With both hands clasped behind his back, Ying Zheng stood inside the mountain forest, overlooking at the catfish-flood-dragon, who was now causing winds to blow and waves to roll a hundred miles away. His facial expression was fluctuating.
The Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic was a mighty magic he learned after coming to this world. It was a mighty magic that allowed him to cultivate his corporeal body, energies, and soul. Now, he only needed the blood essence and soul from one flood dragon, then he would be able to possess the strength of one dragon and step into the realm of Heaven Immortal. However, the flood dragon who he absorbed the blood essence and soul from would determine the image of the dragon force he condensed.
If he stepped into the realm of Heaven Immortal using the blood essence and soul of this catfish-flood-dragon, once he fought someone using the Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic, the shape of the flood dragon appearing within the dark mist behind his back would be that of a big, fat catfish, for a very long period in the future.
A dragon should look like a real dragon, it should be strong and vigorous, mighty and magnificent! What would people think of him when they saw Ying Zheng, the mighty emperor, having a big, fat catfish swaying back and forth behind his back after cultivating the Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic? Were they going to think that he was cultivating the 'Nine CATFISH Cauldron Grand Magic? If word of it were to spread, it would definitely make him a laughing stock. Ying Zheng sunk into a deep ponder, as he could not make up his mind between killing this catfish-flood-dragon right now and becoming a Heaven Immortal, or waiting until he could find another flood dragon who had a mighty look that was similar to a real dragon, and only then make the breakthrough.
The grand and magnificent founding emperor of Great Qin Dynasty having a catfish floating behind his back was really something... Ying Zheng had his eyebrows knitted into a tight frown, as he could not make up his mind for long.
Xu Fu was able to gain an insight into Ying Zheng's mind. He bowed his head, hiding both hands under his sleeves and did not say anything. On the other side, Li Si was a man with a clever and witty mind too. He knew that the flood dragon he found was indeed a real flood dragon, and a very powerful one. However, it was also true that the look of this flood dragon was rather… unpleasant. Upon thinking that for a very long period of time in the future, the image of the dragon showing behind Ying Zheng's back would be a large catfish, Li Si carefully bent his back, standing behind Ying Zheng and dared not say a word.
Ying Zheng smacked his lips, turned and gave Xu Fu a glance, then to Li Si. Suddenly, he became angry, "My Prime Minister, Li Si, you told me that you have found a flood dragon. That was excellent, and it had me delighted. But, this is the flood dragon you found? Can this thing be even called a flood dragon?"
On the surface of the lake, the catfish-flood-dragon had finished the absorption of tonight's moonlight essence, and ate two large cuttlefish to fill its stomach. It was now rolling about on the surface of the lake animatedly, turning its fat and fair belly facing up, and having it fully sprinkled with bright moonlight. With its four claws, it was stroking on its large belly while producing a deep, muffled sound like thunder. The sound echoed out to one thousand miles away, deterring all the demon beasts in the lake that made none of them dare to make a noise.
Li Si blinked, bowed deeply and dared not say a word. Upon looking at how he behaved, Xu Fu felt an anger surging up from the bottom of his heart. Standing aside, he said under his breath, "Is this how a divine dragon looks in the mind of Prime Minister? This is a great disrespect to His Majesty, a crime of deceiving His Majesty."
Li Si straightened his back, looking towards Xu Fu with a piercing gleam in his eyes. Then, he said coldly, "Xu Fu, it was indeed that Li Si did not pluck the weed by the roots, which made you get abducted by someone. But, you're the leader to all the close and loyal ministers, conferred with the title of Imperial Advisor, yet you were abducted by a mere junior. Do you think you can blame me for that? It is a shameful experience. But not only do you not feel ashamed, you're trying to attack me with that?"
Xu Fu's face fell suddenly, and was about to argue with Li Si, but he heard a displeased snort coming from Ying Zheng. "That's enough. Both of you shut up!"
Both men hastily shut their mouths tightly and stood like a pair of wooden statues, bowing their heads and not making any sound. Together, they stole a glance at the catfish-flood-dragon from the corner of their eyes. A mocking smile emerged on Xu Fu's face, while Li Si was throwing an indifferent glance over it. There was a calm look in Li Si's eyes, cold and indifferent, as if nothing could really arouse him.
From the side, Bai Qi suddenly gave a cold snort, cupped his fist and said, "Your Majesty, despite its look, a flood dragon will always be a flood dragon. It has the ability to ride the clouds and mount the mist, brew storms on rivers and overturn seas. So, its look is not important at all. As long it is a true dragon, that is what we are looking for." He sneered, then continued, "Once Your Majesty steps into the realm of Heaven Immortal, completing the first-stage cultivation for the Nine Dragons Cauldron Grand Magic and making a clean sweep in this world, Your Majesty can then define the look of a real dragon, and that will be the true look of a real dragon! Why should we fear of how people will look at us? For those who have a different point of view, we can just slaughter their entire clans!"
