Chapter 37: Upgrading the Sword Flight Technique, Boss Battle, The Fisherman Lurks Behind

The minor episode quickly became a thing of the past, and Su Yu had forgotten about it by the very next day. Before dawn broke, he rose full of vigor and plunged back into the Yuan River to continue his training.

Time flew by. Su Yu immersed himself in this stretch of water, burying himself in hard practice without keeping track of the months and years. Unawares, a full month slipped away.

Early that morning, after eating a bite of food, he returned to the waters. Casually summoning his flying sword, he swept up a nearby school of black carp spirits and hacked them to death in a few strokes, when suddenly a prompt appeared:

"Prompt: Your Sword-Control Technique [Entering the Blue Void] has accumulated enough experience and advanced to Tier 2."

"Prompt: Your Sword-Control Technique [Controlling Swords Across a Thousand Miles] has accumulated enough experience and advanced to Tier 2."

He immediately opened his attribute panel to check his stats:

[Entering the Blue Void]: When controlling a sword, forms a layer of sword Qi protection outside the body. Sword-controlled flight is unaffected by gale-force winds, and maximum sword-control altitude is increased. Currently Tier 2 (1/100).
Tier 2 allows reaching an altitude of 10,000 meters.

[Controlling Swords Across a Thousand Miles]: Increases the attack range of the flying sword. Currently Tier 2 (1/100).
Tier 2 sword-control range is 10 kilometers.

"Not bad!"

Previously, his sword-control altitude was restricted by the skill level and could not exceed one thousand meters. Now that [Entering the Blue Void] had upgraded to Tier 2, he could exceed one thousand meters, up to a maximum of ten thousand meters.

The same applied to [Controlling Swords Across a Thousand Miles]. Previously, his maximum sword-control distance could not exceed one kilometer; beyond one kilometer, his connection with the flying sword would weaken, and excessive distance would result in total loss of control.

Now he could casually direct his flying sword to attack targets several kilometers away, up to a maximum of ten kilometers.

Closing the panel, Su Yu pointed a finger. The flying sword pierced through the river water, striking three kilometers away to encircle a school of grass carp spirits. After weaving back and forth to harvest them, he flicked his right hand to trap an even more distant group of aquatic monsters.

"Awesome!"

With this, he no longer needed to constantly change locations after grinding for a short while as he did before. Standing right where he was, he could cover all monster groups within a 10-kilometer radius, drastically improving his efficiency.

Previously, he could accumulate around 1.2 million slaughter experience points a day. Now, his efficiency had increased by at least 30%, with daily accumulated slaughter experience ranging from a minimum of 1.5 million to around 1.6 million.

"Bang!"

Lifting his hand, a surge of purple true Qi blasted an oncoming grass carp spirit into smithereens. Su Yu reached out and summoned the flying sword to scoop up two dropped loot items.

Just as he was about to check the loot, a massive undercurrent surged over, shoving him two meters sideways.

Su Yu instantly became alert, quickly turning his head to scan his surroundings, but found no monsters launching a sneak attack.

Relieved and preparing to continue checking, he suddenly heard a muffled roar from afar, followed by an even more violent undercurrent rushing toward him.

"Is a boss fighting?"

He casually put away the loot and flew in the direction of the surging undercurrent.

Before he had flown even a thousand meters, another muffled sound came from ahead, and a larger undercurrent rolled in, carrying a massive number of monsters along with it.

He immediately struck a combat stance, but these monsters were all panicked, rushing past him without even sparing him a glance.

"There really is a boss fighting."

A thought stirred in Su Yu's mind. He summoned the panel, his gaze landing on the Mustard Seed Concealment Art and Invisibility Art. He swiftly expended 50 million cultivation points and 200 points of Dao attainment to upgrade the Mustard Seed Concealment Art to Tier 2.

Once the secret technique was mastered, he rapidly circulated it. His entire person, along with the spiritual light and vitality of his Dharma robes, quickly converged and vanished. Even the waterless space attached to the Black Water Mysterious Pearl disappeared—not because the spell vanished, but because the spiritual light was reined inward, transforming the tangible into the intangible.

