Chapter 127: A Golden Core Swallowed into the Belly, My Fate No Longer Belongs to Heaven |
The green-white python, whose body exceeded one hundred zhang, blocked the Songliu River simply by coiling up.
River water spread continuously to both banks, flooding large stretches of land.
The forest along the shore swayed violently under the impact, its leaves beaten down by the heavy rain until they could hardly lift.
Rumbling thunder sounded endlessly.
Some came from the dark clouds high above, and some from the blocked river water struggling to flow smoothly.
Above and below, the world was gloomy.
A bolt of lightning spanning a hundred li flashed across the sky, illuminating the green-white python’s terrifying mountain-like body even more clearly.
Compared to several years ago, its scales had become even deeper in color.
The dark green was like black iron, while the pure white was like spiritual jade.
A single pure black scale was fixed at the seven-inch point.
That was its vital spot.
Its reverse scale.
For all dragon and serpent-kind, it was the place that could least be touched.
Touch it, and death would follow.
Zhang Jingheng floated in the air beside Chu Xun, looking at the green-white python whose tongue was thicker than a tree trunk, and sighed.
“If it can survive this calamity, it will become a flood dragon.”
From green-white python to green-white flood dragon—
This step had taken over a hundred years.
Chu Xun walked forward with sword in hand, arriving beside the green-white python.
Only then did he see the green python and white python nearby, along with the old turtle and golden toad.
Even the weasels, rabbits, and countless snakes, insects, rats, and ants that lived in the fields and forests outside the village had come.
Usually they were nowhere to be seen, but looking now, their groups had long since exceeded a hundred.
They gathered densely across a huge area.
Zhang Jingheng said again, “If they keep reproducing like this, this place will be eaten into barren land one day.”
Chu Xun nodded, then looked toward the green-white python.
His voice was clear and carried a trace of exhilaration.
“Today I will guard your path as you transform into a flood dragon. You become a flood dragon, and I enter the Golden Core stage.”
The green-white python stretched its body straight and let out an earth-shaking roar toward the high sky.
Its cry was so fierce that even the surging river water and rolling thunder could not drown it out.
Everyone within several dozen li heard that roar.
Aside from the birds and beasts gathered along the Songliu River who had lived with it day and night, all other birds and animals trembled in fear, not daring to raise their heads.
Though it was not a true dragon, it was still a dragon.
A true ruler of all beasts.
Perhaps sensing the provocation in the green-white python’s roar.
Or perhaps transforming into a flood dragon was itself an act defying heaven.
A bolt of lightning struck straight down.
Chu Xun took an imitation Lightning-Avoidance Talisman from his robes and tossed it into the sky.
The lightning was immediately drawn toward the talisman.
Boom!
Amid the tremendous explosion, the Lightning-Avoidance Talisman turned into charred ash and was instantly scattered by the wind and rain.
Chu Xun’s gaze darkened slightly.
In his previous tests, a Lightning-Avoidance Talisman could endure at least two lightning strikes.
Now, it had withstood only one before turning to ash.
He raised his head and looked at the incomparably heavy dark clouds overhead.
No one knew how many bolts of lightning were hidden within them.
“Lightning tribulation is indeed extraordinary!”
Another bolt descended.
Chu Xun threw out the second Lightning-Avoidance Talisman and shouted at the green-white python:
“Move!”
The green-white python shifted its enormous body and swam forward with the current of the Songliu River.
It seemed slow only because its body was far too large.
In truth, its movements were swift.
Transforming into a flood dragon was not a fixed process. It required traveling a great distance, absorbing earth qi before the Dao could be achieved.
That was why, in ancient texts, flood dragon transformation was also called walking the flood dragon path.
A single word, “walking,” had caused the deaths of countless powerful pythons, making it impossible for them to reach the end.
One bolt after another descended, each terrifyingly powerful.
Every bolt consumed one Lightning-Avoidance Talisman.
The green-white python had only swum twenty li before all the talismans Chu Xun had spent nearly ten years accumulating were exhausted.
Finally, he threw out the Lightning-Avoidance Talisman left behind by the old Daoist.
This golden talisman was completely different from the imitations.
When heavenly lightning struck, it did not move at all. Only its surface luster dimmed slightly.
The many birds and beasts on the shore ran after them, creating a grand momentum.
Among them was a small figure.
It was Wei Youyou.
The little girl ran extremely fast. Spiritual light flickered faintly around her body, ready to provide support at any moment.
Only Zhang Jingheng followed Chu Xun unhurriedly and showed no intention of acting.
His opponent was not lightning.
They traveled seventy li like this.
Everywhere they passed, river water overflowed.
Chu Xun used Dao arts to raise temporary embankments along both sides of the river.
Otherwise, all the fields and villages within these seventy li would have been flooded.
Ahead, they had already reached the borders of Tianqiong County.
The Zhangnan County City God waited at the county boundary with his underworld deities.
