Wet viviparity

Chapter 998 Observing the Battle, External Affairs
After leaving Luogen Blessed Land, Jiang Shiliu did not return to the mountain gate to find Ancestor Hongyuan as Zhao Jiayi had suggested. Instead, he wandered aimlessly outside for many days.

Returning to the mountain gate, he had no idea what he could do.

To eke out a living, or to seek revenge?

With his current cultivation level, this is tantamount to a mantis trying to stop a chariot. At most, Ancestor Hongyuan can protect him, but he will not forcefully stand up for his fellow disciples Min and Yang.

An inexplicable force, or rather, a deep-seated resentment, compelled him to head in another direction—to the Dragon Gate.

During his arduous journey through mountains and rivers, whenever the remarkably intact human skins of his two fellow disciples, Min and Yang, flashed through his mind, Jiang Shiliu had only one thought: the place where it all began, perhaps, should also be the place of its end.

Just as he was in a daze, staggering along a tributary of the Li River, a familiar breeze carrying a faint floral fragrance brushed against his face.

"Time Flow?!"

A startled and urgent call rang out from behind him.

Jiang Shiliu suddenly turned around, and a bright light appeared before his eyes, revealing a beautiful female cultivator dressed in elaborate palace attire. She was none other than his teacher, the Flower Moon Palace Master, whom he had studied under at Jihu Mountain in the South China Sea.

"teacher!"

Jiang Shiliu felt as if he had seen a relative; his nose tingled, and he almost burst into tears.

Palace Mistress Huayue grabbed his wrist, her primordial spirit quickly scanning over it. Sensing something amiss, she immediately raised her eyebrows in anger. "What happened? Who hurt you? I know, it must have been those scoundrels from the Zhao family who humiliated you because of the Dragon Gate duel. I'll go find them and settle the score right now."

She still has a fiery temper. Although she has improved slightly after years of confinement, her protective nature remains unchanged.

Jiang Shiliu felt a warmth in his heart, but shook his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Teacher, this matter is complicated. I want to go back to Longmen now."

"Longmen?"

The Palace Mistress of Flower Moon Palace was taken aback, then suddenly realized.

She was originally a spirit that sensed that Jiang Shiliu had used the magic treasure, the Little Five Elements Ruyi Golden Ring, which was used to protect him. Later, she heard about the battle of magic at Longmen and hurriedly came all the way from the South China Sea.

"What exactly did the Zhao family do? You went to Longmen for that righteous god; you wanted to use his power." She looked sharply at her disciple outside the cave and said, "Shi Liu, to negotiate with a tiger for its skin is extremely unwise. That earth deity is definitely not a benevolent being."

Before she could finish speaking, a whooshing sound suddenly came from the sky above.

Above the clouds in the sky, Zhao Jiayi, full of vigor, held a golden plate in his hand. Behind him were dozens of elite family guards, and five hundred plague demons with green eyebrows, disheveled hair, protruding teeth, and long horns. The dark mass, filled with murderous aura, rushed straight towards the Dragon Gate.

After leaving the blessed land, Zhao Jiayi could no longer restrain himself. His heart was filled with boundless pride, and he felt that the status of the clan was within reach. This made him wish he could escape to the Dragon Gate.

Just then, his primordial spirit stirred and captured two familiar figures on the riverbank below—Jiang Shiliu, and the troublesome Master of Jade Disc Cave on Jihu Mountain, the Flower Moon Palace Master.

"In the direction of Lungmen?"

He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, thinking to himself, "As expected of a member of a dissolute sect, he still harbors treacherous intentions and wants to defect to the enemy, causing me to misplace my good intentions."

Thinking of this, a cold glint flashed in Zhao Jiayi's eyes. After considering it for a moment, he laughed from the cloud and said, "Very well, very well. Since we are on the same path, it must be fate. Let's capture the two of you first and test the power of this treasure."

He did not stop, but instead, while flying through the clouds, he threw the golden disc in his hand into the air towards the direction where Jiang Shiliu and the Palace Master of Huayue Palace were.

"Array up!"

The golden disc spun rapidly in the air, instantly expanding to the size of an acre.

