Chapter 11 – The Undignified Flood Dragon

Su Ming turned around and was surprised to find that it was actually Zhao Bei.

Zhao Bei sneered, “I didn’t expect the Black-Robed Man to be right. You really do have the special ability to turn into a girl. But don’t worry, after I kill you today, I’ll make your secret public.”

Su Ming looked at the token in his hand that emitted a strong ghostly qi, surprised that it could actually mask his aura.

Zhao Bei said, “Didn’t expect that, did you? This was bought with the lives of my two underlings.”

Su Ming played dumb, “Who are you? I don’t even know you.”

Zhao Bei burst into laughter, “Stop pretending. You…”

Before he could finish, he began vomiting black blood and convulsing all over…

Su Ming was puzzled. This reversal was too fast…

Soon, “Zhao Bei” stood up again, but his eyes had turned pitch black, and his gaze was deathly calm.

“Lin Qingmei, no, I should call you Su Ming.”

Su Ming asked, “Who are you?”

“Zhao Bei” tossed the token to Su Ming, “If you want to subdue the Vermilion Bird, you’ll need this.”

Su Ming caught the token, and the ghostly qi on it instantly disappeared.

“Early Grandmaster Realm, quite interesting. But don’t worry, no one knows your identity except me.”

Su Ming probed, “You know who I am?”

“Of course. But you probably don’t know who you are yet.”

Su Ming thought, isn’t that obvious? If I knew, why would I be asking?

It seemed he wouldn’t get any more information out of him, so he decided to ask something else, “Then why are you helping me?”

“The next time someone comes to you with the same token, that will be my true body.”

Su Ming asked, “Your true body isn’t here?”

The system said, “The opponent is at Peak Grandmaster Realm. He’s currently using the ghostly qi here to forcibly descend from afar onto Zhao Bei’s body. With the formation protecting this place, this descent is consuming a great deal of his spiritual power.”

“Remember to help me out when I come to you for assistance in the future.”

Meanwhile, the Flood Dragon’s ice breath had already been unleashed. Its devastating power forced Guo Dong and Yun Shang to flee quickly. The Flood Dragon didn’t bother chasing them—he knew someone else would handle it. Why should he care?

“Zhao Bei” (the Black-Robed Man) said, “Then take care. Good luck.”

With that, Zhao Bei’s body collapsed completely, leaving behind an empty shell, his flesh and blood nearly drained dry.

Su Ming hadn’t expected Zhao Bei to die so early. Didn’t the author say that named characters usually live longer?

The Flood Dragon looked toward Su Ming’s direction. He had long noticed someone there staring at him, though he didn’t know it was the Black-Robed Man manipulating Zhao Bei to watch him, deliberately revealing the information to him.

In other words, he had only discovered Su Ming by accident. Su Ming had been hiding quite well all along.

Su Ming revealed herself voluntarily, holding up the token, “Great senior, would you be willing to surrender?”

The Flood Dragon looked down at a loli holding a token, “What’s this thing? I’ve never seen it before.”

Su Ming was confused. Wasn’t the token supposed to be able to subdue him?

By now, Guo Dong and Yun Shang had already fled far away. No one was around to watch them.

The Flood Dragon maintained his pride, “Want to fight? If you want to fight, hurry up. If not, get lost.”

Su Ming asked, “Do you really not recognize this token?”

The Flood Dragon didn’t sense any aura from Su Ming, so he boldly leaned in for a closer look. Completely baffled, he had lived for so long and truly had no memory of it…

The Flood Dragon scratched himself in confusion, “No, I don’t. Little girl, what are you doing? This old dragon really has never seen it before.”

The scene instantly became awkward. The Flood Dragon assumed Su Ming was just an ordinary little loli and hadn’t detected any combat ability in her.

Su Ming, for her part, figured that someone at Early Ninth Realm should be easy enough to kill, so she decided to see if she could reason with him first.

The Flood Dragon thought for a moment, then said, “Oh! I remember now. Just give me that token.”

Su Ming handed it over. It wasn’t hers anyway, so what harm could it do?