Seeing the green-white python arrive, the Zhangnan County City God tossed out the jade tablet in his hand.
Lightning crashed down and was blocked by the jade tablet of merit.
Chu Xun glanced at them but did not speak. He continued following the riverbank forward.
After blocking one lightning tribulation strike for the green-white python, the Zhangnan County City God retrieved his jade tablet and bowed.
“The underworld office of Zhangnan County respectfully sends off the Exalted Immortal.”
Another sixty li passed. Beyond lay the borders of Xingjing County.
The Tianqiong County City God was also waiting there with his underworld deities.
He too threw out his jade tablet of merit and blocked one lightning tribulation strike.
After Chu Xun and the green-white python crossed the boundary, he bowed respectfully.
“The underworld office of Tianqiong County respectfully sends off the Exalted Immortal.”
After that came Xingjing County, Haixing County, Qingbo County, Tangyuan County, and Feishi County.
Following the Songliu River, they passed through seven counties, over four hundred li.
Beyond that lay the edge of Mingxiu Prefecture.
The prefectural City God stood there holding the City God seal.
Seeing Chu Xun arrive, he tossed out his jade tablet of merit.
“The underworld office of Mingxiu Prefecture respectfully sends off the Exalted Immortal.”
After they had traveled four hundred and twenty li, Chu Xun looked up at the sky.
The old Daoist’s Lightning-Avoidance Talisman had endured nearly a hundred lightning strikes and had already dimmed until it was almost invisible.
After all, this was only a talisman given to a mortal.
Being able to endure so many lightning strikes was already exceptionally rare.
Yet the flood dragon path had not reached its end.
The farther it traveled and the more earth qi it absorbed, the greater its future achievements would be.
“At most, the Lightning-Avoidance Talisman can escort the green-white python another ten li.”
Ten li passed in the blink of an eye.
The golden Lightning-Avoidance Talisman received one final bolt of heavenly lightning and transformed into a streak of golden light, dispersing completely.
Yet the dark clouds overhead still had not scattered.
Chu Xun gazed into the distance.
At the very least, they still had to travel another fifty li.
Without the Lightning-Avoidance Talisman, lightning fell without obstruction, striking straight toward the green-white python.
Chu Xun took something from his robes and tossed it into the sky.
It was a gray-black stone.
It had been gifted by the old turtle when he married Zhang Anxiu years ago.
It could replenish spiritual energy and was a rare treasure.
Lightning struck the stone, sending sparks scattering everywhere.
Several cracks appeared across the stone’s surface, but it did not shatter immediately.
Another bolt followed, and the cracks became thick fissures.
Only when the third lightning bolt struck did the entire stone shatter completely.
There was no pain in Chu Xun’s eyes.
Although the stone could replenish spiritual energy, the amount it provided was too small.
It might still be somewhat useful during Foundation Establishment, but once he reached the Golden Core stage, it would become rather insignificant.
At present, helping the green-white python transform into a flood dragon was most important.
No failure could be allowed!
He immediately reached toward the Songliu River and shouted:
“Spirit of the Ji River, rise!”
A blurry current of water.
Neither human nor beast, neither true nor false.
Was seized out of thin air by Chu Xun and thrown toward the sky.
This was the spirit of the Songliu River, drawn out using his Water Minister status.
It had accumulated over countless years and was one of the strangest “lives” beneath heaven.
It did not resist.
Following Chu Xun’s command, it rushed toward the lightning.
Boom!
Heavenly lightning rolled down, striking the Songliu River’s spirit until it trembled continuously.
The waters of the Songliu River boiled, turning incomparably violent.
Huge cracks opened at the riverbed.
The river water poured backward, surging wildly in all directions.
The lightning struck the Songliu River’s spirit, but the damage fell upon the river itself.
In some sections, the river even changed course because of it.
Yet the Songliu River’s spirit endured remarkably well.
Only after withstanding sixteen bolts of lightning was it finally shattered, then fell back into the Songliu River.
The river water became even deeper and heavier.
For this Ji River spirit to recover, it would take a very, very long time.
Karmic fire appeared out of nowhere, drilling into Chu Xun’s body and rushing toward his soul.
The Ji River spirit was born from heaven and earth.
Using it to block lightning meant that even his Water Minister status could not fully bear the responsibility.
He had to suffer the pain of karmic fire burning his body.
But to Chu Xun, karmic fire was not anything especially dangerous.
As long as he had enough incense points, it could instead become a form of assistance.
The Songliu River’s spirit dispersed, but the lightning tribulation still continued.
Chu Xun unleashed Five Elements Dao arts.
Earth walls, metal essence, and wood qi alternated, each blocking one bolt of heavenly lightning.
Every time he blocked one, Chu Xun let out a muffled groan.
After three lightning bolts, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“What powerful lightning! It is more than twice as strong as ordinary lightning. No wonder my Lightning-Avoidance Talismans could only block one strike!”
