Chapter 138: The Flood Dragon Reveals Its Trail

Early in the morning, the sky was overcast and gray, heavy with the promise of wind and rain.

Inside the Serene Heart Cottage, after a night of cultivation, Jiang Chen slowly opened his eyes.

"Tenfold soul strength. My first-tier cultivation is now consummated, and I am only a step away from the second tier."

Sensing the changes within himself, a natural sense of complete harmony welled up, and Jiang Chen felt quite pleased.

A solitary, drifting soul that had fallen into this realm, his divine soul had suffered devastating damage, leaving behind only a trace of its fundamental essence. After meditating for so long, he had finally completed his initial recovery, which was indeed cause for joy.

"My soul ability doesn't possess any formidable offensive power at the first tier. Overall, it has simply been striving to strengthen the soul itself. However, once I reach the second tier, a qualitative change will occur, and psychokinesis will be born. I will be able to manipulate objects and truly gain the ability to interact with the outside world."

"According to the records left behind by Daoist White Crane, when cultivators of the Dao Foundation in this realm elevate their souls, they develop a power known as spiritual perception. It can be projected outward for microscopic insight, which is fundamentally very similar to my second-tier ability, except that it apparently lacks the capacity to manipulate objects."

"Under such circumstances, compared to psychokinesis, referring to my ability as divine sense might be more fitting."

Thoughts collided as anticipation for stepping into the second tier of soul cultivation arose in Jiang Chen's heart.

His soul ability at the first tier could only be considered an auxiliary power and was not particularly formidable. In terms of sheer lethality, it actually fell short of the Qi-refining cultivators in this realm. But once he reached the second tier, his soul ability would undergo a qualitative transformation.

"I already possess a trace of the second-tier essence. As long as I polish it for a bit longer, there shouldn't be too much difficulty in advancing my soul to the second tier."

"Now I can only hope that day arrives sooner."

Sensing his own condition and glancing at the wolfsbane flowers that had long since been depleted, Jiang Chen walked out of the quiet chamber.

"Today's weather is indeed rather poor; it looks like it's going to rain."

Taking a glance at the outer sky and washing up simply, Jiang Chen did not resume his cultivation. Instead, he drank tea, read books, and tasted fine food, allowing himself to relax so as to alleviate his mental fatigue.

However, times of leisure are destined to be brief. In the afternoon, Wang Yuan hurried back from outside and brought Jiang Chen some bad news.

"You mean the three ships transporting iron ore have vanished?"

After listening to Wang Yuan's account, Jiang Chen frowned.

Following the previous flood, which had altered the terrain, the Peace Sect had discovered an iron ore deposit within the borders of Qinghe County. With the Qingyuan River readily available, water transport naturally became the best choice for transferring the iron ore, as it could greatly save manpower and increase efficiency.

Yet today, the three Peace Sect ships regularly used for ore transport ran into trouble.

Of course, these three ships were only carrying ordinary iron ore. Under normal circumstances, neither natural disasters nor man-made calamities would be reported to Jiang Chen, as the subordinates below could handle them. The main issue was that this incident was simply too bizarre.

"Sect Master, according to the descriptions of several survivors, they were sailing normally when a dense fog suddenly rose on the river, causing them to lose their bearings. Unwittingly, they drifted close to a massive whirlpool, and in the end, all three ships were completely swallowed up. Only a few people managed to survive by sheer luck. In addition, some claimed they saw the shadow of a demonic beast circling underwater, suspected to be... suspected to be a dragon..."

Glancing at Jiang Chen, Wang Yuan's words carried a hint of hesitation.

Although the Qingyuan River was abundant in water, it was not the boundless ocean after all. The sudden appearance of a whirlpool capable of swallowing three large ships was truly bizarre. There was a strong possibility of demonic calamity, but claiming the creature was a dragon sounded somewhat like a fairy tale.

