"Hey, old rival!"
At the source of the Yong River, a group of handsome and beautiful ghostly figures drifted along, leading tens of thousands of Great Ruins commoners to the riverbank, just as another group of men and women arrived with their own column of migrants.
Among these handsome and beautiful ghosts were a few old men and women. Spotting the group of young people across from them—each with a different height, build, and appearance—the ghosts broke into broad grins and teased, laughing: "So, the dead old ghosts of the Human Emperor Hall are out here looking decent for once!"
Those oddly-looking young people were none other than the successive Human Emperors of the Human Emperor Hall—Connor, Ethan, Second Ancestor, Third Ancestor, and others. When the 'Vast-Sky Venerable' and the gods of Heavenly Court descended, they plunged into the Great Ruins to find its people and ferry them down the Yong River toward Everpeace.
They arrived just as the ghosts of past Heavenly Demon Cult Masters were escorting Great Ruins commoners to Everpeace for refuge.
Ethan, short and stout, stood with hands on his hips and sneered: "We're the dead old ghosts? We're perfectly alive right now—it's your Heavenly Demon Cult that's full of dead old ghosts! None of you even have bodies, so what are you doing wandering around? Hand these people over to us and hurry back to Nether City to save your skins!"
Connor sneered, "No bodies, huh? You'd better watch out, or you won't even know how you died!"
"Pah, pah! Kids say the darndest things—good luck to us all!"
The Heavenly Demon Cult Masters burst out laughing: "You hotheaded brats from the Human Emperor Hall, we dead folks are magnanimous—we won't stoop to your level. But just smelling the stench of you living people makes us want to gag."
The Human Emperor Hall and the Heavenly Demon Cult hurled insults at each other, spitting back and forth.
Back in Nether City, they were all local overlords—always fighting among themselves. Even when alive, they couldn't stand each other, and only the Human Emperor Seal could keep the Heavenly Demon Cult Masters in line.
Whenever the Human Emperor Seal wasn't produced, they'd go right back to fighting and arguing.
The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch quickly interjected, "We're all here for the Great Ruins commoners—let's argue less. The Origin World is in chaos everywhere; keeping these mortals safe comes first."
The Fifth Human Emperor sneered, "Wenyuan, you’re all just dead ghosts—what makes you think you can move so many people?"
The Heavenly Demon Cult Masters’ ghosts burst out laughing and cast their spells in unison: "We have the Five Ghosts Relocation Art, teleportation arrays, earth-walking, water-escape, and mountain-moving arts. With all the past Cult Masters working together, forget tens of thousands—we could move hundreds of thousands or even millions! You brutes from the Human Emperor Hall are just big, dumb, and rough, and your techniques are the same. What real skills do you have?"
The Human Emperors all laughed and started showing off their divine arts: one pulled out a leaf and blew on it, turning it into a green barge hundreds of zhang long; another shook his body and transformed into a dragon; another conjured clouds underfoot for people to ride. Their various magical techniques dazzled the eye.
The Heavenly Demon Cult Masters looked at each other in disbelief.
"Those big, dumb brutes really have lived another lifetime—their divine arts are actually getting refined!"
Together, they ferried the Great Ruins commoners downstream, still spitting insults and saliva at each other as they went.
The Young Heavenly Demon Patriarch could only sigh and let them be.
Along the way, they ran into gods and demons from Heavenly Court. The Human Emperors and Heavenly Demon Cult Masters stopped bickering: if the enemy was few, they’d charge straight in—the Human Emperors fought head-on, while the Cult Masters used sneaky tricks. If outnumbered, they’d deploy teleportation magic and spirit the civilians away.
They made it through relatively safely, but the Primordial Spirits of the Heavenly Demon Cult Masters grew ever dimmer.
"You’ve been away from Nether City for too long."
Connor, the Human Emperor, said, "Patriarch Wenyuan, you all should go back. If you keep this up, your souls will scatter."
The Young Patriarch shook his head, but before he could reply, Heavenly Demon Cult Masters like Zhu Yang, Yulian, and Si Yuanwei all started scolding him at once, leaving Connor with a pounding headache.
