Volume One: The Soul-Gathering Gourd and the Soul-Burning Lamp Chapter 67: Madness for the Third Time

Thud, thud, thud!

Two blazing fireballs collided, their searing waves of heat rippling outward in all directions. With a crackling roar, a visible shockwave swept over the surrounding vegetation, reducing it to ash in an instant. A cool breeze swept by, carrying the ashes away as if nothing had ever grown there.

Witnessing this, Gu Mo’s expression grew grave. Clutching the Celestial Measuring Ruler tightly, he darted quickly to the side. As he dashed forward, he suddenly felt an overwhelming weight press down upon him—the surging green ghostfire enveloped every nerve in his body, its bone-chilling coldness paradoxically bringing Gu Mo a comfort he had never known. Even his mind seemed uncannily clear and sharp.

The white flood dragon spat a steaming breath of flame, and upon seeing Gu Mo’s sudden approach, immediately reached out with its left claw, raking the earth.

With a muffled crack, a large swath of ground was scooped up in its brown talon, kneaded into a gleaming, round clod, and hurled at Gu Mo.

With a sharp whistle, the glowing earthen sphere hurtled towards his face. Gu Mo instantly activated the Seven Star Heavenly Steps. After two heavy, rhythmic strides, he deftly sidestepped, letting the clod fly past and crash behind him as he twisted and pressed forward once more.

A rush of wind whooshed past his ears. Gu Mo took a deep breath and leaped high into the air. The enormous, terrifying tail of the dragon swept beneath him, missing its mark. Realizing he had avoided the tail, Gu Mo couldn’t help but chuckle.

Suddenly, another earthen sphere, this one studded with countless stones, came crashing down towards him. With a dull thud, Gu Mo’s vision went black; the surging green ghostfire around him flickered like a candle in the wind. His chest felt as if it had been struck by a shotgun blast. Sent flying, he traced a graceful arc through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

Cough!

As he hit the earth, Gu Mo felt a bitter taste rise in his throat. A mouthful of fresh blood gushed out, instantly soaking the tattered black tracksuit on his chest. The pain told him a few ribs had surely snapped, his organs twisted and battered as if through a meat grinder.

In that instant, rage welled up inside his wounded body. Gu Mo vowed to defeat this great white serpent before him and turn it into a soup for longevity!

Suppressing the agony, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and charged forward once more. A glance to the side revealed Xiao Yulou, exuding the aura of an immortal, forming a Daoist seal as he faced the dragon’s breath head-on with a blazing Zhu Rong fireball.

Astonishingly, the two flames—utterly different in nature—were evenly matched. Clad in a black Daoist robe, Xiao Yulou, a mere mortal, was holding his own against a legendary flood dragon!

For a moment, the immortal-like Daoist seemed unrivaled. Witnessing this, Gu Mo’s resolve only strengthened. If he didn’t seize this opportunity, that scruffy Daoist Xiao Yulou might not be able to hold out much longer. Who else would there be to rely on then?

Thud, thud, thud!

Driven by fury, Gu Mo lowered his body and once again employed the Seven Star Heavenly Steps, striding boldly towards the white dragon.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The dragon, intent on its fiery duel with Xiao Yulou, could only lash its tail back and forth, hoping to swat Gu Mo to death. But after several close calls, Gu Mo had grown wise; his mastery of the Seven Star Steps had become ever more fluent. With each nimble movement, the world around him seemed to slow, as if someone had turned down the speed of reality.

Dodging flawlessly, Gu Mo drew ever closer to the dragon. Before the monstrous flood dragon, his human form seemed a mere speck, insignificant and frail.

Then, suddenly, an icy chill swept through his entire being. With a series of crisp clicks, the Soul-Binding Chain, cold as the grave, shot from Gu Mo’s chest of its own accord. The white dragon sensed danger, but too late to evade. With a clatter of metallic rings, the train-length chain wrapped around the dragon, binding it completely.

Upon closer inspection, the glinting chain wound up from the dragon’s tail, and within seconds had shackled the beast from tail to snout. Even its fearsome jaws were tightly muzzled.

As the chain tightened, the dragon’s massive body convulsed, curling tightly upon itself. Gu Mo had become, perhaps after Nezha, the only mortal to subdue a flood dragon so thoroughly!

In a flash, Xiao Yulou seized the moment. With a sweep of his sword-fingers, nine scorching Zhu Rong fireballs shot towards the dragon’s face, bombarding it with thunderous force.

Thud, thud, thud...

Blasted by the nine fireballs, the white dragon coughed up blood. Its body tensed, the world spun, agony lanced through its soul, and all it could do was writhe and struggle in vain. The harder it fought, the tighter the chilling chain bound it.

Finally, the flood dragon surrendered in bitter resignation, not knowing that greater danger was yet to come...

Its crimson eyes swiveled, and it caught a glimpse of Gu Mo—pale as death, wreathed in ghostly green flames, baring sharp fangs like a fiend from the underworld—bearing down upon it.

Thud!

Gu Mo, gripping the Celestial Measuring Ruler, vaulted onto the dragon’s back. The dragon’s heart clenched in terror.

With a sickening squelch, the ruler, wreathed in green fire, stabbed into the dragon’s flesh. Muffled screams escaped its shackled maw as blood sprayed into the air, the metallic scent thick and cloying.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Gu Mo’s eyes bulged with fury as he swung the ruler down again and again, like an oil derrick hammering ceaselessly upon the dragon’s body.

Each blow sent shudders through the dragon, but the unyielding chain kept it tightly bound, its movements pitifully restricted. After several strikes, the dragon bitterly regretted its choices—it had truly incurred the wrath of a deadly foe!