In fact, at the very beginning, he had suspected that the survivors were exaggerating to shirk responsibility. But after several rounds of confirmation later on, the other party was indeed telling the truth; at the time, they seemed to have truly seen a dragon.

Precisely because of this, he had rushed to find Jiang Chen and report the relevant situation. If this matter were false, that would be fine, but if it were true, the trouble would be enormous.

Hearing this, Jiang Chen cast his gaze toward Wang Yuan.

"A dragon? Are you certain?"

His tone low, Jiang Chen's brows revealed a trace of solemnity.

At these words, seeing Jiang Chen's expression, Wang Yuan's heart thumped anxiously.

"My lord, I am not certain either. Logically speaking, the Qingyuan River shouldn't be able to produce a true dragon, but I'm afraid..."

His face filled with worry, Wang Yuan voiced his inner thoughts. Although he did not know much about the world of immortal cultivation, he knew that demonic beasts ate people, and some powerful demonic beasts were walking disasters for the human race, let alone a legendary dragon.

Watching Wang Yuan, Jiang Chen did not speak immediately. His slender fingertips tapped rhythmically against the tabletop.

"A true dragon is a high-probability impossibility. If it were a true dragon, even the mere pressure inadvertently leaked out would be enough to crush an ordinary person's mind, driving them mad if not killing them outright."

"However, a true dragon is impossible, but a flood dragon is hard to say..."

Gazing into the distance toward the Qingyuan River, a pensive look appeared on Jiang Chen's face.

For some reason, when Wang Yuan mentioned the dragon shadow, his first association was that Mist-Illusion Spirit Snake. That creature had swallowed the Fish-Dragon Pearl, and there was a high possibility it had already transformed into a flood dragon.

"Dragon species are rare. At the very least, no dragon species has ever been heard of in the Qingyuan River over all these years. If the true culprit behind the sinking of the three ships is indeed a flood dragon, then the possibility of it being that Mist-Illusion Spirit Snake is actually quite high."

Thoughts colliding, Jiang Chen's mind quietly drifted far away at that moment.

Wielding the Dragon-Fishing Rod, Jiang Chen naturally cared deeply about matters concerning dragon species. He had previously made special inquiries, but had gained no harvest; let alone a true dragon, he hadn't even found a single horned snake.

"Have the Black and White Elders personally lead a team to make a trip there, and closely monitor the upper and lower reaches of the incident site, especially the fog. Find a way to figure out the true face of that demonic beast."

After a brief contemplation, Jiang Chen issued his command.

How could anyone tolerate someone else sleeping soundly beside their couch? A demonic beast suspected to be a flood dragon appearing in the surrounding area was definitely not good news for the Peace Sect. Figuring out its situation was essential. Moreover, if the opportunity arose, Jiang Chen also wanted to see if he had a chance to capture this flood dragon.

The reason he entertained such an idea relied primarily on two pillars: first, the Dragon-Fishing Rod, which specifically countered dragon species; and second, his soul ability. A soul tenfold stronger than that of an ordinary person, once torn, was sufficient for him to unleash a formidable divine soul attack capable of threatening a consummate Qi-refining existence.

Hearing Jiang Chen's words, Wang Yuan immediately bowed and complied.

"Could it be it? The strange fog encountered when the ships met with disaster—this is definitely no coincidence."

After Wang Yuan left, looking toward the direction of the Qingyuan River, the more Jiang Chen thought about it, the more he felt that the strange dragon shadow that had appeared was very likely that Mist-Illusion Spirit Snake.

"The Mist-Illusion Spirit Snake was born roughly thirty or forty years ago. For a demonic beast, this span of time is not considered long. Coupled with the reasons of the macro environment, even if it swallowed the Fish-Dragon Pearl and transformed into a flood dragon, the possibility of it forging a Dao Foundation should still be low; it most likely remains at the Qi-refining stage."

With his mind fluctuating, Jiang Chen pondered many things at this moment.