Chapter 1964: Naihe River and Wangchuan

As the three heads swept their gaze over them, the terrifying pressure nearly made Ji Xiaoxi faint. Fortunately, her Ancestor Brother gripped her hand, and a continuous stream of warmth flowed into her, gradually calming her down.

Ji Dengtu’s face also turned pale; even with his cultivation, he could barely endure it. Luckily, Zu’an was there to absorb most of the pressure for him.

Zu’an, however, remained calm. He eyed the monster. "What is your name?" he asked.

"I am the War Priest. My renown echoes through countless worlds," the three heads declared, lifting proudly, as if stating something of immense pride.

Zu’an scrutinized it for a few moments, then said to Ji Dengtu, "It's much smaller than I imagined."

Ji Dengtu rolled his eyes. *This* was small?

The three-headed monster roared in fury. "Ant! How dare you insult me!"

Rage from the War Priest: 444,444,444...

Zu’an shrugged. "Seeing such a huge commotion earlier, I expected a world-destroying entity to appear. At the very least, it should have been as big as a mountain to meet expectations. But now it's only a dozen meters tall. Pathetic."

Ji Dengtu was speechless.

This young man was courting death. Did he really have to deliberately provoke this terrifying entity?

Ji Xiaoxi, meanwhile, blinked her large, sparkling eyes at him, thinking, *Ancestor Brother is so brave. He's so calm in front of such a powerful being, unlike timid and useless me.*

The left head of the War Priest replied, "Ant, what do you know? It's simply that your world is too weak to bear the full manifestation of our power, which is why we appear smaller..."

"Shut up! This ant is clearly mocking us, and you're actually explaining things to him. Are you an idiot?" the right head snapped.

The left head paused, then retorted, "Do you think I don't know that? I merely chose to answer him."

"Idiot," the right head sneered.

The middle head roared, "Stop arguing!"

The two heads on either side grumbled begrudgingly, then turned away, presenting the backs of their heads to each other.

The middle head's gaze fixed on Zu’an. "Ant, you have successfully infuriated me. I have decided to revoke your chance to submit."

Rage from the War Priest: 500,500,500...

The left head scoffed. "You dare mock me? I shall snatch your soul, leaving you unable to live or die!"

With that, its left hand produced a soul-summoning banner, which it waved in Zu’an's direction.

Suddenly, black spectral figures appeared around Zu’an and his companions, chuckling from all directions:

"Come, join us in merriment!"

Though no one spoke aloud, the voices resonated directly in their minds, as if targeting their very souls.

Ji Dengtu felt his soul waver, and his entire being seemed to grow lighter, as if something was about to tear free from his body.

He inwardly cried out in alarm. As a disciple of the Libationer, he was naturally well-versed and immediately recognized this as a soul attack, infinitely more dangerous than ordinary attacks.

Unfortunately, knowing was one thing; defending against it was another.

He couldn't even manage to warn Zu’an. His whole body felt weightless, and he felt as if his soul had been pulled halfway out of his body by the black figures.

*This brat just had to show off, and now we're all doomed,* he thought.

As for Ji Xiaoxi, she was already semi-conscious. If not for Zu’an protecting her, she would likely have been completely obliterated by such an attack.

Just then, a crisp, melodious chime resonated. Waves of Sanskrit chanting filled the air, and golden lights emerged above Zu’an's head. Faint ethereal images of Buddhas could be seen in the void, chanting scriptures.

The black spectral figures instantly let out agonizing screams, fleeing back even faster than they had appeared.

The previously ominous, wind-whipped, and imposing soul-summoning banner suddenly sagged.

The left head shrieked, "My precious! How dare you harm my precious!"

"If it was hurt by my precious, it just proves your thing isn't up to par," Zu’an said, reaching up to retrieve the purple-gold alms bowl floating above his head. He had tricked the monk out of this bowl in the ancient tomb and hadn't expected it to be so powerful, crippling the War Priest's magical artifact in a single encounter.

Ji Dengtu and Ji Xiaoxi also recovered their clarity. Looking at the alms bowl in Zu’an's hand, Ji Dengtu mused, *How does this young man have so many treasures? But even all of them combined don't compare to the shock that Teacher Bai's book gave me.*

Ji Xiaoxi, however, looked worried. *Why does Ancestor Brother have a monk's alms bowl? Does he intend to become a monk too?*

The War Priest's three heads gazed at the purple-gold alms bowl in Zu’an's hand with a mixture of greed and revulsion, and simultaneously uttered, "You possess such a treasure!"

"Your soul-summoning banner isn't bad either," Zu’an said, looking at the banner in the opponent's hand with a somewhat grave expression. He had witnessed Ji Dengtu and his daughter's reaction just now; if not for the purple-gold alms bowl, their souls would likely not have been saved.

Directly bypassing defenses and seizing souls from afar—such power was indeed extraordinary.

The right head cackled, turning back. "You used to treasure that soul-summoning banner so much, but now it seems it's nothing special. The real treasure lies with me."

After speaking, its right hand carefully produced a jade bottle and gently tipped it.

A sudden premonition of danger arose in Zu’an's heart. The jade bottle gave him an extremely perilous feeling.

