Slaying the Flood Dragon with the Great River

"Ten million citizens, crying blood and looking to the royal army, while the officials in the court still flaunt themselves in Luocheng, wagging their tails... The sorrow of the four nations, the sorrow of the people, the sorrow of the officials, the sorrow of the king, the sorrow of the empire!"

The writing stopped abruptly here!

Lin Su slowly raised his head and put down his brush.

"On the Four Nations," a total of 1013 characters, written in one go.

The writing might have flaws, but he didn't want to change it. This article might be exposing old wounds, which was exactly what he wanted!

Lin Su gently raised his hand, grabbed the small bell above, and shook it lightly, signaling that he was submitting his paper.

The Provincial Examination lasted for twelve hours.

It had only been three hours at this point.

In the imperial examination hall, it was possible for someone to submit their paper early, but to submit after only three hours was almost unheard of.

This was because the imperial examinations were too important; every single character could lead to your failure. Who would dare not to check thoroughly and ensure there were no flaws before submitting? Even if the essay itself was flawless, writing it a few more times could improve the calligraphy.

Someone like him was truly one in a million!

The bell rang, a stream of light rose, and his two poems and one essay shot up into the sky and disappeared.

The door of the examination room opened, and Lin Su strode out, heading down the mountain.

A hundred miles away, within Zhenjiang Prefecture, Thunder Mountain.

With a bang, a black shadow soared into the sky. A monster clad in black armor burst out of a mountain ravine, and the surrounding forest instantly turned to dust, as if the mountain had collapsed.

A flash of light appeared in the air, revealing a seven-stringed zither.

The strings vibrated together, and ten thousand silver lights converged, transforming into a colossal sword that pierced the black-armored figure.

With a chi sound, the black-armored figure plummeted into an abyss, accompanied by a shrill roar: "How dare this little woman be so bold! Do you know who I am? To dare to chase me across a hundred thousand mountains!"

A woman suddenly appeared below the zither. It was Zhang Yiyu, the Flower of the Great Dao from the Bishui Immortal Sect.

Zhang Yiyu said coldly, "I don't care who you are. You dared to slaughter twelve villages. Even if you were a god or Buddha from the heavens, you would become a soul lost to my zither!"

As her voice fell, the zither's shadow in the sky suddenly changed, emitting ten thousand rays of golden light.

Ten thousand golden nets swirled towards the abyss below.

Beneath the abyss, the stream water surged like an angry spring, colliding with the golden zither's phantom strings. But it was split into countless pieces by the golden strings. The golden zither reached the bottom of the valley. The black-armored figure roared again, and with a boom, it smashed through a gap ahead, flowing downstream. In the river, there were traces of blood. The previous attack had clearly injured it.

But it wasn't fatal.

Zhang Yiyu took a step forward, and the seven-stringed zither in the air landed beneath her feet, carrying her as she flew out of the forest, in hot pursuit.

Ahead lay the Yangtze River.

The black shadow entered the Yangtze River, stirring up hundred-foot-high waves. Zhang Yiyu arrived on her zither, when suddenly, a giant black dragon head emerged from the river, and with a roar, a powerful blast of air sent her flying far away.

Zhang Yiyu somersaulted ten times in the air, then stabilized herself. Her eyes became as bright as swords: "So it's a vicious flood dragon!"

"Indeed! A flood dragon entering the water, how can you possibly control it? I will keep you here as my seventh hundredth concubine!"

Zhang Yiyu's expression turned grim.

This vicious flood dragon had gone on a killing spree in the hundred thousand mountains, destroying twelve human villages and killing countless people. She had been pursuing it all along, gaining the upper hand, but had been unable to truly kill it. Now that the flood dragon had entered the water, its strength had greatly increased by borrowing the power of the water. Killing it would be extremely difficult.

The surrounding torrents poured in, and the soft water turned into a mountain of blades and swords. Zhang Yiyu shouted, "Dragon Domain?"

The Dragon Domain was no trivial matter.

Only the royal family among the sea tribes could unleash it. Once the power of the Dragon Domain was activated, the domain became their home ground, where they could bestow life or death as they pleased, with no one able to resist.

This was just a flood dragon, it hadn't even transformed into a true dragon, so how could it unleash a Dragon Domain?

The black flood dragon laughed wildly, "That's why you have no idea who I am! Combine!"

The Dragon Domain suddenly closed in.

The phantom zither beneath Zhang Yiyu's feet shattered.

Suddenly, she pointed a finger at her brow and shouted, "And you have no idea who I am? ... Enchanting Zither Realm, open!"

A circle of colorful light spread out from her brow like water. Wherever it went, spring bloomed and flowers blossomed. The ice mountains and ice swords within the Dragon Domain all turned into spring water...

The black flood dragon roared, "Flower of the Great Dao!"

The power of a domain could be unleashed by the royal family of the sea tribes.

It could also be unleashed by powerful cultivators of the human race.

The lowest threshold for unleashing the power of a domain was the fifth realm! The Dao Flower Realm!

