88: Chapter 88 Mo Yuan

Li Xiuyuan was coiled within the spiritual spring of the seabed, completely unaware of everything happening in the outside world.

Just as he was about to absorb the last trace of spiritual energy from this spiritual spring, an ancient and vast aura suddenly intruded into the range of his Spiritual Sense.

That aura carried the vicissitudes and weight of millions of years ago, but even more so, it was a complex emotion woven from exhaustion and anger.

Such a chaotic aura instantly caught Li Xiuyuan's attention.

And that aura locked onto Li Xiuyuan at the same moment.

Two invisible auras collided in the void of his Spiritual Sense, stirring up ripples that could not be seen.

Li Xiuyuan immediately focused his mind, his scales slightly flared, and arcs of electricity silently danced between the gaps, readying all defenses.

However, at this moment, that aura actually took the initiative to try to communicate with him.

"The aura on you is so strange. What is your relationship with Lord River God?"

Li Xiuyuan was silent for a moment, then spat out only two words: "Hostile."

"Oh?"

That aura was stunned for a moment, and immediately following that, Li Xiuyuan felt a kind of joy bordering on jubilation from the other's emotions.

"The old subordinates of Dragon Lord are all dead, and now so many people have broken into this Ancient Grotto-Heaven, along with you, a Flood Dragon. This means that the Ancient Grotto-Heaven is no longer under the control of Dragon Lord."

"Retribution, it's all retribution!"

After a brief contact, Li Xiuyuan had roughly deduced the source of this aura; it was highly likely the Black Flood Dragon suppressed by the black tower in this Ancient Grotto-Heaven.

Indeed, the other party soon introduced itself.

It was none other than Mo Yuan, the Black Flood Dragon imprisoned in the black tower, having been suppressed in this Ancient Grotto-Heaven for who knows how many years. And just a moment ago, the seal of the black tower was devoured by several fire dragons, allowing it to finally escape.

Besides this, Li Xiuyuan also learned more about the past from Mo Yuan.

Thousands of years ago, in an era when the demon race was rising and the world was in a great struggle, Mo Yuan had been a fierce general under Lord River God, capable of fighting the heavenly soldiers of the Ancient Heavenly Court above, and trading blows with the God of War of the human realm below.

Although it was only a Flood Dragon, no one ever dared to question its strength.

However, after a fierce battle with Prefect Li Bing and his son, Mo Yuan was severely wounded and summoned by Lord River God. Without any reason or explanation, Lord River God directly suppressed Mo Yuan within this Ancient Grotto-Heaven and sent old subordinates to guard it.

Mo Yuan still did not understand why this happened to this day. It had been locked in the black tower for who knows how many years, its heart cold and weary, having long forgotten the passage of time.

It naively thought that it was like this because it had lost the battle, but it was also very unwilling to accept it; it had only lost once, yet it was to be suppressed and imprisoned. Could the many battle merits it had previously established just be wiped away like that?

"You don't know the reason, but I might be able to deduce it," Li Xiuyuan said.

Combining the timeline, it was not hard to guess that the fierce battle with Prefect Li Bing, his son, and their retainers made Lord River God start to arrange a secure fallback plan.

If it could not defeat Prefect Li Bing, it would merge with the Yangtze River, quietly waiting for an opportunity, awaiting a future day.

After all, Mo Yuan was also a Flood Dragon. And for Lord River God to resurrect, what it needed was a Flood Dragon vessel.

If the dragon origin of the first Ancient Grotto-Heaven had not been taken away by Li Xiuyuan, but instead carried out by the aquatic race, and if the aquatic race had entered this second Ancient Grotto-Heaven and coaxed Mo Yuan out, then Lord River God could have used Mo Yuan's physical body as a vessel to resurrect. Then, it would explore the remaining Ancient Grotto-Heavens, obtain all the life-bound items, and return to its peak.

After hearing all this, Mo Yuan was silent for a long time.

"This is just what I deduced based on the current results; it may not be accurate," Li Xiuyuan said.

