The Dragon-Transforming Ice Flood Dragon
Lotus leaves filled the icy pool, and amid the expanse of green, a single splash of white stood out.
Wisps of cold seeped from the water, coating the entire valley in a layer of white frost.
Su Fuyun stared fixedly at the crystalline ice lotus in the pool, her eyes full of determination to obtain it. The jade pendant had already told her that as long as she took the ice lotus back and made it into medicine, she could safely advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Su Fuyun did not know where the jade pendant had come from, but she knew it was the reason she had made it this far. Her aptitude was poor; left as she was, no matter how hard she worked, she might only reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.
A cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm gained only a few hundred years of life, scarcely worth mentioning beside Gu Huaiwei's thousands or tens of thousands of years. Once she grew old and died, Gu Huaiwei might take another disciple, and in time, not a trace of her would remain.
Su Fuyun would not accept that. Sang Ying alone had caused her immense pain; if Gu Huaiwei had not been so cold to Sang Ying, she did not know how long she would have grieved.
Now that she had finally found a way to repair her Spirit Root, Su Fuyun would never give it up. She had to seize it and hold on tight!
Jun Heng was a Fire Spirit Root cultivator, so the ice lotus was of little use to her. Moreover, he had been well-traveled and knowledgeable since childhood, and though the ice lotus amazed him, he had no desire to fight for it.
The other disciples of the Flowing Light Sword Sect wanted to take a chance, but they all knew a spirit beast was bound to be guarding a rare treasure like this, so none dared act rashly.
Su Fuyun knew her cultivation alone would never be enough to get the ice lotus, so she said instead, "A rare treasure like a thousand-year ice lotus is hard to come by. We were lucky enough to find one, so it would be a shame to give it up just like this. How about we join forces to kill the spirit beast guarding it, then hold a contest? Whoever wins gets the ice lotus."
"So the others don't contribute for nothing, when we find something else good later, the person who gets the ice lotus will still have to help, but won't get a share."
The others frowned as they listened, then their brows relaxed. They knew the ice lotus could not be divided equally, but they also felt as though they would be sewing a wedding dress for someone else.
After thinking it over, however, they realized Su Fuyun had a point.
Now that they had come across the ice lotus, there was no reason to leave empty-handed. Even if they failed to get it, at least the others would help them if they found something good later. Besides, their own luck was not bad; perhaps the ice lotus would end up in their hands.
With that in mind, they all agreed.
Even Jun Heng, who had originally had no interest in the ice lotus, was persuaded by Su Fuyun to join them.
The others all thought Su Fuyun meant to let Jun Heng have the ice lotus to curry favor with him. After all, Jun Heng was already at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage; there was no way he would lose to ordinary inner disciples like them.
But only Su Fuyun knew she merely wanted to borrow his strength to obtain the ice lotus safely.
Since they had decided to seize the ice lotus, they needed to make a plan beforehand. Of everyone present, Su Fuyun had the lowest cultivation, and her Water Spirit Root was not very powerful. So Jun Heng took charge and assigned her the task of picking the ice lotus at the end.
Once Jun Heng lured the guardian spirit beast out, the others would surround and attack it together. They did not have to kill it; trapping it or driving it back would do.
Everything proceeded just as Su Fuyun had expected.
Jun Heng was indeed a capable cultivator. Though he specialized in spells, he also practiced the sword. With a sweep of his longsword, a booming sound rang out from the icy pool.
The cold within the pool surged violently, and a ferocious beast's head slowly emerged from the water. Its body was covered in pure white scales, each gleaming with a sharp luster. A single churn of its long, slender body in the pool sent countless splashes onto the cultivators on the bank.
A crocodile's head, a serpent's body, an eagle's claws... The bulges on its forehead and the long whiskers growing from the corners of its mouth all told them the same thing: this was a flood dragon about to transform into a dragon!
The moment the enormous creature revealed its true form from the icy pool, Jun Heng regretted getting involved. An ordinary spirit beast would have been one thing, but this was a seventh-tier Ice Flood Dragon!
And judging by the bulges on its head, the Ice Flood Dragon was clearly not far from transforming into a dragon. The ice lotus was plainly something it had prepared to help it through the Dragon Transformation Heavenly Tribulation!
If they picked the ice lotus, they would be cutting off the Ice Flood Dragon's path to survival. It would never let the matter rest.
Jun Heng was no fool, and he quickly understood the crux of the matter. Before Su Fuyun could act, he called out to everyone, "This Ice Flood Dragon is already at the seventh tier. We're no match for it. While we haven't completely angered it yet, we should stop here!"
The moment they discovered an Ice Flood Dragon was guarding the place, the others had begun to have second thoughts. No matter how many of them there were, they could not possibly escape a seventh-tier Ice Flood Dragon unscathed.
But they had all agreed to this beforehand, and suddenly going back on their word would make them lose face. Now that Jun Heng, their leader, had spoken up of his own accord, how could they refuse?
They immediately switched from attack to defense, intent only on staying alive and getting out of there quickly.
Fortunately, they were all disciples of a major sect and had plenty of life-saving items on hand. The Ice Flood Dragon also seemed wary because it was about to undergo its tribulation, so it had no intention of entangling itself with them for long. They fought as they retreated, and were on the verge of leaving the area.
Suddenly, a delicate fragrance drifted into their noses. Jun Heng, who was still fending off the Ice Flood Dragon, noticed that it had abruptly gone from fighting as though it were playing to an extraordinary rage.
He instinctively glanced toward the icy pool and saw a slender white figure holding the crystalline white ice lotus and putting it into her Storage Bag!
"Didn't I say to retreat immediately and leave the ice lotus alone?!" Feeling how the Ice Flood Dragon's attacks had become incomparably fiercer than before, Jun Heng felt the veins at his temples bulge.
At his words, everyone immediately noticed what had happened in the middle of the icy pool.
The Ice Flood Dragon let out an enraged roar and whipped its enormous tail at them, raising waves and instantly shattering the defenses they had formed.
Several people standing at the front were knocked to the ground and gravely injured.
"That Su Fuyun is sending us to our deaths!" cried a cultivator who had long had a grievance against her.
Hearing this, Jun Heng's eyes also turned cold.
Su Fuyun knew nothing of what had happened on their side and was still rushing straight toward them with the ice lotus. The Ice Flood Dragon spotted the person who had stolen its possession at that moment, its enormous vertical pupils fixed on her as it swept its tail toward them again.
The previous blow had already injured them. If another struck, it would likely be more than a matter of injury this time; whether they could even keep their lives was in question.
But they were too slow to dodge the blow in time.
They silently closed their eyes, their hearts filled with sorrow, certain they would likely die there.
One second, two seconds... They did not know how much time passed, but the attack they expected never came.
When they opened their eyes again, a slender figure came into view, standing between them and the Ice Flood Dragon.