Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 168 Three Evil Gods Rob the Road, Sun, Moon and Stars Three Talents Formation

No sooner had Liu Qing finished speaking than a surprised voice exclaimed, "You little devil, you're quite clever! You figured it out so quickly?"

“Not bad, you’re a talented person. If you obediently hand over the power and gold, I will spare your life and keep you by my side as a servant.”

This person has a clear and melodious voice; it's a woman's voice, so she must be a goddess.

"Your Majesty, you are so merciful. We robbed him of his power and wealth, yet you spare his life and keep him by your side. Aren't you afraid of inviting a wolf into your house?"

The voice was hoarse and the tone was sinister, clearly indicating a ruthless person.

"Hmph, you two, you're so focused on power and wealth, can't you see what's surrounding that little girl?"

“I’ve never seen so many acquired spiritual treasures in my life. Since you want the power gold, then the spiritual treasure in this little girl’s hand will be mine later.”

As soon as the third voice rang out, the two people in front fell silent instantly. Liu Qing couldn't help but feel troubled for it.

The first two didn't mention Hong Gu, but judging from her external divine power and numerous spiritual treasures, one could guess she's an important junior from a powerful force.
The fact that someone can wield power and attain Dao, and that they can provide so many spiritual treasures for protection, indicates two things: firstly, the immense power behind them, and secondly, that they are highly regarded.

You think you can mess with someone like that? You're such a hothead!

In particular, the divine power emanating from Hong Gu's body is of the water element. Among all water-based beings in the world, who could bestow so many spiritual treasures upon the younger generation of their family at once?
You could count them on your fingers; they're not just the Four Rivers, but the Four Seas. Even the Dragon Kings of the Five Great Lakes aren't this extravagant.
We can't afford to mess with either of the Four Rivers or the Four Seas, you idiot. You're asking for it, but don't drag us down with you.

Liu Qing clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I humbly request that you appear before me, senior, so that we may have a word."

A few breaths later, a hundred feet away from Liu Qing, Hong Gu, and Shui'er, the water suddenly surged, and several figures appeared.

There were three people in total.

Standing in a triangular formation at three points, the water beneath their feet surged and rippled, yet the ripples did not scatter but spread outwards in a very orderly manner, clearly forming array patterns.

Of the three, the one facing Liu Qing was, as expected, a beautiful goddess, with her hair adorned with hairpins and ornaments, a face as beautiful as a flower and a figure as graceful as the moon. She was extremely beautiful, though not quite as stunning as Hong Gu, but not far off.
This goddess was none other than the Goddess of Good Water, dressed in the robes of a seventh-rank civil official, with a divine token hanging at her waist, and holding a circular array plate in her hand. She smiled gently at Liu Qing.

"I am the seventh-rank Water Goddess of the Wei River system. I have come here today because my juniors in my family begged me, and I had no choice but to bully them and borrow some of my power and money."

As he spoke, he pointed at the array plate in his hand, and the array plate spun around, emitting a mysterious light. This light seeped into the water, and instantly a Three Talents Water Array appeared.

The Three Powers Water Formation—Liu Qing seemed to have seen it in the East Sea Formation Collection taught by Hong Gu. It used the essence of water as its base, drawing upon the light of the sun, moon, and stars.
Once activated, it shimmers with sunlight, reflects the moon in the water, and twinkles with stars. It possesses the power to confuse, trap, and ward off evil spirits; its power is truly terrifying.
The array plate, a top-grade magical artifact held by the seventh-rank incense deity, the Goddess of Good Water, in the hands of the Wei River system, is the linchpin of the Three Talents Water Array.

To break the formation, one option is to break the top-grade magic artifact array plate, and the other is for Liu Qing to comprehend the profound mystery of this Three Talents Water Formation based on the Eastern Sea Classics passed down by Hong Gu, and then set up a reverse Three Talents Water Formation to break the formation with the formation itself.

