Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 276 Falling into the Dragon's Mouth
Chen Ye stared at the deep cave entrance, as if it were a giant sea monster opening its mouth, waiting for him to walk into its trap.

Inside the cave entrance was the Demonic Sect Master, a figure of great importance like Qu Heng.

Chen Ye composed himself and then slowly swam toward the cave entrance.

Now that things have come to this, there is no reason to back down.

After entering that deep cave entrance, it seemed as if the seawater had taken on a bloody smell.

The cave was deep and dark, but Chen Ye could still see his surroundings clearly. On both sides were dark blue rocks, and various skeletons could be seen everywhere on the ground, mostly fish bones, as well as many human bones.

This Azure Dragon Lord is truly not picky about food; any living creature is on his menu.

As Chen Ye continued on his way, he began to sense that something was amiss.

This cave seems a bit too deep. He has already swum for several miles, but it is still a narrow passage. Where is that Azure Dragon Lord?
Just as they were wondering, dozens of eerie blue lights suddenly appeared before them, and the passage finally came to an end. Before them was an incredibly spacious underground cave, as if they had already burrowed into the depths of the seabed rock.

Inside this enormous cave, a half-human, half-dragon monster lay coiled up in the very center.

It wasn't until Chen Ye got close that the monster opened its eyes and stared at him with its dim, yellowish pupils.

Chen Ye also carefully examined this Demonic Sect Master.

It was smaller than Chen Ye, who had transformed into a dragon, but it was still ten zhang long including its tail.

Its lower body had completely transformed into a dragon, with its slender body and long tail tightly coiled together. However, its upper body was somewhat different. Although its skin was covered with dragon scales, it still showed signs of a human structure, being extremely robust and powerful.

Its head had grown into the shape of a dragon, but it looked extremely deformed when placed on the body of a burly man.

Having reached the level of the Azure Dragon Lord, it shouldn't be difficult for him to transform into a different form, but he still chooses to appear in this neither-human-nor-dragon form, whether out of pride or complete indifference is unknown.

Azure Dragon Lord sat up, carefully examined Chen Ye's appearance, and then took a few more gulps of seawater.

Immediately afterwards, his cloudy eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed, "Such a strong smell! Just how many dragon pearls do you have on you?"

Chen Ye was startled. He could even smell that?

Chen Ye did not answer the question, but said to the Azure Dragon Lord, "I will offer you the dragon pearl that you need, on the condition that you release the people of the Incense Burning Sect and hand them over to me."

The Azure Dragon Lord sneered, "Tell me terms? Do you know that I can kill you at any time? The Flood Dragon Pearl will still be mine."

Chen Ye calmly said, "Perhaps I am no match for you, Venerable Lord, but I can destroy the Flood Dragon Pearl before you make a move. This treasure is not indestructible; it will only take a little effort."

The Azure Dragon Lord's expression changed, then he laughed and said, "Hehe, you're brave and resourceful. No wonder that gossipy Youluozi sent you as a pawn and even dared to let you steal my dragon pearl."

"You stole your dragon pearl?"

Chen Ye didn't quite understand what the Azure Dragon Lord meant by that.

However, the Azure Dragon Lord's next words sent chills down his spine.

The Azure Dragon Lord sneered, "What are you pretending for? Chen Ye, the Sect Master of the Yellow Springs Sect! The dragon pearl on your body was taken from the corpses of the four dragons at the Gate of Return to the Void, wasn't it?"

Chen Ye never expected that the Azure Dragon Lord would see through his identity.

That's unlikely. Few people know that the Eight-Nine Mystic Abilities can transform into a dragon, but Chen Ye immediately thought of a name—Youluozi.

Youluozi knew that he had obtained the Flood Dragon Pearl in Guixu, and it was Youluozi who told the Azure Flood Dragon Lord about the Flood Dragon Pearl.

His own claim of having subordinates of Youluozi was naturally exposed.

Moreover, Qu Heng said that Chen Ye would face a fatal calamity in Guixu, which clearly refers to the Azure Dragon Lord.

It was just that Chen Ye wasn't greedy, so he escaped in time. If he had delayed any longer, he might have been trapped in the Ruins of Return by the Azure Dragon Lord.

But Youluozi clearly said he would cooperate with him, so why would he tell this secret to the Azure Dragon Lord?

Does that mean everything before was a lie?
Sure enough, the devil's words are the least trustworthy.

Now that his identity had been exposed, Chen Ye stopped pretending and said bluntly, "Azure Dragon Lord, no matter what my identity is, this dragon pearl is real. In that case, why don't you give me the people of the Incense Burning Sect, and I will give you the treasure you've been dreaming of? Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"

The Azure Dragon Lord shook his head and said, "If someone else said this, I might try to make a deal, but you are Youluozi's puppet. I will never believe a word that gossip again!"

