake. Currently, Dongwu was in the midst of a great battle between cultivators and demonic beasts, with almost ninety percent of the Sun family's experts stationed there to suppress them. The reason Chen Mobai and the others sought them out was that the sealed area in Dongwu required guidance from a member of the Sun family to enter.

As soon as the Nascent Soul auras of the two appeared above the treasure ship fleet, seven streaks of Core Formation spiritual light flew up. From within the grand formation formed by the treasure ships, they saluted the two.

"Greetings to the two seniors of the Five Elements Sect. May I ask the purpose of your visit today?" Sun Huanglong, standing in the center, asked with a somewhat nervous tone.

"The Poison Dragon's demonic energy has seeped out of the seal, and even its avatar appeared. I just vanquished it. We suspect there's a problem with the seal on your Dongwu side, so we came to investigate." Chen Mobai explained the situation in a few concise words.

"That's impossible. If there were a problem with the seal, our Sun family's Nine Streams Disk would have alerted us..." Upon hearing this, Sun Huanglong immediately shook his head.

"Take us to see it!" However, Chen Mobai decided to see for himself. Hearing his words, Sun Huanglong did not dare to delay and immediately began to explain.

"Please forgive us, Seniors. I must oversee the overall situation on the front line here and cannot leave. However, I will have another Core Formation cultivator from our family guide you both." Chen Mobai nodded, indicating his understanding. Soon after, an unorthodox Core Formation cultivator named Sun Jude was brought forward by Sun Huanglong. Chen Mobai immediately activated the Grand Unity Five Mists Net. The three of them transformed into a five-colored cloud of light and headed towards the Sun family's sealed area.

"Patriarch, why didn't you ask the two Nascent Soul grand ancestors from the Five Elements Sect for help in slaying the demonic beasts?" After Chen Mobai and the others left, Sun Liyuan, another Core Formation cultivator from the Sun family, asked with some surprise.

"We just need to play our roles well. Some matters are not for us to speak on." But Sun Huanglong said something profound. Sun Liyuan, after hearing it, frowned, looking puzzled. Sun Huanglong watched the five-colored cloud of light disappear between the water and the sky, secretly clenching his fists.

The day he received the letter revealing Zhou Ye's true identity, he had secretly begun investigating the Five Elements Sect. During this process, Sun Jude and his son, who were colluding with the Demonic Dao, were discovered by Sun family members due to their suspicious behavior, and the matter was reported to Sun Huanglong. After deploying the Sun family's hidden forces, Sun Huanglong quickly learned what Sun Jude and his son intended to do. After half a day of contemplation, he decided to pretend ignorance and let them proceed. After all, with Zhou Ye's existence, the Five Elements Sect could never be an ally of their Sun family. If Zhou Ye were to form his Nascent Soul, the Five Elements Sect might use it as an excuse to send Zhou Ye to Dongwu to destroy their Sun family for revenge.

Knowing this, Sun Huanglong had been constantly thinking about how to block the Five Elements Sect. After much thought, the only viable option was the Poison Dragon demonic beast sealed within the Yellow Dragon Grotto-Heaven. However, Sun Huanglong's upbringing prevented him from personally releasing the Poison Dragon. Furthermore, he wasn't confident that the Sun family could maintain their dominant position in Dongwu if the Poison Dragon were unleashed. But after learning of Sun Jude and his son's actions, he felt this was a golden opportunity. For Sun Jude and his son to act this way, there was clearly at least a Demonic Dao Nascent Soul cultivator supporting them. The Demonic Dao Nascent Soul's sole target in releasing the Poison Dragon could only be the Five Elements Sect. After all, the highest cultivation level on their Dongwu side was merely his own, a perfected Core Formation. If the Demonic Dao Nascent Soul and the Poison Dragon could mutually cripple the two Nascent Soul cultivators from the Five Elements Sect, their Sun family might be able to break free from this predicament. Even in the worst-case scenario, it could buy Sun Huanglong time to form his Nascent Soul.

Chen Mobai, naturally, was unaware of the numerous complexities surrounding the seal of the Yellow Dragon Grotto-Heaven. They soon arrived at the Sun family's sealed area, located on a desolate island on the west side of Cloud Dream Lake. Sun Jude cut his wrist. After the Sun family's essence blood fell, ripples suddenly appeared above the desolate island, and then the restriction opened a portal.

Upon entering, Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing saw a dark yellow earthen altar. Beyond the altar was a magic array covering the entire island. Piles of earth were erected on the ground, with various colored formation flags插ed into them. The formation flags emitted varying dim spiritual lights, resembling a shimmering lake surface in the sunlight or concentric ripples. At the very center of these ripples was the altar, upon which a yellow jade plate, inscribed with nine circles, was enshrined. Dragon-shaped runes were carved all around the altar, resembling protruding earthen dragons. From top to bottom, all their dragon heads faced the yellow jade plate with open mouths. Streaks of spiritual light were exhaled from these dragon heads, flowing into the yellow jade plate. Then, under the power of this formidable magic artifact, they blocked a portal hidden within the void.

