The Wujiang Fairy moved like a startled rabbit, swiftly dodging two bolts of lightning that struck down. The next moment, ten thousand lightning bolts poured down like a birdcage, locking her within. The Night Patrol Gods and Inspection Spirit Officials had somehow already revealed their forms. Countless demon-binding ropes shot out like arrows, binding her tightly from head to toe.
That strange and resonant celestial voice exploded once more. “Those who are trapped, quickly flee far away!”
With that, a golden-armored celestial god appeared from the clouds—it was none other than Leize Shenjun, one of the divine realm’s war generals. He released ten thousand lightning bolts to trap the Wujiang Fairy. However, she seemed completely unafraid. Though wrapped in demon-binding ropes, she still charged left and right within the lightning cage. Leize Shenjun’s expression appeared extremely grave.
“Let’s go.” Fucang summoned the wind and flew up swiftly. Looking back, he discovered that Shao Yi was standing frozen in place while holding Xuan Yi. He had no choice but to descend again and ask, “What’s wrong?”
Shao Yi smiled bitterly. “This little loach is quite heavy. I can’t fly with her. You do it.”
Heavy? Fucang pulled Xuan Yi into his embrace with one motion. His divine power could lift millions of pounds without difficulty—how could her human body, which weighed no more than a feather, be heavy? Why did he find her heavy?
Seeing that the River God’s residence was about to be reduced to dust, the two divine lords hastily fled on the wind. After flying for just a short while, Xuan Yi stuck her head out from over Fucang’s shoulder, staring at Shao Yi with displeasure. “Senior Brother Shao Yi is far too delicate. Where am I heavy?”
She was still dwelling on such trivial matters at a time like this! Fucang pushed her head back and said coldly, “Don’t move around.”
Xuan Yi’s face fell, and she ignored him.
Her wound had torn open again just now. Fucang was about to speak when he heard the Wujiang Fairy’s long, high cry from behind. A bone-chilling demonic power surged like ocean tides. The three young celestial gods turned their heads in alarm to see that young maiden-like Wujiang Fairy once again reveal her original fish demon form, locked in fierce battle with Leize Shenjun. The Night Patrol Gods and Inspection Spirit Officials who had earlier bound the fish demon with demon-binding ropes had all been flung far away, the demon-binding ropes shattered into fragments. And Leize Shenjun’s lightning seemed to have less impact on her than imagined. For some reason, she actually fought more courageously as the battle went on. Leize Shenjun was forced to retreat continuously by her, his body covered with countless wounds.
Suddenly, the giant catfish demon’s long whiskers silently swept toward them, and her roar rang out. “Return the pearl string to me!”
Even a divine realm war general couldn’t subdue her! The three young celestial gods’ expressions changed drastically. Fucang and Shao Yi pushed their divine power to the extreme and raced toward the South Heaven Gate. The catfish demon pursued closely behind, refusing to yield even an inch.
“Give her the pearl string!” Fucang spoke urgently, snatching the pearl string from Xuan Yi’s hand with one motion and throwing it forcefully backward. It landed precisely on the giant catfish demon’s spine, and her pursuing momentum finally slowed somewhat.
At that moment, Fucang’s mount, the Nine-Headed Green Lion, leaped out from behind the clouds. Two celestial gods sat on the lion’s back—it was Gu Ting and Zhi Xi. It appeared they had just rushed over from the South Heaven Gate. Seeing three classmates fleeing in panic, with Shao Yi among them, Gu Ting couldn’t help but freeze for a moment before hastily reaching out to pull them onto the lion’s back, saying urgently, “Are you all right?! Fortunately, when I returned to the South Heaven Gate, I just happened to encounter Leize Shenjun with his subordinates during the shift change…”
Before he finished speaking, they saw that giant catfish demon flick its long tail and instantly appear right before them, opening its bloody maw to bite down on the Nine-Headed Lion. With a tremendous “crack,” the catfish demon’s densely packed sharp teeth bit down on a huge jade paperweight that appeared out of nowhere. In an instant, countless teeth shattered, causing her to roar in pain.
Then several beams of cold light attacked, penetrating the fish demon’s spine with overwhelming force, crisscrossing and jamming her backbone. She let out another loud cry. Her giant fish body instantly dissipated, revealing her human form as she sprawled miserably on the jade paperweight. On her back, neither more nor less, four jade hairpins were inserted, stuck within her spine, rendering her unable to move.
