Chapter Twenty-Five: Graves Grow Wherever He Lands

Page 1 of 3

Staring at the sudden waterfall cascading down the slopes of Mount Gaoping, Chen Jin was momentarily stunned—was his tongue really that unlucky?

“I’ll first open a mountain path to divert this water into the Hundred Pace Stream,” Ge Hong decided swiftly, unleashing his magic.

With Ge Hong’s incantation, a wide and deep channel sprang forth from the rocks beneath the hanging waterfall, stretching across the land and drawing the rushing rainwater toward a creek dozens of miles away.

Yet even that creek, swollen by incessant rain, was no longer the gentle, docile stream it usually was; rather, it had become a wrathful giant, fierce as the legendary Lu Zhishen.

Its depth had swelled from a mere foot to seven or eight feet, and its width from two yards to more than ten.

The strangeness of this rain needed no further elaboration. For a stream to flood so quickly, and for mountain torrents to erupt in such a short span of conversation, even a torrential downpour should not bring such a deluge in so little time.

“Xinyang, a demon serpent in these mountains is trying to transform into a flood dragon. Take my Herb Staff and suppress it,” Ge Hong said, summoning a wooden staff and handing it to Chen Jin.

Chen Jin accepted the staff and immediately set off toward the rear of the mountain.

Seeing Chen Jin’s haste, Ge Hong summoned his nephews, instructing Boyang to accompany Chen Jin to subdue the demon serpent, and sending his other two nephews to Wenma County to protect the townsfolk.

As for Ge Hong himself, he led the rainwater around Wenma County into the creek, widening the channel to ensure that the flood would not ravage the villages and hamlets clustered around the county. This region was not home to Wenma County alone, but to many small settlements as well, all densely scattered and difficult to guard individually. Ge Hong therefore took on the task himself, leaving the county proper to his nephews. With its superior flood defenses, Wenma County was far more secure than the hastily built villages, and thus easier to protect.

When everything was arranged, Chen Jin, gripping the Herb Staff, made his way toward the rear mountain, with Boyang following close behind.

How powerful could a demon serpent on the verge of becoming a flood dragon be? Chen Jin did not know, nor did Xinyang, but Xinyang was well aware of the might of a flood dragon.

He had once witnessed Master Xu Xun subdue a nest of flood dragons in Hongdu, shaking the entire cultivation world of the south. Hongdu derived its name from these very dragons, for most cultivators had proved powerless against them, yet Xu Xun brought them to heel. Since then, all cultivators had sincerely addressed him as True Lord, in recognition of both his virtue and his cultivation.

Though the flood dragons had been subdued, that did not mean they were weak; after all, none of the southern cultivators could withstand them, a testament to their formidable strength.

Flood dragons possessed some of the true dragons’ powers to summon clouds and bring rain. A circuit through the sky would summon a torrential downpour; a twist beneath the river would stir up waves as tall as a man. Their power was immense, their affinity with the world’s primordial energy far surpassing that of ordinary cultivators.

Contemplating all this, Chen Jin tried to gauge how much of a flood dragon’s might the demon serpent might soon possess.

Boyang seemed to sense Chen Jin’s concern and reassured him, “There’s no need to worry, Brother Xinyang. With our master’s Herb Staff, even a flood dragon would not prevail.”

“Let us hope so,” Chen Jin replied, not wholly convinced of the staff’s power. Yet since Ge Hong had entrusted them with the task and given them this treasure, he must believe in their abilities.

Page 2 of 3

First, however, they needed to find the demon serpent. Without that, how could they hope to suppress it?

Mount Gaoping was not large, but it stretched for over a hundred miles, covered in lush vegetation and jagged rocks. Finding a single demon serpent in such terrain was no easy feat.

The rain had come from the direction of Wenma County, making it hard to believe the serpent would be hiding in the mountain rather than the town itself.

Yet the moment the rain reached Mount Gaoping, mountain floods erupted. Clearly, the serpent was hiding here, seizing the opportunity brought by the change in weather to ride the storm’s chaos and attempt its transformation into a flood dragon.

Thus, they resolved to search along the breach where the flash flood began, hoping to find the serpent there.

After discussing this, Chen Jin and Boyang agreed and leaped from rock to rock through the mountains, arriving at the nearest breach where the torrent had burst forth. They followed the path upward.

In little more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they found a mountain cave spewing water.

“This is a vein spring,” Boyang said. He had spent days in the mountains refining elixirs and washing herbs with just such water, so he recognized it instantly.

“It seems the demon serpent is inside,” Chen Jin nodded.

“There is a foul miasma in this water. It must be connected to the calamity of pestilence True Lord Xu mentioned,” Boyang remarked, pointing to the water gushing from the cave.

“In that case, Brother, please guard me while I use the Herb Staff,” Chen Jin replied.

To be honest, Chen Jin could not sense any miasma; his cultivation was not high enough. He could only absorb the world’s primordial energy, but not transform it into his own vital force to wield spells, so the notion of foul energies was lost on him.

Nevertheless, he played along with Boyang’s observations.

Though he could not yet convert primordial energy into his own, he possessed Xinyang’s physical body, which still retained a fair amount of its own vital force. In other words, he had bullets and a gun, though not the means to manufacture more.

“Do not worry, Brother. Let me draw the demon serpent out, so you can strike it down with the staff,” Boyang offered.

Chen Jin nodded in agreement.

Boyang then began forming hand seals, murmuring incantations. Ten fiery red beams shot from his fingers, piercing into the spring-gushing cave.

Chen Jin did not know what effect these beams would have. Could a mere flash of red light really draw out a demon serpent?

Page 3 of 3

Yet reality proved it so. The moment the beams entered the cave, Chen Jin felt the ground tremble underfoot. The water surged even more violently, as if some great piston were driving it from within.

Bang…

The mountain cave burst open under the immense pressure of the gushing spring.

“Who dares hinder me?!” An enraged roar drowned out the sound of the water and echoed across the mountaintop.

A giant black-scaled serpent, ten yards long and as thick as a man, burst from the cave before Chen Jin’s eyes.

“You’re the ones who dare interfere?!” the serpent snarled, its fierce gaze fixed on Boyang, whose hands still glowed with red light.

“A foreign serpent?” Chen Jin wondered in surprise. The pronoun it used was rare in the south, and its accent was clearly from the north, though Chen Jin could not place exactly where.

Despite these fleeting thoughts, Chen Jin wasted no time in activating the Herb Staff.

The incantation for wielding the Herb Staff had been stored within it when Ge Hong gave it to him, and Chen Jin had been rehearsing it on his way to the cave.

With his command, the Herb Staff released a curtain of pale green light, instantly enveloping the entire mountaintop.

In a flash, the black-scaled serpent was ensnared, its massive body pressed to the rocks—grass even began sprouting from its scales.

“Is… is it over just like that?” Chen Jin stared in disbelief at the serpent, which hadn’t even been buried yet and already had grass growing from its back, as if it were a grave.

“Not yet,” Boyang replied, his voice grave.

The cave still spewed water, and now a sickly, foul stench drifted from the spring…