Blood Flowing Like a River / Zhu Meng, Nan Jue

Buzz buzz buzz!

Lu Jun's eyes erupted with powerful psychic energy. It descended through the air onto several General-level Crocodile Demons, breaking through the "Mind Lake barrier" and plunging them into confusion. They mistook him for the White Sturgeon Demon.

The murderous aura that had been closing in on him suddenly changed direction. Three or four enormous crocodiles, each over a dozen meters long, shielded him from all sides and tore into the Servant-level giant crocodiles.

Pfft!

A General-level Crocodile Demon surfaced on the lake. Its massive claw slammed down, instantly smashing a giant crocodile's head open like an exploding watermelon, spraying blood everywhere. It opened its bloody maw and bit down, snapping another giant crocodile in half at the spine.

For a moment, all the Servant-level Crocodile Demons stopped attacking. They stared at one another in bewilderment, unable to understand what had happened to their leader or why it had suddenly betrayed them. Yet the White Sturgeon Demon, which served as their brains, had also been controlled and could no longer issue orders.

The crocodile horde descended into chaos, leaderless.

With one hand controlling the Mind Element and the other wielding the Curse Element, Lu Jun unleashed both powers at once, actually restraining more than half the crocodile horde's combat strength. Its might was truly astonishing.

Ordinary Mind and Curse Mages were nowhere near this powerful. It was purely because of his spiritual realm that he could control several General-level creatures in one go.

Of course, Lu Jun had undergone Ding Yumian's special training. That was why he had been able to easily break through the inner minds of the General-level giant Crocodile Demons. Then, using the Water Element aura in his body to pass himself off as one of them, he could maintain the effect for only a short while at most.

Chapter 90: Blood Flowing Like a River

Splash!

Under Lu Jun's control, two Servant-level crocodiles swam over to Lu Mei and Tang Yue. The two women stepped onto the crocodile demons' backs, which carried all three of them swiftly back to shore.

Then, while he still had a little time left, transparent radiance reflected in Lu Jun's eyes. He viciously lashed the minds of several General-level giant Crocodile Demons, driving them berserk.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Several General-level creatures roared in agony. They shook their massive bodies frantically, charging wildly in all directions and slaughtering indiscriminately, smacking Servant-level creatures into sprays of flesh and blood.

The other dozens of General-level Crocodile Demons sensed that something was wrong. Only then did they growl and summon their underlings to fight back, swarming forward and killing the three or four General-level companions.

Of course, they paid a heavy price for it. Two or three General-level creatures were dragged down and gravely wounded, barely clinging to life. Dozens of Servant-level creatures were also bitten to death.

Once Lu Mei and Tang Yue were safe, they did not stop either. Each of them formed a Star Chart. Storms and flames intertwined, forming nine flaming tornadoes that swept across the lake, while a scorching sea of fire spread over its surface.

More than a hundred Crocodile Demons immobilized by the Evil Spider Trap were reduced to charred corpses. The smell of roasting meat and burning flesh filled the air.

Lu Jun released his Mind Control. He concentrated all the mental energy he had freed up on the Evil Spider Trap. After being eroded for some time, the backs of the trapped Crocodile Demons were covered in dense, ghostly green Curse Marks over nearly half their bodies. The marks had completely penetrated them.

Snap! He snapped his fingers, and his will decisively detonated the Curse Marks.

Boom boom boom! In utter silence, the flesh on the backs of one Crocodile Demon after another exploded, spraying blood everywhere. At the same time, their souls were harvested. Their foreheads swelled, and blood spilled from their mouths and noses. They clearly would not survive.

Even those lucky enough not to die immediately had their back flesh turn dark green, the vivid color filled with the eerie aura of the Curse Element.

Shriek! At that moment, the White Sturgeon Demons finally broke free of the Curse Net. Seeing their underlings dying in droves and suffering heavy losses, they shrieked furiously. Water vapor spread around them as immense Demonic Power erupted.

The lake churned violently, as if it were about to trigger another attack.

Seeing this, Lu Jun sneered. Earlier, he had been caught off guard and ambushed before he understood what was happening. Now that they had discovered him, did they really still dare attack?

In the next moment, an eerie dark-green radiance flashed in his eyes. From several hundred meters away, he stared at several White Sturgeon Demons and instantly interrupted their spellcasting.

The White Sturgeon Demons looked terrified under the gaze of a pair of scarlet eyes. They did not know that the Curse Marks on their foreheads had deepened, and ghostly green patterns had spread across their entire bodies.

