Blood Battle with the Dragon King

The setting sun was like blood, casting the murky pool into a strange, dark crimson.

Everyone held their breath, their sword hilts soaked slick with sweat.

Gurgle... gurgle...

The mud and water churned ever more violently. A massive shadow slowly rose beneath the turbid surface.

The first thing to break the surface was an enormous head.

It was hairless, coated in a layer of slick blue-black slime.

Two lantern-sized eyeballs bulged from its skull. They had no lids, only a cloudy white film as they swept coldly over the shore.

Then its enormous body emerged from the water.

It was a monster beyond description.

Part loach, part catfish, its entire body was covered in slimy scales. Dozens of pairs of fine limbs grew from its belly, writhing through the rotten mud.

A thick demonic aura burst outward, and a foul, fishy gale swept over them.

"Bone-Chiming Realm..."

Zhao Hu's voice trembled.

Only a Bone-Chiming Great Demon could possess such terrifying might!

"Don't move!"

Liu Chen's voice came from nearby.

The demon did not seem to have noticed the people hiding in the shadows. It merely stared blankly at the silent, deathly mud pool before it.

A meaningless whimper escaped its throat.

The sound was mournful, like weeping and pleading.

It slowly crawled ashore, its dozens of pairs of limbs leaving deep furrows in the mire.

Beneath its huge body lay a woman's corpse, long soaked beyond recognition.

The corpse's belly was swollen high, while her limbs had wasted away until nothing remained but skin stretched over bone.

The demon carefully placed the corpse on the shore. Then it stretched out its slick head and gently rubbed against her icy face.

"Xing'er..."

"Xing'er, I brought you something to eat..."

It opened its gaping, bloody maw and spat out a pile of fish and shrimp, still smeared with slime and long since rotten and stinking.

"Why... aren't you awake yet..."

"Wake up... Look at our child... He'll be born soon..."

Everyone's hearts were a tangled mess of emotions.

A demon capable of such devotion—how absurd.

Yet this absurd scene was truly unfolding before their eyes.

Liu Chen's heart tightened, and he hesitated no longer.

Even if it was a Bone-Chiming Great Demon...

They had no reason to retreat.

What was more, compared to the Pig Demon in Golden City, the demon before them was clearly somewhat less imposing.

There were eight Demon-Suppression Guards among them, including a warrior as formidable as Jiang Yuechu...

They had a chance!

"Attack!"

With a furious roar, eight figures charged out from different directions at once.

Blade light flashed through the dim twilight, descending over the monster's head!

"Roar—"

The demon unleashed an earthshaking roar. The rolling sound waves shook the blood and qi of several weaker Demon-Suppression Guards into turmoil, freezing their movements.

It violently lashed its tail. The thick appendage swept outward with the force of ten thousand pounds, carrying a foul gale in its wake!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The three Demon-Suppression Guards charging in front did not even have time to react before the massive tail struck them. They screamed as they flew backward, crashing viciously into distant rocks, blood spraying from their mouths. Whether they lived or died was unknown.

"Damn it!"

Zhao Hu's eyes turned bloodshot. Rather than retreating, he charged forward. A faint earthen-yellow aura ignited along his saber, and without dodging or evading, he slashed at the sweeping tail!

Clang—

Sparks flew in all directions.

An irresistible force surged through his blade. He was sent staggering back seven or eight steps before collapsing onto the ground, his face deathly pale.

What tough hide!

Liu Chen and Old Wang attacked from both sides, their sabers slamming into the demon's spine. Yet they only left two pale, shallow marks, unable even to break its scales!

How were they supposed to fight this?!

Just as a thread of terror rose in everyone's hearts—

A blood-red tiger phantom soared into the sky.

Roar—

The tiger's roar summoned wind and thunder, shaking the wilderness in every direction!

Jiang Yuechu did not target its back. Instead, she aimed at the relatively soft limbs beneath its belly!

A savage flash of blade light vanished in an instant!

Splurt! Splurt!

Blood mixed with blue-black slime and shot into the sky!

Several limbs snapped off in response!

