A torrential downpour had raged uninterrupted for several days.
Shelang stepped out of the temple, his eyes cold and unfeeling.
"Lord!" The commander of the temple guards stepped forward, his expression deeply respectful.
"How are the villages below?" Shelang asked.
Over the past few days, he had been occupied with matters concerning the plague.
The guard commander took on a solemn look. "The villages... as of today, every one of them has fallen into the hands of Qingshui Village."
Shelang raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. "This Origin Celestial Venerable is quite daring."
Though Origin Celestial Venerable's conquest of the New Gods ruling those villages had been deliberately permitted by Shelang, no other Ancient God would have dared act so brazenly, no matter how much leeway was granted.
For instance, Ruoyu, the Ancient God of Shisha Town, had always kept a low profile—timid as a quail, never daring to provoke the New Gods.
"Lord, should I take some guards and capture him?" the temple guard commander offered.
In Kuangfeng Town, there were over thirty Purple Mansion experts among the temple guards. The commander did not hold Origin Celestial Venerable in any regard whatsoever. If they took action, tiny Qingshui Village would undoubtedly be crushed.
Shelang's gaze narrowed as he recalled the terrifying aura he had sensed that day.
"Do not clash with Qingshui Village for the time being!"
He had an inkling that a True God might be lurking nearby. It was best to lie low for now.
Once that New God descended, that deity would handle the ancient True God!
Hearing this, the temple guard commander nodded and added, "Lately, the folk in Jinshi Town have grown somewhat restless. Seeing that you have not moved against Qingshui Village, Lord, quite a few from Jinshi Town are looking to head there."
Not long ago, Nangong Wuji had struck and slain the god of Jinshi Town. Today, Jinshi Town was plunged into utter chaos, with several village-level New Gods vying for power. Many villagers wanted to flee to Qingshui Village and seek shelter under Origin Celestial Venerable, who had recently risen to prominence.
"Ignorant peasants with narrow vision," Shelang scoffed contemptuously.
To him, ordinary folk were mere frogs at the bottom of a well, seeing only the patch of sky framed by the well's mouth. Which of the other New Gods—or even Ancient Gods—did not look upon Origin Celestial Venerable as a dead man walking?
"It just so happens that they want to go to Qingshui Village, do they not?" Shelang's eyes glinted sharply. "Disperse the contents of this bottle in secret among those planning to head there."
The guard commander accepted the bottle, a playful smirk touching his lips. "As you command!"
The contents of the bottle were none other than the source of the plague. The Five Great Families had recently visited the New Gods of the various towns precisely for this purpose.
"Let them live a little longer for now, but... don't make their lives too comfortable either!" Shelang said cruelly.
With that, he turned and stepped back into the temple.
The temple guard commander left the grounds and headed toward Jinshi Town.
***
The rain grew heavier by the hour.
It had eased slightly around noon, only for the heavens to open up again by evening in a torrential downpour.
For Qi Yuan and the others feasting away, the banquets were as lively and satisfying as ever. But for the people of Jinshi Town, the weather only deepened their gloom.
The townsfolk were torn over their future. Some chose to flee Feihuang City altogether, others opted to stay in town, and quite a few resolved to seek refuge in Qingshui Village.
The following day, a blood-red light once again bathed the land.
Wei Ting carried his younger sister in his arms as he walked back from the physician's clinic. Standing nearly two meters tall with a broad, imposing frame, he was a man of few words. Their parents had died early, leaving him and his sister to depend entirely on each other.
Returning to their house, Wei Ting looked at his sleeping sister in silence.
He lifted the hem of her clothes to expose her back.
What met his eyes were dense clusters of black spots, surrounded by swollen pustules. It looked thoroughly sickening.
At that moment, the petite girl woke up, her voice feeble. "Brother... am I going to die?"
"No, you won't," Wei Ting replied. His voice could hardly be called gentle; it was stiff and dry.
Catching sight of something, he discreetly pulled his sleeve down to cover the black spots on his own arm.
"Brother, don't lie to me. Even the physician said I caught the plague and there's no saving me." The girl forced a faint smile.
Wei Ting had noticed his sister feeling unwell the previous evening. At first, he had merely brewed some herbal medicine for her. But in the middle of the night, he discovered that the spiritual energy inside her body seemed to be gnawed away by something. Dense black spots broke out across her skin, and her aura withered rapidly.
He had hurried her to the town clinic, only to be greeted by a brutal scene.
