BXBX NOVEL Chapter 381: Heaven-Devouring
Chapter 381: Heaven-Devouring
The Inferno Dragon-Bird was a descendant of dragons—a draconic demonic beast.
With wings spanning over ten zhang, this large bald bird flew extremely fast. It swooped down from the mountain peak and suddenly appeared above Chu Liang's and Lin Bei's heads, looming over them!
The Inferno Dragon-Bird seemed to consider the Flowing Inferno Fruit as its own.
No wonder we didn't see a treasure-guarding demonic beast on the island. It turns out it was in the sky this whole time! Chu Liang realized.
He immediately called out to Lin Bei, warning him to be careful.
However, Lin Bei was in the midst of putting away the ice-jade box containing the Flowing Inferno Fruit when the Inferno Dragon-Bird attacked. It was too late for him to dodge.
According to the customs of the martial world, when one person was picking a spirit plant, their companion should be assisting by protecting them.
In this moment of urgency, Chu Liang didn't bother with using his flying sword. Instead, he lunged forward with his bare hands. He grabbed the Inferno Dragon-Bird's claws, which were like hooks the size of King Kong, and pulled hard.
Chu Liang activated the second stage of the Secret Dragon Blood Technique, running it at full power. White dragon breath poured out from all over his body, and explosive cracks rang out from his bones as he moved. Nevertheless, he actually managed to hold the dragon-bird down!
"HAAA!!!" Chu Liang roared with the voice of a dragon!
In a panic, Lin Bei had swiftly put away the ice-jade box and was about to flee, but hearing Chu Liang's roar made Lin Bei look behind him. He was stunned by what he saw.
While gripping onto the Inferno Dragon-Bird's claws, Chu Liang activated the Divine Dragons' Great Blood-Burning Technique, and blood-colored qi flames ignited all over him. He then swung his arms with great force!
Whoosh.
The swing was so powerful that the wind whistled.
With one hand gripping one of the giant bird's claws, Chu Liang swung the bird around twice before hurling it away!
Whoosh.
The giant bird was thrown straight into the volcano. It disappeared into the lava without a trace, meeting a swift end.
Lin Bei's mouth gaped open in shock, and he looked at Chu Liang with great disbelief in his eyes.
Such immense strength...
That's terrifying.
Are you even human?
You seem more like a dragon than the draconic descendants.
Lin Bei had always known that Chu Liang was amazing, but it was still within a range that he could make sense of. So far, Chu Liang had progressed faster in his cultivation, mastered his divine abilities quicker, and had more enchanted tools...
However, how could an ordinary human cultivator suddenly have the power to contend with draconic descendants? This was beyond Lin Bei's comprehension.
Even the cultivators from the Great Astral Sect who focused solely on martial artists might not have such immense power at Chu Liang's age.
What is this?
Lin Bei used to think Chu Liang had just surpassed him in the cultivating race, speeding through it at lightning speed. However, Lin Bei had no idea that Chu Liang had been silently running in another race and that he'd already advanced that far.
Chu Liang knew that the dragon-bird was likely at a level somewhere between the fifth and sixth realms. Demonic beasts were not as powerful as cultivators of the same level, so Chu Liang had known that he could probably handle the dragon-bird if he used all his skills. Still, it shouldn't have been that easy.
Yet, the moment Chu Liang's dragon breath emerged, the giant bird had recoiled. It seemed to fear the True Dragon's breath coming from him.
These draconic descendants gained great power from being part of the dragon bloodline, but they would also be suppressed by it their entire lives. That could be treated as the price they paid for their power.
Seeing Lin Bei staring at him blankly, Chu Liang maintained a calm and casual demeanor.
He shrugged slightly and said, "Everything's fine now."
Nevertheless, just as Chu Liang finished speaking, Lin Bei's mouth ended up opening even wider, and his pupils became extremely dilated. He was filled with even greater shock and terror.
Chu Liang thought, Even if I'm powerful, you don't need to be this scared, right?
