A brilliant golden light spread from the old dragon's eyes, instantly enveloping the entire cave.
The white bones turned to ashes.
Everyone was dazzled by the golden light and couldn't open their eyes.
After a moment of silence.
Suddenly, the mountains shook and the earth trembled.
Accompanied by a robust dragon's roar, a golden dragon suddenly rose from the ground, breaking through the gloomy cave.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Three thunderclaps exploded.
Deafening.
The golden dragon circled the mountaintop, its whiskers dancing, gleaming with golden light, nodding distantly at Lu Fei, then soared into the sky, vanishing into the horizon.
A large and small golden dragon scale, like meteors, fell respectively on Lu Fei and Jing Jian's shoulders.
Both felt a scorching heat on their skin as if the dragon scales had melted into it, followed by a warm sensation throughout their bodies, and their fatigue was instantly swept away.
The two of them were stunned for a long while.
A faint light filtered down through the large hole above.
It turned out that dawn had already broken.
The cave was no longer dark.
Lu Fei touched his shoulder, pulled aside his clothes, and found no trace where the dragon scale had fallen.
"This, this..." Jing Jian stammered, still in disbelief, "Did I actually have a part in this?"
He wanted to help the old dragon purely out of kindness, without expecting any return.
Moreover, the black pill belonged to Lu Fei, and he hadn't done much.
Oh my God.
Is this real?
Saving a real dragon, that's something to brag about for a lifetime!
In the future, when I meet another master, I will have a story to tell him.
He YunSong collapsed into the water, staring blankly at the empty sky, his old, pale face showing an indescribable expression.
"Brother Jing, don't forget about that flood dragon."
Lu Fei ignored He YunSong and waved at Jing Jian.
"Oh right, we can't miss out on the beast's inner core." The two of them walked up to the black flood dragon's corpse, cut open its head, and took out a strawberry-sized black demon core.
"This guy is pretty plump!" Jing Jian exclaimed excitedly, making appreciative sounds.
"It's a pity that a demon core can't be made into a ritual object..." As Lu Fei saw the horn on the black flood dragon's head, resembling a bamboo shoot, he was moved to cut it off with a knife.
After putting these away, he also cut large pieces of meat to take back for the little black dog.
Having done all this, they washed themselves clean and couldn't help but exchange a smile.
The gains from this trip far exceeded expectations.
"Elder He, it's time for us to go back."
Lu Fei walked over to He Yunsong's side.
He Yunsong nodded slightly and followed Lu Fei ashore, saying nothing, his expression somber.
With a real dragon present, he had not obtained the evil creature he desired, and his low spirits were understandable.
But Lu Fei did not offer any comfort, only instructing the bodyguard Wu Tie to take good care of him.
The cave had been broken open by the golden dragon, making it much easier to get out; they could simply climb out along the pile of rocks.
Before leaving.
Jing Jian saw the beautiful snake, looking like a rag, crushed under the heap of stones, and he paused in his tracks, stopping.
"Lu Fei, wait for me a moment."
He hesitated for a moment, then walked over and dug the battered beauty snake out from the pile of rocks.
The beauty snake's eyes flickered, showing that it still had a breath of life left.
Jing Jian carried it on his back and nodded to Lu Fei.
"Let's go."
They climbed out of the cave, and it was already broad daylight.
Bright sunlight shone across the intricate mountain range, the mist dissipated, and everything around them became clearly visible.
But no one was in the mood to appreciate the scenery.
After walking for a while.
Jing Jian stopped and put the beauty snake down.
The beauty snake gazed at him dazedly, straining to lift its head, as if reluctant to leave that warm back.
"One thing at a time."
"Although you are an evil spirit, you saved me, so I can't just leave you there."
Jing Jian took two steps back, his face stern and cold.
"Lu Fei, I want to borrow something from you."
"What?" Lu Fei asked curiously.
"The inner dan of the snake demon. I will find a way to return it to you in the future."
"I was going to give it to you anyway."
Lu Fei took out the python's inner dan and placed it in Jing Jian's hand.
Jing Jian walked back to the side of the beautiful snake and placed the inner dan in its mouth.
"Alright, we're even!"
Then, he clapped his hands as if he had shed some burden, and felt much more relaxed.
"Let's go, Lu Fei!"
Until his figure disappeared into the mountains.
The beautiful snake still gazed at that direction in a daze...
As the mist dissipated, the road became clearly visible.
Lu Fei and the others quickly found their way back. On the way, they encountered a group of snakes, but none of them dared to approach; instead, they slithered away as fast as if they had encountered something terrifying.
Could it be the effect of the dragon scale?
Lu Fei and Jing Jian exchanged excited glances, not showing their excitement too obviously, after all, He Yunsong had gained nothing.
"I never would have guessed, Brother Jing, you sure are popular with the ladies!"
Lu Fei teased, patting Jing Jian on the shoulder.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Jing Jian was very nervous, "I still need to marry a wife in the future!"
"There's a song that goes, just because I took an extra glance at you in the crowd...someone risked their life to save you, and you don't have any feelings about it?"
"What kind of feelings? What kind of feelings? It's an evil entity, and I'm human! Besides, I've already repaid that debt! I have nothing to do with it anymore!"
Jing Jian looked at Lu Fei extremely seriously.
"I'm warning you, after we get back, don't go around spreading rumors!"
"Then you'd better find a few more evil entities to serve as hush money; otherwise, I'm afraid I can't keep my mouth shut!" Lu Fei chuckled.
"You swindler!"
Jing Jian glared at him irritably.
As they were speaking.
They had already exited Dragonfall Ridge smoothly. After walking just a few steps, they saw a completely charred person lying on the road ahead.
The four of them were suddenly startled.
Lu Fei and Jing Jian quickly ran over and found that the person was their guide, Old Man Qin, who had already stopped breathing.
"How did he die?"
"Could he have been struck by lightning?"
The vegetation around Old Man Qin showed signs of being charred by an electrical strike. The two immediately recalled the three thunderclaps when the golden dragon flew out of the hole.
But why would Old Man Qin be struck by lightning?
They were extremely shocked and couldn't explain it at the moment, so they decided to first bring the body back to the village.
It was around noon.
Lu Fei and the others finally appeared at the village entrance.
"Brother Lu Fei, you're finally back!"
Duan Lingyue, who was waiting nervously here, immediately ran up with the small black dog in her arms.
"Suddenly, there was thunder in the village. The Dragon King Temple and the houses in the village were all struck by lightning... I was so scared, I thought you wouldn't be able to come back..."
The small black dog jumped into Lu Fei's arms.
"There was thunder in the village?"
Lu Fei, holding the small black dog, looked at Jing Jian in surprise.
Thick smoke billowed from the village, and the villagers were in a state of chaos.
Three bolts of lightning struck the Dragon King Temple, the houses in the village, and Old Man Qin.
"Old He, Xiao Lu! What on earth happened? In the morning, the sky changed, with strong winds and surging clouds, and a real dragon flying in the sky! Immediately after, three bolts of lightning suddenly fell. Fortunately, we were not in the village at the time, or we would not have been spared."
Duan Tiankui followed up with an urgent inquiry.
He Yunsong shook his head and returned to the car without saying a word.