Chapter 108 Living Sacrifice

Water and fire are merciless.

In the earliest of times, when humans lived in the Central Divine Continent, separated from the gods, they revered the stars in the sky, the mountains, rivers, and streams. Even without true gods, they still hoped that these entities, far greater than fragile humans, would respond.

And once a river breached its banks, it would submerge cultivated fields and destroy cities where people gathered.

And the people of ancient times, in order to appease the gods' anger...

Would perform a special kind of sacrifice.

The degree of sacrifice varied; the lowest involved cherished delicacies and fine wines.

And the highest level of sacrifice...

The swirling clouds above Jinshan Temple churned even more violently, like the shadow of some ferocious beast. Rain poured down, quickly exceeding the typical autumn rainfall. This sudden and irrational downpour was spreading out from Jinshan Temple in all directions.

People in the city hurried to take shelter from the rain under their umbrellas.

No one noticed the figure holding an umbrella on the side of the road. Puddles quickly formed on the road, reflecting the dim sky. The figure under the umbrella lowered their head, and no face was reflected in the puddles.

"The highest level of sacrifice to the water god."

"Is called a living sacrifice."

The voice in his memory, even now, was still incredibly clear.

The clouds in the sky pressed even lower.

The downpour seemed endless, relentlessly falling.

...

"Gonggong?!"

On Mount Longhu, the Old Celestial Master, who had initially thought that Wei Yuan's visit was nothing special, 'Is that all? This old Daoist has seen everything. A mere White Snake, just a bit more famous, what else can she do?', was shocked by the meaning of those two words. His hand trembled, and the 'tea' in his cup spilled onto the table, releasing a strong aroma of alcohol.

"Ah...careless, how did I spill the water?"

"I'm old, I'm old."

Zhang Ruosu calmly wiped the spilled alcohol from the table.

Yuanjue looked at the current leader of the Daoist sect with suspicion.

He looked down at the table, which still smelled strongly of liquor even after being wiped clean.

He looked up at the Old Celestial Master, then back down at the table.

Finally, the monk's gaze settled on the enamel mug in the Old Celestial Master's hand, and he seemed to understand something.

"Ahem, anyway..." Zhang Ruosu said, "Wanting to ask Gonggong is indeed a simple and straightforward matter, but there's another problem. The water god Gonggong is completely opposed to our position. Are you sure you can ask him?"

Wei Yuan said slowly, "His personality is arrogant, but he is also fiercely upright."

"Such a person, even if an enemy, would not deign to lie."

"As for whether Gonggong will immediately launch an attack on the Divine Continent, there's no need to worry. The seal is still in effect. Even if he awakens, it's only Gonggong's dream self, the surface part of the true main consciousness. The real ancient water god is still sleeping."

Bai Suzhen sensed the implication and said, "...If it involves taking risks, then..."

Wei Yuan said, "Don't worry, I'm quite confident in this matter."

He added, "After all, I've already had a drink with Gonggong once before."

The woman in white opened her mouth but ultimately couldn't say anything else.

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "The matter itself isn't difficult."

"However, to meet Gonggong, I'll have to borrow something from Daoist Zhang."

The Old Daoist was stunned, then saw Wei Yuan's gaze slowly sliding down, landing on his enamel mug. His mouth twitched.

After a long silence.

The Old Celestial Master stiffly raised his head and said with a hearty laugh, "Daoist Wei, your morality is lofty."

"You wouldn't want to take away the favorite drink of a lonely old man over a hundred years old...right?"

Wei Yuan's eyes were encouraging and affirmative. He smiled gently, "Celestial Master Zhang, you protect the Divine Continent."

"You wouldn't be unwilling to part with even a small material possession in the face of such a crisis...right?"

Zhang Ruosu's expression was calm.

Wei Yuan's face remained unchanged.

After a long period of eye contact, the Old Daoist sighed dejectedly, "How much do you want..."

Wei Yuan pondered, unsure, "Enough to satisfy the water god?"

Zhang Ruosu: "..."

"Just kill me."

...

After a top-tier negotiation that left the monk deeply moved.

Wei Yuan unceremoniously took a portion of the Old Daoist's secretly hidden fine wine.

That plain enamel mug, with the name of a certain People's Hospital written on it, seemed to work according to some unknown principle. No matter how much wine was poured out, looking into the mug, it seemed as full as it was at the beginning.

It was as if it could hold an entire river.

This was a divine ability mentioned in many myths and legends. Wei Yuan helplessly said:

"Using the pot heaven technique to hold wine, Daoist Zhang, this is one of the seventy-two earthly fiend techniques."

The Old Daoist watched with heartache as Wei Yuan continued to pour out wine, the wine he had accumulated little by little over so long was decreasing. He said unhappily, "That's still better than you. You cultivated the sleeve universe technique from the earthly fiend techniques and use it to buy groceries and hold seasonings."

Wei Yuan's expression remained unchanged: "Aren't divine powers meant to be used?"

"On the contrary, you, Mount Longhu clearly prohibits alcohol, yet you still do this."

"It's like an elementary school student using divine powers to cheat during an exam."

"Would elementary school students do that?"

"Not now, but it's possible in the future."

