Demonic Beast Friend

After Su Changqing followed the flood dragon snake for several hundred meters, it stopped beside a waterfall and opened its mouth, firing a spiritual energy blast at the falls and diverting the water in another direction.

The next second, Su Changqing's eyes lit up.

Beneath the waterfall, a white narcissus orchid was growing. It looked exceptionally beautiful and captivating amid the swamp—it was precisely the Desolate Orchid Water Lily Su Changqing had come to find.

Su Changqing rode his Flying Sword to the orchid, plucked it with one hand, and carefully stored it in his storage pouch.

That had been effortless!

He had thought the search would take a long time, yet under the flood dragon snake's guidance, he found it in just two or three minutes.

"Now that we're even, I, Su Changqing, acknowledge you as a friend. If I get the chance, I'll come back here to catch up with you!"

With his business here concluded, Su Changqing wanted to leave as soon as possible and return to the sect. Smiling brightly, he waved goodbye to the flood dragon snake. "Big flood dragon, I'm leaving!"

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

Yet just as Su Changqing stepped onto his Flying Sword and prepared to leave, he heard the flood dragon snake calling out to him from behind.

"You want to leave with me?"

Su Changqing turned around and asked the flood dragon snake with a surprised expression.

The flood dragon snake said nothing, merely nodding eagerly.

"But with a body as enormous as yours, if you come with me, never mind frightening others—I have nowhere to keep you."

After pondering for a long while, Su Changqing spoke to the flood dragon snake.

Their encounter today proved that they were fated to meet. He had used an array to help the flood dragon snake shed its skin and undergo Tribulation Crossing, while it had helped him find the Desolate Orchid Water Lily he needed to break through. Was that not another form of mutual fulfillment?

Furthermore, judging from their earlier battle, this flood dragon snake was far from ordinary. It had fought him, a man blessed with Unrivaled Insight, to a standstill. Among human cultivators, such strength was rare as well.

Of course, there were many cultivators in this world who took demonic beasts as companions. Just like the protagonist Zhang Xiaofan from the stories, who had a Three-Eyed Spirit Monkey named Little Gray as a demonic beast friend. In the end, Little Gray grew to an unimaginable level of strength and became an immensely important source of combat power at Zhang Xiaofan's side.

With that in mind, Su Changqing also wanted to bring the flood dragon snake with him. The immediate problem was how to hide its enormous body, nearly ten meters long.

"Do you know any transformation or shrinking techniques? If you can alter your form and shrink down, I can bring you back to the sect. The two of us can cultivate together in the Qingyun Sect."

Su Changqing asked the flood dragon snake curiously.

The flood dragon snake nodded excitedly. Then white light flashed around it. Once the light faded, its enormous body was gone, replaced by a slender little snake less than half an arm long.

"This is perfect!"

Only then did Su Changqing relax. He walked over and picked up the flood dragon snake. It coiled up along his arm and obediently wrapped itself around his left forearm.

Upon closer inspection, Su Changqing liked the Little Flood Dragon Snake even more. Its dark scales shimmered with dazzling colors beneath the light, while the pair of white feathers made it especially strange. Faint lightning flickered around the horn on its head, giving it an air of both divine mystery and adorable charm.

Su Changqing stroked its snake head. The cool touch felt quite pleasant, and the Little Flood Dragon Snake closed its unusual dark eyes, seemingly enjoying Su Changqing's caress immensely.

"Alright, we became good friends today. From now on, we'll cultivate the Great Dao together!"

"Hiss hiss! (Good friends! Cultivate the Great Dao together!)"

The Flying Sword rose, and one man and one snake set off on their journey home.

After flying through Nine Yin Mountain for quite some time, Su Changqing, who wanted nothing more than to return to the sect quickly, heard a burst of commotion from within the mountains. It sounded as though two groups were confronting each other.

"Could the Demonic Cult have clashed with someone else again?"

Su Changqing recalled that aside from the Demonic Cult, he had not seen any other forces in the mountains earlier. Curious about what had happened, he decided to investigate further and asked the Little Flood Dragon Snake, "Should we go watch the excitement?"

"Hiss hiss!"

The Little Flood Dragon Snake nodded, agreeing with Su Changqing's idea.

"Then let's go!"

Su Changqing turned his Flying Sword around and flew toward the source of the commotion.

The first thing that came into view was a group of Demonic Cult disciples. Rather than building an array inside the cave, they had gathered together and appeared to have trapped another group in the center.

Besides Qiu Buping, another unfamiliar old man was present among the Demonic Cult members. He had white hair and a white beard, wore dark green robes, and a faint layer of poisonous aura lingered around him.

Even Su Changqing could not discern his Cultivation Level. Clearly, he had reached a far greater level than Qiu Buping—most likely the Spirit Transformation Realm, like Martial Uncle Shuiyue and the others.

"Even someone this powerful has come out? Could these Demonic Cult members have encountered some formidable enemy?"

Su Changqing frowned as he concealed himself from afar and observed.

If it had only been Qiu Buping, Su Changqing could have remained hidden with enough care. But against a mighty expert in the Spirit Transformation Realm, he neither dared nor could afford to take that gamble. No matter how formidable his Heaven Concealment Method was, a Spirit Transformation expert would notice him instantly.

Not to mention, he still did not know the old man's identity, nor did he know who the people confronting the Demonic Cult were. Acting rashly might bring unforeseen complications.

As Su Changqing hid in the distance and observed closely, he heard the old man in dark green robes ask the people surrounded below by the Demonic Cult in a grim voice, "Tian Buyi, Shuiyue, our Sacred Cult has not provoked your Qingyun Sect recently. Yet you brought people here to provoke our Sacred Cult. What is the meaning of this?"

"Old Poison Ghost, what do you mean, we came here to provoke you? Nine Yin Mountain is only a few dozen kilometers from our Qingyun Sect. By all reason, it falls within Qingyun Sect territory. You brought so many disciples into our land to cause trouble in such a grand manner, and now you want to turn the tables on us?"

Among the Qingyun Sect members surrounded on the ground at the foot of the mountain by Demonic Cult disciples, Tian Buyi replied indignantly.

Tian Buyi? Shuiyue? Qingyun Sect?

Those two names made Su Changqing's heart jolt.

How could it be Martial Uncle Tian and Master?

Why had they come to Nine Yin Mountain?

And they had clashed with these Demonic Cult people, even reaching the point where Spirit Transformation experts were confronting each other. Judging from the anger in their words, it seemed they were about to fight.

In an instant, countless questions arose in Su Changqing's mind. Even with his quick wits, he could not make sense of it. But now that he knew they were Qingyun Sect members, there was no way he could stand idly by.

Unfortunately, his Cultivation Level was too low. For now, he could only hide in the distance and watch how events unfolded.

"Oh? I have never heard that Nine Yin Mountain was Qingyun Sect territory. Could it be that you self-proclaimed righteous gentlemen also enjoy plundering everywhere?"

"Enough nonsense! Old Poison Ghost, you stole our spiritual treasure in our territory. Return it immediately, or the Qingyun Sect will not let this matter rest today!"