Chapter 2288

"Abuser?" Dong Rui has an excellent memory: "The abusers' nests are built by abusers using hosts as foundations, and they devoured the entire tribe that worshipped the Moon God!"

Speaking of this, he let out a long sigh: "Ah, yes. The Jin Du ghost-spawn is the perfect example of human blood and divine blood—well, demon blood—combined. The ordinary ghost-spawn corpse I obtained from the Thousand-Eyed Cave had flesh and blood fused in the same way."

"Just as you said, the Art of Creation." The Jin Du ghost-mother uses human mothers to gestate, giving birth to ghost-spawn in the human realm; these little monsters carry both human blood and demon blood. This is the power of creation—though it may not be a masterpiece, it still far surpasses any demon puppet master's ability.

Even if Dong Rui is arrogant, he would not dare to compare himself to the Art of Creation.

He let out a soft hiss: "You mean, beneath the great mountain that the Qi Xia Sect uses to block the Bing Jiang waters, there is a Jin Du ghost-spawn?"

A Jin Du ghost-mother can give birth to nine offspring at once, each with different forms; it was never said that they must necessarily be humanoid.

What if it is merely a giant egg-shaped object?

Liu Qing Dao immediately said: "Jin Du ghost-spawn are half-human, half-demon; they should not possess such immense power as to be able to oppose us."

He Lingchuan nodded: "The reason the Jin Du ghost-mother can use human mothers to give birth is precisely because the offspring born this way are not very strong and will not be blocked by the barrier between the two realms."

The two-realm barrier embedded in the Tian Luo Star is no joke. Even the Ling Xu Holy Venerable cannot break it to return to the human realm.

But as the saying goes, the heavenly net is vast and wide-meshed; the weak may yet slip through its gaps.

"Therefore, ordinary Jin Du ghost-spawn could hardly oppose my Cang Yan's spiritual power and the Jin Jia divine generals." He Lingchuan analyzed: "Moreover, the Qi Xia Sect has been in closed-door cultivation for over a hundred years; even its disciples struggle to survive—how could they possibly raise a living Jin Du ghost-spawn?"

Liu Qing Dao asked: "Then, what is your opinion?"

He Lingchuan picked up a clump of earth. This substance is rich in colloid, and when pinched in the hand, it feels like modeling clay.

Dong Rui, however, seized the key point in his words: "'Ordinary' Jin Du ghost-spawn won't do. You mean, this is a devourer?"

He Lingchuan did not answer immediately, but after pondering for a long while, he asked Liu Qing Dao:

"From ancient to medieval times, there seem to have been records of devourers appearing. Can you find them?"

The Huan Sect is a great sect surviving from antiquity; Liu Qing Dao himself is a firsthand witness of the Immortal-Demon War, and can be called a living dictionary of all ages. Yet this obscure knowledge still left him stunned:

"Records of devourers appearing? Ah…… I need to send a message to Ju Cheng and have someone look for it."

When the Huan Sect followed He Lingchuan away from the Di Dao Sea, the disciples carried the sect's techniques, secret manuals, and historical records back to the Shan Jin Plain. After the Chi Xiao Golden Hall was built, a special Sutra Pavilion was opened to store the canons of various sects and schools, naturally including a place for Huan Sect's ancient texts, guarded by Huan Sect disciples.

……

The standoff between the Qi Xia Sect and Wei An City lasted thirty hours amid mutual torment.

Over nearly two days, both sides felt each day drag like a year.

The news of the water cutoff had spread throughout Wei An City; urban production and daily life were severely affected, and residents felt extremely inconvenienced.

Originally, the Luo River flowed year-round without ever drying up; Wei An City depended on it greatly. Coupled with the city's rapid expansion, the newly expanded districts rarely dug wells, and even many security and transport divine abilities relied on the river water to function.

He Lingchuan went incognito into the city and heard the most frequently discussed term on the streets and alleys: none other than "Luo River water cutoff."

Officials also stated plainly: the Xian Sect is up to mischief, building mountains to cut off the water.

Thus, the instigator, the Qi Xia Sect, has already been cursed by residents to the eighteenth generation of its ancestors; people's greetings toward it are as vicious as its act of cutting off the Luo River.

The first two things people say upon waking in the morning are either "Has the Luo River water come today?" or "Has the Qi Xia Sect been defeated today?"

Today, the sky over Wei An City is overcast with dark clouds.

He Lingchuan found a noodle shop frequented by locals, sat down, ordered a bowl of fish-ball noodles, and heard the shopkeeper tell several regular customers: "We won't be setting up the stall tomorrow."

The noodles at this shop are no thicker than a strand of hair; they cook instantly in boiling water, then are ladled with a bowl of rich broth, topped with several chunks of meat stew and a few slices of pig offal, and finally a fish ball is added.

Though the meat is tender and the broth fresh, the shop's specialty is the fish ball—each one is the size of a child's fist. Originally made from black fish, in recent years the population of white tuan fish in the Luo River has surged; their meat is thick, fatty, white, and delicious, so the shop switched to using them as the raw material. The resulting fish balls, when bitten, burst with juice with a chirp!

This burst of fragrance comes from scallion oil fried in pork fat; a careless splash can land on the face of the person at the next table.

Upon hearing the shop might close, the diners were reluctant and exclaimed in protest: "No!" The shopkeeper helplessly said: "Today's supplies are insufficient—no water, no fish; tomorrow I'll be selling thin air?"

The fish balls are made fresh; the Luo River water cutoff has cut off his livelihood.

In fact, it's not just him; big and small merchants in Wei An City have all seen their livelihoods affected.

The people could not hold back their anger, and discussions ran rampant: "The Yun Xia Sect truly has no eyes, causing trouble without first investigating—what kind of place is Wei An City, what kind of state is Cang Yan, that they dare to run wild here?"

"They call themselves the Qi Xia Sect, and I heard they are still an ancient great sect."

"Never mind what sect; for so many years they've hidden their heads and tucked their buttocks, sitting idly by while Shan Jin was tormented by demons. Now that heavenly and earthly spiritual energy has revived, they suddenly know to come out and contend with the people for profit." Someone sneered: "This cannot be tolerated; the Dragon God will surely teach them a harsh lesson!"

A newcomer merchant at the edge timidly asked: "Can this, this be won?"

The diners at the edge laughed: "You're not a local, are you?"

"You're not from Shan Jin, are you?"

"In recent years, how many demon and immortal sects have tried to show off their might on our heads?"

"Exactly; just look at Yao Prefecture to the east—five months ago, a great demon appeared, and as soon as it showed up, it rushed toward the city to eat people. We thought it was from the Shan Jin Plain where it could freely eat and drink. But within six or seven days, its head was chopped off by the Bing Yuan司 and hung on the city wall of Shui Cheng."

Another person eagerly asked: "Then, how long do you think we need to press this Qi Xia Sect down?"

Actually, everyone knows the force acting against it is either the great cultivators of the Bing Yuan司 or the Dragon God Army—certainly not ourselves—but this doesn't stop us from referring to ourselves as "we."

And share in the glory, right?

Another diner replied: "I guess, maybe another five or seven days?"

"Ah——" the crowd wailed, "Do we really have to wait that long?"

The shopkeeper also interjected: "Has fighting started outside the city?"

Just then, a water-transport merchant returning from outside the city replied directly: "Looks like not yet. But the many large figures summoned by the authorities keep digging that strange mountain. However, the more they dig, the more the mountain grows—there's no sign of a gap at all, and no one knows how long it will take to finish digging."