An Unexpected Turn
Ning Buhui stood behind the three, simultaneously maintaining four states: Butterfly Dance Flowing Radiance, Vine Armor Spring Life, Wind Thunder Wing Shadow, and Bear Iron Wall. His Soul Power flowed like four independent streams, precisely distributed among the three without any waste. He still had 60% of his Soul Power remaining, and at the current rate of consumption, he could last for a long time.
But he felt something was off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
The Jasper Flood Dragon was being relentlessly attacked by the three men. Its body was already covered in seven or eight wounds, its scales were cracked, and dark green blood was seeping from the wounds. It retreated step by step, its dark yellow vertical pupils filled with pain and anger. The dragon's head swayed from side to side, trying to find an opportunity to break through. However, its escape direction always leaned towards the outer dense forest, and it never once charged towards the deep pool.
Ning Buhui stared at its movements, her mind racing. No matter how alluring the Phoenix Flower, it shouldn't be worth risking the life of a 20,000-year-old Soul Beast. The Jasper Flood Dragon was a dual-attribute water and poison Soul Beast; underwater combat was its forte. If it retreated into the deep pool, the three's fighting strength would immediately be reduced, and it could easily fight on the water's edge. But it refused. It preferred to fight here, covered in wounds, rather than retreat towards the dark pool. Why was it doing this?
Ning Buhui's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Brother Xie Yue!" he suddenly exclaimed, "It's bait, trying to distract us. It should also have—"
Before the words were even finished, the Jasper Flood Dragon's movements changed.
It stopped retreating, its dragon head suddenly rising high. The anger and pain in its dark yellow vertical pupils vanished, leaving only a cold, almost mocking calm. It looked at the three as if they were three corpses. Then it let out a low, long roar, the sound piercing through the dense forest and echoing in the valley. The deep pool responded. An aura heavier, thicker, and colder than the Jasper Flood Dragon before it emanated from the pool, and another Jasper Flood Dragon was blocking the four's back.
Two Jasper Flood Dragon! It turns out that a male and a female Jasper Flood Dragon have always lived at the bottom of the secluded pool.
The newly appeared female dragon was more slender than the male dragon before them, with denser and darker serrated crests on its forehead, almost dark green. Most chilling was the emerald green sheen flowing across its scales—a sign of venom seeping out. This female dragon possessed an even stronger aura than the male, having reached 25,000 years!
The male dragon's eyes gleamed with mockery. It had been bait from the start; its disadvantageous position was merely a facade. Once they lowered their guard, it could join forces with the female dragon to launch a pincer attack, leaving them with no escape.
Yan cursed under his breath; he had just unleashed the Lava Torrent and his Soul Power hadn't recovered yet. Xie Yue had already sheathed his sword and retreated to Yan's side. Hu Liena's face was pale; she had just used Charm and Illusionary Mist consecutively, and her mental energy was greatly depleted.
"Give me the female dragon!" Xie Yue shouted, crossing his Moon Blade as he charged towards the female dragon. He knew that facing a 25,000-year-old Soul Beast at level 43 was suicidal, but he had no choice; among the four, only he had the highest Soul Power Level. Yan's condition was not as good as before; if the female and male dragons surrounded them, the four would be crushed instantly.
Seeing Xie Yue charging towards her, the female dragon tilted her head, her dark green vertical pupils locking onto him. She didn't dodge; instead, she opened her mouth and spat out a Jade Scale Poison Flood Dragon Blast. The thing was entirely jade-green, its surface shimmering with dragon-scale-like patterns, and it emitted a piercing whooshing sound as it flew.
Xie Yue's pupils contracted, and he abruptly twisted his body in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the attack. The Jade Scale Poison Flood Dragon Blast grazed past him and struck a large tree behind him. The tree trunk was Pierce, the bullet exploded, and the bone-corroding poison splattered everywhere. Within moments, the tree withered and turned black from the inside out, and even the bark peeled off.
Xie Yue felt a chill run down his spine. If this bullet were to hit someone, even the thickest Martial Soul defense wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Yan's side wasn't having an easy time either. Although the male dragon was injured, it still had the foundation of 20,000 years. It had been suppressed by Yan's Lava Fist and Xie Yue's Moon Blade for so long, but now that the female dragon had arrived, it finally had a chance to catch its breath.
The dragon opened its mouth, and this time it shot out not water arrows, but the same Jade Scale Poison Flood Dragon Blast. Yan dodged to the side, and the poison bullet landed at his feet, the exploding venom splashing all over his leg. Vine Armor Spring Life blocked almost all of it for him, but a few drops of venom still landed on his skin, causing a tingling numbness in his calf and a momentary pause in the flow of his Soul Power.
Hu Liena immediately stepped in, her First Soul Ring lighting up as she unleashed her Fox Charm attack on the male dragon, controlling it for a moment. Her Third Soul Ring then lit up, and the Demon Fox Illusion Mist spread between the male dragon and Yan, cutting off its pursuit. But she couldn't afford to worry about the female dragon anymore; sweat was pouring down her forehead.
Ning Buhui added another layer of Vine Armor Spring Life Yan, then turned to look at Xie Yue.
Under the onslaught of the female dragon, Xie Yue could only dodge and couldn't find a chance to fight back. Each sweep of the female dragon's tail left a trail of emerald green venom that would injure anyone who grazed it or poison anyone who touched it.
"Everyone be careful! This poison can suppress Soul Power and wound healing!" Yan shouted.
Ning Buhui's heart sank. The battlefield was divided into two parts. Yan dragged his injured leg and fought against the male dragon, while Xie Yue relied on his speed to fight against the female dragon. Hu Liena moved back and forth between the two to provide support, her spiritual power visibly depleting. Ning Buhui stood at the rear to provide support, her Soul Power dropping at a visible speed.
The Jade Scale Poison Flood Dragon Blast came again. This time, both the female and male dragons spat them out simultaneously, blocking Yan and Xie Yue's retreat routes from the left and right. Yan took the hit head-on; his vine armor shattered, and the venom seeped into his shoulder, causing his entire right arm to go numb. Xie Yue barely managed to dodge using the speed of the Wind Thunder Wing Shadow, but the aftershocks of the exploding poisonous bullets still splashed onto his back.
Ning Buhui glanced at his Soul Power. He had 50% left. But given the current situation, if he couldn't come up with a way to break the deadlock, all four of them would perish here today.
Ning Buhui hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to go all out and stop hiding. Otherwise, he could teleport and escape, but the other three would probably be in grave danger.