The comet remained silent, only relentlessly unleashing heavenly tribulations.

Song Yi's expression remained unchanged as he calmly said, "Fire God, the claim that you stole the dragon egg is completely fabricated; it's all a misunderstanding."

After saying that, he waved his hand and lifted the broken dragon egg fragment on the ground into the air, silently reciting an incantation.

A mysterious magical power surged, and the scattered eggshell fragments gathered together and were pieced back together.

However, the eggshell was covered with shocking cracks.

Song Yi remained calm and took out a jade bottle containing the sweet dew from the Jade Pool, a gift from the eldest princess, Longji.

He tilted the jade bottle, and a stream of clear, jade-like spiritual liquid slowly flowed out, pouring onto the dragon egg.

The sweet rain seeped into the cracks, and the entire dragon egg immediately exuded a rich, almost tangible vitality, as if the dormant life within was awakening.

Immediately afterwards, he took out a drop of Innate Cosmic Light True Water.

The water droplets were crystal clear, and within them seemed to flow countless light and shadows of time and space, endlessly arising and ceasing.

As a drop of real water fell onto the dragon egg, ripples of time and space instantly spread around it, like waves rippling.

The cracks on the eggshell slowly healed and disappeared amidst these ripples, as if time had reversed, returning to a perfectly intact state.

Song Yi took out another drop of Primordial Chaos True Water and dripped it onto the surface.

This time, the dragon egg wasn't repaired; instead, it cracked open again with a "crack".

From the crimson-gold light burst forth.

A small fire dragon, about a foot long, flew out from it. Its scales were just beginning to form, its horns were slightly protruding, and its big eyes were lively and curious.

It circled in mid-air a few times, letting out a tender dragon's roar, before joyfully flying towards the two thousand-foot-long fire dragons, nuzzling affectionately against them.

Overjoyed to see their child safe and sound, the two fire dragons roared a few times, then, with the little fire dragon in tow, flew back into the depths of the Nine Suns Crimson Crow Forest without looking back.

Song Yi turned his head and calmly looked at Luo Xuan.

Luo Xuan's face turned ashen, and although his lips moved several times, he ultimately remained silent.

At this moment, the fairy Chang'e spoke, her voice cold and clear: "Luo Xuan, I am not a deity appointed by the Heavenly Court. Don't try to intimidate me with your divine authority. If you're not satisfied, feel free to test my methods!"

Song Yi was slightly taken aback.

He had always heard that the Moon Goddess was aloof and indifferent to worldly affairs, but he never expected her to be so domineering. In front of the Fire Goddess, she showed no mercy and directly challenged him.

Luo Xuan's face was extremely ugly.

He knew the details of Heng'e's life.

Although this Moon Palace Fairy is not a naturally born human, her origins are extremely ancient, dating back to the time of the ancestors of mankind. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are all her juniors.

What's worse, she wields the Yin Law, which perfectly counters his Fire Path.

Among all the gods in the Heavenly Court, only the Pleiades Star Lord, who is in charge of the Sun Palace, can barely put up a fight against her by relying on the laws of the sun.

However, if Luo Xuan, as the Heavenly Venerable of the Fire Department and one of the Four Righteous Gods, were to yield here, how would he maintain his position in the Heavenly Court in the future?

However, Heng'e's clear and cold eyes were looking at him calmly, and there was a faint flow of Yin energy in her sleeves, clearly indicating that she was not afraid to fight.

Luo Xuan took a deep breath, then just snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves, turned around and transformed into a streak of crimson light, heading towards Tonghua Palace.

Watching the receding flames, Song Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then turned and bowed to the Fairy Heng'e again: "I am deeply grateful for your descent, Fairy."

"It's alright." The fairy Chang'e's tone returned to its usual calmness. "I was on my way to Yaochi anyway to deliver some newly made mooncakes to the Queen Mother of the West. It was just a side trip."