This entity's strength wasn't comparable to those beings in the ancient tomb, but the magical artifacts they wielded seemed to be quite extraordinary. Recalling the power of the soul-summoning banner just now, this jade bottle certainly wouldn't be inferior.

He waved his hand, sending Ji Dengtu and Ji Xiaoxi several hundred zhang away. "Old Ji, protect Xiaoxi!" he called out.

The two of them were too dangerous near him. Although he didn't fear the monster, he couldn't risk those peculiar artifacts harming Xiaoxi.

"Brat, do I need you to tell me to protect my own daughter?" Ji Dengtu grumbled begrudgingly, but still pulled his daughter further back.

Ji Xiaoxi looked anxious. "Father, quickly go help Ancestor Brother!" she urged. "I'll be fine by myself."

Ji Dengtu was speechless.

*Xiaoxi, you really think highly of me, don't you?*

*What qualifications do I have to join their battle? A stray ripple of their combat could shake me to death.*

Of course, he couldn't say that in front of his daughter. He could only clear his throat and say, "Let that young man gain some combat experience first. It won't be too late for me to help him once he's truly in danger."

In his heart, however, he had already made up his mind: if things went south, he would immediately flee with his daughter.

Ji Xiaoxi couldn't help but say admiringly, "Father is truly amazing!"

She hadn't seen Zu’an for several years, and in her mind, he was still the youth from Brightmoon City. Even though his recent displays of power had been astonishing, she instinctively worried for him.

"Cough, cough..." Even with Ji Dengtu's thick skin, his face felt hot at that moment.

At that moment, the War Priest had fully uncorked the bottle, and soon a single drop of water dripped out.

Unlike the clear, sparkling water of everyday life, this drop was entirely murky yellow, and faint threads of blood could vaguely be seen swirling within it.

Zu’an's expression changed. A cold wind swept past, faintly carrying the wails of countless wronged souls, as if the drop of water imprisoned them.

Yet, unlike the soul-summoning banner or the ghostly beings he had encountered before, this drop of water wasn't ominous or ghostly. Instead, it emanated a sense of holiness.

The sensation was incredibly strange. Zu’an couldn't understand how this single drop could perfectly blend two such disparate characteristics.

The War Priest carefully retreated a few steps, as if afraid the drop of water would touch its skin.

"Go!"

He pointed his hand at Zu’an, and the yellow water drop drifted slowly towards Zu’an.

From a distance, Ji Dengtu instantly felt confident again. *With how slowly this water drop is moving, even I could dodge it, let alone that Zu fellow...*

As he thought this, his eyes suddenly widened in shock. What had started as merely a drop of water, as it flew, suddenly transformed into a small stream, then instantly swelled into a raging, roaring river, sweeping directly towards Zu’an.

Zu’an had initially thought that with his Azure Drake ability, he naturally possessed an affinity for water, and therefore didn't fear these river waters.

But as the mighty river surged towards him, the hairs on his body stood on end. His intuition screamed that if he were to be tainted by this substance, it would absolutely not be a good idea.

His figure flickered. He immediately used the Great Wind Teleportation to appear on the other side.

The blood-yellow river water missed its mark, but swiftly changed direction, surging towards him once more.

Zu’an immediately activated the Snowflake Divine Sword and unleashed the power of the Snow Phoenix. Countless ice crystals instantly rose into the sky.

Against water elements, ice was naturally more effective.

A white light instantly rose from the surface of the surging river, and soon, chunks of ice appeared on its surface.

On the other side, the War Priest let out a surprised 'Eh?' "How can his ice-element ability be so powerful?"

The right head, however, showed no concern. Instead, it sneered, "No matter how great its power, before that drop of water, it's all but fleeting clouds."

No sooner had it spoken than cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the frozen river. The next second, all the ice vanished.

There wasn't even a visible process of cracking or melting!

Zu’an was secretly alarmed. In that instant, he felt the ice elemental power he had unleashed sever its connection with him, as if everything had simply ceased to exist.

At this, the right head laughed triumphantly. "This is a single drop of the River Nai's Forgetfulness Water, which I painstakingly acquired. How could it possibly be frozen by mere ice elements?"

"River Nai's Forgetfulness River?" Ji Dengtu's face changed drastically from afar, and he hurriedly yelled, "Lad, absolutely do not let that water touch you! The Forgetfulness River beneath the Naihe Bridge is a mythical existence. Legend has it that any living being or magical art touched by this river water will lose all its memories and supernatural abilities."

Legend says that after death, people must pass through the Gate of Hell and traverse the Yellow Springs Road, which is divided from the Underworld by the River Nai.

The River Nai is also known as the Forgetfulness River. Its waters are blood-yellow, filled with lonely ghosts and wild spirits unable to reincarnate, crawling with insects and snakes, and emanating a foul, bloody stench.

Over the river is the Naihe Bridge. By the Naihe Bridge sits an old woman named Meng Po. To cross the Forgetfulness River, one must pass over the Naihe Bridge and drink Meng Po's Soup to forget their past life. Without drinking the soup, one cannot cross the Naihe Bridge and thus cannot reincarnate.

Zu’an was startled. He seemed to have encountered the Forgetfulness River before, but its power was clearly different from this single drop of water.