Outside the clinic sat countless sick folk just like his sister. He even saw several corpses.
One of the dead was a familiar face—the middle-aged uncle who lived next door.
Just yesterday, when Wei Ting and his sister decided to leave Jinshi Town for Qingshui Village, the neighbor's family chose not to go, but the uncle had still gifted Wei Ting some spiritual materials for cultivation to take along.
Yet here at the clinic, Wei Ting found the uncle's corpse.
The physician had told him that his sister had contracted the plague and could not be cured. He had advised Wei Ting to take her home and find a place to bury her—reminding him to seal her with a spell before putting her in the earth.
"It's fine. Just a minor ailment. You'll get better." Wei Ting was never good with words, nor was he good at expressing his feelings. Even when their parents died, he had quietly buried them without shedding a single tear.
"Brother, let's go to Qingshui Village. I don't want to die in a place ruled by evil gods." The girl grasped Wei Ting's hand. She deliberately coated her hand with a layer of magical power to prevent infecting him.
"All right." Wei Ting pulled her clothes back in place, lifted Wei He into his arms, and strode out into the rain toward Qingshui Village.
Between Jinshi Town and Qingshui Village lay several settlements ruled by evil gods. Because of this, Wei Ting moved with great caution, not daring to fly openly through the sky.
Through the sheeting rain, he saw many other townsfolk from Jinshi Town sneaking toward Qingshui Village, just like him. Many among them possessed extremely feeble auras, clearly afflicted with the plague as well.
Suddenly, Wei Ting's foot went numb, and a loud buzzing rang in his head. He felt the flesh and blood along his spine burst with agony.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Wei He asked worriedly, noticing his stumble.
"Nothing." Wei Ting felt the circulation of his spiritual energy growing increasingly sluggish, and his consciousness grew hazy. Still, he gritted his teeth, quickened his pace, and pushed forward toward Qingshui Village.
Perhaps because the downpour was so heavy, curtains of water blurring together, his vision grew increasingly dim. Pressing Wei He tightly against his broad chest, he braved the storm and pressed onward.
After what felt like an eternity, he saw a crowd gathered ahead, and the stone pressing down on his heart finally dropped.
The taut cord of his tension snapped, and his body suddenly went limp. He collapsed into the mud and rain, splattered from head to toe. Sinking into unconsciousness, the last thing his fading senses caught was a group of people hurrying toward him.
***
When Wei Ting finally regained consciousness, his eyes remained shut, but gentle voices reached his ears.
"How is the situation?"
"Godfather, the refugees from Jinshi Town all carry the plague. Their condition is very critical."
"Lord God, this plague is terrifying—it corrodes spiritual energy. Perhaps we should... drive them away..."
Hearing this, Wei Ting's heart tightened. He tried to open his eyes, but his body was completely drained of strength; he could not even lift his eyelids.
"Since they have come to Qingshui Village, they are naturally subjects of my, Origin Celestial Venerable's, domain. If they are sick, then cure them." The man speaking was, of course, Qi Yuan.
To Qi Yuan, population meant labor. There were bound to be talents among these people from Jinshi Town. In the future, he intended to visualize many immortals and gods; relying solely on the villagers of Qingshui Village would never be enough.
"Lord God, their plague is severe... It is incurable," the physician from Shijia Village said with a deep frown. The physicians from the surrounding villages had all gathered, yet they were entirely helpless against this affliction.
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Call Xiaoxue over, along with the other... Earth Gods."
He had formally appointed every villager who visualized the Earth God as an Earth God.
Qi Qi was puzzled as to why he would call Xiaoxue, but she hurried off to fetch her as instructed.
Meanwhile, Qi Yuan sized up Wei Ting, a curious look in his eyes. "Sturdy bones. Quite the big fellow."
When Wei Ting had arrived, he was clutching his younger sister. Others had tried to pry his arms open to take the little girl, but had failed completely. He held on far too tightly.
Before long, Xiaoxue and the rest of the Earth Gods arrived.
"Lord God, you called for me?" Xiaoxue looked at him curiously.
"Yes. Cast your origin divine abilities and see if you can dispel the plague from these people," Qi Yuan instructed.
The Earth God possessed quite a few authorities, and dispelling pestilence was one of them.
"Huh?" The maidservant Xiaoxue was dumbfounded. She had rarely used her origin divine ability—only twice in total, and both times were for farming.
"Just give it a try," Qi Yuan urged.
