Chapter 2493: Reaching the Azure Heavens

In the space-time rift between the present world and the underworld, an ancient clear spring stood still.

By the shore, a man as silent as a stone sculpture held an empty branch as a rod, the fishing line taut and straight, hanging down to the water's surface.

Looking at this fishing line alone, it was like a straight, hiltless, incredibly fine and sharp sword pressing against the throat of the one named "Yellow Spring."

He had been holding the rod and hanging the sword like this for a very long time.

As the highest existence within the underworld, the White Bone Venerable God had long held dominion over the Yellow Spring.

Later, although he descended to the present world, shedding godhood to become human and almost severing all ties with the underworld, this path of transmission, involving the former path of a god of the underworld, he was still reluctant to strip away. Instead, he quietly hid it in the space-time rift, waiting for future use.

In the end, he left himself a retreat. If he couldn't achieve transcendence in the present world, he could still return to be his venerable god of the underworld. With this Yellow Spring, he could relatively easily rebuild the White Bone God Country.

Moreover, in the early stages of his dao embryo developing in the present world, it was a very useful power.

He could avoid becoming a god himself, using the Yellow Spring to form a seal, placing it secretly in a place without involving his own body.

For example, Ye Lingxiao forged the Golden Body God of Wealth, and Jiang Wang in the demon realm pretended to be the Chiyun mountain god. White Bone would only do even better.

Even though White Bone wasn't as convenient as Ye Lingxiao, using the Cloud Country Chamber of Commerce and the rolling red dust to cover himself, the Yellow Spring itself was the best medium for the god path and the best barrier for faith.

The only problem was...

The Yellow Spring had been discovered.

The person who had always been searching for White Bone was waiting for him here.

No matter if he was now human or ghost, reincarnated or in the afterlife.

Both Wang Changji and Jiang Wang were people who lacked patience. In approaching the target named "White Bone Venerable God," they were especially willing to give time.

But a long wait never led to a welcome result.

Things that should have happened naturally seemed to take sudden twists.

The Yellow Spring rippled quietly, circle after circle, endlessly.

The warm reflection of a smile on the water's surface was just like this, shaken to pieces.

"The Yellow Spring... has lost its owner." Wang Changji slowly opened his mouth.

Lost its owner.

Only two possibilities.

White Bone's dao embryo body in the world had already died. Or, he had given up.

Did he already know that someone was waiting here?

Had he already noticed Wang Changji's eyes, which were forever gazing at him from afar?

A set of green robes drifted down to the shore. The most famous sword in the world today quietly remained in its sheath, hanging by his waist. The thick killing intent was like the gloomy condensation of a deep abyss, seemingly a beast imprisoned in a cage. At first glance, it was just a peaceful night. Only when it truly flowed out could you know how surging it was.

Jiang Wang stood peacefully beside Wang Changji, looking at the broken reflection in the water. Then, with a flick of his finger, he cut off all the ripples of this treasure spring in all directions. He said in a faint voice, "You refine it first. Then we'll find out where that drop of Yellow Spring water came from."

This treasure spring, one of the Nine Springs of the Underworld, had lost its hiddenness after losing its owner. It itself emitted treasure qi outwards, equivalent to a resounding bell shaking the wilderness, announcing its freedom to the underworld.

Releasing a deer into the wild would inevitably attract various parties to snatch it.

Especially those ancient existences within the underworld. Although they all swept the snow from their own doorsteps, matters not concerning themselves were hung high, allowing the strong ones of the present world to cross the underworld, allowing gods and ghosts outside their god country to live and die. But if something related to fundamental interests was involved... they were not what good men and faithful women would do either.

What Jiang Wang did was temporarily cage this treasure deer back, close the door and digest it well, avoiding meaningless disputes.

The reason for saying "meaningless disputes"... Outside this underworld, he didn't fear any gods of the underworld. It was just that his current focus was on White Bone, and he also hoped that Wang Changji could steadily refine the Yellow Spring. He didn't want to engage in useless battles and waste the opportunity in vain.

Since it was no longer possible to wait for that drop of Yellow Spring water to give feedback to White Bone's dao embryo body in the world, then he could only pursue its origin —

Who transformed this drop of Yellow Spring water?

This person must have had contact with White Bone's body in the world.

