Chapter 488: Security Measures Must Be Made Before The Hand-To-Hand Combat
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Three days later, over thirty Spirit Sword Sect cultivators gathered over Blessed Fountain. Before they even arrived, the awe-inspiring sword intent had already enveloped the sky.
With Ouyang Shang-led team which consisted of more than thirty elite Spirit Sword Sect cultivators, they indeed had the ability to block the sky. By relying on the fallout of the magical power of more than thirty people, they could make the birds unable to spread their wings, and beasts not daring to roar.
But all this was meaningless in front of the great beast in the depths of Blessed Fountain.
The sword intent of the more than thirty people that condensed into essence could penetrate a golden stone, but couldn't set off a ripple on the fountain. At the moment, Spirit Sword Sect team seemed to have unlimited power, but once the flood dragon showed itself, it could destroy them just by itself.
Nevertheless, they still came. Although the three-day time was not enough to digest the huge battle plan, though even at the time of departure, Ouyang Shang still did not understand how Wang Lu was going to be their last insurance, even though it seemed that they practically came here to throw their lives away.
But this was the golden generation of Spirit Sword Sect. They pursued ultimate growth under extreme conditions and dreamed for the complete rise of Spirit Sword Sect in a generation.
According to the original history, they had paid the price for their radicality. But this time, would the situation be different?
—
"Flood dragon is naturally cunning and cautious. Last time, he had seen through us, and moreover, we have no reservation at this time. It should be reasonable that he clearly holds the absolute advantage, yet he still refuses to come forward."
In mid-air, Ouyang Shang somewhat helplessly sighed.
He led the team to rally in mid-air, hoping to lock the battlefield in the air so as to avoid the opponent's advantage in the water. Although when the flood dragon stirred up trouble, the rainstorm that ran between the clouds and the ground nearly linked into a violent river… it was much better than going deep into the Blessed Fountain.
However, the flood dragon seemed to have seen through their intention and thus tenaciously cling inside his home… For a brutal flood dragon, it was impossible to tolerate a provocation—if it is so sure that those human cultivators will definitely come to its home, he would definitely eat them all. Therefore, he simply nurtured his strength and bide his time.
"Well, I guess I'll have to do it myself."
As soon as Ouyang Shang's voice fell, his figure disappeared from mid-air. The next moment, his feet had stepped on the pebbles on the bank of Blessed Fountain. The sword in his hand was like a mirror, which mutually reflected the sunlight with the surface of Blessed Fountain, shining bright.
But at this time, the scenery on the bank suddenly changed. The bank under Ouyang Shang's feet seemed like a moisten up dry towel, it suddenly collapsed and softened, and the land around it rose high, as if a giant beast had opened up its mouth to swallow him.
When the cultivators that flew in mid-air took a look at it, their face could not help but change. Because what Ouyang Shang stood at was not the bank at all, but a camouflaged water beast! It was a giant octopus the size of a mountain!
As the octopus' thick and long and powerful tentacles rose to the sky, they formed a cage that blocked Ouyang Shang from the sky. And its huge mouth opened up right under Ouyang Shang's feet. A strong corrosive digestive fluid then surged up like boiling magma.
The octopus was overflowing with monster energy that being scrapped by its wind alone was very painful, much less the pressure inside the tentacles cage… This was a mature monster with an inner core, comparable to a Daoist Master of Jindan Stage. Moreover, this was a deliberate sneak attack that even a Daoist Master of Jindan Stage found it very easy to fall for it. But, although the cultivators of Spirit Sword Sect saw this change, they didn't move.
According to the battle plan, in such a situation, regardless of how big of a crisis Ouyang Shang encountered, they must not rush to support him.
Because it was very likely that it was just a diversion plan from the opponent, which would cause a more serious loss if it were to succeed. Moreover… The person who was in crisis was not just anyone. It was Ouyang Shang. He was not so easy to die.
Sure enough, just as the octopus cage was about to close off completely, a sword light rose to the sky, directly piercing the ceiling of the cage. The corrosive body fluid splashed around, bringing with it shares of smoke. The octopus suffered a heavy blow. It screamed and tried to gather its tentacles to trap the person inside.
