Chapter 442 - 411: The Fierce Beast Reappears

Chapter 442: Chapter 411: The Fierce Beast Reappears

It was truly unexpected.

Just when they thought all hope was lost, an isolated island suddenly appeared in the sea. They first thought it was a Dragon Turtle Island, but it turned out to be just an ordinary reef. And yet, it was this very unassuming island that had forced the relentlessly savage Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon to retreat.

The group put away their Spiritual Boats and set foot on the island.

The island was barely a hundred miles in circumference, yet it had everything: hills, peaks, basins, and rivers. Spiritual Qi on the island was scarce, like in a mortal capital. There were no rare, exotic plants, only some common animals.

Standing on the highest peak, they could take in the entire island with a single glance.

"The Fierce Flood Dragon is moving again!"

At this moment, Yu Yunfei shouted.

The group turned back.

They saw the Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon, which had been submerged, begin to move again. However, it didn’t lunge onto the island as they had expected. Instead, it began to circle the reef, its massive body cutting through the water.

As they watched, it circled the entire island in the blink of an eye.

Its movements made it look as if it were investigating the island’s origins.

"Ignore it."

Chen Che simply raised a hand and pointed. "There’s a house by the river. Let’s go have a look..."

At the foot of the mountain by the river stood a thatched cottage. When the group flew over, they found it in a state of disrepair. Not only had most of it collapsed, but the interior was also blanketed in dust and thick with cobwebs. The wooden furniture inside had all decayed.

The cottage was nearly empty, save for a single skeleton slumped over a desk. It was impossible to tell how long it had been there.

The moment its robes were touched, they disintegrated into a cloud of dust.

"A Fake Pill Realm Cultivator. Multiple bones were broken, but there are signs they were mended later. It’s unclear if he died from exhausting his lifespan or from the severity of his injuries."

Yu Yunko examined the corpse, then wiped away a layer of dust with her hand. "The time of death is uncertain. At least four or five hundred years ago, maybe even longer. Whatever he used to write on has also decomposed, so it’s impossible to make out what he wrote."

The few bundles of Bamboo Slips on the desk had turned to dust; they crumbled like sand at the slightest touch.

"He doesn’t have any Magical Treasures or Spiritual Artifacts on him... Actually, he does, but they’re broken."

Chen Che searched as well and found a few broken weapons. Judging by their materials, their original Grade wasn’t high to begin with. They had also lost all their Spiritual Qi from being shattered, making them only slightly better than Mortal Soldiers.

"Che’er, there are a dozen or so graves behind the house."

Just then, Meng Qianxun’s voice called out from outside.

When the others arrived, they found Meng Qianxun squatting before a small graveyard. The burial mounds were packed closely together, overgrown with weeds, shrubs, and vines. Their sudden approach even startled a warren of rabbits, which bolted from the undergrowth.

If it weren’t for the tombstones, they might have been mistaken for small earthen mounds.

They pushed aside the vines and saw inscriptions on the tombstones, but the words were so faded by time they were illegible.

One, however, was carved so deeply that the inscription was still clear. It read: My Beloved Wife, Mrs. Chen of the Yan Clan.

"Does anyone recognize this name?"

Yu Yunfei craned his neck.

Blank stares met his question.

Who would recognize a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from several hundred years ago? Had it been a Golden Core True Master, their name might have survived, allowing them to guess at the person’s identity.

A sweep with their Divine Sense revealed nothing unusual inside the graves. A few simple coffins held skeletal remains. But due to the immense passage of time, even the bones had mostly decomposed, leaving nothing of value behind.

"In my opinion, these people likely ended up stranded here for some reason and were unable to leave. They eventually exhausted their lifespans and died, and the Fake Pill Cultivator buried them."

As he spoke, Meng Qianxun slowly rose. The graveyard offered no useful information.

Just then, the other Cultivators who had been searching the island returned. Yu Yunko looked toward them, but they all just shook their heads.

After a brief inquiry, Yu Yunko turned and sighed.

"Valley Master Chen, this is just an ordinary island. There’s no Spiritual Qi, no rare flora, no Demon Beasts or exotic birds. It might have been brought to the surface when a sea dragon rolled over in its sleep..."

Chen Che frowned.

An ordinary island wouldn’t make the Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon this wary. He was about to speak when he noticed Lu Qinglian’s strange, hesitant expression. He then asked:

"You know something?"

Lu Qinglian’s expression flickered, and she finally said through gritted teeth,

"As the Valley Master knows, I went to sea once, decades ago."

’Went to sea...’

Chen Che considered this for a moment, then nodded lightly. It was that very trip to seek her fortune at sea that led to Lu Qinglian’s fleeting affair with an unknown Major Cultivator, which resulted in the birth of Lu Ping’an. It was also what had kept the Lady of the Lu Family wandering abroad ever since.

