Chapter 114: Slaughtering the Flood Dragon

With a thunderous roar, the storm suddenly intensified!

Shen Duo was startled, feeling a tremor run through her entire body. She had only recently ascended to Sword King, her strength just beginning to stabilize. Though she had grasped the essence of sword intent, she was still a notch below the formidable Sky Illusionists.

The fierce winds within the storm overwhelmed her, leaving her feeling powerless. Her chest throbbed numbly from the force; if not for the rare defensive properties of the black Illusionist robe she wore, her body would surely have been severely injured by now.

“Xiao Duo!” Feng Jun shouted toward her. He had caught the fleeting pain that flashed across Shen Duo’s face earlier, and it pierced his heart with a dull ache—he wished he could bear her suffering himself.

Shen Duo returned a faint smile, signaling that she was alright.

Lou Jingbai was displeased with Feng Jun’s reaction. A mere Sky Illusionist should focus on protecting themselves; meddling was unnecessary. With Feng Jun guarding Xiao Duo, what danger could there be? He thought Feng Jun was an overly worrying, irritating man.

“Xiao Duo, don’t worry. I’ll protect you with a Spiritual Illusion Shield soon!” Lou Jingbai communicated telepathically to Shen Duo.

She smiled softly in response.

In just moments, the eye of the storm loomed before them. Shen Duo and Feng Jun summoned all their strength to halt midair, while the Five-Tailed Fire Fox transformed into its true form, carrying Shen Duo on its broad back.

The longsword, imbued with azure sword Qi, sliced fiercely toward the storm’s eye. At the same time, beneath Feng Jun’s feet, a pentagram of light flared brilliantly. His hands gathered pale blue Spiritual Illusion Qi, compressing it into a terrifying orb of energy. With a cold shout of “Eight-Headed Brutal Strike,” the orb flew forth, manifesting as eight massive, snarling serpent heads crashing into the storm’s eye.

Shen Duo unleashed a powerful sword strike, combined with Feng Jun’s devastating Sky Illusion technique. A harrowing dragon’s roar echoed from the storm’s eye, which began to tremble violently.

Following their assault, the storm’s attacks zeroed in on the eye’s location. Then Linghu Yu, Shen Taixing, and Ji Qingxue unleashed their own Sky Illusion techniques—several even more formidable and terrifying than the “Eight-Headed Brutal Strike.” Their combined onslaught struck the storm’s eye, evoking even more agonized roars from the dragon.

Gradually, the storm diminished. Its winds no longer posed a threat to Shen Duo and Feng Jun.

The recent all-out attack had exhausted most of their Spiritual Illusion Qi; everyone felt drained.

Yet no one dared to relax. Shen Duo pressed forward again, raising her longsword. Before her fierce strike could land, a weak dragon’s voice begged, “Stop! This dragon concedes. I surrender and offer the Dragon Scale Grass to you. I am willing to serve as your illusion beast!”

None expected this dragon to be so hollow inside—so spineless. Defeated after a single setback, it immediately surrendered.

A divine beast’s submission halted everyone’s attacks, including Linghu Yu’s. In all his years, he had never seen such a cowardly high-level illusion beast.

But this was a blessing in disguise. They lacked the endurance for prolonged combat; the Sky Illusion techniques exerted within the storm had nearly drained them.

Feng Jun gasped and glanced at Shen Duo, as if confirming she was unharmed.

Just as everyone exhaled in relief, Shen Duo suddenly furrowed her brows and coldly glanced backward.

A flash of blue light, like a bolt of lightning, hurtled toward Feng Jun’s back.

It carried an unprecedented force, and Feng Jun remained oblivious to the sudden ambush.

Shen Duo’s heart sank. She dared not imagine the grievous injury such a strike would cause Feng Jun, utterly unprepared. Without hesitation, she leapt up and shoved Feng Jun away midair, her nimble sword intent meeting the attack.

“Boom—” The deafening explosion seemed to ripple the very air. The storm and its eye vanished instantly, and amid the violent rupture of space, a slender black figure was flung outward.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events. The Illusionists failed even to grasp what had just transpired.

Lou Jingbai’s narrow fox-like eyes tightened. As Shen Duo was thrown aside, Lou Jingbai flew out with lightning speed and caught her body.

Feng Jun remained frozen for a moment before comprehending the situation. His frosty expression crumbled, replaced by deep regret and painful guilt.

The slender, usually resolute black figure now appeared fragile and faint, as delicate as a blade of grass swaying in the spring breeze, drifting weakly in the air as if a breath could scatter her.

Feng Jun cried out in anguish, “Xiao Duo!” His footwork flared like stars scattered across the Milky Way as he rushed forward, but Lou Jingbai was even faster.

The girl in the black Illusionist robe, sprawled on Lou Jingbai’s back, was gasping violently, covered in blood. Fresh blood trickled from the corners of her mouth. Like a tattered rag doll, she gripped her longsword tightly—only half of it remained, the blade shattered.

If not for the heavy breaths she drew, Feng Jun might have thought she was dead.