Mo Yuan said: "No, it is not a stretch; Dragon Lord would do that."

Li Xiuyuan was different from Mo Yuan; the latter knew Lord River God very well.

Being able to summon so many of the aquatic race to fight for it, Lord River God naturally had its unique traits. Besides its strength, it would also consider many things very thoroughly, even thinking about a possible defeat.

At that time, Mo Yuan had lost the battle and was severely wounded. Besides that, the whole situation was also not going well; Prefect Li Bing, his son, and their retainers had united with the Ancient Heavenly Court, dealing heavy blows to the aquatic race led by Lord River God from all aspects.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this, realizing that the subsequent situation would likely collapse like a mountain, that Lord River God treated Mo Yuan as that chess piece buried for a thousand years.

"How ironic. I risked my life for Dragon Lord, fought for many years, and in the end, it wanted to sacrifice me to exchange for its own rebirth, and it wasn't even willing to tell me the truth."

An extremely desolate aura surged. Li Xiuyuan said nothing; he had no obligation to comfort the other party, nor could he comfort it, as it was unclear whether they were enemies or friends right now.

"To what extent has Dragon Lord's strength recovered now?" Mo Yuan asked.

Li Xiuyuan said: "He was severely wounded by me."

"Oh?!"

Mo Yuan's tone revealed an undisguised astonishment.

Dragon Lord was actually severely wounded?

That was an existence that, thousands of years ago, could rival the Ancient Heavenly Court and human cultivators. Even if suppressed for a thousand years, with less than one-tenth of its strength remaining, it was definitely not something an ordinary Rising Beings could shake.

Mo Yuan's tone changed, from desolate to solemn, carrying a gravity of someone seriously examining something for the first time after being imprisoned for a thousand years.

"How did you do it?"

Li Xiuyuan then recounted everything, from his confrontation with the Old Turtle possessed by Lord River God's Spiritual Sense, to that Dharma battle on the eighteenth of August.

After listening, Mo Yuan was silent for a long time.

Then, that vast aura surged again.

This time, the emotion mixed within it was the exhilaration of something suppressed for a thousand years finally finding an outlet.

"Good, good, good!"

"Truly top-tier talent!"

"You swallowed its origin and also severely wounded it in a direct Dharma battle. Dragon Lord has dominated the Yangtze River for thousands of years and has never suffered such a great loss. You are very good."

Mo Yuan paused, and its aura suddenly condensed.

"How about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

"You help me kill Dragon Lord, and I will give you all of my remaining origin."

"No, this shouldn't count as a deal; your feud with Dragon Lord is already established, and now it is either you die, or it dies. Take my origin, and then, kill it!"

For the last three words, Mo Yuan used almost all of its strength.

That resentment, suppressed for a thousand years, gushed out at this moment like water from a broken dam.

Li Xiuyuan thought for a moment, then said: "That is acceptable."

Subsequently, Mo Yuan asked Li Xiuyuan to go to the black tower of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven; it would hand the origin over to Li Xiuyuan.

At this time, outside the black tower, Song Cijing knelt on the ground, looking at the black tower with no movement, his eyes full of astonishment.

The fire dragon formed by the Samadhi True Fire had already completely broken the seal of the black tower. Logically, the Black Flood Dragon suppressed inside this black tower should have been impatient to come out. Why was it so quiet?

"Why is there no movement? Could it have exhausted its lifespan and died inside?" Song Cijing asked in his heart.

Heavenly Lord Liu Huan said: "Impossible. This black tower is closely connected to the Ancient Grotto-Heaven. As long as the spiritual spring is not exhausted, that Black Flood Dragon cannot die. And if the spiritual spring were exhausted, this Ancient Grotto-Heaven would have already collapsed."

"Then what is going on here?" Song Cijing asked doubtfully.

Before Heavenly Sovereign Jiehuo could respond, a cold voice came from behind him: "I knew you beast surnamed Song had no good intentions!"