Whether water churned the yellow sand or yellow sand churned the water, two yellow tornadoes twisted fiercely as they plunged from the sky!
The Malevolent Flood Dragon unleashed its supernatural power, sending two green-black waterspouts surging skyward.
The four waterspouts collided, exploding into yellow sand, mist, and green poison that filled the sky.
Cui Jiuyang sat cross-legged at the formation's core, a thin trickle of blood slowly seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"It's still not enough!" The Turtle Chancellor stamped anxiously on the statue's shoulder.
As the two fought the Malevolent Flood Dragon within the grand formation, the shock waves spread beyond it.
The dome of the Jidu Shrine had already cracked, its surface covered in a spiderweb of fractures.
Within the formation, Ninth Lady's supernatural power had fought the Malevolent Flood Dragon's to a draw.
Beneath her Nuo Mask, Ninth Lady's lovely face was icy. She swept her sword behind her and flicked her wrist, taking the stance of an alligator dragon lashing its tail.
"Mr. Cui, hold on! I'll clash with it once more!"
Ninth Lady's voice rang in his ears. Cui Jiuyang clenched his teeth, feeling his internal organs being squeezed out of shape.
But he could not stop.
The phantom of an alligator's tail gradually spread from the sword in her hand, growing larger and larger. Driven by spiritual energy, it solidified, every scale on its rough surface jutting like a blade.
The alligator's tail lashed, stirring a fierce wind, and Ninth Lady gave a sharp cry.
River-Swallowing Alligator · Dragon Tail Slash!
The sword became the dragon's bones, her intent a colossal blade, and the alligator's tail cleaved across the sky.
Recognizing the danger, the Malevolent Flood Dragon concentrated all the demonic power of its Demon Core into its tail. Demonic light flickered, sinister beyond measure!
It held its head high, its hideous expression conveying its contempt. "You think you're worthy of wielding a tail?"
Its tail also slashed across the sky!
The alligator's tail and the flood dragon's tail collided with matchless force, unleashing an earth-shaking clang of metal!
The Malevolent Flood Dragon screamed and recoiled a hundred zhang in pain. It coiled defensively, hiding its mangled, bleeding tail within its coils.
But the radiance around Ninth Lady shattered. She flew across the sky like a kite with a broken string and plunged into the water.
"Ninth Lady!"
Cui Jiuyang urgently sent his thoughts to her, shouting within her mind.
After a long while, Ninth Lady struggled to her feet. Her hand trembled so badly she could barely hold her sword.
Cr... ack.
The River-Swallowing Alligator Nuo Mask split in two, revealing her deathly pale face. With a muffled groan, she could no longer hold back a mouthful of blood, which spread across the water.
A hundred zhang away, the Malevolent Flood Dragon threw back its head and roared, its face growing ever more savage!
Cui Jiuyang sat cross-legged at the formation's core, blood constantly seeping from his mouth. His blue robe had been stained dark red.
He looked at Ninth Lady's trembling hands, then at the Malevolent Flood Dragon, still raging arrogantly.
If he failed to hold on now, they would die, the shrine would fall, and even Jining City would be swept away by the flood. Cui Jiuyang clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes.
Agony wracked Ninth Lady's entire body, but she forced herself upright and slowly raised her sword, its tip still aimed at the Malevolent Flood Dragon.
"Get ready. In five breaths, put on the Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon! I'm making snake soup tonight!" Cui Jiuyang's voice suddenly rang in her mind, brimming with murderous intent.
Ninth Lady felt no joy. Instead, it was as though a hand had suddenly clenched around her heart. She realized that whatever Cui Jiuyang intended to do, he was far from certain it would work.
"Mr. Cui! Mr. Cui! Cui Jiuyang!!! What are you going to do?" But no matter how urgently she sent her thoughts, he did not answer again.
The first breath.
Cui Jiuyang reversed the flow of spiritual energy in the Vast Marsh Jidu Heavenly Cycle Formation, drawing it into his own body.
The second breath.
The immense spiritual energy directly pushed Cui Jiuyang into the Ultimate Unity Realm for a brief moment.
The third breath.
Using his ultimate unity cultivation, Cui Jiuyang cast the Dragon-Binding Curse, trapping the ocean of spiritual energy within his body.
The fourth breath.
Cui Jiuyang's cultivation continued to rise, reaching the fullness of ultimate unity, yet it could not cross the threshold into the second extremity.
He could clearly feel his meridians rupturing inch by inch under the assault of the foreign spiritual energy.
The fifth breath.
Enduring the agony of his meridians shattering, like being sliced apart by a thousand blades, Cui Jiuyang used his cultivation at the fullness of ultimate unity to gather the Ji River's spiritual energy once more and channel it into Ninth Lady.
Ninth Lady instantly felt spiritual energy pouring into her through the crown of her head.
