Chapter 197: Chapter 194 Out of One’s Mind
Heavy rain poured relentlessly, and most of Fufeng County was already enveloped by dark clouds.
The water of Fengquan River surged rapidly, and by the time it reached the downstream, a great tide rose, its waves crashing against the ground with a thunderous sound before receding slowly, leaving behind two drenched figures.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Fang Yesheng coughed out a great deal of water, standing up in a rather bedraggled state and cursing, "Useless!"
Despite all the effort and collaboration, they had failed to achieve their goal, and in the end, they even had to make a disgraceful escape.
Fang Yesheng remembered the moments when the tide surged, not daring to use his True Qi for fear of being detected, and his resentment deepened.
Zhong Shenxiu, despite his injuries, entangled Yang Ji, the Sword Cultivator, and Xiao Jiuniang, while Jiang Li, with his Seventh Rank strength, killed two Sixth Rank experts. Moreover, he even fought Yang Ji alone and emerged victorious. The pressure these two had brought upon Fang Yesheng and the others was so immense that they preferred not to use their True Qi even in a flood in order to survive, rather than risk the chance of being discovered.
Fortunately, Fang Yesheng had survived without drowning for not using his True Qi.
Thinking this, Fang Yesheng couldn’t help but take a deep breath, and his gaze was unconsciously drawn to the other person who had come ashore.
Lying awkwardly on the damp ground was a beautiful woman in a fire-red gown that clung to her undulating figure like mountain peaks, revealing an alluring figure with three fox tails extending from beneath the dress, limp on the ground, adding a cruel beauty of desecration.
Fang Yesheng, after all, was a Taoist, who often engaged in cultivation practice; while his Mental State might not be superior, it was at least not poor. But at this moment, catching sight of Xiao Jiuniang’s figure, his breathing became uncontrollably rapid, heaving as if an old ox plowing a field.
"This..."
He took a step forward as if entranced.
"Not good!"
A Pure Light suddenly shone from within his chest, a Jade Talisman flashing with light. Fang Yesheng abruptly came to his senses, "Bewitching Technique!"
But it was too late.
Xiao Jiuniang, who was lying on the ground, suddenly raised her head to look at him, her vertical pupils meeting Fang Yesheng’s gaze, and her three fox tails swelled and lengthened like ropes, binding Fang Yesheng’s arms and a leg.
"Uh-ah—"
Fang Yesheng let out an inexplicable scream, his body tensed, and fluid burst forth from his lower body, while tears, saliva, and mucus streamed down his face. His Essence Element and True Qi were out of control, frantically flowing into the fox tails.
"Devil Fox... I am a disciple of the Shangqing Sect..." Fang Yesheng struggled and shouted.
He was a disciple of the Shangqing Sect, with a background far greater than Huqi Mountain. How dare this Devil Cultivator do this?
"No choice, Daoist. Your Heavenly Thunder scared me, causing me serious injuries," Xiao Jiuniang said, crawling on all fours like a wild beast and then slowly standing up. "I’m doing this for self-preservation."
As she spoke, a vast amount of Essence Element and True Qi were absorbed, and Xiao Jiuniang stood up rejuvenated.
Fang Yesheng, on the other hand, had turned white-haired and collapsed to the ground like an old man.
"Besides..." Xiao Jiuniang let out a contented moan, "A certain lord has taken interest in your identity."
A dark green python quietly slithered to a position above Fang Yesheng’s head, raised its body to look down upon the humiliated disciple of the great sect, intimately eye to eye with him.
In Fang Yesheng’s cloudy eyes, the head of the python began to undulate, as if plants were growing within it, and its head started to transform. The dark green scales gradually receded, revealing a familiar face.
In the blink of an eye, a face identical to the haggard one took shape, replacing the python scales with human skin. In just three breaths’ time, another Fang Yesheng stood right before him.
"Heluo God," Xiao Jiuniang bowed gracefully, her gentle voice speaking, "My lord is truly heartless, to have Jiuniang deal with this young man myself. What if he had other means of safeguarding his life?"
Heluo God adjusted to his new body, his mouth opening and closing as he fine-tuned his voice, laughing, "Life-preserving methods each cost a portion of the user’s power, and although they can be restored with treasure medicine, it would be too much of a loss to spend treasure medicine for an unnecessary disciple. This young man had only one such measure, no extra tricks."
His voice had become identical to Fang Yesheng’s, even more genuine than the original.
The real Fang Yesheng was now drained of Essence Element True Energy, reduced to a piece of spent medicine, at the point where a kick of both legs might be his end, bearing no resemblance to the handsome Taoist he once was.
"Devil God Sect... Heluo God!" Fang Yesheng uttered indistinctly.
He never imagined that someone from the Devil God Sect would appear here, let alone Heluo God, the only one of the Nineteen Demons who had been promoted.
"Indeed, it is I," Heluo God said with a smile, "How could such a grand event go on without the participation of our sect?"
He stood naked with his arms wide open, deeply inhaling the post-rain air. "This lingering Disaster Qi is exactly what I love."
