Chapter 169
The flood dragon remained calm, unmoving, as Lu Xuan adjusted his breath and drew the Silver-Cracking Blade.
The short silver-white blade slowly pierced the abdomen of the flood dragon.
Although the flood dragon was a second-grade dragon, its abdomen lacked the protection of scales. Additionally, it wasn't known for its defense, so penetrating it with a first-grade Silver-Cracking Blade wasn't too strenuous.
Lu Xuan firmly gripped the hilt of the silver-cracked blade, slowly and resolutely cutting a gash.
Then, his spiritual consciousness delved in, meticulously searching between every muscle and tendon.
"Found you."
Within the flood dragon's body, although it appeared no different from flesh and blood, Lu Xuan sensed a slight anomaly with his spiritual consciousness. Acting decisively, he controlled that small anomaly and swiftly retrieved it from the flood dragon before it could react.
A strange fish appeared on the ground.
About a foot long, slender, semi-transparent, with only a black lateral line inside its body. It had a nearly transparent huge suction cup on its head.
"What is this?"
"There indeed are other demonic beasts inside the dragon's body. Lu Junior Brother truly has keen eyes."
The nearby cultivators murmured as they saw the strange fish emerge from the flood dragon's body.
Lu Xuan remained silent, taking out a piece of demonic beast meat from a nearby bucket and placing it in front of the strange fish.
The strange fish seemed to find vitality, its body swaying as it flowed into the demonic beast meat like a stream.
"Having found you once, naturally, I can find you a second time."
Lu Xuan coldly snorted, effortlessly pulling the strange fish out of the demonic beast meat.
He brought out the demonic beast meat not only to prove to other cultivators that this fish had parasitic abilities but also to take the opportunity to understand detailed information about the strange fish.
A thought flashed through his mind.
[Hiding Scale Fish, a first-grade demonic beast, weak in attack, adept at concealing itself in water, edible without poison.]
[Typically parasitic in water-based demonic beasts, when in the larval stage, Hiding Scale Fish hatches and opportunistically enters the backdoor of the demonic beast, silently integrating with the body, absorbing the essence of the beast's flesh and blood.]
"Hmm?"
When Lu Xuan saw this information for the first time, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"Junior Brother Lu, what is this weird fish? How did such a large fish enter the flood dragon's body?"
Though several people also raised dragons in the Thousand Dragon Lake, for them, cultivation took precedence, and raising dragons was just a means to earn sword seals. Thus, they didn't have deep knowledge about spiritual beasts.
Lu Xuan paused, ultimately deciding to tell the truth.
"This weird fish is called the Hiding Scale Fish. I read about it in a certain scripture. It usually parasitizes water-based demonic beasts and feeds on their flesh and blood."
"As for how it enters the demonic beast's body..."
"From what I know, it enters through the rear part of the demonic beast."
Everyone wore expressions of doubt, gazing at the struggling Hiding Scale Fish on the ground. They all felt a tightening in their chests.
"Why haven't we discovered it? Although we've raised these flood dragons from a young age, occasionally checking their physical condition, we've never seen any trace of this weird fish."
A cultivator voiced his confusion.
"Quite simple. The Hiding Scale Fish has extremely strong concealment abilities, almost merging with the flood dragon's body. Only with close proximity and meticulous spiritual awareness searching bit by bit is there a possibility of detecting their presence."
"As for the flood dragon, although they're aware of the slow loss of vital essence within their bodies, due to the Hiding Scale Fish's parasitic ability, they're unable to detect their presence."
Lu Xuan patiently explained to the cultivators.
"Junior Brother Lu, I have one last doubt. Please enlighten me."
"This Hiding Scale Fish parasitizing in the flood dragon's body, how much harm does it cause to the dragon?"
Several people nearby, all ears, focused their attention on Lu Xuan. This was the question they were most concerned about.
After all, each cultivator present had at least dozens of flood dragons under their command. If these Hiding Scale Fish caused severe damage to their dragons, it would be a big problem.
"The harm isn't significant. It mainly affects the growth of the flood dragon and doesn't endanger its life."
Lu Xuan replied affirmatively.
This answer relieved everyone considerably.
The young cultivator removed the golden ring from the flood dragon's body. A faint spiritual glow enveloped the pale-white dragon, covering the wound left by Lu Xuan.
After self-treating, the flood dragon looked towards the direction where Lu Xuan stood, emitting a grateful low growl.
Watching it disappear into the water, Lu Xuan returned to focus and continued drawing blood, examining the remaining flood dragons.
Interestingly, there were no signs of new Hiding Scale Fish among the dragons behind. This relaxed the young cultivators nearby.
"You've worked hard, Junior Brother Lu."
Handing Lu Xuan a black cloth bag filled with quite a few spirit stones.
"Don't mention it, Senior Brother."
"While I've detected the Hiding Scale Fish, there might be other things hidden. So, I'll take the flood dragon's essence blood back to my cave residence and study it thoroughly."
Lu Xuan gave some instructions, smiling as he took the cloth bag, subtly weighing it. With his rich experience, he sensed that the weight didn't match the number of spirit stones mentioned by the cultivator, seeming noticeably heavier.
He tucked the cloth bag into his storage pouch.
"Junior Brother Lu, please help me next!"
"Junior Brother, look at me, I manage the dragons closest to here."
"Senior Brothers, don't worry. Everyone will be thoroughly examined."
Lu Xuan reassured gently.
With both the lure of spirit stones and dragon essence blood, not going wouldn't be an option! He casually selected a cultivator, heading towards the area where their spirit beasts were kept, amidst the cultivator's ecstatic expression.
With experience from before, he conducted blood inspections faster than previously, given the high intensity and frequency of checking all the flood dragons.
Out of dozens of flood dragons, he discovered eight had been parasitized by Hiding Scale Fish.
Whenever any anomaly was detected, the cultivators behind him voluntarily increased Lu Xuan's reward, offering more spirit stones.
The vials of dragon essence blood in Lu Xuan's storage pouch grew, forming a small mountain of bottles and jars.
"Junior Brother Lu, what insights do you have about these Hiding Scale Fish?"
After the final dragon had been blood-tested, Lu Xuan had examined all the dragons in that area.
"I suspect they were captured from outside, with Hiding Scale Fish hidden in the body of some dragon. Then, they were bred in the Thousand Dragon Lake, growing and selecting the dragons they wanted to parasitize."
Lu Xuan speculated.
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