Traveling through countless heavens, an immortal being

In the rear hall of the Capital Heavenly Pivot Palace in the Nine Heavens, the Heavenly Incarnation, who was sitting quietly on the jade couch, suddenly opened his three eyes. The left and right eyes and the vertical eye in the center of his forehead shot out three golden beams that went straight to the lower realm.

The ways of Heaven are indifferent; He cannot personally intervene in this great calamity in the human world, and this is all He can do.

As three golden rays flew out from the rear hall, the reason why Tianxin, in his incarnation as the chief judge, could not move easily began to emerge.

What prevented Him from descending to save the world and eliminate demons were the thick, black chains with iridescent sheen wrapped around Him. These chains crisscrossed, firmly binding Him in this place. The three items He had just sent down were the last means He could leave to save the Three Realms.

As the chains tightened, piercing through His purple robes and binding Him once more, His three eyes reluctantly closed again.

The ethereal tranquility of the rear hall has returned once more...

......................................................

world……

Sitting on the back of the blue ox, Lear was quietly cultivating in the face of the rising sun. As the sun rose, the innate purple aura gradually dissipated, and Lear stopped cultivating and looked up into the distance.

"Niu'er, which city is ahead?"

"Reporting to Master, when the old master was still alive, he said that the prefectural seat is 370 li east of Baiqi County along the official road."

"Niu'er, do you think there are still any common people left in this prefecture?"

Qingniu's voice was low and deep. "Reporting to Master, I don't know, but I think that with Bai Qihe City completely wiped out, the situation in the prefecture is probably not good either."

Lear shifted the dragon-headed cane he was carrying on one shoulder to the other. "It's alright. We'll take it one step at a time. If there are demons, we'll slay them."

"I will obey my master. Wherever my master tells me to go, I will go."

……

A man and an ox walked from sunrise to midday sun, and in the distance they could see a village.

The blue ox looked up at the village and asked, "Master, shall we go to this village?"

"Let's go take a look."

Lear shaded his eyes with his hand and looked at the village; he could vaguely see that the buildings were still relatively intact.

Upon hearing this, the blue ox agreed and continued walking forward. When they reached the village, Lear looked around and saw rows of thatched huts without windows. No, they not only had no windows, but even the doors were extremely narrow.

Lear's magical powers were now far greater than before. He could sense that at least half of the houses were occupied, but whether out of fear or hunger, none of them came out to check, even though they heard the cows mooing.

Lear called the blue ox to stop when it reached the end of the village. He jumped off the ox and walked toward the nearest house with people. Before he got close, he heard a roar from the thatched hut. Something that pounced out made Lear frown and take several steps back until he stopped next to the blue ox.

The thing had a human form, but it crawled on all fours like an animal, howling incessantly. It was emaciated, with disheveled hair and beard, and exuded a stench of rotting flesh. It howled and crawled, trying to pounce on the man and the cow.

Lear tried to speak to it, but before he could finish speaking, the creature hissed even more fiercely and became increasingly eager to pounce and bite.

Lear sighed softly, raised his hand and patted the ox's horn, "Ox, move this thing aside, let's continue on our way."

The blue ox raised its head and mooed, then lowered its head, shook its head, and pawed the ground with its hind hooves before charging forward and using its large horns to knock the "person" who was lying on the ground and roaring away.

The "person" was lifted up by the ox's horn and smashed onto a stone roller by the roadside, where he fell silent with a "crack".

With this sound, all the rooms where Lear had previously sensed "people" began to echo with a series of shrieks, the sounds shrill and terrifying, as if one had fallen into a demon's abyss.

Li Er was horrified. Counting along the way, this village had at most twenty houses, and now more than ten of them were rumored to be the site of this mournful roar. He raised his hand and formed a hand seal, chanting, "Five Thunders, Five Thunders, hasten to Huang Ning, dry hair and axe, swiftly roaring thunder, call forth and arrive immediately, quickly emit the Yang sound! Hurry, hurry, as the Nine Heavens respond to the universal salvation decree!"

As the incantation was recited, several thunderclaps, "crack-crack~ boom-crack!", struck the thatched hut from which the roaring sounds had come. The lightning dissipated, and the roars disappeared. The thatched hut, which had been set ablaze by the lightning, began to burn rapidly, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

Lear looked around for a moment, then turned around, mounted his blue ox, and the two of them slowly made their way along the village road to the main road, continuing their journey toward the prefecture.

........................

In the capital, at the Imperial Preceptor's Residence

Chen Ming and another attendant were still kneeling outside the Jixian Hall. In the courtyard below, more than a dozen members of the imperial family, dressed in brocade robes, jade pendants, and gold hairpins, stood. When an imperial edict was suddenly delivered to the Imperial Preceptor's residence, these usually high-ranking princes and princesses finally became afraid.

At first, a few fearless individuals tried to force their way out by claiming their identities, but before they even reached the courtyard gate, they were kicked back by several soldiers in black scale armor, iron helmets, and iron masks.

The soldiers stood in a row, gripping their sword hilts, coldly watching them roll around in the courtyard like gourds, without offering any help.

After making a scene and finding they couldn't get out, two of the bolder ones went up the steps and started talking to Chen Ming and Chen Zhi, who were kneeling in the main hall watching the stove fire.

Unexpectedly, the three boys ignored them. The dragon princes and phoenix grandsons were turned away and huddled together to talk in hushed tones, trying to find a way out.

Seeing that the imperial descendants had finally quieted down, the soldiers who had been standing in a row outside the gate returned to their positions on either side of the gate.

Before long, the Imperial Advisor returned.

The soldiers standing on either side of the gate knelt down on one knee and saluted the Grand Preceptor.

The Imperial Advisor didn't even glance at them, walking straight through the gate into the courtyard. He looked at the young men and women in brocade robes standing in the courtyard, stroking his beard and smiling.

The princes and princesses, who had been trembling and chatting in twos and threes, rushed to the Grand Preceptor as if they had seen a god. They knelt down one by one, begging the Grand Preceptor to let them go back.

The Imperial Preceptor waved his jade whisk and used his magic to help them up. Then he spoke slowly and deliberately, "You royal descendants need not panic. I have requested His Majesty's permission to gather you all here in front of the Hall of Gathering Immortals in order to use your personal fortune to shield the medicinal power of the pills that are about to be refined."

The Imperial Advisor looked around and, seeing that none of the princes and princesses spoke further, nodded in satisfaction.

"Gentlemen, this batch of elixirs is to be presented to His Majesty. You are all here today to protect this elixir. When it is completed at the end of the month, the medicinal power it releases will enable all of you, the imperial princes and phoenixes, to be healthy, strong, and live long lives!"

Upon hearing the Imperial Preceptor's words, the group of dragon princes and phoenix grandsons who had been clamoring to leave changed their previous fearful demeanor and rushed to make promises to the Imperial Preceptor, begging him to let them stay around the alchemy furnace.

The Imperial Advisor smiled, stroked his beard, and nodded. "Good, good! With the help of all my sons and grandsons, this batch of pills is sure to be a success! Hahahaha!"

Seeing the Imperial Preceptor smile, the princes and nobles surrounding him also smiled along.

Only the three boys kneeling at the palace gate and inside the main hall felt a chill run through them, trembling uncontrollably. To them, the Grand Preceptor's laughter was nothing short of the howl of a demon king.

Chen Ming slowly loosened his clenched fist, letting it fall limply to his side.

He silently prayed in his heart.

"God, please, save us... God, please, save us..."