203: There were still people at the scene.

Jiang Donghua gave her a sidelong glance and said calmly.

"If you would refrain from making sarcastic remarks, I might be able to sense things more accurately."

Red Silk let out a giggle, deliberately swung her foot, and nudged his shoulder.

"What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve, making you angry and ashamed?"

Jiang Donghua didn't bother responding to her. He closed his eyes, focused his mind, and continued using his Soul Power to probe the surroundings.

Seeing that he wouldn't take the bait, Red Silk propped her chin up boredly, looked up at the sky shrouded in black mist, and suddenly sighed.

"Hey, don't you think that so-called Red Light phenomenon is just a hoax? We've gone so deep, and aside from the increasingly dense black mist and more magical beasts, we haven't seen a single sign of it."

Jiang Donghua opened his eyes, his gaze serene.

"If it were a hoax, the Inner Academy Elders wouldn't have mobilized collectively. Moreover, these traces are fresh, and the residual fire-attribute energy is extremely pure. Someone entered earlier than us, and their strength is considerable."

He paused, his fingertip gently tracing a scorch mark on the tree trunk.

Red Silk raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Doesn't that mean we might have wasted our trip? Has the rare treasure already been snatched up by an early bird?"

Jiang Donghua shook his head.

"Not necessarily. If it had truly been taken, the unrest of the black mist and the magical beasts should have subsided, but now it is even more chaotic."

Just as he was speaking, his expression suddenly sharpened, and he abruptly grabbed Red Silk's wrist.

"Shh—!"

Red Silk instantly quieted down, following his line of sight.

Jiang Donghua and Red Silk held their breath, focusing intensely, their eyes locked onto the front.

Not far away, a giant earth-yellow flood dragon was coiled on the rock wall. Its scales were rough like gravel, each one emitting a heavy earth-attribute aura. Its head was lowered, and its cold, golden vertical pupils scanned the surroundings, as if searching for something.

Another completely pitch-black flood dragon circled in the low sky, its body covered in dark scales, with Lightning Light faintly flickering between the scale gaps. Every breath brought forth subtle electric arcs, and its oppressive aura was terrifying.

"Yellow Rock Flood Dragon and Profound Thunder Flood Dragon."

Red Silk used Soul Transmission, a rare hint of solemnity in her voice.

Jiang Donghua nodded slightly, his eyes cold and severe.

Either of these two flood dragons alone would be enough to force them into a desperate retreat, let alone both appearing at the same time!

"They seem to be searching for something."

Jiang Donghua keenly noticed the unusual behavior of the two flood dragons; they weren't wantonly destroying things like ordinary magical beasts, but were instead constantly patrolling the vicinity, as if searching for something.

Red Silk narrowed her eyes and whispered.

"Could it be that they are also searching for the source of that Red Light phenomenon?"

Jiang Donghua did not answer, but he had already formed this conjecture in his mind.

For two Peak Dou Huang flood dragons to be so cautious, that so-called Red Light phenomenon is likely more important than they imagined!

Just then, the Yellow Rock Flood Dragon suddenly raised its head and let out a low roar, then fiercely whipped its tail, smashing it hard against the ground!

"Boom—!"

The earth trembled, shattered stones scattered, and a crack instantly spread open. Beneath the fissure, a wisp of scarlet Red Light faintly shone through!

Red Silk's pupils constricted, and she nearly cried out in surprise.

"They found it?!"

However, before they could look closely, the Profound Thunder Flood Dragon suddenly swooped down and unleashed a black bolt of thunder from its mouth, striking directly at the fissure!

"This is bad!"

Jiang Donghua's expression instantly changed. He yanked Red Silk and rapidly retreated!

"Rumble—!"

The thunder exploded, and violent energy swept the surroundings. The giant tree they had been hiding behind was instantly blasted into charcoal!

The two flood dragons paid them no mind, instead staring fixedly at the Red Light beneath the fissure, their eyes filled with greed!

"Now we're in trouble."

Red Silk gritted her teeth.

"These two beasts are actually fighting over the rare treasure?!"

Jiang Donghua's eyes flickered, and he said in a deep voice.

"Their goal is the same, but they are wary of each other, so they haven't truly started fighting yet. However, once they start, we probably won't even have a chance to escape!"

Red Silk clenched her fists, battle intent surging in her eyes.

"What should we do then? We can't just stand by and watch them snatch the treasure, can we?"

Jiang Donghua fell silent for a moment, then suddenly whispered.

"Wait."

"Wait?"

"Wait until they both suffer serious losses, or wait for the person who entered earlier than us to show himself!"

Jiang Donghua's gaze was profound.

The two held their breath and focused, suppressing their aura to the extreme, their eyes fixed on the Red Light faintly visible in the fissure.

However, the battle between the Yellow Rock Flood Dragon and the Profound Thunder Flood Dragon stirred up dust and flying stones everywhere. The violent energy fluctuations blurred their vision, allowing them only to vaguely see the two behemoths frantically tearing and colliding, each clash causing earth-shattering tremors.

"Damn it, we can't see clearly at all!"

Red Silk gritted her teeth, her fingertips unconsciously digging into her palm.

Jiang Donghua frowned deeply, just as he was contemplating a countermeasure, when suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

"What is that?!"

Hanging conspicuously on the Profound Thunder Flood Dragon's ferocious head was a corpse!

The person's clothes were ripped, his face was ghastly pale, and his eyes were wide open, appearing to have experienced immense terror before death.

"Chen Senlin?!"

Red Silk's pupils instantly shrank, her voice almost escaping her lips before she forcibly suppressing it.

Jiang Donghua's expression was grim.

Chen Senlin was the fourteenth-ranked expert in the Inner Academy, his strength having reached Seven-Star Dou Ling, yet now he was a corpse, hung on the Profound Thunder Flood Dragon's head like a trophy!

"No wonder we didn't see him the entire time we were coming in."

Red Silk's voice trembled slightly.

"He entered earlier than us."

Jiang Donghua stared fixedly at Chen Senlin's corpse, suddenly realizing that his right hand was tightly clutching something, which he hadn't released even in death.

"He has something in his hand!"

Jiang Donghua said in a low voice.

Red Silk narrowed her eyes to look closely. Sure enough, a wisp of scarlet Red Light faintly shone through Chen Senlin's fingers, identical to the Red Light beneath the fissure!

"He managed to get the rare treasure?!"

Red Silk's breath hitched.

Before she finished speaking, the Yellow Rock Flood Dragon suddenly erupted, whipping its tail fiercely across the Profound Thunder Flood Dragon's body. The latter roared in pain and violently shook its head. Chen Senlin's corpse was flung away, and the Red Light slipped from his grasp, tracing an arc in the air!

"A chance!"

A sharp light burst forth in Jiang Donghua's eyes, and his figure instantly shot out!

Red Silk reacted extremely fast, darting out almost at the same moment. The two, like phantoms, rushed straight toward the falling Red Light!

However, just as they were about to reach it.

"Roar—!"

The two flood dragons noticed them simultaneously. Their enraged roars made eardrums ache. Immediately afterward, an earth wall rose from the ground, blocking Jiang Donghua, while the Profound Thunder Flood Dragon's black thunderbolt struck directly above Red Silk's head!

"This is terrible!"

Both their expressions changed drastically, and they were forced to retreat hastily.

And that wisp of Red Light silently fell into the hands of a third person.

A figure had appeared in the center of the battlefield at some unknown time, his black robes fluttering, a mask covering his face, revealing only a pair of eyes as cold as venomous snakes.

He lowered his head, looked at the Red Light in his hand, and chuckled softly.

"Thank you both for attracting their attention for me."