Guests from Shuofang City

Su Yun was puzzled. "These Crocodile Dragon diagrams are Unbound Moves from Crocodile Dragon's Roar, so why did they appear on my Yellow Bell's markings? And what use are these Crocodile Dragon diagrams?"

The Yellow Bell was for keeping time, while the Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar were for battle and tempering the body. The two had nothing to do with each other.

Yet the Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar had turned into imprints upon the Yellow Bell's markings. Neither Qiu Shuijing nor Mister Wild Fox had ever mentioned such a thing.

"There must be a reason behind this. Since Crocodile Dragon's Roar and the Yellow Bell are connected, there must be some relationship between them."

Su Yun pondered. It is only that I have yet to discover this relationship.

The fact that the Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar were imprinted on the Yellow Bell meant that they were subordinate to one another; the Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar belonged beneath the Yellow Bell.

"Perhaps when I cultivate other methods in the future, they will also be imprinted on the Yellow Bell. Only after I had thoroughly mastered the Unbound Moves of Crocodile Dragon's Roar did the Crocodile Dragon patterns appear on the Yellow Bell. Most likely, other methods must likewise be cultivated to a very high level before they can leave their imprints on it."

Just then, his qi and blood stirred, and a wave of weakness swept over him.

At the same time, Hua Erge saw that the Crocodile Dragon manifested from Su Yun's qi and blood suddenly stopped transforming and vanished.

He could not help secretly lamenting for Su Yun. Just now, Su Yun had nearly achieved the third attainment of Crocodile Dragon's Roar. He had even been only one step away from transforming the Crocodile Dragon into a Flood Dragon!

Hua Erge told Su Yun what he had seen and guessed, "The transformation failed because your primordial qi cultivation was still insufficient to sustain it."

Su Yun was astonished. He had not known any of this had happened; he had merely felt his qi and blood suddenly run dry. He had not expected that while he was "observing" the Yellow Bell, his qi and blood had also been transforming!

"Perhaps it is also because Little Brother Yun does not know enough about transforming into a Flood Dragon."

Qingqiu Yue lay on the stretcher and said, "If Little Brother Yun's qi and blood become a Flood Dragon, that will make four attainments! Therefore, when The Whole Village Eats transforms into a Flood Dragon, Little Brother Yun must go and observe it no matter what!"

Su Yun fell into thought. Although he had seen a Crocodile Dragon transform into a Flood Dragon in the Immortal Diagram, the Crocodile Dragon had been slain the next instant by a sudden Immortal Sword.

Moreover, he had focused more on the Crocodile Dragon's four great thunder sounds and the Flood Dragon transformation at the time, paying little attention to the transformation itself.

Now it seemed that when the Great Black Snake in Snake Ravine transformed into a Flood Dragon, he truly had to make the trip.

"Though I cannot see, what I focus on are changes in qi and blood, so there is no need to use my eyes. So long as I catch the changes in qi and blood as The Whole Village Eats evolves from a snake's form into a Flood Dragon's form, I can also grasp the changes in my own qi and blood." He thought to himself.

Though his injuries had improved greatly, when he tried to reproduce that sword strike, his right arm still could not withstand the incomparably violent impact of qi and blood. Su Yun could only endure it and continue cultivating the upper and lower volumes of Great Furnace Transformation to temper his body.

"Once The Whole Village Eats becomes a Flood Dragon, my injuries will be completely healed. Then I should be able to withstand the impact of qi and blood."

At last, the seven-day deadline arrived. It was precisely the fourteenth day of the ninth month, and the moon had not yet become full.

Before night fell, the foxes limped along with Su Yun toward Snake Ravine.

"There has been no movement from Snake Ravine. The Whole Village Eats said he would transform and undergo his tribulation at midnight, so we should go early and head to the upper reaches of Snake Ravine."

Su Yun suggested, "The upper reaches of Snake Ravine overlook everything from above, giving us an unobstructed view."

To reach the upper reaches of Snake Ravine, they had to pass through Linyi Village. Neither Su Yun nor Hua Erge usually liked going there. The residents of Linyi Village built their homes in the trees, and they were noisy folk who often mocked them.

But this time, to reach the upper reaches of Snake Ravine, they had no choice but to pass through Linyi Village.

One human and four foxes walked until the sun set before finally arriving at Linyi Village. Towering trees stood packed together so densely that, when they looked up, they could see the sky only through scattered slivers of gaps.

Linyi Village was built upon a mountainside. Houses of all sizes nestled amid the crowns of the tall trees, while Human-faced Beasts stood before small doorways, tilting their heads to watch the group with strange gazes.

"Cripples—"

Suddenly, one Beast burst out laughing. "Coo coo, cripples! And a blind man, two half-paralyzed fellows, and one cripple! Coo coo!"

The forest immediately became lively. Doors of treehouse after treehouse swung open, while others pushed open their windows and poked out furry heads.

Those birds were beside themselves with delight as they jeered, "The little blind person from Tianmen Town, coo coo, leading the cripples from Huqiu Village, coo coo—"

Su Yun, Hua Erge, and the others said nothing. They followed the mountain path onward, enduring Linyi Village's mockery all the way.

Once they had left the village, a clamor suddenly rose within Linyi Village. One Beast cried loudly, "Fellow villagers, The Whole Village Eats of Snake Ravine has often plagued us! Whenever our brothers and sisters pass through Snake Ravine, he sucks them in and devours them! This time, he will transform and undergo tribulation, and he will not escape calamity. Prepare your knives, forks, axes, and halberds—we will take his life tonight!"

