Volume One: The Soul-Guiding Gourd and the Soul-Igniting Lamp Chapter 64: The Threefold Slaying of the Dragon

Before the jade-green pool, beneath the bright moon, the night was as cool as flowing water. Gu Mo couldn't shake the feeling that tonight would be fraught with peril, yet the cryptic words of the sly Daoist, Xiao Yulou, left him baffled.

"What the hell? You blockhead, you still have a trump card? Why didn't you use it earlier?!"

After venting his frustration, Gu Mo added with a scowl, "You idiot, don’t you know villains always die from talking too much?"

At his words, Xiao Yulou calmly reached into his robe and handed Gu Mo the life-saving talisman, "Wealth Beyond Measure." Witnessing this, Gu Mo’s heart warmed; he hadn’t expected this slippery Daoist to be such a loyal friend.

But then, gritting his teeth, Gu Mo resolutely pushed the talisman back. "Keep it for yourself, idiot!"

In that instant, a chill swept over Gu Mo from head to toe. In his mind, he heard a silvery, bell-like voice, "Husband, fear not. I’ve already put the pouch on you. I can't show myself later, so be careful!"

With a breath, warmth filled Gu Mo’s heart.

Before him, the white flood dragon snorted, sending twin jets of searing steam from its cavernous nostrils. "Yellow-haired brat, do you think you can mold a celestial like me from clay? How dare you challenge my dignity? You court death!"

Then came the clatter and chime of the Soul-Binding Chain, as the White Warden joined the fray. Suddenly, green ghostly flames erupted all over Gu Mo.

He gripped the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, wreathed in ghostly fire, in his left hand, and in his right, he held the bone-chilling Soul-Binding Chain. With these divine weapons in hand, his fear ebbed.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yulou stood nearby like a farmer from the countryside, hands tucked inside his black Daoist robe, gazing up at the white dragon with an air of utter ease. He seemed less a warrior facing battle than a man out for a springtime stroll.

A sly grin spread across Xiao Yulou’s face, and his next words left Gu Mo utterly speechless.

"Brother Gu, be careful! I’ve got my eye on the dragon’s spine and tail fin. The heart, eyes, and even the fangs of a flood dragon are rare treasures."

At this, Gu Mo snorted coldly. "Damn! By your logic, am I only allowed to go after its toes?"

Xiao Yulou laughed wildly, unrestrained by any sense of decorum.

Perched in the branches above, the white-furred Yellow Immortal frowned deeply, thinking these two brash youths were far too audacious for their own good!

As for why the white flood dragon, Liu Kunsheng, hadn’t attacked directly? It was simple: having just survived a heavenly tribulation, Liu Kunsheng was still in his flood dragon form. A few more tribulations, and he would become a true dragon. For now, his claws were still bound—otherwise, he would never have allowed these insolent brats to mock him.

After several failed attempts to free his claws, Liu Kunsheng’s rage boiled over.

"Insolent whelps! I am now a flood dragon—how dare you mortals ridicule me? You’re courting death!"

Even as his words faded, the white dragon drew in a great breath. Instantly, a fearsome suction summoned violent winds and flying debris, golden light flickering deep within his abyssal maw.

But before the dragon could unleash his breath weapon, Xiao Yulou shouted, "Pause!"

The white dragon was caught off guard, and a burning sensation flared in his throat.

With a wicked grin, Xiao Yulou cried out, "Elder Liu, are you a male or a female dragon?"

Gu Mo and the Yellow Immortal stared in bewilderment. Even the white dragon, Liu Kunsheng, halted his attack, the scorching breath stuck in his throat—unable to spit it out or swallow it, he was in utter misery.

Before the dragon could retort, Xiao Yulou continued, feigning confusion, "Honestly, look at yourself! Do you really look like a dragon? More like a giant snake, if you ask me. Haven’t quite grown into that majestic flood dragon body yet. And what are those four fleshy lumps? Tires?"

With this stinging mockery, a thunderous boom echoed as the dragon’s breath fizzled. Thick black smoke billowed from his mouth, while tears welled up in his blood-red eyes.

Suddenly, Xiao Yulou whipped out a stack of yellow talismans and shouted, "Attack!"

With a twist of his wrist, the talismans ignited in a roaring blaze. Chanting the Daoist incantation of the Three Pure Ones, he conjured nine massive fireballs, each the size of a freight truck.

"Fire of the Three Pure Ones, Blessings of Zhu Rong!"

