Chapter Thirty-Four: Mingzhao Comes South to Burn the River Dragon

A single word spoken, and the world fell silent.

The River God was first stunned, then consumed by shame and rage: a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dared to spout such nonsense before him! Were all the Taoists who emerged from Penglai so arrogant?

"You seek death!"

The River God flickered, instantly appearing before Jiang Sheng. The massive, pointed fork in his hand descended, carrying surging spiritual power. It felt as if a thousand-fold waterfall were crashing down!

Jiang Sheng’s expression remained unchanged as a three-foot azure blade appeared in his hand. As his spiritual power surged, the spirit sword erupted with astonishing might, and an azure sword beam whistled forth.

The three-zhang sword qi collided with the River God's fork. The clashing spiritual energy exploded, shaking the air for hundreds of zhang in every direction. Both Jiang Sheng and the River God were driven back over a hundred zhang.

The River God regained his composure. Even though that had been merely a probing strike, he realized that Jiang Sheng was absolutely unlike an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Is that a spirit weapon in your hand?" the River God asked.

Jiang Sheng did not answer. He charged forward once more, his azure blade flashing as a streak of blue spiritual light tore through the void. The River God sneered and swung his fork to meet the attack; possessing Purple Mansion cultivation, he naturally had no fear of a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like Jiang Sheng.

Above the sky outside Qingping Mountain, azure and blue spiritual lights collided incessantly. Sword qi whistled, shredding curtains of water, while the surging waves transformed into a rain of water arrows, pouring down to blot out the sky.

The commoners at the foot of Qingping Mountain stared up at the fierce battle, their hearts in their throats, terrified that if Jiang Sheng were defeated, they would find no place to bury their bones.

Xu Xiao and Qiao Xuan took the opportunity to retreat into the mountains to rendezvous with Zhang Qing and Zhang Qingyun.

"Where are Wang Tianfang and the others?" Zhang Qing asked.

"Hmph, once they realized the one they had bound wasn't the River God, they scattered and fled," Xu Xiao scoffed, his eyes filled with disdain.

Zhang Qing nodded; this outcome did not surprise her. Looking up at the two flickering lights in the sky, she exhaled a hot breath. "Now, it all depends on Daoist Jiang’s methods."

Xu Xiao’s expression was complex. "Indeed, we can only rely on Daoist Jiang."

Meanwhile, Jiang Sheng, though outwardly calm as water, was inwardly solemn. This was his first time battling a being of the Purple Mansion realm since leaving his mountain. While the River God placed immense pressure on him, it also allowed Jiang Sheng to unleash his full potential.

Azure sword beams crisscrossed, carving through the surging curtains of water. The River God grasped at the air with his left hand, drawing infinite water vapor into his palm, which finally formed a roaring pillar of water.

The pillar surged forth, reaching Jiang Sheng in a few breaths. The violent water energy seemed capable of destroying everything; its mere approach made it difficult to breathe. Jiang Sheng’s spiritual power surged, and he dodged the pillar, catching a glimpse of it slamming into a small mountain peak behind him. With a deafening roar and a cloud of dust, the mountaintop was obliterated, and countless boulders tumbled down.

Jiang Sheng’s expression did not waver. He formed a seal with his left hand and wiped his fingers across the blade. In the next moment, his movements quickened by a third. It was as if man and sword had become one; a streak of azure light traversed the sky, flashing from east to west like a thunderbolt.

The River God instinctively dodged, but everything in the path of that azure light was sliced open, a rift spreading for three hundred zhang.

It was a sword strike of unparalleled sharpness—fast and ruthless.

"A fast sword indeed," the River God praised. Even with the eyes of a former False Core master, he found a sword strike of this caliber from a Foundation Establishment cultivator to be breathtaking.

Jiang Sheng’s figure emerged from the blue light. "River God, don’t be in such a hurry to praise me. Doesn't your face hurt?"

The River God paused and touched his cheek, only then discovering a deep gash. Being a stone construct, he relied on the power of incense and divine will to move; since his body was stone, he felt no pain from the injury. He instinctively tried to channel the incense power to heal the wound, only to be shocked to find that the power was blocked by a lingering sword intent. He could not heal the wound until he wore down that intent.

"I have underestimated you."

The River God ignored the scar. Grasping his fork with his right hand, he channeled his internal incense power to the limit. He had realized the problem: from Donghe Town to Qingping Town, he had destroyed five towns and countless villages, and after two clashes with Xu Xiao’s group, his incense power was severely depleted. Most importantly, driving the waters of the Taiping River to flood the six towns had consumed a massive amount of his stored power.

He secretly began to regret his actions. If this battle ended now, the incense power within this avatar would likely be exhausted. At the thought that his dream of refining a mortal body to condense an incense Golden Core would be delayed by years, he looked at Jiang Sheng with pure malice.

"I will not give you another chance."

The River God channeled his power fully, drawing the surging river water around him to create a curtain of water that pierced the heavens, separating the sky from the earth. The wall of water blocked the horizon and obscured the view of everyone on Qingping Mountain. They could only see a thick wall of water looming before the mountain, as if the world were about to collapse.

