The comet remained silent, only relentlessly unleashing heavenly tribulations.

Each of these colossal beasts is millions of feet long, resembling a moving star. Their bodies are woven from meteorites, stardust, and ancient ice crystals, and their eyes are like two blazing suns, burning fiercely.

With each step they took, a star field trembled, creating a tremendous spectacle.

During the Lich War, the heavens and earth collapsed, and almost all of the Lich and Demon races perished in battle, their corpses floating in the air and their blood splattering across the void.

Over countless years, those remains and blood essence were nourished by the power of the stars, gradually evolving into the race of celestial behemoths.

They are born with the ability to devour stars and tear apart the void, making them one of the most terrifying creatures in the vast emptiness.

These giant beasts originally slept deep within the Star Abyss for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years.

But now that the Heavenly Star Lord has returned to his position and the Zhou Tian Star Array has been reopened, all the stars in the heavens are moving in accordance with the trajectory of the Heavenly Dao, and the power of the stars is constantly vibrating, which has awakened these ancient species.

These colossal cosmic beasts before us were disturbed by the stellar energy tides stirred up by the warship's movement, which is why they swarmed here.

The Ziwei Emperor, who resides in the Great Void and maintains the cyclical operation of the heavens, once dispatched some stars from the Southern Dipper, the Northern Dipper, the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars, and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends to suppress the giant beasts in the starry sky, but he could not subdue them all.

The origin of the Ziwei Emperor is mysterious and unpredictable. Legend has it that after the fall of a great being in ancient times, a fragment of his true spirit entered the cycle of reincarnation and has been unable to find liberation through countless lifetimes.

He was reincarnated as Boyi Kao during the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, and later listed on the Investiture of the Gods. He was then conferred the title of the Great Emperor of the Central Heaven Purple Star North Pole, ranking among the Four Emperors, and was able to exert combat power at the Quasi-Saint level.

If not for such a background, how could a mere mortal possibly control the stars and govern the myriad phenomena of the universe?

"roar!"

A colossal star beast with enormous golden horns charged forward first. Its body was so massive that when its two giant claws were spread out, they blotted out the sky and enveloped the entire Purple Cloud Thunder warship.

"You beast, how dare you be so arrogant?"

Venus's expression darkened, and he snorted coldly. With a flick of his whisk, it instantly transformed into endless silvery-white strands that surged like a reversed Milky Way, tearing through the air.

The thousands of white threads spread out in the starry sky, carrying a power that pierced through the heavens, and lashed fiercely at the golden-horned beast.

A deafening roar was heard, and the white silk shone brightly with celestial light. Each thread burst forth with the immense power of the Great Luo Law, and layers upon layers of golden and silver light surged into the giant beast's body like a tide.

The once invincible golden-horned behemoth let out a mournful howl, its massive body cracking inch by inch before exploding into countless meteorite fragments, scattering in all directions along with residual stardust.

Venus did not stop there. With a hand gesture, he summoned starlight from the sky, which transformed into a giant star sword that stretched across the heavens.

With a flick of his right hand, he unleashed a white silken net, ensnaring several colossal star beasts charging at the forefront.

Sword light and white silk intertwined, and dazzling divine light burst forth in the starry sky. The giant beasts were either decapitated or disintegrated, and were successively cut into countless fragments, which were annihilated in the void.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining star beasts fled into the depths of the star field.

Venus let out a soft shout and waved his whisk repeatedly. Countless white threads followed him like a leech, disappearing into the horizon in an instant, leaving only a few muffled wails that echoed from afar.

The starry sky returned to silence, with only floating stardust and wreckage remaining around the warship.

"The vast and boundless starry sky is nothing more than a drop in the ocean compared to the four continents of the lower realm. Who knows how many colossal star beasts lurk within it? It seems we must inform the Great Celestial Venerable and request that the Dou Department be given more warships."

Venus put away his whisk, gazed at the boundless star field, and sighed.