"Die!" Lu Jun fixed his will and detonated the Curse Marks.

A familiar chain of explosions rang out. Several General-level White Sturgeon Demons had their bodies shattered on the spot, chunks of flesh and blood spraying through the air as a downpour of blood fell into the vast lake.

Lu Jun's expression remained indifferent. He had not released the Curse Marks directly earlier because he had merely been continuing to deepen the marks, ensuring that he could kill the White Sturgeon Demons with absolute certainty.

Curse Marks had varying levels of strength. They were generally judged by how much of the body the patterns covered. Once the entire body was covered, anything below the General level would undoubtedly die.

In just this short time, more than two hundred Servant-level Demonic Beasts had been killed or wounded, while around ten General-level creatures had died. The remaining four or five hundred crocodiles began to retreat, wanting to follow the river mouth back into the main waterway.

But how could Lu Jun and the other two possibly let this horde of Demonic Beasts go?

He shouted, "Sis, hold them down!"

Lu Mei formed a Star Chart and cast Rock Barrier Mountains. The lake churned without end. At the narrow entrance to the lake, the waves rolled violently as walls of stone rose with thunderous booms, layer upon layer, hard and heavy with a crushing aura.

Because the entrance was narrow, only several giant Crocodile Demons could charge through at once. For the time being, the crocodile horde was jammed at the entrance, trapped between advancing and retreating.

Shadow energy surged around Tang Yue. A dark-night Star Chart appeared beneath her feet. Several clusters of shadow drifted silently forward, transforming into giant spikes that pierced the shadows of the giant crocodiles and pinned several General-level crocodiles in place.

This was the limit of the Shadow Element. There was no helping it—it was a powerful single-target control spell and could only lock down a select few exceptionally powerful Great General-level creatures.

Meanwhile, the Evil Spider Traps that Lu Jun had scattered around also began to take effect, transforming into great dark-green nets that caught groups of Crocodile Demons.

With this move, the hundreds of Crocodile Demons were directly surrounded and piled together, packed tightly in dense layers.

Buzz buzz buzz!

Lu Jun finally had a free hand. He once again formed the long-unused Gold Element Intermediate Level Magic: Artifact Control. The Vibranium Heavy Sword rose from the ground and floated beside him as a three-foot-long platinum sword beam.

The sword beam shot into the heavens and vanished in an instant. It soared across the sky, its sharp whistle echoing through the air, almost blending into the overcast sky.

Then Lu Jun swept both hands downward. In an instant, a white pillar of light descended from the heavens like a gigantic missile. While still in midair, it split into seven Heavenly Swords, each twelve meters tall.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One Heavy Sword after another, each like a small mountain, crashed down and pierced the densest part of the crocodile horde. Thunderous explosions rang out without end, accompanied by the wet sounds of flesh being torn apart. The lake itself seemed to boil and churn.

Across the vast lake, seven towering "sword hills" covered nearly half its surface. An immense amount of blood gushed from beneath them, pouring out unchecked and dyeing the lake completely red. The stench of blood filled the sky, and the water grew viscous.

This was not something that would disperse in a moment. "Blood flowing like a river" described the situation perfectly.

Lu Jun had killed at least more than two hundred Crocodile Demons this time. Even General-level creatures would certainly die if struck directly at the core.

The Metal Element's Killing Power had been displayed to the fullest. The second-level Separation had expanded its area of effect several times over. Moreover, it achieved the same destructive power without requiring repeated accumulation and preparation from the Water Element Star Nebula. It had even drained his magic energy dry.

Afterward, the three of them quickly slaughtered the scattered crocodile horde, while corpse after corpse drifted through the blood-red lake.

Seeing this scene, Tang Yue could not help sighing. This combat strength was a little too exaggerated. Once he reached the peak of the Intermediate Level, he might even be able to contend with Advanced-level creatures. She had vaguely guessed Lu Jun's secret—for example, his strange psychic ability. His Curse Element alone could no longer explain it, but she had no intention of asking in detail.

If he was unwilling to say, then so be it.

After the three of them killed several hundred crocodiles, they sat down to meditate and hurriedly recovered their magic energy.

Lu Jun looked inward at the White Tiger Pendant and absorbed more than four hundred Servant-level Remnant Souls. They regrouped into four Servant-level Spirit Essences. In addition, he had obtained two complete Spirit Essences, making this entire trip worthwhile.