Wang Changji rose silently and walked step by step into the Yellow Spring.

The Yellow Spring water was clear and pure, the people who left the world sparse and distant.

After giving up, the last thread of connection between White Bone's dao embryo body in the world and the underworld was also wiped away. This wipe cut off the hard-to-capture path to search for him!

One could even say that this act of giving up was more unsettling than giving up the Yellow Spring itself.

Because this represented that Wang Changji's understanding of the White Bone Venerable God was unbalanced, not true. Many years of mutual gazing had made him the person who understood White Bone the most in the world. But the years that had passed since he spoke to the former White Bone Venerable God were like a fleeting gap in a floating life.

That was a huge and complex life, almost without boundaries.

In the vast time and space, including the former Zhuang Chengqian, Song Wanxi, and now Jiang Wang, Wang Changji, all the people who saw White Bone only understood a corner of him!

A long journey without result, a long wait in vain.

But whether it was Wang Changji or Jiang Wang, both were very calm.

Because they were both already used to it.

Used to a long journey without hope, used to the possibility that revenge might not be possible.

That was, after all, a god of the underworld, an existence of the transcendence rank.

So, what to do?

Nothing but continue searching.

Nothing but come back once again.

Life may be limited, but this matter is boundless.

Wang Changji waded further into the water, the Yellow Spring water gradually submerging him over his head.

Jiang Wang stood guard on the shore.

Not long after —

Gurgle gurgle... Bubbles continuously swallowed in the spring heart.

Wang Changji's hand reached out from the spring heart. It was an unusually dry hand, only on the tip of his lifted index finger, a drop of water bead stopped.

This drop of water bead slowly flew towards Jiang Wang. The moment it left the spring surface, it began to rapidly become turbid, staining a large amount of miscellaneous red dust information.

"The last returning Yellow Spring water, just this one drop. The information it carried no longer exists. You go track its origin first." Wang Changji's hand sank back into the water, and his voice said, "I will refine the Yellow Spring and then follow up."

The timing to track White Bone's dao embryo body in the world was possibly fleeting.

For Wang Changji, this matter was important above all else.

The first thing he did after jumping into the Yellow Spring wasn't to quickly refine the Yellow Spring, but to find this one drop of water that should have originally given feedback to White Bone's body in the world, yet remained silent in the Yellow Spring!

Wang Changji didn't say much, and Jiang Wang had nothing else to say.

Watching this drop of Yellow Spring water approach, he only lifted his hand and pressed down a path of green stone bridge, crossing the Yellow Spring and covering it, temporarily sealing and town it, helping it hide. This body then transformed into a thousand threads and ten thousand strands of light, constantly shuttling within this drop of Yellow Spring water, and also constantly shuttling within the space-time rift!

Rumble!

Summer Island had rain, the fine rain becoming a sudden downpour.

Occasionally, there was the sound of thunder.

That lightning flashed past with scorching light, that thunder rumbled fleetingly. Sound and sight intertwined in the air, like the brush of a creation god, outlining the concrete figure of a person in green robes hanging down. Rain beads quietly suspended around his body, like a curtain hanging, leaving him three feet away, the rain still pouring suddenly.

"Summer Island."

Many years later, he ascended again.

In Jiang Wang's eyes, there was a slight wisp of lost thought.

Zheng Sheng Hall, Sheng Wen Immortal Canon, Like Dream Order, breaking into the solitary boat with Ulie and Lin Youxie... This was truly a place that left a deep impression.

The last clue of that drop of Yellow Spring water's return path, in the end, broke here —

More accurately, it broke in the sea domain where Summer Island was located.

It must have fallen from Summer Island, crossed the sea water and earth's crust, entered the rift of the present world, and headed back to the Yellow Spring.

It was a pity that it was impossible to touch it further.

It seemed that some kind of power, the moment this drop of Yellow Spring water fell into the sea, wiped away its information.

Was it the self-destruction of White Bone's body in the world? And why continue to let it return to the Yellow Spring, taking this extra step?

Did White Bone's body in the world control this drop of Yellow Spring water through the Yellow Spring, remotely influencing someone who was active on Summer Island at that time, then intercept it on its return path, cleanse it, and then release it to return? And then, after a period of time, would the Yellow Spring also be given up?

