Chapter 143: A Sense of Déjà Vu

The sky was overcast. Walking through the drizzle after killing Gao Siyuan, Jiang Chen did not rush back to Wooden Fish Island. Instead, he returned to the place where Gao Siyuan had fought the mist flood-dragon.

"It has already left..."

Sensing carefully and gazing at the churning river, Jiang Chen fell into deep thought.

Not long after, the Black and White Elders, having received the news, arrived with their men.

"That demonic beast was injured earlier and should have left some traces. Take some people and track it to see if you can find its lair."

"In addition, a magical artifact may have been dropped in this area. Keep an eye out for it during your search."

Sweeping his gaze over the group, Jiang Chen issued his orders.

Based on the previous battle between Gao Siyuan and the mist flood-dragon, combined with the memories he had extracted from Gao Siyuan's soul, he had confirmed that the mist flood-dragon lacked intelligence and was no different from a wild beast. This was why he dared to send people to search for it. If the mist flood-dragon possessed true intelligence, doing this would not only be useless, but it would also be tantamount to seeking death.

Hearing this, the crowd bowed and accepted the order.

"I hope for a good result."

The fine rain fell like needles, and the river was hazy. Looking into the distance, Jiang Chen held a glimmer of anticipation in his heart.

To this day, his offensive means still relied primarily on that unorthodox swordsmanship. Boosted by his formidable spiritual power, this swordsmanship indeed unleashed considerable might in his hands, but after all, it was somewhat too thin; his true fatal strike was only the single move known as "Crane's Cry Piercing the Nine Heavens."

Once this move failed, the so-called swordsmanship became pale and powerless, suitable only for bullying the weak and practically useless against genuine experts. To remedy this flaw, apart from further perfecting the sword formula, the most direct method was to refine a suitable demonic pelt.

As long as he had a suitable demonic pelt in his possession, he could unleash the profound mysteries of the Lesser Formless Scripture, instantly granting himself formidable combat power. For now, this mindless mist flood-dragon possessed of pure strength was his absolute best choice.

Naturally, under such circumstances, he was unwilling to give up.

Thus, waiting from the continuous drizzle to the clearing of the clouds and mist, and finally to bright and clear skies, it took three full days before the Black and White Elders finally brought a magical artifact before Jiang Chen.

"My Lord, we found this along the path the demonic beast took while tracking it. It must have fallen from its body."

With a respectful expression, the Elder White presented the magical artifact to Jiang Chen. It was none other than Gao Siyuan's upper-grade magical artifact, the Azure Snake Whip.

Taking the Azure Snake Whip and toying with it casually, Jiang Chen put it into his storage pouch without paying it much mind.

Although an upper-grade magical artifact was precious, he was still far more concerned with the mist flood-dragon at the moment.

"Did you find the demonic beast's lair?"

Gazing at Elder White, Jiang Chen asked.

Hearing this, the Black and White Elders exchanged glances, a trace of shame appearing on their faces.

"Replying to the Sect Master, the two of us failed to find the demonic beast's lair. After being injured, the beast did leave many traces in the river, but once we tracked it downstream, all traces vanished completely. We searched there for a long time without finding any sign of the beast, and further downstream there were no traces left by it either. It seemed to have vanished out of thin air."

Lowering their gazes, the Black and White Elders did not dare to meet Jiang Chen's eyes.

Hearing this, Jiang Chen frowned.

"Vanished out of thin air?"

Looking out toward the downstream, Jiang Chen fell into deep thought. The mist flood-dragon lacked intelligence and most likely wouldn't actively conceal its own tracks. For it to have vanished now was truly rather strange. Even with the washing of the river currents, given the abilities of the Black and White Elders, they shouldn't have been able to find zero traces at all.

As Jiang Chen fell into contemplation, the surroundings immediately quieted down. Not a single person dared to make a sound, and the atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

It was precisely at this moment that rain began to fall from the sky once more, adding an extra layer of oppression to the already heavy atmosphere.

"Take me to have a look."

Pulling back his thoughts and sensing that something was amiss, Jiang Chen decided to investigate personally.

Hearing this, the Black and White Elders nodded silently. After Jiang Chen departed, the several Taiping Sect disciples left behind all let out long sighs of relief. For some reason, they always felt that Jiang Chen possessed a strange kind of power, where his every movement could tug at people's hearts.

Guided by the Black and White Elders, Jiang Chen reached the place where the mist flood-dragon had vanished without taking much time.

Releasing his perception, he dove into the river several times to investigate, only to return empty-handed each time. Jiang Chen's frown deepened. He had thoroughly searched this area and discovered nothing amiss.

"Could it be that the mist flood-dragon really vanished?"

Confirming that nothing had been missed, Jiang Chen's thoughts drifted far away. At that moment, the rain in the sky grew heavier. Seeing Jiang Chen like this, the Black and White Elders did not dare to disturb him and could only wait silently to the side.

Time passed like this. The torrential rain poured down, and the river current grew increasingly turbulent. At a certain moment, accompanied by a deafening crash of thunder, Jiang Chen abruptly pulled back his mind.

"No, I seem to have seen this scenery somewhere before..."

Surveying the surrounding landscape and glancing at the muddied river water, Jiang Chen realized something and dove into the river once more.

"That's right, I have indeed seen the scenery here before, right within the memories of Third Master Zhao Meng..."

Beneath the river surface, watching the rolling undercurrents, Jiang Chen confirmed his guess.

His first bag of spiritual sand had been offered by Zhao Meng, the third master of the River-Sweeping Bandits. Zhao Meng had accidentally fallen into the water on a rainy day, been caught by an undercurrent in the river, and stumbled into a strange place to acquire that bag of spiritual sand.

After taking power, Jiang Chen had once attempted to find this strange place, but because Zhao Meng's memories were too vague and lacked any distinct features, he had failed to find it.

Logan, if this place truly is the one from Zhao Meng's memories, then—

Thoughts colliding, Jiang Chen cast his gaze toward the undercurrents at the bottom of the river. Before the heavy rain arrived, these undercurrents had not existed.

Hum. Turning his Qi into threads that penetrated deep into the undercurrents, Jiang Chen pushed his perception to the absolute limit. Gradually, he sensed some abnormalities.

"These undercurrents look ordinary, but their circulation unintentionally forms an array, possessing the function of concealing auras. Beneath these undercurrents lies a completely different world..."

Discerning the profound mysteries of the undercurrents, a flash of realization stirred in Jiang Chen's heart.

"The mist flood-dragon hasn't vanished. It's right here..."

His perception pierced through the undercurrents, capturing a faint trace of flood-dragon aura. A brilliant sheen flashed in the depths of Jiang Chen's eyes; he knew he must have found his target.

Realizing this, without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Chen immediately withdrew his perception.

Although that mist flood-dragon lacked intelligence, its combat power was not weak. Charging in rashly would not be a wise choice—Gao Siyuan was the best example of that.

"Since the fish's nest has been found, the next step is to cast the bait and catch the fish."

A single thought arising, he glanced once more at the location of the undercurrents before Jiang Chen turned and left the riverbed.