With this old wound reopened, her husband Lu Yuntian, who stood nearby, also looked distinctly uncomfortable.

But then, something clicked for Chen Che.

"Are you saying you’ve been to this island before?"

"I did once stumble upon an island. That island was filled with Maze Arrays and likewise had no Spiritual Qi, but it wasn’t this one. The terrain was different, and it didn’t have these graves."

To the group’s expectant gazes, Lu Qinglian delivered a disappointing answer: "I just felt a sense of familiarity. I only thought the two islands were somewhat similar, in that they both appeared out of a sea mist, flickering in and out of existence."

"On that other island, I once saw a skeleton. It was even more massive than this living Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon."

Everyone found this rather strange.

After all, it was a similarly strange scene that had led them to mistake this island for a Dragon Turtle Island in the first place.

But two unconnected islands, even with similar details, were of no help to them. Besides, they had already searched this island once; it seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary, mundane place.

"If I’m not mistaken, that other island must be the one used for the Sealing of the Fierce Beast. How did you manage to escape?"

Yu Yunko was indeed intrigued.

"I’m not sure. I just wandered out in a daze, seemingly without any obstruction. But there were other Demon Beasts on the island, and they couldn’t fly away. It seemed like they were trapped..."

Lu Qinglian told the truth. Otherwise, with her level of Cultivation, escaping a Grand Array capable of trapping a Fierce Beast would have been impossible. But her story only left everyone more confused.

But... Chen Che’s brow furrowed.

He had attended Sister Li’s lectures on the principles of the Sealing Shocking Array. It worked like a fishing net. A ruthless caster would make the mesh so fine that no fish, large or small, could escape.

A more benevolent caster, however, would leave a glimmer of hope for other living beings.

Perhaps that was how Lu Qinglian had managed to escape. The problem was, they had just searched this island and found nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it really was just a mundane island.

But a mundane island wouldn’t make the Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon so wary.

Meanwhile, Yu Yunko, unwilling to give up any sliver of hope, turned to the others. "Search the island one more time. Look for anything unusual..."

"And if we don’t find anything?"

Yu Yunfei asked, his face grim.

"If we don’t, then we fight the Fierce Flood Dragon here. It’s nearly invincible in the sea. Our only chance is to fight it on land." Chen Che interjected, his tone final.

Before they even landed, he had already scoured the entire island with his Divine Sense, as thoroughly as plowing a field, but had found nothing.

Still, a part of him held onto a sliver of hope.

But as time passed, that hope dwindled into disappointment. For three whole days, nearly ten Golden Core Cultivators and several Golden Core Great Demons practically tore the island apart, digging three feet deep, yet they found nothing.

By the fifth day, most of them had given up and begun preparing for battle. Only Yu Yunfei refused to accept it, still desperately searching for any sign of a hidden Array.

Throughout these days, the Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon circled the island without rest.

Yu Yunko sighed and withdrew her gaze.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, it was already the ninth day since the group had arrived on the island.

The calm sea suddenly grew turbulent. Countless waves, like stampeding horses, crashed against the shore. At the same time, the clouds overhead roiled like an inverted ocean, surging with equal violence.

"Such immense power..."

Chen Che looked up and slowly rose to his feet. "So this is the power of a Golden Core Great Perfection Fierce Beast. A single movement can alter the very heavens. Its central head must have awakened."

The dark, murky waves crashed with a deafening roar. The island’s animals scattered in terror, and countless birds shrieked themselves hoarse, desperately trying to flee out to sea.

The moment they left the island’s shores, a massive wave engulfed them. The surf caught the flock, spun it around in mid-air, and then dragged it down into the depths.

The sight made everyone’s blood run cold.

The Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon’s actions were just as the legends of Ancient Fierce Beasts described—utterly savage. All life vanished in its wake. Before the group could react, the sound of a monstrous wave churning in the sea reached them.

Instead of charging from the sea, its colossal body began to slowly crawl up one side of the island. A mountain over five thousand feet high was crushed beneath its weight in an instant. The immense pressure made the peak groan, CRACK, CRACK, as fissures spread across its surface.

With each breath, its massive, bony gills flared, conjuring a localized squall.

At the same time, three gargantuan heads descended as if from the clouds, looking down upon them. To the beast, the people at the foot of the mountain were as insignificant as pebbles.

Chen Che tilted his head back, slowly extending his right hand. The Sword Pill blossomed from his palm, each of its "leaves" shimmering with a dazzling light. The others also stepped forward, forming a single line as they stared up at the peak.

Seeing this, the six eyes of the Three-Headed Fierce Flood Dragon slowly narrowed.