Vessel of Worlds

Once the ice-attribute flood dragon left the freezing pool, its ability to turn water to ice was diminished by nearly half. Beset on all sides by seven or eight high-grade artifacts, it had no chance to attack the human cultivators directly. Instead, it lashed out with its two claws—each over a zhang long—and its tail, covered in palm-sized jade-green scales, swatting furiously at the artifacts darting around it.

Any artifact caught by the sweeping tail was sent flying. Anything seized by those terrifyingly powerful claws risked being crushed outright if its materials were even slightly inferior.

And the flood dragon's body, renowned for its hardness, shrugged off the high-grade artifacts without concern. Ordinary high-grade artifacts striking its jade-green scales left nothing more than scratches.

With a sharp crack, the dragon's right claw snatched a green jade hook out of the air and squeezed, crushing it to powder. Its owner—the Moon-Gathering Sect woman—could only watch in dismay.

At the same time, a gleaming small sword struck the dragon's spine with a metallic clink, only to bounce off the green scales without inflicting the slightest wound.

A small ruler, a monk's staff, a golden ring, a long saber, a pointed spike, a bamboo whip—artifacts of every variety came at the dragon's eyes and belly, targeting its vulnerable spots. The flood dragon swung its massive head from side to side, sweeping its claws back and forth to deflect every attack.

"Junior Brother Zhao, attack its head with your artifact! If we don't kill this beast while we have the chance, we'll never be able to dive to the bottom of the pool!" Golden Leaf Fairy lashed her bamboo whip artifact at the dragon's face. At the same time, she noticed Andy standing not far away.

Andy had already been planning to join the fight. Hearing Golden Leaf Fairy's words, he hesitated no longer.

The way he saw it, they had to finish the dragon here on land. Once it retreated into the pool, killing it would become impossible. And if this beast wasn't dealt with, how could he dare search the pool floor for ice spirit stones?

But the crowd of cultivators was a double-edged sword.

The advantage was strength in numbers. With this many artifacts attacking from every direction, even a beast of limited intelligence could only scramble to defend itself. The moment it showed an opening, they would have their chance to land a decisive blow.

The disadvantage was that his more extraordinary assets—the peak-grade artifact, his vast stock of talismans, and that mid-grade spirit tool—could not be used in front of so many witnesses. That cut his effective combat power considerably.

Still, he could test the waters with high-grade artifacts. If they could kill the flood dragon through their combined efforts, so much the better. If not, this many cultivators attacking at once could at least drive it back into the pool. As long as he was careful, the danger was manageable and within his control.

Andy's artifacts arrived before he did.

A golden longsword traced an arc of golden light, driving straight at the flood dragon's eye—each one twice the size of a fist. A golden bronze ring expanded to over a zhang in diameter and flew toward the Bitter Cold Flood Dragon.

Just as the golden sword neared the dragon, it suddenly veered upward, narrowly avoiding a swipe of the dragon's claw. At the same time, a jet-black steel spike, just over five cun long, stabbed at the dragon's face, only to be batted aside by the other claw. The dragon was about to spray a blast of frost-breath at the cultivators below when a bamboo whip, trailing a gust of wind, lashed at its eyes, forcing it to jerk its head aside. For a moment, the flood dragon was overwhelmed—artifacts struck its belly and back in rapid succession, though its formidable body absorbed the blows without injury.

In the chaos, a streak of golden light plunged downward, closing to within a few chi of the dragon's head in the blink of an eye. The flood dragon opened its jaws wide and blasted a jet of white frost-breath at the golden light, sending the sword tumbling upward and away. But at that very instant, the dragon felt something tighten around its midsection. The enormous bronze ring had somehow slipped around its body unnoticed, and now it contracted sharply, pinning both claws against its sides.

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Seizing the opening, a yellow saber and a green monk's staff both struck at the dragon's eyes. With its claws trapped, it could only wrench its head aside. It dodged the killing blow to its eyes, but both weapons slammed squarely into its face. The dragon's face bore no jade-green scales; the two heavy impacts drew a torrent of blood, bright green as crushed jade.

