The brief respite did not dispel the heavy pressure permeating the team. Shadow Shuttle's ankle injury had stabilized under the dual treatment of Red Yang Poison-Expelling Pills and Xiaoqi's purification power, but her movement remained somewhat hindered. After supplementing with new Fire of Li miasma-expelling talismans, the pale golden halo became stable again, keeping the constantly encroaching five-colored poisonous miasma at bay.
The four dared not linger further, continuing their difficult trek toward Burying Gods Depression. The deeper into the swamp, the more viscous and slippery the silt beneath their feet became, the stench of decay nearly condensing into substance. Even with the talisman halo filtering it, that smell penetrated everywhere, challenging everyone's endurance limit. The surrounding vegetation grew even more bizarre, with large numbers of "Ghost Claw Vines" emitting phosphorescence and actively entangling approaching creatures, and "Pustule Mushrooms" capable of spraying corrosive venom.
Falcon's quiver was nearly half empty, Iron Wall's giant shield covered in marks of venom corrosion and monster scratches, its spiritual light somewhat dimmed. Xiaoqi's face was also pale—frequent use of purification power and Li Fire intent was taking a significant toll on his spiritual power and spiritual sense.
"According to the map and our speed estimate, we need at least another day and a half to approach the periphery of Burying Gods Depression," Falcon said softly while vigilantly scanning the colorful, perilous jungle around them, his tone carrying an imperceptible anxiety. The passage of time was like a sword hanging over their heads.
Just as his words fell, sudden change erupted!
About a hundred zhang to their front-left, a seemingly calm pond covered with dense green duckweed began violently churning without warning! Turbid muddy water mixed with rotting vegetation shot skyward, forming a massive whirlpool.
A terrifying pressure that made souls tremble, like a solid mountain, descended with a crash!
"Not good! Fall back!" Iron Wall reacted fastest, roaring as his muscles bulged, yellow earth spiritual light blazing as he braced his giant shield before him, attempting to buy reaction time for his teammates.
Xiaoqi, Falcon, and Shadow Shuttle also felt their scalps tingle in that instant, retreating without thought.
But it was already too late.
Accompanied by an earth-shaking roar as if from primordial times, an enormous figure burst from the whirlpool's center!
It was a giant flood dragon! Its entire body covered in dark green scales flashing with metallic luster, viscous, foul-smelling venom constantly seeping from between the scales. Its body was as thick as a palace pillar, with just the portion above water exceeding ten zhang in length. Its head was ferocious, topped with an unformed bulge, vertical pupils blood-red and filled with violence and greed. Its gaping maw revealed white fangs, dripping saliva that instantly corroded the duckweed below into black smoke.
What made hearts palpitate most was the demonic power fluctuation it emanated—vast as the ocean, fierce enough to blot out the sky, far transcending the Foundation Establishment realm, even several times stronger than the Golden Core Early Stage cultivators Xiaoqi had encountered before!
"A Thousand-Year Poison Flood Dragon! Strength comparable to Golden Core Late Stage! Why would it appear here?!" Shadow Shuttle exclaimed, all color draining from her face. This level of demonic beast usually slumbered only in the swamp's core region, rarely appearing in relatively peripheral areas.
The poison flood dragon's blood-red vertical pupils instantly locked onto these four uninvited guests who had intruded into its territory. It seemed particularly repulsed by—and perhaps greedy for—the faint Vermilion Bird Li Fire aura on Xiaoqi's body.
"Roar—!"
Another roar, the sound waves mixed with dense poison-evil energy sweeping forth like a storm and tsunami! The pale golden halo from the Fire of Li talisman shook violently under this terrifying sound wave impact, flickering unsteadily as if about to shatter at any moment.
"Hold on!" Iron Wall's eyes turned red as he frantically channeled all his spiritual power into the giant shield. The shield's face bloomed with thick yellow light, transforming into a massive light wall blocking the very front.
Boom!
The sound wave and poison-evil crashed brutally against the light wall with a deafening explosion. Iron Wall was struck as if by a heavy blow, groaning as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his massive body staggering back several zhang, plowing two deep furrows in the ground. His giant shield's spiritual light instantly dimmed by more than half, even showing fine cracks on its surface!
Just one roar had injured the team's strongest defender!
"Attack its eyes and mouth!" Falcon, forcing down the trembling of his soul under the pressure, gritted his teeth and drew his longbow. Three specially-crafted arrows covered in armor-piercing runes shot forth like meteors toward the poison flood dragon's blood-red vertical pupils.
The poison flood dragon's eyes showed a trace of anthropomorphic disdain, its eyelids slightly closing.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Three crisp sounds—the magical artifact arrows capable of piercing gold and stone couldn't even penetrate the flood dragon's eyelids, bouncing directly away!
