Chapter 2369: Chapter 2433: The Flood Dragon That Survived the Heavenly Tribulation

After unexpectedly sleeping for over ten hours, Li Yifei looked towards the distance where the Heavenly Thunder had struck. The water surface had already returned to its original state, but the shore was strewn with many dead fish. These fish were innocent, merely swimming into the area at the wrong time. Under such fierce might of heaven and earth, not just ordinary fish, any creature from nature would likely not survive, unless one possessed exceptionally strong cultivation.

More than half an hour later, Xu Shanshan finally awoke—woken by Li Yifei. She understood his gesture and communicated via sound transmission: "My body feels a bit better, though my True Qi is still lacking..."

Li Yifei nodded, then together with Xu Shanshan, looked at the Flood Dragon lying weakly on the ground, its injuries still severe and looking dreadful.

"We’re close to the stone house here; we can go there!" Li Yifei suggested.

Xu Shanshan nodded. She knew of the stone house that Li Yifei and Chen JunXiao had lived in, but hadn’t seen it personally. Though curious, this wasn’t the time for such curiosities. Both were concerned about being seen by people coming to the shore in the morning. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Seeing him and Xu Shanshan was one thing; spotting the Flood Dragon would likely frighten them half to death.

Therefore, hiding in the stone house was the best choice, especially since Li Yifei needed to contact Hu Yu’er and others to pick them up.

After recovering slightly, before daybreak, Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan carried the severely injured, extremely weak Flood Dragon to the stone house. Having been unoccupied for days, the stone house had accumulated a layer of dust, but there wasn’t time to worry about such matters. They placed the Flood Dragon onto a mat on the ground, sat on the bed, and began cultivating for recovery.

Li Yifei’s recovery was extremely slow. Despite these internal injuries being different from the previous ones when he fought Zhao Family elders, Li Yifei had endured mind demon trials, or his inner demon might have appeared due to injuries. Being continuously injured, especially with the Dantian empty, requires minimizing injuries; it’s detrimental to cultivation.

By morning, Xu Shanshan had recovered about seventy percent, while Li Yifei hadn’t even reached ten percent—maybe half a percent. They awoke as the Flood Dragon also did, hearing someone approaching. Li Yifei instructed Xu Shanshan to support him and walked out on his own, seeing an old lady climbing up and was shocked to see him. She exclaimed, "You... how did you return?"

The visitor was none other than Old Madame Wang, who had assisted Chen JunXiao before. Li Yifei smiled and said, "My wife and I returned to retrieve something we left before. Madame, why are you here?"

"I thought about putting a lock on the door here as I’ve chased away two wanderers before!" Old Madame Wang explained.

"Since this place isn’t needed, if anyone wants to live here, let them stay. If unoccupied, it’ll decay faster!" Li Yifei replied.

"That sounds reasonable. Anyway, today I wanted to see what happened by the sea. Yesterday’s thunder was terrifying; even with my bad hearing, I heard it clearly!"

"Really? There was thunder yesterday? Was everything alright at home?"

With a heavy sigh, Old Madame Wang said, "It’s the might of Heaven—we mortals have no solution. Nearly every household’s electronics are damaged, glass shattered, and many people lost their chickens and ducks due to shock!"

"That serious?"

"Given yesterday’s thunder, that was already light fare. Anyway, Mr. Li, since you’re back, if you don’t mind, come over for lunch later. I’m going home to prepare!" Old Madame Wang said.

Upon the mention of food, Xu Shanshan’s stomach growled, and Li Yifei licked his lips. Quickly, they replied, "We’d appreciate it, Madame!"

"Not a problem at all! I know you’re important people, and your spouse too, but this meal is my heartfelt gesture; you must accept it!"

"Alright, I’ll accept. Madame, no need to overdo it; just prepare enough food. Since I left, I’ve missed the meals here. When I was unwell, it was thanks to Chen JunXiao’s meals that I recovered quickly!" Li Yifei commented.

"Alright, there’ll be plenty!" Old Madame Wang assured.

After she left, Li Yifei spoke about what was going on with Old Madame Wang’s family, noting her care for Chen JunXiao, to which Xu Shanshan nodded and said, "A kind-hearted family!"

"Indeed, so I’ve instructed Hu Yu’er to repay their kindness well," Li Yifei stated.

While talking, they heard a sound from inside the stone house and hurried back, finding the Flood Dragon awake and struggling to stand. Seeing them return, the Flood Dragon paused momentarily, then ceased struggling and lay back down.

