545: Going out

“Eh...” Qiong Shuang shrunk her beautiful swan-like neck, backing away three feet while shaking her long-haired head like a rattle.

“I won't spar or discuss the Dao anymore, okay...” A clever flood dragon knows when to yield!

Yao Delong no longer gave this loose-tongued dragon-shaped airhead a chance to bicker.

“Immediately, pack your pots and pans, I'm taking you out to play!”

“Really?! Going out to play?!”

Qiong Shuang instantly forgot the pain from the flick on her head, her eyes shining ten times brighter than before as she jumped up in excitement.

“Where to? Going out to play! Big brother, you should have said so earlier!”

Watching Qiong Shuang's instant change of face, Yao Delong rolled his eyes inwardly.

He turned and walked to the entrance of the Secret Chamber, and with a pull of his Divine Thought, an exquisite ice-blue necklace, appearing as if condensed from a water droplet, floated out.

As soon as this object appeared, the temperature in the entire Secret Chamber seemed to drop by several degrees, faintly bringing down fine ice crystals.

This was the low-grade heavenly artifact he had obtained earlier, the “Protection of the Deep Sea,” which contained a powerful defensive water-element Restriction.

A trace of imperceptible sharpness condensed at his fingertip, and he left a few vigorous characters on the back of the necklace:

“Congratulations on reaching the Nascent Soul realm. Yao Delong.”

Having done this, a streak of light shot straight toward Lin Qingxue's Ice Jade Immortal Cave.

“Old Demon Hundred Refinements?” Hearing that Yao Delong was leaving the Sect to track down the demon, Lin Qingxue's cold eyes flared with intense killing intent.

“This wretch has been hiding in the Ba Xia Dynasty for many years! Senior Brother, I will go with you!” Her slender hand gripped the hilt of the ice soul sword, cold air overflowing.

“No.” Yao Delong shook his head.

“That old demon is as cunning as a fox and even better at hiding his tracks.

Two people would be too large a target. I possess the Thousand Mechanisms Formless Art, allowing me to change at will; acting alone is the safest option.”

Lin Qingxue was startled, her eyes dimming slightly as she thought of her Senior Brother's miraculous transformation ability, which could even perfectly simulate aura and essence.

She knew her Senior Brother was right.

“Senior Brother must be careful.” She finally released the sword hilt, her voice carrying a trace of worry that was hard to detect.

“Don't confront him head-on; once his whereabouts are clear, inform the Sect immediately.”

“Don't worry.” Yao Delong smiled confidently, “The old demon who can kill me hasn't been born yet!”

He had wanted to pat his Junior Sister's shoulder, but his gaze swept over the mountain-like curves outlined by the Ice Soul Robe and her beautiful face filled with concern... forget it, it would be easy to get heated. After nodding to her, he decisively vanished.

The halls atop Luoxia Peak were empty and silent, with only a few wisps of Restriction light drifting about.

The Immortal Cave where Revered Master Leng Yuekui had been in seclusion for years remained tightly locked.

Yao Delong didn't linger, taking along Qiong Shuang, who was already unable to contain herself.

She transformed into a Little White Flood Dragon and coiled around his shoulder, wiggling constantly as they stepped out of the range of the Mountain Gate's grand array!

At the very moment he stepped out of the light screen of the Sect-protecting array!

Inside the main hall of the core area of Dragon Head Peak.

“Sect Head.” A phantom-like shadow slid out from the shadow of a pillar, its voice sounding like sandpaper rubbing together.

“The True Disciple of Luoxia Peak, Yao Delong, has left the Sect. His cultivation...”

He paused before clarifying further: “Late Stage Soul Transformation cultivation, with extraordinary methods.

Should the Night Hawk Guards withdraw as per regulations or continue to lurk on the outskirts to protect him?”

Sitting high on the cloud-patterned throne processing scrolls, the Sect Head of Luofu, White Cloud Master, paused his jade brush.

“Late Stage Soul Transformation?” His unruffled eyes finally looked up, a flash of sharp light passing through them, which then turned into a smile of appreciation.

“Good! This kid's trip to the Northern Border wasn't in vain! It seems he obtained some heaven-sent benefits!”

His gaze seemed to pierce through the numerous halls, casting out beyond the Mountain Gate.

“At Mid-stage Soul Transformation, he could fight a Void Refinement Mid-stage... now with Late Stage cultivation... Hehe,”

A sharp smile curled at the corners of White Cloud Master's mouth as he set down the jade brush.

