Chapter 00072: The Black Flood Dragon's Lifeline
# The Black Flood Dragon's Lifeline
Chapter 72
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 72: The Black Flood Dragon's Lifeline
The one who had snatched the treasured blade ahead of everyone else was probably this young man.
Throughout the journey, everyone had dismissed him as a spoiled brat, but they had clearly underestimated him.
Sun Fuping's gaze swept across the ruins.
How could he find someone in such a vast area? He Lingchuan must have just left.
...
He Lingchuan dashed through the ruins, passing by the abandoned government office.
There stood a tall watchtower that had miraculously survived the war.
In his arms, he held the blade with a dragon's head-shaped hilt.
Yes, not long ago, he had secretly slipped down from the side of the city wall, bypassed the battlefield, and returned to the government residence with one goal in mind: to retrieve the sword that lay beside Zhong Shengguang's bed.
In this era, when crafting weapons, the hilt or guard often featured the image of a "Yazi," a mythical creature with the body of a jackal and the head of a dragon.
Only about twenty to thirty percent of weapons were adorned with other types of beasts.
The sword beside Zhong Shengguang's bed had a hilt shaped like a straight-horned flood dragon's head.
He Lingchuan had visited twice before but hadn't paid much attention to it, focusing instead on other furnishings, especially the blue flower comb on the dressing table.
However, the black flood dragon had emerged from the destroyed government residence, clearly indicating a special connection to the Zhong residence.
Moreover, the black flood dragon's large head, with its straight, unbranched horn, was identical to the dragon head carved on the sword's hilt!
He Lingchuan couldn't help but admire his own remarkable memory.
When he entered the post-war government residence and saw the sword hanging safely on the ruined wall, untouched by even a speck of dirt, his suspicions were confirmed.
This sword was unusual.
It should have existed in the government residence during peacetime, as Zhong Shengguang had lived there.
But it shouldn't have been in the post-war residence, as Zhong Shengguang had long since moved into a grand mansion.
The sword's presence here was out of place.
Moreover, it was as smooth and pristine as if it were brand new, unaffected by the war.
This suggested that in the true course of history, the sword hadn't been hanging on this wall when the fire broke out.
Although He Lingchuan hadn't heard Nian Songyu mention the "Black Flood Dragon's Lifeline" to Sun Fuping, he had keenly sensed that this sword held special value for the black flood dragon.
With the sword in hand, he would have an extra layer of protection when facing the black flood dragon.
He drew the newly acquired blade and examined it.
The blade gleamed like autumn water, and as soon as it left the scabbard, a chilling aura enveloped the area, dropping the temperature by at least two degrees.
The blade's curve was perfect, its weight evenly distributed, and most importantly, it felt incredibly comfortable to hold, as if it were an extension of his forearm.
It didn't feel like a new weapon at all; rather, it felt like reuniting with an old friend.
With a casual swing, he effortlessly severed a pillar thicker than his own head.
Unfortunately, there was a crack running from the spine of the blade to the edge, hidden about two-thirds of the way down.
He Lingchuan also detected a strong, bloody aura emanating from the blade, even though both the blade and scabbard were spotless, without a single drop of blood.
Who knew how many throats this blade had slit?
The young man flicked the blade with his finger.
Could he take this thing out of the illusion?
After a moment's thought, he shamelessly strapped it to his waist.
Now, he needed to hurry back.
He glanced at the growing number of demonic birds overhead.
It seemed they had caught wind of his presence.
Would they swoop down to snatch the sword?
But He Lingchuan soon realized that the birds were the least of his worries, as the primary threat emerged from a dark alley, blocking his path:
Sun Fuping.
He Lingchuan stopped in his tracks, startled, and forced a laugh.
"Grand State Preceptor Sun, what a coincidence!"
What should he do? Where could he escape? His mind raced.
Sun Fuping's gaze was strange, a mix of wild joy and deep resentment.
He reached out toward He Lingchuan.
