Chapter 340: Best Not to Interfere

Fortunately, this feeling of being watched was only fleeting, before he was obstructed by the reddish-grey flames and the surrounding dust.

The grey-skinned man hesitated for a moment, cautiously lowering his body and transforming into a small shark no longer than an arm’s length. The small shark swam through the murky waters, fleeing towards the end of the trench.

The other aquatic monsters were frantically swimming upwards, while this small shark managed to escape by using them as a distraction. The water temperature at the bottom of the trench was rapidly rising at this moment, and normal aquatic creatures simply couldn’t withstand it for long.

The True Fire of Samadhi was sometimes as cold as ice, and sometimes incredibly scorching. Today, as it burned the flood dragon, it manifested outwardly in its Yang form, sweeping forth with overwhelming heat.

After swimming for more than ten li at a moderate pace within this great trench, the shark finally swam along the cliff face and ascended to the seabed above, then swam outwards with the surrounding schools of fish, taking care throughout this entire process to conceal its aura.

Looking back towards the trench, some seabed dust was only just now swirling upwards from below, and the firelight had vanished. It was clear whether the fire had finally been extinguished by the seawater, or… whether that unlucky flood dragon, Hua Hou, who also called himself Dragon Lord Hua, had already been completely incinerated.

The shark dared not dare to linger; it shivered in the water and vigorously flicked its tail, swimming a little faster.

…

In the depths of the trench, Ying Ruoli and the Dragon Mother personally watched as Flood Dragon Hua was consumed by the reddish-grey flames, until there was nothing left to burn. Only then did the flames gradually subside.

Despite being deep within the trench, surrouned by the powerful and icy cold waters of the Northern Sea, the fire remained completely unaffected.

Well, the surroundings were now filled with bubbles; that was the result of the rapidly rising temperature of the seawater forcing out dissolved gases causing them to boul. In other words, the seawater in the depths of the trench was already perfectly hot enough to make fish soup.

General Giant Whale could only barely keep himself from retreating at this moment; staying here was extremely uncomfortable. If it were an ordinary whale that hadn’t gained sentience, he would probably be cooked medium-rare by now.

The Dragon Mother subconsciously glanced at Ji Yuan a few more times. Since this man was that fellow’s closest friend, he was indeed no ordinary immortal cultivator; this fire-controlling technique was simply astonishing.

“Uncle Ji, that was your True Fire of Samadhi just now, wasn’t it?”

It was Ying Ruoli’s first time seeing Ji Yuan display a fire-control technique, but she could immediately guess what it was.

Ji Yuan looked at Ying Ruoli, then his gaze turned towards the top of the trench.

“Did Gao Tianming tell you?”

“He mentioned it to my brother, then my father and I also learned of it.”

Ji Yuan nodded.

“It was indeed the True Fire of Samadhi. Once this fire takes form, it is considerably powerful. This multicolored flood dragon, if it hadn’t been injured, it might have been able to withstand the True Fire with his own spiritual energy for a while. But it was first wounded by a sword, and then lost composure due to the pain, and was directly set alight by the True Fire.”

As he spoke, Ji Yuan reached out towards the embers, where a trace of residual fire still lingered, sweeping his sleeve and making a beckoning gesture. From within the ashes, a dragon pearl flew out, still wreathed in wisps of True Fire of Samadhi.

It was precisely because of this dragon pearl that the True Fire had not yet extinguished.

A dragon pearl was considered a supreme treasure of dragons and flood dragons. Those whose cultivation was not yet deep enough might never be able to cultivate one. Losing a dragon pearl was a significant loss, almost equivalent to losing half one’s life and nearly half one’s cultivation.

Unexpectedly, this multicolored flood dragon actually possessed a dragon pearl.

The True Fire of Samadhi that was wrapped around the dragon pearl automatically extinguished as it reached Ji Yuan’s hand, leaving only a dragon pearl the size of a goose egg.

Before, every time Ji Yuan wielded the True Fire of Samadhi, he had been extremely cautious, fearing that he might spontaneously combust one day. But now, after achieving the Five Elements Returning to Origin, he could wield it with equal ease, appearing even more effortless.

After the True Fire of Samadhi vanished, the dragon pearl began to emit light again, a halo of light spreading out about two zhang.

Looking at the beautiful dragon pearl, Ji Yuan subconsciously remarked.

“This dragon pearl is pleasing to the eye, but it’s not very big.”

The dragon pearl, like its dragon owner, could change size, but this pearl was from Hua Hou in his true form, so this was considered its largest state. Although the size of a goose-egg seemed quite large from Ji Yuan’s perspective, it still seemed too small when compared to a flood dragon over tens of zhang long, while the range of its radiance was just barely acceptable.

“Uncle Ji, this dragon pearl is already quite large. I didn’t expect this multicolored flood dragon to still have such a large dragon pearl.”

As the Dragon Girl spoke, she glanced around.

“Oh, right, Uncle Ji, who was the creature that multicolored flood dragon was entertaining earlier? He must certainly be related to Mo Rong’s death; why hasn’t he come out after all this time?”

“He’s already run away.”

Ji Yuan’s words surprised Ying Ruoli slightly; she thought that with Ji Yuan around, the other party definitely wouldn’t be able to escape, so she hadn’t paid special attention to him earlier. However, immediately realized something.

“Uncle Ji, are you also planning to see where he went?”

Ji Yuan put away the dragon pearl and looked up again at the top of the trench, and answered in a calm voice.

“That wasn’t exactly my intention. I originally planned to intimidate him into submission.”

“Ah? Then why…”

Ying Ruoli stopped halfway through her sentence when she saw Ji Yuan shake his head slightly.

“Let’s go. Let’s return to Dragon Rock Island first.”