Lin Su had already reached the riverbank. An old man stared at him blankly: "Young master... Young master, are you one of the students taking the exam today?"

"Yes, I'm done. Old man, can you give me a ride across the river?"

The old man said, "The golden bell for the exam only rang three and a half hours ago..."

"Yeah, with such a simple topic, and twelve hours, whoever can stand it can stand it. Anyway, I finished early, submitted early, and can go home to eat early... What, is there a rule against going home early?"

"How could this be?" the old man quickly said, "Young master, please get on the boat. I'll take you across the river right away..."

He roughly understood. This young man in front of him had no intention of taking the exam seriously. He'd simply go through the motions, or perhaps wouldn't even be able to answer any questions. He'd stay there all night and still wouldn't come up with an answer, so it was better to just leave.

He'd seen many people like this. Most of them were from wealthy families, unable to endure hardship or study, but unable to resist their elders' arrangements, so they'd just put on a show to appease them.

The person in front of him was dressed well, which basically fit his prediction.

Once on the boat and away from the shore, the small boat, carrying the afterglow of the setting sun, glided towards the east bank of the river...

Suddenly, Lin Su's gaze sharpened, "Old man, it looks like there are big waves ahead. Could there be some river beast?"

The old man squinted, but with his eyesight, he obviously couldn't see that far. "Don't worry, young master. The sea folk and humans have an agreement. Sea beasts don't enter the inner rivers, and ordinary river demons, who would dare to act wild under Qiankun Academy? That's just river mist..."

"You're the expert in this area!" Lin Su nodded, "Let's go."

He believed the old man, and the old man believed in ancient legends. Finally, the small boat rowed straight across the river. Lin Su lay on the boat, gazing at the sky. The boat sailed on the green waves, and he was like a painting. This Yangtze River was nothing like the Yangtze River on Earth. The Yangtze River on Earth was murky and dirty, but this Yangtze River was picturesque...

Suddenly, the old man let out a loud shout, "What is that?"

Lin Su sprang up and saw a giant black dragon's head in the river ahead...

Holy crap!

A dragon, who on Earth has ever seen a dragon?

Not a dinosaur, but a real dragon...

The black dragon's head spewed black flames, like a sword of doom, tearing through the sky. A woman in white flew high into the distance, spitting blood like rain.

The giant black dragon coiled its tail, stirring up the green water of the river. The green water instantly turned into a river of black water, and night arrived prematurely. The small boat was suddenly tossed onto the crest of a wave, with a bottomless abyss below...

One moment, Lin Su was lying on the boat, leisurely watching the sunset. The next, he was facing death.

He planted his feet firmly, like nails driven into the boat's deck.

Even as the boat shot up to a ten-zhang wave crest, he remained unmoved!

He raised his hands, and the Treasure Brush and Treasure Paper appeared in his palms!

He lifted his brush and began to write:

"What is the spirit of a severed head today? Starting a venture is difficult, with a hundred battles fought!"

Silver light fell from his brush, and a desolate aura suddenly enveloped the great river.

"From here to the underworld, I'll rally my old troops..."

Five-colored auspicious light suddenly covered half the river. Within the auspicious light, countless phantom warriors appeared.

Zhang Yiyu, flying high in the distance, was greatly alarmed. A War Poem?

Who wrote a War Poem? And a five-colored one at that?

The black flood dragon in the river was even more shocked. It suddenly realized that its own overwhelmingly powerful aura was completely suppressed by the might of this War Poem, and it could no longer stir the spring waters of the river.

"With a hundred thousand banners, we'll slay Yama!"

As the last line was uttered, the scene became magnificent. The five-colored auspicious light turned seven-colored. The hundred thousand souls merged into one, raising a sky-shattering giant sword and striking the black flood dragon's head. This sword was fearless, carrying an unparalleled dominance that would destroy gods and buddhas alike...

With a tremendous boom, the black flood dragon was sent flying ten zhang away, its dragon neck gushing black blood.

It flicked its tail, and the small boat Lin Su was on was sent flying through the air, shooting towards the distance. He tightly gripped the boat's railing, his mind in a daze.

He had verified two points. First, Marshal Chen's poem was also a thousand-year-old poem.

Second, his current strength was still too low. Even a seven-colored War Poem couldn't truly kill a powerful enemy.

If there was a third point, it was that War Poems were extremely overbearing. The moment this poem was unleashed, it stirred his Literary Root and Martial Root, leaving his entire body limp as mud and his brain in excruciating pain...

The next moment, Lin Su's small boat crashed heavily into the shallow water by the riverbank. The boat fell apart, and Lin Su and the old man both fell into the water. As he surfaced, he saw the black flood dragon rolling and roaring in the middle of the river...

My heavens, I've really angered it! Hurry and run!

Driven by some unknown power, Lin Su ran desperately and finally reached the shore, entering the small woods. A rustle came from the grass behind him, and the old man, disheveled like a water ghost, followed. His weathered, impassive old face was now filled with terror...

"Old man, what is that thing?"