However, the next moment, the scream abruptly stopped. And the octopus cage suddenly inflated and burst. Within the cage, a solid mountain stood firm with Ouyang Shang on top of it. His feet sank into the mountain peak as if he was a mountain god coming out to the surface.
In addition to sword art, Ouyang Shang was most adept at Earth Moving Technique, which was a method of moving via earth (and moving the earth). His utilization of earth element spell could already be described as reaching the pinnacle. He used a stronger power against power, that he even summoned a mountain inside the octopus, which directly pierced the Jindan Stage level octopus monster.
The flood dragon of Blessed Fountain still underestimated Ouyang Shang—his cultivation base was indeed only low-level Jindan Stage, but from among the entire Jindan Stage cultivators of Nine Regions, those that could best him was no more than a tenth.
Of course, a powerful Jindan was still a Jindan. Ouyang Shang's strike managed to pierce the enemy, but he himself was also affected by the countershock, which could be seen from the slight change on his countenance. And this change was keenly captured by an observer hidden underwater.
The death of his senior general was indeed a loss, but it also completely put down his vigilance.
He thought that the strength of the opposite side leader was only so. The opponent even got a bit of injury after instantly killing the octopus, meaning that the strength was not enough to be feared. Moreover, it seemed like the opposite side didn't have anymore cards. That being the case...
It's my turn to have a hearty meal!
In the next moment after the octopus suffered defeat and died, the Blessed Fountain was overcast with lightning and thunder. The sword intent that was condensed out by more than thirty cultivators to block the sky suddenly disintegrated. The water of Blessed Fountain rose, and in just a moment, it submerged an area of five kilometers in radius, forming an astonishing lake.
The shadow of a black dragon began to float up from within the lake.
Ouyang Shang's complexion change. At once, he dispersed the rock beneath his feet and preparde to fly with his flying sword. But at this time, a thunderbolt came down from the sky. He was forced to once again hold his sword toward the sky.
The thunderbolt struck down and pressed him down, which caused him to fall into the water. He was submerged under the water by a knee-length from the surface. However, at this time, the water of Blessed Fountain was dark as ink, and moreover, it was so viscous that Ouyang Shang was unable to break out.
At this time, the cultivators in mid-air began to move to the rescue.
According to the plan, when Ouyang Shang was besieged by the flood dragon's underlings, they could standby. If the flood dragon himself was the one that made his move, if they still didn't help, then it was tantamount to deliberate murder.
When they moved, they did so in an orderly fashion, without hurry. Headed by Yang Fei, those strong cultivators who were good at attack immediately launched their powerful strike at the several key points of the battlefield. The second level cultivators slightly paused and then respectively cast their spells to supplement the first wave of attack, or perhaps to contend against the dark clouds over their head, or try to ease the suddenly rose water. Everyone's task was actually different from each other in this fight, and they never had any prior coordination exercise. This was their first real battle, but the cooperation was seamless.
The natural tacit understanding between the golden generation disciples led them to barely grab back the initiative. Thanks to the help of his Junior Brothers and Sisters, Ouyang Shang broke free from the shackles of the viscous black water of Blessed Fountain. And the thunderbolt that pressed him down was diverted by several of his Junior Brothers and Sisters who were good at directing thunderbolt. This allowed Ouyang Shang to successfully return to the team, not trapped in the water.
Because in accordance with the original plan, regardless of what, they must not fight the flood dragon underwater. If Ouyang Shang was firmly confined within the water, no matter how unwilling the others were, they must endure it.
Fortunately, things did not develop in the worst possible direction.
However, since his action was not successful this time, the flood dragon began to use a stronger force. The black shadow underwater suddenly emerged out and flew straight toward the cultivators in mid-air—using his own power.
In the face of this exceptionally ferocious flood dragon, Ouyang Shang did not hesitate at all. He raised his hand and clenched his fist, which was one of the pre-agreed secret signs.
With his fist clenched, more than thirty people acted in an astonishing speed. They quickly gathered together, connected each other's magical power and took Ouyang Shang as a hub to retreat together.
After that, a brown-colored round light brightly lit up and wrapped all the people in it as if it was an eggshell.
