Wandering Gods of Day and Night

Zhou Xuan walked toward the reflection of the Fierce Sun in the reservoir.

His colossal figure reached the reflection in just two or three steps, his hands plunging into the edges of the reflection.

Instantly, a burning sensation spread from Zhou Xuan's fingertips, surging throughout his body.

It felt as though a fire had been ignited inside him,

a fire that continued to grow, scorching him with unbearable pain.

In his ears, the clamor of the undead fighting against the reservoir rang incessantly,

their fierce collisions creating a din that rendered his heart chaotic, filled with anxiety and agitation, intensifying his suffering.

Nevertheless, if Mingjiang Prefecture's reservoir were to collapse now, no fewer than tens of thousands of citizens would perish in the flood forcibly unleashed by its destruction.

"Tens of thousands of people—just how many bodies is that? Piled up, they would form a mountain higher than any ordinary peak."

At this thought, Zhou Xuan could no longer afford to care about the searing pain wracking his body. His hands had already reached into the depths below the reflection.

As soon as Zhou Xuan touched the reflection, it began to tremble violently, struggling to escape his grasp.

With every tremble, shards of blazing sunlight-like fragments broke away from the reflection, like fiery sparks, striking Zhou Xuan's chest and abdomen.

"Damn it, if you really are the sun in the heavens, then open your eyes and take a good look! How many citizens' lives are hanging by a thread, and yet you remain so uncooperative?"

Resolute, Zhou Xuan hoisted the reflection of the Fierce Sun, prompting a scorchingly intense burning sensation to multiply a thousandfold.

Even his Divine Soul was blistered and inflamed, the pain exceeding mere agony as exhaustion pressed down heavier upon him.

Zhou Xuan even began to feel a haze of drowsiness settling over him. Should he succumb to sleep entirely,

the God Traveling Department wouldn't be able to send reinforcements to secure the reservoir, and the citizens would perish.

Mo Tingsheng and Yunwu Venerable would seize the opportunity, bringing unimaginable slaughter to Mingjiang Prefecture.

"I'm the last hope for the citizens of Mingjiang. I cannot sleep."

With this resolve, Zhou Xuan turned his right hand into a blade and drove it into the abdomen of his Divine Soul.

The searing pain jolted his spirit awake, dispelling the suffocating drowsiness.

Reinvigorated, Zhou Xuan plunged himself into the water, then leaped high into the air once more, hoisting the reflection of the Fierce Sun from the surface like a fiery wheel carried upon his shoulders.

With the reflection of the sun raised, he trudged toward Xia Jin's direction, each step taken with utmost caution.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xuan's Divine Soul seemed ablaze, his head, chest, and abdomen engulfed in raging flames.

Step by step, he advanced, his grim state displayed before the heavens above Zhou Family's Troupe in Ping Shui Prefecture.

This was the reflection of the Fierce Sun, establishing a nascent link with Lord Jiu's law of nature.

The Zhou Family's Troupe, including the mentors and disciples, gazed at Zhou Xuan, who resembled a towering figure of flames. In their hearts, they naturally felt pride—this giant, with a body akin to a god-like deity, was their young master.

Yet, their hearts ached even more. Ever since Zhou Xuan narrated stories to their troupe, the mentors and disciples had mostly become his devoted admirers, viewing him as a friend.

How could they not feel anguish watching a friend endure the searing flames?

Most grief-stricken were the senior disciples and their spouses.

Yu Zhengyuan's eyes reddened as he repeatedly glanced at Zhou Lingyi, wishing he could approach the class leader to persuade her to stop their junior disciple from forcing himself further.

But he couldn't. He understood that their junior disciple was undertaking an extraordinary task.

Zhou Lingyi, meanwhile, dared not look up at the heavens. With lowered head, she feared that with even one more glance, she would be unable to resist ordering Zhou Xuan to cease lifting the sun's reflection.

Lord Jiu sighed and said, "What does Mingjiang Prefecture have to do with Zhou Xuan? Is it worth it for him to offer his life to the sun?"

"The disciple was chosen by Nuo God. Perhaps there were those who once questioned why Nuo God picked him, but after today, I doubt there will be any more questions."

Zhou Xuan continued walking. The distance he had traversed earlier in just two or three steps now seemed impossibly vast as he carried the reflection of the sun.

He shuffled forward, moving almost inch by inch.

At long last,

the Heavenly God's Fire that had always hovered above dimmed slightly,

and a voice from within the Heavenly God's Fire reached Zhou Xuan's ears.

"Is it worth it?"

"What?" Zhou Xuan, his head lowered due to carrying the reflection of the sun, didn't know who was speaking.

"You are not a citizen of Mingjiang Prefecture, nor has anyone from Mingjiang promised you a generous reward. Is it worth sacrificing your life for Mingjiang?"

Zhou Xuan turned slightly, but found no one beside him.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Heavenly God you awakened, the God of Suffering and Calamity. You can also call me the God of Despair."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan did not react with awe due to the other's divine identity. Instead, he raised the question he had been yearning to ask ever since arriving in Mingjiang:

"What is a god, truly?"

The God of Suffering found Zhou Xuan's question overwhelmingly difficult to answer.

"If it's merely immense strength that makes one a god, then aren't gods nothing but higher-level bandit chieftains?

Mortals offer faith as tribute to gods, Tangkou disciples serve gods with incense,

yet when Mingjiang teeters on the edge of catastrophe, where are the gods worshiped by the people? Where are the deities sustained by Tangkou incense?

By what right do you call yourselves gods?"

What is a god, truly?

The piercing question left the God of Suffering speechless.

Forced to confront the truth before him, he admitted, "In this moment, you, more than the five gods above Mingjiang's heavens, more than me—an ancient Heavenly God beaten into deep slumber—are qualified to be called… a god!"

"I don't care about the title of god; all I wish for is that fewer people die in Mingjiang today."

"I'll use my last strength to help you bear the sun's reflection."

"I don't need your help."

Still advancing inch by inch, Zhou Xuan said as he shuffled forward, "That you appear now shows you still care about Mingjiang's safety, but your power is too frail. If you exhaust what little strength you have left, will that fiery sphere in the heavens remain ablaze?"