121: Chapter 121 Mutual Schemes

The water-parting flag was the life-bound artifact that Lord River God had cultivated with his own life. Once such a supreme treasure returned to his hand, it could unleash the supreme power to suppress all waters and command all monsters.

Those continuously emerging aquatic creatures all came from the depths of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven.

When Lord River God constructed the Ancient Grotto-Heaven years ago, he had already sealed the spirits of the millions of aquatic creatures under his command within it, burying a never-exhausting ambush force.

As long as the Ancient Grotto-Heaven did not collapse, those spirits would not dissipate. Lord River God could borrow the power of the water-parting flag to endlessly draw spiritual energy from the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, summoning those fallen soldiers back to the mortal realm time and time again.

Even if their bodies were shattered, they could be reborn in blood.

This was yet another contingency plan Lord River God had left behind thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, as time passed and accidents occurred, the previous several Ancient Grotto-Heavens had either been drained of spiritual energy by Li Xiuyuan or had already collapsed.

Now, only a few remained, and the number of aquatic creatures Lord River God could call upon was far less than before.

He waved the water-parting flag again, and another batch of aquatic creatures surged out from the entrance of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, roaring as they pounced toward the people fighting bloody battles on the riverbank.

Soon, the people from the Jiantian Bureau noticed something was wrong.

Although the strength of these aquatic creatures was not as terrifying as imagined, this group of aquatic creatures was simply endless.

"Something is wrong. How can one batch come after another? Can there really be so many aquatic creatures in the Yangtze River?"

Gu Xiao stood on the riverbank, looking at the surging wave of aquatic creatures again, his expression growing serious bit by bit.

Not just him, the various factions in the midst of the fierce battle also felt that something was wrong.

The slaughter on the riverbank continued, blood and fire intertwined, showing no signs of stopping.

...

...

Inside the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, the grey-white sky pressed down low.

In the very center of this desolate world, a light flashed fiercely; that was Lord River God's water-parting flag.

The golden flagpole was inserted into the ground, the flag fluttering in the wind. Every time it waved, it sent out a visible ripple of spiritual energy, like a stone thrown into water, spreading out in layers.

Where the ripples passed, the aquatic spirits sleeping underground in the Ancient Grotto-Heaven would awaken.

They surged out from the cracks, and under the summons of the water-parting flag, rushed toward the exit, merging into the Yangtze River, and charging toward the humans fighting bloody battles on the riverbank.

Lord River God stood with his hands behind his back, beside the water-parting flag. His dragon eyes watched the aquatic creatures continuously rushing toward the exit, his expression calm, without a ripple.

His plan was moving forward in an orderly manner.

"Lord Dragon Lord."

A low voice reached Lord River God's ear through the Guiliu Society's sound transmission secret technique.

Lord River God replied indifferently: "Speak."

"Your instructions have been carried out; both ancient artifacts have been obtained."

The person currently contacting Lord River God using the sound transmission secret technique was the unseen leader of the Guiliu Society.

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Lord River God's face: "Very good. Next is to awaken the spirits within those ancient artifacts."

The battle on the riverbank had long since begun, but no one from the Guiliu Society was seen.

This was because before the fight started, Lord River God had ordered these people to find two ancient artifacts.

One was a broken drum, which contained the remnant soul of Xin Huan, one of the twenty-four Heavenly Lords of the Thunder Department who summoned clouds and aided rain.

The other was a rusted dagger, which contained the remnant soul of Chen Geng, the Master of Persuading Goodness, one of the six True Gods of the Plague Department.

The reason Lord River God wanted to find these two ancient artifacts was to awaken the sleeping spirits within them and unleash them into human cities to create chaos, thereby distracting the attention of all parties.

As for himself, he only needed to go to the Yangtze River estuary and wait quietly.

The final step of the Dragon Walk was to activate the dragon-transformation marks bestowed by the Heavenly Dao at the estuary, thereby obtaining the dragon position.

Although Lord River God had been resurrected, he was ultimately still in the body of a flood dragon.

Even if he wanted to ascend, he had to perform the Dragon Walk.

But he clearly had no opportunity to perform the Dragon Walk, so he could only seize Li Xiuyuan's dragon position.

Precisely because of this, Lord River God did not personally go into the water to ambush Li Xiuyuan. He could cause him trouble, he could exhaust him, but he could not kill him just yet. Otherwise, all efforts would be in vain.

Lord River God was, after all, an existence who had been willing to abandon his physical body and be trapped in the Yangtze River for thousands of years to seek a chance at survival. How could he be, as Jiang Yan thought, just an arrogant and short-sighted person?

He had not told anyone his entire plan, including Jiang Yan.

Because he could not trust anyone.