Another bolt descended.
A massive green figure suddenly leaped out from the Songliu River.
It was the green python.
Its body, more than twenty zhang long, counted as a colossus in the mortal world.
Before heavenly lightning, however, it seemed tiny.
The lightning struck it, charring its entire body black.
Large chunks of flesh burned into charcoal, and even its bones snapped.
With a mournful cry, the green python fell into the river.
The green-white python turned back to look. It roared and instinctively wanted to go help.
Chu Xun shouted fiercely, “You are not allowed to turn back! Go!”
The green-white python’s vertical pupils fell upon him, its roar carrying a trace of sorrow.
At that moment, a clear spiritual voice rang through heaven and earth.
“Yo-you!”
Spiritual radiance erupted as Wei Youyou leaped high from among the birds and beasts.
She first transformed into the appearance of an adult woman, then her limbs and body extended as she quickly revealed her true form as a spiritual deer.
“Yo-you!”
A beam of spiritual light surged from her body and fell into the river.
The green python, which had been critically wounded by lightning and nearly died, began healing rapidly.
Though it remained weak, its life was saved.
It barely lifted its head from the water and hissed toward the green-white python.
The green-white python turned its head slightly and roared in response.
Another bolt of heavenly lightning descended.
The white python rose toward the lightning and was blasted into the water.
“Yo-you!”
Spiritual light fell into the river and rescued the white python.
The slender white spiritual deer stepped through the air above the riverside forest.
Spiritual light burst beneath its hooves, stretching out behind it like a long trail of pale green silk.
The golden toad leaped up from the old turtle’s back and blocked one bolt of lightning.
Finally came the old turtle.
Lightning struck its shell, scattering sparks everywhere.
It endured the blow, though the soil on its shell was scorched until it nearly melted.
The second lightning bolt fell.
Then the third.
After enduring five full lightning strikes, the old turtle finally let out a pained cry, floating bloodied upon the river surface.
Spiritual light fell upon it, quickly healing its wounds.
The mud layer on its shell had been burned into a fiery red substance resembling iron and stone.
Mysterious patterns were branded across it.
They looked like lightning marks, like talismans, and like heavenly script.
Caw! Caw!
Hoarse cries pierced through the storm.
Even the gloomy sky could not conceal their figures.
The crows had arrived.
They flew together as one, like a giant bird with a wingspan of over one hundred zhang.
On their backs stood four figures, the four weasels from the courtyard.
The weasels carried a huge boulder weighing two to three thousand jin and hurled it toward the lightning.
Heavenly lightning descended and smashed the boulder apart.
Shattered stone rained down, forcing the birds and beasts along the riverbank to scatter in panic.
The crows shook their bodies, throwing the weasels down, then flew directly toward the lightning.
The “giant bird” formed from over a hundred crows blocked three bolts of lightning in succession.
Black feathers filled the sky.
Fresh blood mixed with rainwater and fell.
“Yo-you!”
The clear cry carried a trace of anxiety.
The green-white python turned back and let out a heaven-shaking roar toward the birds and beasts.
At this point, it had already passed five hundred li.
The range of the dark clouds had already been exceeded, yet the green-white python suddenly raised its body from the river.
So many birds and beasts, so many friends, had risked death and destruction to escort it here.
It was unwilling to simply pass the lightning tribulation in this way.
The lightning had struck its beast and bird friends.
So it raised its head and roared at the sky, using its water-control power to trigger towering waves.
A water pillar shot up from the river, carrying it one hundred zhang into the air.
Heavenly might was provoked.
Several bolts of lightning struck at the same time.
The green-white python showed no fear and opened its mouth to bite fiercely.
Its newly grown flood dragon fangs were incomparably hard.
Even though the lightning struck its scales until sparks flew everywhere and burned them black, it still forcibly shattered the lightning.
The power of lightning crackled and hissed, nearly burning through its flesh.
Yet a piece of dark cloud was bitten down by it.
It swallowed viciously. Smoke rose from its mouth and nose, but it still showed no intention of retreating.
More than five hundred li of earth qi was absorbed into its body, making its bones even harder and its bloodline even purer.
Only after heavenly lightning struck it down did the green-white python crash heavily into the Songliu River.
Spiritual light fell upon it, healing its injuries.
The green-white python shook its head and tail, rushed out from underwater, opened its bloody mouth wider than a house, and roared at the dark clouds.
Chu Xun shouted, “Do not delay. The next tribulation is coming!”
Only then did the green-white python restrain itself slightly and swing its tail to swim forward.
At that moment, an east wind blew.
It made the python tremble all over.
Its scales, which could withstand several bolts of heavenly lightning, were actually lifted directly by a single gust of wind.
Blood flowed freely.
“Wind tribulation!”
Chu Xun’s gaze sharpened, and he flew upward.
The metal-essence treasure sword he had spent nearly forty years forging slashed toward the direction of the wind.
