"You humans are truly complex."
The Flood Dragon, coiled beside him, couldn't help but grumble as Wan Yunting spent over ten minutes talking to the small object.
Only when his phone died completely did Wan Yunting put it away and resume building the fire to roast the deer leg. He said with a smile, "Then it's best you don't deal with humans, lest you get tricked."
The Flood Dragon's emerald green eyes glared at him, and its girlish voice snorted, "If you dare to trick me, I'll eat you in one gulp."
Wan Yunting, busy roasting the deer leg, turned his head to glance at it and asked with curiosity, "I'm very curious, how did you evolve into a demon?"
The Flood Dragon rested its head on its body, and its proud, girlish voice declared, "Our Liu family are celestial beings, born with sentience, knowing the methods of cultivation and evolution."
"So that's how it is."
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled, "I thought any snake could evolve into a demon."
"How could that be?"
The Flood Dragon nodded proudly and said with pride, "Between heaven and earth, only our Liu family can cultivate into immortals."
Wan Yunting turned to look at it and asked, "Then what about your enemy? What kind of snake is it?"
The Flood Dragon's emerald green eyes widened, and its girlish voice said resentfully, "It is a traitor to our Liu family!"
Wan Yunting nodded in understanding. The Flood Dragon glared at him and snorted, "Ugly human, you're tricking me into saying this again."
Wan Yunting's expression froze, and he smiled speechlessly, "I didn't mean to trick you. I was just asking out of curiosity, you said it yourself."
"Hmph."
The Flood Dragon proudly turned its head away. Wan Yunting, still curious, asked again, "But I'm curious, how old are you exactly?"
"Shut up."
The Flood Dragon's emerald green eyes glared furiously at Wan Yunting, and its girlish voice said indignantly, "What business of yours is it how old I am? Hurry up and eat, and then we'll be on our way."
Wan Yunting smiled helplessly. He hadn't expected this Flood Dragon to care about age. Truly a female...
After filling his stomach, Wan Yunting let out a comfortable burp, stood up, picked up the Gentleman's Sword, and said to the coiled Flood Dragon beside him, "Then let's go."
The Flood Dragon was already impatient and asked, "Which way?"
When entering Kunlun Mountain earlier, Wan Yunting had seen a topographical map of the entire Kunlun mountain range. He knew that Death Valley was roughly located in the Kunlun Mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, starting from Buluntai in Qinghai in the east, north from Buluntai, west to Shanshan, with a total length of about 105 kilometers.
Wan Yunting confirmed his current location and then pointed a big hand towards the northwest, saying, "That way."
The Flood Dragon turned its head, its emerald green eyes looking towards the northwest. Excited, it slithered its massive body and began to crawl rapidly, its girlish voice shouting, "You lead the way..."
Wan Yunting reacted and quickly chased after it. However, with the dense grass, it was impossible to move quickly. But the Flood Dragon was different. Despite its massive size, it was a soft-bodied creature, and coupled with its scales forged like fine steel, it feared nothing.
So, its crawling speed was extremely fast, and Wan Yunting couldn't keep up. He shouted, "Hey, wait..."
The Flood Dragon Liu Xiaohei, who had already crawled more than ten meters, stopped and looked back at Wan Yunting behind it, who was continuously slashing at the obstructing grass vines with the Gentleman's Sword. It said displeasantly, "Useless human, why are you so slow?"
Wan Yunting retorted angrily, "Do you think I'm a snake?"
The Flood Dragon's girlish voice said angrily, "What's wrong with being a snake? If you don't hurry up, I'll eat you."
Wan Yunting caught up, glared at it, and then said, "How about I ride on you?"
"What?"
The Flood Dragon's girlish voice erupted furiously in Wan Yunting's ear, making his head buzz. The Flood Dragon roared, "Filthy low-class human, you want to ride on me? You're courting death..."
Wan Yunting widened his eyes and quickly shouted, "If you don't let me ride, then I can only follow behind you. After all, I'm useless and can't keep up with a snake immortal like you."
