Dear heavens! What did I just run into?!
Horrified, Hong Ning screamed, “Master—Senior Brother—!”
The creature’s body was slick, but its grip around her leg remained unrelentingly tight. She couldn’t shake it off.
So the rumors were true—there really was an evil dragon in this pool.
She had heard that wicked dragons devoured humans, using their souls to refine spirit pearls. And right now, she was completely defenseless. She had no magic weapons, no talismans. Even if she had them, she was far too weak to fight it alone. Wen Xin and Bai Ling were both in seclusion. She didn’t even have a transmission talisman on her!
Why hadn’t she taken her cultivation training more seriously?
Regret surged through her—but survival instinct took over.
She forced herself to stay calm and immediately began chanting a spell to break free—
But before she could finish, the dragon abruptly shifted.
In an instant, its enormous body uncoiled from her leg and instead wrapped tightly around her waist. Then, with a powerful yank, it dragged her down.
Water surged from all directions, flooding into her nose, mouth, and ears.
Hong Ning choked violently, panic gripping her heart.
I should have chanted the Water-Breathing Incantation first!
Now that water had entered her mouth, she couldn’t chant anything.
In the depths of the water, a deep, thunderous laughter echoed—low, sinister, and filled with smug delight.
Fortunately, Hong Ning had always been fearless by nature. Despite her terror, she forced her eyes wide open.
Master had examined this place before and found no trace of demonic energy—so how could an evil dragon suddenly appear?!
Through the dim, refracted light filtering through the water, she finally noticed the answer.
About ten feet below the surface, there was a cave opening in the rock wall, roughly half the height of a person.
It all made sense now.
The cave must lead somewhere else. The dragon normally didn’t reside in the pool—it had likely emerged today to absorb the essence of the sun, and she had simply been unlucky enough to run into it. That explained why there had been no demonic aura before!
She could feel the dragon’s scaly body trembling slightly against her waist. A wave of nausea and fear surged through her. The pressure on her chest grew stronger, the sensation of suffocation worsening. She struggled frantically, but what strength could a twelve-year-old girl possibly have? The dragon dragged her deeper and deeper.
Just as despair began to take hold, a golden light streaked down like a falling star, plummeting from above.
Hong Ning’s eyes widened in shock.
The black dragon seemed startled as well, pausing its movements.
In an instant, the glowing object crashed to the bottom of the pool, shattering into countless tiny fragments that scattered like stardust.
The depths of the pool, once dark and foreboding, now resembled a vast summer night sky, dotted with countless shimmering stars.
Then, before her astonished eyes, the glowing specks began to sprout!
Like a scene from a time-lapse in a television drama, branches and leaves grew at an astonishing speed, buds rapidly unfurling into full bloom.
Not just one, but an entire explosion of flowers!
Radiant peonies, vibrant peach blossoms, delicate apricot flowers, elegant lotuses, serene chrysanthemums, proud winter plums, fresh red lotuses… Flowers of all seasons bloomed together in an endless cascade of color.
Brilliant hues filled the once-dreary pool, transforming it into a dazzling sea of blossoms, bathed in golden light, brimming with divine energy—turning the dark abyss into a heavenly garden.
As if stirred by an invisible breeze, the waves of flowers swayed gently.
Hong Ning snapped out of her daze and turned her gaze to the black dragon.
Now that she could see it clearly, she felt a chill run down her spine.
Its body was entirely jet-black, its scales flashing with an eerie glimmer as they opened and closed. Its eyes glowed like lanterns, and two horns protruded from its head, giving it an incredibly fierce and menacing appearance.
Sensing that something was amiss, the dragon finally abandoned its patience. Unwilling to let its prey escape, it decided to end things quickly. Lifting its head, it lunged at her, jaws wide open.
Hong Ning shut her eyes.
A deafening roar echoed through the water—
And then, suddenly, the grip around her waist loosened.
The surrounding currents surged violently.
Confused, Hong Ning opened her eyes, only to see the dragon thrashing wildly, shaking its head and tail in agony.
Its once-bright eyes now burned red like fire, as if something had blinded it.
Its massive scales flared open, revealing countless flower petals wedged between them, each standing stiff and sharp like razor-thin blades.
Roaring in pain, the dragon writhed furiously before finally giving up and retreating, twisting its enormous body and vanishing into the cave in the rock wall.
Hong Ning was still stunned when she felt something gently lift her feet.
She was rising.
A magnificent red camellia had bloomed beneath her, its large petals cradling her feet and carrying her upward.
It brought her all the way to the shore—
And then vanished without a trace.
The next moment, a pair of hands caught her and pulled her into a warm embrace.
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