Arrogant!
Utterly arrogant!
The City God was now showing a desperate, do-or-die attitude that even the King of Hell found utterly baffling.
And the backer he spoke of was, without a doubt, none other than the Capital City God, who rules over all City Gods under heaven!
In that instant, the King of Hell’s killing intent boiled over: “Your demonic nature remains unpurged, and you’ve shut down City God Street without authorization—this is a grave offense against the Netherworld! Have you truly grown tired of living?!”
The City God shot back with a cold laugh: “I shut down City God Street to uphold the laws of the Netherworld and the celestial regulations, to prevent scoundrels from causing chaos—what crime is there in that?!
Even if there were a crime, if brought before the Supreme One, my sins would surely be lighter than yours, Lord Yan!
Besides, Lord Capital City God will naturally speak on my behalf!
I have no worries at all!”
“As for you, Lord Yan—” he shifted his tone, not hiding his sarcasm in the slightest: “You’ve been running wild lately, and your ambition to claim the Ghost Emperor’s throne is already plain for all to see. Tell me, among the Ghost Emperors, who do you think would put in a good word for you?
As for the Supreme One, He is far too busy, just and fair, and would certainly never shield you.”
“If we’re talking odds, who do you think has the higher ground—me, or you?”
Watching the City God act so arrogantly, as if the King of Hell wasn’t even worth his consideration, Lu Chen couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
Holy crap!
A mere City God could be this tough—that’s something you don’t see every day!
Was he so brazen because he had nothing to fear, or had he really been pushed to his absolute limits?
At this point, Lu Chen was no longer just watching a clash of power—he was watching a showdown between backers and backers.
And clearly, his side was quietly losing ground.
His own “lower-class horse” couldn’t outrun the City God’s “middle-class horse.”
And the City God’s “middle-class horse” couldn’t beat Lord Yan’s “upper-class horse.”
But damn it, the other side still had an even higher-level trump card!
Just as Lu Chen was making these mental comparisons—
Lord Yan suddenly flicked his sleeve, and a streak of black mystical light instantly enveloped Lu Chen, shielding him.
The City God let out a mocking snort: “Useless, Lord Yan! Outside City God Street, Yin energy can cross, but once inside this street, the inability to ferry Yin energy is a law set by the Netherworld itself!
Right now, this kid’s Yin energy is nearly spent. Once it’s completely depleted, his Yang energy will burst forth, and when Yin and Yang collide—even if he doesn’t die, he’ll lose a huge chunk of his lifespan and fortune!”
If you don’t go and beg the Ghost Emperors and the Supreme One to break open City God Street—
Within a day, the signing slips on my desk won’t just include Zheng Zhang-shi—there’ll be another name added: Lu-shi!
Consider it my small contribution to the Netherworld.”
With that, he turned to Lu Chen, that same hideous grin still plastered on his face: “Kid, I gave you a way out before. But you wouldn’t take the broad road, and instead you went barging through the gates of hell!
Now you’re trapped here to death. I’m simply acting in accordance with duty, carrying out heaven’s will, and I won’t suffer any heavenly punishment or backlash.”
“Blame yourself! Breaking into City God Street, snatching a detained soul, causing havoc at the City God Assembly… one charge after another—you’ve been digging your own grave!”
The City God’s every word was icy cold, like spikes of ice piercing the bone.
“Lord Yan, there’s no time to lose! Please hurry back to the Netherworld and invite a Ghost Emperor here! Otherwise, with the General’s remaining Yin energy, he won’t last much longer!”
Xie Bi’an urged urgently. He knew that trading verbal jabs with the City God at this point was completely pointless.
The other side was willing to lose eight hundred of his own to wound a thousand of theirs, forcibly sealing off City God Street—this was clearly a fight to the death.
Lord Yan was also starting to lose his composure, his voice low: “Do you think I don’t want to go back?! But once I leave, there’ll be no one here strong enough to resist—how will you hold him off?!”
Shutting down City God Street had truly put Lord Yan in an inescapable deadlock.
If he left, the City God would certainly strike with thunderous force;
If he stayed, Lu Chen’s Yin energy would run out, and a Yin-Yang collision would spell catastrophe.
“Protect the General!”
