Volume One: The Soul-Guiding Gourd and the Soul-Igniting Lantern Chapter 66: Essence of the Moon

Suddenly, a commotion stirred beneath the jade-green surface of the pool—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!—
In the blink of an eye, countless white figures shot up from the once mirror-smooth waters.
Upon closer inspection, the vast tide of white was made up of swarms of tiny white serpents!
“What the hell is this? Are they all the offspring of immortals?”
At the startling sight, both Xiao Yulou and Gu Mo trembled like leaves in a storm, their bodies taut with terror, cold sweat pouring down their faces in heavy beads.
In a flash, Xiao Yulou snatched out a yellow talisman and twisted it in his hand.
With a thunderous boom, a wall of blazing fire, conjured by a spell to invoke the sacred flames of the Three Pure Ones, sprang up at the water’s edge.
But the white serpents, launching themselves from the pool, seemed utterly unafraid of the fiery barrier.
They soared over the skeletal remains of the white-scaled giant python, hurling themselves toward the white flood dragon like moths to a flame.
The air crackled with the sound of scorching flesh; the pungent aroma of charring scales soon filled the air.
At this point, all that was missing was a sprinkling of cumin and chili powder, and platters of fragrant roasted snake would be ready to serve!
Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou, rooted to the spot, felt their courage falter; they had no inkling of the serpents’ true purpose.
Suddenly, the charred little serpents wriggled in droves to the flood dragon’s side, then split into two orderly groups.
One group of blackened serpents stopped before the dragon, while the others coiled themselves around its wounds in an uncanny fashion.
Watching this, Gu Mo, gripping his Heaven-Measuring Ruler, was completely at a loss, his thoughts in utter disarray.
“Brother Xiao, what on earth is going on with these creatures? Are they trying to transfer their immortal spirit?”
Xiao Yulou frowned deeply, stroking his chin in thought, but he too was bewildered.
Just then, the white flood dragon, Liu Kunsheng, gazed at his offspring with a wild, boisterous laugh, then abruptly opened his bloody maw and began devouring his own progeny.
Gu Mo was horrified.
“What the—? The white serpent is eating its own young? Even a tigress won’t eat her cubs! Cold-blooded indeed—truly heartless!”
Xiao Yulou, coming to a sudden realization, shook his head as he stroked his chin.
“No, no, Brother Gu. This immortal ‘Liu Kunsheng’ is trying to heal his wounds, preparing to battle us!”
Gu Mo’s brows furrowed even deeper at this grotesque explanation, and he glanced at Xiao Yulou in disbelief.
“Are you out of your mind? Can he really heal just by eating? That’s absurd!”
The scene shifted.
The white flood dragon, Liu Kunsheng, continued devouring his own kind, while the other group of serpents twisted around his wounds began their work.
If one looked closely, each little serpent at the wound arched its body and spat out a jet of blood-red venom toward its kin.
The air was filled with their chilling hisses, sending shivers down both men’s spines.
Suddenly, as if sharing a single mind, the serpents began biting each other savagely.
The gruesome sounds of the massacre echoed, blood splattering as it dripped onto the dragon’s wounds.
Gu Mo felt numbed with shock.
“What the hell? Why are they killing themselves?”
At that, Xiao Yulou calmly produced a cigarette from his robe and offered one to Gu Mo.
Gu Mo stared, dumbfounded, at the sly old Daoist.

