77: Chapter 77: The Capture of the Dragon

At some unknown moment, a middle-aged man wearing grey-white robes, with hair and beard as dark as ink and a long sword strapped to his back, appeared before Ancestor Ye Erhu's spirit tablet, picked up a stick of incense, and respectfully inserted it into the incense burner.

"Greetings, Old Ancestor," Ye Jiesheng and the others bowed respectfully, no longer appearing as rash as they had before.

"Jiesheng, what exactly is the urgent matter that called me here?" Old Ancestor Ye Rongming said indifferently, his voice as calm as water, without a ripple.

"Yisong, tell the Old Ancestor about your discovery." Ye Jiesheng wanted Ye Yisong to leave a good impression on Old Ancestor Ye Rongming, so that his future path of Cultivate would be smoother and he would receive more help.

"Reporting to the Old Ancestor, during the Martial Examination closing ceremony, the Junior was swallowed by a Flower Snake. Inside the Flower Snake's belly, I unexpectedly discovered information from a communication Talisman used between Yao Beasts. I suspect that for some unknown reason, a Tier 4 Flood Dragon has intruded into the Weishui River, so I boldly request the Old Ancestor to come out and hunt the Flood Dragon!" As Ye Yisong spoke, he handed the communication snake bone to Ye Rongming for his inspection.

"Oh, you lad certainly have good fortune." Ye Rongming flipped through the snake bone casually and gave Ye Yisong an appreciative look. "Lead the way. Jiesheng, you all stay behind."

After saying this, he grabbed Ye Yisong and flew toward the Weishui River.

Ye Jiesheng and the others immediately grew anxious. Hunting a Flood Dragon was a legendary scene rarely seen in hundreds of years; how could they be left behind?

"Old Ancestor, please take us with you!"

At this moment, Ye Yisong finally had the chance to observe the Ye Family's Old Ancestor, Ye Rongming, carefully. Even at the age of five, Ye Yisong could already recite many of Ye Rongming's deeds by heart.

His grandfather, Grandfather Ye Tuantu, would often tell Ye Yisong stories about the Old Ancestor to encourage him to be diligent and hardworking in his Cultivate and to strengthen his determination in the Martial Dao.

Old Ancestor Ye Rongming had sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes. He had a common face, yet it didn't lack a touch of handsomeness and was very pleasant to look at.

It is said that when Old Ancestor Ye Rongming was young, his Martial Dao Aptitude was not high, and his speed of Martial Dao Cultivate was slightly slower than his peers. At that time, the Ye Family's Second Branch was in the stage of having just separated and established its own household. Resources were scarce, so they could only let a portion of the Martial Artists with better Aptitude grow first, allowing the Ye Family's Second Branch to gain a firm foothold in Cangjiang Prefecture.

Ye Rongming's Aptitude was unremarkable, so the resources he received were naturally much fewer, making his Cultivate even slower.

Heaven's Dao blessed them, and the Ye Family's Second Branch developed quite smoothly in Cangjiang Prefecture. The Martial Artists with better Aptitude invested in early on successfully grew up. After maturing, these Martial Artists provided positive feedback to the Family, and the Family's resources gradually became abundant, greatly increasing the Cultivate resources for the Family's Disciple.

When Ye Rongming was one hundred years old, he shocked everyone, surpassing most of his peer Martial Artists and achieving the rank of Tier 4 Martial Ancestor. Afterward, he became unstoppable, his Martial Dao Cultivate advancing day by day. At the age of two hundred, he achieved the rank of Tier 5 Martial King, shocking experts from all directions.

Later, Old Ancestor Ye Rongming paid the price of one Tier 5 Yao Beast core to invite the East Sea Prefecture's Tier 5 Formation Master, Guo Tianyan, to set up a Tier 5 grand array—the Heaven and Earth Spirit Locking Formation—at Luomu Mountain. This raised the Tier 4 mountain range of Luomu Mountain to a Tier 5 mountain range. From then on, the Ye Family established their ancestral temple at Luomu Mountain, founded the orthodoxy of the Cangjiang Ye Clan, and continued to develop for hundreds of years, becoming one of the three major giants in Cangjiang Prefecture.

"Have you seen enough?" A voice suddenly exploded in Ye Yisong's ear.

"The Old Ancestor's bearing is such that even if this Junior watched for another hundred years, it would not be enough." Ye Yisong hurriedly offered praise. Seeing a Tier 5 big shot for the first time, he couldn't help but feel a bit curious and had taken a few extra looks.

"Rongsong, have you found anything?" Old Ancestor Ye Rongming was truly worthy of being a Tier 5 big shot; his speed was fast. In just a few breaths, he had brought Ye Yisong to a small hill by the Weishui River and accurately located Ye Rongsong.

"Seventh Brother, look at that footprint on the sandy beach. Doesn't it look like a Fathead Fish's footprint?" Ye Rongsong pointed at a huge, round footprint on the beach and said, "I didn't go into the water to check, fearing I might startle that silly Flood Dragon away."

