Chapter 45: The Wandering Serpent Transforms into a Flood Dragon, and the Tribulation Arrives of Its Own Accord

A faint, rustling sound echoed from the depths of the immortal's cavern.

Heihuan’s massive, heavy body slithered leisurely and unhurriedly through the ancient dwelling left behind by a predecessor.

The interior of the ancient dwelling was a world of its own, complete with front courtyards, back gardens, perfumed pavilions, and winding corridors.

Though it was unknown how long the master of this grotto-heaven had been away, everything inside remained pristine and free of dust, maintained by the lingering power of ancient arrays.

Compared to this former immortal's residence, Heihuan felt that his previous dwelling—or even the grotto elaborately decorated by those two fox demons—was nothing more than a ragged mountain cave.

Heihuan had already made up his mind: once he refined the Jade-Green Lotus, he would claim this grotto-heaven as his own!

The few Qi-practicing cultivators trailing behind Heihuan stared at him with pleading eyes.

"Great King, can we leave now?"

Hearing this, Heihuan turned his massive head to look at these low-level, human livestock, his vertical pupils filled with cruelty. "Leave? Where to?"

"Why not come into my belly and reunite with your companions!"

With that, Heihuan opened his jaws wide and snapped up one of the cultivators, swallowing him into his stomach after a couple of chews.

Panicked, the remaining Qi-practicing cultivators desperately channeled their spellcraft, attempting to halt Heihuan’s advance.

Yet their meager spells struck Heihuan’s serpentine scales only to shower the air with sparks, failing to dislodge even a single scale.

As the sounds of shrieks, wails, and desperate pleas gradually faded within the grotto, only the sickening noise of chewing and swallowing remained.

A forked tongue swept across the corners of his mouth, and Heihuan turned back with satisfaction, slithering deeper into the cavern.

He was a demon, after all; how could he possibly allow these human livestock to escape?

What if they went and brought the Hai Prefecture's Zhao family to harm him?

Having consumed so many humans, Heihuan felt his stomach growing full, and his demeanor turned somewhat lazy.

Slithering along at a leisurely pace, Heihuan's vertical pupils casually surveyed the surrounding scenery until he reached the lotus pond in the back courtyard. There, amidst a sea of verdant leaves and crimson blossoms, he laid eyes on the most unique treasure of all—the Jade-Green Lotus, looking as translucent and pure as fine jade.

"The Jade-Green Lotus..."

Heihuan’s eyes burned with feverish desire; this was his destined opportunity for enlightenment!

The Jade-Green Lotus had not yet fully bloomed. Heihuan slowly coiled his massive body, fixing his unblinking eyes on the lotus as he waited for the exact moment of its complete maturity and blossoming.

Meanwhile, amidst the rolling mountain ranges of Qingping Mountain, Jiang Sheng was moving swiftly, flanked by three foxes—two green and one white.

Although Jiang Sheng concealed his own aura, the presence of the three Foundation Establishment demons—Baishang and the others—was fully displayed, terrifying the weaker creatures along their path into scattering in all directions.

Hastening all the way to the grotto of Baishang and Qingyun, Baishang was overcome with fury at the chaotic mess outside.

This was his and his wife's home, meticulously tended by the two of them for a long time, only to be wantonly desecrated by that Black Fire Serpent.

Jiang Sheng observed the scene for a moment before speaking, "There are traces of combat here, and quite recent ones at that."

"It seems another creature discovered this place and exchanged blows with the Black Fire Serpent."

Baishang was startled. "That Black Fire Serpent is at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Who could possibly fight it?"

"Not necessarily. Perhaps the Black Fire Serpent lured someone here on purpose?" Jiang Sheng smiled.

Baishang immediately grasped Jiang Sheng’s meaning. "Daoist Jiang, do you mean that the Black Fire Serpent intentionally attracted cultivators to use them as probes for danger?"

