The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapters 230 and 245: Finally out! Dragon Slayer!
More than half a month later.

Lu Chen returned to Floating Mountain. Li Xinzhu and Yue Hong had completed their mission and collected five gourds of evil lightning, and were waiting for him to join them.

"I forgot the time while forging the sword, sorry to have kept you both waiting."

Lu Chen apologized with a smile.

That's not entirely an excuse.

In the Twin Dragons world, he used Thunder Gold to upgrade Rong'er and the others' flying swords, and the effect was quite good.

He also used the essence of Xuan Tie to forge several small protective magic artifacts and four flying swords.

He now possesses ten protective magical artifacts and five flying swords, greatly increasing his sense of security.

Li Xinzhu said with a smile:
"Fellow Daoist Lu, you flatter us. We have only recently completed our collection mission."

Hong Yue said:
"Now that Fellow Daoist Lu has arrived, may we set off?"

Lu Chen nodded slightly and raised his hand in a gesture of invitation:
"Please come in, fellow Taoists."

After enduring more than a month of hardship in this godforsaken place, Li Xinzhu and Hong Yue, who were eager to return home, didn't waste any words. Li Xinzhu activated her feather robe, which emitted starlight, and carried her and Hong Yue into the air.

Lu Chen also activated his Wind and Thunder Wings and followed behind the two.

During the flight, Li Xinzhu still held the bronze mirror in her hand to deal with the blood-red lightning in the thunderclouds, while Hong Yue took out a compass-like magical artifact to guide the way.

This was the first time the two had come to the depths of the Earth's lungs. The terrain here was complex and often changed due to earthquakes. Occasionally, a soul-crushing and bone-chilling wind would also be generated. Even the path they had taken to get here was not necessarily safe, and might even have become a dead end.

Therefore, when returning, one still needs to rely on ritual implements to guide the way.

Even with the compass as a guide, the three of them flew around in circles for a long time before finally arriving at the entrance of a cave.

The cave entrance is suspended high above the dome of the Earth's lungs, more than two thousand feet above the magma sea below. There are also numerous cave entrances of various sizes nearby.

Some of these openings are dead ends, while others lead to other parts of the earth's core, and some even lead to perilous places filled with malevolent energy.

Lu Chen was fortunate to have met Li Xinzhu and the other person; otherwise, he really didn't know when he would have been able to leave the depths of the Earth's core and explore the surface.

After entering the cave, there was a winding upward passage. We flew through the cave for a good hour or so, and there were several forks in the road. We also carefully avoided two dangerous areas filled with highly poisonous and malevolent energy.

Finally, the three arrived at a spacious cave, where plants and water finally appeared.

Li Xinzhu reminded her:

"The Yin energy ahead is very heavy, and evil spirits occasionally appear. Fellow Daoist Lu, please be careful."

The Fiend is an invisible demon born from a kind of Yin energy. Although it has no intelligence or knowledge, it has an extremely ferocious bloodlust. Once it senses the presence of a living creature, it will try to devour its flesh and essence.

If it devours enough intelligent beings, it may develop its own sentience and transform into an even more powerful demon.

However, Lu Chen and his companions were quite lucky on this trip. Or rather, the compass artifact in Hong Yue's possession had excellent abilities to avoid danger and guide the way. The three of them did not encounter any powerful evil demons along the way, only two ordinary evil demons.

Although they are invisible demons, their yin energy is extremely heavy, and anyone with a little spiritual cultivation can sense their presence.

Thus, one of the two demonic beasts was blasted away by Hong Yue's roar, while the other was killed by Lu Chen's Heart Sword.

The "Heart Sword" is well-suited for dealing with this type of monster.

After traveling for another hour or so through the winding and rugged mountain caves, a ray of light finally appeared ahead.

……

Emerging from a cave hidden by vines.

Lu Chen was suddenly greeted by a lush green landscape. Ancient trees reached for the sky, and the forest stretched as far as the eye could see. In the distance, towering mountain ranges could be seen reaching into the clouds.

The mountains seemed higher and larger, and the ancient trees in the forests also seemed quite huge, with trees that were twenty or thirty feet tall being commonplace, and giant trees that were seventy or eighty feet tall not being rare.

But other than that…

Lu Chen carefully sensed the area for a while but did not detect how abundant the spiritual energy was.

It feels similar to Twin Dragons World.

"Are all the spiritually rich treasure lands occupied by cultivation sects or demons? Ordinary places have only mediocre spiritual energy?"

Lu Chen pondered inwardly, but remained outwardly calm to avoid revealing his status as an outsider. He only spoke to Li Xinzhu:
"Fellow Daoist Li, why don't we go and subdue that Cold Dragon now?"

Li Xinzhu was also somewhat impatient and nodded, saying:

"That's right."

The three of them then took to the air again, flying towards the location of the cold dragon that Li Xinzhu had discovered.

It's not far from here, only a little over a thousand miles away.

At the speed of the Land-Sinking Wind and Thunder Wings, it would only take ten minutes to travel over a thousand miles.

However, Li Xinzhu and her companion flew too slowly, and it took them a full hour to reach their destination.