Even the leader of the Guiliu Society only knew to find the two ancient artifacts and awaken the spirits within to cause chaos in the city; as for the cause and effect, and the ultimate goal, they knew nothing.

"Little flood dragon, do not let this Lord down. I am afraid that right now, I am the one who most hopes you can reach the Yangtze River estuary."

Lord River God thought to himself.

He cast his gaze on the water-parting flag, confirmed it was still operating steadily, and then turned and strode toward the exit of the Ancient Grotto-Heaven.

...

On the other side,

Li Xiuyuan, still shuttling through the dark currents of the Yangtze River,

his five senses were still in a shielded state.

When he arrived at the next spiritual cave, Li Xiuyuan rested there as before.

And during the break, Li Xiuyuan quietly used the ancient coin to carve a complex and trivial inscription on the spiritual cave beneath him.

After finishing all this, the ancient coin was quietly tucked under his scales, as if nothing had ever happened.

"All the spiritual caves in front have already been marked with formation talismans. There are eighty-one in total. Counting them up, it is almost finished."

Qing'er's voice rang in his mind.

Li Xiuyuan said: "Yes, almost."

Only Qing'er knew that when Li Xiuyuan was walking the river, he had left obscure inscriptions at the very first spiritual cave. Along the way, he had carved over seventy in total.

Those inscriptions were obscure and difficult to understand, with complex strokes like heavenly books; they were all formation talismans.

In the previous Ancient Grotto-Heaven, Li Xiuyuan did not kill Lu Shuang. After coming out, before leaving, Lu Shuang privately found Li Xiuyuan and gave him a formation called the Ten Thousand Spirits Heavenly Lock Formation.

The purpose of this formation was that once activated, it could trap enemies in unexpected situations.

After all, she had saved her life, so as a reward, Lu Shuang gave this formation, which was useless to her, to Li Xiuyuan.

She never thought about what situation Li Xiuyuan would use it in, just treating it as a thank-you gift.

And Li Xiuyuan realized that Lord River God would absolutely not watch him successfully complete the Dragon Walk, so he also began to lay ambushes in secret.

Given the situation, Li Xiuyuan used whatever means he had.

...

Linjiang City,

This city, a few hundred miles from the Yangtze River, had become more prosperous than before after the spiritual energy recovery, with high-rise buildings and heavy traffic.

A black off-road vehicle drove from the suburban road and stopped in front of the commercial plaza in the city center.

The car door opened, and seven or eight people walked out.

Each of them was dressed very ordinarily, with no abnormalities visible.

Several people came to the trunk of the car and carefully lifted out two wooden boxes.

In the afternoon, people were coming and going in the plaza.

There were young parents holding their children, elderly people leaning on canes for a walk, and several couples taking wedding photos in a corner of the plaza.

The aroma of grilled skewers drifted from the distant food street, mixed with the cool breeze, a scene of peace.

No one noticed the black off-road vehicle parked at the edge of the plaza, let alone the two wooden boxes.

"Just here."

The leader looked around and pointed to the open space next to the fountain in the center of the plaza.

Several people placed the wooden boxes on the ground, their movements as light as if they were placing a fragile antique.

The leader squatted down and opened the first box.

Inside was a broken drum.

The drum surface was already dilapidated, with several cracks at the edges.

But even so, from several feet away, one could still feel the terrifying, violent power contained within that drum.

This was the container sealing the remnant soul of the Thunder Department True God, Xin Huan.

The leader took a deep breath and opened the second box; inside was a rusted dagger.

"Prepare."

He took out a yellowed silk scroll from his bosom, unfolded it, and began to chant.

The voice was not loud, but it carried an indescribable rhythm, every syllable heavy and obscure, full of strange power that did not belong to the mortal realm.

The broken drum began to vibrate violently, and a Guiliu Society member standing nearby saw this and immediately placed his hand on the edge of the broken drum. That person suddenly struggled violently, twitching as if struck by electricity.

Immediately after, the person stood there, eyes vacant.

At the same time, the rusted dagger also began to tremble, and another Guiliu Society member also grabbed the dagger without hesitation, showing the same condition as the previous member.

The movements of these people attracted the attention of many.

People cast curious glances, some raised their phones to take pictures, some pointed and whispered, not knowing what these people were up to.

The leader put away the silk scroll and bowed deeply to the two, his voice respectful but not humble: "Heavenly Lord Xin Huan, Master of Persuading Goodness, the younger generation, under the orders of Dragon Lord, has rescued you both from the seal."

"This is a new Golden Age. He is willing to share the world with you both; I only ask that you two take action and assist Dragon Lord."