Next, he cast the Invisibility Art, and his physical form completely disappeared as well.

An undercurrent surged by, and a multitude of aquatic monsters fled in a panic. Not a single monster discovered him, and one even crashed directly into him.

Su Yu shifted slightly to the side to dodge, swimming upstream against the current. Along the way, the aquatic monsters he encountered grew increasingly numerous and higher in level, eventually reaching over level 90, with sizes easily spanning ten to twenty meters.

Yet none of these monsters detected him, treating him as if he were nothing.

Five minutes later, Su Yu passed through the final wave of level-90-plus monsters and arrived at a certain spot on the riverbed. He saw the river water ahead boiling fiercely, dense blue light of Guishui essence gathering and exploding back and forth, with golden lightning flashing intermittently, turning a region over a dozen kilometers in diameter into a chaotic mess.

Guishui divine thunder roared, and unknown fierce beasts bellowed. The river bottom was as chaotic as a boiling wok.

Faintly visible at the edges of the chaos, massive figures flickered into existence and instantly vanished. Yet even this fleeting glance allowed Su Yu to read their stats:

Azure Flood Dragon (Elite): Boss, Level 126, Aquatic, Flood Dragon.
Attributes: Qi and blood 2.26 million / 2.88 million, Demonic Qi 1.66 million, Attack power 22,000, Speed 1,500 km/h, Demonic arts: Various water-type techniques, Flood-crossing art, ???

Golden Sea-Turtle Crab General (Terrifying): Boss, Level 156, Aquatic, Senior Military General under the command of the Yuan River Water God.
Attributes: Qi and blood 2.86 million / 4.26 million, Demonic Qi 260,000, Attack power 40,000, Speed 1,100 km/h, Demonic arts: ???

"Good grief, such a high-level major boss."

Su Yu hurriedly halted, feeling both nervous and somewhat excited, chanting continuously in his heart:

"What a great opportunity. Fight more fiercely, ideally ending up in mutual destruction."

A life-and-death battle between two major bosses—this was prime opportunity to fish in troubled waters and reap the benefits.

When both sides exhausted their health bars, he could suddenly strike to secure the final blow. Even if he couldn't get the top-tier loot, he would still secure 20% of the cultivation points and Dao attainment, along with several random loot items.

A boss of this level could at least drop Tier 6 flying swords and magical treasures, with a certain probability of directly dropping Tier 7 ones.

Although the probability of dropping a Tier 7 flying sword or treasure was extremely minuscule, whenever it did happen, it was an absolute windfall that would send one soaring straight to the skies.

As time ticked on, the battle grew increasingly fierce. The figures of the two bosses, which flickered into view from time to time, began to bear scars: fractured dragon scales, shattered fragments of crab shell, and broken barbs.

"Boom!"

A thick bolt of lightning exploded within the chaotic waters, followed by the river water bursting apart as two colossal entities charged out.

One was a 150-meter-long azure flood dragon covered in scars, and the other was a dark golden-shelled giant crab nearly a hundred meters in diameter, waving two massive pincers.

Logically speaking, the Azure Flood Dragon was only level 126 with an elite template; no matter what, it shouldn't be able to defeat the Golden Sea-Turtle Crab General, which was level 156 with a terrifying template. Their levels and templates were simply not on the same tier.

Yet the result was that the two sides appeared to be locked in a mutual defeat, with the Azure Flood Dragon not falling behind at all.

Bursting out from the chaos, the flood dragon whipped its massive body, and its thick tail smashed into the golden crab, sending debris flying.

The crab counterattacked with a pincer strike that hit the dragon, shattering a large patch of dragon scales.

The dragon roared in pain, its two giant claws lashing out to grab the crab's pincers. Opening its maw, a blue pearl flew out and blasted the crab. Accompanied by a deafening roar of agony, the golden crab's several-meter-thick golden shell was blasted straight through with a massive hole, debris and blood spurting wildly.

"What the hell, is that the flood dragon from the secret realm?"

"It actually didn't die inside the secret realm?"

