Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 107: Searching for Dragons in the Wild
Xiao Shan listened quietly to Lu Zheng's story, frowning slightly.

He slowly began, "Decades ago, a dragon rose up in Changchuan County and killed many people in the river. The government sent people to search for it, but they never found it... I was young then, and I've heard about this before. I think the dragon we're looking for now must be it."

But in today's world, real dragons are hard to find, and Jiaolongs are also rare.

Based on some clues confessed by Su Mei and Zhu Sha, it is very likely that the two are the same dragon.

Lu Zheng also recalled a story an old boatman had told him before.

However, the boatman said that the dragon was a monster from the third realm, so the rumor might be inaccurate.

Of course, it is not ruled out that after so many years of practice, the dragon's cultivation has become much higher, even reaching the level of a quasi-fifth-level dragon.

If this is the case, the talent of this evil dragon is quite terrifying.

After a hundred years of practice, one can enter the fourth realm, but to practice to the fifth realm, it will take another four hundred years.

In just a few decades, his cultivation level has increased by more than three hundred years, which is already considered top-notch among monsters.

"Four hundred years of cultivation..."

Lu Zheng muttered to himself, thinking that his cultivation level was only a little over forty years, so there was a huge gap.

Xiao Shan smiled slightly, "If she doesn't break through to the fifth realm, then she will only be a fourth-level monster after all."

As long as the gap in realm is not too big, those who are at the same realm can still fight even if there is a difference in Taoism.

If there were a few more masters of the fourth realm, it would not be impossible to suppress and kill the dragon.

However, they are outnumbered now, so they can only try their best to prevent the other party from breaking through the dragon transformation and delay until reinforcements arrive.

Xiao Shan looked at Lu Zheng and asked, "You just said Qing Xuan needs someone to help him. Who is it?"

Lu Zheng shook his head and said, "I don't know... I thought the dean knew."

Xiao Shan's expression shifted slightly, and he murmured, "There shouldn't be any cultivators in the other four realms in our county. I guess he's just a fellow Taoist that Qing Xuan happened to meet here."

Seeing that Xiao Shan didn't know, Lu Zheng was even more curious about which expert Qing Xuan was looking for.

The group moved very quickly and soon arrived at a border area in Kaiyang County.

Led by the two women, Lu Zheng and others came to the outside of a waterfall.

Su Mei took out a jade talisman and told how to enter the underground abyss.

Qing Xuan took the jade talisman and said, "Let me go explore the way!"

"Brother Qingxuan, be careful!"

"Master, be careful."

Qingxuan smiled faintly at the two of them, then flew into the waterfall gracefully.

He glanced to the side and noticed something strange on the stone wall.

Qingxuan made a hand gesture and the long sword on his back flew out. The sword light flashed and instantly broke the disguise of the formation.

The long sword turned into a stream of light and quickly entered the passage.

Qingxuan followed in one leap.

He was cautious along the way, alert to his surroundings, and used his spiritual sense to explore the surrounding environment, vaguely sensing a strong demonic aura.

All the way down, deep into the abyss.

Qingxuan quickly arrived at the underground pool, but did not see the dragon.

And on the platform in the center of the pool, there is still a trace of dragon energy.

"Sure enough, they changed the location." Qing Xuan frowned slightly and looked at the pool again, "Still taking the water route."

Escaping through the underground river, the current was turbulent, making it difficult to leave any trace or breath. He sent out a stream of spiritual power to cover the trace of dragon energy, preventing it from disappearing completely.

Afterwards, Qingxuan quickly returned outside.

When Lu Zheng saw Qingxuan coming out of the waterfall safely, he felt relieved, but also a little depressed.

This proves that the dragon is no longer here.

As expected, Qing Xuan said, "There are indeed traces of a dragon in the underground abyss, but it has already escaped by water, making it difficult to find its trace."

Lu Zheng frowned upon hearing this, "This, can't be traced?"

Qing Xuan pondered for a while and said slowly: "It's not that there is no way, but it will take some time and mana to find its trace."

As he spoke, Qingxuan glanced at the two women.

Su Mei felt uneasy when she was looked at. She whispered, "This isn't our fault. We did bring you here, so we did some good things, didn't we? You can't just cross the river and burn the bridge. Just hand us over to the authorities."

Su Mei was afraid that the Taoist priest would think it was their fault and would kill them.

Zhu Sha noticed Qing Xuan's gaze and vaguely understood the meaning behind it.

"What does the Taoist priest want us to do?" Zhu Sha asked.

Qing Xuan said slowly, "The restrictions in your bodies have not been completely lifted. They have only been temporarily sealed off by me. I have a method to trace the source. I can use the restrictions in your bodies to track down the dragon."

Su Mei's heart skipped a beat when she heard this, and she couldn't help but ask, "Will this hurt us?"

Qing Xuan said softly, "The restrictions within your bodies are already attached to your souls, so using this spell will inevitably harm you. It's also possible that the evil dragon will notice it and use the restrictions to counterattack, killing you... Of course, I will do my best to ensure your safety. After all, after using this spell once, she may escape to another place, and then she will need you again."

Su Mei's face suddenly turned pale. Wasn't she going to suffer again?
Although she knew that she could not escape the death penalty, Su Mei was still terrified when her life was really threatened.

Zhu Sha's expression was calm as he spoke, "We are guilty of a capital crime. Please, Taoist priest, cast a spell to find the dragon."

Su Mei opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but she couldn't utter a word.

"Okay, you don't need to worry. I do have some skills." Qingxuan said.

The more she said this, the more anxious Su Mei became.

At this moment, a figure flew over from a distance.

Everyone noticed it and couldn't help but look sideways.

An Jing was searching for the disappeared dragon energy in the mountains when he suddenly felt something in his heart and saw Lu Zheng and his group.

"Ok?"

An Jing found that there were still five people, three of whom she knew.

She was quite surprised to see these people appear in this place.

Qingxuan paused. He was thinking about whether to find the princess first or trace the dragon, but he didn't expect to meet An Jing here.

When Xiaoshan saw An Jing, he felt vaguely that he looked familiar, but he couldn't immediately remember where he had seen him.

When Lu Zheng saw An Jing, his eyes moved slightly, and he thought to himself that this female hero was indeed a hidden talent, and she could even fly?

Seeing that he was discovered, An Jing was curious about what these people were doing here, so he came to Lu Zheng and his group.

Qing Xuan bowed politely and said, "I am here to meet the Princess."

Anyway, he would invite the eldest princess to help slay the demon later, so Qingxuan did not hide it and directly revealed An Jing's identity.

Moreover, Xiao Shan next to him had also seen the eldest princess. Even if he didn't recognize her immediately, he would find out later. It could not be concealed.

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the other four changed, each in a different way.

(End of this chapter)