At the top of the Trial Tower in the East Garden Secret Realm.
A rainbow flash appeared, and He Sheng materialized above the sea of clouds.
After several years, he had returned here with the Trial Token.
Overhead lay the same star-filled firmament set with luminous stones. Beneath his feet, the sea of clouds churned without cease. Not far ahead, the brown Flood Dragon Puppet still lay coiled, radiating a savage, ancient aura like a sleeping hill.
He Sheng studied the Flood Dragon Puppet for a moment. The coming trial would most likely involve it.
"Let's begin."
At a thought, He Sheng poured his magic power into the Trial Token. A rainbow beam shot from it and plunged into the Flood Dragon Puppet's head.
The puppet's wooden-bead eyes flared bloodred, like two lanterns lit in the depths of the Nine Netherworlds.
A deafening dragon's roar shook the sea of clouds.
Roar!
The Flood Dragon Puppet had come alive.
Its enormous body, coiled there for who knew how many years, suddenly unfurled. Every scale shifted with a harsh scrape of metal against metal.
An even more overwhelming ancient aura surged outward like a solid tide, forcing the surrounding clouds back dozens of yards.
He Sheng felt a weight settle on his shoulders. The pressure within that aura surpassed even his own as a False Core cultivator.
So this was the true strength of a Core Formation Stage living puppet!
The Flood Dragon Puppet slowly raised its head and looked down at He Sheng through bloodred eyes.
Power lurked in every inch of its body, which stretched over thirty yards long. A slight sweep of its tail sent waves dozens of yards high rolling through the clouds.
As its head rose, the bloody patterns on its horns brightened, as though magma flowed