Chapter 1747: Armies

The Human Realm

White Dragon Ferry was now in utter chaos.

Although the River God Temple was built outside White Dragon Ferry, it wasn't far from the crossing. From the ferry's dock, one could clearly see the situation there.

The deceased had a certain standing in the vicinity, and the funeral procession was grand, attracting many onlookers.

As soon as the corpse transformed, screams erupted from the ferry crossing.

The green-haired zombie burst out of the wooden coffin, instantly releasing a foul stench that wafted on the river wind, making those who smelled it nauseous.

Its target was a robust middle-aged man dressed in mourning clothes, who was the green-haired zombie's eldest son in life.

During the Daoist priest's ritual, the man had been kneeling closest to the coffin. As he hastily rose, his legs felt numb, and he stumbled while trying to flee, falling behind the others.

With his blood relative in front, the green-haired zombie didn't recognize him at all, only seeing a meal of blood. It let out a hoarse roar like metal scraping.

This zombie was not only covered in green hair but also had glowing green, malevolent eyes. Its fingernails had grown long, turning black at some point, clearly containing corpse poison, making its appearance terrifying.

The man, being a mere mortal, would likely lose his life instantly if pierced by these nails and the corpse poison entered his body.

Incense pavilion paper figures lay scattered everywhere, trampled and pushed, covered in mud and disfigured. The man was utterly terrified, his legs even more uncooperative. He twisted his ankle and fell into the pile of paper figures, only remembering to cry out in despair.

“Father! It’s your son!”

The man's voice was filled with terror, attempting to awaken any lingering consciousness in his father.

Behind him, women also cried out for ‘Master,’ being pulled back by others who held them tightly.

Everyone's face was filled with fear.

Earlier, they had consulted a Daoist priest for an auspicious time; the funeral procession and offering to the gods should have been an hour later. Relatives and friends living farther away had not yet arrived. The hurried funeral was precisely because they had discovered unusual changes in the corpse.

Last night, family members found the corpse had a green face and fangs. They hastily invited a Daoist priest to recite a soul-pacifying incantation and hammer seven-star corpse-suppressing nails into the coffin. It was said that once offerings were made to Lord White Dragon, the corpse transformation would be suppressed.

Unexpectedly, it had transformed into a zombie before the ritual was even complete.

The foul odor assailed him, and as the corpse aura washed over his mouth and nose, the man's mind blurred. He collapsed to the ground, his body devoid of strength.

Just as the man was about to be attacked by the zombie, a faint light suddenly emanated from the temple. Characters on Lord White Dragon's divine tablet flickered, and the sound of surging water echoed from within the temple. The water's color grew faint, as if it had transformed into a serene, deep pool.

Qin Sang gazed at Lord White Dragon's temple, surprised.

His spiritual consciousness was restricted, and his spiritual perception range sharply diminished. However, the temple wasn't far from the ferry crossing, and he had noticed it upon disembarking. Both he and his Sky-Eye Butterfly had secretly observed it, and there had been no magical power fluctuations within, clearly indicating it was an ordinary stone temple.

Now, the temple had suddenly 'come alive,' and a surge of magic power, from unknown origins, descended upon the tablet.

Qin Sang's gaze shifted to the fleeing Daoist priest.

The Daoist priest was the most alert and physically strong. Among everyone, he reacted the fastest, but he wasn't fleeing in panic. As he ran, he continuously shook a golden bell and simultaneously threw out a yellow talisman written with cinnabar. The talisman spontaneously ignited, transforming into a fireball that floated down with the urgent ringing of the bell.

After the talisman ignited, the temple began to manifest strange phenomena.

Faint ripples emanated, shooting out a white stream. This stream, condensed from water vapor, enveloped a dark blue chain. Clearly formed by magic power, it shot rapidly towards the green-haired zombie.

‘Whoosh!’

The chain instantly pierced the green-haired zombie's shoulder blade, wrapping around its body like a spiritual snake.

The green-haired zombie had recently transformed. Driven by instinct and with low intelligence, it remained fixated on the blood meal in front of it even as the chain reached it, offering almost no resistance.

