The flood dragon twisted its dragon body, straining outward with all its might, every scale standing on end. Yet Pillars of the Heavens crossed the cloud layer, snapping inch by inch, piled up like mountains, joining with the gray mist to pin it down tightly.
"Little Water, the Demon Race and humans cultivate differently. Humans cultivate inward, drawing a boundary between 'self' and 'outside.' The Demon Race cultivates outward, blurring 'self' and 'outside,' every movement carrying Heaven and Earth along with it. So Great Demons and Demon Kings Assimilate their Environment, spawning precious ores around where they live. The flood dragon has occupied and assimilated the Dragon Palace for decades; it is as impregnable as a fortress. Your traversal divine ability will fail there, and there's Iron Head Fish blocking the way..."
"I know. That's why I didn't go to the Dragon Palace first. But times have changed. What couldn't be done before may not be impossible now!"
Blood Water scattered, and white vapor flooded back in.
After several sweeping charges, the Blood Ape reverted to the White Ape.
The Jiang Huai Great Marsh spanned ten thousand li. Crossing half of it required no more than five uses of [Water Travel Thousand Miles]. The flood dragon was nailed at the estuary by water pillars spread forth by the Marshland Kingdom. Unable to traverse, it could only swim madly.
All the demons of the Dragon Palace had been cleared out.
Beneath the Fire Tree Silver Flower in the plaza, Iron Head Fish stood ready in grim formation, cold sweat beading over its body.
It did not know how, in less than a year, the White Ape had gone from fleeing the Huai River in utter disarray to standing toe-to-toe with the flood dragon at the Lu Cang River. Nor did it