Ye Yisong became even more convinced of his guess. Fathead Fish only exist in the East Sea and not in inland rivers, which means there must be Sea Yao Beasts in the Weishui River now.

"During this period, there hasn't been much movement in the Weishui River, so that Flood Dragon should still be underwater," Ye Rongsong continued.

"Hehe, I didn't expect you lad to turn a misfortune into a blessing and actually present the Family with such a big gift." Old Ancestor Ye Rongming's expression finally changed slightly, and he gave Ye Yisong high praise. He had already discovered the Flood Dragon beneath the water.

Ye Rongming extended his right hand, gave it a light wave, and reached down into the water: "World in the Palm!"

… Inside the Flower Snake's palace, Uncle Hei himself no longer held back. He transformed into his true form, a Black Flood Dragon, and violently slammed his body against the Formation in front of him. Every impact made the palace shake.

The Seahorse looked the most miserable. He had already lost an arm due to poison, and the wound hadn't even healed yet. In order to compete with the scheming Fathead Fish, he had performed even more diligently, and now he had even cracked his head open. The entire Yao Beast looked like it was on the verge of death.

"Roar—!" A Dragon's roar stirred up a thousand layers of waves, shaking the Yao Beasts of the Weishui River, causing them to flee the southern waters and swim toward the north and west.

"Damn that Flower Snake, where did it find a Tier 4 Formation that is so difficult to break?" Uncle Hei said angrily. "When I find the Flower Snake, I must skin its snake hide!"

Uncle Hei had originally thought that by finding the switch to weaken the Formation and reducing its power, the Formation could be broken in a snap.

But the reality was that his four subordinates had almost cracked their heads open, and even he had personally joined in, yet they still hadn't broken the Formation, wasting ten days for nothing.

"I cannot drag this out any longer; if I continue to drag it out, I fear there will be a danger to my life!" Uncle Hei thought to himself while calculating the time.

Looking at his four subordinates who, despite being covered in blood, were still diligently slamming into the Formation, and taking one last look at the Formation's spiritual light—which looked like it was about to break but didn't—Uncle Hei said with great unwillingness: "Retreat."

"Take her and return to the Conch Clan."

"Yes."

Although the four Yao Beasts were surprised—weren't they supposed to attack for another half a day? It hadn't even been two hours—they didn't dare ask any questions and obediently stopped their bodies from slamming into the Formation.

The three Fathead Fish Yao Beasts collectively breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts and gave the Seahorse a subtle glance. This damn Seahorse had been slamming into it so diligently—trying to show off, were you!

The Seahorse and the Fathead Fish each grabbed one side of Xiao Bei and had just followed Uncle Hei out of the palace when a giant hand descended from the sky.

"Not good!" Uncle Hei shouted and immediately tried to activate a Thousand-Mile Teleportation Talisman, but no matter what, he couldn't activate it.

Seeing that the Talisman was ineffective, Uncle Hei immediately transformed into his true form, a Black Flood Dragon, and with a Dragon's roar that shook the heavens, he fled rapidly toward the East Sea, hoping to break out of the giant hand's capture range.

The other Yao Beasts also displayed their own Divine Ability, bringing out their trump cards and fleeing in all directions.

"No!"

If Ye Rongming, this veteran Tier 5 powerhouse, personally took action and still let these five Tier 4 Yao Beasts escape, he wouldn't need to show his face in the future.

No matter how much the six Yao Beasts struggled, it was futile. Before this giant hand, they were so pale and powerless. They were all packed up and scooped onto the shore, trapped inside a spherical water ball.

"Haha, one Flood Dragon, three fish, one Seahorse. Hey, Seventh Brother, why did you also catch a Tier 3 Conch?" Ye Rongsong excitedly counted Ye Rongming's haul, as happy as a three-year-old child.

"Lad, you are in for a treat," Ye Rongming said to Ye Yisong.

"That is all thanks to the Old Ancestor's overwhelming strength!" Ye Yisong said, maintaining his respect. He knew clearly in his heart that if it weren't for the Old Ancestor personally taking action, there would basically be no hope of catching this Tier 4 Flood Dragon; even Ye Rongsong, a Nine-Star Martial Sect, wouldn't be able to do it.

Uncle Hei looked at Ye Rongming in despair, knowing that he was done for today and would never be able to return to the East Sea. He hoped the Young Lord would receive his message and run quickly!

In his twilight years, he had ultimately become a dish for human Martial Artists!

"Old Man Ye, you have quite the fortune. Share a Black Flood Dragon leg for me to eat; I haven't eaten Flood Dragon meat in over a hundred years." A hearty figure appeared beside Ye Rongming.

"Hahaha, those who see it get a share, those who see it get a share." Another chubby figure appeared beside the Old Ancestor.