With a deafening roar, Xiao Yulou pointed his sword, sending eight of the fireballs crashing into the white dragon!

A heartrending dragon’s cry split the night as Liu Kunsheng thrashed his massive white body in agony.

At last, Gu Mo understood: "Sly Daoist indeed! His ways are impossible to predict. But this is hardly honorable combat!"

At that moment, the Yellow Immortal atop the tree swung a paw, summoning two colossal jets of water from the pool below, each as thick as a telephone pole, aiming straight for the dragon’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Gu Mo gripped his Heaven-Measuring Ruler, ghostly flames flickering, and dashed toward the dragon’s tail with Seven-Star Steps.

Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed at him—the dragon’s massive tail, as large as a steel gate, swept toward Gu Mo.

He raised the Heaven-Measuring Ruler to shield himself. The force sent him hurtling over ten meters, tracing a perfect arc through the night sky.

With a splash, he skipped across the pond’s surface like a stone, bouncing seven or eight times before crashing into a tree and finally coming to rest.

Agonizing pain wracked his body, and if not for the ghostly energy and his underworld wife’s pouch, he would have been sent to the afterlife already!

Rewinding a few seconds—

The white dragon, faced with the oncoming water jets and fireballs, dodged to the side. The water jets blasted through the forest, but while the dragon avoided them, he could not escape Xiao Yulou’s fireballs.

A series of explosions rocked the air as white smoke billowed.

The white dragon endured the fireballs, then, with a desperate twist, opened his jaws and unleashed a torrent of blistering dragon’s breath.

To everyone’s shock, Xiao Yulou made no move to dodge.

After the flames engulfed him with a thunderous blast, Xiao Yulou emerged unscathed, golden light radiating from his body.

Yellow Immortal’s heart pounded—perhaps it would be wise to lie low if these two whelps had such power!

Yet just as that thought formed, another explosion rang out. Xiao Yulou, glowing with golden light, stood unharmed, not a scratch on him.

Who could make sense of such madness?

Now the tide of battle shifted. Xiao Yulou, Yellow Immortal, and the white flood dragon all began to move rapidly, each seeking to probe the others’ strength and weaknesses. Yet Liu Kunsheng, facing three at once, was clearly struggling.

The white dragon’s gleaming body bore eight charred marks from Xiao Yulou’s fireballs, and his throat was scorched by his own breath—he was on the defensive.

Yellow Immortal had not been mortally wounded, but his snowy fur was singed and curled, his morale plummeting.

Gu Mo, in the distance, struggled to recover—alive but wracked with pain.

As for the sly, shameless Xiao Yulou, he remained unscathed, basking in his advantage.

In a flash, Xiao Yulou darted forward, using Seven-Star Steps. He gathered his Daoist energy, golden light bursting forth, and a pair of strange pupils appeared in his eyes—the Ghost-Eyes.

With those Ghost-Eyes, Xiao Yulou saw clearly the sluggish flow of the dragon’s energy and blood; his heart and spine bore signs of severe injury.

How convenient!

A snake’s vital points are its third and seventh inch—each fatal. And after all, Liu Kunsheng was a snake at heart, only newly transformed by tribulation.

Armed with his insight, Xiao Yulou summoned nine more flaming fireballs.

With a thunderous roar, eight fireballs shot out. Seeing this, Yellow Immortal manipulated three huge boulders from underground, sending them flying. The last three fireballs merged with the stones as they hurtled forward.

Liu Kunsheng realized the danger. With a roar, he unleashed another wave of dragon’s breath, while his massive tail uprooted nearby trees.

The dragon’s breath scattered the first three fireballs, and with a mighty sweep, he knocked the fourth far away. But the last three, fused with the boulders, hurtled straight for his head.

Startled, Liu Kunsheng twisted to dodge, but a vast swath of forest erupted in flames.

In the next instant, the dragon tried to flee, foolishly hoping the fire wouldn’t follow.

But Xiao Yulou, striding like a comet, hooked his sword and sent the last two fireballs in pursuit.

Two tremendous explosions resounded through the night, the temperature soaring as the inferno consumed the forest and steam billowed from the pool.

Amidst the chaos, thick black smoke rose.

Liu Kunsheng, battered by fireballs and boulders, was left convulsing, unable to move.

Yellow Immortal, overjoyed, sprang forward to claim the prize.

Yet Liu Kunsheng, mouth agape and tongue lashing, was already plotting his counterattack...