A bright gleam shone out from Ying Zheng's eyes while dark mists were emitting from his body slowly. He gave Bai Qi an approving look and said, "It is still the Prince of Wu'an who understands me the most. Haha, why should I fear of how people look at me? For those who have a different point of view, I can just bury them in a large trench! Hahaha!"
Ying Zheng threw his head back and gave a few wild laughs. After that, he pulled out an ancient-looking spear that was made of some kind of a strange stone, rode on a cloud and coiled up a strong wind, thrusting aggressively straight towards the catfish-flood-dragon. Bai Qi brought a team of several dozens of captains and followed closely behind Ying Zheng, lining up into an offensive and defensive formation that guarded on the left, right and back of Ying Zheng. While laughing out loud, Ying Zheng pressed forward at an incredible speed, and very soon arrived before the catfish-flood-dragon, who was lying on the surface of the water and had its belly sprinkled with gentle moonlight. Then, he snapped, "Foul demon, quickly offer me your blood essence and soul, and I'll spare one single soul of yours so you could enter the reincarnation, having the chance of being reborn after several hundred and thousand rounds of reincarnations."
The catfish-flood-dragon suddenly stopped patting its own stomach, slowly turned over and raised its head up, looking towards Ying Zheng. Using both its large eyes, it kept staring at Ying Zheng, then suddenly it gave a loud laugh and said, "What are you talking about, you tiny little thing? Are you asking me, your grandmother, to offer you my blood essence and soul? You think you qualify to do that? Tsk, with that little body of yours, it is not even enough to become my food!"
Then, it caught everyone unprepared by abruptly opened its large mouth that was several hundred feet in diameter, making a swallowing motion towards Ying Zheng's direction with a frightening suction force. Together with ear-splitting noises, the surrounding air and water turned into several dozens of waterspouts, injecting into its large mouth while spinning and rolling violently. Strong winds began blowing across the lake while rumbling of wind and thunder echoed out. A stern, cruel gleam was flashing inside the catfish-flood-dragon's eyes, like two searchlights that pierced several miles away through the water mist, locking straight onto Ying Zheng's body.
Ying Zheng laughed. Almost at the same time, a clump of black gas came gurgling out from behind his back; eight flood dragons and one serpent were wheeling and slithering within the black gas. Ying Zheng opened his mouth too, aiming forward as he suddenly drew in a long breath. A fearsome sucking force many times stronger than the one that came from the mouth of the catfish-flood-dragon appeared, and together with jarring noises of whistling, more waterspouts were coiled up from the lake. More water was sucked into the sky, greater typhoons rose and huge waves rose and swept across the surface of the lake. Numerous aquatic demon beasts were unable to withstand the tremendous wind force and were sucked into the waterspouts. Their bodies were instantly ground and crashed into pieces by the enormous pressure.
The space between the catfish-flood-dragon and Ying Zheng had now turned into a frightful storm enshrouded in thunderclouds. Dark clouds kept rolling and rocking between the two, amidst which loud booms of thunder kept ringing out. Lightning bolts as thick as water bucket kept streaking out and pierced through the sky. The dazzling glow lit the entire great lake, making all the demon beasts who were hiding near or away from the great lake have their appearance partly visible, as if they were some kind of ghostly existences.
Because of the crazy sucking force from both Ying Zheng and the catfish-flood-dragon, a great amount of lake water kept turning into waterspouts and flew up into the sky, ceaselessly being swallowed by both of them. Right after this lake water entered their body, it was immediately broken down into the tiniest water particles by the enormous force, transforming into billowing dark gases and water mist that sprayed out from their bodies, enveloping the sky nearly one thousand miles in circumference within a dense mist. The water level in the lake kept reducing, and in just a blink of an eye, all the lake water within two hundred miles of radius was completely sucked into the sky by both of them, revealing the dark lake bed underneath, filled with countless patches of rocks and shells.
The enormous sucking forces unleashed by Ying Zheng and catfish-flood-dragon were fighting head-to-head in the sky. The bodies of both shook, and at the same time, both took a step forward. Ying Zheng's body was thousand times smaller than the catfish-flood-dragon, and tens of thousands times lighter than it. But, he was able to take a step forward at the same time as the catfish-flood-dragon. Evidently, Ying Zheng's strength was stronger than the catfish-flood-dragon.
Ying Zheng gave a loud winning laugh, wielded the spear and thrust it onto the head of the catfish-flood-dragon.