The Old Celestial Master pondered, and finally said, "Then in the future, we'll have to put some divine generals in the examination rooms to invigilate."

Completely unaware that his casual remark would cause countless examinees ten years later to sigh to the heavens, gnashing their teeth in hatred, Wei Yuan finally made the preliminary preparations to go to the East Sea to see Gonggong, stuffing the wine into his sleeve, feeling somewhat more confident.

After all, based on Gonggong's previous words and actions, he probably had a strong liking for alcohol.

Fighting was out of the question.

Only by bringing some wine and dishes could he maintain social interaction.

The Four Fiends were already so difficult to deal with just by obtaining the luck of one of the four pillars of heaven.

Wei Yuan paid the price of completely losing the Qi of Zhurong, the Breath of Zhulong, and the seal of the mountain god, and only managed to solve one of them with the Xing Tian battle ax.

Gonggong was the one who smashed the original, genuine pillar of heaven with his head.

That was the original version of the pillar of heaven.

Do you know where those four pillars of heaven came from? You have to ask this one.

Wei Yuan rubbed his temples. Although he had lost the authority of the mountain god of Chaoge, the wisp of water control ability he had gained when he led the Huai River into the sea was still there. Bai Suzhen herself was of the water element, so they could reach the East Sea by following the water veins.

The great monk seemed to consider that this was also completing a past life karma, so he went along as well.

Using a wisp of water control technique originating from the Huai River water god Wuzhiqi, their speed in the water was quite fast.

While passing through Jiangnan Province, Wei Yuan raised his eyes and sensed the abnormal changes in the water system of this area, but he couldn't identify them. After thinking about it, he flicked his hand and threw out a handful of magic beans, planting Yellow Turban Strongmen here in advance.

After that, they traveled all the way, hurrying on their journey, and couldn't spare any time to look at the surrounding scenery.

They arrived at the East Sea as quickly as possible.

Bai Suzhen was secretly amazed by Wei Yuan's ability to control water.

She herself already possessed water element abilities, and was also of the dragon race, only one step away from transforming into a white dragon. Even so, her water control ability was only slightly better than Wei Yuan's. Just as she was feeling amazed, Wei Yuan suddenly stopped.

Yuanjue and the White Snake were surprised, and then instantly sensed the unusual aura.

At this estuary, they could vaguely feel that majestic and terrifying aura.

Violent, powerful, vast, and ancient.

It was as if this vast ocean was faintly turning black, restoring the grandeur of ancient times.

The White Snake subconsciously raised her hand, a long sword with a snow-white hilt appearing in her palm. In an instant, her white dress transformed into a suit of armor, sharp and heroic, directly entering a battle-ready state. Yuanjue also placed one hand in front of his chest, and faint Buddhist light radiated.

Wei Yuan raised his eyebrows and recognized the aura.

He reached out to stop the two of them.

Then, under the astonished gazes of the White Snake and Yuanjue, he took a step forward and said with a leisurely smile and scolding:

"So it's you."

"Why aren't you being your sea god Mikoto in Sakura Island? What are you doing at my Divine Continent's estuary?"

The water surged.

Wei Yuan added, "Do you still remember the fireworks from that day?"

This time, that vast and majestic aura suddenly expanded, and then the water burst open. Accompanied by a hiss, an incredibly huge, nine-headed ferocious giant serpent appeared above the East Sea. Each head was as large as a mountain peak, soaring into the sky. Water and lightning flowed down from its scales.

A great wilderness variant, a remnant from the mountains and seas.

Nine-headed Xiangliu!

The huge, ferocious beast's nine heads slowly lowered, and its eighteen scarlet vertical pupils swept over the White Snake and Yuanjue, causing both of them to feel a chill down their spines. Then, this gaze landed on Wei Yuan, and only then did it restrain the barbaric terror of that ancient variant, with obvious fear in its eyes.

He had been ordered to guard the entrance to the Divine Continent and had also seen the scene in the mountain and sea rift.

His body swayed and transformed into a black-clad youth.

Unlike his habitual wearing of local clothing when he was on Sakura Island, this time the youth was actually wearing a dark-patterned black and red silk robe, with a jade belt around his waist, hanging a sachet, and his long hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, looking meticulous. This almost stunned Wei Yuan, completely unable to associate this polite and elegant youth with the wild and laughing savage god from back then.

Had he been directly thrown into the Divine Continent's ancient academy for devilish special training?

The Divine Continent's Divine Beast Virtue Academy?

Unaware of what Wei Yuan was thinking, Xiangliu swept his sleeves, intending to remove the dust to welcome guests.

Then, he cupped his hands, bowing slightly in a very ancient Divine Continent style, with the angle of the bow and the folds of the clothes being meticulous, and said:

"So it is... Venerable."

Venerable?!

The White Snake was surprised to hear this, looking at the gentle-faced, seemingly approachable youth.

Xiangliu pointed to the East Sea behind him and said:

"The Venerated God already knows of your visit today. Please enter the sea for a discussion."

"Please..."

ps: Today's first update...three thousand words.

I was organizing the outline earlier. As for whether there will be three updates today...depends on fate (cat head holding a wrench fixing a car emoji.jpg)