If the Ji River spiritual energy Cui Jiuyang had controlled the first time had been a raging river, this time it was an oncoming tsunami!
Inside the iron box behind Ninth Lady's waist, the Nuo Masks lit up one after another once more.
Only this time, it did not stop, continuing until the final mask, the Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon, began to flicker.
Yet it still failed to light up completely.
Cui Jiuyang clenched his teeth and unleashed a hysterical roar.
Fuck shattered meridians, fuck being sliced apart by a thousand blades! I don't care! I want this loach dead!
"FUCK!!!"
Ninth Lady felt another surge of spiritual energy through her body, so dense it was almost tangible. The once azure Jidu spiritual energy now carried a tinge of crimson.
She had felt that crimson aura once before, in the Divine Tomb. It was... Cui Jiuyang's blood.
Tears suddenly blurred her eyes, and through her hazy vision...
She saw the final Nuo Mask blaze with light!
Ji River Hundred Ghosts · Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon!
Manifest!
Chapter 49: The Final Slaying
The instant the Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon Nuo Mask covered Ninth Lady's face, the entire Vast Marsh Jidu Grand Formation fell still.
Between sky and water, nothing else mattered anymore.
Everything centered upon the final Nuo Mask of the Ji River Hundred Ghosts.
The Nuo Mask was jet-black throughout, with muted gilded light flowing between its dragon-scale patterns.
The two crystals set into its dragon eyes shone with divine radiance. Ninth Lady's eyes gazed through them, revealing a measure of divine majesty.
Fine dragon whiskers extended from the edges of the Nuo Mask, stirring without wind as though a living creature were breathing.
The Malevolent Flood Dragon's coiled body suddenly stiffened-it sensed the aura of a superior chi dragon.
Ninth Lady said nothing.
Her fingertips brushed the Three-Foot Autumn Rainbow Sword, and the blade suddenly sang like a zither.
The Ji River's spiritual energy condensed around her into a translucent dragon phantom. As it swam, surging waves roared in its wake.
Cui Jiuyang bared his teeth, devoting his entire being to operating the grand formation.
He was now holding on solely by burning his vital blood, with only one thought left in his mind-Hold on.
The agony of his ruptured meridians darkened his vision, yet he stubbornly maintained the flow of spiritual energy.
Ninth Lady knew Cui Jiuyang was suffering pain and torment beyond an ordinary person's imagining.
How could he possibly send her such immense spiritual energy without paying a price?
Beneath the Nuo Mask, clear tears kept dripping from her pale chin into the water, spreading ripples at her feet.
"The first strike." Her voice passed through the Nuo Mask, carrying boundless murderous intent.
Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon · Inverse-Scale Fury!
The dragon phantom abruptly contracted, becoming a hundred-zhang dragon that coiled around the blade.
Ninth Lady rose upon the waves. Wherever her sword pointed, the water split into an abyss.
The Malevolent Flood Dragon lashed its tail in panic and fled, but the sword's aura locked onto it.
Dragonlike sword light pierced upward through the flood dragon's belly, spraying blood across the sky.
"ROAR-" Maddened by pain, the Malevolent Flood Dragon swept its tail through the clouds, shattering them.
It opened its mouth and spewed a foul-smelling poisonous mist. The stench was unbearable, but the mist lasted only a few breaths in the air before the sword's wind shredded it.
Ninth Lady neither dodged nor retreated. The dragon patterns on her Nuo Mask lit up as she flourished her sword, unleashing countless radiant threads of sword energy.
"The second strike."
Ghost-Mask Chi Dragon · Soul-Cleansing Rain!
Countless radiant threads of sword energy became a downpour that filled the sky, enveloping the Malevolent Flood Dragon in an inescapable net.
The Malevolent Flood Dragon had nowhere to dodge, nowhere to flee. It circulated its demonic power, driving every scale on its body to gleam like darksteel as it prepared to withstand the strike head-on.
The sword energy collided with the Malevolent Flood Dragon's demonic power, unleashing millions of teeth-grating metallic clashes.
In the end, its demonic power could not withstand the sword energy. Scales shattered one after another, and sword energy pierced the Malevolent Flood Dragon's body.
Countless bloody holes instantly burst open throughout the Malevolent Flood Dragon's body, leaving not a single patch of intact flesh from head to tail.
The Malevolent Flood Dragon fell howling onto the water, throwing up wave after wave.
Ninth Lady sneered, and the dragon eyes of her Nuo Mask suddenly blazed.
She gripped her sword with both hands and raised it overhead. Every dragon phantom around her sank into the blade. All the water within the grand formation surged skyward, forming a dragon-shaped wave behind her that blotted out the sky.
"The third strike."
The attack remained poised, unreleased-for the Malevolent Flood Dragon had actually knelt and begged for mercy!
Before you continue