Su Yun thought, The Whole Village Eats truly has no shortage of enemies. His transformation into a Flood Dragon tonight may not go smoothly.

At the thought of undergoing tribulation, he could not help recalling the Crocodile Dragon in the Immortal Diagram that had been slain by the Immortal Sword while crossing its tribulation, and unease rose in his heart.

Just then, several black oxen grazing at the entrance to Linyi Village turned and left. As one of them walked, it rose onto its two hind legs like a human and shouted, "The Whole Village Eats will undergo tribulation tonight. If he becomes a Flood Dragon, none of us will have peaceful days ahead! Hurry back to the village and grab your weapons!"

Another black ox shouted, "That's right! Strike while he's sick and take his life! We'll finish him off tonight!"

Hua Erge and the other fox demons stared, dumbfounded.

Su Yun smiled toward the source of the voices. "It sounds like a few elder brothers from Niu Family Village speaking."

The fox demons looked at one another.

Hu Buping opened his mouth, but Hua Erge and the others immediately covered it, leaving him unable to speak. He could only think, Little Brother Yun probably believes the villagers of Niu Family Village and Linyi Village are humans like him...

On the road to the upper reaches of Snake Ravine, they passed Crocodile Dragon Pool again. Voices came from beside the pool, where several Crocodile Dragons lay sprawled on the bank, chatting.

"...The Whole Village Eats is about to become a Flood Dragon. That bastard drinks our foot-washing water, yet he is becoming a dragon before us! He is even faster than us! There is truly no justice in heaven!"

"Should we go kill him?" one Crocodile Dragon asked, excitedly raising its head.

The other Crocodile Dragons looked like eggplants wilted by frost, drooping listlessly. "Not going. We still have to crawl all that way. Whoever wants to go can go. The Whole Village Eats has too many enemies; he may not even survive tonight, so there is no need for us to stir up trouble... Eh? The little blind person from Tianmen Town and the villains from Huqiu Village!"

One Crocodile Dragon spotted Su Yun and the others, grew excited, flicked its tail, and shouted, "Look over here, blind man, look over here! There is something tasty here!"

Another Crocodile Dragon exclaimed excitedly, "Come over here, and we'll have something tasty to eat!"

The leading Crocodile Dragon whipped him across the mouth with its tail and snapped, "If you say it out loud, will they still come over?"

Su Yun shook his head. No wonder Mister Wild Fox always says the people of Two Dragon Village are a bunch whose brains do not work properly—lazy, sinister, and stupid besides. It really is true.

Finally, they reached the upper reaches of Snake Ravine. There, a waterfall formed from a sheer cliff split the cliff in two. Above the cliff lay another pool, into which another waterfall plunged from an even higher precipice.

The mountain behind the cliff was called Dragon Burial Mound. Legend said it was a dragon's grave; beyond Dragon Burial Mound lay Fallen Dragon Valley, said to have been formed when a divine dragon fell from the heavens and smashed into the earth.

Later, the divine dragon died of its grievous wounds and was buried here, within this very Dragon Burial Mound.

But that was only a legend, and Su Yun, Hua Erge, and the others did not quite believe it.

Yet the strange thing was that there truly were many dragon-blooded monsters near Dragon Burial Mound, such as The Whole Village Eats and the Crocodile Dragons of Two Dragon Village.

Su Yun, Hua Erge, and the fox demons came to the top of the cliff. The moonlight was bright, illuminating the rippling pool water, which reflected the dim, indistinct sky and a moon on the verge of fullness.

Su Yun sat on a reef and focused his senses. At once, he detected the qi and blood of the Great Black Snake in Snake Ravine beneath the waterfall.

Within Snake Ravine, the Great Black Snake coiled around a reef, its qi and blood resembling a great oval egg.

This egg of qi and blood seemed to be breathing, swelling and contracting. Its breaths were long and deep. Su Yun tried breathing along with the Great Black Snake, but his breath was not nearly so long, and he nearly suffocated himself to death.

"Eh! Apart from The Whole Village Eats, whose qi and blood are exceptionally dense, there are several other auras of qi and blood here that are no weaker than his!"

Su Yun immediately noticed it. The Great Black Snake was about to become a Flood Dragon, so naturally its qi and blood were exceptionally dense. Once it transformed into a Flood Dragon, its strength would surely increase greatly.

Yet within the darkness, there were several auras of qi and blood not the slightest bit weaker than the Great Black Snake's!

Su Yun was deeply shaken. In a low voice, he said, "Second Brother Hua, there are actually people here no weaker than The Whole Village Eats! And there are as many as four of them!"

Hua Erge's heart trembled. There were actually four great demons near Tianmen Town who were no weaker than The Whole Village Eats?

"Where are they?" he hurriedly asked.

"Three are directly across from us."

Su Yun said, "I vaguely sensed the other one, but I do not know its location."

Hua Erge hurriedly looked toward the opposite cliff. Sure enough, four figures stood in the moonlight, hazy and indistinct.

"Little Yun, there are four people across from us. All four of them are humans!" Hua Erge whispered.

Su Yun smiled. "Of course they are people. What else could they be?"

Hua Erge hurriedly explained, "I mean they are different from us. They are city folk!"

"City folk?"

Su Yun's expression turned grave. "Could they be guests from Shuofang City? If they are guests from Shuofang City, then they may not have come for The Whole Village Eats. Perhaps they came for me..."