“A young eagle must leave the high branches of its warm nest to soar through the Nine Heavens. His path... let him tread it himself!

Withdraw the Shadow Guards; good steel is always forged in the furnace!”

One dragon and one person stepped out of the Mountain Gate, the Sect-protecting array rippling like water before closing up again.

Qiong Shuang had just transformed into a Little White Flood Dragon and coiled around Yao Delong's shoulder, proudly adjusting her body—

“Hey! The shoulder is only so big, can you be a bit more sensible, you worm?”

A clear, crisp female voice filled with teasing rang out without warning on Yao Delong's other shoulder!

The air seemed to freeze for a moment!

“Who—?!” Qiong Shuang was so startled that her scales stood on end!

The entire flood dragon shot up three feet high with a "swish," freezing in mid-air!

Her ruby-like vertical pupils narrowed to pinpoints, staring fixedly at the source of the voice—above Yao Delong's left shoulder!

There, a wisp of colorless and transparent hazy mist slowly took shape, revealing a palm-sized figure of a woman.

She wore an elegant green silk dress, the hem of which fluttered without wind, and her face was exquisitely beautiful, almost illusory!

She sat in the air on Yao Delong's shoulder with her legs crossed and her arms folded, looking at the bristling Little White Flood Dragon in the air with a look of disdain.

“Hiss... hiss...” Qiong Shuang's throat made the unconscious threatening hiss of a flood dragon.

She immediately realized that her behavior was too embarrassing, and with a "whoosh," she transformed into a heroic and valiant silver-armored mature woman and landed on the ground.

Her silver spear pointed directly at the "ghostly shadow" that had suddenly appeared, and she shouted, “What manner of Prodigy are you?! Playing tricks! Show your...”

She had wanted to shout “show your true form,” but this non-human, non-demon pure energy entity and that absurd spatial appearance method were clearly beyond the little flood dragon's limits of understanding.

“Prodigy?” The little girl in the green dress let out a snort, as if she had heard an incredibly unbelievable joke.

She floated up, her small and delicate feet lightly treading on the Void Realm, looking down at Qiong Shuang from above.

“This old lady is ‘You Yuan’! I am the ancient spirit birthed from a first-realm xuanhuang dao artifact!

When I became a spirit, your true dragon ancestors didn't even know which egg they were messing around in!

You little mixed-blood loach, how dare you call me a ghost?! And a Prodigy?”

She stood with her hands on her hips, her small face puffed out with anger, and a vast aura that seemed too heavy for space itself to bear rippled out.

Qiong Shuang felt as if a Primordial Divine Mountain had suddenly pressed down on her heart!

It wasn't the pressure of true essence, but a vastness and antiquity coming from the level of her life Origin!

“Senior You Yuan,” Yao Delong spoke up at the right time, helplessly cupping his hands toward the artifact spirit in the form of a little girl.

“Qiong Shuang only recently left the Secret Realm and has little experience in the world. Please do not blame her, Senior.”

He turned to the silver-armored woman who was still holding on, though fine beads of sweat had already broken out on her forehead:

“Qiong Shuang, this is a heavy treasure of our Sect's foundation, the artifact spirit of the immortal slaying dark kite, Senior You Yuan. Do not be impolite.”

Qiong Shuang gritted her silver teeth, her heart in turmoil. A Dao Artifact's artifact spirit?! That legendary thing?

This little girl with hair buns who looked like she hadn't even been weaned yet?! She felt aggrieved yet reverent; the impact of this contrast was too great!

She tried to straighten her back and cupped her fists stiffly, her tone more dry and depressed than ever:

“Qiong Shuang... was blind and failed to recognize a true spirit! Greetings, Se... Senior You Yuan!”

You Yuan let out a "humph" from her small nose, barely accepting the greeting, but the disdain in her little eyes hadn't lessened at all:

“At least you're a descendant with a bit of true dragon blood, yet you can't even recognize a slight spatial fluctuation. You've wasted that skin of yours.

Learn more in the future, lest you embarrass your Revered Master—no, your big brother contractor!”

“I...” Qiong Shuang almost choked on her breath. The word “loach” was like a thorn in her throat, yet she couldn't refute it!

Her full chest under the silver armor heaved several times as she forced her head to the side, out of sight, out of mind!

Her heart screamed madly: Where am I small?! Where do I look like a loach?! This old lady is clearly a flood dragon!

With horns! An adult female... an adult female flood dragon of the Spirit Transformation Realm!”