The Black Dragon

With those words, Su Qing released the Cold Fragrance from her hand. Leng Xiang subsequently transformed back into her human form.

"Killing enemies for you is my primary duty!" Leng Xiang replied with a sweet smile.

It was clear that Leng Xiang was in quite a good mood. Whether she was happy because she had slain an enemy or for some other reason remained unknown. However, seeing her smile, Su Qing gave a slight nod. She didn't mind why Leng Xiang was happy, as long as she was.

"Indeed, it has been a long time since I've held you to slay an enemy," Su Qing said with a smile.

Leng Xiang nodded. "After all, Master's status is quite extraordinary now~"

Su Qing nodded in agreement; that was indeed the case. With her current status, she rarely needed to personally take the field to kill enemies. However, she did not let the topic linger. After a brief exchange, her gaze fell upon the Black Dragon, which had been severed into two sections.

Although the Black Dragon had been cut in half, it continued to emit black Qi, floating upon the sea's surface and forming a dark mist. Seeing this, Su Qing frowned. She performed a hand seal and unleashed the Samadhi True Fire to incinerate it.

The black Qi transformed from the Black Dragon was difficult to burn away completely even with Samadhi True Fire, but fortunately, it could be consumed. Otherwise, it would have been a real headache.

"What exactly is the deal with this Black Dragon..." Su Qing felt deeply perplexed by its origins. "It won't even stay quiet in death. Where did it come from?"

The Black Dragon was undoubtedly connected to the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth, but the specific nature of that connection remained unclear. Su Qing wasn't entirely sure if it was one of the physical manifestations of the tribulation's omens. She rubbed her chin, and seeing that people from the North Sea Dragon Palace had arrived, she formed a plan. Since the Black Dragon held a grudge against the North Sea Dragon Palace, they had to know something; it was impossible for them to be completely ignorant. She decided to ask them.

As she pondered, the North Sea Dragon King arrived before Su Qing on a cloud, accompanied by the North Sea Dragon Princess. Upon their arrival, both looked down at the roaring Samadhi True Fire. They bowed to Su Qing in gratitude.

"Thank you for your assistance, Sovereign! We are truly embarrassed to trouble you every time."

Hearing this, Su Qing waved her hand dismissively. "Since I am helping to guard the Northern Continent, this is one of my duties. However, I have several questions I'd like to ask you clearly. Can you... hm? This thing won't burn away."

Before Su Qing could ask her questions, she suddenly noticed an anomaly within the Samadhi True Fire. Hearing her words, the North Sea Dragon King and the princess were momentarily stunned, then hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

"Although the Black Dragon was severed, it isn't dead yet. Furthermore, my Samadhi True Fire cannot burn it away completely..." Su Qing frowned as she watched the flames. "The Black Dragon is even starting to come back to life... It's truly hard to kill!"

Though Su Qing was surprised, she didn't find it too strange upon reflection. After all, this thing was related to the Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth. Since it was connected to the Great Tribulation, it couldn't be resolved so easily. If it were that simple, the omens of the Great Tribulation wouldn't have the people of the Heavenly Court and the Buddha Kingdom so overwhelmed.

Su Qing exhaled and turned to the North Sea Dragon King. "So, how much do you know about this Black Dragon? Its origin, and why it's so hostile toward you?"

Hearing the question, the North Sea Dragon King shook his head with a bitter smile. "We know very little about this Black Dragon, and even less about where it came from. We don't understand why it keeps targeting the people of our North Sea Dragon Palace. If we knew more, we certainly would have told the Sovereign earlier. After all, who asks for help without explaining the situation? Currently, the only thing we know is that this fellow suddenly appeared near our Dragon Palace... and as soon as it appeared, it began attacking our people."

Su Qing's eyebrows twitched as a faint suspicion formed in her mind. However, she didn't have the time to prove her theory just yet. She still had some unfinished business to handle. What business? Naturally, it concerned the Black Dragon. This thing was dangerous and quite powerful; she certainly couldn't just leave it be.

"Very well. If you don't know, you don't know. Arrange for people to investigate the surrounding area. I'll finish up with this Black Dragon first."

Su Qing flexed her wrist. "If even I cannot kill it, then I can only seal it for now and seek out the seniors from the Heavenly Court to intervene."

The situation with this Black Dragon was truly bizarre. Su Qing couldn't guarantee she could resolve it perfectly. She told the North Sea Dragon King the situation exactly as it was.

The North Sea Dragon King nodded helplessly. "Then we shall trouble the Sovereign."

At this moment, the North Sea Dragon King was exceptionally frustrated. He had no idea what was going on with this Black Dragon. It had appeared out of nowhere and attacked them without any rhyme or reason; it was illogical to the extreme. If that were all, it would be one thing, but the most critical point was that this Black Dragon was so formidable, possessing great strength and strange abilities. Even Su Qing seemed unable to kill it easily. One had to remember that Su Qing was a powerhouse at the Heavenly Immortal realm! This showed just how difficult this thing was to deal with and how serious the problem had become.

Now, the Dragon King could only silently pray that Su Qing would be able to resolve this fellow. Otherwise, it would be disastrous. At the same time, he felt incredibly dejected. Why was the Dragon Palace so beset by calamities? First, there was the anomaly of the Earth Vein, and now this Black Dragon. What had he done to deserve this?

However, despite his frustration, the Dragon King couldn't just give up and stop trying. Anyone else could slack off, but he couldn't. The Dragon Palace was his foundation and home to his family; he had to see this through no matter what. He sighed, gathered his spirits, and instructed his daughter, "Do as the Sovereign says. Send people to investigate the area around the Dragon Palace once more. Do not overlook any suspicious spots."