Metal essence enters the weapon, cutting evil and countering wind.
“Break the wind!”
The sharp metal-essence sword qi split the east wind in two with a single stroke.
Chu Xun immediately sensed that this was no ordinary wind.
Even after being cut apart, it still retained the power to scrape bone and peel skin.
The long sword became brighter, its fine golden light even clearer.
Chu Xun let out a low groan and swung the sword again.
Over a dozen sword qis exploded at once, completely shattering the remaining wind force.
The sparse remnants could no longer harm the green-white python.
Chu Xun landed on the python’s thick body and stood there with sword in hand.
The green-white python swung its head and tail, quickly advancing along the Songliu River.
Waves surged, rising dozens of zhang high.
In shallower parts of the river, the water was directly emptied, exposing muddy riverbeds.
Large numbers of fish and shrimp were thrown onto shore, waiting for fortunate people to come collect them.
At that moment, a south wind blew.
Chu Xun swung the sword.
The sword was sharp.
The wind was crippled.
Then it vanished.
After that came west wind and north wind, one after another.
The metal-essence treasure sword cut wind and countered wind, unstoppable.
The sword grew brighter.
Its edge grew sharper.
Its sword qi became even more restrained.
After the four wind evils were cut down, even Zhang Jingheng could not help saying, “Only now can this sword truly be considered fully refined.”
Chu Xun shook his head.
The sword was indeed good.
But in essence, it was still a collision of Five Elements power.
Calling it refined was not wrong.
Yet in truth, it had not been truly refined.
Because even now, he still needed a sword to carry the power of the Five Elements.
Only one day, when there was no sword in his hand, would it truly be refined.
The winds from east, south, west, and north dispersed.
Yet the wind tribulation had not passed.
At the same moment, four winds blew from different directions.
Each was fiercer than before.
Standing upon the python’s body, Chu Xun swung his sword again and again.
After four winds were cut down, eight more arrived.
Sixteen.
Thirty-two.
In the end, wind came from every direction, completely surrounding the green-white python.
Even though the metal-essence treasure sword was extremely marvelous, Chu Xun still could not handle them all.
If the wind even brushed against him, his skin and flesh were torn open, and even his bones were scraped apart.
This wind was far more powerful than the astral wind of the old bat back then.
The green-white python’s body was enormous, and there were always places Chu Xun could not cover.
Before long, it had suffered many severe injuries.
Chu Xun had also received many wounds.
Fortunately, the sound of “yo-you” kept ringing beside them.
Spiritual light fell, quickly healing the wounds of both man and python.
At that moment, the green-white python’s body suddenly trembled violently, almost throwing Chu Xun off.
Its enormous body twisted, and a series of muffled explosions sounded from everywhere within it.
Chu Xun focused his eyes and saw an invisible wind blowing out from inside the green-white python.
Its insides were already soft.
How could they withstand such an evil wind?
The green-white python’s roar shook the sky as its blood rapidly dyed the river red.
The spiritual deer’s healing light could not restore the wounds.
Chu Xun swung his sword and cut only the evil wind that had emerged from the body.
But the wind inside still blew endlessly.
The green-white python’s scales, flesh, and bones were all being shredded.
Bloody holes opened everywhere, exposing shattered bone fragments and internal organs. The sight was horrifying.
The external winds were merely wind evils.
This final wind was the true wind tribulation.
It came from within to without, impossible to block.
Who knew how many giant pythons transforming into flood dragons had endured the lightning tribulation and wind evils, only to be blown into piles of white bones by this invisible wind?
“Yo-you!”
The spiritual deer’s cries grew even more urgent.
Its spiritual light fell like misty rain, but it could not keep up with the speed of destruction.
The green-white python roared sorrowfully.
Almost half of its body seemed to be melting like ice and snow.
Barring any accident, it would die beneath the wind tribulation.
Chu Xun’s expression darkened slightly.
The wind tribulation was terrifying, but there had to be some way to restrain it.
Otherwise, if every python died at this step, how could there be stories of flood dragon transformation in the world?
But his own methods, including the metal-essence treasure sword, could only restrain external wind evils.
This final wind blew from inside.
Zhang Jingheng, who had been following all along, asked in a low voice, “Where does this wind come from?”
Chu Xun was startled by the question.
Inspiration flashed through his mind.
Lightning came from brewing within dark clouds.
Then what about wind?
Wind also had to have a source.
Chu Xun’s gaze shifted as he used incense divine ability.
Qi-Gazing and Fate Perception.
This divine ability was originally used to observe the fate and life flame of others.
Now, he aimed it at the green-white python.
He saw that both its life flame and fate were continuously declining.
Its green-and-white mixed fate resembled mountain ridges, rising from low to high, then falling from high to low.
Now, it was slowly dropping.
The heavier its wounds, the lower it fell.
A snake lies in the shallows.
