True Person Chengye Displays His Might, an Ominous Premonition!

However, a few years of stability followed.

This does not mean that things have completely stopped. In fact, conflicts of all sizes have never ceased in the past three years, but their scale has been kept below the Foundation Establishment.

There were no clashes at the Golden Core level, and even at the Foundation Establishment level, there were very few cases of people falling or dying in battle.

Sun Chengzu had a clear understanding of the current situation.

The Venomous Flood Dragon King remains still, and he won't deliberately stir up a hornet's nest. The longer the time drags on, the more advantageous it will be for the White Cloud Temple.

Human Race cultivators can continuously receive energy from Ming Province, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of resources—something the Venomous Flood Dragon King cannot do.

No matter how strong the Flood Dragon Python Clan is, they are ultimately trapped beasts.

Finally, at the end of this year, the second Golden Core battle since the opening of the Evil Water Marsh broke out on a great river in the Southern Region.

The cause was minor.

A group of Foundation Establishment cultivators from White Cloud Temple ventured deep into the Southern Region border to collect spiritual herbs when they were ambushed by a lurking water dragon.

This incident resulted in four deaths and two injuries, making it the deadliest in recent years.

The day the news reached Abundant Water City, Sun Chengzu fled south.

He rode his sword alone southward!

Thirty-six flying swords circled around him, their Dark Gold light drawing a long rainbow across the water's surface as they hurtled towards the Southern Region Water System!

His target was clear: the Red-Qilin Flood Dragon whose tail tip had been cut off by Shi Yin. Now that the creature had recovered from its injuries, it had become quite audacious.

The situation was initially stable and improving, but this guy just had to come looking for trouble.

When Sun Chengzu arrived above a shallow beach, without saying a word, all thirty-six flying swords simultaneously plunged into the water.

The Sword Qi pierced through the river, stirring up the mud and sand violently.

Forced out of its lair, the Red-Scaled Flood Dragon roared and charged onto the surface of the water, the enormous Flood Dragon howling and lunging at Sun Chengzu!

Two beings at the Golden Core level then engaged in a great battle on the Southern Region border.

Sun Chengzu is a swordsman and not skilled in naval warfare.

However, the Red-Scaled Flood Dragon wasn't much better off. Although its strength was considerable, Sun Chengzu was, after all, a sword cultivator, so the two were evenly matched.

However, relying on his sharp Swordsmanship, Sun Chengzu used his thirty-six natal flying swords at will, instantly setting up a sword formation!

With unparalleled killing power, it forcefully severed half of the Red-Qilin Flood Dragon's body.

In the end, the Red-Scaled Flood Dragon was severely injured, even its very essence was damaged, and it managed to escape the sword formation's blockade at the cost of its grievous wounds.

Sun Chengzu was also injured in this battle, and his body was almost blown apart by the Flood Dragon's tail.

Sun Chengzu didn't gain much advantage.

But he still won in the end, fighting a level-five Flood Dragon single-handedly and making it flee in defeat. This achievement is quite remarkable!

After the news reached Abundant Water City, the cultivators who had been living in constant fear finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It turns out that behind them was not only Ancestor Shi Jian.

The sword of True Person Chengye is equally sharp, and his reputation has spread far and wide, attracting the attention of many cultivators.

After this battle, the people in the Southern Region became noticeably more restrained.

The Red-Scaled Flood Dragon never appeared near the border again, and even its Foundation Establishment Water Flood Dragons shrank back considerably.

But everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

In the blink of an eye, Shi Jian has been in seclusion for nearly ten years.

The essence of the queen Bee Queen's remains within his body had been mostly digested. Although his cultivation hadn't broken through to the Golden Core Late Stage, he was very close to that threshold...

The problem was just a passing opportunity.

And this opportunity may lie with that Poison Flood Dragon in the Southern Region.

The Demon Core of a level seven Demon General...

If we can acquire it, it will be the final piece of the puzzle to break through the bottleneck.

Not long after, Shi Jian emerged from the pass.

On this day, the temperature around Abundant Water Lake suddenly rose by three degrees, a thin layer of mist rose from the lake surface, and even the spirit fish in the lake sank to the bottom of the water, not daring to breathe.