"Roar—"

The agonizing pain drove the demon completely mad. It spun around, opened its gaping maw, and sprayed a jet of water straight at Jiang Yuechu's face!

Jiang Yuechu's pupils contracted. She pushed off the ground and, in the narrowest sliver of time, flashed to the side.

Boom—

The water jet missed and blasted into the rock behind her, directly shattering the half-man-tall boulder to pieces!

Broken stones flew everywhere!

Jiang Yuechu spun in midair and landed steadily. Looking at the wreckage strewn across the ground, she felt a chill of lingering fear.

If that had hit her, with her flesh alone, she would have been crippled even if it did not kill her.

"A mere String Hearing Realm dares to come and subdue me?!"

"How... dare you?!!!"

After all, demons had their own standards to uphold.

Many demons even treated the Demon Suppression Office experts who hunted them as bragging rights.

If two great demons happened to meet on a mountaintop—

One demon might ask, "Brother, what road do you travel?"

The other could stroke his beard and sigh. "Ah, don't mention it. I am nothing special. A few years ago, I merely ate the people of several cities, yet that provoked the Demon-Suppression General himself to hunt me down. I escaped to this godforsaken place only after brushing past death nine times."

Once he said that, the other demon would surely think more highly of him and look upon him with solemn respect.

But now, a mere String Hearing Realm dared to come and subdue a Bone-Chiming Great Demon?

Just saying it aloud was humiliating.

But what was even more humiliating?

Even more humiliating was that he, a dignified Bone-Chiming Great Demon, had truly been injured by a String Hearing Realm martial artist!

"Good! Very good!"

"It has been a hundred years since I last tasted such a feeling!"

The demon let out a long breath.

The long suppression, coupled with the stinging pain of wounds splitting open beneath its slick skin, actually brought it a sickly pleasure.

It involuntarily opened its mouth and released a piercing, prolonged howl.

"Roar—"

Its scarlet eyes locked tightly onto Jiang Yuechu as its enormous body suddenly sank.

Boom!

The entire Returnwater Bend seemed to tremble.

Mud shot into the sky like walls of blackness, sweeping in every direction!

"Watch out!" Liu Chen roared, holding his saber before him.

But he had ultimately underestimated the might of a Bone-Chiming Great Demon fighting with its full strength.

Bang!

The mud wall slammed into his saber. Liu Chen felt as though a mad bull had rammed him head-on. He flew backward, sweetness flooding his throat before he spat out a mouthful of blood.

If even he was in such a state, the others were even more miserable.

For a time, screams and the sounds of breaking bones rang out without end.

Only one figure was like a lone boat in a raging gale, weaving and shifting through the gaps in the mud that blotted out the sky.

Jiang Yuechu gripped her saber tightly, her eyes calm as an ancient well, all her attention fixed upon the charging monster.

Clearly, this demon's methods had already surpassed those demons that relied solely on their flesh to commit violence.

Not only was it thick-skinned and immensely strong, it could also manipulate the waters and marshes, seizing both the right season and favorable terrain.

Meeting it head-on was suicide.

"Roar—"

Seeing that its strike had failed, the demon opened its enormous mouth and spat another jet of water!

The water arrow tore through the air with a shrill whistle.

Jiang Yuechu did not dare receive it head-on. She pushed off with her feet, her body rising once more as she narrowly evaded it.

But before she could even catch her breath—

The demon's massive body suddenly swung around. Its limbs clawed frantically through the mud, propelling that huge frame toward her at a speed utterly mismatched with its size!

The foul wind struck her face. That aura alone was enough to make an ordinary martial artist's liver and gall shatter.

"Miss Jiang! Watch out!"

Not far away, Liu Chen, struggling to climb back up from the ground, cried out in alarm.

But he himself was badly injured and had no time to offer aid.

Just as that gaping maw was about to swallow Jiang Yuechu whole—

At that very moment—

A trace of resolve flashed through Jiang Yuechu's eyes.

Rather than retreating, she advanced, charging straight toward the demon!

Black River Water Monster