Within the cold pool of Savage Beast Valley, rumors had long persisted of a terrifying water demon lurking in its depths. Many ignorant trial-takers had ventured into the cold pool in search of treasures, only to be eliminated by this water demon.
Some had not even had time to crush their spirit talismans for self-preservation before being slain, instilling a deep-seated fear of the cold pool water demon in countless trial-takers.
But at this moment, the water demon was finally roused. Dozens of True Yuan power blasts bombarding the cold pool had provoked the creature slumbering in its deepest recesses. The water's surface exploded, and a chilling mist spread, blotting out the sky, creating a hazy, illusory scene where nothing could be clearly seen.
Yet everyone could vaguely make out an enormous, colossal figure flickering within the mist. It was unprecedentedly huge, seemingly even larger than the Scaled Golden Lion Ye Chen had captured as a mount. Faintly, a terrifying demonic aura rippled forth.
ROAR—
A majestic roar emanated from the cold mist, its sound waves dispersing all the fog. Demonic beasts within dozens of li trembled uncontrollably. Even the Scaled Golden Lion let out a low growl, revealing a flicker of terror, like commoners encountering a lofty emperor, forced to submit.
Ye Chen's expression turned slightly grave. This water demon in the cold pool was likely far from simple.
When all the cold mist finally dissipated, everyone's gaze was fixed unblinkingly on the spot. And at that moment, everyone's eyes widened.
A serpentine torso, thick as a tree trunk requiring four or five people to encircle, stretched about thirty zhang long. Its entire body was covered in wheel-sized, pitch-black scales that shimmered with a dark luster. It had a single horn on its head and claws beneath its belly.
Without the mist to conceal it, a terrifying demonic aura swept over them, oppressive and immense. Even the many trial-takers present felt that dreadful pressure, as if a great mountain weighed upon their shoulders, causing the circulation of True Yuan power within their bodies to slow down many times over.
Was this... the cold pool water demon?
Their hearts trembled. Wasn't this damn thing a flood dragon?
According to some extremely ancient texts in the world, there existed a mythical and supreme creature between heaven and earth—the True Dragon. It surpassed Heavenly Gods, stood above Divine Spirits, and was the most powerful being, possessing world-shattering divine might.
But since ancient times, it had never been seen, only heard of in legends, its traces never found. The world had long believed it to be a creature fabricated by the ancients, non-existent.
Yet the existence of this demonic flood dragon proved the existence of True Dragons.
A flood dragon, though not a True Dragon, possessed a trace of the bloodline of that supreme race between heaven and earth. Even in the mortal world, it was a sovereign-level bloodline, terrifyingly powerful, far surpassing other demonic beast bloodlines.
No one had expected the cold pool water demon to be a demonic flood dragon. Moreover, its size and demonic aura clearly indicated it was a Martial God-level demonic beast, surpassing the Xiantian realm.
Countless people in Savage Beast Valley couldn't help but swallow hard, feeling shock, but more so fear. In their hearts, they cursed Eighth Prince Yang Jun.
Damn it, why provoke anything but this terrifying demonic flood dragon? Probably even a Martial God expert coming personally might not be able to handle it.
Eighth Prince himself gulped hard. How could he have known the water demon hidden in the cold pool was such a fearsome demonic flood dragon? Regret surged within him. Had he known, he would rather have been eliminated than provoke it.
But what was done was done. Knowing that such a demonic beast, having reached the Martial God realm, possessed intelligence, Eighth Prince suddenly pointed at Ye Chen and shouted to the demonic flood dragon, "It was him who woke you!"
"Despicable!"
"Shameless bastard, utterly without face!"
Thirteenth Prince, Vivian, and the others couldn't help but change expressions. Was he shifting all blame onto Ye Chen?
"You brought this upon yourself. Since you seek death, don't blame me." Ye Chen snorted coldly. His hand made a grasping motion in the air, somehow pulling Eighth Prince towards him from a distance. Then, with a sweeping slap, he sent him flying towards the demonic flood dragon.
"Ye Chen, what are you doing? Do you want to fully offend my Tianqi Empire?" Yang Jun cried out in terror, but his body flew uncontrollably towards the demonic flood dragon. In that moment, he looked at the creature in horror, clasped his fists, and begged, "Great Demonic Flood Dragon, please don't kill me. It was all that kid's doing... No!"
However, the demonic flood dragon opened its massive, bloody maw and exhaled a beam of icy white light. The moment it appeared, everyone felt a bone-piercing chill. Eighth Prince, sensing imminent mortal danger, directly crushed his spirit talisman. A Martial God's ghostly light enveloped him, and he chose elimination.
But this white light was no ordinary beam; it was the demonic flood dragon's breath—the Breath of Ice, containing extreme cold capable of freezing everything into dust.