Shadow Shuttle moved like lightning, attempting to use speed to circle to the flank, her dual spikes emanating ghostly light as she thrust directly at the relatively softer scale gaps on the flood dragon's neck.
However, the poison flood dragon merely swung its tail casually!
The massive dragon tail, carrying ten thousand jun of force and a bloody wind, swept horizontally like a steel whip. Its speed far exceeded Shadow Shuttle's expectations.
"Bang!"
Shadow Shuttle barely had time to cross her dual spikes to block. Her entire body was struck as if by a small mountain, protective spiritual light instantly shattering as she flew backward spurting blood, crashing heavily into the distant mud swamp, life or death unknown.
The gap was too vast! Foundation Establishment versus Golden Core Late Stage, especially for this powerful bloodline demonic beast—their strengths were simply not on the same level!
"Shadow Shuttle!" Falcon's eyes were about to split, but he was powerless to help.
The poison flood dragon seemed enraged by these ants' provocation. It no longer used sound waves but instead took a deep breath. The surrounding dense poison miasma frantically gathered into its mouth, forming a constantly rotating, colorful, destruction-emanating poison-evil energy sphere!
If this attack fell, all four of them would be obliterated, leaving not even bones behind!
Xiaoqi's heart nearly leaped from his chest; the shadow of death had never been so clear. His spiritual power, after all the consumption along the way and the pressure impact just now, was down to thirty percent. Facing this lethal strike comparable to Golden Core Late Stage, all his trump cards seemed pale and powerless.
Purification power? This poison-evil energy was too vast and impure—he couldn't purify it all!
Li Fire intent? A single spark probably couldn't even break through this poison-evil energy sphere's surface!
Four Symbols Jade Pendant? In haste, he couldn't possibly invoke that immense power requiring time to build up!
What to do?!
At this life-and-death moment, his peripheral vision caught sight of some "Demon-Devouring Flowers" nearby, their colors particularly vibrant, trembling under the poison flood dragon's pressure. These flowers fed on consuming weak demonic energy and poison gas, and were abnormally sensitive to high concentrations of energy...
An extremely risky, almost insane notion flashed through his mind like lightning!
He didn't attempt to directly withstand the poison-evil energy sphere about to be unleashed. Instead, using his last reserves of spiritual sense and spiritual power, he suddenly thrust both hands forward! The target was not the poison flood dragon, but the swamp before it, covered in poisonous creatures and bizarre plants!
A stream of extremely pure, cool energy imbued with vibrant life and purification will rippled outward! This wasn't an attack, but rather a... gift? Or perhaps, the greatest provocation!
The aura of the Xu family's purification origin!
This aura, like deadly nectar to poisonous creatures and demonic entities yet carrying supreme temptation, instantly stimulated all the surrounding poisonous creatures! Especially those "Demon-Devouring Flowers," which began swaying frantically, emitting powerful suction!
Simultaneously, Xiaoqi screamed at Falcon and Iron Wall: "Toward the rear-left, that black stone forest—RUN!!!"
Almost as his voice rang out, the poison-evil energy sphere in the poison flood dragon's mouth erupted, transforming into a colorful torrent over a zhang in diameter, destroying everything in its path! However, due to the interference from Xiaoqi's purification aura and the brief chaos of stimulated poisonous creatures, the flood dragon's certain-kill attack developed an extremely subtle, nearly imperceptible deviation!
It was this hair's breadth of difference!
The devastating colorful torrent grazed past Falcon and Iron Wall as they desperately lunged rear-left, striking the position behind where they had originally stood!
"BOOM—!!!"
The earth shook and mountains trembled! Silt, poisonous water, shattered plants, and poisonous creatures too slow to escape were instantly vaporized, leaving a bottomless crater. The soil at the edges sizzled, rapidly vitrifying.
The terrifying shockwave sent Falcon and Iron Wall, who had just lunged away, tumbling like falling leaves. Both sprayed blood in midair, crashing heavily to the ground with severe injuries, yet ultimately escaping with their lives.
As for Xiaoqi, with his spiritual power and spiritual sense nearly depleted and caught at the epicenter of the energy eruption, he was struck by that slight deflected shockwave. His vision went black, his internal organs felt displaced, and his entire body flew backward like a kite with a broken string. In the moment before consciousness faded, he saw only those blood-red pupils of the now even more enraged poison flood dragon, having missed its strike, locking onto him as the "culprit," once again opening its massive maw to devour everything...
Such was the might of the Swamp Overlord! The overt team was on the verge of annihilation!