27: Chapter 27 Killing the Fish

The murderous intent in the White Flood Dragon's eyes was captured by the fish monster without omission.

That gaze was too cold—cold like a thousand-year-old cold pool, cold enough to freeze the water current.

The scales all over the fish monster's body tightened, and it shrank back almost instinctively.

But the next second, a surge of shame and anger welled up in its heart; it had dominated this body of water for over a decade, when had it ever been this pathetic?

"This body of water is already my territory, and I have already established a contract with the Jiantian Bureau. Do you know that? If you dare to touch me, they will come to settle scores with you!"

A being that dominated a region of water was now actually having to drag the Jiantian Bureau out to back it up.

But there was no other way.

Li Xiuyuan was a being that had achieved Flood Dragon Transformation. Those pale golden vertical pupils revealed an indifference toward living beings, and those horns, which had only just grown but already contained a certain pressure,

were all telling the fish monster that there was already an unbridgeable chasm between them!

Although the fish monster had touched the threshold of Spirit Rank, it had ultimately failed to break through that barrier.

"What makes you think they would come to settle scores with me for your sake?" Li Xiuyuan's tone was filled with mockery, and his vertical pupils were full of playful intent.

This scene was exactly the same as that deep night ten years ago.

Only now, the identities of both sides had been completely reversed.

The fish monster was stunned.

Ten years ago, it had looked down from above, swimming slowly toward the shore, watching that white snake tremble under the suppression of its aura, its heart filled with the pleasure of toying with prey.

Ten years later, that white snake had transformed into a White Flood Dragon, looking at it with the same gaze.

A monstrous rage exploded from the bottom of the fish monster's heart!

The fish monster was furious. Its massive body suddenly exerted force, its giant mouth opened to reveal a mouthful of ghastly fangs, and it bit fiercely toward Li Xiuyuan's neck. The speed was astonishing, and the water currents it stirred up were as sharp as blades!

Li Xiuyuan did not dodge or avoid it. Just at the moment the fish monster was about to bite him, he suddenly opened his mouth, and a mass of white mist surged out.

The Mirage Qi was not affected in the slightest after entering the water; instead, it spread rapidly, dyeing the surrounding several zhang of water into a chaotic white in the blink of an eye.

The fish monster's vision blurred, and the surrounding scenery vanished instantly. It couldn't see anything, and even its perception in the water became blurred.

That mist seemed to contain a strange power capable of isolating auras and disrupting all perception.

Having almost completely lost all perception, the fish monster began to thrash its body wildly, charging around in the chaos, biting blindly with its giant mouth, and lashing its tail frantically, wanting to break through this mist in the most violent way possible.

When it finally tore open a gap and rushed out, its turbid fish eyes scanned the surroundings, but it could not find the White Flood Dragon.

The fish monster's heart tightened.

In an instant,

a golden light had already pierced through the water. This golden light was so fast that even vision could not keep up; only a golden trajectory could be seen shooting out from the chaos, heading straight for its head!

'Chi!'

The golden light pierced through the massive fish head, exiting from the back of the skull.

Blood spurted out like a fountain, instantly dyeing the surrounding lake water red. Those turbid eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief; it hadn't even seen clearly what it was.

Li Xiuyuan swam in front of it. With a slight movement of his intent, he maneuvered the blood-stained ancient coin through the water, washing away the blood on its surface. Afterwards, he lowered his eyes to look at the massive fish corpse, opened his mouth, and devoured it.

...

On the shore,

Gu Xiao stared fixedly at the lake surface.

The lake surface, which had just been as calm as a mirror, was now being stirred by an invisible giant hand. A huge whirlpool appeared out of thin air, spinning faster and deeper, as if it were about to swallow the entire lake!

A stifling, manic power surged in the water.

Originally, Gu Xiao had thought Li Xiuyuan was really just coming over to teach the catfish in the water a lesson, but soon he realized something was wrong, because the aura of the fish monster in this lake had actually disappeared!

"Beep beep beep beep beep!"

Something resembling a walkie-talkie rang in Gu Xiao's pocket. Gu Xiao's expression changed, and he quickly picked up the communication device.