Countless fine, golden rays of light, as thin as cow's hair, shot out from the eighteen corners of the disc, intertwining like living things to form a giant divine pillar, which fell head-on towards the two people on the riverbank.

Before the divine stake even landed from the sky, an invisible force of binding and fixing souls descended first, as if to extract the souls of the two people directly from their bodies and nail them firmly to the divine stake.

Palace Master Huayue's expression changed drastically. Knowing that she could not defeat this treasure by force, she shielded Jiang Shiliu behind her and a peach-heart-shaped divine streak flew out from her sleeve, like a red bridge soaring through the air to meet the divine pillar, attempting to force it back and disperse it.

The divine pillar was exceptionally resilient; the moment the silk touched it, its spiritual light dimmed and it crumbled inch by inch.

"not good!"

The Palace Mistress of Huayue was greatly alarmed; the power of this magical artifact far exceeded her expectations.

Just as she was about to retrieve her magic weapon, the Golden Armor Divine Summoning Gourd, to fight her enemy, a faint sigh came from the distant horizon.

The next moment, a hand suddenly appeared in front of the divine pillar, and with a light touch, as casually as if dusting off some dirt, a surge of scorching fire rose from the bottom of the pillar.

Before this stream of fire, the divine pillar melted instantly, like spring snow meeting the sun, leaving only scattered fragments of emerald and gold light that returned to the golden disc. Along with the power of imprisonment and soul-fixation that had enveloped it, it also vanished into thin air.

Zhao Jiayi's pupils contracted sharply, and he abruptly turned his head to look.

Not far away, on a low hill, a female Taoist in a green robe appeared out of nowhere.

A wisp of smoke rose from the top of the female Taoist priest's head, with countless sparks flying within, radiating a dazzling array of colors. Behind her, a halo of light shimmered and slowly rotated.

"Ancestor Dongji Ranfeng!"

Zhao Jiayi bowed slowly and deliberately, his face grim. Bai Ranfeng, the master of Ranfeng Island in the Eastern Pole, was one of the few cultivators in the True Spirit Sect who did not belong to any sect and achieved the status of Earth Immortal solely through his own talent and fortuitous encounters. Because of his natural Daoist principles, he often transformed into a green smoke fire crow to roam the mortal realm, hence his nickname: Fire Crow.

Behind Bai Ranfeng, another goddess in red robes stepped out.

The woman glanced at Zhao Jiayi, then at the still-shaken Jiang Shiliu and the Palace Master of Huayue Palace, and slowly said, "Young man from the Zhao family, it was just a test of your skills, why go to such lengths? Besides, your goal is above the Dragon Gate."

The woman's voice was calm, yet it carried an air of unquestionable authority.

"Who are you?"

The Crimson-Robed Goddess said indifferently, "There's no need to ask my identity. Like Fellow Daoist Bai, I'm here to observe the situation at Dragon Gate. I won't personally engage in combat or interfere with the disputes in Baoguang Prefecture. You and this Golden Feather Immortal can act with peace of mind."

Zhao Jiayi stared intently at Bai Ranfeng and the red-robed goddess, his grip on the golden disc tightening and loosening repeatedly.

Finally, he realized that his seven emotions had changed and his three corpses were moving strangely. He thought that he had been suddenly given great power, and that the bloodline restriction that had been placed on him since childhood had been lifted by the Ancestor Nazhen. Moreover, he was given a golden plate and a precious treasure. In his excitement, he was full of pride and his mind became restless.

After calming down, he remembered that the righteous god had also visited Qinghua Palace and obtained the spiritual treasure, the Green Mulberry Fan.

Bai Ranfeng was an immortal sent by his own sect to observe the battle, while the red-robed goddess must be a figure from Qinghua Palace.

At that moment, Zhao Jiayi quickly composed himself, solemnly bowed three times to the fairy and the goddess, then covered the golden plate with a talisman cloth, indicating that he would not open it until he reached the Dragon Gate. Without lingering, he led his family generals and the plague demon to continue their flight on the clouds.

"Shi Liu, don't go."

