「A short while earlier.」
Su Mo stood before the main gate of the Beast Taming Sect and called out politely, "Su Mo of Qingyang City, here to pay a visit to the Beast Taming Sect. I request an audience."
However, he waited for a long time, but no one responded.
Su Mo suppressed his impatience, raised his voice, and called out again, "Su Mo of Qingyang City, here to pay a visit to the Beast Taming Sect. I hope to meet with one of my fellow Daoists."
Still, there was no response.
Su Mo couldn’t help but frown.
’Is the Beast Taming Sect really that full of itself?’
’When a fellow Daoist comes to visit, it’s one thing not to receive them, but they can’t even be bothered to reply!’
Su Mo said, displeased, "Fine. Since you won’t respond, don’t blame me for being rude and forcing my way in."
’I’d like to see just how impressive this Beast Taming Sect really is!’
Su Mo strode through the Beast Taming Sect’s main gate.
It was completely empty inside.
’Where is everyone?’
Just as Su Mo was wondering, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble violently. Many of the surrounding buildings collapsed from the shock.
’What’s going on? Why did a fight break out on the back mountain of the Beast Taming Sect?’
「Meanwhile, on the back mountain of the Beast Taming Sect!」
Watching his disciples spew blood all over the ground, their faces pale as they lay on the verge of death, Chu Tianxiong was horrified. "When did this vile beast become so powerful?"
The last time the Ink Flood Dragon tried to break through the Array was six months ago.
Back then, while the Ink Flood Dragon’s strength was monstrous, it was nowhere near as terrifying as it was now!
With a single blow, it had injured most of the disciples who were maintaining the Array.
Several had even died!
The Ink Flood Dragon spoke with arrogance, "Chu Tianxiong, do you still think I’m the same as I was six months ago? I’ll tell you the truth—the Divine Beast Blood in my veins has begun its Secondary Awakening!"
What?
Chu Tianxiong’s face filled with terror!
The first awakening of the Divine Beast Blood in the Ink Flood Dragon’s body had already made its strength far surpass that of ordinary Demon Beasts.
After the Secondary Awakening, the Ink Flood Dragon’s strength would multiply once more.
Tenfold, or even dozens of times over!
They alone would have great difficulty withstanding the Ink Flood Dragon’s attacks.
Chu Tianxiong’s face was ashen. "No wonder you haven’t tried to break the Array for the last six months. You were secretly undergoing a Secondary Awakening of your bloodline."
The faces of the others were also ashen.
’A Secondary Awakening?’
’How could this be happening!’
The Ancient Giant Crocodile shivered from head to toe. "Old Wu, I told you to fucking run! You didn’t listen, and now you regret it, don’t you!"
The Ink Flood Dragon held a deep grudge against the Beast Taming Sect; once it got out, it would surely slaughter them all.
When that happened, no one would escape!
The Ink Flood Dragon’s killing intent surged. "Chu Tianxiong, you’d best wash your neck and wait. You’ll be the first one I kill when I get out."
BANG!
The Ink Flood Dragon raised a foreclaw and slammed it against the Array’s barrier of light. The barrier instantly shattered into dust.
The Ink Flood Dragon was out!
Seeing the Array shatter, everyone descended into a panic, including the four masters Chu Tianxiong had invited: Pingyangzi, Xuanqing, and the others.
The Ancient Giant Crocodile’s face went green!
’If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve risked offending Su Mo to escape this place. At least I could have lived for a few more days!’
’Fucking hell, I’m dead for sure!’
Pingyangzi said with a pale face, "Sect Leader Chu, what do we do now?"
Chu Tianxiong’s expression was grim.
’What can we do?’
’As if I know what to do!’
Daoist Xuanqing said gravely, "If there’s no other way, we fight. With the five of us at the Grandmaster Great Perfection realm, I refuse to believe we can’t defeat it."
Chu Tianxiong shook his head. "It’ll be difficult. This vile beast was already incredibly terrifying, its strength rivaling the five of us combined. Now that its bloodline has begun a Secondary Awakening, it can likely crush us all."
Pingyangzi asked in a low voice, "What if we add the Ancient Giant Crocodile to the fight?"
"Add my ass!"
The Ancient Giant Crocodile refused. "You guys can fight if you want. I’m not getting involved."
Pingyangzi challenged, "And you think you can escape?"
The Ancient Giant Crocodile’s expression was exceedingly grim.
The Ink Flood Dragon was savage by nature. It wouldn’t just slaughter everyone in the Beast Taming Sect; it would also massacre every living creature within a thousand-li radius.
