Chapter Sixty-Two: The Cold Spirit Dragon of the Azure Pool

Chapter Sixty-Two: The Cold Essence Dragon of the Azure Pool

Chapter Ten: Sword Dance in the Empty Mountain—The Violet Lightning Startles Demons, the Fire Clouds Shroud the Ancient Crossing of Taihang, Competing for Marvels (Part Two)

The faces of the Twin Flood Dragons of Yunshan turned grim as they watched Ye Hua reveal himself in the distance. Just as they were about to speak, a sudden shock struck them. "Not good!" they exclaimed, glancing downward. There, golden light flickered as the golden eagle's shimmering talon illusion slowly withdrew, as if it had already captured its quarry from the depths of the pool! The two looked anxious; in a flash of yellow light, a monstrous being with four arms, four legs, and two heads fused onto a single body appeared. Upon closer inspection, the heads bore a vague resemblance to the faces of the Twin Flood Dragons themselves!

A chill ran through Ye Hua's heart. "What manner of monster is this? Could it be some fusion art of the two?" Before he could ponder further, the creature let out a raucous, inhuman cackle and hurled a white ball of light, the size of a bushel basket, straight at the golden eagle. Like a flurry of auspicious snow, it shot forth at lightning speed.

Ye Hua's heart tightened. With a low incantation, he formed a seal with his left hand and thrust out his right in a motion that appeared slow and ponderous but was in truth as swift as lightning. A massive golden palm surged forward to meet the oncoming white light—a move known as the Minor Sumeru Palm! Compared to what Ye Hua had wielded a month earlier, both its solidity and force had reached a new level of mastery.

Yet even so, when the golden palm struck the white light, it merely caused a brief pause before the white radiance silently pierced through. Moments later, the golden palm itself dissolved into countless golden motes, scattering away. Ye Hua staggered in the distance, his face paling, his heart filled with dread!

Xiaoyao, upon seeing the white orb speeding toward him, let out a sudden, long, clear cry—a sound as melodious as the call of a phoenix. The resonance spread out, causing the white sphere to shudder and slow. The two-headed monster felt a stabbing pain in its ears, dizziness overwhelming its senses, nearly collapsing.

When the golden eagle ceased its piercing whistle, the twin-headed creature steadied itself, glaring at the eagle with a dark, ugly expression. Just as it was about to summon the white orb again, the eagle suddenly flexed its talons with a surge of strength. In a burst of flashing silver, the object within the golden illusion lost its luster and reverted to its true form, held firmly in the eagle's grasp. The eagle swept its wings, unleashing dozens of gray wind blades in a swift assault!

A cold, sinister light flashed in the eyes of the two-headed monster. With a guttural roar, it shot a streak of vital blood from its fingertip toward the distant white orb. Suddenly, the sphere flared with blinding white light, and from the mist of cyan and violet, it slowly transformed into something resembling a dragon—yet not quite a dragon—about three zhang long, with a three-foot-long trunk growing from its head. Its entire body glimmered with white light, surrounded by cold mist; no scales or claws were visible. At the slightest movement, it positioned itself before the wind blades, emitting a sharp, chattering sound. No matter how the wind blades struck the spectral white dragon, it remained utterly unharmed.

The two-headed monster cackled, "This is the Water Essence White Dragon, born from the ten-thousand-li Cold Pool! Let us see if your demon bird can stand against it! Heh heh, ha ha!" With another wild laugh, the spectral white dragon surged forward, charging straight at the golden eagle.

Bolts of lightning flashed across the eagle's body as countless thunderballs emerged, hurling themselves at both the spectral dragon and the two-headed monster. The Twin Flood Dragons dared not be careless, meticulously dispersing every incoming thunderball. When they looked to the sky again, both the golden eagle and the youth had vanished without a trace! Gritting his teeth, one of them laughed coldly, "You may flee to the ends of the earth, but you won't escape me!" With a command to the Water Essence White Dragon, the spectral dragon flashed and disappeared as well. The Twin Flood Dragons glanced down at the icy pool, then turned into a streak of white light, pursuing eastward.

Ye Hua lay pressed against the eagle’s back, one hand tightly gripping the root of its wing. At this moment, the eagle shot through the sky like a loosed crossbow bolt, streaking as a green light, soaring swiftly upward. Glancing behind, Ye Hua saw that the Twin Flood Dragons were not in pursuit and finally breathed a sigh of relief, though worry still gnawed at him. "Xiaoyao, we’re heading farther and farther east—getting ever more distant from the Northern Terrace. Should we circle north instead?" Suddenly, a piercing chill struck from behind, startling him. "Watch out!" he cried, hurling a jet-black streak to the left. The air wavered, and the spectral white dragon slowly revealed itself just seven or eight feet away, in hot pursuit.

The black light bounced off the dragon harmlessly! The spectral white dragon opened its jaws wide and spat a misty beam of cold air at Ye Hua and the eagle.

The golden eagle’s form flickered, splitting into several afterimages as it dodged rapidly, plummeting toward the ground. The white dragon surged upward, its left claw swelling as it swiped at the eagle. In a sudden twist, the eagle spun and countered with its own talons, locking claws with the dragon in a burst of red light. The air sizzled; the white dragon’s left claw began to fade and blur.

With a cry of pain, the white dragon lashed out with its right claw, but the eagle, cunning as ever, broke away and slipped aside. The white dragon’s right claw missed, and seeing the eagle retreat, it gave chase with all speed.

After a time, two burly figures appeared in a flash of clear light—it was the Twin Flood Dragons, both wearing looks of anger. One said, "Brother, the white dragon has already chased a thousand li away. We’d best hurry on." The other nodded silently, and both transformed into blue light, speeding after it.