"Feeling alright?" Li Yifei knew this creature could understand human speech and communicate, so he asked.

The Flood Dragon exhaled sharply, its struggling had worsened the wounds on its back causing blood to flow. In Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan’s minds, a voice echoed: "I’m fine, thank you both!"

"You’re too polite, I’m just glad you survived the Thunder Calamity!" Li Yifei said.

Mentioning the Thunder Calamity softened the Flood Dragon’s attitude even further, and it spoke in a gentler tone, "Without you two helping to withstand the first five Heavenly Thunders, I fear I would be dead by now!"

"It’s also because you’re strong enough; otherwise, those last five Heavenly Thunders wouldn’t have been bearable!" Li Yifei said, not taking credit, as he knew he should try to increase the Flood Dragon’s favor. Otherwise, if it went berserk, given the current state of Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

"It’s not the same. At that time, I was transforming, and even the first three Heavenly Thunders would have been unbearable if I wasn’t lucky!" the Flood Dragon said.

Li Yifei nodded, "I’m a bit confused, wasn’t this unprepared? How did you suddenly experience a Heavenly Tribulation?"

The Flood Dragon grinned, "Ah, it’s not your fault!"

"Huh?" Li Yifei exclaimed in surprise.

The Flood Dragon continued, "Actually, I was supposed to transform a hundred years ago, but some things happened, forcing me to stop the transformation and remain here. Yet today, you appeared and attacked me, so in my anger, I chased you and accidentally leaped out of the water!"

"What do you mean?"

"You know the saying about the carp leaping over the dragon gate, right? Though I’m not a carp, the logic is similar. If I had stayed underwater, I might have been able to endure for another ten or twenty years. But today, in a rush, I jumped out of the water, lost control of my body, and began transforming."

"In that case, it really was my fault!" Li Yifei admitted honestly.

The Flood Dragon shook its head, "Everything has its own fate. It’s not your fault, and besides, you both helped me afterward. So it turns out I’m the one who owes you!"

A person of principle... oh, wait, a dragon of principle, Li Yifei thought, giving a thumbs up secretly, exchanging a glance with Xu Shanshan, he said, "I had my eyes on you too and messed things up, so let’s just say we don’t owe each other anything, to avoid the need for thanks back and forth!"

"You have a nice personality for a human. Over the years, I’ve seen many people and heard many of their conversations, even understanding their hearts, and like you... are rare!" the Flood Dragon said, seeming very pleased.

Receiving the compliment, Li Yifei felt somewhat proud. He thought, so his approach was correct. This guy, although newly transformed into a Flood Dragon, is old and has seen a lot, knows a lot. Treating it as an ignorant creature would likely cause offense. Being honest seems to be working well.

"You’re quite impressive, beyond my expectations. I thought after your tribulation, you would come after me for revenge!" Li Yifei said.

"Why would I do that? Although I’m not human, I understand that repaying kindness with enmity is wrong, not to mention you helped me with the tribulation. Oh? Didn’t we agree not to talk about it anymore?"

"Right, right, I forgot. We won’t mention these things again!" Li Yifei nodded, while Xu Shanshan smiled slightly beside him, "Flood Dragon, you can see we are both cultivators. Although our level is not high, we are very curious about your tribulation experience, so we’d like to ask some more questions."

"Sure!" the Flood Dragon glancing at Xu Shanshan, recognized her cultivation level, and then nodded.

Li Yifei asked, "May I ask if we would also face Thunder Calamities, or as they’re called, Heavenly Tribulations?"

"Yes, every cultivator might encounter a Heavenly Tribulation," the Flood Dragon replied.

"Then... when would we encounter a Heavenly Tribulation?" Li Yifei continued to ask.

The Flood Dragon blinked and said, "Naturally, when your cultivation is sufficient!"

"Oh, I mean... what level, like the level of cultivation. We are both Innate Experts now, but have not encountered any Thunder Calamity."

The Flood Dragon laughed slightly, "I don’t mean to insult, but what I want to say is, though you are Innate Experts, you are merely beginners without anything impressive!"

"Innate Experts aren’t impressive?" Li Yifei raised his voice to ask, but inside he was hopeful. The Flood Dragon’s words suggested it knew of some things, and Li Yifei hoped to learn about what lies beyond Innate Experts, even the Indescribable Realm.

The Flood Dragon nodded, "Innate Experts aren’t impressive. To ordinary people, it’s a very high level, but to cultivators, true cultivators, it’s merely the entry level."

"Could you elaborate?" Li Yifei humbly inquired.