"The fairy's benevolence will be remembered by Song Yi."

After a few words of casual conversation, the fairy Chang'e drifted away, heading towards the Jade Pool in the thirty-second heaven.

-----------------

After another six years, Song Yi finally completed the excavation of the vast river channels of Chiming and Yangtian.

At the same time, he clearly sensed that the value of the authority contained in the clergy had quietly risen to "two".

The largest increase was in incense resources.

Since the Song clan migrated to Yingqiu in the State of Qi, they have received secret support from Jiang Ziya, and their fortunes have been rising steadily.

The Song family descendants built temples everywhere, spreading the word that the broom of the Broom God could dispel bad luck and ward off disasters.

Ordinary people are very pragmatic. Upon hearing this, they all believed it.

Although Song Yi was unable to personally descend to the mortal realm to perform divine miracles, the Song family had no shortage of cultivators.

So the clansmen acted as deities, bestowing elixirs and talismanic water to relieve the people from disasters and difficulties.

King Jiang Ziya of Qi was his sworn brother, so naturally he never designated the Temple of the Broom Star Lord as a licentious and uncivilized shrine. On the contrary, he secretly encouraged it, making the incense burn even more brightly.

As incense offerings increase daily, the authority and power of clergy also rise accordingly, which is only natural.

[Detected that the divine authority content is ≥2. Should the Prismatic Rank gacha pool be activated?]

"Activate!"

As soon as Song Yi finished speaking, three colorful talismans appeared out of thin air, floating and sinking, their precious light concealed.

[Return to Simplicity: Permanently relinquish your innate supernatural powers, and your magical strength, primordial spirit, and physical body will all greatly increase.]

[Five Elements Dragon Soul: Obtained the remnant souls of five ancient dragon emperors.]

[Humanistic Merit: Gain 100,000 merits.]

Song Yi's gaze swept over them, and he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"A Prismatic-Colored Talisman, truly extraordinary!"

The first path, "Returning to Simplicity," on the surface appears to involve giving up one's innate supernatural abilities, at a considerable cost.

However, Song Yi originally did not possess any innate supernatural abilities, so this talisman was entirely beneficial to him, with no side effects whatsoever.

The second [Five Elements Dragon Soul] stirred something within him.

He recalled that when he activated the silver-tier talisman, he had unearthed a Purgatory Dragon Soul.

After fusion, one can greatly temper their soul, awaken some of the dragon race's divine abilities, and multiply their combat power.

Now that the remnants of the Five Elements Dragon Emperors have arrived, and with the Five Elements generating and cyclically overlapping, they will surely bring about a qualitative leap.

As for the third path, "Human Merit," it may seem simple, but it is actually the most direct and practical.

Human merit is slightly inferior to heavenly merit, but for immortals and gods, it is an unparalleled treasure.

Merit is essentially the condensation of the fundamental power of the Great Dao, and can be considered a panacea.

Whether it's improving cultivation, strengthening the primordial spirit, or enhancing the power of a spiritual treasure to make it an acquired merit-based spiritual treasure, it's the best choice.

Song Yi remained silent for a moment, then decisively chose the 100,000 merits.

In an instant, a golden rift opened in the sky, and a vast, surging golden light of merit poured down, enveloping his entire body.

He felt warm all over, and his originally weak soul became solid and powerful in just a few breaths. Even the omnipresent binding force of the Investiture of the Gods was somewhat worn away by this golden light.

"Indeed, as long as one accumulates enough merit, one day one will be able to break free from the shackles of the Investiture of the Gods."

Song Yi's eyes brightened, and the gloom that had accumulated in his heart for many years was swept away.

Seasons change, and another 60 years have passed.

Song Yi finally finished excavating the river channel of the seventeenth heaven, where Yuan Zai Kong ascended to heaven.

However, the next heaven they would face was the eighteenth heaven, named Taihuan Jiyao Heaven.

This was the very place where the Plague Department's palace was located.