His Water Shield had already reached the fourth level, equivalent to half an Intermediate-level defensive spell and second only to Rock Barrier.

For the next fourth-level upgrade, Lu Jun thought for a moment and decided to give it to the first-level Mind Element. Over the past three months, some of Ding Yumian's ideas and research seemed to have borne fruit. His own magic level had failed to keep up, but perhaps the fourth-level Spirit Ripple would bring him a surprise.

Whether it was the Metal Element, Water Element, or first-level fourth-stage Mind Element, none of them appeared in the original work. They were all completely unfamiliar fields, but at least all three were useful.

The Mind Element was especially important. Even at the Advanced Level, a psychic impact was nearly impossible to counter and might become a means of challenging opponents across levels.

At present, opportunities to safely hunt Demonic Beasts like this were far too rare. Normally, they would have to venture deep into Demonic Beast territory, where the danger increased drastically.

Lu Jun immersed himself in the Spiritual World and poured all four Spirit Essences into a transparent Nebula, causing the four translucent stars to expand by a full circle.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them guarded Songjiang Dam for three days and three nights.

Chapter 91: Zhu Meng, Nan Jue

Near the Huangpu River in Magic City, a burly, middle-aged man with a thick beard stood in a councilor's robe, gazing into the distance at the vast river and its fifty-meter-high raging waves.

His expression was solemn, and he could not hide his exhaustion. He had stood here for three days and three nights without closing his eyes, directing the deployment of defenses at every ferry, dam, river, and other location.

Urgent reports from his subordinates arrived from time to time, one piece of bad news after another, while difficulty after difficulty demanded an immediate solution.

"Councilor Zhu Meng, Hengliaojing Ferry is short on manpower and needs reinforcements."

"The wounded Mages have already been sent to logistics, but we're severely short of Healer Mages, and Blood Agents and other medicines are in short supply."

"There are too few Rock Element Mages at Shuliajing. The dam is on the verge of collapse, and water is continuing to spill over."

"The Crocodile Demons that have wandered into the outskirts of Magic City are running rampant in the sewers. We request that specialized Mages be sent to clear them out."

Zhu Meng frowned. No matter how irritated he felt, he suppressed his emotions and calmly directed the arrangements. He kept everything in perfect order, attended to every location, and forcibly found solutions wherever none seemed available.

He kept the entire situation moving with limited resources.

Under his outstanding leadership, the situation along this stretch of the Yangtze River in Magic City had basically stabilized. Next came the steady advance: clearing out the Crocodile Demons, controlling the flooding, and reinforcing the dams.

A female officer nearby felt admiration when she saw this. She was tall, with shoulder-length yellow hair. Despite being a woman, she had a rare aquiline nose. Her eyes were deep, and she looked strikingly handsome, radiating heroic spirit and a kind of androgynous beauty.

Nan Jue had been sent by the Southern Military Zone to serve as an intern beside Councilor Zhu Meng. The southern regions frequently suffered from floods, and Zhu Meng was a nationally renowned practical leader, so she had naturally come to learn from him.

Although Nan Jue had been exhausted these past few days, she had truly undergone tremendous tempering and had broken through to Intermediate Level Two in the Plant Element.

Woooooo!

At that moment, a clear, melodious cry drifted over. The two were startled and turned to look below. They were standing in a pavilion atop a naval dock, which resembled a massive fortress. It was responsible for repairing ships and also served as an interception checkpoint.

Inside the dock's reservoir, a White River Dolphin spat water and let out a low cry. Its body was smooth and springy, and its round shape resembled a white ball. It looked rather adorable.

Zhu Meng's face was full of displeasure. "It was this kind of Demonic Beast that attracted the Crocodile Dragon Lord's greed. It even made us humans protect them, resulting in this unseasonal minor flood. We suffered such heavy losses, and now we've become complete fools!"

The nearby officers exchanged glances. Beside them, a slovenly middle-aged old Mage who looked like a fisherman picked at his toes and said disdainfully, "Don't regret it when you need them later."

He paused, then said, "The Demonic Beast kingdom of the Yangtze River is currently embroiled in internal strife. The White Sturgeon Demon clan took the opportunity to purge the White River Dolphin line, which had always been at odds with them. This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity."

"Both are rare Demonic Beast Hordes capable of controlling water, but the latter is more peaceful and friendly toward humans. We're protecting the surviving bloodline for two reasons. First, to restrain the White Sturgeon Demons in the future—using demons to control demons. Second, we may be able to breed a second Beast Taming Army for the country, one comparable to the Sky Eagle Troop."