A dragon soars into the sky.
Chu Xun saw clearly that the invisible wind was blowing from its fate.
In that instant, understanding dawned in his heart.
When a python transformed into a flood dragon, the wind tribulation did not come from the outside.
It was caused by the change in its own fate.
It was like a farmer who spent his life with face turned to the yellow soil and back to the sky.
There was nothing dangerous about that in itself.
But if one night, that farmer suddenly sat high in the imperial court, danger would naturally arrive.
Many people would not understand why he was there, nor would they want to see him sitting there.
Therefore, that farmer had to die.
A python transforming into a flood dragon was the same.
It rose from the fate of a python into the fate of a flood dragon.
How enormous was the gap?
The fate between heaven and earth naturally had its own unseen order.
“To transform into a flood dragon… first cut away the old fate!”
Chu Xun understood.
Without hesitation, he swung his sword toward the green-white python’s fate.
The sword fell, severing its fate.
The severed fate scattered and fell upon the birds and beasts running along the riverbank with them.
This was the fate the green-white python had accumulated over one hundred years.
Like fish and shrimp tossed upon the shore.
Only those with destiny became these birds and beasts.
More or less, each of them received a portion of fate.
In an instant, their minds shook, and they stopped in confusion.
At the same time, new fate was born from the green-white python’s body.
The severed fate had belonged to its former python body.
The new fate belonged to a flood dragon.
It was like the farmer who had accidentally ascended to a high position in court.
From then on, he held heavy troops and wielded power.
No one dared touch him lightly again.
That invisible wind dispersed at last.
The new fate grew from small to large, gradually ascending into a dragon.
Chu Xun let out a slight breath of relief. Then he looked at the birds and beasts along the riverbank and could not help laughing.
“You all got quite the bargain.”
The birds and beasts had only wanted to send off the green-white python.
Unexpectedly, they had accidentally picked up this fate.
Spiritual light continued falling, and with fate supporting them, their injuries recovered quickly.
The green-white python roared several times toward the birds and beasts on the shore, as though bidding farewell.
Yet the birds and beasts were still dazedly digesting the fate and could not respond.
Only the crows circled in the sky, cawing several times toward the green-white python.
They did not continue following.
Instead, they chose to remain behind and protect the birds and beasts along the shore.
Otherwise, commoners might arrive and kill them.
Chu Xun raised his head toward the crows and said:
“In the future, find a good place to settle. This place can no longer contain you.”
Zhang Jingheng was right.
There were already too many birds and beasts.
Together with their gradually increasing cultivation, their groups had to find a wider place to survive.
Otherwise, living here would not only be difficult for them, it would also leave the common people nowhere to go.
As for where they should go, Chu Xun did not say.
He believed that under the old crow’s leadership, they would find a suitable place.
After accompanying one another for a hundred years, parting here naturally brought some sorrow.
But just as when the spirit pearl grass had left years ago, these things were only temporary.
If they succeeded in cultivation and could transform like Wei Youyou, then one day, they would meet again.
The world was vast.
But it was not boundless.
The green-white python continuously absorbed earth qi.
By now, it had already swum six hundred li.
Beyond this lay Mingzhu Prefecture.
This place had once been the capital of the previous dynasty, but years of war had left it devastated.
The founding emperor had risen in rebellion here.
But after establishing the dynasty, he did not choose this place as the capital.
Yet Mingzhu Prefecture’s earth qi was far richer than Mingxiu Prefecture’s.
It was even not inferior to the capital.
If some years passed, perhaps this place would once again become a new land where dragons rise.
When the green-white python reached this place, it sensed an energy that matched itself.
At the same time, the water tribulation arrived.
Large amounts of Ren Water Essence emerged on their own from the river, attaching themselves to the green-white python like maggots clinging to bone.
If it were another python, it would have to absorb and merge with this Ren Water Essence as quickly as possible.
A single moment of delay would cause the essence to wash it away until not even bones remained.
But to the green-white python, this tribulation was the simplest and posed almost no danger.
It had swallowed Ren Water Essence for years and already possessed a degree of water-control ability.
It was like its peers still waited for the starting signal, while it had already run halfway ahead.
Now, these Ren Water Essences not only failed to injure it, they instead restored all its wounds.
On its head, a bulge formed and gradually pushed outward into a thick horn.
It was not like a true dragon’s majestic branching horns.
Instead, it was thick like a pillar.
This was a blunt flood dragon horn, representing tremendous potential.
At that moment, a low shout rang out.
“Bold python spirit! How dare you come to my Mingzhu Prefecture to transform into a flood dragon!”
The prefectural City God had long received the heavenly order and had arrived here with his underworld deities to obstruct it.
However, a mere prefectural City God was not enough to stop a flood dragon transformation.
A figure appeared from nowhere above the Songliu River.
It was a man wearing green robes, with a black jade token at his waist and a feathered crown on his head. He looked imposing and majestic.