The Nine-Headed Lion, already frightened stiff, immediately went limp. No matter how Fucang shouted, its eighteen eyes only silently shed tears, not daring to move at all.
Leize Shenjun, who had been struggling to catch up from behind, saw this scene and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He cupped his fists and saluted toward the sky, respectfully saying, “So it’s Baize Dijun who has arrived. If not for Dijun’s intervention, the consequences would have been unthinkable.”
The culprit had arrived! The young celestial gods looked up with anger and resentment—even Gu Ting’s expression was unfriendly. That earlier situation was enough to give him nightmares for several hundred years.
Soon, Baize Dijun’s small figure appeared in their field of vision. This time he had come alone, his attire neat and his expression solemn—worlds apart from the casual manner he’d displayed when dismissing Feilian Shenjun last time.
He first stopped near the Nine-Headed Lion. Seeing that Gu Ting and the others were unharmed, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then seeing his disciples all glaring at him, neither bowing nor paying respects, Baize Dijun—who always liked to order his disciples around like servants—couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.
He thickened his face and ignored his disciples for now. With a wave of his hand, the lustrous white pearl string gracefully flew to his palm. He lowered his head and gazed at it for a long while, sighing deeply. “Who would have thought? What began as a good deed has come to such a state.”
He slowly flew to face the Wujiang Fairy. She said nothing, only using all her strength to raise her head. Fresh blood gushed down from her left eye, while her right eye stared fixedly at him, filled with nothing but contempt.
Baize Dijun’s expression seemed both compassionate and cold. After a moment, he said in a low voice, “Years ago, this seat glimpsed the heavenly secrets and learned that the Wujiang River God would have a daughter born into the world, but she had mistakenly entered a demon fetus and become your younger sister. Your sister was merely a false shell, destined to perish at five thousand years of age. Therefore, this seat dropped the pearl string when she reached five thousand to destroy her demon body and allow her to re-form as a divine fetus. I even left the pearl string as proof so that after the River God’s daughter gained awareness, you sisters could still have a day of reunion. But alas… the River God’s entire family has perished at your hands.”
The Wujiang Fairy, after a fierce battle, had disheveled hair and a face covered in blood. She laughed a few times in a halting manner and said, “My sister was weak and couldn’t even catch food on her own. Her cultivation relied entirely on my help. In terms of talent and quality, I was countless times stronger than my sister. Why is it that with just one word from you, she became a goddess while I continued to shrink in the river bottom mud as a demon clan member who couldn’t see the light? Old man Baize, could it be that you’re blind and couldn’t see that I was countless times more formidable than my sister?!”
Baize Dijun said calmly, “Formidable or not, you’re still a demon. Interfering with the divine way without authorization is already a grave crime, not to mention chewing and eating the divine race—that is utterly unforgivable.”
She said grimly, “Saying so much—you just want to kill me! Then kill me! I haven’t wanted to live for a long time! Before death, I ate so many divine beings—it was worth it!”
Baize Dijun looked at her thoughtfully, his hands clasped behind his back, and said, “All these years, you’ve held passing divine beings hostage. Mountain gods and earth deities were also forced by you not to dare speak out. The Wujiang River has flooded year after year, drowning countless mortals. And now you tell this seat you haven’t wanted to live for a long time?”
A trace of disdain appeared on the Wujiang Fairy’s face as she sneered. “From the moment you said my sister should have been a goddess, I no longer wanted to live. Divine positions in this world should be held by the capable. She was weak and incompetent—how could she be fit to serve as River God?! That such logic exists in the world! Clearly you made a mistake, but you refuse to admit it!”
Baize Dijun laughed lowly twice. “Several thousand years ago, the Wujiang River God sent this seat a wedding invitation. It should have been for the wedding banquet of the River God’s daughter and the Eighth Dragon Son of the West Sea Dragon God. Unfortunately, this seat had matters to attend to at the time and couldn’t go. This time I dispatched my disciples to the lower realm to retrieve the pearl string—firstly to let them experience the conditions of beings in the lower realm, and secondly with the intention of visiting you two sisters. Who would have thought the wedding banquet ultimately never took place and things would come to such a state? The West Sea Dragon God has many sons and daughters. That the Eighth Dragon Son hasn’t returned for thousands of years didn’t stir up any waves either. That’s what allowed you to be so pleased with yourself for so long.”