As he spoke, the middle-aged fisherman Mage grew excited. "When that time comes, one will protect us from the sky and the other from the water. Together, they'll be enough to safeguard the nation!"

"You have to understand, the ocean occupies more than seventy percent of the world. If you include rivers and streams, the proportion is even greater. Water is also the foundation of survival for every Horde. I assert that future threats will inevitably rise from the ocean!"

"A Horde capable of controlling water standing on our side will provide tremendous assistance to our warriors."

The fisherman Mage said firmly, "In short, they're worth saving. There are many water-controlling Demonic Beast Hordes, but few have gentle dispositions."

Hearing this, Zhu Meng curled his lip in contempt and still said, "Using demons to control demons? Demonic Beasts can't be trusted! Haven't we suffered enough in the past? How many Demonic Beast tribes did humans painstakingly support, only for them to turn around and bite us? We've been nurturing a tiger to invite disaster!"

"For all these years, how much money has China spent and how many Demonic Beasts has it raised? And what did we get in the end?!"

"If you ask me, as long as they're within human territory, every Demonic Beast that poses a threat—or might pose one—should be slaughtered. If we invested those resources into human Mages and cultivated powerful experts, they would have made up for the losses long ago."

The middle-aged fisherman Mage could not be bothered to speak and did not want to argue.

Nan Jue was perceptive. She hurriedly brought a cup of hot water to Zhu Meng and said, "Councilor Zhu, you haven't closed your eyes for days. Have some water and rest."

After she spoke, Zhu Meng took the cup and sat down. He let out a long breath. The situation had just stabilized, allowing him to pause briefly. Then he caught sight of the middle-aged fisherman still looking unconcerned, and his anger had yet to fade.

If this man had not once been his life-and-death friend, nearly crippled while saving him, Zhu Meng would have beaten him to death long ago.

Zhu Meng pointed at the White River Dolphin Demons in the dock's inner lake and scolded, "What good is protecting them? There are only a few left, and they've become an endangered species. Who knows how many years it'll take for them to breed into several thousand? How many resources will that require?!"

"Not to mention transforming them into something like the Sky Eagle Troop or a seven-star Beast Taming Army. Without absolute certainty that they'll submit, it won't even pass the higher-ups. How long will it take to raise them? Can you guarantee they won't rebel?"

In the command room atop the dock, the officers present remained silent.

"Forget it." Zhu Meng's mood gradually calmed as he said, "This isn't entirely your fault. Even if we hadn't accepted the White River Dolphins, that Crocodile Dragon Lord would still have attacked."

"Damn it, I'm stuck handling this nonsense instead of personally hunting the Crocodile Lord. This is such bullshit."

With that, Zhu Meng put down his cup and leaned back in his chair to close his eyes for a while. He had handled the mission and established a system of procedures. Most matters could now operate according to protocol on their own.

Nan Jue and the other officers knew that the councilor had been under tremendous pressure these past few days. They tactfully left quietly, careful not to disturb Zhu Meng.

Before the fisherman Mage followed them out, he hesitated and said softly, "Thank you."

Without anyone noticing, several hours passed.

Zhu Meng opened his eyes groggily and saw Nan Jue nearby. He abruptly woke up and straightened his body. Seeing that the dock was safe, his tense muscles gradually relaxed. He asked solemnly, "How long did I sleep? What's the situation now?"

Nan Jue respectfully replied, "About three hours. Councilor, you can rest a little longer. We can handle things now, and the situation has clearly improved."

"Forget it." Zhu Meng frowned, rose, put on his coat, and began reviewing the orders he had issued earlier along with intelligence from various locations.

He was afraid that his mind had not been clear earlier and that he might have overlooked something or made a wrong decision.

After reviewing everything, Zhu Meng nodded. The general direction was correct, but he vaguely felt that something was off.

He therefore read through all the intelligence again. The more he read, the more tightly his brows furrowed.

After a moment, Nan Jue sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. With an attitude of wanting to learn, she asked, "Councilor, what's wrong?"

"Hiss!" Zhu Meng drew in a breath. "This is a serious problem. During these three days and three nights, did you see any intelligence reports from the Songjiang Ferry?"

"Songjiang Dam?" Nan Jue murmured. She was a capable person herself and had memorized every ferry and dam along Magic City's tributaries during this period. Recalling them all now, cold sweat instantly broke out across her body. In a trembling voice, she said, "No... not one. There hasn't been a single message!"