An Abnormal Change Beneath the River

The bottom of Clear Water River was jagged with sand and stones, thick with aquatic grass, while fish of every color drifted leisurely through the water.

From time to time, they saw the wreckage of sunken boats and dried bones on the riverbed.

Ye Xiaofan and Tie Wuqing moved swiftly along the riverbed like two columns of water, an icy chill that seemed capable of freezing their souls lingering in their hearts.

They both knew that Evil had caught up to them and was getting closer and closer.

Without some unforeseen turn of events, neither of them would escape tonight's calamity.

Ye Xiaofan turned to look at Tie Wuqing, his eyes filled with apology. He had dragged Tie Wuqing into this.

Seeing Ye Xiaofan's pale face, Tie Wuqing shook her head.

She understood what Ye Xiaofan meant.

But she did not regret it. Having made a promise, she would see it through to the end, even if it cost her life.

That was the principle by which she lived.

If Evil captured her, she would choose suicide. She did not want to become a demon.

It was just a pity that her mother's vengeance remained unavenged. She was deeply unwilling to accept it.

The fish seemed to sense the pair's despair as well. They scattered in panic, some even plunging headfirst into the mud and sand.

"I found you! Hahaha!"

An excited burst of laughter suddenly exploded beside their ears.

On the river's surface, Evil walked upon the waves as he watched the two figures swimming below. Two gleams of excited light shot from his gray-white, pupil-less eyes.

"This is bad. Evil has caught up."

Ye Xiaofan's heart trembled, and despair appeared in his eyes for the first time.

Before an absolute gap in strength, they were so powerless.

Ye Xiaofan and Tie Wuqing exchanged a glance, each seeing despair and unwillingness in the other's eyes.

Yet neither gave up. A terrifying madness erupted in their eyes.

As if by prior agreement, they burned their qi and blood to unleash secret techniques, swimming madly through the water.

As for leaving the river, they had never considered it. They would only die faster that way.

"Laughable struggling."

Evil's voice appeared above their heads. Immediately afterward, an incomparably massive gray palm, several yards wide, split the river water and slammed toward Ye Xiaofan and Tie Wuqing.

"Damn it, I'm going all out! Let me see just how strong a Qi Condensation stage Evil really is."

Ye Xiaofan roared inwardly.

"Clang!"

Sword Drawing Technique!

Gathering all his essence, qi, and spirit, this was the most powerful sword strike he had produced since beginning cultivation.

A blood-red sword glow blasted aside the river water and pierced toward the gray giant palm.

On the other side,

Tie Wuqing's qi and blood likewise boiled throughout her body as three blood-red palm imprints, each around three feet wide, struck toward the gray giant palm.

The enormous shockwave blasted away the surrounding river water, creating a dry space several yards across.

The terrifying aftershock swept Ye Xiaofan and Tie Wuqing down toward the muddy riverbed.

In an instant, countless grains of mud and sand sprayed into the air, and a huge crater was blasted open.

A fishy sweetness surged up his throat, and Ye Xiaofan spat out a mouthful of blood.

Tie Wuqing was no better off. A streak of vivid crimson hung at the corner of her lips, while the broken corner of her mask revealed half of a pale, breathtakingly beautiful face.

"So strong!"

Ye Xiaofan was unwilling, yet utterly helpless.

Evil had merely attacked casually, yet even when he and Tie Wuqing joined forces and gave it everything they had, they could not withstand it.

Ye Xiaofan stared wide-eyed as Evil, like a god with his hands clasped behind his back, slowly approached. Powerful mana kept the river water from touching him.

"Hehe, not bad. I never expected a desolate little place like Qingyang County to conceal a genius no less talented than Xiao Qiaofeng. Mother Goddess is truly watching over me!"

When Evil saw Tie Wuqing beside Ye Xiaofan, a flush appeared on his demonic, bewitching face.

He could devour Ye Xiaofan to strengthen his own origin.

At the same time, he could gain Xiao Qiaofeng and Tie Wuqing, two subordinates with considerable potential.

Ye Xiaofan wanted to resist. He was unwilling to accept such a hasty defeat.

Tie Wuqing wanted to kill herself. She knew what would happen if she fell into Evil's hands.

Unfortunately, the pressure emanating from Evil crushed them so thoroughly that they could not even blink.

This was suppression at the level of life itself.

After breaking through to the Qi Condensation stage, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy infused the fleshly body. A living being underwent an essential transformation and stepped onto the immortal path in pursuit of longevity.

"The farce is over. Come back with me."

As Evil spoke, he reached out to seize them.

Just then,

What none of the three noticed was—

The blood Ye Xiaofan had spat out dripped onto a smooth stone tablet exposed within the crater he had smashed open.

The tablet bore four large golden characters, carved with the force of dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing: "Five Elements Daoist."

