Chapter 124: The Netherworld Demonic Dragon

Lightning flickered outside the pavilion, yet inside, there was a deathly silence. The Fire Sun Sparrow in its cage coughed up blood incessantly; its throat had been torn raw from screaming, rendering it unable to make a sound. Nevertheless, anyone with a keen eye could see that its current state was one of extreme agitation.

Liu Pan paused, glancing up at Li Tu and his two companions, only to find their gazes fixed entirely on the bird in the cage. No one cared about his current state or whether he had suppressed his aura.

Turning his gaze back toward the exterior of the pavilion, a sense of foreboding suddenly took root in Liu Pan’s heart. The Fire Sun Sparrow’s reaction was undeniably wrong.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a thunderclap exploded across the firmament. In the instant the lightning flared, the hair on Liu Pan’s body stood on end, and his heart skipped several beats.

A shadow! A colossal shadow was cast upon the clearing outside the pavilion by the illumination of the lightning! Though he could not see the whole of it, Liu Pan was certain it was a behemoth.

He remembered clearly that before entering the pavilion, there had been nothing above it—let alone something of such immense proportions.

"Thud!"

Without warning, the very moment Liu Pan caught sight of that massive shadow, the entire island jolted violently. A dull, heavy thud echoed through the island, which had otherwise been devoid of any such noise.

Everyone was startled, including Liu Pan, who had already seen the shadow. The sound was terrifying; even the violent hurricanes and tsunamis outside the island had not transmitted the slightest noise through the barriers, yet this sound...

The man in black reacted almost instantly. As a master of the Martial Sect, his ability to process information was far superior to that of an ordinary person. In the next moment, he vanished from the pavilion. Li Tu and the middle-aged man followed suit, rushing out shortly after.

Liu Pan felt his entire body stiffen. Had he not seen the shadow, he would have surely rushed out with them. But now, with a difficult gulp, he forced his feet to move, stepping out of the pavilion one agonizing step at a time.

"!"

Another flash of lightning tore across the sky. As Liu Pan reached the entrance, he was struck dumb. He saw Li Tu and the others standing in the clearing not far away, all of them staring up at the heavens.

It was not this scene that stunned him, but the massive shadow that loomed over them all. They were all beneath it.

With great effort, he looked up, and his pupils constricted sharply. What... what was that?

Because the protective array surrounding the island possessed top-tier concealment and illusion capabilities, the island was invisible from the outside, appearing only as the surrounding wind, rain, and waves. However, the view from inside looking out was different. During fine weather, it was unremarkable, but during a torrential downpour, one could clearly see a massive, inverted "bowl" shielding the island, isolating it from the storm.

And now, perched upon the base of this inverted bowl, lay a behemoth. Due to the dim light, its features were blurred, but it was clearly a monstrous, serpent-like creature.

Swallowing hard, Liu Pan began to tremble uncontrollably, overcome by pure, unadulterated fear. How could such a terrifying monster exist here? He could hardly believe his eyes.

The serpent-like creature was gargantuan; its head alone measured tens of meters in width and length. Its body was coiled several times, with its tail dangling down along the side of the protective dome, disappearing into the sea below. Its true length was unfathomable.

As shadows shifted, it was clear the monster was shaking its head. Combined with the earlier thud, it was easy to deduce that the creature had slammed into the island's protective array and was now shaking off the dizziness.

In fact, not just Liu Pan, but Li Tu and his companions were also frozen in place, staring blankly at the creature, unable to react for a long time.

"!"

Another bolt of lightning illuminated the beast's body.

Is it... a dragon? Liu Pan’s pupils constricted again, but he quickly dismissed the thought. This was definitely not a dragon.

Under the lightning, the creature’s body was clearly visible. It was serpentine yet not a serpent, draconic yet not a dragon. Its body was covered in dense, black scales that resembled steel armor. On its massive, swaying head, two horns were prominent, though one was broken in half—perhaps snapped during its collision with the array. A horrific, charred wound marred its body, flesh torn and raw, as if struck by heavenly lightning.

Liu Pan was certain it wasn't a dragon because the creature lacked dragon claws.

"This is... a Nether Demon Flood Dragon? How is this possible..." The man in black swallowed with difficulty, his body trembling slightly.

According to ancient texts, the Nether Demon Flood Dragon was a descendant of the dragon race, but it was rumored to have been extinct for countless millennia. To see one appear here was truly difficult to accept. If the man in black had not pored over ancient scrolls detailing such terrifying beasts, he would never have recognized it.

Above the array, the massive figure shook its head for a long while before finally recovering. It looked down at the surging waves below, a strange expression flickering in its eyes. Then, a flash of black light erupted, and the gargantuan body shrank rapidly, eventually transforming into a pale, elderly man dressed in black.

Inside the array, everyone was stunned. A beast taking human form—this was something only ever recorded in ancient texts.

In truth, for a magical beast, reaching the stage of transformation was incredibly difficult. On the path of cultivation, beasts and humans differed greatly. Due to their physical size, beasts contained far more elemental energy than humans of the same cultivation level. The Heavenly Dao was fair; because of that energy gap, the tribulations beasts faced were far more terrifying than those of humans.

Yet, the Heavenly Dao was also unfair, for no creature could compare to human creativity. Humans could craft techniques that unleashed immense power with minimal energy consumption, while beasts could create very few such arts.

Or perhaps, this was not a matter of fairness, but the distinction between wisdom and raw power. Humans, through wisdom, actively sought to adapt to the Heavenly Dao, while beasts, despite their vast reserves of energy, were fundamentally inclined to clash stubbornly against it.