Feeling the terrifying fluctuations of spirit force in the air, Zhao Jiuge quickly activated the Sanskrit Heart Sutra. He quickly held Little Black in his chest for protection.

At this moment, the thing under the pool finally surfaced. It was a flood dragon more than 100 meters long. Its entire body was dark blue and its scale gave off a cold aura.

There were two bulges on the dragon’s head, looking like flower buds that hadn't bloomed yet. Its two big eyes were filled with anger. Its entire body floated in the air as its tail gently swayed. The dragon proudly stared at the two women.

“The two of you continue to act wildly in this cold pool, disturbing my cultivation. Do you really think I’m easy to bully?” Although the flood dragon spoke viciously, it was deeply afraid of cultivators.

Spirit beasts were in a very bad state, especially ones that had cultivated an inner core, because they faced the constant danger of being killed by cultivators for their cores. Cultivators used spirit beasts’ cores to refine their own cores. Cores were divided into nine ranks, and the number of marks depended on the cultivation method. The trash cultivation methods couldn’t even form cores.

Although cores had nine ranks, the rank of one’s core could change. A lot of cultivators who were not happy with their cores would hunt spirit beasts for cores with the same attributes as their cultivation methods. Then, along with spirit herbs or other heavenly treasures, they could increase the rank of their cores!

As for those lucky enough to break past the Spirit Core Realm and obtain human form, they might have it worse. They would be hunted down by Nascent Soul cultivators, have their bodies destroyed, and have their souls sealed into treasures to become treasure spirits.

Therefore, the position of spirit beasts in the world was very low. Although their lives were long, it was very difficult for them to gain intelligence. They could only rely on their instincts to cultivate, and once they formed an inner core, they would be hunted by cultivators. It was a very awkward position.

Thus, spirit beasts that had gained intelligence and could speak, like the Flood Dragon, would avoid cultivators as much as possible. If he met a powerful cultivator, then his only fate was death. If he met someone weak, once he beat them, their seniors would come. After beating those, even stronger seniors would come. As long as a sect’s inheritance remained, he would be forever hunted.

When the two women saw the flood dragon fly out from the pool, they leaped off the dragon boat. They met the flood dragon’s gaze. The woman in pink became very serious when she felt the pressure from the flood dragon. She prepared the spirit force in her body. Once the flood dragon made a move, she would deliver her most powerful attack.

The plain-clothed woman looked at the flood dragon. Her gaze was still cold and her expression hadn’t changed at all from the pressure of the flood dragon. Her dress fluttered without any wind, making her look like a lonely boat in a raging storm as she stared at the flood dragon.

“Hmph, we are going to take your core to refine my senior sister’s core today. So what if we bully you?” The tone of the woman in pink was beyond arrogant!

Zhao Jiuge was completely startled as he stood at the edge of the cliff and looked at the two women and the dragon floating above the pool. When he heard the woman in pink’s arrogant words, he was shocked. A spirit beast with an inner core, Spirit Core Cultivators!

The flood dragon’s belly was filled with rage after hearing her words and roared, “You’ve gone too far!”

The flood dragon’s tail smashed into the pool and whipped toward the two women. Don’t think that the flood dragon would be slow because of his large body—it was actually powerful and dexterous.

He arrived between the two of them in the blink of an eye. The plain-clothed woman still remained expressionless, but the woman in pink was shocked. The spirit force she had been gathering quickly turned into a flash of light and a pink sword slashed toward the tail of the flood dragon.

The flood dragon’s tail trembled and was knocked back as blood splashed everywhere. The flood dragon was originally a snake that had accidently gained intelligence and begun to cultivate. After cultivating for 1,000 years, he had gone through nine metamorphoses to obtain two horns and grow two legs. His body was like metal, yet just one attack and he was already injured.

The flood dragon had lost the first move. When he was knocked back, he immediately began to escape. He had always intended to run, but the woman in pink was simply too infuriating, so he had made the first move.

Who knew that the sword light was powerful enough to injure him in one move? As he ran, he felt pity. He had finally found a good place to cultivate, but now he had to move.

Just at this moment, the flood dragon felt a prickling pain on his back, and when he looked back, he was terrified. The calm, plain-clothed woman had finally moved.

A ray of water blue sword light flew toward the flood dragon. There was no thunderous rumble or slashing light as it calmly sliced forward. The flood dragon’s eyes widened and were filled with fear.

The seemingly ordinary-looking sword light had caused the prickling feeling and sense of danger raised in his heart.

His body suddenly turned and he let out a roar. A shot of cold air flew toward the water-blue sword energy, and the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped.

The water-blue sword light pierced through the cold air. There was no thunderous rumble, only light crackling as the sword light pierced through. The destroyed cold air turned into powder and disappeared. The power of the sword light wasn’t weakened at all as it flew toward the flood dragon.

After spitting out the mouthful of cold energy, the flood dragon didn’t even have time to do anything else before he saw the water-blue sword light close in. His mind went blank for a moment, but he subconsciously moved his tail to block it.

A section of tail fell from the sky, but there wasn’t any splash of blood. There was a layer of ice around the wound—it was frozen.

The flood dragon felt intense pain from his tail being cut off, and the fear in his heart was replaced by anger. He let out a roar that made the surroundings shake. He then moved all the spirit force in his body and released the inner core he had been nurturing. It was the size of an egg and glowing. The air was already cold, and when the inner core appeared, the surrounding temperature dropped even more.

The plain-clothed woman had cut off the flood dragon’s tail with one strike, but there was no emotion in her eyes. It was as if everything that had happened was natural—there was no joy or sorrow.

“Senior Sister Bo Re, your Luo Water Cultivation Method has improved again. Fortunately, this flood dragon’s attribute is the same as your cultivation method. Once we obtain the core and you refine it along with the pill our teacher makes, then you might advance your core to rank eight.” The woman in pink was very happy and her eyes were filled with envy. Direct disciples had it the best.

The plain-clothed woman revealed a rare smile and nodded. That smiling face made even the light around the pool lose color.

Zhao Jiuge had seen this from a distance, but there was no passion in his eyes. He was even more determined to cultivate. Such a noble and beautiful woman was single-mindedly pursuing cultivation. One day, when he had beaten her proud strength, what would her expression be like?

Perhaps she couldn’t even imagine that one day, the wild child she had met and treated like an ant would appear before her again like that.