"Where's the sword?"
Upon discovering the treasured blade was missing, Sun Fuping had gone into a frenzy, searching everywhere.
He knew that with the sword in his possession, He Lingchuan couldn't simply hide in the ruins like last time.
Otherwise, finding the sword would be pointless.
He would definitely return to the southern gate with this important bargaining chip.
All Sun Fuping had to do was intercept him.
The government residence and office were both by the lake, so He Lingchuan had limited routes to take.
Sun Fuping had finally caught up with him.
He Lingchuan's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, conveniently covering the dragon-head hilt.
He feigned confusion.
"What sword? State Preceptor, what are you talking about?"
Sun Fuping chuckled but didn't waste time with words.
With a flick of his wrist, he threw out a set of silk threads.
This treasure was usually wrapped around his hand, disguised as a red cord.
Once thrown, it expanded in the wind, automatically chasing the enemy and ensnaring them like a fishing net.
Even an elephant couldn't break free—provided the owner could hold on.
Moreover, the net's mesh was studded with hooks, adding injury and preventing escape.
He Lingchuan had only taken a few steps when the net descended from above, trapping him.
Sun Fuping gave a sharp tug, and the hooks on the net spread out.
If He Lingchuan hadn't raised his arms to protect his face, his eyes might have been gouged out.
Even so, the exposed skin on his arms was scratched with bloody streaks, and some of the hooks tore out chunks of flesh, making him grimace in pain.
Sun Fuping flipped his palm, and three streams of true fire spread along the main threads of the silk net.
With a whoosh, the entire net burst into flames.
The flames even had a pale hue amidst the gold and red, their temperature abnormally high.
In an instant, they could reduce bones to ash.
Sun Fuping had already revealed his true intentions during this trip to the Coiling Dragon Desert.
He no longer needed to keep He Lingchuan as a sacrificial offering, and now his killing intent surged.
Unexpectedly, He Lingchuan let out a loud "Ow!" from the pain of the hooks, but he remained unharmed in the flames.
At the same time, a blue halo erupted from his body.
Sun Fuping immediately realized that the young man had a fire-resistant artifact on him, which activated automatically under high heat.
But his true fire was powerful enough to melt ordinary fire-resistant artifacts.
The fact that He Lingchuan's hair wasn't even singed showed how extraordinary this treasure was.
In the midst of the chaos, He Lingchuan glanced down and saw that the glowing treasure was none other than the divine bone necklace!
It had finally come in handy.
Otherwise, he would have been reduced to a charred corpse within moments.
Sun Fuping drew his sword, intending to step forward and behead He Lingchuan.
But suddenly, the sky darkened as a massive demonic bird descended, its sharp claws aimed straight for Sun Fuping's face.
This creature was no pushover.
Its razor-sharp claws could easily disembowel a person, and its wrinkled, loose-looking skin was actually incredibly tough.
Even a small knife couldn't make a scratch.
Sun Fuping had no choice but to defend himself, but he didn't forget to fire a couple of hidden darts at He Lingchuan.
He Lingchuan cried out, not noticing that several black insects had slid off the darts.
These bugs, with suction-cup-like heads and maggot-like bodies, burrowed into his wounds.
These were creatures Sun Fuping had acquired after killing a Gu master during a southern rebellion.
The Gu master's signature move, the "Flying Head Gu," was said to be invisible and capable of killing from a hundred paces away.
In reality, it relied on these insects burrowing into a person's body, gnawing through their heart and brain, and sucking out their essence.
Sun Fuping despised the methods of Gu masters, but he was fascinated by the effectiveness of their Gu insects.
These Gu insects, after gorging on the blood of humans or demons, would curl up into balls and digest for two months.
This was a process of refining and purifying.
After three or four cycles, the Gu insects could no longer absorb more blood, and they themselves became a potent tonic, especially effective in replenishing vitality, far surpassing any medicine.
(End of Chapter)