The Flood Dragon's emerald green eyes stared fiercely at Wan Yunting. It let out a low, angry hiss from its slightly parted mouth. Finally, in order to reach Death Valley as quickly as possible to exact revenge on that old snake, Liu Xiaohei could only grit its teeth and say fiercely, "Get on."
Wan Yunting's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Alright..."
As Wan Yunting leaped onto the Flood Dragon's back with the Gentleman's Sword, its massive body trembled. Clearly, Liu Xiaohei was enduring its discomfort, but to reach Death Valley quickly, it had no choice but to bear with it.
Following Wan Yunting's directions towards the northwest, the Flood Dragon then crawled rapidly through the forest. Wherever its massive body passed, trees and vines were flattened...
Wan Yunting comfortably sat cross-legged on its back and asked, looking at the two white dragon horns on the Flood Dragon's head, "Have you transformed into a flood dragon now?"
The Flood Dragon Liu Xiaohei, who was on the way, turned its head back, its emerald green eyes glancing at Wan Yunting sitting on its back, and its girlish voice snorted, "If I had transformed into a flood dragon, would I still need a useless human like you to lead the way?"
Wan Yunting rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue about being called useless or ugly with every other word. He asked, "Then what realm have you cultivated to? Do your kind of demons also have levels?"
"Of course, there are. I am currently only in the semi-transformed state of a flood dragon, which is why I have two horns on my head. When I obtain another opportunity and cultivate for another five hundred years, I will be able to fully transform into a flood dragon."
"Five hundred years."
Wan Yunting's eyes widened, and he said, "Then you must be two to three hundred years old now?"
"Hmph, our lifespans are longer than yours," the Flood Dragon said proudly in its girlish voice.
Wan Yunting continued to ask, "Then after you cultivate into a flood dragon, will you then evolve into a true dragon?"
"I don't know."
The Flood Dragon's girlish voice said, "Since ancient times, no one has evolved into a flood dragon and then transformed into a true dragon."
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled, "It seems to be just a legend."
"The legend of dragons is true."
The Flood Dragon's girlish voice snorted, "If it weren't for you humans disrupting the essence of heaven and earth, we would surely be able to cultivate and evolve into true dragons!"
Seeing that this proud creature had returned to this topic, Wan Yunting shook his head and smiled. He knew that with the development of human technology in recent times, deforestation and destruction had led to an imbalance in the natural ecological environment and the wilting of the essence of heaven and earth. Not only was it difficult for animals to evolve into demons, but even for cultivators like Wan Yunting, breaking through their martial arts realms was extremely challenging.
As the sky gradually darkened, the Flood Dragon carrying Wan Yunting crawled rapidly towards the northwest of the Kunlun Mountains. They soon emerged from the primeval forest, and ahead appeared a snow-capped mountain range, as well as an open plain. Relying on its keen sense of smell, the Flood Dragon found an underground river and led Wan Yunting directly through the open plain via the underground river...
And in the northern mountain range of Kunlun, although it was summer, it was no different from winter here. The snow-white snow-capped mountains, as the sun slowly set today, the red clouds in the sky were like scales, and the snow-capped mountains were draped in a golden light, spectacular and beautiful.
In the primeval forest at the foot of the snow mountains, the melting snow in winter converged into streams that flowed down the mountains into large rivers. Perhaps it surged from the underground rivers. In spring, all things grew, and the mountains and forests were lush and dense, making progress difficult. A group of people could be seen struggling through the forest...
"Everyone stop. It's getting late, let's set up camp here."
The leader of the group was Yuan Gaowu, the sect leader of the Kunlun Sect, who shouted loudly at the group behind him.
The group behind him was a team of demon hunters composed of experts from various martial arts sects. Among them were Jin Xuan and Xu Hai, two young powerhouses from the Shaolin Sect.
Also present was Elder Zuo Qi of the Wudang Sect, leading his second senior brother Qi Xiu, Zi Qing, and Chong Ling'er. From Longhu Mountain were Celestial Master Lin Yiping, and Zhang Xian'er also came along, as well as young disciples like Zhang Xingyue and Zhao Xuyan.