To the left of the Goddess of Good Water, the manifested figure is that of a short, old man with sunken cheeks, a pointed mouth, sharp eyes, and extremely long arms that he occasionally claps.
A creature resembling a dragonfly, but with wings like a butterfly, perched near the short old man's ear. It had two long antennae, and it hissed softly, its antennae pointing towards Liu Qing.

He was wearing the armor of an eighth-rank military general, with a divine token hanging at his waist. Liu Qing strained his eyes to see that this old man was a deity, an eighth-rank mountain god of Phoenix Mountain, with incense and divine power surrounding his body, just like the Goddess of Good Water of the Wei River system, both being incense gods.

Judging from the aura it exuded, this Phoenix Mountain God possessed the cultivation of the late-stage Divine Power Realm, one level higher than Hong Gu, but not as powerful as the Goddess of Benevolence.
The aura of the Goddess of Good Water is as deep as a pool, suggesting that she has already extended into the Dharma Realm and reached the Dharma Realm Realm.

Liu Qing guessed that this eighth-rank mountain god of Phoenix Mountain still retained bird-like characteristics in appearance and movements. Perhaps he was the ancestor of the scarecrow sparrow demon who sold scarecrows. As a sparrow, he had the ambition to jump onto the branch and become a phoenix.

The last one was a burly man with wide, bulging eyes, a large nose, and a wide mouth. He wore a nose ring, was shirtless, and only wore shorts. He was barefoot, looking like a down-and-out scumbag. His expression was fierce and barbaric, and the aura he exuded indicated that he was at the late stage of the Divine Power Realm.

He wore neither the official robes of a civil deity nor the divine armor of a military deity, yet his body emanated a powerful divine energy, which, upon closer inspection, was similar to that of Hong Gu.
Liu Qing felt a chill run down his spine. This seemingly impoverished man was actually a master of power and the Dao.

Although he possessed the power to attain the Dao, he had not assumed a divine position. He was clearly a minor deity like Shui'er. The burly man's bull-like eyes were fixed on the various magical treasures in Hong Gu's hands, unable to conceal his greed.

The three individuals—two in the late-stage Divine Power Realm and one in the early-stage Dharma Realm—were all superior to Liu Qing, Hong Gu, and Xiao Ya in terms of cultivation level. However, cultivation level does not equate to combat strength. On their side, in terms of actual combat power, Hong Gu, with her collection of spiritual treasures, was undoubtedly the strongest, followed by Liu Qing.
With his bloodline talent, incense offerings, authority, supernatural powers, and spiritual treasures, although his cultivation level is the lowest, he can still surpass Shui'er, who has a higher cultivation level, in a fight.

Of the three opponents, the one who put the most pressure on Liu Qing was the burly man with the lowest cultivation level, the one with the nose ring.

This burly man was imposing, wearing a nose ring and possessing the divine power of water-based authority. Liu Qing had a vague guess that perhaps they had run into the water buffalo demon clan again.
No wonder it has such strength. Although it is a grass god and has not taken up a divine position, it puts great pressure on Liu Qing. It is probably the strongest in terms of combat power among the three.

After attaining the Dao, regardless of incense offerings or authority, the more incense offering silver or authority gold one possesses upon assuming office, the higher their divine rank. To advance to a higher rank in the future, even more incense offering silver or authority gold will be required.

In layman's terms, the more money someone has, the higher their divine rank. Higher-ranking deities enjoy better benefits and greater power and status.
Their actual combat power is not necessarily higher than that of those with lower divine status. To a large extent, the level of divine status does not represent the level of combat power, especially for many who were deified through incense offerings; this situation is even more common here.

For example, Qu Yuan, a fifth-rank official, had only average combat strength.

Many of these unruly grass-root gods possess true combat power that surpasses even high-ranking deities. Within the Three Realms, the most famous among them are the 1,200 grass-root gods under Erlang Shen Yang Jian.

Many high-ranking star lords and heavenly kings in the Heavenly Court are no match for unranked and ungraded grass-root gods, let alone the six brothers of Meishan and that dog.

