73: Chapter 73 The Green Snake Wants to Become the River God
The Xia Dynasty.
To the far west, at the border with the Central Region.
To the south is the Monster Beast Mountain Range, and it is the Gaoyuan Kingdom, one of the seven nations the Xia Dynasty split into.
Standing behind it is the Xuanyun Sect, one of the Four Great Sects.
The Mortal kingdoms warred with one another.
Only when one of the nations unifies the Xia Dynasty will it obtain the Luck of the entire Xia Dynasty.
During this period, the Sects cannot interfere in the battles, as it would disrupt the Luck.
Furthermore, the Sects are also at war and wary of each other, so they have no time to interfere in Mortal affairs.
They only dispatch some Disciples to deal with worldly evil spirits.
And they command their Disciples to never interfere in Mortal wars.
At the western border of the Gaoyuan Kingdom, within Xishan Commandery, there is a long river called the West River.
The West River is broad and deep, its depth beyond human measurement.
The river is home to countless fish and shrimp, supporting numerous fishermen who rely on it for their livelihood; it runs through half of Xishan Commandery and is also a vital transportation hub.
In these chaotic times of war, evil energy has also tainted the river.
This led to the breeding of evil spirits within the river, which swallowed countless passing vessels.
The entire West River has become a Forbidden Ground.
But amidst the threats of death and famine, there will always be those who take risks.
With grain and massive amounts of labor being conscripted, those with nothing to eat cared little for any evil spirits.
They only knew that the grain from their fields had been taken, winter was drawing near, and if they didn't go to the West River to fish, they would die.
Cheng Li was such a person.
Because he had broken his leg in his early years, he had avoided the conscription.
However, his father in his fifties and his fourteen-year-old eldest son were indeed taken away.
He didn't even know if they were dead or alive.
At home, there were still his elderly mother, his wife, and two children to feed.
If he didn't come to fish, how else could they survive?
"River God, protect me."
Cheng Li gritted his teeth and pushed off his small boat, rowing from the shore into the West River.
On the once-bustling river, not a single other fishing boat could be seen.
Despite missing a leg, Cheng Li was still nimble.
He cast his nets in the usual spots and set up the floats.
Then he quickly rowed to other locations to cast more nets.
He cast his nets three times in succession.
Seeing that no evil spirits had appeared, Cheng Li's heart settled slightly.
"One more net!"
Cheng Li gritted his teeth and rowed toward the center of the West River.
Winter was approaching, and he had to stockpile enough food; he was the only one who could support this family.
As the waves rippled on both sides of the small boat, Cheng Li didn't notice a small patch of river water beneath the hull growing darker and darker.
"I can't row?"
Cheng Li felt a surge of dread and immediately tried to turn the boat around to row back to shore.
Regret filled his heart, blaming himself for his momentary greed.
He paddled desperately.
However, the boat grew slower and slower until it came to a complete standstill on the water; no matter how he paddled, it didn't budge an inch.
Black strands of hair crawled out of the water bit by bit, entwining the boat.
A black, humanoid figure emerged from the surface of the water.
The chilling aura made Cheng Li's body tremble uncontrollably.
"An evil spirit!"
Cheng Li kept backing away, holding the paddle and swinging it wildly.
But the evil spirit was like an intangible object; the swinging paddle passed through it as if it were an illusion, unable to touch it at all.
Strands of black hair-like silk entwined Cheng Li.
A freezing sensation spread throughout his body.
Cheng Li could no longer move.
He was filled with regret.
If he died, his family would be completely finished.
"I don't want... to die."
"River God, if there really is a River God, please save us."
At this most critical moment, a streak of green light flashed across the sky.
The green light swept away the evil spirit.
Cheng Li slumped onto the small boat, staring in shock at where the green light was.
It was a green snake over ten meters long.
Its scales were like green jade, its body slender, radiating a green spiritual light, and a green jade ring was fastened around its tail.
"River God!"
Cheng Li's voice was dry as he called out instinctively.
"What was that?"
[Ding, proficiency requirements met]
[Skill learned: Auspicious Beast LV1]
[Auspicious Beast LV1] Improves physical fitness, increases Luck, and allows the manifestation of Auspicious Beast Spiritual Light.
The green snake was none other than Xu Qing.
Having just arrived in the Xia Dynasty, since he had decided to clear his name and become an Auspicious Beast...
...he naturally had to perform more good deeds.
He hadn't expected such outstanding results on his first try, directly obtaining the Auspicious Beast skill.
He truly was kind and simple by nature, a born beast of good fortune.
"This lowly citizen thanks the River God for saving my life!"
Cheng Li kowtowed toward the green snake.
Xu Qing paid no mind to Cheng Li.
Anyway, this fellow didn't speak Snake, so there was no way to communicate.
He turned his gaze toward the evil spirit and used Insight.
[Evil Spirit] Water Ghost
[Dao Cultivation] 95 years
[Realm] Qi Refining Level 9
[Skills] Strike Reduction LV1, Spell Reduction LV1, Poison Reduction LV1, Evil Silk LV2, Deterrence LV1, evil qi LV3
"To think it has so many reduction skills..."
Although Xu Qing was mentally prepared, he was still a little shocked.
Rare reduction-type skills—this evil spirit, which didn't even have a century of Dao Cultivation, actually had three of them.
How envious.
Therefore, it had to be destroyed.
Xu Qing spat out a breath of Green Fire.
The Green Fire entwined around it, instantly swallowing the evil spirit and burning it into nothingness.
[Ding, killed a Qi Refining Level 9 evil spirit]
[Dao Cultivation +0.2, evolution points +1]
[Obtained Magical Artifact: Evil-Slaying Sword x1]
Xu Qing turned his head, glanced at Cheng Li, and then flew away, vanishing from sight.
Cheng Li didn't dare stay in the West River any longer; he bowed toward the direction Xu Qing had flown.
Then he rowed quickly toward the shore.
...
"River God..."
Flying in the air, Xu Qing had a bold plan in mind.
What was an Auspicious Beast compared to this!
He wanted to be the River God!
Once he became the River God, who would still think he was an evil demon?
At that time, even without Transformation, he could walk among the Mortals.
The more people who believed in him, the more places he could go.
Xu Qing quickly returned to the new territory he had occupied nearby and pulled Xu Linger and Lin Donglan out.
"Build a River God Temple!"
"Believe in this River God, and injuries and illnesses can be cured, and the fishing industry will flourish!"
As Xu Qing said this, he flicked his tongue excitedly.
"...Senior Brother, are you alright?"
Xu Linger often felt inferior because she couldn't keep up with the green snake's logic.
"Show some respect, call me the River God!"
...
Xu Qing was already impatient.
...
Just like that, a few days later, a River God Temple abruptly appeared on the bank of the deathly silent West River.
Named the West River God Temple, it was very large and had a rather rugged style.
Inside, there was only one statue, a coiled green snake.
The statue was forged by Xu Qing using ironstone, with one of his own scales embedded in its forehead; it was also a Magical Artifact.
And Xu Linger and Lin Donglan also became temple keepers.
As long as incense and offerings were provided, illnesses could be cured and fishing would thrive.
Actually, Frogs were also acceptable; Xu Qing wasn't picky.
And the first pilgrim to arrive was none other than Cheng Li, whom Xu Qing had saved.
Cheng Li entered the River God Temple and respectfully bowed to the green snake statue with incense.
The incense smoke drifted toward the green snake statue.
The green snake statue glowed slightly with spiritual light, appearing quite mystical.
Xu Qing faintly seemed to sense some mysterious aura.