The three thousand Yin soldiers and generals moved as one, once again forming a tight circle around Lu Chen.
“Lord Yan, go ahead! We’ll protect the General with our very lives!”
The three thousand soldiers’ voices were resolute beyond measure!
No way.
Want to lay a killing hand on our God of Wealth—no, I mean, our General?
Even if you’re just a City God today, even if the Capital City God himself showed up—
We still wouldn’t stand for it!
“Haha! You lot?” The City God sneered, clearly not regarding these Yin soldiers as any real threat.
“General!!!”
By his side, Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong were already pale with panic, tears streaming uncontrollably.
“It’s fine. Don’t panic.”
At the brink of life and death—
Even Lu Chen himself hadn’t expected that he wouldn’t be as flustered as he’d imagined.
He wasn’t exactly calm as an old dog.
But he definitely wasn’t tossed about like a storm-tossed ship either.
Even he couldn’t figure out where this composure was coming from.
This shouldn’t be happening…
“Jingle-jangle…”
Just then, the crisp sound of copper coins falling to the ground suddenly rang out in Lu Chen’s ear.
He only heard it for an instant, but his eyes shot wide open in shock: “This is…”
He looked down sharply at the pendant on his chest.
“The ‘Tong Cai Yuan Bao’?! The passive [100% Success] has been triggered!!”
Ever since he’d won that bet against Sun Qingcang last time, even through the rainmaking in Longhu County and the seven-day demon-subduing, this Tong Cai Yuan Bao had never made a peep.
But now—it had suddenly triggered!
That meant… this task was definitely going to succeed?!
This crisis was definitely going to be resolved?!
“Could it be that my elder brother is watching me from the Heavenly Court, just like last time?”
Joy surged in Lu Chen’s heart.
Backer Number One had just logged in, just like that?!
…
Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Court, at the Nine-Dragon Palace.
“Hahaha!”
From the Mystic Light Mirror, the City God’s unrestrained, arrogant laughter rang out.
“Kid, your worst mistake was desecrating the gods! Today, you’ve brought this on yourself! I may not be able to beat the King of Hell, but for Him to kill me quickly—that’s pure fantasy! Today, you will die right here on my City God Street!”
Inside the palace, as that howling laughter echoed and reverberated—
On the cloud terrace, the Plague Emperor’s eyelids lifted slightly, and the oppressive aura of the entire palace turned nearly tangible.
Even the entire Nine-Dragon Island began to radiate a terrifying pressure that made hearts quake.
Passing immortals and gods turned their heads in shock, and without exception, they all gave the place a wide berth.
Though the [Plague Ministry] had a poor reputation, no one dared underestimate its strength within the [Eight Ministries].
Especially the Plague Emperor—among the Eight Ministry Star Lords, his power was definitely near the top.
Even Dou Mu Yuan Jun and the Celestial Venerable of the Thunderclap of the Nine Heavens, the two widely acknowledged strongest Star Lords, might not be able to overpower the Plague Emperor.
Seeing that the Star Lord was about to strike in fury—
“Star Lord, absolutely not!” The Plague Attendant flashed into the hall and knelt before the throne, kowtowing repeatedly: “If you act now, you’ll be cutting yourself off from the Empress! This will be disastrous for you, and for the entire [Plague Ministry]!”
“ROOOAR!!!”
The Venomous Dragon Pest-Beast coiled around the black iron pillar let out a earth-shaking dragon’s roar, deeply dissatisfied with the Attendant’s words of dissuasion.
“Attendant…”
The Plague Emperor’s voice, giving away neither pleasure nor anger, instantly filled the hall, wrapping around the Plague Attendant like an invisible hand.
“Do you truly believe that if the [Plague Ministry] keeps walking this path, we’ll ever reach the other shore?”
“Star Lord, but…” The Attendant tried to argue, only to find himself unable to speak.
From the cloud terrace, that weary, timeworn voice came again:
“Over thirty thousand years ago, in the great tribulation, I wielded the Twin Plague Swords, the Plague-Sealing Seal, the Plague Bell, the Plague-Forming Banner, the Plague Umbrella, and the Eight-Trigram Platform, sweeping through the Three Teachings without equal. I declared myself second in the sect, and no one dared claim first!”