Chen Ye quickly said, "I have no relation to Youluozi."

"Shut up, I don't believe it!" Azure Dragon Lord roared, and Chen Ye felt as if the surrounding seawater was about to freeze, sealing him in the water.

However, Chen Ye is also a dragon, and the dragon he transformed into using the Eight-Nine Arcane Technique seems to have a purer bloodline than the Azure Dragon Lord. Therefore, even though their cultivation levels are much lower, Chen Ye can still control the seawater to contend with it.

Now that he had made his move, Chen Ye didn't hesitate for a moment. Dozens of thick, crimson fire snakes appeared on the Azure Dragon Lord's body, opening their mouths to bite him.

However, the sharp fangs of the Crimson Serpent were blocked by the scales on the Azure Dragon Lord's body, only making a series of ear-piercing sounds, but it could not harm him in the slightest.

The Azure Dragon Lord exclaimed in surprise, "What powerful divine ability!"

But then he angrily retorted, "You still say you're not one of Youluozi's people? Only Youluozi stole all the secrets of our demonic sect!"

Chen Ye was speechless. This time, he really couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the sea.

The Azure Dragon Lord showed no courtesy to Chen Ye, tearing the thick red snakes into pieces with a powerful effort.

This is a Crimson Serpent that even ordinary flying swords cannot cut, but in the hands of the Azure Dragon Lord, it's as fragile as paper.

Chen Ye could only retreat quickly, while simultaneously unleashing the supernatural powers of the other levels of hell.

The bronze bell rang, causing the Azure Dragon Lord to roar in pain. But despite the roar, his movements were not affected at all. He grabbed Chen Ye's dragon tail, causing Chen Ye to cry out in pain.

The tough dragon scales were easily scratched by the Azure Dragon Lord, leaving five bloody marks and causing blood to splatter everywhere.

However, Chen Ye promptly transformed the dragon's tail into seawater, and even the splattered blood and dragon scales dissipated into an ungraspable current.

The Azure Dragon Lord failed in one move, and Chen Ye escaped more than ten feet away.

The dragon's tail grew back, and Chen Ye swam out of the cave without hesitation.

There's no time to save lives now; saving lives is the priority.

Unfortunately, his Golden Body of Merit was broken by Zhang Qi's sword intent, and it would take at least ten days to half a month to recover, otherwise he would not be completely powerless to fight back.

However, the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts also has first-class life-saving ability. The injury just now was not even a superficial wound. Every drop of flesh and blood carries Chen Ye's will. As long as it can be re-integrated, it is as if there was no injury.

We have no choice but to retreat now.

But after swimming a short distance, Chen Ye realized that the Azure Dragon Lord had not caught up at all.

"Did he not want to pursue after his initial failure?"

Some truly skilled individuals do have this habit: when bullying the weak, they let the other party go after a single misstep, making themselves appear very magnanimous.

But the Azure Dragon Lord shouldn't be like that. He's determined to get the Dragon Pearl and would never give it up.

Whatever the reason, Chen Ye remained focused on escaping.

However, before Chen Ye could run out of the underground cave, the surrounding rock walls began to shake, and layers of rock peeled away, revealing bright red flesh inside, as if it were the esophagus of some giant beast.

Chen Ye's eyes widened, and a terrifying thought rose in his mind.

Could it be that he had already entered the Azure Dragon Lord's stomach from the very beginning?

The thought had barely formed when the surrounding seawater began to surge wildly, pushing Chen Ye towards the cave... no, towards the depths of this esophagus.

This time, the power of the sea was so violent that Chen Ye tried his best to control the water flow but could not resist it.

At this very moment, in the deepest part of the ocean, a colossal creature opened its eyes and slowly closed its mouth, which was disguised as a cave.

The outer layer of camouflage rock continued to break and peel away, revealing the dark blue scales underneath.

This twisted dragon was so huge that its eyes alone were several times larger than Chen Ye's when he transformed into a dragon.

From the very beginning, the Azure Dragon Lord had already swallowed Chen Ye whole, as if he were swallowing a small worm. The creature that had just fought Chen Ye was merely an avatar conjured by his divine sense.

The Azure Dragon Lord closed his mouth, shifted to a more comfortable position deep in the sea, and slowly closed his eyes.

No matter how many tricks or changes you have, they will all rot in his belly.

Once Chen Ye is completely digested, the Flood Dragon Pearl will naturally be his.

(End of this chapter)