The urgent voice of his Jiantian Bureau superior immediately came from inside: "Lu Xingyun! What happened to that fish monster in Ezhou Lake? Why has its vitality been extinguished?"

Soon,

the other end of the communication device was silent for a moment, and then a somewhat weary voice came through: "What? I don't know. Isn't that guy up to its old tricks again?"

"Its vitality has been extinguished, Lu Xingyun. Did you or did you not understand what I said?"

The superior's voice carried suppressed anger.

Within the territory of the Xia Kingdom, every Rising Beings recorded in the registry was under extremely strict surveillance by the Jiantian Bureau. In addition to dedicated personnel watching them, their vitality status was also constantly monitored by special magical artifacts.

"Vitality extinguished... It's dead?!"

The voice called Lu Xingyun finally realized the situation was not good, his tone filled with disbelief.

Suddenly, Gu Xiao began to interject,

"It should be completely dead."

The superior's voice sounded again, carrying a hint of suspicion: "Old Gu, how do you know? Are you at the scene?"

Gu Xiao's gaze remained fixed on the lake surface: "Yes, I am right on the shore. The fish monster in the lake is dead."

As he spoke, he looked with a solemn expression at the lake surface, which was gradually returning to calm.

The lake water became smooth as a mirror again, as if nothing had ever happened.

"This is a bit troublesome."

Gu Xiao's heart sank.

Although this fish monster was indeed not very honest and had caused no shortage of trouble over the years, just killing it like this... there had to be an explanation, right?

The communication device fell into a brief silence; even the superior who had been in such a rush just a moment ago was now silent.

A Rising Beings crossing such a long distance, leaving its own territory, arriving at the territory of another Rising Beings, and killing the other party.

This kind of thing was unheard of and unseen in the Xia Kingdom.

What to do next?

Go find Li Xiuyuan and demand an explanation?

The problem was... to a certain extent, Li Xiuyuan had done a good deed.

This fish monster in Ezhou Lake usually caused no shortage of trouble. When it was windy or rainy, it would deliberately stir up waves, causing boats passing on the lake to capsize.

It didn't dare to actively kill people, but it dared to create accidents to let people drown in the water.

For this, the Jiantian Bureau had talked to this beast several times. Each time it promised well, but it just wouldn't learn its lesson.

The Jiantian Bureau had already held a meeting: if this beast caused trouble again, they would kill it immediately to eliminate future trouble.

"Did that White Flood Dragon only kill the fish monster, and not do anything else?" The superior's voice sounded again, his tone complex.

"No." Gu Xiao replied.

The walkie-talkie communication device fell into a silent pause.

After a long while,

the superior's voice came through again, this time with a hint of relief: "Forget it. That fish monster was going to be dealt with eventually anyway. Since the White Flood Dragon did it for us, let it be."

Gu Xiao put away the communication device, gazed at the calm lake in front of him, and let out a soft breath.

The most powerful Rising Beings in this body of water was gone. The Jiantian Bureau needed to find another sufficiently powerful being to suppress this place. This was the management method the Xia Kingdom had figured out after the recovery of spiritual energy.

Currently, they were short-handed and couldn't control all Rising Beingss. Therefore, the higher-ups came up with a method: in every region, select one sufficiently powerful Rising Beings to station there. Then, the Jiantian Bureau would manage these "leaders."

This method was the most trouble-free one currently.

"Perhaps, we could let Li Xiuyuan manage this body of water?"

Gu Xiao thought to himself.

Underwater.

Li Xiuyuan floated quietly in the deep water area.

The fish monster's flesh and blood transformed into rolling spiritual energy within his body, surging into his limbs and bones like a warm current.

[Spiritual Energy Value + 800]

[Current Spiritual Energy Value: 861 / 10000]

Although this fish monster had not reached Spirit Rank, having accumulated for over a decade, its foundation was indeed deep.

Just at this moment.

He suddenly felt a strange power surging in from all directions.

It was this body of water itself.

It was attempting to establish a connection with him.

Li Xiuyuan closed his eyes and allowed that power to seep into his perception.