“Back then, how lofty and proud I was! I fought a hundred immortals without fear—even if a Sage Himself had appeared, I’d have wanted to clash with Him!”
“But in the end, my pride led me to fall, my soul returned to the Heavenly Court, and I was put in charge of this [Plague Ministry], despised by both heaven and man.”
“The long, long years have not only worn down my edges, but also dulled the sharpness in my heart.”
“But—is this truly what I wanted?”
“SWISH!”
Several beams of mystical light burst forth!
The Twin Plague Swords, the Plague-Sealing Seal, the Plague Bell, the Plague-Forming Banner, the Plague Umbrella…
These artifacts, once famed throughout the Three Realms and now buried by the river of time, now swirled above the Plague Emperor’s head, carrying the power to annihilate worlds.
The Plague Attendant’s face went white as ash.
The Plague Emperor raised a hand, and the Twin Plague Swords flew into his grasp. His fingertip traced along the blade.
“Years have passed, and you’re still just as sharp—unlike me, growing old and frail.”
A faint smile tugged at the corner of His mouth—but it only made the Plague Attendant sink into utter despair.
“The Empress always said: when the time is right and merit is complete, I could slay my Three Corpses and attain the Great Luo. But…”
Above His head, three blossoms bloomed with boundless merit, illuminating the entire hall.
Yet unlike the five-colored divine light of other immortals and gods, the Plague Emperor’s merit was like a sea of blood!
Within that sea of blood, countless vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts wailed and howled, struggling and screeching in agony.
“This merit has long been stained with blood. Tell me—what chance do I have left to slay the Three Corpses? If I cut down the Evil Corpse, my primordial spirit will be devoured in an instant!
Attaining the Great Luo is nothing but a mirage to me now!”
“Since the grand path the Empress pointed out is not for me to enjoy—”
“Then let me choose my own way to walk!”
“Even if I reach the end and fail, that would be better than living with regrets someday!”
With that, the Plague Attendant found he could speak again and immediately pleaded: “Star Lord, you must not! If you offend the Empress, the [Plague Ministry]’s situation will only become even more difficult in the future!”
“More difficult? How much worse can it get than now? Might as well go all out and fight for a chance at survival!”
“Star Lord…”
“Enough, Attendant.” The Plague Emperor cut him off: “If you no longer wish to be entangled in the [Plague Ministry]’s karma, then leave. I won’t force you to stay. Consider this the end of our bond as master and servant…”
“Star—!”
The Plague Emperor flicked a finger, and the Plague Attendant turned into a gust of clear wind and vanished without a trace.
“Five Directional Plague Envoys!”
“Here, Star Lord!”
In a flash of light, the five Plague Envoys stood in the hall.
“Deliver My decree—go and lend support!”
A divine decree floated down into the hands of the Eastern Plague Envoy, Zhou Xin.
“As you command!”
“You go too.” The Plague Emperor glanced at the Venomous Dragon Pest-Beast coiled around the pillar.
“ROOOAR!!!!”
The Venomous Dragon shot into the air, tearing through the void alongside the five Plague Envoys, disappearing in an instant.
On the cloud terrace, the Plague Emperor’s divine eyes closed slightly, as if waiting for something.
Sure enough, moments later, a divine voice boomed through the hall:
“My dear minister, why is this so? Is it because I’ve gone back on My word?”
An immeasurable weight of power crashed down into the hall!
But this time, the Plague Emperor merely smiled faintly, and from His body surged an equally boundless tide of magic.
The two forces collided in midair and dissolved into nothingness in an instant.
The Plague Emperor gave a light laugh: “The Empress jests. Your heavenly grace is vast—how could there be any question of right or wrong? It’s just that this humble god has now seen many things clearly and wishes to live a different way, to find another path for the [Plague Ministry].”
“You believe that boy is the way?”
“Empress, all those great high immortals in the Heavenly Court—which of them didn’t rise with the wind? If they can try, why can’t this humble god? I beg the Empress to grant this!
And rest assured, Empress—if You have need of me, I will still serve with all my heart.”
The hall fell silent in an instant.
After a moment, the divine voice sounded again, this time much milder:
“Very well. Since you have such ambition, how could I refuse? This time, I shall grant your wish, and consider it a full repayment of our bond as master and servant.”
