Soul-Seizing Strange Fire

At some point, the once-boiling pool had returned to calm, its surface becoming crystal clear once more. Yet when Hu Yong looked down through the water, he somehow saw a long black shadow swimming beneath the surface, like a dragon or a serpent.

It seemed to be pressed right against the surface, yet upon closer inspection, it appeared to be hidden in a bottomless abyss, impossible to fathom.

Just then, a massive shadow suddenly rose from beneath the pool. It surged close to the surface and revealed its true form—it was an enormous Purple-bearded Dragon head.

Its eyes were tightly shut, and its whiskers were covered in blood, making it look exceptionally ferocious.

At the sight, a flicker of delight flashed through Hu Yong's eyes. Just as he was about to say something, the dragon head's tightly closed eyes suddenly flew open, and a deathly green gleam flickered within them.

After that instant of eye contact, the dragon head sank back into the darkness and vanished.

For some reason, the whites of Hu Yong's eyes disappeared. Both his eyes turned pitch-black, and his expression became completely numb.

Although Shen Luo had not seen anything unusual beneath the pool, Hu Yong's appearance told him at once that something was wrong.

He struggled to rise, but the moment he made the slightest movement, his shoulder took a heavy blow. His body sank and he fell back down, while a sharp pain shot through his shoulder. It seemed that the bone had already broken.

Alarm flashed in Shen Luo's eyes as he looked toward Hu Yong beside him. Even with his eyesight, he had failed to see how Hu Yong had reached his side in an instant.

What surprised him, however, was that after striking him once, Hu Yong did not try to