Only then did it sense something was wrong. It threw its head back and roared. The wound seemed to have no effect on it. It shook its arms and suddenly reached behind, its palms like iron clamps, tightly gripping the chain, attempting to break free.

However, the chain was formed by magic power and shrouded in a layer of water mist. The green-haired zombie's hands could neither penetrate it nor grip its exceptionally smooth surface.

With several ‘whoosh’ sounds, the chain sequentially bound the green-haired zombie's four limbs, tying it up completely. Then, with a taut pull, it dragged the green-haired zombie back. At this point, the zombie's face was almost pressed against the man's.

The man only saw a pair of glowing green, ghostly eyes. His neck twisted, and he fainted on the spot from fright.

The green-haired zombie, caught and roaring repeatedly, struggled in vain. Tightly bound by the chain, it was dragged all the way to the temple, its feet plowing two deep furrows in the ground.

At this moment, Qin Sang was watching the river surface.

Suddenly, waves began to rise on the river.

Soon after the temple manifested its power, Qin Sang detected two presences in the river, approaching rapidly from downstream.

The Sky-Eye Butterfly activated its sight and saw that they were two crab demons, one green and one black.

The black crab had a pair of front claws nearly as large as its body, like two iron hammers.

The green crab's claws were slender and pointed like forks. It was smaller than the black crab but still as large as a calf.

Swimming through the water, they arrived at the section of the river behind the temple just as the chain dragged the green-haired zombie back.

With a splash, a dense fog rose from the river surface. The fog appeared incredibly fast, instantly shrouding the entire section of the river. Then, a white dragon burst from the water, circling briefly in the mist. Its colossal eyes swept over White Dragon Ferry, fixing on the green-haired zombie bound before the temple. It swooped down, extended its dragon claws, seized the green-haired zombie tightly, and with a flick of its tail, soared back to the river surface.

After the white dragon seized the zombie, the temple returned to normal, with no magical power remaining on the divine tablet.

“Lord Dragon has manifested his divine power!”

“Lord Dragon has manifested his divine power!”

The people at the ferry crossing watched this scene unfold, their fear instantly turning to joy. They knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly towards the River God Temple, their faces filled with reverence, murmuring ‘Lord Dragon.’

Qin Sang, however, saw clearly: there was no Lord Dragon here. It was merely the two crab demons employing their ability to conjure clouds and mist.

That white dragon was, in fact, a transformation of the crab demons, and its 'dragon claws' were actually their pincers, holding the green-haired zombie like iron manacles, preventing it from struggling free in the slightest.

Mortal eyes, unable to discern the truth, believed this white dragon was Lord White Dragon himself.

The two crab demons, having captured the green-haired zombie and displayed their 'divinity' before the people, were satisfied. No longer showing off, they were about to dive back into the river, but failed to notice two black glows appearing in the green-haired zombie's green eyes, a fierce glint flashing past.

‘Roar!’

The green-haired zombie's limbs suddenly tensed, and it let out a strange shriek, like a wolf's howl. Its internal bones rattled like thunder, and it spat out a puff of black smoke.

This black smoke landed on the magical chain, melting it like blazing sun melting snow. Immediately, cracking sounds followed, and the chain broke into pieces.

The two crab demons were greatly alarmed. Before they could react, they felt an immense force on their front claws.

Only two ‘snap’ sounds were heard.

The white dragon's body twitched a few times in the mist, then exploded into a burst of water vapor. Two severed crab pincers were the first to fall from it, their demonic blood staining the river surface.

The shore was deathly silent. Everyone, who had just been thanking Lord Dragon for capturing the evil, was terrified into stupor by this sudden turn of events.

“Is Lord Dragon not a match for the zombie?”

This thought arose in everyone's minds, causing them to panic.

The next moment, the two giant crabs were seen plummeting from the sky, attempting to escape into the river. Unexpectedly, the green-haired zombie possessed the ability to fly. A roll of black smoke swept across the sky, catching up to the black crab. It plunged its hand forcefully, its five fingers like swords, and with a 'crack,' the hard carapace was split open by a single blow.

The green-haired zombie continuously shrieked, about to kill the crab and feast on its blood, when suddenly, giant waves rose on the river surface, and a white shadow emerged from beneath the water.