Giant Snake Baqi was a Calamity God, relishing in disaster Qi and capable of absorbing it to increase his cultivation and heal his wounds. Having suffered a great loss at Dinghu Sect and still not fully recovered, Heluo God was in urgent need of a vast amount of disaster Qi for healing.
And his chosen place for healing was Yong Province.
Feeling the stirring disaster Qi, Heluo God spoke with great anticipation, "Finally, we have come to this point."
With that, he reached out a hand, and a finger like a serpent pierced into Fang Yesheng’s forehead.
...
...
On the other side, the chief disciple of Buddha Country, faced with the threat of the four people, eventually lost his composure and didn’t dare to continue playing the role of the one who poses riddles. He was about to reveal what he knew.
Unexpectedly, before he could speak, the water flow of Fengquan River began to accelerate, its sound drawing the attention of all present.
Zhong Shen Xiu, who was closest to the river, turned around and was shocked to find that the water level of Fengquan River was rapidly decreasing, having dropped by two inches in a short time, and it was still receding. Even the heavy rain could not make up for the loss of the river water.
"The water source," Jiang Li said in a low voice.
The others also showed a look of sudden realization.
After all was said and done, it was still a problem with the water.
Currently, Jiang Li’s praying for rain had resolved the water disaster and temporarily averted the threat of drought in Fufeng County, but if problems arose with water sources such as Fengquan River and Qixing River, those who were destined to suffer disaster would still face it.
Even with rainfall in Fufeng County, it wouldn’t last long if the main water sources were affected. Not to mention other regions where it had not rained.
"Impossible!"
Gongsun Qingyue flew across from the other side of Fengquan River and, upon seeing the situation, immediately said, "The main waterways in each region have their own enshrined River Gods and Water Gods, ensuring that water disasters don’t arise and the waterways are safe, unless..."
Unless these River Gods and Water Gods had relinquished control over the water systems.
And right now, there was someone who might just be able to do that.
—Ji Chengye!
Drought and flood were inseparable issues.
River Gods and Water Gods could control water disasters, and likewise, they could cause droughts.
Ji Chengye on the other side was all in.
If the previous drought could still be passed off as a natural disaster, the current anomaly was clearly man-made. Commoners might not know about the cultivators’ methods of inducing rain or understand the variable powers of Dao Fruit, but they were well aware that the courts managed most rivers.
If there was a problem with the rivers, the court would surely be blamed.
At that moment, those present almost thought Ji Chengye had gone mad, taking matters to such lengths.
Even if he succeeded, what then? Ji Chengye would not be able to escape responsibility, and might even lose his life as a consequence.
"Master Yuan Zhen, you are capable of sword flight. Please go and see where the water from Fengquan River ultimately ends up," Zhang Daoyi said to Yuan Zhen.
After realizing that he had misunderstood Yuan Zhen, he felt a twinge of guilt and now, in front of others, he was even more determined to demonstrate the camaraderie between members of the Daode Sect, speaking very politely, almost as if he were the junior.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhen nodded slightly, a pure white Sword Light wrapped around him as he flew downstream with the flow.
"Junior brother, go and take a look as well,"
Gongsun Qingyue flew next to Jiang Li and landed, speaking in a low voice, "Be careful."
Jiang Li nodded lightly, then suddenly rose with the wind, streaking across the sky.
At this point, even Jiang Li felt that Ji Chengye was truly ruthless. Regardless of his motives, worth or not, such a relentless approach alone was enough to warrant labeling Ji Chengye as extremely dangerous.
If such a person became an enemy, he should be killed whenever possible, without letting any opportunity slip by.
This time, Ji Chengye had to be taken down, or else they would have to be on constant guard against him in the future.
Riding the howling swift wind through the rain, he had already flown out over a mile.
"Hmm?"
Jiang Li’s gaze shifted, spotting Yuan Zhen, who had set out first, not far ahead. The pure white Sword Light had stopped at a fork in the river, seemingly hesitating about which direction to choose, but upon noticing Jiang Li approaching, the Sword Light immediately entered the river path on the right.
Jiang Li slowed down the wind, hovering above where the Sword Light had just paused, looking down to see two branches of the river both appearing equally turbulent, with no clear sign of an issue on either side.
Yuan Zhen had paused, probably also hesitating about which way to go.
Upon seeing Jiang Li’s arrival, he decisively chose the right path, implying that Jiang Li should head left.
However...
Jiang Li grabbed with his hand, and a stream of Innate Qi solidified in front of him, while his other hand took out Emperor Wen’s coins.
Jiang Li had a better idea—when in doubt, cast a divination.
The copper coins rose and fell six times in front of him, the divination results became clear, but Jiang Li found the outcome to be somewhat strange.
Xun above, Kun below, Wind over Earth. This hexagram suggested that those who receive it are amidst constant change, restless at heart, and should observe minutely, waiting for the right moment to act, avoiding reckless moves.
Interpreting the hexagram suggests neither left nor right should be chosen, but rather to observe from another perspective. Currently, Jiang Li was in the air, at the position above the wind.
"If we take the literal meaning of the hexagram...
Jiang Li looked down.
Complex patterns were swirling in his eyes, his gaze piercing through the murky waters, directly observing what lay beneath.