He was about to tell Lin Bei they should head back when he suddenly felt a blast of heat and a wave of cold on his back.
That was when Chu Liang realized Lin Bei's shock hadn't been because of him.
The heat was from scorching waves, and the cold was from the chill running down his spine...
Puffs of scorching dragon breath were blowing toward Chu Liang from behind. If Chu Liang's dragon breath was a pot of water, then the dragon breath being blown at him now was a tidal wave!
Boom!
There was a surge of Divine Dragon Fire, and raging flames filled the sky!
Chu Liang muttered, "All I did was throw a bird in there. No need for you to kick up such a big fuss, right?"
...
In the distance, two people were hovering over the sea.
One was a tall man with a rugged face. He wore a tattered hemp robe and had a large gourd hanging from his waist. His half-squinted eyes glinted with a cold gaze.
If Chu Liang were to see him, he would recognize that this was Huo Tianya—the man he'd met outside the Phoenix Sheep Hidden Realm.
The other person was a beautiful youth with a silver scale on his forehead. His skin was so smooth that it looked like he'd been sculpted from fine jade; his appearance was simply otherworldly.
"Ji Lingjue, you owe me a big favor this time," Huo Tianya said, frowning. "I just stirred up trouble with the Divine Phoenix Clan in the West Sea, and now I'm here in the South Sea provoking the Inferno Dragon Clan. Seriously..."
"You have indeed helped me a lot, but I hope you remember not to call me by that name next time," the silver-scaled youth reminded.
His eyes flashed with golden light as he gazed into the distance.
"Got it, got it," Huo Tianya replied, his lip curling in annoyance.
"There won't be any mistakes, right?" the silver-scaled youth asked. "There is more than one Inferno Dragon in the South Sea. We need to act quickly."
"It's the South-Sea Inferno Dragon's hibernation period right now. That guy is in a deep sleep. Besides, I've always restrained these things. How could there be any mistakes?"
Huo Tianya waved his hand, and the air around him surged violently in a flash!
He said, "Just watch."
Boom!
A ripple broke out in the sea, rolling out from Huo Tianya. It grew in intensity as it moved forward. The ripple swelled with the wind, and in the blink of an eye, the ripple transformed into a towering wave hundreds of zhang high!
...
"Didn't they say it's not the active period for the South-Sea Inferno Dragon?!" Chu Liang exclaimed.
Lin Bei said, "Maybe that bird you threw in earlier angered it?"
"That bird isn't even big enough to fill one of the gaps in between the Inferno Dragon's teeth. How could throwing that bird in the volcano anger it? It's not like the bird can curse at it, right?"
"The Inferno Dragon's target doesn't seem to be us though?"
"Regardless, it's always better to run far away!"
"You're faster on the sword. You go first! If I can't get away, I'll go all out!"
Chu Liang retorted, "You'll go all out? Risking your life doing what, exactly? Scraping off the plaque on the Inferno Dragon's teeth? Forget it. Just keep up with me!"
Lin Bei: "..."[1]
On that island, the enormous head of the terrifying South-Sea Inferno Dragon emerged from the volcano's crater. With only the top half of its body visible above the mouth of the volcano, it pivoted in a full circle and destroyed everything around the volcano in the blink of an eye.
In just that one movement, the raging flames of Divine Dragon Fire descended like rain.
Chu Liang realized, Now it makes sense why it's said the Inferno Dragon is inactive during the growth period of the Flowing Inferno Fruit. All it needs to do is move, and it will kill off every living being within a hundred li!
At the low altitudes of the island, two tiny figures were desperately trying to escape.
Chu Liang's sword-flying speed was, of course, as swift as that of a shooting star. In the face of a potential impending death, Lin Bei burst forth with considerable speed. Chu Liang very quickly left Lin Bei far behind, but they were still within range to communicate through voice transmissions.
The island was large, but the two of them flew speedily. In just a breath's worth of time, they had already gotten far from the island.