Just as Evil's hand was about to touch Ye Xiaofan, the drop of blood completely merged into the stone tablet.

At once,

The four golden characters, "Five Elements Daoist," bloomed like the sun, and Evil's pressure melted away in that instant like ice and snow beneath a blazing sun.

Ye Xiaofan reflexively closed his eyes, yet he still could not block out the dazzling golden light.

"Ah—"

Evil let out a shrill, inhuman scream. His eyes, filled entirely with gray-white sclera, were full of terror.

His mana burned madly without restraint as he rushed out of the golden light at nearly the speed of sound.

At the same time,

Ye Xiaofan only felt his head spin, while his body seemed to be torn apart by countless giant hands. Then he lost consciousness.

The golden light lasted only three breaths.

At this moment,

Evil's face was twisted, all traces of elegance gone. Wisps of green smoke rose from his entire body as though he had been scorched by raging flames.

Standing on the river's surface, he looked down at the riverbed with terror in his eyes, along with a trace of relief.

Just now, he had nearly returned to Mother Goddess's embrace.

"Hiss—"

"It hurts!"

Ye Xiaofan felt as though his entire body were about to fall apart. It was as if a small mountain were pressing against his back, making it hard for him to breathe.

Ye Xiaofan reached behind himself with one hand.

Why was it so soft?

Unable to resist, Ye Xiaofan gave it a squeeze.

"Mmh—"

A soft groan came from his back, followed by the small mountain on his back shifting.

Tie Wuqing, who had already awakened, felt something strange happening to her body. Two crimson flushes rose across her handsome face with a swish.

"Lecher!"

After seeing who was beneath her, she did not dare move at all, afraid Ye Xiaofan would notice her unusual state.

At this moment,

Ye Xiaofan's head was still spinning, and he had yet to realize what was pressing down on his back.

"Tsk, tsk, what an eyesore. What an eyesore!"

Just as Tie Wuqing did not know what to do, a childish yet teasing voice suddenly rang out.

Feeling Ye Xiaofan withdraw his hand, she let out a long breath inwardly.

Yet she continued pretending to be unconscious.

Hearing the voice, Ye Xiaofan's mind immediately cleared. He recalled that he had seemingly been enveloped by a dazzling golden light before passing out.

He raised his head and looked ahead, yet saw nothing.

He immediately became alert.

He planted both hands on the ground, intending to push away the small mountain on his back and stand up.

"Holy shit!"

Seeing the long hair hanging down, Ye Xiaofan finally realized belatedly that Tie Wuqing was lying on top of him.

Ye Xiaofan placed Tie Wuqing on the ground. Seeing that her breathing was merely a little hurried, he relaxed.

"I hope Gang Leader Tie didn't wake up."

Hearing Ye Xiaofan mutter to himself, the blush Tie Wuqing had painstakingly suppressed spread across her face again.

Ye Xiaofan swept his gaze around.

He discovered that he was in a stone chamber hall. Countless fist-sized luminous pearls were embedded in the surrounding stone walls, casting a gentle glow that illuminated the entire hall.

A Stone Gate stood directly ahead, with two stone pillars thick enough for one person to wrap their arms around rising on either side.

All kinds of divine beasts were carved upon the stone pillars.

"Kid, what are you looking at?"

The teasing voice sounded again.

Every hair on Ye Xiaofan's body stood on end. Tensing all over, he turned to look at the stone pillar on the left.

He was certain that the voice had come from that left stone pillar.

"Who is it?"

Ye Xiaofan's Adam's apple bobbed. His qi and blood erupted, forming Qi and Blood Armor over his body. He instinctively reached for the hilt of his sword, only to grab empty air.

His sword had vanished at some point.

"Kid, are you blind? I'm right here."

"Divine Dragon!"

Ye Xiaofan's eyes widened as he cried out, scarcely believing what he saw.

A miniature dragon, as thick as ten fingers and entirely purple-gold in color, was coiled around the horn of a five-clawed divine dragon relief on the left stone pillar. It raised its head and looked down at him from the corner of its eye.

"That's right. I am a divine dragon. Mortal, why haven't you knelt to pay respects to this god?"

The miniature dragon adjusted its posture as though overlooking Ye Xiaofan from above, speaking in a majestic tone.

Ye Xiaofan frowned deeply. This world had a Demon Race, so the appearance of a dragon from Blue Star's myths was not hard to understand.

Earlier, he had merely reacted so strongly because he had seen the totem held in the heart of every Chinese person from his previous life.

Now that he had regained his composure, he carefully examined the miniature dragon.

After confirming it with his own eyes, he realized that he probably could not defeat this little dragon.

The occasional trace of qi and blood fluctuation emanating from it was even more terrifying than Xiao Qiaofeng's.