“I am the Earl of the Songliu Ji River! Bold python spirit, how dare you defy heaven!”
The Ji Earl was not an orthodox god of Jing Kingdom, but belonged to the entire Songliu River.
His true residence was extremely far away.
His strength was almost equal to a capital City God.
This was the proper god sent to obstruct flood dragon transformation.
The prefectural City God was merely a supporting presence.
Yet after these two orthodox gods finished speaking and looked more carefully, they both froze.
They saw a figure standing atop the enormous python that had nearly completed its flood dragon transformation.
He held a long sword and looked coldly toward them.
That sword was covered in golden light that made one’s heart tremble.
It was actually a rare and powerful metal-essence magic artifact.
Even more shocking to them was the person beside him.
A radiant golden figure.
“Complete merit! A golden body formed immediately!”
The Ji Earl cried out in shock.
Jing Kingdom had produced such a figure?
Immediately after, a nearly pure white spiritual deer with faint spots stepped across the water and landed on the python’s body.
“A transformed great demon!”
The prefectural City God instinctively retreated.
He could deal with such a transformed great demon.
But the spiritual light on the deer was far too upright and pure.
It carried the vigorous life force of all things growing.
In the perception of underworld deities, it was like a blazing fire burning in the black night.
The two powers countered one another, and neither side wished to approach the other.
One human.
One merit golden body.
And one transformed great demon.
The Civil Judge of Mingzhu Prefecture took half a step back and whispered to the prefectural City God:
“My lord, I fear this will not be easy to block…”
How could the City God fail to understand?
This was more than “not easy.”
If handled poorly, they would die.
But with the heavenly mandate upon them, they had no choice but to obstruct.
Suppressing his thoughts, the Mingzhu Prefecture City God recognized Zhang Jingheng’s identity and stepped forward.
“Chancellor Zhang was Jing Kingdom’s prime minister. Why would you defy heaven and help a python spirit transform into a flood dragon?
Such an act of bringing disaster to the nation and people… you, as Chancellor…”
Before he could finish speaking, a streak of sword light slashed across the distance.
It was more than ten zhang long and several zhang thick.
The Mingzhu Prefecture City God was startled and quickly threw out his jade tablet of merit.
The sword qi struck it heavily, sending the jade tablet flying backward.
Although it did not shatter, some of its merit was cut away.
The Mingzhu Prefecture City God was furious and shouted sternly at Chu Xun, “You are also someone who has attained the Dao through cultivation. How dare you act like this!”
Chu Xun was too lazy to waste words with him.
He slashed again.
He would have to kill them sooner or later anyway.
It was convenient to do it now.
At the same time, the green-white python shifted its thick body ashore and opened its mouth to bite toward the underworld deities.
The Ren Water Essence it had not yet fully digested mixed with its saliva, terrifying the underworld deities and forcing them to dodge in panic.
They had never seen anything so unreasonable.
In the past, pythons undergoing flood dragon transformation would at this point be overwhelmed by the water tribulation.
A single mistake would lead to death and Dao destruction. How could they have time to fight back?
They could then attack together and kill it.
But the green-white python did not need to digest the Ren Water Essence at all.
No matter how much came, it would not have much effect.
So overbearing.
So unreasonable.
The Mingzhu Prefecture City God cried out in shock as a suddenly appearing Heavenly One Divine Water Pearl struck his body.
Thick black smoke rose from him.
He hurriedly used the City God seal to defend himself.
The jade tablet of merit protected him from the front, and he originally believed it could block the attack.
But Chu Xun leaped up and landed before him.
He did not swing his sword again.
Instead, he opened his mouth and blew a breath at the City God.
The breath drifted lightly to the City God’s face, yet it carried the ability to scrape bone.
“Divine ability!?” the City God cried in shock.
Before he could react, he sensed something even more terrifying within it.
“Karmic fire!”
The Water Minister status governed winter storage and feng shui.
But right now, the Songliu Water God’s spirit was suffering karmic fire in Chu Xun’s place.
Using divine ability would also carry karmic fire.
Karmic fire wrapped around the body was something other immortals and gods were unwilling to touch.
Like a wandering beggar covered in rotten sores.
Which brightly dressed noble or official would be willing to touch him?
What if they caught disease? Would that not be pure misfortune?
The Mingzhu Prefecture City God had not expected that the person before him, who appeared to be someone who had attained the Dao through cultivation, could not only use divine abilities of immortals and gods, but also carried karmic fire.
He was immediately horrified.
Not human, not immortal.
Not demon, not god.
What exactly was this thing?
The karmic fire had already burned toward him, and the Mingzhu Prefecture City God could not dodge even if he wanted.
As it spread over him, he hurriedly waved his jade tablet and used merit to extinguish the fire.
Chu Xun watched in surprise.
“So this is how karmic fire is extinguished?”
Thinking about it, that made sense.