Jiang Sheng nodded. "Put yourself in its shoes—isn't that entirely reasonable?"

With that, Jiang Sheng made a hollow grasping motion with his right hand, and the Qingping Sword materialized in his palm. "Three of you, hesitate no longer. Let us enter swiftly, lest the Black Fire Serpent has already entered the inner grotto."

Baishang and his companions did not hesitate further, rapidly entering the grotto while Jiang Sheng followed closely behind, his aura completely concealed.

Soon, the group reached the ancient immortal's dwelling deep within the cavern.

Here, they discovered numerous tattered garments and scattered bones.

Seeing that the protective array before the ruins was shattered, Baishang's expression turned grim. "That Black Fire Serpent has indeed broken inside. Let's go!"

Coiled before the lotus pond and waiting for the Jade-Green Lotus to mature, Heihuan suddenly caught the scent of several auras.

Two of those auras were intimately familiar.

Instantly, Heihuan's vertical pupils brimmed with murderous intent.

"Those two damned foxes actually brought helpers!"

"They dare to return and even attempt to snatch my opportunity? Court death!"

Uncoiling his body of over twenty zhang in length, Heihuan turned without hesitation and charged toward the front courtyard of the ruins.

The Jade-Green Lotus concerned his ability to open his Purple Palace and eventually form a demonic pearl; he would never allow anyone to rob him of his destiny!

Baishang, Qingyun, and Qingman leaped forward through the ruins.

Suddenly, a pillar of fire shot forth from ahead, grazing the three of them to strike a small pavilion within the dwelling, blasting it into smithereens.

"Be careful!"

The three foxes scattered rapidly.

Baishang opened his mouth and spat a torrent of ice and snow toward the origin of the fiery pillar.

The ice and snow seemed composed of countless blades, swirling and howling as they swept forward, carving intricate, fine grooves into the architecture along their path.

A metallic screech rang out.

Heihuan plowed straight through the wind and snow, enduring Baishang's attack as he slithered out.

One-third of his twenty-zhang-plus body reared up, towering like a small mountain.

The shadow he cast covered a good portion of the front courtyard.

The wind and snow slashed against Heihuan's body, generating only a shower of sparks upon his scales without inflicting any actual harm.

Immediately following, two waves of wind blades converged from the left and right.

Dense hordes of cyan wind blades howled through the air, once again enshrouding Heihuan's body.

Amidst a flurry of clashing sounds and flying sparks, Heihuan remained completely unscathed.

The attacks from Baishang and his companions couldn't even breach Heihuan's scales!

Realizing they were merely three early Foundation Establishment foxes, Heihuan felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"I already spared your lives once. Why have you come back to court death?"

Baishang clearly hadn't expected their combined assaults to be entirely useless, yet he remained completely unfazed.

"Heihuan! You seized my wife and my grotto, usurped our treasures, and you expect us not to reclaim them?!"

Hearing this, Heihuan burst into roaring laughter, his hoarse voice sending shills down the spine. "Hahahahaha!"

"Your grotto! Your treasures!"

"What a joke!"

"In these mountains, good things have always belonged to the strong. And since I am stronger than you, these things naturally belong to me!"

As he spoke, Heihuan's eyes burned with sadistic excitement.

Facing three weak foxes, Heihuan felt only playfulness and cruelty. He leisurely displayed his massive body, his iron-honed scales, and his terrifying demonic might.

"Baishang, do you know that I am about to break through to the Purple Palace?"

"When that time comes, I shall be the King of Qingping Mountain!"

"The entire Qingping Mountain will belong to me!"

Baishang let out a cold snort and was just about to retort when Jiang Sheng slowly stepped into view.

"The King of Qingping Mountain? I seem to have heard that title a little over a year ago."

"The one who called himself that back then was a tiger demon."

"If I recall correctly, his name was Lord Huangshan?"

The sudden appearance of the Daoist startled Heihuan.

