Chapter 227: Hair Washed

As the sword light faded, the Black Dragon lay on the ground, panting heavily. Although its breathing seemed worse than before, a clear sense of relief was palpable.

The City God felt much more relaxed, just like the dragon on the ground. While the recent incident was incredibly bizarre, with Mr. Ji present, the mentality of "the tallest person catches the sky when it falls" wasn't exclusive to ordinary folk.

Looking around the threshing ground of Double Arch Bridge Village, most of the people in the surrounding homes had fainted, having heard the dragon's roar and the piercing, shrill shriek from close range. Many had blood seeping from their ears.

However, City God Li had intervened just in time, his rainbow light instantly enveloping a large area. Many villagers should be unharmed, experiencing at most temporary deafness upon waking. This would not affect their future lives for long, though a brief period of panic was inevitable.

Ji Yuan, meanwhile, kept his spiritual eye fully open, meticulously observing the black dragon's entire body while also scanning the sky, not daring to lower his guard yet.

While the spiritual eye was extraordinary, as Ji Yuan learned and interacted with more things, and as his knowledge grew, he increasingly understood that some phenomena, even with the spiritual eye fully open, could not be directly observed.

Strictly speaking, there was no perfect method of concealment in the world, but clues could be hidden very well. So-called insight was relative; even with the spiritual eye, extreme carefulness was required, and he couldn't rule out the possibility of something evading his sight.

After a long while, Ji Yuan finally exhaled slightly, feeling that for now, everything genuinely seemed to be fine.

"Alright, Black Dragon, can you speak now?"

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

As it panted, puffs of white mist escaped the Black Dragon's mouth. Apart from that, the outpouring of water essence from its body gradually ceased.

It tried to push itself up with its dragon claws, but a struggle proved it lacked the strength. Instead, it managed a slight nod of its dragon head towards Ji Yuan.

"Thank you... thank you, Mr. Ji, for your rescue... Otherwise, even in death, I, Mo Rong, would find no peace!"

The Black Dragon rolled its amber eyes, scanning its surroundings, clearly looking over the nearby villages, then at Li Baotian, the City God of Lishun Prefecture, before finally returning its gaze to Ji Yuan.

"Mr. Ji, I still hope you can invite the Dragon Lord here. My dragon sinew has been extracted, and my essence is almost completely dissipated. I don't have much time left, but I cannot rest easy until I personally tell the Dragon Lord what happened."

City God Li Baotian frowned in surprise.

"Is it possible that even Mr. Ji cannot handle this?"

The Black Dragon twitched its whiskers, its eyes weary.

"Mr. Ji's words are law, and his decrees bind evil; he is, of course, incredibly powerful... but I, Mo, still trust the Dragon Lord more... I hope Mr. Ji will understand!"

A putrid scent emanated from its mouth as it spoke.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

After uttering those few sentences, the Black Dragon seemed to have expended a great deal of energy, gasping for breath.

"Very well," Ji Yuan replied. "I will immediately send a message to the Tongtian River!"

Ji Yuan didn't mind. He was never petty; it was natural for a demonic creature not to fully trust him, especially since it wasn't a close friend or relative from Tongtian River, nor a river god like Chunmu River's, who relied on him. Furthermore, as a dragon-type creature, it retained its pride even at death's door.

Without hesitation, Ji Yuan pointed his sword-finger at the sky. His Green Vine Sword immediately shot upwards, piercing through the dark clouds amidst several flashes of lightning. It soared higher and faster, eventually vanishing directly into the fierce winds, heading towards the Capital Prefecture.

"Mr. Ji, the Black Dragon's body remaining in this village might be problematic. Please use your divine abilities to transport it to Guangdong Lake instead."

City God Li considered the impact of a fallen dragon on mortals and hoped Ji Yuan could move the tens-of-zhang-long behemoth to Guangdong Lake, thirty li away.

The "transportation" mentioned by the City God naturally didn't mean physically carrying it, but referred to a category of magical techniques collectively known as "Transportation Arts." These included methods for moving objects by commanding ghosts and spirits, or by manipulating magical energy. Each sub-category had its own advantages and limitations.

However... Ji Yuan's pale eyes widened considerably as he looked at the massive creature with its dense, black scales. *Could he, Ji Yuan, really move something this huge?*

Still, it was certainly inappropriate for the dragon to remain there. Once the rain stopped, it would undoubtedly draw a crowd, and the dragon's aura and might could potentially frighten a few timid onlookers to death.

Thinking of the rain, Ji Yuan instinctively looked up at the sky. This torrential downpour might offer a solution.

Without another word, he alternately moved his left and right hands, sweeping his sleeves through the air. Under the control of his incantations, a vast amount of magical energy flowed forth, while a chess piece manifested within his sleeve.

Although Ji Yuan's Dantian for cultivating magic wasn't vast, and his magical energy reserves weren't extensive, the spiritual energy within his Dantian of Intent was immense. Its greatest advantage was its rapid recovery; as long as he wasn't expending massive amounts of energy at once, as he had just done, he could maintain a continuous flow of power at an acceptable rate.

As Ji Yuan performed his spell, large quantities of rainwater began to converge nearby. In many areas, the heavy rain even seemed to diminish to a moderate or light drizzle.

"Whoosh... whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

City God Li noticed the water level rising higher and higher around his feet. Looking at the surrounding village houses, deep water had already spread, yet despite reaching nearly door-panel height, it did not flood into the homes.

'What exquisite water control!'