The person possessed by Xin Huan tilted his neck, golden vertical pupils sweeping over the Guiliu Society members kneeling on the ground, and then sweeping over the crowd in the plaza who were curiously watching and even taking pictures with their phones, and the corners of his mouth slowly spread open.

"Share the world? Who does he think he is?"

His voice was hoarse and harsh, like metal scraping against glass.

The leader's face changed slightly: "Dragon Lord is the head of the Four Waterways, ruling the Yangtze River..."

"The head of the Four Waterways?"

The person possessed by Chen Geng spoke, his voice rough like muffled thunder, "When I was canonized as a god, he was still a little snake drilling in the mud at the bottom of the river. Now he dares to come and drive me?"

The leader wiped his sweat, then remembered that before coming, Dragon Lord had instructed that if these two were unwilling to cooperate, then he should say exactly what Dragon Lord had taught him, word for word.

"It is not really driving you, after all, Dragon Lord also said that in that era, you two were both existences that everyone feared, and your strengths were on par."

Hearing this, Xin Huan stretched his neck and frowned: "Wait, what did you say? My strength is on par with his? In terms of killing and fighting, can this plague god compare to me?"

Chen Geng immediately turned his head: "What kind of talk is that? Before the Ancient Heavenly Court was established, I was already famous, killing that group of evil obstacles until they had nowhere to hide. Could I not fight you?"

The two started arguing directly in the plaza over whose strength was higher.

Passersby stopped to watch the show and eat melons.

The leader saw this and thought to himself, Dragon Lord's guidance was indeed effective.

"Two lords, why not listen to a suggestion from the little one? No matter how much you argue, you will not come to a result. Why don't you start a competition now? Whoever kills more living beings is the strongest, how about it?" the leader asked.

Xin Huan nodded upon hearing this: "This suggestion is not bad."

"I agree." Chen Geng also nodded.

The leader was secretly happy, not expecting the task to be so easy.

"In that case, you two can start now."

Before the words fell,

A dark golden arc of electricity suddenly shot out from Xin Huan's palm, directly piercing a bowl-sized charred hole in the leader's chest.

"The first one." A crazy smile appeared on Xin Huan's face.

Chen Geng on the side was not slow to react, slapping his palm on the head of a Guiliu Society member who hadn't reacted yet, the person's head exploded, and he died on the spot.

"I am the first one too." Chen Geng grinned and said.

"That does not count!" Xin Huan glared, "I killed the leader, you killed a small fry. In terms of weight, I am ahead!"

Chen Geng sneered: "Weight? We agreed to compare the number, and you start talking about weight again. What, can't afford to lose?"

"I can't afford to lose? I am afraid you will lose too ugly!"

The two divine remnant souls possessed in human bodies stood in the center of the plaza, arguing endlessly over "who opened the business first."

The surrounding passersby had not yet reacted to what happened, only seeing someone fall to the ground, someone with electricity in their palm, someone slapping a companion to death. What exactly was this situation?

Until Xin Huan impatiently waved his hand, dark golden electric arcs exploded from his palm, heading toward the most crowded direction in the plaza.

'Boom!'

The electric arc landed, blowing up a charred deep pit.

Gravel flew, and the air wave knocked the surrounding people to the ground.

The three people closest to the center of the explosion didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were charred and carbonized.

It was only then that the passersby who were scared silly came back to their senses.

"Run!"

"Murder, murder!"

The crowd, like a poked hornet's nest, rushed madly from the center of the plaza to the surroundings.

Some fell and were trampled by the people behind, some pushed and knocked over street stalls, fruit and drinks spilled all over the ground, mixed with blood, a mess.

Chen Geng was not to be outdone, raised his hand and waved, a cluster of dark green mist surged from his sleeve, silently spreading toward the crowd on the left side of the plaza.

Where the mist passed, the leaves of the street trees withered and fell instantly, the grass on the lawn curled and blackened, and even the stone road was corroded with dense pits.

Several elderly people who ran slowly were caught up by the mist, only having time to let out a short scream before falling to the ground.

Their skin turned dark green at a speed visible to the naked eye, and they lost their breath within a few breaths.

Chen Geng turned back and held up five fingers, proudly saying: "Five."

'Snap!'

Just at this moment,

A thunder blade swept past, cutting off all five of his fingers.

Xin Huan swayed his body proudly: "Now there is not even one."

Chen Geng looked down at his severed five fingers, there was no bleeding at the cut, only dark green mist churning, his expression suddenly became extremely ferocious.

"Shameless dog breed! You are courting death!"

The two crazy gods suddenly abandoned the competition and started fighting each other.

In the center of the plaza, thunder light and poison mist intertwined and collided, gravel flew everywhere, and the killing intent was monstrous.