Palace Mistress Huayue cast a spell to restrain Jiang Shiliu and said urgently, "The righteous gods are finished. There is a demon immortal hidden in that magic treasure."

Jiang Shiliu did not struggle, but calmly said, "Teacher, you were actually subdued by Xiaosheng back then. Don't you want to know Xiaosheng's methods in this matter?"

"Alright, I'll go with you."

The Dragon Gate Immortal Workshop has changed dramatically.

The opulent and luxurious style that the Zhao family and the Dragon Palace originally created in the neighborhood has been covered by a large amount of rough and primitive decorations.

Zhao Jiayi, leading his household guards and plague demons, hovered in the air outside the Immortal Pavilion, their malevolent aura soaring to the heavens, causing a stir among the demons and heretics inside and outside the pavilion, as well as those at the Dragon Gate. Faced with this scene, Zhao Jiayi took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Righteous God, Zhao Jia and Yi of the Zhao family of Fulin, have come here by imperial decree. Why don't you come out and be bound at once? If you don't surrender now, when will you?"

The sound waves, imbued with true qi and magical power, echoed through the market and traveled across the river. However, despite Zhao Jiayi's repeated calls, the Zhengfa Building, the new central hub of the Yunyu Temple, remained silent and offered no response.

Zhao Jiayi's face gradually darkened. He could feel the hidden gazes from all directions—the deep gaze from the East China Sea, the cold gaze from the Lijiang Water Mansion, and the prying and gloating gazes of the many heretical leaders in Baoguang Prefecture.

These gazes were like invisible needles, stinging his face.

"Fine, since you won't come out, I'll destroy your lair and see how long you can hide." Zhao Jiayi felt he had lost face, roared angrily, and made a hand seal to unleash the Five Ghosts Moving Technique.

"Who dares to be so insolent in the temple of the deity!"

A green shadow flashed out; it was the Green Pot God of the Cloud and Rain Temple, who tossed an object into the air with a backhand.

The object grew as soon as it was exposed to the wind, and landed above the Dragon Gate Immortal Pavilion; it was a temple.

Within a radius of several dozen acres outside the temple, a howling wind raged, and ghostly shadows loomed. A defiled golden body, draped in a filthy halo and seated on a lotus platform of bones, emerged from the temple roof, forcing out the five ghosts that had been hiding in the void and drawing them into the temple bit by bit.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Jiayi abruptly tore off the talisman cloth covering the golden plate and raised the eighteen-cornered golden plate once more.

The golden disc shone brightly, and countless emerald-gold threads burst forth, once again coalescing into the enormous divine stake. The moment the divine stake appeared in the air, all the vengeful spirits and ghosts within the temple, as well as the souls of the disciples of the Cloud and Rain Temple inside and outside the Dragon Gate, were drawn onto the stake and nailed to it.

Jinji Mountain, thatched cottage.

"It's getting lively outside." A voice echoed from the mountaintop in the morning light, saying, "You should go out."

"Okay, I'll go right away, I'll go right away."

Ji Ming had already transformed into a human form, with a pair of slender arms crossed beneath him, sitting suspended in mid-air, his hands clasped in front of his chest.

He wore a black-trimmed red robe with an octagonal pattern, his silver hair was bound by an iron crown, and a mulberry fan was tied behind his waist with a yellow sash. He turned his head to the side, revealing a pair of star-shaped dragon horns above his eyes, facing the dog-guarding official beside him. "Do you think anyone will recognize me now that I have been born?"

Dog Lord was sweating profusely, feeling immense pressure.

This wasn't psychological pressure, but rather the sheer weight and solidity of the Righteous God's body; approaching him within a few feet felt like carrying a mountain range.

"Immortal Master, you will surely grant me entry into the sect this time, so that I may achieve unparalleled merit. We, the humble cultivators of the Jiaxu lineage, are willing to serve you for life under your command, to serve you like dogs and horses." Quan Shougong said with complete admiration.

"Me too, me too!" the lantern with human heads hanging under the plaque shouted desperately.

"Don't rush, let's settle the Longmen battle first."

(End of this chapter)