Karmic fire originally appeared due to damage to merit. Using merit to offset it was perfectly normal.
But how much merit could one mere prefectural City God possess?
Chu Xun blew several breaths in succession.
Each breath carried karmic fire.
The Mingzhu Prefecture City God had no choice but to keep waving his jade tablet, while also activating the City God seal to shoot out black-red light and pin Chu Xun in place.
If Chu Xun kept blowing like this, all his merit would be blown away.
But as soon as the black-red light emerged, the green-white python rammed it aside with its head.
The City God glanced sideways and was instantly filled with rage.
He saw the many underworld deities under his command melting like snowmen beneath the blazing sun, riddled with holes by huge amounts of Ren Water Essence as smoke rolled from them.
“My lord, save me!”
The Civil Judge, Martial Judge, Black and White Impermanence, and many ghost officials cried out in terror.
They did not want to die.
Even if they could be revived, they would no longer be their current selves.
The spiritual deer, who had not acted before, hopped over and curiously stepped on the Martial Judge with one hoof.
A hole immediately opened in the Martial Judge’s body, and even more black smoke poured out.
“Yo!”
The spiritual deer hurriedly leaped far away.
How could the Mingzhu Prefecture City God have time to care about them?
Chu Xun, who had regained movement, took advantage of his distraction and cut half his body open with one sword, causing endless black smoke to surge out.
Before he could cry out, Chu Xun tossed out several Heavenly One Divine Water Pearls and struck the City God seal.
The seal instantly looked as though it had been eaten by insects, rapidly becoming riddled with holes.
Even if it emitted black-red light again, it no longer had the same effect.
Seeing the situation turn bad, the Mingzhu Prefecture City God turned and fled without hesitation.
How could Chu Xun let him escape?
He immediately chased after him.
At the same time, Zhang Jingheng had already begun fighting the Ji Earl.
The Ji Earl was extraordinary, comparable to a capital City God.
His divine abilities were also closely connected to water.
Ren Water Essence came at his command.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Zhang Jingheng’s rare merit golden body.
The Ren Water Essence struck it but could not shake it at all.
Unless he triggered karmic fire like Chu Xun, he could not wear away the merit.
But Chu Xun had the spirit of the Songliu Water God taking the disaster for him.
The Ji Earl would never dare do such a thing.
Otherwise, before Zhang Jingheng’s merit was exhausted, he himself would already have been burned to death by karmic fire.
Zhang Jingheng’s divine ability was words becoming law.
Although it had certain restrictions and could not truly destroy heaven and earth.
Against one Ji Earl, it was more than enough.
Under verbal condemnation and written judgment, the Ji Earl struggled greatly.
He could only shout, “You achieved your golden body through the merit of Jing Kingdom! How can you disregard heavenly mandate now and help a python spirit transform into a flood dragon?”
Zhang Jingheng’s expression remained calm.
“This Chancellor’s merit came from the people of the world. It was for the common people, not for the nation.”
Even if it had been Chen Kingdom, Yue Kingdom, or Wu Kingdom.
No matter where he had been, he would still have obtained this merit.
It was not something that existed only because he had been in Jing Kingdom.
Moreover, the one he was helping was not the green-white python.
It was his uncle-in-law, Chu Xun.
He had long since repaid what he owed Jing Kingdom.
Under this sky, no one was now more important than his uncle-in-law.
After spending a lifetime serving the nation and the people, it was time to do something for his own family.
Before long, Chu Xun returned with sword in hand.
He held the battered City God seal, seizing its authority in an instant.
After releasing the City God seal, he ignored it and charged toward the Ji Earl with his sword once more.
The Ji Earl had already been evenly matched with Zhang Jingheng.
Now another Chu Xun had arrived.
In addition, with Mingzhu Prefecture’s authority seized, the underworld deities were no longer enemies.
The green-white python turned its head and opened its mouth to bite at the Ji Earl.
Its thick fangs and dripping saliva both emitted dense coldness.
Power of the same origin instead harmed the Ji Earl even more deeply.
Most importantly, he kept feeling that using his divine abilities was like being trapped in mud, completely sluggish.
How could this Ji Earl know that the man attacking with a sword possessed the Water Minister status?
Even if Chu Xun did not activate divine abilities, he was silently competing with him for control of this place.
Three against one, along with various weakening effects stacked on top of each other.
The Ji Earl sighed inwardly, knowing he could no longer obtain the merit of obstructing the flood dragon transformation.
He immediately stopped fighting, twisted around, fell into the water, and vanished in an instant.
The green-white python dove underwater to search but found nothing.
The Ji Earl’s speed in water was astonishingly fast.
“Stop chasing,” Chu Xun called back the green-white python, which still wanted to chase farther.
The green-white python emerged from the water, and in the unseen world, a heavenly mandate decree fell upon it.
It shook its head and tail, no longer roaring.
Even the waters of the Songliu River calmed along with it.