"Seniors, this is our Sun family's Nine Streams Disk, and also Old Ancestor Huangwu's Natal Artifact..." Sun Jude proudly introduced the yellow jade plate. Zhou Shengqing nodded upon hearing this and was about to offer a few words of praise when he suddenly sensed an unprecedented terrifying aura erupting from Chen Mobai beside him.

"How did your Sun family's seal open?!" Chen Mobai frowned, looking at the space above the yellow jade plate.

"Junior Brother?" Zhou Shengqing was still bewildered, unsure of what had happened.

Chen Mobai flicked his finger, and a streak of crimson sword light burst forth, like a torrent landing on the yellow jade plate atop the altar. Then, with a crack, this renowned fourth-tier artifact of Dongwu shattered from its center under the ordinary Crimson Flame Sword Light.

"Seniors, why have you destroyed my Sun family's supreme treasure!" Seeing this, Sun Jude's eyes widened. Appearing extremely furious, he pointed a trembling finger at Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing.

"Well..." Zhou Shengqing didn't know how to explain.

"I'm going to report this matter to the Patriarch!" Sun Jude cried out furiously, then turned and transformed into a streak of light, leaving the island.

"Junior Brother..." Seeing no reaction from Chen Mobai, Zhou Shengqing's eyes flashed. A greenish light needle had already appeared at his fingertip, aimed at Sun Jude's back. Just as he was about to silence Sun Jude, Chen Mobai gently waved his sleeve. A five-colored cloud of light shot out from the sleeve of his Pure Yang Robe, forming a long whip that bound Sun Jude, who had just flown off the island, and brought him back.

"After we've dealt with matters here, I'll take you back so you can explain properly to Sun Huanglong." Although Chen Mobai had been in the Eastern Barrens for a long time, he was still unaccustomed to the local way of doing things. Seeing him act this way, Zhou Shengqing could only silently disperse his Heavenly Wood Divine Needle.

"Do the two seniors truly disregard Old Ancestor Huangwu's reputation and intend to use this as an excuse to annex our Dongwu?" Although Sun Jude was bound by the Grand Unity Five Mists Net, he could still speak. He cried out, his face filled with grief and indignation.

"That's actually a good suggestion, Junior Brother. Why don't we use the Sun family's release of the Poison Dragon demonic beast as an excuse to bring Dongwu under our Five Elements Sect's banner as well?" Zhou Shengqing nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Sun Jude's eyes widened instantly, but at that moment, he dared not utter another word. Because he had already realized that beneath Zhou Shengqing's half-smile, there was genuine killing intent. In contrast, Chen Qingdi, who was known as the God of Slaughter of the Eastern Barrens and had destroyed countless sects and factions, had calm eyes.

"Since the seal has been broken, why isn't Old Ancestor Poison Dragon emerging yet?" At this moment, Chen Mobai spoke words that somewhat startled both Zhou Shengqing and Sun Jude.

"Heh! You youngster, you can actually sense me!" A deep voice rang out. Then, above the altar, a dark裂隙 appeared, which then split open to the left and right, revealing a void portal. A tall, male creature with a rugged face, bare upper body, a serpentine lower body, and multicolored hair appeared beyond the portal, meeting their gaze.

"Is this Old Ancestor Poison Dragon?" Seeing the being beyond the portal, Zhou Shengqing couldn't help but mutter to himself. When he had previously followed Old Ancestor Hunyuan to use the Five Elements Dao Soldiers to suppress the Poison Dragon, the latter had clearly already transformed into a complete human form. Why did its appearance seem completely different now?

"Your sword cultivation is not bad, but you were only able to slay my avatar because it had no means to resist a fifth-tier flying sword." As Old Ancestor Poison Dragon spoke, dark scales emerged from his skin, then assembled into a black armor covering his entire body. After completing his defense, Old Ancestor Poison Dragon, with an arrogant expression, waved his serpentine tail and stepped out of the void portal.

At that moment, a muffled peal of thunder echoed in the sky! Rumble! Dark clouds began to gather, and vaguely, crimson fiery lightning could be seen forming within them. This was a Heavenly Tribulation! Old Ancestor Poison Dragon's emergence had actually triggered a Heavenly Tribulation!

"This is bad! This fellow has cultivated a True Spirit bloodline!" Seeing this, Zhou Shengqing's expression changed dramatically. In the Heaven River World, apart from cultivators undergoing Heavenly Tribulations when breaking through major realms, true spirits also faced them upon emergence. Complete true spirits were akin to ancient gods and demons. After the great changes in heaven and earth, they were almost entirely forbidden from appearing in the mortal realm. Therefore, demonic beasts with True Spirit bloodlines would trigger a Heavenly Tribulation every time they broke through a realm. But Old Ancestor Poison Dragon had clearly been a Nascent Soul for a long time. Why would he still face a Heavenly Tribulation?

Could it be! He's about to ascend to Spirit Transformation!?

Realizing this, Zhou Shengqing immediately pulled Chen Mobai, preparing to retreat!