Chapter 66 Part 1

Dark clouds were like ink, raging rivers surged.

As the white dragon exited the river, the roaring water tide resembled the simultaneous advance of a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, its momentum terrifying.

But Jiang Yiguang and Fu Juan, having already dealt with a white dragon split soul before, had gained experience. They didn’t feel the slightest panic or fluster at the vast, sky-devouring display. The long sword’s hum was incessant. In the next instant, the sword was drawn, and the wind lifted, slashing toward the ten-zhang-high snow-white wave crest.

Billows surged. The water’s speed exceeded reason, carrying a sharp shriek. Fu Juan activated Manifesting Heaven and Earth, reproducing the mythological Authority of “Sun-shooting.” She bent the bow and nocked the arrow. The arrow, blazing with powerful spiritual light, pierced through the great wave and fiercely pinned itself onto the dragon’s head! The white dragon was the River Earl’s split soul. Each “arrow shot” was a process of comprehending the Dao. Her current momentum had already grasped five or six tenths of the fully unlocked “Sun-shooting Authority.”

In less than half an hour, this white dragon from the River Earl wilted in momentum. It could no longer maintain its dragon form, transforming into a mass of light teeming with divinity, floating and fluctuating. Fu Juan reached out and captured this mass of light, storing it away using the “Miniature World” divine ability.

“Getting closer and closer,” Jiang Yiguang murmured. After a moment, she raised her eyes to gaze at Fu Juan and asked, “After we eliminate the storm-stirring River Earl, will the Sun-shooting Authority within Manifesting Heaven and Earth be pushed to its peak? Or would we need to shoot down another great sun?”

Fu Juan replied gently, “We must reenact the scene of Sun-shooting.”

“Sun-shooting…” A strange light flickered in Jiang Yiguang’s eyes. She thought to herself, Isn’t there a ready-made one? That Great Sun God of Dongying, coveting Shenzhou, should have withered long ago. She didn’t continue this topic with Fu Juan, instead focusing on the churning waves ahead. Would the River Earl send another split soul? If He actively dispersed His own power, then “slaying the River Earl” wouldn’t be so difficult.

Suddenly, Jiang Yiguang sensed something unusual. The rumbling water, like rolling thunder, drowned out the Dao Court disciples’ words, but she could faintly make out phrases like “the water tide is receding”! The sky-reaching flood seemed to crash against the ritual altars on the shore, then gradually drew inward. Yet the spiritual power floating upon the waters didn’t disappear; instead, it grew even more terrifying as it concentrated. A thunderclap exploded, splitting heaven and earth! Immediately after, the inward-converging water tide shot toward the sky simultaneously. The riverbed emptied in an instant, as if heaven and earth had inverted. Clouds rolled and surged, their shapes ferocious, like a giant beast stretching out its head. Lashing rain poured down, yet not a single drop fell into the riverbed—all hung suspended in midair.

Water and fire are merciless.

This torrential rain seemed as if it would never cease.

After sensing the disappearance of that white dragon split soul, Bingyi sent no more of His power. The fury in His eyes brewed to the extreme. Watching those insignificant ants before Him, unknowingly defying His life, He simply gathered all His divine power. He no longer attacked the shores, no longer tried to submerge the fertile land. He made the power of the long river converge and crash heavily upon Li Shenxiao’s back alone!

Bingyi spoke icily: “Gods cannot be deceived. Gods cannot be blocked.”

“Haha, is that so?” Li Shenxiao spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. He wandered in spirit, commanding Qi, standing against the wind. Behind him, a majestic manifestation of a Thunder God, formed of thunder, slowly emerged. He pointed forward. Instantly, thunderous sword energy churned the water flow, and then scorching fire evaporated it into steam. A Heavenly Constellation divine ability: the Five Thunders, unleashed! Wherever Li Shenxiao stood, not a trace of moisture existed. He raised his sword fingers, using Thunder Arts to blast away the water pressure crashing down upon him. He straightened his spine. His voice boomed like thunder, “This humble Daoist today slays a god for Shenzhou!” His Ritual Sword followed his voice, suddenly flying like a meteor, cleaving the enormous wave in two with a single strike.