The Golden Crocodile lay in its own waters, its vertical eyes glancing towards the island in the middle of the lake to the west.

The bear's aura was deeper and more restrained than it had been a few years ago, yet it also possessed an inexplicable sharpness.

Like a sheathed knife, though the blade is not visible, the oppressive feeling can be sensed even across dozens of miles of water.

"You've gotten stronger again."

The Golden Crocodile snorted, put its head back on its paws, and closed its eyes, ignoring the situation.

He's used to it.

The longer he stayed with this bear, the more he felt that his 470 years of life had been wasted, and the more he learned about Shi Jian's past.

He became increasingly aware of how utterly useless he was.

It should be noted that demons are not like Human Race. Shi Jian is less than three hundred years old, yet he is already at the level of a seventh-level Demon General.

That puts him miles ahead, and that doesn't even include all those other unreliable cards he has up his sleeve.

The old crocodile grew angrier the more he thought about it.

After that, he stopped thinking about it and decided to just be a strong, simple-minded thug from now on. As for the future of the Demon Beast...

We still have to look to someone like Shi Jian, a prodigy that the Demon Race has only seen once every few thousand years!

After Shi Jian left the pass, he didn't rush to cause trouble for the Venomous Flood Dragon King.

After learning that Shi Pan had broken through to the Golden Core, he first made a special trip back to White Cloud Temple, went to Boulder Peak, and met with Shi Pan.

There was no firelight on the Boulder Peak; the entire mountain was shrouded in a restriction, and even the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi were completely blocked.

If Shi Jian's Divine Sense hadn't been able to penetrate the restrictions, he probably wouldn't have been able to find where Shi Pan was hiding.

"Come out, stop pretending."

Shi Jian's voice traveled deep into the mountain through the barrier.

A moment later, a crack appeared in the rock wall halfway up Boulder Peak, and a giant brown bear emerged, much larger than Shi Jian remembered.

Shi Pan.

The aura of the Golden Core was extremely well concealed; if Shi Jian hadn't deliberately tried to sense it, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all, as if it had merged with the mountain rocks.

"Ancestor, you're back."

Shi Pan lowered his head, his voice still in that deep, muffled tone.

Shi Jian circled around him, looking him up and down.

"Your aura is good, Golden Core is solidly formed. It seems you haven't been slacking off these past few years."

"I wouldn't dare."

Shi Jian nodded, feeling a sense of relief. The three bears he had watched grow up were now two of them who had reached the Golden Core.

He was extremely gratified, for he had personally experienced the difficulty of Core Formation.

It was already unexpected that two of them could succeed.

"I have returned this time to discuss something with you."

Two giant bears walked side by side atop the Boulder Peak, their white and yellow bodies standing out vividly in the moonlight.

Just like two hundred years ago, it was as if they were truly a father and son interacting.

" In the Southern Region of the Evil Water Marsh, there is still a Level 7 Poison Flood Dragon that has not been dealt with. I plan to take action within the next year or two."

"Does the Ancestor want me to go and help in the battle?"

"No, you stay in the sect."

"You did a great job. News of your breakthrough hasn't spread yet, and Yun Du deliberately covered it up by releasing false information. As long as you don't expose it, it won't be confirmed."

Shi Pan remained silent, waiting for what was to come.

After a moment of contemplation, Shi Jian slowly began to speak:

"For some reason, I've been feeling uneasy lately, with a sense that something big is about to happen, but I can't figure out why..."

Shi Pan frowned and remained silent for a few moments.

"Does the patriarch think someone will make a move?"

"Now that the Supreme Purity Sect has Shi Yin as an internal factor, and has even voluntarily submitted to Supreme Purity, offering him as its guardian spirit beast, Supreme Purity has no reason to attack us..."

"As for White Cloud Temple, it is now quite powerful, with Yun Du and Chengzu on the surface, and with you, the Ancestor, in charge, the situation is very favorable."

" With the Clear Granary Kingdom, no one should be likely to target White Cloud Temple lightly..."

"Could it be from outside?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Jian pondered for a moment, but ultimately couldn't figure out the reason. He could only sigh softly and resign himself to fate...