On the other side, the catfish-flood-dragon was looking at the eight flood dragons and one serpent behind Ying Zheng's back, as it cried angrily, "No wonder your magical power is so strong. You've actually killed so many flood dragons! But, trying to defeat me with your magical power alone is not enough!" It stared at the spear that was coming aggressively towards her, threw its head back and let out a loud, long cry. Suddenly, its huge tail sprung up, as it swept ferociously towards Ying Zheng.
An ear-deafening boom rang out. The lake water within a radius of two hundred feet became frozen instantly, and shattered into pieces right after that. Countless demon beasts were ripped and exploded into pieces amidst the ice. Ying Zheng was slapped far away by the huge tail of the catfish-flood-dragon. With Wu Qi's incredible Mystic Eyes of Universe, he could barely see Ying Zheng being slapped into the sky and shooting through tens of layers of clouds. He was then blown away by a strong wind in the high altitude and reached several hundreds of miles away.
Meanwhile, the catfish-flood-dragon gave a painful cry, as a long crack, over one hundred feet long and tens of feet wide, was caused by the spear strike launched by Ying Zheng on its tail, splitting it into two. A huge amount of pale-golden blood sprayed out from its tail. The severe pain made it tremble. In the next moment, it brought up a strong wind and dark clouds, together with countless thunderbolts while thrusting towards Bai Qi and all the captains, who had been paying a close watch at the battlefield from not too far away.
Bai Qi raised his right fist up, and was about to give out the order of laying siege to the catfish-flood-dragon. Suddenly, Ying Zheng's voice was heard coming from the sky above, "What a powerful strength! Among all the flood dragons I've killed, the body strength of yours is the strongest! Excellent! After absorbing your blood essence and soul, my body would definitely reach the stage where no magical treasure could harm me!"
Bringing together an overbearing air, and loud cries that made all the surrounding mountains shook, Ying Zheng flew back to the battlefield riding on a cloud. In just a few seconds, Ying Zheng had returned to the battlefield while coughing blood from his mouth. He pointed his finger at the catfish-flood-dragon, who appeared to be in a daze, then shouted, "Excellent, this is excellent! The body of you is actually slightly stronger than mine, even though I've absorbed eight flood dragons and a serpent who nearly transformed into a flood dragon. You're indeed an extraordinary species under the heaven!"
Wu Qi had his eyes went wide as well. According to the legend, a serpent could transform into flood dragon, and even a carp could transform into flood dragon, as they were beloved by the heaven and the earth. Thus, the chances for them to transform into flood dragons were higher than all other ordinary living beings, and much easier.
But as for catfish, Wu Qi never heard that a catfish could transform into a flood dragon. He could imagine how incredibly long time it took for this catfish to transform into a flood dragon, and must have encountered many extraordinary opportunities. Therefore, it was reasonable and logical that it possessed a very strong body. For ordinary carps and serpents, it would take them at least one thousand years of laborious cultivation, and only then could they transform into flood dragon. So, how many years would it take for this catfish to possess its current cultivation base? Ten thousand years? One hundred thousand years? Or even more than that! It must have spent over several hundred thousand of years in meticulously tempering its body and refining its dharma body. Without even asking, its body strength must have reached an awe-inspiring level!
Wu Qi kept staring at the body of the catfish-flood-dragon greedily. If he could obtain a small portion of its blood essence, it would definitely bring him more benefits than the bodies of both Shi Tianmo and his son.
The catfish-flood-dragon gave up the idea of attacking Bai Qi and the group of captains. It opened its mouth widely and sprayed out countless pitch-black thunderbolts of Water element, throwing them all over at Ying Zheng. After that, it leaped and thrust towards Ying Zheng while roaring out furiously, "Everyone, attack these human together with me! They are all Earth Immortals who have formed their Nascent Souls. If you can eat their flesh, that will be a great tonic for your energies! Whoever kills a human, that human will belong to it! And the one who kills the most humans will be the Secondary Leader of the Lake of Four Waters!"
From near and far, countless demon beasts let out wild roars that shook the entire sky and earth. Countless strange and peculiar aquatic beasts plunged themselves into the battlefield, coiling up wave after wave of water and sprinting toward the human. Among these aquatic beasts, there were several dozens who possessed the aura comparable to Earth Immortals of Nascent Soul realm, and there were even over two thousand big fishes and prawns which had their aura equivalent to Human Immortals of Gold Core realm. Although the rest of the aquatic beasts did not have such a strong cultivation base, their body size was huge as well, and could attack with incredible strength and their respective innate abilities.
Looking at how all the aquatic beasts blotted the sky and rushed towards their enemies, Wu Qi suddenly understood that why there were so many causalities to the many cultivators sent out into Meng Mountains by Great Yan Dynasty.
Countless aquatic beasts sprung and leaped up ferociously, and in a blink of an eye, they had formed a large circle around Ying Zheng and his men.