Li Shenxiao’s aura soared, climbing layer by layer. His originally pale, gaunt cheeks flushed crimson. The Golden Core within his abdomen was pushed to its absolute limit. Waves surged, akin to a tribulation. He held his Ritual Sword, standing firm like the Thunder God, preventing the water tide from crashing onto the land. The momentum brewing in their clash grew increasingly majestic and terrifying, carrying a resolute sense of “either you die, or I perish.”

The Dao Court disciples didn’t act rashly due to the water’s retreat. Instead, Jiang Yiguang and Fu Juan possessed a certain degree of freedom. They could pursue that dangerous aura and find the location where water and Thunder-Fire converged. It was the confluence of the Luo River into the Yellow River, the very place where, in the past, Yi shot an arrow, blinding the River Earl, and rescued Fu Fei. Fu Fei, the Goddess of the Luo River, was of Great God Fuxi’s bloodline. If Fuxi were still present, Bingyi wouldn’t have dared act so audaciously. But that era was already the time of Emperor Yao; the True Spirits of most pure-qi deities had already departed for the Return to the Void Abyss.

“It’s Senior Shenxiao,” Jiang Yiguang whispered. The light and color between heaven and earth had long been stolen by the relentless torrential rain and the rolling net of Thunder-Fire. The white dragon behind the River Earl and the Thunder God Manifestation behind Li Shenxiao each occupied one side, as if they were the only existences left in the vast world. Blades of Thunder-Fire clashed with fists condensed from water. That terrifying oppressive force was enough to shatter flesh and blood. Compared to Bingyi’s composure, Li Shenxiao was covered in blood, looking rather bedraggled. Yet his expression was calm. Facing that utterly cold, pressure-filled gaze, he showed no intent to retreat.

Fu Juan responded softly.

Jiang Yiguang caught a hint of something unusual in the words, quickly dispersed by the wind. She abruptly turned to look at Fu Juan, her fingers on her sword hilt tightening. That calm face usually held mostly unreadable emotions, like a mask perpetually clinging to her skin, concealing all true feelings. “Manifesting Heaven and Earth…” Jiang Yiguang sensed the surging spiritual energy and sighed softly. For Bingyi, nothing was more loathsome than “Yi’s aura.” Whether the incomplete “Sun-shooting Authority” could wound Bingyi was another matter, but it was indeed a superb aggro magnet. For example, right now, Bingyi, his fury blazing to the sky, his right eye seeming to spew flames. The furious tide that was originally crashing toward Li Shenxiao instantly transformed into water dragons charging toward Fu Juan!

The arrogant water dragons tore through thunder and flames. The floating aura in the air instantly shattered. Jiang Yiguang’s ears buzzed, her whole body feeling as if submerged, an indescribable suffocating sensation. Under this oppressive force, the sword in her hand hummed; its Sword Intent grew even more fervent. Jiang Yiguang’s gaze sharpened, a piercing light erupting from her eyes. She raised her hand, bringing her sword down against the water tide! That sword wind transformed into a flowing gale that annihilated everything, forcefully cleaving the water flow several chi open. But the sword momentum was blocked by a force. The water flow coalesced into fists, smashing against the sword energy. The crisscrossing Sword Intent instantly shattered. Yet the water didn’t continue forward! Thunder-Fire erupted fiercely, scorching the water vapor. The Eight Trigrams revolved around Fu Juan; Yin and Yang energies alternated. The hexagram formed by the catalysis of Wind, Fire, and Thunder bore down upon the wave crest. And above her, that majestic, heaven-and-earth-propping Manifestation didn’t fade. It slowly aimed an arrow at Bingyi.