Song Yi stood to the side, looking at the old immortal with his ethereal appearance and kind face, and couldn't help but swallow hard.

No wonder all the gods and immortals of the Zhou Dynasty bowed down to this Heavenly Pivot Divine Physician, and even Yang Jian, who possessed the strength of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, held him in high esteem.

This strength is truly unfathomable; he can practically be called the number one person below the Quasi-Saint level!

"You jinx!"

Venus turned around, his expression as gentle as ever. With a gentle wave of his right hand, the golden horn, a hundred feet long, floated into the air and landed on the Purple Cloud Thunder Warship, emitting a dull metallic sound.

"This golden horn is formed from star-marked purple gold, and its quality is even stronger than that of ordinary innate divine gold. It is given to the Star Lord, who may use it to refine weapons."

"Thank you for your great blessing!"

Song Yi quickly bowed and saluted without any hesitation. With a flick of his right hand, a golden light flashed from his sleeve, and he put the hundred-foot-long golden horn into the Eight Treasures Profound Yellow Pagoda.

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

Upon returning to Heaven, the eight thousand laborers were already lined up and waiting at the seventeenth level of the Yuanzai Kong Heavenly Ascension Formation.

The passage leading to the sixteenth level, Taihuan Jiyao Heaven, has been completed. A hazy mist rises from the cave entrance, exuding a chilling aura.

Without Song Yi's divine decree, none of these laborers dared to step into the Taihuan Jiyao Heaven without permission, for fear of incurring the wrath of the plague gods below and losing their lives in vain.

Song Yi wasn't in a hurry. After settling down with Yuan Zai and Kong Shengtian, he didn't rush to start digging the river channel.

After more than half a year, he finally got his chance.

Emperor Lü Yue, the Plague Emperor, was ordered by the Great Heavenly Venerable to personally lead his Plague Gods to the Golden Light Kingdom of Xiniu Hezhou to bring down a plague.

The cause of the matter is not complicated.

The king of Jinguang Kingdom, misled by some unknown person, brazenly issued an edict banning Taoism, expelling all Taoist priests from the country, and smashing all the statues of the Three Pure Ones that had been worshipped for hundreds of years, replacing them with golden statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva.

If it were merely a matter of venerating Buddhism and suppressing Taoism, or venerating Taoism and destroying Buddhism, this would be a matter of internal affairs for the human rulers.

After all, the Western Religion also has two saints in charge, so the Heavenly Court can't interfere too much in the religious disputes in the lower realms. Moreover, since it's in Xiniu Hezhou, they usually just turn a blind eye.

But the King of Jinguang Kingdom was absolutely wrong to dare to smash the statues of the Three Pure Ones in public!

This would be an heinous crime, an act of disrespect towards a sage.

How can we allow ordinary people to desecrate the sages?

Upon hearing the news, the Great Celestial Venerable was furious and immediately issued a decree, ordering the Plague Emperor Lü Yue to personally lead his Plague Gods to bring a great plague to the Kingdom of Golden Light, to teach that arrogant king a lesson.

Having received the imperial decree, Lü Yue dared not be negligent in the slightest. He hurriedly returned to the Plague Department, gathered his troops, and, together with the Plague Gods Li Ping and Zhu Tianlin, the Plague Envoy of the West, and carrying their magical artifacts, set off on a pale green cloud of plague, heading straight for the Western Niuhe Continent in the lower realm.

Upon seeing Lü Yue descend to the mortal realm, Song Yi set off to enter the Taihuan Jiyao Heaven.

Lü Yue was, after all, a third-rank deity of the Heavenly Court, a hall master, and possessed the strength of a peak Taiyi Golden Immortal, making him no ordinary person.

Song Yi could only dare to step into the Plague Tribe's territory when he was away from the mortal realm.

After all, the collapse of the Dharma image is a minor matter; the real problem is that it will delay the excavation of the river channel.