The River God swung his fork, and the heaven-shrouding water curtain, weighing ten thousand jun, washed toward Jiang Sheng. Every droplet of water within that curtain was like a sharp blade. To be caught in it meant certain death—flesh stripped away and bones ground to nothing.

As the water roared toward him like a celestial river spilling into the mortal realm, Jiang Sheng reached into his sleeve and gripped a yellow talisman—a "Brilliant Li-Fire Talisman" he had crafted himself. As the water neared, he activated it.

The River God, watching Jiang Sheng be swallowed by the water, had no time to relax before a resonant dragon’s roar echoed out.

"Aoo!"

The high-pitched roar emerged from within the water. In the next instant, a vast vacuum was vaporized into the surging waterfall. A fire dragon, complete with whiskers, scales, and claws, erupted from the water, with Jiang Sheng standing firmly within its talons!

The fire-forged dragon circled in the air, staining the surrounding dark clouds into clouds of flame. The River God looked at the ten-zhang-long fire dragon and recalled the intelligence provided by Huang Shiren: Jiang Sheng of Qingping Mountain was adept at fire techniques. It seemed this fire dragon was his trump card.

"Mere fire magic—do you truly think you can withstand the power of the Taiping River?" The River God sneered, channeling his incense power to its limit. Infinite vapor gathered around him, forming water clouds covering dozens of miles. "Let us see if your fire is stronger, or my water!"

As the River God swung his fork, the sky-filling vapor transformed into countless water arrows, blotting out the sun as they shot toward Jiang Sheng. Each arrow carried the power of a Foundation Establishment strike. Such a barrage would exhaust Jiang Sheng to death.

But under Jiang Sheng’s command, the ten-zhang fire dragon roared again, spewing scorching flames that turned the surrounding clouds into a furnace. The water arrows collided with the flames and detonated, the water energy and fire qi canceling each other out, creating a massive cloud of scalding steam that fell as hot, drizzling rain.

The people on Qingping Mountain stared, wide-eyed, as the rain of arrows was blocked entirely by the majestic fire dragon. Only then did they realize the extent of Daoist Jiang’s power!

Xu Xiao watched the dragon in awe. "Daoist Jiang’s fire technique is truly extraordinary!"

"The fire dragon has horns, whiskers, scales, and claws; it is incredibly nimble. Clearly, Daoist Jiang has mastered this technique, or he could not have condensed such a miraculous creature!"

Hearing Xu Xiao’s praise, Zhang Qingyun asked anxiously, "Does this mean Daoist Jiang can defeat that demon?"

Xu Xiao shook his head. "It is hard to say. Beings of the Purple Mansion realm have opened their 'Purple Mansion' at the brow and possess rudimentary supernatural powers; their spiritual power is far beyond that of the Foundation Establishment realm. Even though he has consumed much power flooding half of Qingping County, he is still a Purple Mansion entity. The outcome is a toss-up."

As they spoke, the battle in the sky shifted again. Seeing that the water arrows were ineffective, and feeling his incense power dwindling, the River God finally unleashed his true trump card.

With a sweep of his fork, the water vapor coalesced into a giant fish, over a hundred zhang in length. The River God swung his fork, and the colossal fish lunged at Jiang Sheng. Its sheer size was like a hill, casting a shadow that covered half of Qingping Town, and the aura it radiated was terrifying. Xu Xiao felt that if this creature landed on the town, it would be obliterated instantly.

Compared to the giant fish, Jiang Sheng’s ten-zhang fire dragon was less than a tenth of its size. While it possessed all the features of a dragon, its momentum and power were far inferior.

Qiao Xuan stared at the two combatants with a grim expression. "Daoist Jiang is in trouble."

"What?!" Zhang Qing and Zhang Qingyun gasped, their hearts turning cold.

Xu Xiao’s face was equally grave. "The demon has used a supernatural ability. That fish must be the primary ability he began condensing in the Purple Mansion stage. Even if it isn't fully formed, it is not something a Foundation Establishment cultivator can withstand!"

Just then, the fire dragon let out a heaven-shaking roar. To everyone’s shock, Jiang Sheng steered the dragon to charge head-on at the massive water-spirit fish. They watched with bated breath as the tiny fire dragon seemed to strike like an egg against a mountain.

But in the next moment, the fire dragon exploded. The surging flames expanded, swallowing the water-spirit fish whole. A deafening blast shook the air; flames rolled, and the water-spirit fish struggled within the searing fire. It was clear that the fire dragon, condensed from the essence of the sun, had dealt the creature a severe wound.

Dust and clouds churned. As the River God frantically replenished the water vapor, the water-spirit fish twisted and rolled, eventually extinguishing the flames. The sky was once again shrouded in clouds and rain, and Jiang Sheng was nowhere to be seen.

"In the end, I have won!"

But before the River God could rejoice, he saw a tiny glimmer of light flickering within the clouds and rain.

In the next moment, a blinding azure sword beam tore through the sky, traversing three thousand zhang from west to east!