“Yin-Yang creation? Fuxi’s Primordial Eight Trigrams?” Bingyi’s pupils abruptly constricted, not strictly out of fear of Fu Juan herself, but fear of the source of the Eight Trigrams. The giant wave froze in the instant of His distraction. Li Shenxiao clearly seized this opportunity as well. An incredibly forceful sword strike, wreathed in Thunder-Fire, slashed toward Bingyi! His breathing grew increasingly ragged. The sword in his palm had long shown cracks but was held together by his spiritual energy. But this time, after unleashing the Thunder-Fire Sword, the Ritual Sword in his hand directly turned to dust. The sword’s edge cleaved through the waves, charging all the way to Bingyi. It was this wave-cleaving sword that allowed Fu Juan’s spiritual-energy-condensed arrow to shoot and wound Bingyi without any loss of force, pinning it into that originally lightless left eye.

A reenactment of the High Antiquity scene.

Back then, it was Bingyi fleeing in disarray. Facing Yi, even when stirring up the waters of heaven and earth, beneath that solemn expression, there was still a sense of powerlessness and panic.

His vision flickered, darkness encroaching. But Bingyi ultimately didn’t let Himself fall completely into the nightmare of the past. His aura burst forth. The water surged. He roared “Die!” and violently commanded the vast waters of the Yellow River to wash away these eye-sores! But suddenly, the water originally under Bingyi’s control crashed fiercely back into the riverbed, continuing eastward. Bingyi’s expression drastically changed. All traces of “divine composure” vanished at this moment. He sensed His control over the Yellow River’s waters gradually fading. That meant His Authority as the Yellow River’s Water God was being usurped! Was it… that water pearl? But who in the Mortal Realm could use it? Could it be someone emerged from the Mountains and Seas? No! Besides the water pearl… there was also the River Map and Luo Writing! Bingyi gritted His teeth, hatred surging. Suppressing His chaotic thoughts, He took a deep breath and used His divine power to manipulate the water flow once more.

Jiang Yiguang’s eyes narrowed, a flash of joy crossing her features: “His control over the water is weakening.”

There was no better opportunity than now!

Above Shenzhou’s Yellow River.

Mortals slaying a god.

Within the Dragon Vein.

The River Map and Luo Writing, originally thrown into the Yellow River by King Yu to suppress Shenzhou’s water veins, had obtained the water pearl. It channeled the stirring pure spirituality entirely into the Dragon Vein, causing the fissures in the Dragon Vein, loosened by the River Earl’s awakening, to reseal. The sky-reaching floods stirred by the gods brought especially terrifying calamities to Shenzhou’s land. After suppressing the Mountains and Seas, Shenzhou no longer needed the existence of “gods.”

“Although the Dragon Vein is regulated, the trend of the Mountains and Seas returning is fundamentally unstoppable.”

“No need to stop it.” Jiang Li listened to the River Map and Luo Writing’s crisp voice. She smoothed her hair at the temples, and a cool, indifferent smile bloomed on her stern face. “The Dragon Vein represents Shenzhou’s Human Dao momentum, formed from the convergence of thousands of years of human destiny. After breaking free from the gods’ control, the brilliant fortune gathered by humanity walking its own path inherently represents a power capable of rivaling the gods, doesn’t it?”

The River Map and Luo Writing said: “The spirituality within the Dragon Vein has been replenished. Will you find a way to leave this place?”

“No.” Jiang Li shook her head. She curled her finger and tapped the River Map and Luo Writing, smiling. “Although you can’t deduce much now, my intuition tells me that staying in a place where no deduction or calculation is possible, existing in a state neither living nor dead, is the most beneficial thing for Shenzhou.”

“I… that’s just insufficient spiritual energy.” The River Map and Luo Writing raised its voice to defend itself, “And suppressing fate has consumed too much of my power.”

Jiang Li asked again, “What exactly is the source of fate?”