Never mind that he couldn’t even escape the Beast Taming Sect now.
Even if he did manage to get out, the Ink Flood Dragon would hunt him to the ends of the earth. There would be no escape, and death would be the only outcome.
"Sigh..."
Chu Tianxiong sighed in despair.
’Even with the Ancient Giant Crocodile and all the Elders and disciples of my Beast Taming Sect, our chances of victory are no more than thirty percent.’
’But as things stand, we have no choice but to fight.’
’We’ll save who we can!’
’It’s better than everyone dying.’
Pingyangzi urged, "Let’s do it. If we strike first, we might have a better chance of winning."
"AWOOO!"
The Ancient Giant Crocodile let out a howl, its cavernous, bloody maw gaping open as it became the first to charge the Ink Flood Dragon. It bit down hard on the Ink Flood Dragon’s tail.
The bite actually connected.
The Ancient Giant Crocodile cried out in excitement, "This king has it pinned! Quick, quick, kill this Old Loach!"
’Huh?’
’The Ancient Giant Crocodile actually succeeded!’
’Striking first really was the right move.’
Everyone’s faces lit up with delighted surprise!
"Attack together!"
With a great roar, Chu Tianxiong summoned a long spear into his hand. It pulsed with a sharp aura as he thrust it viciously toward the Ink Flood Dragon.
Pingyangzi slashed down with a beam of sword light!
Xuanqing, Du Feng, and the others all struck at once, unleashing their most powerful techniques and blasting them at the Ink Flood Dragon.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Hundreds of terrifying attacks landed on the Ink Flood Dragon simultaneously, flattening the entire back mountain of the Beast Taming Sect in the process!
Smoke and dust billowed everywhere!
Panting heavily, Pingyangzi said, "With that many terrifying attacks landing, that vile beast should be dead, right?"
Chu Tianxiong smiled and nodded!
In his mind, even if the Ink Flood Dragon’s Divine Beast Blood had begun its Secondary Awakening, it couldn’t possibly withstand the furious bombardment from five Grandmaster Great Perfection experts and hundreds of the Beast Taming Sect’s disciples and Elders.
"The Ink Flood Dragon wasn’t blasted to bits, was it?"
"I hope not. The Ink Flood Dragon’s Divine Beast Blood is priceless and can be used in alchemy. Its scales can be fashioned into Defense Armor, and its bones can be forged into Magical Artifacts. You could say its entire body is a Treasure. It would be a terrible waste if it were blasted to bits."
Pingyangzi and Xuanqing were both eyeing the Treasures of the Ink Flood Dragon’s body greedily.
Chu Tianxiong sighed with emotion. "Just getting rid of the Ink Flood Dragon is a blessing in itself!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Just as they were celebrating the Ink Flood Dragon’s demise, an icy voice drifted out from the smoke and dust. "Keep attacking. Why did you stop? Were you just trying to scratch an itch for this venerable one?"
"Who’s speaking?"
Chu Tianxiong asked, his face draining of all color.
BANG!
A wave of force erupted, scattering the surrounding smoke and dust to reveal the Ink Flood Dragon’s massive body and its cold, piercing eyes!
What!
’The Ink Flood Dragon... isn’t dead?’
The moment they saw the Ink Flood Dragon, everyone froze on the spot, their faces masks of pure terror.
No one could have imagined the Ink Flood Dragon would be so resilient.
’It’s over... It’s all over!’
The Ancient Giant Crocodile’s face was a picture of despair.
The Ink Flood Dragon asked coldly, "Felt good to bite this venerable one’s tail, did it?"
The Ancient Giant Crocodile quickly forced a fawning smile. "A misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding! For the sake of us both being Demon Beasts, please spare this humble one."
SMACK!
With a single swipe of its claw, the Ink Flood Dragon slammed the Ancient Giant Crocodile into the ground. It was impossible to tell if it was dead or alive; it hadn’t even had time to let out a cry!
What followed was a one-sided slaughter.
Watching his sect brothers fall one after another, a sackcloth-clad Elder felt numb. ’If only I had managed to stop that Elder Su back then,’ he thought. ’How wonderful that would have been.’
The situation was hopeless.
Chu Tianxiong roared, "Run! Everyone, scatter! Save yourselves! I will hold this vile beast back!"
"Holy crap, that’s one big Black Loach!"
Just as Chu Tianxiong resolved to sacrifice himself to buy time for the others to escape, a sudden cry of surprise sounded from behind him.