Ye Hua, watching the white dragon in pursuit, was alarmed. The eagle was already flying as fast as possible, and as a divine bird with both speed and cultivation, few under heaven could match it in flight. Yet he could not fathom how the white dragon remained so close on their tail.

Ahead, mountains rose and fell, with a long river winding through the valley. The eagle suddenly quickened its pace, folding its wings and diving down, weaving through valleys, sometimes soaring into the clouds, sometimes dropping like a falling star. Skimming just three or four feet above the ground, it darted past jagged rocks and slanting pine forests, then soared into the mists again. The white dragon followed relentlessly, never shaken off. The eagle’s flight was now wild and erratic, and even Ye Hua felt his heart pounding and limbs turning numb, barely able to move. The wind was so fierce that he couldn’t even open his mouth.

Anxious, Ye Hua thought to himself, “This isn’t a wise way to flee. Perhaps we should land and fight to the death. But if we battle the white dragon now, the Twin Flood Dragons will soon catch up; even if Xiaoyao is strong, he can’t face all three alone.”

Looking back, he saw the white dragon flicker in and out of sight, never more than five or six zhang behind. A thought struck him; he summoned the Red Crow Dagger, which flared with black light. Pouring all his inner essence into it, he slashed into the air behind, a bolt of black lightning roaring forth with a thunderclap. The void rippled, and the white dragon abruptly appeared, unable to evade the sword light, which struck its head with a crackling sound.

A sudden chill overcame Ye Hua, the icy force from the Red Crow Dagger nearly paralyzing his arm, creeping along his meridians and threatening to freeze his entire body. Alarmed, he rushed to circulate the Sixfold Mysterious Heaven Art, loosening his sinews and absorbing the cold into his essence.

The white dragon let out a pained screech, apparently enraged at Ye Hua, and spat another wave of icy mist at the pair. The eagle abruptly veered upward, the cold enveloping a nearby cliff and instantly transforming it into a crystalline mountain of ice, which then shattered into powder with a bang.

Ye Hua clicked his tongue in awe, vaguely realizing that the Cold Essence Dragon’s method of pursuit was highly unusual. Observing from the eagle’s back, he noticed that each time the cold dragon flickered in and out of sight, it covered a hundred-odd zhang at a time, always reappearing just a few zhang behind the eagle. If he could time it right, he just might strike the dragon! His last blow had proved it possible. He waited patiently; when the eagle once again widened the gap to over a hundred zhang and the white dragon vanished, Ye Hua’s Red Crow Dagger blazed and he slashed quickly to the back left. This time, the white dragon reappeared to the side, and the sword light missed. Ye Hua cursed inwardly at the lost chance.

As the eagle sped through the valley, Ye Hua kept slashing back, and though he missed more than half the time, four or five strikes out of ten found their mark. The white dragon, unable to dodge the lightning-swift attacks, was struck repeatedly. While the blows did no great harm, over time they would surely drain its spiritual power.

Ye Hua suffered bitterly as well. Each successful strike sent a bone-chilling cold through him, making him shiver and forcing him to use his inner power to absorb and dispel it. Yet the icy force kept surging back! Still, his spirits lifted—he hadn’t expected the Nine Heavens Thunder Sword to be so effective. If he continued grinding away, the white dragon would surely exhaust its power and be left behind.

Far behind, the faces of the Twin Flood Dragons changed in unison. "Not good! Why is the Azure Water Cold Essence Dragon draining its energy so quickly?" They exchanged a worried, angry glance. As they focused their senses, their complexions paled, then darkened with anxiety. With a cry, they rushed forward, not daring to delay.

It was no wonder. The Azure Water Cold Essence Dragon had been painstakingly refined by the two of them from the ten-thousand-li Frozen Pool in the frigid north, at immense cost. They regarded it as their very lifeblood. Since acquiring it, they had relied on it to overcome countless formidable foes, never suffering defeat. Now, for reasons unknown, the dragon’s vitality was ebbing, its aura weakening, driving them both to fury and panic.

Xiaoyao seemed aware that they could not afford to stop now, and sped on at full speed. Amid his own distress and confusion, Ye Hua was suddenly struck by a curious fact: with each slash of the Red Crow Dagger, perhaps because the dragon was weakening or his own endurance was increasing, it was no longer as difficult to resist the cold as before. The icy force entered his body and was quickly absorbed by the Sixfold Mysterious Heaven Art, restoring him to normal and even leaving him feeling faintly refreshed and invigorated.

Ye Hua called to the eagle, "Xiaoyao, this white dragon seems to have limited intelligence! If we keep this up, it can do nothing to us!" The eagle let out a long cry of approval, dodging a strike from the white dragon’s left claw.

The white dragon roared, now utterly enraged. Both claws lashed out in a flurry of shadows, but the eagle weaved easily between them. Suddenly, it wheeled, folded its wings, and before the dragon could react, struck its golden beak viciously into the dragon’s eye. Then, with a twist, it soared away.

The white dragon let out a wailing scream, pain and fury driving it into a wild rage. Its entire body blazed with white light, its aura surging. Both claws lashed out, unleashing a scorching white pillar of light at the eagle, moving so fast that the eagle could not evade. Ye Hua was terrified, preparing for a desperate strike.

But the eagle suddenly flipped, shielding Ye Hua, folding its wings before itself, talons drawn in. In that instant, a towering pillar of wind formed before them, and at the critical moment, it collided with the white light. For a moment, the two forces struggled; then the white light pierced the wind and struck the eagle. Ye Hua felt a wave of bone-chilling cold radiate from the eagle’s body, nearly knocking him unconscious.