At this moment, it had passed the three tribulations of lightning, wind, and water, and had also repelled the orthodox god.
At last, it received heavenly mandate and successfully transformed into a flood dragon.
Several dragon ridges grew from its back because of this.
Not only had its injuries fully healed, even its divine abilities had become much stronger.
From this day onward, it was no longer a python.
It was a flood dragon of heaven and earth.
The Ji Earl, who had already fled more than a hundred li away, turned his head toward Mingzhu Prefecture.
His eyes were dark, his expression filled with deep helplessness.
How could one python transforming into a flood dragon have so many helpers?
This was far too unreasonable!
If he had managed to obstruct the flood dragon transformation, the merit obtained would have equaled decades of incense offerings.
“What a pity. What a pity…”
Zhang Jingheng looked at the green-white flood dragon, which already possessed a trace of dragon majesty, and sighed emotionally.
“So this is how difficult flood dragon transformation is. I truly wonder how other pythons succeed.”
Chu Xun said, “That is why, from ancient times to the present, failures are common while successes are few. With true dragons above them, why would the heavenly order willingly allow pythons to rise?”
Zhang Jingheng said, “That sounds rather similar to aristocratic families suppressing poor scholars, concubine-born sons, and common folk.”
“It is exactly the same. Do not think of immortals and gods as too detached,” Chu Xun said.
Perhaps there truly were transcendent immortals and gods free of selfish motives.
But such beings were certainly rare.
And if they were truly detached, perhaps they would no longer care about anything in the world.
Whether they existed or not would no longer matter.
Zhang Jingheng agreed deeply and asked, “What should we do next?”
He had only just finished asking when his expression froze.
Before him, powerful magic power suddenly surged from Chu Xun’s body, astonishing even Zhang Jingheng.
This magic power was several times stronger than before, and it continued growing rapidly.
In Chu Xun’s senses, aside from the growth of his magic power, something else had appeared within his body.
It was something strange, born from nothing.
Magic power surged wildly from his dantian.
The spiritual light surrounding him shifted from faint to dense.
At first it resembled thin mist shrouding the moon.
In the blink of an eye, it became like golden clouds wrapping his body, piercing the eyes until they could not look directly.
Chu Xun closed his eyes and focused his mind, looking inward.
He felt the magic power in his dantian being pulled by an invisible force, merging with his essence blood and soul.
Gradually, a hazy golden glow was born.
Like the first spark of a star, faint yet tenacious.
In moments, the golden light began shrinking and solidifying.
The scattered magic power around it flowed into it endlessly like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
The golden glow grew increasingly condensed, its halo becoming richer.
Gradually, it formed the outline of a round core.
Then, patterns suddenly appeared upon its surface.
They were neither carved nor painted, but naturally formed.
When the haziness faded, the forming core became clear and translucent.
Within it, faint strands of red light could be seen flowing.
That was essence blood transformed within it, like crimson threads twining around jade, adding a trace of vitality.
Chu Xun felt his soul tremble and his essence blood boil.
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to be summoned, gathering from all directions.
It transformed into countless strands of spiritual silk, passing through the meridians throughout his body and pouring entirely into his dantian, merging into that golden core.
The golden core became increasingly round and full.
Its purple-gold color grew brighter.
It was clear as mutton-fat white jade and translucent as immortal crystal glass.
Within, red threads intertwined, and green mist flowed.
A jade-like sheen circulated across it.
The seal-like patterns became clearer and clearer.
Faint dragon and phoenix shadows flashed across the golden core’s surface.
Though they vanished in an instant, they carried a transcendent aura.
This was the phenomenon of the Golden Core first forming.
The sign of crossing from mortal toward immortal.
It hovered in the center of his dantian, slowly rotating.
Each rotation released pure magic power that nourished the meridians throughout his body.
The previously surging magic power gradually stabilized, becoming more condensed and mellow.
Chu Xun raised his hand and swung his sword.
A sword qi slashed out, widening the Songliu River by several hundred zhang.
Compared to the Foundation Establishment stage, this power was at least ten times stronger!
Zhang Jingheng stared dumbfounded.
Though he possessed a merit golden body and had seen countless things, he had never witnessed anything like this.
From Foundation Establishment to Golden Core had happened almost in the blink of an eye.
The increase was so immense it was simply terrifying!
Was this how immortal cultivation worked?
The golden light in Chu Xun’s eyes gradually withdrew, and he slowly exhaled a vigorous breath of white qi.
“Yo!”
The spiritual deer hopped over, her body overflowing with spiritual radiance. Her dark eyes curiously studied Chu Xun.
She did not know what had happened.
But she could sense that the old master before her was no longer the same old master as before.
Chu Xun looked toward her and burst into laughter.
“Only now do I understand what it means…
Once a Golden Core is swallowed into the belly, I finally know my fate no longer belongs to Heaven!”
[End of Chapter]
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