The Flood Dragon tossed it into the seal. Su Ming was puzzled, wondering what he was doing…

Inside, the Vermilion Bird opened her eyes. The moment she saw the token, she instantly understood who the person outside really was…

The system’s voice whispered in the Vermilion Bird’s ear: “Please do not reveal her identity. Keep it secret for her. And one more thing—in her normal state, she is male.”

The Vermilion Bird was startled. “Who are you?”

The system replied, “Keeping her secret is for her own good. I trust you’ll keep it. If you dare speak of it before the time is right, I will kill you.”

The Vermilion Bird recalled the battle eighteen years ago—the flames of war sweeping through her homeland, the era of the Four Sacred Beasts coming to an end. She had lost her rank as a sacred beast, and the other three had vanished without a trace.

“No need to tell me. I’ll keep his secret.”

The system’s voice faded, leaving only the weakened Vermilion Bird behind.

She mused to herself, “I’m only at the Seventh Realm now… Isn’t this a bit embarrassing?”

Outside, the Flood Dragon and Su Ming were both a little awkward. It seemed there was no reaction from inside.

The Flood Dragon had also been utterly charmed by Su Ming’s cuteness. His heart softened, and he considered just letting her go—after all, such an adorable loli couldn’t possibly be dangerous, right?

The Vermilion Bird spoke: “Flood Dragon, help me break the seal.”

The Flood Dragon replied, “Lord Vermilion Bird, you finally want to come out! It’s been so hard waiting.”

Su Ming asked, “What’s going on?”

The Flood Dragon explained, “A while back, someone asked me to guard the Vermilion Bird Ruins. Then he used extremely dense ghostly qi to mask both my aura and hers. You have no idea how miserable it’s been staying here.”

Su Ming asked, “Then why didn’t you just leave?”

The Flood Dragon sighed, “Can’t do that. This old dragon keeps his word. If I promised him I’d guard it, then guard it I will.”

Su Ming said, “Him?”

The Flood Dragon replied, “From what I remember, he was a Black-Robed Man. Anyway, as long as Lord Vermilion Bird didn’t want to come out, I couldn’t leave. But now it’s all good—you can take her away.”

Su Ming hesitated, then asked, “Um… if you don’t mind me asking, why are you so committed to keeping your word?”

The Flood Dragon laughed awkwardly. “This old dragon’s reputation is impeccable! No divine beast in the entire realm can match my honor.”

The Vermilion Bird cut in, “Yeah, his ‘honor’—more like his libido. The Black-Robed Man put a curse on him. If he dared to run, he’d be… well, let’s just say his urges would bring disaster, and the only cure would be removal. Now he’s just waiting for me to come out and lift the curse for him.”

Su Ming and Blood Soul Ghost nearly burst out laughing. There was no helping it—the terrifying Flood Dragon from moments ago was now being utterly ridiculous…

The Flood Dragon flew around in embarrassment, cursing the Vermilion Bird for blurting out his secrets and ruining his mighty, imposing image.

Then, the Flood Dragon helped the Vermilion Bird break the seal. In an instant, a violent surge of flame power swept through the entire Forbidden Zone. Countless ghost creatures were burned to ashes on the spot, and at the same time, the Flood Dragon’s curse was lifted.

The Flood Dragon rejoiced. “Excellent! Excellent! From now on, I can go flirt with underage little dragons again, hahaha!”

Su Ming asked, “Lord Flood Dragon, are you leaving?”

The Flood Dragon replied, “Isn’t that obvious? I’ve been confined for so long—I need to go see the vast world! Alright, I’m off. If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”

With that, she dashed forward, breaking through the protective formation of the new student trial, and vanished into the sky without a trace.

Vermilion Bird stepped out from the seal: “Prin… uh… you look just like a little princess.”

Su Ming was puzzled: “Don’t be fooled by how pink and delicate I dress—I’m actually a guy.”

Vermilion Bird recalled what the system had said. It seemed Su Ming still didn’t know her own identity. Whatever—looking at her appearance, there was no mistake. She had definitely chosen the right person to follow.

Vermilion Bird: “Let’s make the contract, master.”