Nearly Scared to Death
Could this be the bottom? That was Yue Qianchou's first thought. He grabbed the ground below with both hands and pulled himself down, but immediately felt himself falling. Needless to say, he drew his longsword, adjusted his posture, and calmly stepped onto the sword. After regaining his balance, Yue Qianchou stared wide-eyed, completely stunned.
This was an indescribably vast underground space. Yue Qianchou found himself suspended in mid-air between a formidable canyon, looking around and feeling incredibly small. The entire canyon was a blazing red, steaming hot, with a river flowing below—more precisely, a river formed from underground volcanic lava. In the distance, a volcanic waterfall cascaded down, its bright red liquid sending sparks flying everywhere—a truly magnificent sight!
Yue Qianchou, he reached the end, where he saw the lava flowing away underground, its destination unknown. Seeing no way forward, he turned back and flew back to where he had landed.
A column of blue flame shot upwards from the bright red magma below, appearing exceptionally beautiful in the glowing red underground. Yue Qianchou followed the blue flame and floated a few meters above the molten lava river, where he was once again stunned by what he saw.
Nine enormous azure lotus flowers grew on the surging lava, each flower head measuring three meters square, with stems extending five or six meters above the water. Azure flames emanated from these nine lotus flowers, coalescing into a pillar of azure fire that burned relentlessly. What shocked Yue Qianchou most was that eight of the nine lotus flowers were still buds, while only one was in full bloom, its blossoms radiant and covered in an arc of seven-colored light. Within the layers of petals lay a vibrant green lotus seedpod, upon which lay a naked, fair-skinned child fast asleep, sprawled out on all fours.
"Damn it! I'm not seeing things! There's actually a child sleeping here? Could there be Nezha incarnate from a lotus in this world? This is unbelievable!" Yue Qianchou rubbed his eyes in disbelief, looking at the surging lava below, then at the sleeping child in the lotus. He wasn't mistaken; it was indeed a child sleeping soundly, as if very, very tired.
Yue Qianchou stood on the lotus seedpod with a strange expression. The lotus was quite sturdy, and it didn't even wobble when he stood on it.
Damn it! It's definitely a demon. A normal child would have been roasted to a crisp by now, how could it be sleeping here? Yue Qianchou stretched out a foot and kicked the sleeping child, urging, "Fatty, wake up, your old man is here. Hey! Get up, your old man is here, or I'll spank you."
After several shouts went unanswered, and a few more kicks from him finally made the child groggily open his eyes. When the child saw someone standing before him, he let out a loud cry and lunged to leap into the molten lava outside the lotus flower.
"Trying to run? No way!" Yue Qianchou swiftly grabbed the child around the waist, slapped his white bottom a few times, and chuckled wickedly, "You little brat, trying to run away! Tell me honestly, what kind of demon are you?"
"Grandpa, save me! Someone's trying to catch me..." The naked child cried out as he was being beaten, his voice so loud it echoed throughout the canyon.
Grandpa? Could there be another old demon? Yue Qianchou immediately glanced around guiltily, but instead of seeing the old demon, he felt a sharp pain in his arm. His hand loosened, and the child kicked off him, leaping off the lotus and plunging into the surging lava with a "plop." Yue Qianchou stepped onto the edge of the lotus, only to see a head pop up from the lava, making a face at him. He immediately roared in anger, "You little demon, how dare you bite me!" With that, he drew his flying sword and slashed down, but the child was as agile as a fish in the lava, disappearing in a flash and sinking completely into the lava.
Yue Qianchou's flying swords swirled around him as he menacingly surveyed the river, searching for the little brat for a long time without seeing him reappear. He was furious that he'd been fooled by a mere little demon. His gaze fell on the lotus flower beneath his feet, and he snarled, "I'll teach you to sleep!" He unleashed a flurry of flying swords, producing a series of clanging sounds, but the lotus flower beneath his feet remained as hard as ice, completely unharmed!
After all that fuss, he was completely exasperated. To be honest, besides having many flying swords, all he could do was set fires, but setting fires was obviously useless against the Azure Lotus. It could produce its own Azure Flame, one of the Three Flavored True Fire Flames, so how could it be afraid of fire?
Damn it! Not only did I come all this way for nothing, but I also got bitten by that little demon. What a huge loss! Yue Qianchou looked around, figuring the child wouldn't be coming out again for the time being. Looking at the eight unopened lotus buds around him, then at the blooming lotus at his feet, a hint of suspicion crossed his face. Could there be a child inside each of those eight unopened lotus flowers? Damn it, the Demon Ghost Domain really is a breeding ground for monsters; even the lotus flowers underground can become spirits.
As he was pondering, rubbing his chin, he suddenly felt something staring at him from behind. When he turned around, he was immediately terrified.
In the crimson river of lava, a massive red body protruded from the surface, estimated to be over ten meters tall. It was topped with a huge head, two ferocious horns, a hard, armor-like forehead, an extended and prominent nose, fangs that couldn't be concealed even when its mouth was closed, and two catfish whiskers as thick as its thighs. Its body was covered with a layer of bright red armor, and when stared at by those two enormous, lantern-like eyes, one felt an almost irresistible sense of unease.
A majestic and ancient aura rushed towards him, Yue Qianchou's expression to twitch uncontrollably. After a long while, he stammered in a trembling voice, "You are a dragon... a dragon... a dragon!"
He was all too familiar with the image of this monster; he had seen it in various scenes from his previous life. Although it differed slightly from what was before him and lacked a certain realism, it was still quite similar—the image of a dragon, as described in his previous life. This immediately terrified Yue Qianchou. How could a dragon be hiding here? This was too damn outrageous!
"Grandpa! He's the one who tried to grab me!" A naked child sitting on the dragon head pointed at Yue Qianchou indignantly; it was the little guy who had just escaped.
"Someone can actually stand unharmed in the azure fire?" An ancient and weathered voice came from the dragon's mouth, its two large eyes staring at the somewhat dazed Yue Qianchou, revealing a hint of confusion.
"Are you his grandfather?" Yue Qianchou finally managed to utter a sentence after a long while, pointing tremblingly at the little brat sitting on the dragon head.
"Yes!" the aged voice replied, and then its entire body rose another section from the molten lava, revealing a huge, strong, and ferocious five-clawed weapon, though a large golden iron chain was attached to its wrist. The dragon asked, "Human, why did you capture him?"
"Oh my god!" Yue Qianchou thought he was about to attack, and immediately let out a strange scream before disappearing without a trace.
Two streams of flame spewed from the dragon's massive nostrils, and its entire body floated above the molten lava. Its crimson-armored body undulated, stretching nearly a hundred meters in length, but its limbs and claws were bound by gleaming golden chains, four enormous chains digging deep into the molten lava. The dragon turned its head, peering around, and its aged voice uttered a strange "Eh..."
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