Beside them, Qi Qi showed a look of astonishment. "Godfather, can the Earth God even cure illnesses?"
She found this Earth God increasingly baffling. If governing agriculture to a degree superior to Great Venerable Youlong was already incredible, being able to heal illnesses on top of that was utterly beyond belief.
"Naturally," Qi Yuan said.
It struck him that gods from Blue Star were truly practical and versatile.
Xiaoxue promptly followed Qi Yuan's instructions and began channeling her origin divine ability.
Qi Qi immediately called out, "We pray to Heaven to dispel the pestilence and protect the subjects of my godfather's fief!"
Xiaoxue closed her eyes, and all the other Earth Gods followed suit.
A breath later, Xiaoxue opened her eyes.
A single drop of water rested on her pale hand. Crystal clear and pure, it seemed capable of washing away all pain and disease in the world.
With a flick of her finger, the water droplet burst, scattering into countless minute particles that sank into the bodies of everyone present.
Qi Yuan immediately turned his gaze toward Wei Ting. The other physicians also looked intently at the plague-ridden refugees from Jinshi Town.
"The black spots... are fading!"
"Their conditions are improving!"
"Their spiritual energy seems to be recovering as well!"
The physicians broke into hushed, astonished chatter.
Qi Yuan, on the other hand, sighed. "Not being a deity dedicated solely to epidemics, the treatment effect is indeed a bit lacking. They'll need another round before they recover completely."
The surrounding physicians fell speechless upon hearing this. Qi Qi was equally at a loss for words.
*You call that a lacking effect?!*
She felt that her godfather's remark was enough to make countless physicians die of shame.
However, a thought struck Qi Qi, and her eyes lit up. "Godfather, I noticed Xiaoxue's divine ability works by praying to Heaven. Doesn't that mean... I could pray to Heaven to turn me into a Great Venerable?"
Qi Yuan looked at Qi Qi in exasperation. "Are you trying to exploit a bug here?! The Earth God's divine ability connects heaven and earth; it's not a wishing well!"
By this time, Wei Ting had finally regained some strength. He opened his eyes and saw that his sister's pale face had regained a healthy flush. Only then did he look up at Qi Yuan. Rising to his feet, he cupped his fists. "Thank you, Origin Celestial Venerable, for saving our lives! From this day forth, Wei Ting's life belongs to you, My Lord!"
Wei Ting was habitually taciturn; speaking so many words at once was a rare occurrence for him.
"Think nothing of it," Qi Yuan waved a hand dismissively.
The other villagers from Jinshi Town were also waking up one after another, offering their heartfelt gratitude to Qi Yuan.
"By the way, how did you contract this plague?" Qi Yuan asked.
He was genuinely curious. This was a cultivation world; how had all these people randomly caught a plague—and one that was clearly no ordinary sickness?
"We don't know."
"It rained heavily yesterday, and when we woke up this morning, we found black spots on our hands."
"Overnight, so many in town fell ill, and countless died. We have no idea why!"
The refugees from Jinshi Town wore bewildered expressions. Some were overcome with grief, having lost loved ones.
"You don't know?" Qi Yuan murmured.
Beside him, Wei Ting clenched his fists tightly, picturing the corpse of his neighbor uncle. He, too, had no idea how they had caught it. But this plague had nearly killed his sister. That was utterly unforgivable. If he ever discovered who was responsible, he would never let them off for as long as he lived.
"For now, focus on treating the afflicted. We will address the rest later."
Over the next few days, Jinshi Town became a living purgatory. Every day, fresh corpses were discovered in secluded corners. Occasionally, one could see a frail young girl clutching the dead body of her little brother, trudging home with hollow, lifeless eyes.
Meanwhile, word that Qingshui Village could cure the plague spread like wildfire, prompting an ever-growing stream of refugees from Jinshi Town to make their way there.
***
Around this time, two Purple Mansion cultivators who had traveled from afar arrived at Qingshui Village.
These two were members of the Ancient God Alliance.
The leader was an elder with white hair and a white beard, accompanied by a short, stocky man. Both looked utterly ordinary, the sort who would blend seamlessly into any crowd.
"Alas, Feihuang City seems truly finished," the elder remarked, his voice laced with helplessness.
"It probably won't hold out for another three years," the short man judged. "A pity Ancient God Yuan has never awakened. Otherwise, had he joined our Ancient God Alliance, there might still have been a glimmer of hope."