The Dragon Mother watched as the multicolored flood dragon turned to ash, without even a chance for its dragon soul to escape; the pent-up frustration in her heart dissipated considerably.

“Yes, Sir!”

General Giant Whale General replied and hastily swung his body upwards. This dreadful place was now unbearably hot, the temperature now so high that he couldn’t stay any longer. There were still some monsters around that hadn’t managed to escape and were already cooked, but he didn’t dare open his mouth to eat them now, fearing the boiling water would scald him.

Upon returning to Dragon Rock Island, General Giant Whale was already eager to announce the good news to everyone.

He roared loudly.

“We have eliminated that evil multicolored flood dragon! From now on, Dragon Rock Island will no longer have to endure humiliation!”

The Giant Whale’s roar echoed throughout Dragon Rock Island’s underwater palace, and the aquatic creatures within secretly celebrated.

Now, not only General Giant Whale and a few of Dragon Mother’s personal fish-maids, but also many of Dragon Rock Island’s aquatic creatures now knew how powerful the Dragon Mother’s relatives were, and all their previous trepidation vanished.

Before long, Dragon Rock Island began to prepare a celebratory banquet. It wasn’t a grand feast, nor would anyone be invited; it was just the aquatic creatures of the underwater palace celebrating together among themselves.

The Dragon Mother and Dragon Daughter conversed together in a room, likely confiding their concerns and affection for each other.

Meanwhile, Ji Yuan was alone in the hall, sampling Dragon Rock Island’s snacks, accompanied only by a few fish maids and monsters. General Giant Whale had wanted to accompany him, but his body was too large, he simply couldn’t squeeze in, so he went out to forage for food.

Ji Yuan tasted each type of pastry, and only ate what suited his palate.

After their initial nervousness, the fish maids beside him could now chat a bit with Ji Yuan.

“Mr. Ji, you came from the Eastern Cloud Continent? It’s so far, you must be tired, right?”

“It’s not very close by, but the one who must be tired is General Giant Whale; he carried us all the way here.”

“Oh.”

A fish maid quickly refilled Ji Yuan’s conch cup with a drink.

“Mr. Ji, you and the Dragon Lord are good friends. Is he fierce?”

Ji Yuan considered for a moment before replying.

“Whether he’s fierce or not depends on the person and the situation. Under normal circumstances, apart from having high standards, his temper is quite alright.”

“Oh, then I’m relieved.”

“Mhm, me too, me too!”

“That’s right, Miss Ruoli has such good temper, as does Mr. Ji, so the Dragon Lord must also have a good temper.”

Just as they were about to ask something else, Ji Yuan stood up.

“If anyone asks later, just say I have stepped out for a moment and will return shortly.”

With that, Ji Yuan stepped out as if treading on flowing water, exiting the underater palace directly, then rose upwards towards the sea surface.

Before long, a wave broke open on the ocean surface near Dragon Rock Island, and Ji Yuan flew out from it, stepping onto the island as if treading on air.

“How was it?”

Ji Yuan asked, seemingly out of the blue.

A thin mist lingered over the island. Soon, a faint silhouette of a dragon emerged from within it, and the Old Dragon’s voice drifted over through the fog.

“I have been following him a long time, observing his escape path. On the surface, it appears to have no connection with the True Dragon of the Northern Sea. I have already planted illusory Qi in his body, consuming most of the energy of this illusory dragon projection. It will soon dissipate.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan stared at him intently.

“Then why did you call me here to meet you? Hurry and go see your wife!”

The old dragon looked at Ji Yuan without speaking. Presumably, if it hadn’t been Ji Yuan, even his Dragon Son or Daughter would have been lectured or even scolded, but since it was Ji Yuan before him, the old dragon could only change the subject.

“Mr. Ji’s True Fire of Samadhi is truly extraordinary. Sometimes I even wonder how many more unknown skills you have, how many more heaven-defying techniques you possess that even contemporary immortal cultivators have never seen?”

Ji Yuan replied courteously.

“Likewise. Isn’t the Great Illusion Technique just as wondrous? I didn’t even notice it.”

“You really didn’t notice?”

The old dragon’s misty dragon shadow moved a little closer, carefully observing the expression on Ji Yuan’s face, only to see the latter let out a rare chuckle.

“No, I didn’t notice, but I could guess through deduction.”

The dragon silhouette turned to look westward and sighed.

“Mo Rong’s death back then was indeed related to the Black Wasteland. I just didn’t expect it wouldn’t be from the Northern Sea, and not the area around Dazhen. Hmph, then those demons I killed back then died for the sake of the demons here, didn’t they?”

Ji Yuan replied calmly.

“Few of them were innocent.”

“That’s also true!”

The dragon silhouette looked at Ji Yuan again and clasped its two front claws together as a gesture of respect.

“Mr. Ji, I am once again in your debt. Thank you for avenging Mo Rong. As for what happens next, Mr. Ji, there is no need to concern yourself with it.”

Ji Yuan also returned the gesture. The Old Dragon was someone who valued his reputation, so Ji Yuan naturally granted him this grace.

“Alright, in that case, I won’t interfere.”

The misty dragon silhouette completely dissipated. Ji Yuan didn’t know if the old dragon’s illusory form had truly vanished or if it still lingered.

His gaze turned back to the east; there were matters to attend to on the Eastern Cloud Continent as well. Hopefully, it would be before the so-called Cultivator’s Grand Assembly.

T/n: JY casually makes fish soup at the bottom of the ocean as his friends watch on in horror

In case you didn’t quite get that ending, the Old Dragon is basically deeply thanking Ji Yuan for finding these evil guys and saying “leave the rest to me” as a way of making up for his past failures in catching Mo Rong’s murderers and saving face.