Unless initially worshipped as a local deity, ghost-gods like City Gods, who cultivate almost purely through incense and vows, are better at using ghostly or "yin" methods. They have significant limitations concerning the Five Elements techniques. Lacking a physical body, even if they successfully forge a golden spiritual body, they wouldn't primarily practice Five Elements magic. However, this didn't mean the City God couldn't recognize the mastery displayed in such techniques.

As the saying goes, 'one can judge a leopard by its spots.' Although his understanding was still somewhat partial, it was enough for City God Li Baotian of Lishun Prefecture to imagine the prowess of a figure like Mr. Ji in wielding various incantations.

"Whoosh... whoosh whoosh..."

As the water level continued to rise, it soon completely submerged the entire body of the large black dragon.

The heavy rain continued, but Double Arch Bridge Village seemed to be half-submerged in a large lake. Waves surged and rolled at the village entrance, yet they caused no harm to the dwellings.

Ji Yuan had, in fact, used a rather clever method. Because his repertoire of abilities had never been extensive—for a long time, he only knew minor fire and water evasion spells—he had always been meticulous about fine control over his techniques.

The presence of the Decree Sound also allowed him to cast various spells with effortless command, as if his words themselves became law. Furthermore, he had manifested a chess piece and held it within his left sleeve, continuously absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy and the water essence previously dissipated by the Black Dragon. This minimized the loss of magical energy efficiency, enabling him to control water with such skill.

However, Ji Yuan quickly noticed a problem as he looked at the Black Dragon, now completely submerged.

'It seems... it's sinking in the water and won't float...'

The dragon's body was too dense and incredibly heavy, essentially like a tens-of-zhang-long mass of black iron, remaining completely motionless in the current.

This was quite awkward. With Ji Yuan's current water control ability, relying on the continuous recovery of spiritual energy to wield his magic, creating waves was not too difficult. However, if he needed the power of a towering tsunami, it would immediately exceed his magical energy expenditure limit.

In terms of his previous life's understanding, he could maintain a long, continuous flow of water, but lacked powerful burst capability.

Fortunately, this awkwardness didn't last long. After a few breaths, the previously comatose Black Dragon seemed to regain some vitality upon feeling itself immersed in the water, and its spirit noticeably improved.

Mo Rong could feel the gentleness of the current and, more importantly, the abundant spiritual energy and water essence within it. This allowed him to slowly recover his physical strength, and the pain in his body significantly lessened.

"Thank you, Mr. Ji!"

The Black Dragon's two whiskers danced up and down in the current, and its amber eyes opened once more. Its four claws slowly pushed backward, and its entire serpentine body twisted, displacing water as it moved.

"Whoosh..."

A large amount of murky spray rose from the newly formed "lake," as a gigantic black dragon began to swim along the "bottom" of the water.

Ji Yuan subtly relaxed while also controlling the wind to keep pace, guiding the water to form a gentle flood surge that moved steadily towards Guangdong Lake.

The village was a full thirty li from Guangdong Lake. Normally, this distance would be negligible for City God Li Baotian, Ji Yuan, or the Black Dragon—barely a stroll. However, under the current circumstances, it was a small "Long March."

The City God of Lishun Prefecture was initially perplexed. Mr. Ji's use of such intricate water control to help the dying Black Dragon swim back to Guangdong Lake consumed an immeasurable amount of mental and magical energy, far more trouble than simply transporting the dragon there directly.

But gradually, City God Li began to understand. As the Black Dragon swam from struggling to moving smoothly through the waves, its essence, energy, and spirit all recovered, no longer merely dissipating without replenishment. The recovery of its "spirit" was particularly rare and valuable.

'Just as the legends say, Mr. Ji respects and values everyone who steadfastly pursues the Dao and diligently cultivates.'

The City God pondered that through this swimming, the Black Dragon regained not just a sliver of strength, progressing from being unable to stand to being able to swim on its own, but also a renewed sense of confidence. With a firm heart and fortified spirit, it could at least hold on for a longer time.

Double Arch Bridge Village was actually named for the two arch bridges that spanned a small stream winding through it. At this moment, Ji Yuan guided the water for the submerged dragon to swim, and together they navigated the waves around the village's arch bridge and into the stream.

However, this stream was too small to accommodate the dragon, so a six to seven-zhang-high surge of water continued alongside it, spreading over a hundred zhang wide on either side of the stream. In a way, it seemed like a vast, continuous expanse of water moving forward.

The stream connected to Guangdong Lake, and this thirty-plus li journey passed through several villages and towns. People in these settlements saw vast waves filling the stream's banks during the heavy rain, surging towards them. Many cried out in panic.

"A flood! A flood!"

"It's a big flood!" "My goodness, the little stream is rising so high?"

But the panic lasted only a short while. Soon, people realized that this tidal surge of water, though appearing as if a celestial being had suddenly poured out a bucket, merely rolled forward along the stream. It didn't significantly affect the populated areas along the banks; the minimal overflow didn't even reach ankle height.

Meanwhile, some residents in higher-lying homes gazed from afar at this peculiar flood. They could see a murky mass at its center, vaguely discerning some enormous creature churning as it advanced.

The entire thirty-li journey from Double Arch Bridge Village to Guangdong Lake took over an hour. The total amount of magical energy Ji Yuan expended was secondary; the mental strain was also considerable. Even he found it incredible that he could, in this manner, simultaneously gather spiritual energy and the diffused water essence from the dragon while precisely controlling the "flood" forward.

After the floodwaters receded, the stream had widened several times over, its shape in many places resembling a serpent's path. At Double Arch Bridge Village, the starting point, a thick, deep drag mark extended across the threshing ground to the stream.