"The Huang family mentioned that an Ancient God here has decent potential. Since it's on our way, we might as well recruit him into the alliance."
The two conversed as they walked into Qingshui Village. Before coming, they had looked into Origin Celestial Venerable's background. Upon learning that he possessed two remarkably high-grade God Visualization Arts, both agreed he was promising material.
"Who goes there?" Just then, the soil in front of them shifted.
A petite woman emerged from the ground, regarding them with wary eyes.
The white-haired elder smiled amiably. "We have come from afar to pay our respects to Origin Celestial Venerable. We harbor no ill intent."
"Is that so? I shall go report your arrival." The petite woman was, of course, Xiaoxue. Her figure vanished into the earth in an instant.
Roughly a hundred breaths later, inside the temple.
Qi Yuan looked at the two envoys from the Ancient God Alliance and said slowly, "I appreciate your kind intentions, but... I will not leave Qingshui Village."
Qi Yuan's stance was exceedingly firm, catching the two envoys off guard.
The white-haired elder tried once more. "Will the venerable Ancient God truly not reconsider?"
"No need."
Hearing this, the short man's eyes flickered. "I hear Your Venerability visualized two God Visualization Arts. Would you be willing to sell them to our Ancient God Alliance?"
"Not selling. I'm keeping them for my own use," Qi Yuan refused without a second thought.
The short man adopted a sorrowful, compassionate expression. "Feihuang City is destined to fall. High-grade visualization arts such as these... would only be lost to the mortal realm. For the sake of the common people under heaven, we ask Your Venerability to provide us with copies so that this heritage is not severed."
The short man's logic was simple. The god of Qingshui Village was so stubborn that he refused to leave. If these two high-grade visualization arts remained in Qingshui Village, they would inevitably be lost. Rather than let them go to waste, it was far better to give them to him. Bringing them back would count as a tremendous merit on his record.
Hearing those words, Qi Yuan's gaze turned cold. "Talking like that is rather ill-mannered of you."
The white-haired elder quickly grabbed the short man's arm, intending to intervene.
Yet the short man seemed entirely oblivious to the displeasure in Qi Yuan's tone, raising his voice: "Our Ancient God Alliance—"
Mid-sentence, however, his voice cut off abruptly. He spun around in haste, staring up at the northern sky.
Qi Yuan looked over as well.
Far to the north, an extraordinarily brilliant pillar of light suddenly crashed down from the heavens.
That light was thousands of li away from Qingshui Village at the very least, yet its brilliance was dazzling beyond measure. An overbearing, destructive, and terrifying aura swept across the land, threatening to erase all of mortal existence.
The white-haired elder's expression turned grim. "A battle between True Gods!"
An Ancient God was clashing with a New God!
Just then, another pillar of light surged upward from the earth with an indomitable momentum. Compared to the heavenly beam, this one was noticeably weaker, yet it resisted without hesitation.
Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes, watching the two pillars collide.
*Boom!*
The moment they met, Qi Yuan felt the very heavens and earth tremble.
The pillar from the sky was evidently far more powerful. It obliterated the earthen beam directly and slammed into the ground below.
Qi Yuan could not see what followed, but he could easily infer it.
The city beneath that pillar of light... was likely gone.
This world possessed an exceedingly high energy level, and its fabric of reality was far sturdier than that of the Canglan Realm. Yet a single strike from a Yin God was still enough to wipe an entire city off the map.
"An Ancient God has fallen. Alas," the white-haired elder sighed, his eyes filled with profound grief.
The clash of light had been the duel between a New God and an Ancient God. Two True Gods had collided, resulting in the fall of the Ancient God and the incineration of the city he guarded.
At that moment, the short man turned back to Qi Yuan, his eyes feverish and wild. "Do you see that?! That is the fate of staying in a fallen zone—living from dawn to dusk, never knowing when death will strike!
"Origin Celestial Venerable, your only chance of survival is to leave with us and head to the Ancient God Alliance!
"As long as you offer those two God Visualization Arts to me, I will personally recommend you for membership in the Ancient God Alliance!"
The short man was verging on frenzy—or perhaps seized by opportunistic greed.
Beside him, the white-haired elder's expression shifted drastically as he moved to restrain his companion.
Yet Qi Yuan's face had already chilled completely, and his blood-red sword cleared its scabbard.
"Anyone who dares threaten me... has yet to be born!"
A razor-sharp sword light flashed, and the short man fell, following close behind the Ancient God and the city that had just been destroyed.
Chapter 180