Chapter 19: In Hand

Lin Feng was reveling in his own power.

He was completely immersed in boundless joy.

At last, he could fight with his full strength.

It was like a person who had been suppressed for a very, very long time suddenly finding release — the feeling was truly exhilarating.

At this moment, the Flood Dragon had been utterly stunned by the display of Lin Feng's power.

Its dragon-like yet not-quite-dragon cry had long since fallen silent.

The phenomenon in the sky was even more terrifying than when it had crossed its heavenly tribulation.

This human before it was far too powerful — it was no match at all. If a fight broke out, death was certain.

Thousands of years of cultivation, about to be wiped out in an instant. The Flood Dragon was unwilling to accept it.

The arrogance and contempt in its eyes transformed into pure fear.

Lin Feng had not yet noticed the change in the Flood Dragon.

He gripped the Haoran Sword in his right hand and slowly raised it, pointing the tip directly at the Flood Dragon.

"Come then! Since you want to fight, I'll give you a fight."

The instant Lin Feng's sword pointed at it, the Flood Dragon felt its entire body seize up. Locked in place by an overwhelming aura, it didn't dare move a muscle — as if the slightest twitch would bring instant death.

That single, simple raising of a hand had nearly scared the Flood Dragon out of its wits, which spoke volumes about just how powerful Lin Feng truly was.

Lin Feng, who had been about to strike, also sensed that something was off.

Not only had the Flood Dragon's cries gone silent, but the domineering aura it had exuded moments ago had completely vanished.

Gone from its gaze was any trace of arrogance — replaced only by fear and a pitiful, helpless look.

It even shed two tears.

This scene left Lin Feng completely dumbfounded.

What was going on?

Weren't they supposed to be fighting?

How had it suddenly gone soft?

Faced with this situation, he had no idea what to do. His opponent had clearly lost all will to fight — how was he supposed to continue?

He had no choice but to lower the Haoran Sword he had aimed at the Flood Dragon.

Only then could the Flood Dragon finally move again.

It slowly lowered its head beneath the water, leaving only a small portion above the surface, then gradually drew closer to Lin Feng, approaching the edge of the pool and gazing up at him with a pitiful, imploring look.

If anyone else had witnessed this scene, their jaw would have dropped to the floor.

From a distance, one would see a silver-white Flood Dragon lowering its noble head to fawn over and curry favor with a single human being.

Lin Feng was equally baffled by this sudden turn of events.

After a moment's thought, he walked to the edge of the pool and reached out to stroke the silver horn atop the Flood Dragon's head — just like petting a cat back on Earth in his previous life.

The Flood Dragon squinted its eyes with an expression of pure contentment.

Alright then — Lin Feng was certain now.

His full-power outburst must have frightened the Flood Dragon into submission.

The Flood Dragon was an exotic beast of considerable intelligence.

Upon realizing it couldn't win, it had immediately conceded and begged for mercy.

One had to admit — its intelligence was genuinely impressive.

If they had actually come to blows, he might not have been able to stop himself from killing it.

"Since you've submitted to me, from this moment on I am your master." Lin Feng said, patting the Flood Dragon's head.

The Flood Dragon seemed to understand perfectly, nodding repeatedly.

"Good, good! I'll give you a new name. You're all silver and white, so I'll just call you Little Bai!"

The Flood Dragon nodded quickly again.

Lin Feng broke into a smile.

Taming a silver-horned Flood Dragon as a pet was genuinely delightful.

Back on Earth in his previous life, everyone kept cats and dogs. Now he had a dragon to pet.

Even if it wasn't a true dragon, it was still far better than a cat or dog.

One day, when the opportunity arose, he'd get himself a real dragon to pet — now that would be the ultimate flex.

After playing with Little Bai for a while, Lin Feng realized that although the Flood Dragon was highly intelligent, it still couldn't fully understand everything he said. He had to pair his words with gestures and demonstrations to get his meaning across.

But that was perfectly normal.

After all, the Flood Dragon had lived in the sealed Nine Nethers Secret Realm, which only opened once every one hundred years — and even when it did, not everyone could find this place. It had rarely come into contact with humans.

Once it followed him around for a while, he was confident that with its level of intelligence, it would quickly be able to communicate without any barriers.