However you thought about it, there were some problems.

Jiang Wang couldn't figure it out and temporarily put it aside.

Summer Island was huge, with countless people coming and going every day. The people on this island and in the sea numbered in the tens of thousands — to whom could this drop of Yellow Spring water belong?

Summer Island was not ownerless land after all. Jiang True Monarch descended here so ostentatiously, without the slightest intention of hiding his tracks, naturally attracting a lot of attention.

Soon, one by one, cultivators flew up, but they all fell back without speaking.

Later, there might be cultivators who didn't recognize Jiang Wang, but there weren't many in the past two years.

The sudden rain was like a waterfall from the sky. Suddenly, a river of stars surged.

That was the illusory light and shadow manifested by Jiang Wang's immortal thought running through the long sky. It didn't affect the continuation of the rain. Yet, in people's eyes looking up at the sky, it left such an odd scene. Perhaps many years later, it would not be forgotten.

"People's thoughts can originally be so magnificent..."

"That's Town River True Monarch!"

Tens of thousands of voices!

Voice after voice entered his ears.

In the rain, the residual light of the immortal thought star river still remained, but Jiang Wang had already disappeared in the rain.

View Lan Guest Inn, Heaven Character Room Number Three.

Jiang Wang stepped in in one go.

The seals left by the island patrol guards, including Shuofang Bo's casually set up means, were all swept away by his wave without surprise.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The strong wind smashed the windows open and closed repeatedly, causing chaotic ringing.

Jiang Wang stood in this room, where green vines climbed the walls.

He quickly captured the remaining qi in this room. Among them, some were very familiar to him. Of course, he also saw the marks left by Yin Guan.

Roughly before today, the entire Summer Island hadn't had such a complex moment.

"Who came to this room in the guest inn?"

Jiang Wang turned around and asked Ye Henshui, who suddenly appeared at the door.

This alliance master of the Town Sea Alliance, governor of the coastal region of the Great Qi Empire, now effectively held the highest power in the entire coastal islands. After Jiang Wang appeared, he came very quickly. Of course, he didn't come without reason.

Jiang Wang added, "Governor, I want the most truthful intelligence, not those spread outside."

It had to be said that the deceased Elder Chong Xuan had truly sharp eyesight. Among all the civil and military officials in the court, he chose Ye Henshui, who had the name of a favored minister at that time, to marry.

If the marriage between Chong Xuan Sheng and the Xing family could succeed, and he married Ye Henshui's niece, the power of the Chong Xuan family today would be simply unimaginable.

Of course, Chong Xuan Sheng didn't need marriage to consolidate his title. This in itself was also the only thing Chong Xuan Sheng couldn't trade.

Ye Henshui almost without hesitation said very simply, "Hell No Door's coroner Wang and City King. Jing Country's Jic Si South City Executive Chen Kaixu. Jing Country's Mirror World Platform Mirror Guard Captain Jiang Nanpeng. Cang Shu County Governor Miao Jingyang's brother Miao Ru Tai. Miao Ru Tai's subordinate, a young person named Qu Shoufu. Da Luo Mountain's Xu San, Hell No Door's leader Qin Guang Wang —"

He paused here and continued, "Tian Anping."

Now that it had come to this point, if anyone truly thought that Ye Henshui's current position was achieved merely by writing beautiful green words, they should truly hang themselves and drain the water from their brains!

The abnormally complex drama in Heaven Character Room Number Three happened and ended quickly. Afterwards, several more waves of people came successively, none of them causing much of a stir.

Ye Henshui almost completely hid himself in the process of organizing the coastal governor's mansion, but he almost recorded the name of every person who appeared in this room, as long as there was a trace to follow.

He truly grasped the situation in the coastal region, something not many people did, and he was still only in the preliminary stage of integrating coastal authority.

Including the original Town Sea Alliance and the various sects on the coastal islands into the new coastal governor's mansion, while still wanting to look elegant and embody the demeanor of a great country, was an unusually complex task. And in this process, he was still listening in all directions, tracing and investigating, showing a kind of composure.

Compared to Nan Xia Governor Su Guanying and Nan Xia Army Supervisor Shi Mingpeng who, after nine years of governing Xia, leveraged the momentum of the entire Nan Xia's prosperity and were about to reach the top of the official career, Ye Henshui's progress in the coastal islands might be much faster.