Had the Daoist not revealed himself voluntarily, Heihuan wouldn't have even noticed such a formidable figure hiding nearby!

A late Foundation Establishment human cultivator!

Heihuan eyed the newcomer with extreme vigilance. "You human cultivator, are you another helper invited by Baishang?"

Jiang Sheng nodded slightly. "Naturally."

"Court death!"

Heihuan abruptly spat out a fireball.

He sensed that Jiang Sheng was not to be trifled with, and a dim premonition in his heart warned him that this Daoist had also come for the Jade-Green Lotus!

Therefore, Heihuan decisively launched a sneak attack!

"Daoist, watch out!" Baishang warned hurriedly upon seeing the sudden ambush.

Jiang Sheng, however, showed no surprise. With a flick of his wrist, the Qingping Sword executed a straight slash, sending a cyan sword Qi surging forward that expanded three zhang in size the moment it met the wind.

The sword Qi shattered the fireball and flew straight toward Heihuan under the latter's astonished gaze.

The razor-sharp, biting chill filled Heihuan with a sense of crisis for the very first time. He frantically twisted his body to dodge, yet the sword Qi still grazed his flank.

A cascade of sparks erupted as a large swath of snake scales was violently scraped off Heihuan's body, resembling a butcher scaling a fish with a bone knife. The excruciating pain caused Heihuan to shriek incessantly.

His twenty-plus-zhang demonic body writhed and thrashed, and the intense agony from his flesh awakened the deeply ingrained cruelty within him.

Atop his massive head, vertical pupils larger than a human's locked onto Jiang Sheng. In a hoarse, grotesque voice laden with murderous intent, Heihuan roared, "Human cultivator, I will have you dead!"

Wielding his sharp blade, Jiang Sheng stepped forward at a leisurely pace. "You three, withdraw outside the grotto for now. Do not let other creatures disturb my work."

Hearing this, Baishang did not hesitate, leading Qingyun and Qingman out of the grotto.

"I thought you would let them help you." Heihuan shielded his wounded flank, staring warily at Jiang Sheng.

Jiang Sheng chuckled softly. "Unnecessary. It is more effortless for me alone."

"You are also here for the Jade-Green Lotus." Heihuan coiled his body tighter and tighter, drawing his head back slowly.

Jiang Sheng nodded. "Indeed, I am here precisely for that."

"Daoist friend, if my guess is correct, I wager you are my tribulation."

Tribulations were born of heaven and earth.

Every living creature in the world had its own tribulation.

Take, for instance, Lord Huangshan, the strongest tiger demon that had previously dominated Qingping Mountain.

With formidable strength and dozens of ghostly thralls, he was the mightiest beast on all of Qingping Mountain, nearly supplanting the mountain god himself.

Lord Huangshan had entrenched himself upon the spiritual veins, styling himself as the local deity. Had things continued, once he annexed half of Qingping Mountain, he would have successfully opened his Purple Palace, completely replacing the mountain god to live in unbridled freedom.

Jiang Sheng's sudden arrival could well be described as Lord Huangshan's tribulation.

Ever since his birth, Heihuan's path had been smooth sailing. He had even stumbled upon the rare spiritual treasure known as the Fire Spirit Fruit, relying on it to advance all the way to the late Foundation Establishment stage, running amok on the eastern side of Qingping Mountain and nearing the threshold of opening his Purple Palace.

Once Heihuan swallowed the Jade-Green Lotus, he would naturally open his Purple Palace and even leap forward to transform into a flood dragon.

When such creatures experienced a gradual ancestral bloodline reversion and reached a bottleneck in cultivation, they would invariably face a tribulation.

Whether he would ultimately open his Purple Palace to swim and transform into a dragon or perish into nothingness depended entirely on whether Heihuan could survive Jiang Sheng, his tribulation.

Coming to a sudden realization of his current predicament, the cruelty in Heihuan's eyes intensified.

"A tribulation?"

"Die!"