Lin Feng then got down to business.

He asked Little Bai where the treasure it guarded was located.

He was desperate to find out whether it was the Bianhua Flower he needed.

As one of the most powerful exotic beasts in the Nine Nethers Secret Realm, the Flood Dragon's treasures were not limited to just one kind.

Ever since it had successfully transformed into a Flood Dragon, the exotic beasts in the surrounding area had either become its food or had long since relocated. The spiritual herbs and medicines left behind had all been transplanted into this small blessed land.

Over the years, every treasure in the vicinity had been gathered here, and the collection had grown to an impressive scale.

Looking around, virtually every plant in sight was a rare and precious find that would be hard to come by in the outside world.

It was comparable to a medicinal garden painstakingly cultivated by a major power.

Even the spiritual herb Lin Feng had obtained from the ice boa's lair would barely rank here.

The Flood Dragon had no idea what Lin Feng was looking for, so it could only lead him slowly through the small blessed land in search.

After searching for quite a while, there was still no sign of the Bianhua Flower, and Lin Feng grew anxious.

Without the Bianhua Flower, all the other treasures here were meaningless to him — he had no heart to admire any of them.

In order to find the Bianhua Flower accurately, Lin Feng launched into another round of explanations and gestures for Little Bai. But after all that effort, Little Bai still looked completely blank.

Staring at that pitiful, helpless expression, Lin Feng felt a headache coming on.

For now, he and Little Bai could only manage the most basic communication.

What was he to do?

If only they were back on Earth — he could just show Little Bai a photo, and it would be immediately obvious whether the flower was here or not.

After thinking it over, Lin Feng found a tree branch and drew the rough shape of the Bianhua Flower on the ground.

But the result was completely useless.

Never mind Little Bai — even he himself couldn't tell what he'd drawn apart from any other flower or plant.

"Haah..."

Lin Feng let out a helpless sigh.

He had no idea what to do.

With no other option, he had no choice but to keep searching slowly.

What he feared most was turning this entire place upside down only to find that the flower wasn't here at all — that would be the hardest thing to accept.

Then a thought suddenly struck him.

The Bianhua Flower was far more precious than ordinary spiritual herbs and medicines.

The more precious a treasure, the more nutrients it required — and plants of that caliber typically grew in places where no other spiritual plants could survive.

In other words, the Bianhua Flower would certainly be growing alone, with no other plants able to live nearby.

That narrowed the search considerably.

Lin Feng began following this line of reasoning, specifically seeking out corners where no vegetation grew.

Nothing there!

Nothing there either!

While Lin Feng was absorbed in his search for the Bianhua Flower, the Flood Dragon Little Bai slowly sank its body into the pool water and quietly slipped away.

In truth, Lin Feng had noticed Little Bai's movements long ago — he simply hadn't stopped it.

He tacitly allowed it to leave.

If it wanted to go, let it go.

Lin Feng had entered the Nine Nethers Secret Realm to find the Bianhua Flower and cure his master Su Mubai of his poison.

Even though the Flood Dragon was a treasure from head to tail, since he hadn't killed it at the first opportunity, he had no intention of doing so now.

He was going to release it in the end anyway.

As for taking it out of the Nine Nethers Secret Realm?

Better forget it.

The Flood Dragon's body was enormous — there was no way to conceal it. And since it was covered in precious materials, the moment it emerged from the Nine Nethers Secret Realm, powerful cultivators lying in wait outside would surely kill it and harvest its treasures.

Would he save it or not when that happened?

Rather than put himself in that difficult position, it was better to let it go now.

Paying no further attention to the departing Little Bai, Lin Feng continued his search for the Bianhua Flower.

Before long, ripples spread across the surface of the pool in widening rings.

The Flood Dragon Little Bai emerged from the water and came to Lin Feng's side, gently nuzzling against him with its head.

"Stop fooling around — I'm doing something important!" Lin Feng said, brushing it off.

He was remarkably calm about the Flood Dragon's return.

Little Bai kept nuzzling him.

"What is it?" Lin Feng turned to look at Little Bai.

The massive Flood Dragon opened its mouth.

A plant that had appeared in Lin Feng's dreams countless times in recent days came into view.

This was...?

Lin Feng's eyes went wide, and a surge of joy instantly washed over him.