Jiang Wang knew why Ye Henshui paused when mentioning Tian Anping.

When he descended to Summer Island, he had already sensed that in a certain sea area not far away, Tian Anping was in the process of an extraordinary ascension to the top.

And he and Tian Anping, when they were both in the Dong Zhen realm, had fought once at sea. That battle was not public, yet no one in the high ranks of Qi Country didn't know about it. Tian Anping, who had always been arrogant, finally covered his neck and left alone like a defeated dog!

Ye Henshui's emergency rush to Summer Island was not without this reason —

Tian Anping was a True Person of Qi Country and would become a True Monarch of Qi Country. Ye Henshui, as the coastal governor, had to provide protection in any case.

Although Jiang Wang had always been very disciplined and friendly to Qi Country, he had to cross this step as well.

It was responsibility, and also attitude.

Of course, Jiang Wang wouldn't go and slash Tian Anping down from the peak of the road without reason — unless it was now proven that the drop of Yellow Spring water was related to Tian Anping.

"Why did Miao Ru Tai appear here?" he asked.

He had, after all, served in Zi Ji Hall and wasn't so ignorant as to not recognize Cang Shu County Governor Miao Jingyang. Moreover, this local official also had family ties with Shuofang Bo. But he also knew that the strongest in the Miao family was Miao Jingyang, who was said to "have hope of descending to godhood" at that time, and was now "approaching godhood." As for Miao Ru Tai, he hadn't even heard the name at that time.

Jiang Wang could probably understand why everyone who appeared in the Heaven Character Room Number Three of View Lan Guest Inn would be here. Each one could casually provide a certain reason. Only this Miao Ru Tai had a sense of a dog mistakenly entering a wolf pack.

It wasn't that he had any opinion of Miao Ru Tai.

It was just that danger was sometimes proportional to ability!

People who wandered at the foot of the mountain couldn't possibly fall to their death at the top of the mountain.

This room, surrounded by green vines, eroded by green rust, looked full of spring, yet after such a long time, the killing intent still hadn't dispersed. Such a complex and unfathomable place, where various dangers collided, how could Miao Ru Tai be involved in it?

As long as Jiang Wang wasn't looking for trouble, Ye Henshui would tell everything he knew: "According to the records of going out to sea, Miao Ru Tai came to inspect sea trade. Many people have been operating at sea in the past two years... Qu Shoufu is just a relatively well-known sea merchant. Qu Shoufu's trip was to purchase Liyang pearls, which sell very well on Summer Island."

Someone like Bao Yi sending people out to sea, and still wanting to secretly deal with Tian Anping, was definitely watertight.

What Jiang Wang cared about, Tian Anping would also care about.

If Jiang Wang could easily find a problem with Miao Ru Tai, Tian Anping would naturally also be able to find it.

Whether Ye Henshui had sensed some hidden matters, he would not express those guesses.

"It seems he was accidentally involved in this matter," Jiang Wang said.

Ye Henshui didn't comment on this, only saying, "After the change in this room, several more waves of people rushed here — Chu Country's Zhong Li Yan, Zhuge Zhuo, and our Qi Country's Shuofang Bo."

How did Zhong Li Yan come? Dou Zhao wasn't here again.

And Zhuge Zhuo...

"The two people from Chu Country, are they not here to play?" Jiang Wang asked.

Ye Henshui smiled slightly: "They reported it exactly like that."

"... Then Shuofang Bo?" Jiang Wang asked again, "Did he personally come to investigate Miao Ru Tai's matter?"

Ye Henshui showed an expression of "you guessed it again": "Shuofang Bo gave the coastal governor's mansion exactly such a notice."

Things seemed more and more complex, but for Jiang Wang, it became simpler.

Since Bao Yi actively came to take responsibility for Miao Ru Tai, he couldn't determine if Miao Ru Tai was truly accidentally involved in the matter...

Rumble!

Lightning cracked the long sky in one path.

He lightly nodded to Ye Henshui and said thank you.

Then, he transformed into ten thousand strands of flowing light and went through the rain.

Guessing back and forth was really too troublesome.

He was more used to directly asking!