“Is this really the time for a smoke?”
Xiao Yulou just grinned, lighting up and taking a deep draw. Gu Mo, resigned, furrowed his brow and did the same.
After a few hazy puffs, Xiao Yulou looked Gu Mo in the eye and spoke softly.
“You’re overthinking it. These little serpents are sacrificing themselves—offering their lives to heal their ancestor.”
Gu Mo’s face twisted in fury.
“Have you lost your mind? Once the big serpent’s healed, do you think we’ll stand a chance? Why not attack now?”
Xiao Yulou’s expression grew somber and he sighed deeply.
“Brother Gu, I am a cultivator. To take lives rashly is to invite divine retribution.”
He paused, lowering his voice.
“This immortal Liu Kunsheng is on the verge of transcendence—such achievement after a millennium of cultivation is no trivial feat. If I were to kill him without cause, the next tribulation would surely fall upon my own head.”
Gu Mo suddenly understood. It wasn’t that Xiao Yulou was missing a screw—he simply lacked justification for the kill.
Moments ago, Xiao Yulou had already considered retreating, but the immortal serpent remained aggressive, pressing the attack and vowing to strip them to the bone. That was truly “defying the heavens.”
And so, by deliberately giving the immortal time to recover, Xiao Yulou could claim he had done all that was right and just.
In the coming confrontation, even if he slew the flood dragon, he would be “enforcing the will of Heaven”—the gods themselves could not fault him.
Who would have guessed—Xiao Yulou had calculated every move!
With that, Gu Mo stubbed out his cigarette with a vengeance, eyes fixed on the flood dragon.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yulou, ever the immortal in spirit, lit another cigarette with the remains of the first, inhaling deeply.
The scene shifted to Liu Kunsheng, the flood dragon.
In the time it took to smoke a single cigarette, the wretched creature had devoured at least a ton of its own kind. Its battered body was now covered in the remains of little white serpents.
The carnage was ghastly beyond words.
Next, the white flood dragon slowly coiled his massive form, raising his enormous head to face the luminous moon.
At this, Xiao Yulou felt a jolt of foreboding.
Suddenly, the dragon threw open his gaping jaws and inhaled sharply.
A wild wind rose, the moonlight vanished, and black clouds swept across the sky.
With the temperature plunging, Gu Mo could only lift his sleeve to cover his mouth and nose, squinting to see through the gloom.
With a sharp whistle, a gap opened in the clouds above, and a beam of pure white moonlight was drawn directly into the dragon’s maw.
The scene was otherworldly, bordering on the surreal.
The old tales spoke true: when beastly spirits achieve the way, they draw in the moon’s essence.
But to witness an immortal devouring the moon’s light was truly awe-inspiring.
No one knew how long it lasted; the wind died, the clouds dispersed, and the terrifying vision faded like a dream.
But the white flood dragon, coiled and resplendent, was no mere phantom.
Having consumed the moon’s essence, the dragon slowly lowered its head and closed its eyes in meditation.
As it rested, its colossal body began to emit a dazzling, eerie glow.
Gu Mo’s anger flared.
“Are you an idiot? If you don’t act now, once that great serpent is fully healed, we’re done for!”
Yet Xiao Yulou, as unruffled as a drifting cloud, smoked his cigarette as if nothing could faze him.

No—as if was not the word. The damned Daoist simply did not regard the immortal flood dragon as a threat at all!
Truly, a newborn calf fears no tiger.
This insufferable Daoist was utterly reckless, afraid of nothing.
Gu Mo was beside himself with rage; he’d never been so exasperated by both enemy and ally alike.
As Gu Mo fumed, the white flood dragon suddenly flexed its massive body.
A series of popping sounds rang out—the dragon’s dislocated joints snapping perfectly back into place!
Even the white fur, scorched away by the sacred flames, had grown back, and the dreadful wounds had completely healed.
It was as if the loathsome serpent had been fully restored to its prime.
Suddenly, the resurrected white flood dragon rose half its body from the ground, fixing Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou with a pair of lantern-sized, crimson eyes.
A blast of steaming breath roared from the dragon’s nostrils.
In that moment, the flood dragon’s majesty and might were undeniable—unstoppable.
Gu Mo’s neck shot forward as his face turned ashen with fear, sweat pouring down his cheeks. “We’re doomed! This monster… No, do we still dare defy an immortal?”
“Hahaha!”
Xiao Yulou, the picture of immortal grace, burst into unrestrained laughter, as if nothing in the world could frighten him.
Gu Mo suddenly recalled Xiao Yulou’s mention of a trump card.
Could this damnable Daoist really possess another powerful artifact?
At that instant, the white flood dragon, eyes blazing with rage, opened its terrible jaws and unleashed a roar that shook the heavens.
Rooooar!
Gu Mo, terrified beyond words, clapped his hands over his ears, but the force of the dragon’s cry still reverberated in his mind, threatening to tear his eardrums apart.
At length, the dragon glared at them and spoke in a voice like thunder.
“Mortals… face the wrath of an immortal!”
No sooner had the words faded than the dragon drew a deep breath, its belly swelling like a great balloon.
Gu Mo gritted his teeth, steeling himself, gripping the Heaven-Measuring Ruler and preparing to fight for his life.
With a thunderous boom, a blazing sphere of dragonfire shot toward them, the searing heat so intense it seemed to compress the very air, warping space itself.
Before Gu Mo could react, Xiao Yulou, in his black Daoist robe, leapt to stand before him.
“Brother Gu, you handle the close assault—I’m about to unleash my ultimate move!”
With that, Xiao Yulou inhaled deeply, tossed a stack of yellow talismans into the air, and shouted,
“Sacred Flames of the Three Pure Ones!”
In a flash, Xiao Yulou swept his hand, and nine blazing orbs of immortal fire surged forth to collide head-on with the dragon’s breath…