Wandering Gods of Day and Night

The old Taoist riding a donkey gently patted the donkey beneath him, heading towards the heavens. As he rode, he arrived beside the Heavenly God's Fire.

"Wretched and disastrous, you Sweeping Star, nothing good ever comes from your appearance in this world."

The old Taoist mocked the God of Suffering.

"Incense Fire Taoist, you often boast about your profound knowledge, so tell me—what makes a god truly a god?"

"Even an old Taoist like me can't figure out that question. You think I can provide the answer?"

The old Taoist waved his horsetail whisk and said, "It's simply that you're a Sweeping Star who stumbled upon dumb luck, having that youngster guard Mingjiang. If Mingjiang were to fall... you Sweeping Star would be utterly finished."

"I have a feeling that the disaster in Mingjiang Prefecture hasn't fully passed yet."

"Your feeling is correct. I broke the rules this time to save that youngster because Mingjiang's calamity isn't over. That youngster still has to continue saving Mingjiang Prefecture.

However, I am not one for endless interventions. I saved him once, and there won't be a second time. Sweeping Star, you'd best pray to the 'Lord' for protection—to survive this catastrophe peacefully."

The Taoist's donkey began to move farther away again.

The God of Suffering asked, "Incense Fire Taoist, did you save him because you couldn't bear for me to die?"

"If you Sweeping Star were dead, Jing Country would be much quieter. But if that youngster died, it would truly be a pity."

The God of Suffering: "..."

The God of Suffering shouted toward the riding Taoist, "Incense Fire Taoist, you broke the rules by acting in the human world. If you return to your world, aren't you afraid of punishment?"

To him, Jing Country was like a decaying machine, but even so, a machine operates according to its rules.

"Don't worry about me; worry about yourself. The gods governing Mingjiang Prefecture nowadays are no good. Watch out—they might cast you back into slumber once again."

...

"Heaven has opened its eyes—how could the fire on this soul suddenly just vanish?"

Lord Jiu was the first to notice Zhou Xuan's soul being restored, but how it was restored, he couldn't discern clearly.

Just as he couldn't see Zhou Xuan speaking with the God of Disaster.

"Lord Jiu, thank you for coming to Mingjiang Prefecture to lend a hand."

"As long as you're alright, I can go back and explain to your elder sister."

Lord Jiu wiped his wine-soaked nose, chuckling as he retreated into the Fierce Sun's reflection.

Xia Jin, on the other hand, fired three celebratory arrows toward Zhou Xuan to mark the rebirth of Zhou Xuan's soul.

"Xiao Xuan, fortune favors the righteous."

"I feel lucky too—somehow I always manage to turn peril into safety, misfortune into blessings."

Zhou Xuan was joyful, but what cheered him even more was that he'd figured out why the donkeys of Jing Country, upon awakening their spiritual powers, could travel across time-space worlds.

The Taoists guarding time-space worlds always rode black donkeys. So naturally, the descendants of those black donkeys could traverse time-space worlds!

"This is knowledge that Ya Zi wouldn't know."

Zhou Xuan laughed and whistled toward Xia Jin. "Old Xia, the eleven reservoirs of Mingjiang Prefecture have been secured. I should head home; this Divine Soul Day Trip has left me exhausted."

"You deserve a rest," Xia Jin said, holding his bow with one hand. "The reservoirs are stabilized, Mingjiang Prefecture is safe now. What's left is for the Divine Lantern to enter the Prefecture City and slay all those rioting kidnappers."

"You all carry on—I'm going to sleep deeply."

Just as Zhou Xuan waved and prepared to leave using his Day Trip Soul, a sudden disturbance erupted from within the reservoir.

The entire reservoir began to tremble.

The force of vibration extended from the reservoir's walls to the water within.

Energy converged from all directions toward the center of the reservoir, and with a "boom," the reservoir's water rose into waves dozens of meters high.

"Are kidnappers causing trouble again?"

...

Beyond the Heavenly Dome of Jing Country, a vast cloud surged and twisted layer upon layer, crashing fiercely toward Mingjiang Prefecture.

"Boom!"

The massive force shook Mingjiang Prefecture's land endlessly.

The eleven reservoirs responded to the tremors, continually surging waves.

"Taiping Monk, you've initiated the plan to destroy Mingjiang Prefecture. Where's Mingjiang Prefecture's passageway?"

"I want the passageway."

According to the plan, Yunwu Venerable, who was in league with Mo Tingsheng, leveraged the Buddha Country Main Brain and linked it to another main brain hidden within Mingjiang Prefecture, realizing that Mingjiang Prefecture had already been thrown into chaos.

Meanwhile, based on the plan,

Mo Tingsheng was supposed to gather the souls of over ten million ordinary citizens to smash open a passageway.

But now, Yunwu Venerable didn't see any passageway. He could only slam his own body into it.

...

Under Yunwu Venerable's relentless strikes, the eleven reservoirs of Mingjiang Prefecture surged with violent turbulence. Initially, waves were only about ten meters high, but they soon reached over tens, even hundreds of meters.

Waves churned, countless water columns surged beyond the reservoir gates, flooding into river channels.

"Someone with immense incense fire power is targeting Mingjiang Prefecture."

The painter realized something. He recalled Zhou Xuan's description of the plan to destroy Mingjiang—the involvement of one individual working with Mo Tingsheng.

That person was Yunwu Venerable, the Buddha Country figure ranked eighth and eyeing the ninth position.

The reservoir's waves carried water columns rushing outward. Although the volume from the columns wasn't comparable to opening the reservoir gates fully,

when eleven reservoirs each released even modest amounts of water, the combined flow could still trigger a considerable flood—it couldn't destroy Mingjiang Prefecture, but it could bring disaster to hundreds of thousands of people.

The painter dispatched a secret message... Eliminate the walking corpses with me. Then let us follow the flood currents to save the people of Mingjiang Prefecture, saving as many as we can.