This was the most powerful life-saving skill personally designed and taught by the sect elders toward the golden generation, tortoiseshell array. An array method to gather the power of everyone to push the defense to the extreme. At the sect, when more than one hundred cultivators of the golden generation joined hands to form this battle array, they could even give slight trouble toward Daoist Master of Deity Stage. At this time, although the formation was incomplete, the second level flood dragon was also far from a Daoist Master of Deity Stage.
When the tortoiseshell emerged, everyone should be invincible… It was impossible for flood dragon to leave Blessed Fountain for a long time, thus sooner or later he would withdraw. At that time, their first actual combat would successfully end.
However, things didn't go as smoothly as they were supposed to. When the black beast rushed out from the water, he opened his big mouth wide and his two rows of sharp teeth rapidly expanded toward the crowd… Moreover, it was as if the expansion would never stop!
Only then did Ouyang Shang find out that he had misjudged the size of the dragon. The several previous observations were separated by the layer of water of Blessed Fountain, and he didn't see the whole picture of the flood dragon.
This was a super gigantic beast with size comparable to a mountain range! The size of the tortoiseshell array formed by more than thirty people was quite large, but… the flood dragon actually swallowed them whole.
——
"... It's really an unexpected move"
In the dim light, Ouyang Shang sighed with resignation.
By the light of the tortoiseshell, they were barely able to see the surrounding environment. At this time, they were inside the flood dragon, surrounded by a wall of black and red meat. And the tortoiseshell was like an eggshell, soaked in strong digestive fluid.
No one ever thought that flood dragon would use such a tactic.
"Senior Brother, would you want to open the shield and destroy the inside?"
Among the team, Cai Xia furrowed her brows and suggested.
"No, that's a suicide road. With the strength disparity between us and the enemy, the tortoiseshell array must not be opened. The inside is indeed one of the weaknesses of the flood dragon, but we still do not have enough strength to exploit this weakness." Ouyang Shang said, and then pointed out to the digestive fluid around them. "But none of us can handle it alone."
"But we're gonna run out of strength sooner or later… The inside of this flood dragon is full of poisonous water, we simply have no way to draw the surrounding spiritual energy to replenish our magical power."
Ouyang Shang helplessly nodded his head.
Continuing to spend their strength to maintain the tortoiseshell array was a dead end, but if not? That was an even faster death. Or simply put, at this point, they were basically finished.
This was exactly the same result as the pre-battle calculation. With their current level, they could not control the risk when faced with the second level flood dragon. It was easy for them to be forced into a dead end. Only through actual combat that the strength of his Junior Sisters and Brothers could increase rapidly and stand a chance against this flood dragon.
As for now… Ouyang Shang looked up, he could only count on Junior Brother Wang Lu who had mysteriously disappeared before the battle.
However, even if it was Wang Lu, what could he do in this present situation? Even if he was ten times stronger, it was impossible for him to make the flood dragon vomit something that it had swallowed.
However, right at this time, suddenly, there was a huge surge of power inside the flood dragon's body. The digestive fluid turned into rolling waves and pushed the tortoiseshell array outward. Ouyang Shang only saw a blur and they had already been spat out of the flood dragon body!
This abrupt change was simply astonishing. The flood dragon was naturally ferocious and greedy, so how could he spit out the food that he had already swallowed?
The next moment, when he saw that the flood dragon's two huge eyeballs which were larger than ordinary courtyard showed traces of alarm, anger, and panic, Ouyang Shang suddenly understood.
Turning around, a lump of dark cloud swept across from the distant horizon.
It was a huge coalition of many powerful monsters, mostly from the surrounding areas. For example, man-faced owl of Jade Forest, cursed ghost of Mirror Mound… These monsters were supposed to not interfere and deal with each other. But at this time, they gathered together and fiercely rushed toward Blessed Fountain!
No wonder the flood dragon spat them out! In the face of such fierce and aggressive opponents, whose overall strength was far above itself that even if it went all out, it would not necessarily be able to win, how could it allow the existence of foreign bodies inside it?
But… Why did so many monsters suddenly find trouble for the flood dragon?
Ouyang Shang looked into the distant dark cloud and finally found the answer.
It was an answer that made him suck a mouthful of cold air.
Just ahead of the dark cloud, Wang Lu was standing on his flying sword and laughing wildly.
"I am… Leeroy! Jenkins!"