The white shadow, long and slender, emerged from the waves; it was a white jiao-dragon. Seeing its crab general about to die by the zombie's hand, it glared furiously, and a water arrow condensed from mist, shooting rapidly towards the zombie's glabella.

The zombie's intelligence seemed to have increased. It abruptly looked up, its ghostly gaze fixed on the white jiao-dragon, and with an open mouth, it spat out another blast of corpse aura, lunging towards the water arrow.

However, the white jiao-dragon's strength was far superior to that of the two crab generals. The water arrow easily penetrated the corpse aura, and before the green-haired zombie could dodge, it was pierced through the glabella.

“This must be the River God, Lord White Dragon, right?”

Qin Sang observed the white jiao-dragon closely.

He was certain that this white jiao-dragon was a demonic beast, not a deity.

This jiao-dragon's strength was not weak, probably at the Demon Spirit stage of cultivation. However, in Qin Sang's view, this jiao-dragon possessed extremely high intelligence, with human-like expressions in its eyes.

Jiao-dragons typically do not gain full sentience at the Demon Spirit stage, unless enlightened by Imperial Dew Nectar.

What concerned Qin Sang most was that this jiao-dragon's aura was balanced and peaceful, devoid of any fierce or malevolent energy!

The white jiao-dragon's attack was effective, but it didn't immediately destroy the green-haired zombie. It was also puzzled why this zombie, having only recently transformed and not cultivated in a Yin-gathering place, possessed such formidable strength.

Its gaze flickered, and a set of shackles materialized out of thin air, capturing the zombie. Then, it conjured a wave, sweeping up the green-haired zombie and its injured subordinates, and returned to the river bottom.

Just then, a booming sound like a cannon echoed from the grassy wetlands by the shore. The dry grass swayed, and a large plume of black smoke billowed upwards.

The black smoke rolled, subtly revealing a three-story high altar within. The smoke then split into three rapidly moving streams in mid-air, heading straight to encircle the white jiao-dragon.

From the central stream of black smoke came a piercing shriek: “Minions, follow me to butcher this scaled creature, break through the City God’s Water Manor here, and let you all have a feast!”

“Awoo… Awoo… Awoo…”

All three streams of black smoke emitted excited shrieks, their power greatly amplified.

For a moment, black smoke obscured the sky above White Dragon Ferry, accompanied by incessant strange cries, as if countless demons were attacking.

Mortals were greatly terrified.

Qin Sang looked at the black smoke, a surprised expression on his face.

Within the black smoke were surprisingly three contingents of demon soldiers, all of them wolf demons.

The two flanks were comprised of white wolf demons, with several dozen in each contingent, slightly smaller in size. In the center was a troop of over ten black-furred giant wolves. The leading giant wolf had smooth, glossy fur and was exceptionally tall, standing upright, it was comparable to a two-story building, looking imposing and majestic.

Not only could the giant wolf speak human language, but its demon soldiers were also well-organized, their auras seamlessly integrated, and their movements strict and disciplined, clearly indicating they had undergone careful collective training.

Just now, Qin Sang had sensed an aura lurking in the grassy wetlands, but there was clearly only one. Where did so many demon soldiers come from?

The giant wolf acted with extreme caution. The white wolf soldiers enveloped from both flanks, blocking the white jiao-dragon's escape routes upstream and downstream of the great river. He personally led a contingent of demon soldiers directly towards the white jiao-dragon.

With a three-pronged encirclement, horror flashed in the white jiao-dragon's eyes. It had come personally to investigate this time, its troops were still behind, and how could it, alone, be a match for this troop of wolf demons?

The green-haired zombie was actually a ploy to lure it out!

In desperation, the white jiao-dragon opened its mouth wide and let out a dragon roar, earth-shattering and piercing the clouds.

The roar reverberated, shaking the river surface, as it hastily fled towards the river bottom.

Seeing this, the giant wolf let out a strange laugh, opening its mouth to spew a black light. The demon soldiers behind it followed suit, sending out balls of black light that collided with the black light above the giant wolf's head, converging into a black cloud in mid-air. Instantly, three black lights shot down from the sky: one towards the white jiao-dragon's neck, one towards its belly, and one towards its tail.