It was a cold pool hidden deep in the mountains.

This pool is only about an acre in size, surrounded by sheer cliffs covered in frost and icicles, barren of any vegetation. The water is a deep, dark green, with a layer of chilling mist rising above it. Even from dozens of feet away, one can faintly feel the bone-chilling cold of the mist, where every drop of water freezes instantly.

"The Cold Dragon only appears at midnight, absorbing the essence of the Yin."

Li Xinzhu said softly:

"But at that time, the power of the Frost Dragon's ice wind and ice thunder will also reach its peak. We should lure it out during the day and lead it away from the Frost Pool, thus rendering its advantageous position useless."

Hong Yue nodded:
“I’ll do it. I just happened to have an extra half of the gourd of lightning, so I’ll use the lightning to force it out.”

Although the unrefined lightning was not stable and its power was only average, it was enough to provoke and draw out the cold dragon.

The three landed on the cliff top beside the icy pool. Hong Yue took out a vermilion gourd, uncorked it, made a hand seal, pointed a finger, and shouted, "Go!"

A flash of red light appeared at the mouth of the gourd, and dozens of crimson lightning beads the size of marbles were shot out in succession, falling onto the cold pool all at once.

Then came a series of deafening explosions. The cold pool seemed to be bombarded by artillery shells, with dozens of huge water columns bursting out one after another. The icy water splashed in all directions, with the highest splash reaching dozens of feet high.

The cold pool water neutralized most of the power of the lightning, so this bombardment would not harm the Cold Dragon lurking deep in the pool. However, having so many firecrackers thrown at its doorstep was enough to enrage the Cold Dragon.

Amidst the splashing water, a roar like that of a bull rang out, and a slender figure, entirely ice-blue, burst out of the water and soared into the sky—it was the Cold Dragon.

Lu Chen stared intently and saw that the Cold Dragon was over ten feet long from head to tail, its entire body covered with ice-blue scales, with four claws, a head like a dragon but without horns, and a body shape more like a salamander, with its tail accounting for about two-thirds of its body length.

As soon as it emerged from the water, it spotted Lu Chen and the other two on the cliff. Its cold, serpentine blue vertical pupils stared intently at the three of them. It opened its long snout and unleashed a bolt of white light like thunder, blasting it fiercely towards them.

"go!"

A flash of starlight appeared on Li Xinzhu's body, and she flew backward with Hong Yue.

Lu Chen also flashed, instantly retreating more than ten zhang. The bolt of white light struck the spot where the three had just stood, exploding with a thunderous roar and creating a transparent shockwave that covered an area of ​​three zhang.

Wherever the shockwave passed, the sheer cliffs and solid rocks were instantly frozen, then cracked and shattered, turning into a pile of stone dust that shimmered with the luster of ice crystals.

It was the innate divine power of the Cold Dragon, "Ice and Lightning".

The three dodged the ice lightning and continued flying backward.

The cold dragon seemed to lack intelligence and did not realize that it was being lured away from its home ground. With a flick of its long tail, it aggressively rode the wind to chase after it.

In the blink of an eye, the three of them had already fled more than ten miles away, and the cold dragon was also closely following.

"Just here."

As Li Xinzhu spoke, she suddenly stopped, made a hand seal, and her feathered robe flashed, creating a phantom image of a giant crane about ten feet tall.

The giant crane spread its wings and soared into the sky, charging towards the cold dragon. With its long, slender neck outstretched, its massive beak pierced towards the cold dragon like a sharp sword.

The cold dragon opened its mouth and spat out a whirlwind of ice blue, which blew onto the giant crane. The giant crane's movements became visibly sluggish, and then its body was quickly covered with a layer of ice crystals. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a large ice block and fell down.

Before the ice block even hit the ground, it cracked and shattered, turning into countless tiny ice crystals, and the giant crane vanished into thin air.

Li Xinzhu's expression changed slightly:
"It's stronger than the last time I saw it!"

As he spoke, he continued to form hand seals, and his feathered robes flashed with light once more, sending out another phantom of a giant crane that charged toward Han Chi once more.

Hong Yue also formed a hand seal, and a yellow light flashed from his animal skin coat, from which the phantom of a giant, striped tiger leaped out.

The giant tiger pressed its forepaws to the ground, leaped into the air, and raised its massive claws to strike the Cold Dragon. As the claws struck, the air exploded with a thunderous sound; the tiger's claw strike was like the palm strike of a peerless master.

The Cold Dragon first unleashed a bolt of icy lightning, shattering the crane's shadow into dust. Then, it lashed out with its long tail, clashing head-on with the tiger's claw as the giant tiger phantom struck down. Amidst a thunderous roar, the tiger phantom was actually shattered by its claw, while the Cold Dragon's long tail remained undamaged, not a single scale falling off.

Li Xinzhu's face was slightly pale. She glanced at Lu Chen and said:

"Brother Lu, my senior brother and I will go to restrain them. Please subdue them with your flying sword!"

Hong Yue also said:

"If the Cold Dragon unleashes icy winds and thunder, I would be grateful if Brother Lu could help me defend against it!"