Injured, the crab struggled frantically, but for a moment failed to break free from the two giant claws, forced to endure the flood dragon spitting out orb after orb of Guishui divine thunder to bombard the wound on its back.

"This captive pet is way too fierce."

At that moment, the Golden Sea-Turtle Crab General, which had been beaten incessantly, finally snapped. It opened its mouth and spat out a core entwined with golden lightning, striking the flood dragon right before it like a shooting star. With a deafening explosion, the flood dragon roared in pain and flew backward.

Su Yu looked closely and saw that one of the dragon's claws had vanished.

The enraged dragon opened its mouth, launching the blue pearl like a falling star. The crab showed no weakness, spitting out its inner core to meet it.

"Rumble!"

In an instant, it was as if heavenly thunder had ignited earthly fire. Boundless blue light of Guishui essence and golden lightning erupted, sending shockwaves rippling out like lightning that slapped him back over a hundred meters. His protective Qi barrier, which had a defense of up to 18,000, was left with only a thin layer—fewer than two thousand points remaining.

As he regained his footing, he let out a soft exclamation of surprise and turned his head toward a certain direction. A group of people had suddenly appeared in the waters a few kilometers away—eight of them in total.

At a glance, they were just like Su Yu, hoping to fish in troubled waters while the bosses suffered mutual destruction. However, their concealment skills were inferior to Su Yu's, and the powerful shockwave had swept away their cover, forcing them into visibility.

Su Yu pondered for a moment and quietly changed direction, moving to another side where the battlefield separated them, making them less likely to be spotted.

Anyone daring to fish in troubled waters undoubtedly possessed formidable strength. With there being eight of them, joining forces in a siege meant he likely wouldn't win.

By now, the two bosses had fought their way into a true frenzy, entangling and biting each other. The dragon tail whipped, the crab pincers smashed, and the crab's core collided continuously with the dragon's treasured pearl, while Guishui divine thunder and golden lightning flashed endlessly without pause.

Under such savage slaughter, both sides' health pools depleted rapidly like running water.

Yet unexpectedly, the one holding the advantage wasn't the higher-leveled and higher-templated Golden Sea-Turtle Crab General, but the Level 121 Azure Flood Dragon.

When the flood dragon's health dropped below one million, the crab general's health was left with just over 700,000.

"A captive spiritual pet, truly terrifying!"

Su Yu believed the reason the flood dragon held the upper hand, aside from practicing supreme Dharmic arts, was primarily due to possessing a formidable magical treasure.

The crab general spat out its own inner core, whereas the flood dragon spat out a pearl treasure, not its inner core.

An inner core was the essence cultivated through a monster's life, the core of its vitality, and one of its most powerful means.

However, correspondingly, once the inner core was damaged, the best-case scenario was a regression in cultivation, while the worst case led to physical death and Dao dissipation.

Using an inner core to collide with a magical treasure was extremely disadvantageous, and half of the health lost by the crab general came from the collisions between their inner cores.

Yet the crab general had no choice; failing to deploy its inner core meant being reduced to a passive punching bag, as its physical flesh could not withstand the constant bombardment of that treasure.

"It's about to die."

Kong He'an said to his companions with an excited expression:

"Everyone get ready. Wait for my command before striking."

The group of eight successively deployed their magical treasures, waiting solely for the bosses to enter low health.

Time ticked away second by second. The crab general's health grew lower and lower, yet it fought with increasing ferocity, unleashing arcs of golden lightning that tore the dragon's hide to shreds.

"Roar!"

The Azure Flood Dragon opened its mouth, sending the blue pearl crashing down, while the crab spat out its inner core to meet it.

"Boom!"

The inner core collided head-on with the blue pearl, and suddenly a crisp 'crack' echoed out as a fissure abruptly appeared on the surface of the inner core.

-525210

Accompanied by the crab general's desolate roar of agony, a scalp-tingling, terrifying amount of damage erupted.

The strength of the crab general, who was locked in a struggle with the flood dragon, abruptly leaked away. The dragon's claws pressed down to grip the crab shell, and the Azure Flood Dragon bit straight into the hole previously smashed open on the crab's back.