The Breath of Ice fell upon the ghostly light from the talisman. To his horror, Yang Jun found that this light, capable of withstanding a Martial God's strike, lasted only an instant before rapidly dissipating, utterly unable to block it.
The Breath of Ice then landed on Eighth Prince's body. Before Yang Jun could even scream, his entire form rapidly turned into a human-shaped ice sculpture from the inside out, then swiftly crumbled into powder that scattered.
Eighth Prince was dead!
Everyone's expressions changed drastically. This was the Eighth Prince of the Tianqi Empire, one of the three great empires, a royal scion of noble bloodline, and the full-blooded brother of that super expert on the Trial Path, Yang Shaoqi. Yet he had died just like that. This was bound to cause a huge uproar, shaking the entire Trial Path.
But currently, that wasn't the main point. Because after annihilating Eighth Prince, the Breath of Ice continued its momentum, rushing towards the crowd. Everyone was terrified, having clearly witnessed earlier that the Martial God's ghostly light from the spirit talisman was ineffective, dissipating under the Breath of Ice. Just how fearsome was this demonic flood dragon?
"Run!"
Someone, no one knew who, shouted. Immediately, everyone fled in all directions, not daring to run in the same direction to avoid being completely crushed and killed.
But the Breath of Ice was faster. It struck the ground, instantly transforming into a sheet of icy mist that spread out, covering the sky and earth. Wherever it passed, the ground froze, trees turned into ice sculptures and shattered, everything turning to dust.
The icy mist covered an extremely large area, within a radius of over a hundred zhang. Many were caught in it, at least no fewer than a hundred people.
If they had crushed their spirit talismans in time, it might have been fine. At least the diluted mist wasn't as terrifying as the initial white light. But those trial-takers who hadn't crushed their talismans all turned into ice sculptures, their spirit talismans completely vanishing into ash. At least thirty or forty people met this fate, a sight that horrified many onlookers.
"Hurry and escape! We must request the checkpoint lords of the eighth or ninth checkpoint to take action and suppress this demonic flood dragon. Otherwise, it will be a disaster on the Trial Path."
The Xia Feng Kingdom group, including Thirteenth Prince and the others, were too close to the cold pool and were also impacted by the icy mist. They were about to crush their spirit talismans to eliminate themselves for protection when Ye Chen unleashed a wave of golden light that completely halted the advance of the icy mist, preventing it from harming Thirteenth Prince and the others.
Then, he stepped forward before them.
"Ye Chen!"
Everyone called out, but now was not the time for reunions. Ye Chen's expression was uncharacteristically grave. "You all go first. I'll handle things here."
"Ye Chen, don't be overconfident. This demonic flood dragon is terrifying, comparable to a true Martial God," Thirteenth Prince said solemnly. Vivian, Princess Hong Rong, and the others were also filled with worry. Only Yang Yi looked at Ye Chen with complex emotions.
Ye Chen shook his head. "Don't worry. Although this demonic flood dragon is fearsome, killing me is impossible. This is a good chance to test myself against this legendary flood dragon."
Everyone's expressions changed. Yet, amidst his surprise, Thirteenth Prince held a blazing anticipation. "Ye Chen, could it be that you've already..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear: Had Ye Chen already reached the Martial God realm?
Ye Chen shook his head slightly, offering only a confident smile. "Not yet, but it's almost the same."
He then called the Scaled Golden Lion, which carried everyone soaring into the sky. Ye Chen, meanwhile, approached the demonic flood dragon, striding forward step by step. Trial-takers looking back from afar to see if the demonic flood dragon was pursuing them were greatly shocked. Did Ye Chen intend to confront the demonic flood dragon?
Although many felt Ye Chen was still being somewhat overconfident, recalling his previous actions against Yang Jun, they couldn't help but pause on distant hilltops, gazing towards the cold pool with anticipation. Perhaps this youth really could deal with this demonic flood dragon.
The demonic flood dragon's massive pupils fixed on Ye Chen. Then, it opened its mouth and exhaled. The Breath of Ice instantly engulfed Ye Chen.
"Ye Chen..." Vivian and Thirteenth Prince, seeing this, paled, filled with concern.
The icy mist blotted out the sky. For a long while, there was not a single movement.
Dead?
Everyone was dumbfounded. Could even someone as strong as Ye Chen have died? They had expected an earth-shattering battle, but it seemed they were disappointed.
BOOM—
Suddenly, heaven and earth trembled. Visible to the naked eye, the icy mist that had spread over a vast area began to dissipate at an astonishing speed. At its center, a massive golden pillar of light shot into the sky, standing tall between heaven and earth.
Within the boundless golden radiance, a figure stood tall. It was the youth, shaking the mortal world!