Suddenly, the surface of the river was strewn with the corpses of divine dragons and gods; the dragon palace at the riverbed had been smashed apart. Clearly, Heavenly Court’s army had attacked the Yong River Dragon Palace and the dead gods and demons were Heavenly Court soldiers who’d fallen in battle.
Divine fire still burned atop the river, and even the water couldn’t put it out.
On the shore, broken tower-ships lay scattered; Heavenly Court’s troops must have clashed with dragonfolk here, with heavy casualties on both sides.
The Heavenly Demon Cult Masters dove into the corpses of the fallen soldiers, flailing and contorting in bizarre shapes, then swarmed around a massive Heavenly Court tower-ship and began hammering away at repairs.
With nimble hands and feet, the Cult Masters quickly restored the Heavenly Court tower-ship, leaving the Human Emperors dumbstruck.
The Heavenly Demon Cult Masters stood at the bow, casting spells to ferry the people aboard.
"You're in luck!"
They grinned broadly, "We're Heavenly Court's army, and you're our prisoners—marching you on ahead!"
The tower-ship soared into the sky, flying Heavenly Court banners. They headed east, and along the way saw more and more Heavenly Court warships bursting forth from blood-red flashes of sacrificial slaughter, making their hearts grow heavier.
They encountered another migrating group, this one escorted by practitioners from Heavenly Saint Academy.
The Heavenly Saint Academy students told them, "A ghost named Daoist Jasper helped us—otherwise, we wouldn’t have made it this far."
"Where is Daoist Jasper now?"
The students fell silent.
They ferried these refugees onward, and soon encountered a young Daoist leading another group out of the Great Ruins with great difficulty. That Daoist was Dao Lord Lucas Lin.
"Filthy Daoist, ox-nose—you’re even more nauseating than those big, dumb Human Emperors!"
The Heavenly Demon Cult Masters sneered at the Dao Lord, but still allowed Lucas Lin and his refugees to board.
"We can escort these people to the Peach Forest at Dao Gate Academy."
Lucas Lin took off his Dao crown, which was soaked in blood, and said, "Moon-Venerable resides in the Peach Forest. Though she doesn’t meddle in worldly affairs, the forest can protect them. We could also send them to Azurecloud Heaven—a Dao Gate branch of Heavenly Court—which is still relatively safe. I’ve already ordered Dao Gate disciples to escort people from the Yong River to Azurecloud Heaven, where they can escape the war. Azurecloud Heaven has twenty-four divine kingdoms and can guarantee their safety."
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"Ox-nose isn’t all bad."
Cult Master Si Yuanwei was quite impressed, smiling: "As Dao Lord, you risked your life to come out here—shows you’re not heartless. Did you come alone?"
"Two of us."
Lucas Lin said, "There’s also Daoist Cha."
"Where is he?"
Lucas Lin pursed his lips. "He stayed behind to block the path. He said he’d catch up once we were far enough, but if he hasn’t come after an hour, don’t wait for him."
The Jade-Faced Poison King of Everpeace is a master healer. I'll get Lucas to him myself!
Connor swung Lucas Lin onto his back. "Take care, folks!" he called.
Everyone bowed. "Take care!"
Connor tore off at a dead sprint, vanishing down the road. Six or seven days later, he reached the Yong River, dashing downstream atop the waves. Overhead, enormous tower-ships sailed by—then, suddenly, a few came to a halt.
Connor ducked into the shadows. The ships dropped thick chains, and a gigantic cage creaked down between them.
"Wayne Gale! Wayne Gale! That's me!"
Inside the cage, a towering god was chained up—links stabbing through his flesh, his Primordial Spirit, every Divine Treasury, even his Heaven Palace.
"Shut up!"
A heavy, imperial voice boomed from above: "Wayne Gale, you met Venerable Skysoar and even had her hairpin. After all these years studying her time Dao, your body and Primordial Spirit must've changed. Using you to lure out the Ghost Ship—I'd say that's a fair trade, wouldn't you?"
Connor squinted from the shadows as the prisoner barked again, "My name's Wayne Gale!"
Connor blinked, baffled. "Is this guy trying to convince me, or himself?"
Just then, beneath the surface of the Yong River, a massive tower-ship drifted slowly under his feet.
"My name is Wayne Gale—" the lunatic in the cage hollered at him, voice echoing like a bad punchline.