"Yes, Father."

Hearing this, the Dragon Princess nodded immediately. She flew back toward the Dragon Palace to organize the work. She was not a pampered princess; she frequently helped handle practical affairs. Thus, upon her return, she quickly organized the tasks in an orderly fashion.

While things were stable on the Dragon King's side, Su Qing lowered her cloud and hovered above the burning sea of fire. She looked at the roaring flames, the two sections of the dragon's corpse tumbling within, and the black Qi being consumed as fuel, and she couldn't help but click her tongue.

"I want to see just how resilient your life force is."

Su Qing let out a cold laugh and reached out her hand. Leng Xiang obediently flew into her grasp. Su Qing performed a hand seal with one hand while swinging the sword with the other, unleashing streaks of sword light. Instantly, the sea of fire was sliced into countless fragments.

If the living Black Dragon couldn't withstand Su Qing's slashes, how could its corpse, already in two pieces, hope to endure? Thus, along with the sea of fire being shattered, the two sections of the dragon's corpse were also cut into countless pieces, reduced to dust. They continued to burn within Su Qing's Samadhi True Fire.

However, even so, Su Qing did not breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the roaring sea of fire. She didn't believe the Black Dragon would be resolved just like that. If it were truly that simple, it would be a good thing. If it wasn't resolved and she let down her guard, that would be a problem.

Sure enough, just as Su Qing expected, the Black Dragon was not destroyed. Its body, though reduced to dust, continued to squirm within the fire, causing the sea of flames to boil.

Su Qing's brow furrowed. She knew this fellow wouldn't be so easy to eliminate. But what should she do next? As she pondered, a sudden change occurred within the sea of fire. After boiling for a moment, the flames began to twist and distort, gradually taking on a draconic shape.

Seeing this, Su Qing's frown deepened. The fire-dragon before her wasn't the Black Dragon controlling her Samadhi True Fire. Rather, it was restoring its own dragon form while enduring the flames.

"In a sense, did I actually help it?" Su Qing thought back to the scene where she had sliced the Black Dragon apart and gave a slight smile. "No matter. It's not as if there's no way to deal with this."

Su Qing gave a cold laugh and performed another hand seal, making her Samadhi True Fire burn even more fiercely. Not only that, she even added a few extra ingredients to the mix. Although this likely still wouldn't burn the Black Dragon to death, it was enough to make its movements much more difficult.

As the True Fire grew more intense, the fire-dragon moved swiftly, charging toward Su Qing. Seeing this, Su Qing did not dodge; she simply swung her sword. This strike was plain and unadorned, without any fancy techniques—just a simple, direct swing. Yet, this plain strike easily split the fire-dragon in two.

The flames scattered after being severed, with many landing on Su Qing. However, since these were her own flames, they had no effect on her. As for the fire-dragon, after being cut down, it found it much more difficult to merge back together.

Su Qing rubbed her chin. "It seems I overestimated it slightly. While I did give it a small hand earlier, it mostly just made my Samadhi True Fire burn it better. Still, I have to admit, this Black Dragon's life force is remarkably resilient."

At this point, Su Qing took out a set of array plates. She performed a hand seal and deployed the array, enveloping the entire surface of the sea. The Black Dragon was essentially at the end of its tether now; it only needed the Samadhi True Fire to continue burning for a while longer to be completely resolved. Therefore, Su Qing no longer needed to do anything else herself. What was needed now was to trap the Black Dragon and give it no chance to escape. Only then could she avoid any unnecessary trouble in the future.

The array was deployed smoothly. Su Qing easily trapped it within. Even so, she wasn't entirely at ease, so she set up two more arrays to ensure nothing could go wrong. Having finished this, Su Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"This should be enough. All that's left is to have people monitor this place." Su Qing nodded and turned toward the North Sea Dragon King. "Well, isn't there a ready-made source of labor right here? I'm helping him; what's wrong with asking him to put in some effort?"

With that thought, Su Qing flew to the Dragon King's side. She said, "Dragon King, do me a small favor. Have your people monitor this array to ensure the fire inside keeps burning and that the thing within doesn't escape."

Hearing this, the North Sea Dragon King immediately nodded. He knew what Su Qing's arrangement meant, and there was no way he would refuse. "Leave this to me. I will see it done for the Sovereign."

Su Qing nodded with satisfaction. "I appreciate the trouble."

"It is no trouble at all. The Sovereign has helped us so much; if I were to refuse such a small matter, wouldn't that be far too unreasonable?" the North Sea Dragon King said, shaking his head.

Su Qing didn't dwell on the matter and instead asked, "By the way, has the Dragon Palace investigated anything yet?"

The Dragon King shook his head. "An investigation won't be that fast. I invite the Sovereign to stay at the Dragon Palace for the night. Once the results are out tomorrow, I will personally explain them to you."

Although the investigation area was only the vicinity of the Dragon Palace, to ensure nothing was missed, they needed to be thorough. Naturally, it would take a considerable amount of time. Su Qing didn't find this problematic. She nodded and said, "Very well, that's fine. I'll stay here for a day then."

"Thank you, Sovereign."

Su Qing waved her hand and then asked, "By the way, how have the seals of the North Sea Dragon Palace been in recent years?"

The Dragon King was momentarily taken aback by the question. However, he didn't hide anything and simply said, "The seals are in good condition. They have been very peaceful over the years, with no changes... Could this Black Dragon be related to the seals?"

"I don't know yet. We'll only find out after the investigation," Su Qing said, spreading her hands.