At this moment, downstream on the great river, waves surged and rolled, and amidst the undulating water, flags like a forest could be seen in the distance, as another contingent of well-formed demon soldiers crossed the river.

Not only that, but downstream in the great river, the City God Temple in Floating Dragon City also received Lord White Dragon's distress call, emitting a column of light that shot into the sky.

These demon soldiers were all aquatic demons such as shrimp soldiers, crab generals, and fish demons—they were precisely the garrison troops of Lord White Dragon's water manor.

Seeing the arrival of enemy reinforcements, the black wolf was not alarmed but instead delighted. Without haste, it howled a command, and the white wolf soldiers on both sides immediately changed direction, rushing towards the water manor's troops.

At the same time, it didn't forget to manipulate the black lights. No matter how the white jiao-dragon dodged, it couldn't escape. Finally, the three black lights transformed into three black rings, tightly binding its head and tail.

Seeing this, the black wolf laughed wildly.

“Minions, break up their formation!”

Lord White Dragon and his troops were inseparable. As long as Lord White Dragon was captured, and their commander lost, the water manor's forces would surely suffer a massive morale blow, allowing them to be slaughtered at will. Then they could focus on dealing with this city's City God.

The black wolf stopped its wild laughter, staring at the struggling Lord White Dragon with fierce eyes. Opening its mouth to reveal a mouthful of fangs, it prepared to pounce on Lord White Dragon.

Just then, a sudden, delicate shout rang out in its ears.

On the opposite bank of the great river.

A streak of escaping light suddenly rose from a solitary peak.

A woman with a graceful appearance and a high bun, dressed in Daoist robes, flew across the sky to hover above the great river. A flash of green light enveloped her, and instantly, ritual robes covered her body.

She wore a Seven-star Interlocking Crown on her head, adorned with a rhinoceros horn hairpin, and donned a light yellow ritual cloak.

Her Daoist robes and ritual cloak were similar in color. Below, she wore a light yellow five-panel ritual skirt, adorned with patterns of three-colored clouds and mist. She wore a bronze pendant at her waist and black boots on her feet.

Amidst the flashing light, a ritual altar appeared beneath her at some unknown moment.

The altar was not built of earth and stone. Under the light of the sky, it was clear and transparent, flowing like starlight and moonlight, appearing both illusory and real.

As soon as the altar appeared, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth along both banks of the great river was instantly solemn.

The altar was divided into three tiers: a circular upper tier, an octagonal middle tier, and a square lower tier, symbolizing the Three Heavens and Three Realms.

Four pillars stood around it, representing Heaven, Earth, Sun, and Moon, and also establishing the Eight Gates and Ten Directions.

A small, palm-sized seal floated within the altar. Its surface bore intricate patterns, with the four lightning-patterned seal characters ‘Proclaim to All Spirits’ inscribed, shimmering with radiant spiritual light.

As the altar was completed, the female Daoist priest stood upon it, looking down from above, gracefully taking lotus steps.

A light and ethereal incantation echoed in the sky.

“Heaven clear, Earth spiritual; soldiers and generals obey my command,Soldiers move with the seal, generals act by the command.”

With a single incantation.

The treasure seal within the altar trembled slightly.

Two of the Eight Gates burst open with a roar. A sound like surging water and thunder filled the air, as two streams of silvery-white mist erupted from them. Within the mist, silver light flashed like lightning, and two columns of silver-scaled water snakes swam out from behind the gates. Each possessed a robust physique, four legs with five toes, and wore soft armor.

The water manor's troops and the wolf demon soldiers were quite well-organized, but compared to the water snake demon soldiers, they appeared somewhat disorderly.

The water snake demon soldiers, like celestial warriors, arrayed themselves over the river, sealing off all directions.

“The Proclaim to All Spirits Seal!”

The black wolf was greatly startled. It hastily recalled its wolf soldiers to its side and shrieked, “Who are you from the Tian Shu Institute?!”

“I am the Altar Master of the Ninth Sub-Altar established by the Profound and Marvelous True Response Grand Altar. Who are you, wandering masters, to dare harm the River God under my jurisdiction?!”