Chapter 60: Chapter 61: The Real Master Has Arrived
WHOOSH! A half-man-long bolt from a Fire Crossbow shot toward South City!
He had fired it randomly, but he’d chosen the angle carefully. The crossbow arrow pierced the roof of the first house, broke through a wall, and lodged itself in a pillar of the second.
The oil on its tip acted as an accelerant. With a few WHOOSHES, the house it struck began to burn.
South City’s buildings were densely packed, one right after another. In theory, there should have been firewalls between them. But illegal construction to grab extra land has always been human nature, and over time, the houses had all become connected. For an arsonist like Nian Songyu, this was perfect. Flames and smoke erupted everywhere.
His newly discovered Nail Bombs were the most vicious part. A single one would explode on impact, spraying hundreds of shrapnel-like nails and a shower of sparks.
South City was large and they were short on manpower, so Sunx Fuping had no choice but to join in.
Rolling stones coated in tar and fire riddled the houses of South City with gaping holes.
They landed in the Official Residence District. Two large boulders smashed through the Zhong Family’s house. The trees in the courtyard and the beams of the house caught fire simultaneously.
The fires didn’t seem alarming at first. But when the flames from all over merged into one, they became a city-consuming inferno!
Thinking it was burning too slowly, Sunx Fuping formed a hand seal for the Wind-Summoning Technique. This wasn’t the Grand Thousand Worlds, so the power of his Divine Techniques was greatly diminished. A raging gale was reduced to a gentle breeze.
But it was enough to fan the flames.
The fire rode the wind, and columns of smoke billowed into the sky.
Hee Lingchuan and Fuzzy Peach were currently standing by the shore of a small lake in the south of the city, having deliberately distanced themselves from the Official Residences.
Finally, a wooden beam in the Zhong Residence burned through and snapped in two, crashing down onto a bed and a dressing table. A wooden comb bounced twice before falling helplessly into the fire.
Flames licked at the comb, quickly charring its lower half.
As if a trigger had been pulled, the flames all across the city surged outward in every direction with unstoppable, incredible speed.
Standing by the lake, the two felt a blast of heat wash over their faces, threatening to singe their hair. They had no choice but to dive into the lake to cool off.
Even through the layer of lake water, Hee Lingchuan could see a red glow flickering above.
The entire city was ablaze, an inferno with no corner left untouched.
Nian Songyu and Sunx Fuping stood on the city wall, shocked by the devastating sight.
The flames had spread so quickly; it was clearly abnormal. Sunx Fuping exhaled. "Tao Bo was right."
Only by destroying the peaceful Illusion Realm would Panlong City reveal its true face.
Suddenly, a heavy rain began to fall.
The seemingly unstoppable flames barely struggled before they were extinguished by the downpour in the blink of an eye.
Sunx Fuping stared at a small divot on the crenellations. After only a few breaths of rain, a small puddle had already formed.
"The rainwater is red," he said slowly. "The same color as the Pool Well."
Ahead of them, the city had been reduced to ruins, with wisps of smoke curling into the air.
The lake’s water level dropped rapidly. Hee Lingchuan and Fuzzy Peach found themselves sitting in a mud pit, soaked to the bone.
"BLECH, BLECH!" Fuzzy Peach spat out the water in his mouth. "Is this... blood?"
"The Illusion Realm is fading." Hee Lingchuan had also accidentally swallowed a couple of mouthfuls, and now his mouth was filled with a metallic tang.
He couldn’t be bothered with that. He pointed ahead. "Look, the ruins are changing."
Though everything was charred and smoking, the entire city had transformed. Many new ruins had appeared out of thin air, buildings that hadn’t existed in the Illusion Realm.
Even the lake where the two of them had taken refuge had shrunk to a small pond, barely thirty feet across. When they climbed out, they saw the former lakebed had been filled in, and a building stood in its place. ’Is that a stable?’
’So *this* is what the real Desert Ruins of Panlong City look like.’
Then, everyone heard a long, resounding, and furious roar!
The roar was so powerful it made the pebbles on the ground dance. It made the listeners’ eardrums ache and their hearts pound like drums. It even shook a dilapidated, teetering building in South City until it collapsed!
Though it was the first time he’d heard it, Hee Lingchuan could discern endless sorrow, resentment, and bitterness in the sound.
Fuzzy Peach pointed at the South City Gate, his finger trembling uncontrollably. "It’s—It’s out! It’s out!"
The giant Black Flood Dragon bas-relief had actually started to move.
It first shook its head, then, with a violent struggle, burst forth from the South City Wall!
That single movement sent thousands of pounds of earth and stone crashing to the ground with a tremendous RUMBLE.
Shedding its outermost stone shell, the Black Flood Dragon’s body emerged, dark and gleaming amidst the swirling dust. Any one of its scales was larger than the Turtle Shield in Nian Songyu’s hands.
Looking closely now, its horn was straight, with a tip as sharp as a blade, not forked like a true dragon’s.
It clearly knew where its enemies were. After breaking through the wall, it glanced back, then slithered back to the top of the wall.
Although it had no legs, it moved like a snake and could go where ordinary four-legged animals could not.
It spotted the two men standing on the city wall and whipped its tail. The long tail, thicker than an ancient, giant tree, smashed down heavily above the city gate.
From that one blow, even from so far away, Hee Lingchuan and his companion felt the ground tremble, as if unable to withstand the creature’s fury.
Then, the Flood Dragon’s tail swept sideways, nearly obliterating the crenellations.
Nian Songyu and Sunx Fuping, of course, could no longer stay there and leaped back down from the wall.
The Weng City wall was fifteen *zhang* tall—over one hundred fifty feet. Nian Songyu dug his hands into cracks in the wall, breaking his fall twice before landing on the ground. Sunx Fuping, on the other hand, simply walked down, far more gracefully than Nian Songyu, as if the air itself supported him and gently lowered him to the ground.
The Black Flood Dragon perched on the wall, looking down on them from its high vantage point.
"This place was so beautiful. Why must you always try every means possible to destroy it?" A grand voice echoed in everyone’s mind. "You are courting death!"
Sunx Fuping stepped forward, drew a breath, and announced, "I am the National Preceptor of the Da Yuan Kingdom! I have come on the emperor’s command to retrieve the Grand Square Pot, to right the wrongs of the world and restore order!"
The Black Flood Dragon lowered its head to size him up. "Utter nonsense!"
Nian Songyu shouted, "We mean no harm! We were forced to destroy the Illusion Realm. As soon as we have the Grand Square Pot, we will turn and leave, and bother you no more."
"The Grand Square Pot?" The Black Flood Dragon sneered. "I *am* the Grand Square Pot! Come, let’s see what you’re made of. I wonder if you’ll even be enough to get stuck in my teeth!"
As the guardian boss, it was clearly aware of its duties and wasted no more words on the two before it.
The Flood Dragon’s tail whipped the city gate, making the entire South Wall tremble. "My little ones, dinner is served!"
The moment the words faded, Nian Songyu caught a glimpse of something white moving at his feet out of the corner of his eye. He dodged without thinking, only then realizing it was a thin, rope-like snake that had just retracted its neck.
If he hadn’t been so quick, the thing would have bitten him on the calf.
But just as he looked away, something came flying toward him with a WHOOSH, aimed straight for his face.
It was a broken bed.
The bed was charred black, but its ebony frame was of high quality. Weighing three or four hundred pounds, it flew with immense force. By the time he turned back, it was already about to smash into his face.
There was no time to dodge. With a furious roar, Nian Songyu raised his Turtle Shield and swung it upward.