-66000
-66000

Consecutive fatal blows instantly plunged the crab general into a dying state.

Kong He'an, who had been observing the battle, beamed with joy and shouted:

"Attack!"

As the words fell, eight diverse magical treasures prepared long in advance slammed in unison toward the crab general, which was being suppressed by the flood dragon.

In an instant, over a dozen damage numbers under one hundred erupted, pushing the dying crab general further toward death.

Right at that moment, fine golden lightning emerged all over the crab general's body, and a golden sphere of light flew out, detonating with a crash.

Instantly, boundless golden lightning erupted, resembling an exploding sun that engulfed everything around it. Faintly, the roar of the dragon in pain could be heard from within.

Su Yu was blasted back over a thousand meters. As the shockwave of the violent golden lightning swept past, he swiftly summoned the Sun-Masking Sword, his hands making virtual grabbing motions to condense two streaks of sword Qi simultaneously, plunging them into the golden chaos ahead that resembled a detonating sun.

"Flare!"
"Taibai Light-Splitting Sword!"
"Purple True Qi!"

Locking his consciousness onto the position of the crab general, he unleashed all his explosive attacks mercilessly.

-54
-55
...
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-4250
...

In an instant, nearly forty damage numbers popped up simultaneously. Then, a surging wave of warmth flooded into his body, and three loot light spheres flew out from the chaos, plunging straight into his embrace.

"Got it."

Yet Su Yu had no time to check them; instead, he commanded his flying sword and sword Qi to strike the Azure Flood Dragon, which had also fallen into a dying state.

The crab general's suicidal detonation of its inner core at death's door had directly knocked the nearby flood dragon into a dying state as well.

"Someone's here!"
"The boss was stolen!"

Kong He'an's expression shifted, and a surge of anger instantly ignited from the depths of his heart, rushing straight to his head.

By this time, the aftermath of the detonation had gradually dissipated. They could already see the corpse of the crab floating in the water at the center of the explosion, alongside the low-health flood dragon and a figure rapidly approaching the center of the battlefield to press a hand onto the boss's corpse and loot it away.

"Damn it, stealing my boss! You're courting death!"

The group of eight charged over immediately.

Su Yu didn't even look at them. The shockwave had pushed them quite far away, and charging over would take a certain amount of time—he still had enough time.

He frantically urged the Sun-Masking Sword and two streaks of sword Qi to circle back and forth, slashing the dragon scales and sending sparks flying while continuously popping out damage numbers under one hundred.

At this moment, the dragon boss only had a little over twenty thousand health points remaining, and even just grinding it down would finish it off quickly.

"Human, I remember you!"

By now, the flood dragon had recovered from the shock of the inner core's detonation, instantly sensing its current state, the human attacking it, and the eight figures rapidly rushing over from not far away.

Almost instantly, the flood dragon made a decision, speaking in the human tongue:

"Human, swear by the Heavenly Dao to spare my life, and I will give you an advanced magical treasure."

Su Yu shook his head directly:

"Once I kill you, the treasure will be mine anyway."

The dragon immediately said:

"Two advanced magical treasures! Spare my life."

Su Yu did not answer, merely driving his flying sword relentlessly to hack fiercely at the injured spots on the Azure Flood Dragon.

Meanwhile, Kong He'an and his companions had already arrived, casting their treasures from afar to prepare for a siege.

"Suppress the Sea!"

A blue light flashed in Su Yu's pupils, and an invisible force froze the two-hundred-meter-thick waters surrounding him and the flood dragon into a solid wall. The group of eight crashed into the water wall and bounced off, swiftly casting treasures to bombard it. Dozens upon dozens of meters of the water wall collapsed, but the two-hundred-meter thickness could not be breached for the moment.

In the span of just these few sentences, the dragon's health had been worn down to a little over ten thousand. At Su Yu's attack rate, it wouldn't last much longer.

Facing mortal peril, the Azure Flood Dragon finally abandoned all hope, saying with bitter reluctance:

"Human, make a vow by the Heavenly Dao; I am willing to acknowledge you as my master."