Lu Chen nodded:

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

Li Xinzhu formed hand seals again, and dense starlight was released from her feather robe, enveloping her entire body. When the starlight dissipated, she transformed into an elegant white crane, spread her wings, and flew towards Han Chi.

Hong Yue also made hand seals and then leaped forward.

As he pounced, a burst of yellow light flashed across his body. Upon landing, he transformed into a fierce tiger. With a few leaps, he soared into the air and, together with the white crane, attacked the cold dragon from above and below.

Seeing that the two could even transform, Lu Chen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow:
"They have this trick up their sleeve? Their transformation abilities come from their respective feathered robes and animal skin garments?"

Although he was curious, he didn't hesitate. He pointed and sent his flying sword flying out, soaring a hundred feet into the air, its tip pointing towards the cold dragon below.

The cold dragon initially disregarded the crane and tiger that pounced on it and was about to unleash ice lightning upon them.

But when the flying sword locked onto it from a hundred feet in the air, it immediately sensed something was wrong. It lashed out with its long tail, using a force powerful enough to shatter black iron into pieces to force the tiger and crane back. The ice lightning that was originally meant to be sprayed at the tiger and crane was immediately redirected towards the flying sword.

The white light and ice lightning struck swiftly, and a flash of red light appeared on the flying sword, radiating astonishing heat, crashing down vertically like a fiery meteor.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the ice lightning was dissipated by the high temperature of the sword, but the red light on the flying sword also disappeared.

However, the flying sword itself was not knocked back by the ice and lightning. Its momentum was only slightly delayed before it continued to fly down.

The Cold Dragon opened its mouth and spewed out icy wind, attempting to freeze the flying sword with continuous attacks.

However, under the sweeping icy wind, the speed of the flying sword's thrust only slowed down slightly, and as soon as a layer of ice crystals covered the surface, the sword flashed red light again, instantly evaporating the ice crystals.

With both of its innate supernatural abilities useless, the Cold Dragon, though of low intelligence, realized that the situation was dire. It twisted its body and flew back towards the Cold Pool.

But then the white crane arrived again, its long beak like a sword, striking more than ten times in an instant, all pecking and stabbing at the same neck scale, finally breaking it. The cold dragon roared in pain and turned to bite the white crane.

But the giant tiger had already taken off into the air, stretched out its claws, and grabbed Han Chi's long neck tightly. With a twist and a throw, it actually brought Han Chi from the air to the ground.

boom!
With a deafening roar, the giant tiger and the cold dragon landed simultaneously, creating a huge crater and splashing mud everywhere.

The Frost Dragon was furious. It pressed down hard on the tiger with its four claws, opened its mouth wide, and was about to smear the tiger's face with ice lightning.

But before Bing Lei could even spit it out, a sword light pierced its upper jaw with a soft "poof," then through its tongue, and finally through its lower jaw, sealing its long snout shut.

His mouth was pierced and nailed shut by the flying sword, so he couldn't even utter a painful roar, let alone spew ice lightning.

The cold dragon was filled with shock and rage. It kicked and leaped with its four claws, sending the tiger that was trying to capture and lock it away flying. At the same time, its long tail lashed out like a whip, creating loud bangs that forced the white crane back.

But Lu Chen was suddenly struck by lightning and appeared in front of Han Chi in an instant. He pressed his palm down on Han Chi's head, and with a burst of immense force, Han Chi's head slammed down and was pressed into the ground.

The cold dragon was still struggling desperately, its four claws digging at the ground, sending mud and rocks flying everywhere. Its long tail was also frantically slapping the ground, making it shake and tremble, and opening up narrow cracks.

But no matter how much it struggled, it could not break free from Lu Chen's heavy, mountain-like hand.

However, it had extremely high stamina, and after struggling for half an hour, it still showed no signs of exhaustion.

Lu Chen grew impatient and asked the crane and the tiger:
"Is it absolutely necessary to capture them alive?"

Seeing that Lu Chen could hold down the incredibly powerful Han Chi with one hand and still be at ease while wrestling with Han Chi for a while, Bai He and Ju Hu couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

"that……"

From within the white crane's long beak, Li Xinzhu's voice rang out:
"Killing him is acceptable, but..."

Before he could finish speaking, a golden light flashed in Lu Chen's empty hand, revealing a long sword. He clenched his fist and thrust the sword heavily into Han Chi's skull. With a soft thud, the sword pierced through Han Chi's skull, which was as tough as black iron, as if piercing rotten wood.

The cold dragon froze, its struggling movements abruptly ceasing, and it died on the spot.

Lu Chen received a thick and powerful burst of killing energy.

Bai He froze, and had to swallow back the words he hadn't finished saying:

"However, once the Cold Dragon dies, most of its blood will lose its spiritual power. Cold Dragon blood is a good material for alchemy, weapon forging, and talisman making, and it can also be offered as a sacrifice to the Heavenly Court to gain merit..."

She originally planned to prepare thoroughly before using the unique method of Divine Beast Mountain to extract the blood of the Cold Dragon. If she sealed it with a magical artifact in time, she wouldn't lose much of its spiritual essence.

As for this blood, it was originally intended for Lu Chen...

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(End of this chapter)