It had thought facing the Daoist was ordeal enough, but the young man upon its back was a veritable demon!

Yet, as an immortal of considerable cultivation, how could the white dragon submit so easily? Gritting its teeth against the pain, it sucked in a massive breath, swelling its belly to the limit.

With a series of cracks, its body strained against the binding chain, inflating like a balloon.

All the while, Gu Mo, his face spattered with blood, continued his relentless assault, gouging wound after wound.

Watching from a distance, Xiao Yulou gasped. “Heavens! Brother Gu’s gone berserk again! What now?”

But Gu Mo paid no heed, battering the dragon as it compressed the air within to the utmost. With a sharp crack, the Soul-Binding Chain snapped apart, and the dragon let out a dreadful roar.

Pale as wax, Gu Mo looked up, his bloodshot eyes locking with the coiled dragon’s.

The dragon, confronted with such murderous intent, was paralyzed with terror. In a panic, it wrenched free and soared into the air.

But it had barely ascended ten meters when a tearing pain shot through the base of its tail.

In a frenzy, Gu Mo, wild-eyed, seized the dragon’s tail with both hands and swung it round and round like a whip, then smashed it to the ground.

With a resounding crash, the mighty dragon was subdued in abject humiliation.

Before it could understand what had happened, agony wracked its body. Glancing up, it saw a sight that froze its soul and loosened its bowels—the spectral Gu Mo crouched atop its back, devouring its flesh like a beast.

His pallid hands dug deep into the dragon’s bloody flesh, and dangling from his gaping maw was a golden, glittering dragon tendon—more like a juicy, spicy snack than a mystical sinew.

Beside Gu Mo, two strange artifacts glowed ominously. The Soul-Lamp flickered with eerie green fire; the crimson Soul-Gourd had its lid removed, sucking in a stream of green souls.

As for the third underworld artifact, the Celestial Measuring Ruler, it was embedded in the dragon’s tail, burning with green fire like a nail driven into the earth.

Seeing this, Liu Kunsheng, the immortal who had become the white dragon, was filled with bitter regret.

The unending pain and the blow to his very soul left the white dragon so cowed that he dared not even breathe too loudly in the presence of this fiend.

The terror of that moment defied all words.

Even Xiao Yulou, who had seemed so composed, now trembled uncontrollably.

Who was Daoist Xiao, after all? What of the giant white python? What of Xiangxi’s master of sorcery, Lord Si? What of Tang Xianshan, master of the Tang Clan? Even immortals who could transform into flood dragons were beneath his notice. Yet now, for the third time, Gu Mo’s berserk state had left Xiao Yulou utterly terrified.

If this continued, Gu Mo might truly become a bloodthirsty monster!

At this juncture, only the Three Pure Ones’ Daoist magic could subdue him.

With that, Xiao Yulou summoned his pure Yang Qi. With a flick of his robe, three yellow talismans flew unerringly to Gu Mo’s forehead.

Instantly, powerful Daoist energy suppressed Gu Mo.

The white dragon, feeling the underworld fiend atop him cease his assault, sighed in relief, his entire being—body and soul—washed with comfort.

He exhaled two steaming plumes from his deep nostrils.

But suddenly—

With a thunderous bang, the three yellow talismans on Gu Mo’s brow burst into flame, their ashes drifting down.

Gu Mo, still clutching the dragon tendon in his teeth, shuddered and resumed tearing at it with savage bites.

One meter... two meters... three meters!

Xiao Yulou watched in horror, cold sweat pouring down. Even the white dragon brought its claws together in prayer to the heavens.

“Mercy! Can’t you just finish me already?”

Before the words were cold, Xiao Yulou’s left foot, clad in simple cloth shoes, traced a Tai Chi arc and stamped the ground with force.

Golden light burst forth, dazzling and radiant.

Bathed in this brilliance, Xiao Yulou thrust his sword-fingers skyward.

In an instant, the wind howled, thunder crashed, and the temperature plummeted. Darkness enveloped everything, and the air turned damp and heavy.

Crack!

Thunder rumbled through the churning clouds.

In a flash, Xiao Yulou roared:

“Three Pure, Three Woods, impermanence at heart—let the thunder and fire reveal their edge! Heaven and earth, lend me your strength—invoke the Five Thunder Spell!”

With his incantation, Xiao Yulou flicked his fingers. With a terrifying crash, accompanied by a torrential downpour, a bolt of blue lightning as thick as a well shaft struck down upon the dragon and Gu Mo.

But this lightning did not vanish in an instant. The blue current remained, linking the storm clouds above and Gu Mo clinging to the dragon below.

In a matter of seconds, the berserk Gu Mo was jolted upright, shaking violently. The battered dragon fared no better, its body thrashing wildly in the freezing air.

Xiao Yulou, forming a Daoist seal, clenched his jaw and peered through his spectral eyes.

At such a critical moment, the slightest error could mean the annihilation of Gu Mo’s soul.

Anxious, Xiao Yulou peered closer—and then he saw it: at some point, a square red talisman had appeared on Gu Mo’s chest, pulsing like a hypnotic light.

After a dozen seconds of lightning, Xiao Yulou quickly withdrew his Daoist energy.

The storm dissipated instantly.

Gu Mo collapsed atop the dragon, naked—his tracksuit having been reduced to ash by the breeze. Only a blood-red bellyband remained.

Then the battered white dragon exhaled a plume of black smoke, and a transparent wisp of soul drifted out, sucked immediately into the Soul-Gourd.

At last, as its soul was almost completely consumed, the dragon sighed deeply.

“At last, this immortal is finally released...”

With that, the last trace of the dragon’s soul was drawn into the Soul-Gourd.

…