Pain coursed through her body, nearly unbearable; even the slightest movement was agonizing. Shen Duo bitterly smiled within—aside from her rebirth in the cave, she had not suffered such a grave injury in a long time.

Her chest ached so fiercely she wanted to hold her breath; several ribs were undoubtedly broken.

That shameless dragon was nothing but a trickster, feigning surrender only to ambush them when their guard was down!

The dragon’s strength surpassed even Lou Jingbai’s. Its full-power strike as a divine beast should have sent Shen Duo to her death. Her survival was sheer luck.

If not for her training as a swordsman—the emphasis on physical fortitude—and the body remolding she had undergone in the cave, her resilience would have been far weaker. Even as a Sword King, she might have met the same tragic fate as the two Shen family youths before her.

Now, she was grateful her body had absorbed that blow meant for Feng Jun. As powerful as Illusionists were, their physiques paled next to swordsmen’s. Had Feng Jun taken that strike directly, he would have been pulverized.

Unfortunately, her sacred illusion longsword and the defensive Illusionist robe were ruined.

Lou Jingbai coldly snorted in frustration. Xiao Duo’s life nearly lost, yet she still worried about her broken sword. But Lou Jingbai took some comfort—such concern meant she was not in mortal danger.

Feng Jun stared at Shen Duo lying on Lou Jingbai’s back, trembling as he reached out. His deep eyes brimmed with regret and anguish. He opened his mouth but, taciturn by nature, found no words. After a moment, Shen Duo heard a low, suppressed, painful “Sorry.”

Suppressing her pain, Shen Duo smiled weakly and gently shook her head. Her face was pale, cold sweat beading her forehead and nostrils from the agony—something that made Feng Jun burn with a desire to tear the dragon limb from limb.

Below, Linghu Yu and the others grasped the situation and glared furiously at the dragon.

This treacherous creature would not escape punishment today.

Perched atop an ancient towering tree, the dragon froze momentarily. Its golden vertical pupils stared incredulously toward Shen Duo. Its massive back was scarred from the wounds dealt by Shen Duo, Feng Jun, and the others when they unleashed the storm’s eye.

It could scarcely believe that its full-strength strike had only severely injured that human swordsman instead of killing her outright. It had once slain a five-star Sky Illusionist with a single blow! Regardless of the girl’s ferocity, she was merely a Sword King. Though it was wounded, its strike had been unfaltering.

For the first time in its life, the dragon felt an unpredictable fear.

A strange thought crossed its mind: fortunately, that girl was not in mortal peril; otherwise, it felt it would be consumed by an inferno of scorching flames.

After such a sudden upheaval, no one dared lower their guard.

Feng Jun’s eyes burned with fury as he unleashed relentless Sky Illusion techniques upon the dragon.

Already gravely wounded, the dragon—proud with its ancient divine beast lineage—would never stoop to sly human tactics if it were at full strength.

Unable to wield the terrifying storm’s eye technique, it fought with its enormous form, entangling with the human Illusionists.

Lou Jingbai gently set Shen Duo on the ground, then angrily summoned Benyi from the illusion beast realm.

Benyi, still immersed in intense training and dazed, barely reacted before Lou Jingbai threw him beside Shen Duo.

“Silver Wolf, watch over Xiao Duo for me! I’ll personally kill this ‘little snake’!” Lou Jingbai declared, then dashed off, unleashing several blasts of solar true fire that slammed into the fray with the force of spiritual illusion Qi.

Benyi’s eyes nearly popped out when he saw Shen Duo’s bloodied state. He leapt to her side, silently asking with worry, “Xiao Duo, what happened to you?”

Shen Duo was too exhausted to answer, rolling her eyes at Benyi in silent exasperation.

Nearby, Chen Boguang hurried over, retrieving emergency medicine and bandages from his storage pouch to tend to Shen Duo’s wounds.

“Xiao Duo, it’ll hurt a bit. Hang in there.”

Shen Duo nodded weakly. Benyi shifted into his silver wolf form, vigilantly guarding her while keeping an eye on the battle.

Though severely injured, the dragon’s might remained formidable.

Under the combined assault of Feng Jun, Linghu Yu, Ji Qingxue, Lou Jingbai, Shen Taixing, and other high-level Spiritual Illusionists, the dragon gradually fell to the defensive after half an hour of grueling combat.

Feng Jun hovered in the air, his deep eyes cold and furious. He transformed into his armored variant, the mutated two-star Divine Illusion Beast “Flood Croc,” clad in gleaming silver battle armor. His silver-white hair billowed like a detached, aloof deity descending to the mortal realm.

Xiao Lan, transformed into the true form of an eight-headed giant serpent, fought alongside him.

Feng Jun vanished, then instantly reappeared atop the dragon’s head. At its most exhausted moment, the icy blade formed from his spiritual illusion orb struck the dragon’s neck.

The giant dragon’s massive head toppled to the ground, accompanied by a deafening wail.

A divine beast had been slaughtered by human Sky Illusionists.