74: Chapter 74 War God of the River

However, Li Xiuyuan went straight in and stopped safely in front of the palace gate.

There seemed to be no signs on him of being blocked by the formation, and everyone could not help but feel surprised by this.

In reality, the formation did indeed launch an attack on Li Xiuyuan, but as the mist gradually thinned, the power of the ancient formation had also diminished significantly.

With Li Xiuyuan's current physique, it was enough to withstand the damage of the formation and force his way in.

He arrived before the palace gate, and as if sensing something, the gate slowly opened from the center, and a scent of decay, sealed for who knows how many years, rushed toward him, carrying the heaviness and desolation of time.

Li Xiuyuan swam inside, and the palace gate slowly closed behind him, shutting out the layer of mist and all the clamor of the outside world.

The main hall was extremely vast, with a towering dome that seemed to reach straight to the sky.

The four walls were built of huge bluestones, engraved with complex patterns that looked like some ancient formation, but upon closer inspection, they also looked somewhat like murals recording events.

Light filtered down from above the dome, dim and hazy, shrouding the entire hall in a cold, blue-gray hue.

The floor was made of solid stone slabs, polished as smooth as a mirror, clearly reflecting Li Xiuyuan's silvery-white figure.

On both sides stood several thick stone pillars, with reliefs of True Dragons coiled around them, their scales menacing, majestic and domineering; every single dragon scale was carved in vivid detail, as if they would soar into the air from the stone pillars at any moment.

Li Xiuyuan's gaze swept past the stone pillars and landed in the center of the hall.

A bead was floating there.

It was the size of a normal person's fist, golden-red throughout, like solidified flame, with faint light flowing across its surface, flickering on and off, and inside it, a young dragon was slowly swimming.

Its body was small, about the length of a finger, and it swam in circles within the dragon bead, looking leisurely.

Seeing that bead, Li Xiuyuan immediately understood that this must be what Lord River God wanted; he could feel a vast and mighty power emanating from it.

This was perhaps a portion of the dragon origin sealed away by Lord River God.

Li Xiuyuan did not hesitate and swam straight toward the dragon bead.

However, just at this moment, mist arose within the hall.

This mist came without warning and was fundamentally different from Li Xiuyuan's Mirage Qi; the mist quickly filled the entire hall, cutting off all peeping Spiritual Sense.

Li Xiuyuan stopped his movement, coiled in place, his pale golden slit pupils vigilantly scanning his surroundings.

At the same time, an aura on par with his own was slowly emerging in the mist, followed by the sound of footsteps—pat, pat, pat—which sounded like unshod feet, but every step was extremely steady, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

A tall figure walked out of the mist.

It was a man two zhang tall, practically a small giant; the man was bare-chested, and his bronze skin was covered in dense patterns—those seemed to be dragon scale markings, extending from his neck all the way to his waist.

On top of his head grew a pair of winding dragon horns, pitch-black like ink, pointing straight at the dome.

His long, waterfall-like black hair hung loose and disheveled, and that face with deep features, along with that pair of indifferent golden eyes, gave Li Xiuyuan a sense of familiarity.

The man held a long saber in his right hand; the blade was thin and narrow, pitch-black throughout, and the sharp saber intent acted like invisible blades, slicing the surrounding mist to pieces.

"Lord River God?"

Li Xiuyuan was startled in his heart.

Although he had never met Lord River God, having only dealt with the Old Turtle possessed by his Spiritual Sense, the moment he saw that face, he had an inexplicable intuition and recognition.

This tall man before him was definitely Lord River God.

However, this was likely not the main body of Lord River God, but rather just a Spiritual Sense avatar.

The man stared at Li Xiuyuan, seemingly waiting for something.

A moment later, the man spoke slowly: "Those who intrude without a token shall be executed!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he slightly raised the long blade in his hand, pointing the tip at Li Xiuyuan.

In an instant, the man's blade arrived; there was no warning, nor was there any so-called buildup of power. The saber simply slashed down, but it was as fast as a bolt of black lightning.

The sharp saber qi tore through the air, emitting a shrill whistle.

Li Xiuyuan did not meet the attack head-on; his massive White Flood Dragon body twisted nimbly within the hall, successfully dodging it. The saber qi grazed his scales and struck the stone pillar behind him.

The True Dragon relief was actually severed directly by the saber qi, which showed just how astonishing the power of that strike was.

Li Xiuyuan's slit pupils contracted slightly; he had not expected that this man before him, being merely a Spiritual Sense avatar of Lord River God, would possess such formidable strength.

The Spiritual Sense avatar gave Li Xiuyuan no room to breathe; after taking one step, a deafening sonic boom was heard, and immediately after, that tall body arrived in front of Li Xiuyuan.

It was also at this moment that Li Xiuyuan activated the [Hibernation] ability, originally intending to interfere with the opponent's perception, but this Spiritual Sense avatar seemed completely unaffected, and the saber in his hand continued to swing without hesitation.

Seeing this, Li Xiuyuan reacted quickly; his powerful, knotty muscles propelled his massive body, nimbly dodging this strike.

"Hibernation has no effect on him, which means Mirage Qi might be useless too; I can only meet force with force."

Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.

He quickly analyzed the situation in his mind, and based on the tall man's several slashes, he began to sort out his combat tactics.

Golden threads emerged from beneath the White Flood Dragon's scales and immediately began to expand; the ancient coin, which was originally only the size of an adult's thumb, was on par with the long saber in the Spiritual Sense avatar's hand in the blink of an eye.

Then, his Flood Dragon tail coiled around the base of the ancient coin, like a hand tightly gripping an ancient weapon.

This process was completed almost instantly, and the Spiritual Sense avatar also pursued, attempting to suppress Li Xiuyuan with sharp offensives.

The long saber slashed down vertically again, mixed with some feints. Li Xiuyuan's reaction was not slow; using the ancient coin wrapped in his Flood Dragon tail, he dodged and fought the opponent simultaneously.

The ancient coin covered in golden light clashed with the long saber, sparking dazzling flashes.

After testing each other with several exchanges, just as the Spiritual Sense avatar took a step forward, thinking he had found an opening to sever Li Xiuyuan's head, he happened to lock eyes with those pale golden slit pupils.

Li Xiuyuan's gaze was indifferent; he swung his Flood Dragon tail, actively crashing toward the blade's edge.

Just as the long saber was about to touch Li Xiuyuan's head, the massive White Flood Dragon head twisted away in an eerie posture, and what then entered the vision of Lord River God's Spiritual Sense avatar was a golden arc of light.

"Swish!"

The sharpness of the ancient coin was not much worse than that long saber, and fortunately, the strength of this Spiritual Sense avatar of Lord River God was not too high.

The arc of light passed through the man's body, slicing him in half from the middle, and he immediately dissipated into tufts of mist.

"Not much effort, too weak."

Li Xiuyuan glanced at the completely dissipated mist, then came before the floating bead in the center of the hall.