Chu Liang scanned the island with his divine sense and realized the South-Sea Inferno Dragon had no intention of pursuing them. Instead, it was gazing into the distance.
It seemed the target wasn't them.
Chu Liang was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he suddenly noticed something was off.
These waves up ahead... What's going on with them?!
A circular formation of giant waves was converging from all directions. The speed of the waves increased with the pull of the tide.
In the blink of an eye, they reached thousands of zhang high, emerging from the sea and becoming one in the sky. The large circle of waves merged into a ginormous sky-blue water ball in the air!
The water ball then encompassed the Volcanic Island, the South-Sea Inferno Dragon, and the surrounding seawaters.
Chu Liang and Lin Bei crashed into water ball's wall of sea waves with a bang and were thrown back by the impact! This massive seawave wall was as solid as metal and stone and heavy as meteoric iron!
Chu Liang swiftly realized that someone was targeting the Inferno Dragon, and he and Lin Bei had been caught in the middle of it!
What bad luck.
The South-Sea Inferno Dragon's hibernation period lasts a few months each year. Couldn't you have picked another day to fight it? Why did it have to be today?
And couldn't you have cleared the area beforehand??
Beside Chu Liang, Lin Bei's tanned face paled. "I suddenly understand the importance of making money..."
"Hmm?" Chu Liang uttered, looking at Lin Bei curiously.
Lin Bei slapped his forehead regretfully. "If I had spent money on a treasure of nature, I'd be concocting pills right now instead of dealing with this."
Indeed, Chu Liang thought. Money may not bring happiness, but it can help you avoid many troubles.
But is this the time to talk about that?!
Chu Liang ignored Lin Bei and made a hand seal. He summoned the Dustless Sword and forcefully struck the seawave wall!
Boooom!
His sword qi was quickly dispersed by the flowing water, neutralizing the force.
What a solid water prison!
Considering that the ginormous water barrier had to cover such a tremendous area, it couldn't be equally strong at every point.
Chu Liang was certain of this and attacked the seawave wall again with all his might!
A giant swordlight appeared, filled the sky! It was the Heavenly Sword Seal!
Boom—
In the face of death, Chu Liang suddenly comprehended a bit of the workings of the Heaven-Raising Sword.
He had worked on comprehending the Heaven-Raising Sword and the Great Dao of the Cloud of Determination for a long time, but he hadn't been able to grasp the sword intent behind them. At this moment, he finally understood that he needed to be resolved to go all in!
Advance and you'll live, retreat and you'll die. The world is vast, and life and death hang in the balance.
I have only this one sword!
Heaven-Raising Sword!
Suddenly, the giant swordlight shone brilliantly.
Shiiing.
With Chu Liang's renewed resolve, his sword intent upgraded the Heavenly Sword Seal to a true immortal art! It was the Heaven-Raising Sword!
Boooom.
The giant sword struck the barrier of flowing water and finally broke a huge hole in it before it could disperse the destructive force of Chu Liang's sword qi!
Lin Bei shouted, "It's open! Quick—"
He was about to flee with Chu Liang, but his words got caught in his throat.
They looked outside through the hole in the barrier, and what they saw wasn't the sky... but a serpent's head that seemed even bigger than the sky!
As it approached from afar, it opened its massive mouth, and that mouth became an indescribably large black hole.
The South-Sea Inferno Dragon was enormous, and when it was curled up, it was like a mountain peak. So, naturally, the volcano housing the dragon had to be enormous too. However, the volcano was just one part of an island, so that meant the island had to be even larger. That in turn meant the spherical water prison, which encased the island and the surrounding seawater, had to be even larger still.
Yet, the serpent's head's gaping mouth swallowed the water prison and everything within it in one gulp.
It seemed as if this ginormous serpent could even engulf the sun and moon!
Neither Chu Liang nor Lin Bei had ever seen such an incredibly humongous serpent, but the same name popped into their minds simultaneously.
Heaven-Devouring Python!
1. The words of a true friend always hit the hardest. ☜