The flood dragon bellowed—a sound like a dragon's roar—goaded by the searing pain. Its claws strained outward, its body swelled, and the bronze ring that bound it burst apart into dozens of fragments.

Eyeing the seven or eight artifacts still hurtling toward it, the dragon that had just taken a painful lesson showed a flicker of fear. It swept its tail and began turning back toward the pool.

"Don't let it escape!" Golden Leaf Fairy saw the dragon's intent at once and directed the cultivators to block its retreat with their artifacts.

Several streaks of yellow light flashed through the air, converging into a single mass before solidifying into a luminous barrier more than twenty zhang across, trapping the flood dragon inside.

This was Andy's work—several Earth Prison Talismans fused together into an enormous, expanded earth prison barrier. How long it could hold the flood dragon, and whether it would buy him enough time for what came next, was far from certain.

"Buy me a moment!" Andy called out. He had already recalled the golden sword into his sleeve. In his hands he held a small white jade seal.

As he poured spiritual power into it at a furious pace, the seal began to swell rapidly.

Inside the barrier, the enraged flood dragon hammered at the walls with both claws. Each strike dimmed the barrier's glow a fraction more.

The dragon spewed a blast of frost-breath against the barrier, then twisted its body and lashed the wall with its tail. The massive earth prison barrier shattered into motes of yellow light and vanished.

The dragon had barely broken free and begun to rise when artifacts came streaking at it from above and ahead, hurtling toward its face at tremendous speed.

It was forced to slow, using claws and tail alike to fend off each one.

"Everyone—use Binding Technique, or any special artifact you have! It doesn't need to be powerful, just hold this beast in place for a moment!" Golden Leaf Fairy shouted. She had watched Andy's jade seal grow to over three zhang across and continue expanding, radiating astonishing spiritual energy. Combined with his earlier words, she grasped his plan immediately and relayed the order to the others.

These cultivators seemed to follow Golden Leaf Fairy's commands without question. The moment she finished speaking, several of them responded.

A talisman dissolved into a streak of green light and became a vine five or six zhang long, coiling around the dragon's claws. This was precisely the Binding Technique Golden Leaf Fairy had called for—a mid-grade wood-attribute spell. But the flood dragon flexed its claws ever so slightly and the vine disintegrated into nothing.

A single mid-grade spell was almost useless.

A length of pink silk flew at the dragon next. With a ripple and a flutter, it released billowing clouds of rosy mist that engulfed the beast entirely. Its vision blocked, the dragon hurriedly blasted another jet of frost-breath, scattering the pink fog in an instant.

Two gleaming red pearls, each the size of a fist, flew up before the dragon and suddenly collided. Red light flared, erupting into a blinding burst of brilliance. The advancing dragon instinctively shut its eyes, and its momentum faltered.

A gourd-shaped artifact floated above the dragon, its mouth angled downward, and a stream of viscous green liquid poured out, splattering across the beast's body. The dragon twisted to avoid it, but its sheer size meant it couldn't dodge entirely. The liquid seemed to carry no destructive force, yet it clung stubbornly to the dragon's scales, hampering its movement. It couldn't shake the stuff off.

While the flood dragon was tangled up with the cultivators, a massive jade seal—six or seven zhang across—drifted into position above its head. Then, with tremendous force, it came crashing down.

The Bitter Cold Flood Dragon, sensing mortal danger, abandoned all defense against the incoming artifacts and lunged forward with everything it had.

A thunderous boom shook the ground as the seal slammed down, driving half a zhang deep into the frost-covered earth.

Half the flood dragon's body was pinned beneath it.

Its power spent, the Jade Mountain Seal shrank back to two or three cun and flew into Andy's hand, vanishing in a flash of white light.

The rear half of the dragon's body, crushed under the seal's weight, had not been reduced to pulp, but it had been flattened—clearly badly injured.

Its head was no better. Seven or eight artifacts jutted from it at every angle, blood streaming freely, its face mangled beyond recognition.

The grievously wounded flood dragon let out a mournful cry, braced its claws against the ground, and struggled upright, making one last desperate lunge toward the pool.

The cultivators were not about to let their efforts go to waste. Every one of them sent their artifacts flying again, stabbing and slashing at the dragon that could barely fight back.