Therefore, the level of one's divine rank does not necessarily represent combat strength, and sometimes even the level of one's cultivation does not necessarily represent true combat strength. It varies from person to person and from spiritual treasure to spiritual treasure.

Hong Gu possessed over ten magical treasures, and Liu Qing had quite a few as well. The three opposite her, however, were only displaying a top-grade magic array plate from the hands of the Goddess of Good Water.
Faced with their threats, Liu Qing and Hong Gu exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's intentions. Since they were trapped in the formation and could not escape, then they would fight.

"The gods demanded gold for power, claiming it was a loan, but in reality, it was robbery."

At this point, Liu Qing suddenly raised his voice and shouted sharply, "You shameless scoundrels! You want to snatch the treasure from Grandpa? Then see if you have a long enough life!"

Having said that, the Thousand Rivers and Ten Thousand Waters Flag waved, stirring up the Jing River waters, transforming them into countless streams that rose into the sky before crashing down with tremendous force.

Meanwhile, Hong Gu unleashed a barrage of attacks on the water buffalo demon from the dozen or so low-grade spiritual treasures that surrounded her.

Hong Gu knew that the water buffalo demon was the strongest, and as the strongest of the three, she naturally took the lead in attacking it.

Shui'er roared, driving the river beneath her feet into an axe the size of a mountain peak, which she cleaved fiercely towards the Phoenix Mountain God.
The Goddess of Good Water wanted to control the formation to trap Liu Qing and Hong Gu, but she did not make a move. The Phoenix Mountain God and the Grass Head God Water Buffalo Demon beside her took the attacks from Liu Qing and the other two.

"He should have been beaten up a long time ago, stop talking so much nonsense!"

The grass-headed water buffalo demon was also proficient in water magic. With a single step, he lunged forward, raising his fist the size of a sand pot to withstand the magical weapon that Hong Gu was launching.
He smashed the magic weapon staff away with a punch, then slapped away the magic weapon broadsword that was slashing at him. With a swift movement, he stomped on the gentleman's sword, which was hidden in the water and was secretly emerging from beneath the surface, aiming to strike his groin.

With a shove of his shoulder, the divine power surrounding him sent the red jade comb flying. They had only exchanged one blow.
This grass-root water buffalo demon displayed its formidable fighting prowess, single-handedly withstanding a barrage of magical treasures from Hong Gu's hands. Aside from wincing in pain, it remained completely unharmed.

Hong Gu's expression turned serious: "What a water buffalo demon! It's really tough-skinned!"

Hong Gu quickly donned the Spirit Treasure Soft Armor, preparing for defense. Above her head was the Spirit Treasure Bronze Mirror, capable of detecting the water buffalo demon's next attack.
A sash embroidered around her waist undulated and sprawled, like a monstrous python poised to strike, ready to hiss and strangle the water buffalo demon at any moment.
Stepping on water-covered shoes, he moved with lightning speed, while the others—a broadsword, a gentleman's sword, a deadly spear, a staff reaching his eyebrows, and a trident—engaged in close combat.

Lingbao's brocade fan fluttered up and down, flashing like the towering waves of the Jing River, crashing down on the grass-headed water buffalo demon. The short-handled thunder hammer roared with thunder, and countless electric snakes danced in the air.

Faced with the terrifying power of Hong Gu's numerous magical treasures, the grass-headed water buffalo demon showed no fear, but instead became even more greedy.

"Haha, haha, what a wonderful magical treasure! Little girl, you don't need so many magical treasures, so give them all to me, Niu Jinda!"

Amidst its rampant laughter, strange black patterns rapidly sprouted from the water buffalo demon's body, instantly covering it and further enhancing its physical defense and brute strength.
Facing the attacks of a group of acquired spiritual treasures, it fearlessly retaliated, the spiritual treasure staff striking its body with a loud metallic clang.
The Gentleman's Sword launched another sneak attack, piercing the water buffalo demon's lower abdomen, but only leaving a white dot. Hong Gu's expression became even more solemn. With a clear shout, she took advantage of the opening and threw a punch.

(End of this chapter)