The Emei Sect was led by Zhou Ruoxi herself, who only brought two senior sisters. The Qingcheng Sect was led by its second elder, Feng Yimin, who brought only two young disciples, Lu Fengqiao and Zhong Mubai.
The Huashan Sect also sent a few young disciples, while the Kongtong Sect was personally led by its sect leader Lu Chenzi, as was Zhang Boyun of the Cangshan Sect.
However, Yan Changjian, the sect leader of the Divine Sword Gate, also participated in this event with his disciples Meng Yan and He Yunxia, among others. This event was initiated by the Kunlun Sect to enter the depths of Kunlun Mountain in search of the demon that had been causing trouble outside recently.
Only fifteen sects sent representatives to participate. Small sects like the Taishan Gate and Tan Tui Gate were not qualified to join this demon-hunting team because the martial arts realm of their members was too weak.
Although the total number of people in this deep mountain expedition team was only thirty-six, they were all powerhouses from the major sects. If they encountered a demon, with such a formidable team, they should be able to capture it.
"Sect Leader Zhou, let me help you."
Geng Hong, the senior disciple among the new generation of the Kunlun Sect, came over specifically to help the three sisters from the Emei Sect with their tents.
"No need."
Zhou Ruoxi wore a pure white long dress, draped with a thick cotton cloak. The temperature in the mountains was very low now, especially at night.
Geng Hong, in his thirties, had an ordinary appearance but was tall. Facing Zhou Ruoxi's stunning beauty, ever since he first saw her at the martial arts大会 on Huashan, he had been captivated.
However, Zhou Ruoxi had a cold demeanor and a poker face, always maintaining an aloof attitude. Therefore, many young disciples from other sects, despite their admiration, did not dare to approach her.
Geng Hong, being rejected again, looked slightly awkward. He could only give a sheepish smile and turned back to leave, only to be teased and mocked by his junior brother Guan Feipeng and others...
Zhou Ruoxi continued to set up her tent diligently, while her senior sister Lu Shuang and junior sister He Shanyue also helped. Lu Shuang smiled at Zhou Ruoxi and said, "Senior Sister Sect Leader, that Senior Brother Geng from the Kunlun Sect seems to like you a lot!"
Zhou Ruoxi glared at He Shanyue with her autumn eyes and said, "If you have that much free time, hurry up and organize the sleeping bags."
He Shanyue pouted and dared not speak further. The senior sister Lu Shuang, who was helping beside her, was in her thirties, with an ordinary appearance but a very good temperament.
She looked at the Kunlun Sect Leader Yuan Gaowu over there, and Elder Zuo Qi of the Wudang Sect, Celestial Master Lin of Longhu Mountain, Elder Liao of Huashan, and the Kongtong Sect Leader Lu Chenzi and Zhang Boyun of Cangshan, who were all gathered there discussing something...
"Sect Leader Sister, are you sure there is a demon causing trouble in the depths of Kunlun Mountain?" Lu Shuang asked.
She felt that this matter was somewhat suspicious!
Because the demon causing trouble mentioned by the Kunlun Sect was just their spoken words. They had been deep in the Kunlun Mountains for two days, but they hadn't seen any sign of a demon.
Instead, this group seemed to be on a tour, venturing deeper and deeper into the primeval forests of Kunlun Mountain. They claimed to be looking for a demon, but most people probably didn't even know why they were in these deep mountains.
Not only did Senior Sister Lu Shuang doubt it, but even Zhou Ruoxi suspected whether the demon mentioned by Kunlun Sect Leader Yuan truly existed.
"Sect Leader Zhou, please come over for a meeting."
At this moment, Lu Chenzi looked back and waved to Zhou Ruoxi from a distance, calling her over.
Zhou Ruoxi nodded, stood up, and asked Senior Sister Lu and Junior Sister He to continue setting up the tents. She walked towards them...