“This time… the Empress won’t go back on Her word again, will She?”
“Naturally not.”
“Thank you, Empress!”
The divine voice faded, its echoes lingering.
On the high terrace, the Plague Emperor slowly closed His eyes. His face showed no heaviness—but neither did it show any hint of ease…
…
At the same time, inside City God Street.
“Damned brat, you sure know how to cause trouble for me!”
Seeing the stalemate drag on, Lord Yan felt his head pounding.
He’d considered sending out a strand of his own clone to rush straight down to the Netherworld for reinforcements.
But a clone’s magic was ultimately limited—it might not even be stronger than the City God, and would still be trapped by this City God Street.
If his true form left and only a clone remained, it probably couldn’t withstand the City God’s full-powered strike either.
And that wasn’t even counting the dozen or so Prefectural City Gods backing the other side.
As long as the City God didn’t fall, those Prefectural and County City Gods would naturally follow his lead—another force not to be underestimated.
“Lord Yan, don’t worry. I have a feeling this time, I’ll come through it safe and sound, no matter how dangerous.”
“The hell you will—you’re about to kick the bucket, and you’re still talking big to me?”
Lord Yan was so furious his beard practically stood on end.
Lu Chen: “…”
He just smiled and didn’t explain.
“Lord Yan, maybe you really should head down there. Who knows—maybe before I get around to exorcising this kid, you might be able to invite a Ghost Emperor back in time.”
The City God said mockingly.
Beside him floated a seal called the City God Seal, a magical artifact that served both attack and defense.
With this seal protecting him, he dared to defy Lord Yan’s thunderous wrath.
“Old bastard, don’t get too cocky! After today, you and I have a score to settle. Don’t let me catch you in the Underworld!”
“Lord Yan jokes. I have no interest in a Netherworld post anyway—I don’t go down there even once in a hundred years. So what if I’ve offended you?!”
The City God said leisurely: “Time’s running out, Lord Yan. You’d better think of something fast. Once this kid’s flesh rots and his bones turn to dust, it’ll really be too late, hahaha!”
“You—!!”
Listening to the City God’s utterly arrogant laughter—
At this moment, whether it was Lord Yan or the three thousand Yin soldiers and generals, all of them were seething with rage.
Lu Chen, on the other hand, remained calm.
But so as not to seem out of place, he feigned a frown.
In his heart, he was thinking: Why haven’t they arrived yet?
They should be here by now, right?
My elder brother—the orthodox god of the [Wealth Ministry] in the Heavenly Court, an official of the third rank, the head of the Five Road Gods of Wealth, Lord Jun Wealth God!
“Lord Yan, look! What’s that?!”
Just then, from within the crowd, Xie Bi’an suddenly felt something was off and instinctively looked up.
The next moment, he cried out in shock.
“What the hell?”
Everyone followed his gaze.
They saw that the previously still black clouds in the sky suddenly began to churn, slowly shifting to form a massive vortex!
This sudden anomaly instantly drew the attention of every Yin soldier, general, and underworld god.
Within that vortex, a strange, boundless yin-green aura suddenly surged forth—ominous and bizarre beyond measure.
“This is…”
Lord Yan’s pupils contracted sharply.
Even the smile on the City God’s face froze instantly, and a powerful sense of unease shot up from the depths of his heart!
“RIP—!”
The void itself was torn open by some terrifying presence!
A massive claw covered in black scales and dripping with shattered space fragments burst forth!
“ROOOOOAR!!!!!!!”
The next instant, a shocking dragon’s cry shook the entirety of City God Street, its sound waves slamming into every inch of space like physical force!
The Venomous Dragon, carrying cataclysmic ferocity, smashed through the void and surged out, shrouded in boundless toxic miasma!
Wherever its tail swept, the air grew thick and foul, and even the occasional passing bird instantly dissolved into black liquid!
“What is this!?”
At that moment, every Yin soldier and general felt a primal, instinctive terror rising from the depths of their souls!
“The [Plague Ministry]’s guardian Pest-Beast!?”
Lord Yan recognized the monstrous creature’s origin in an instant.
—The [Plague Ministry]?
Lu Chen froze too.
No… that’s not right. Shouldn’t it be Lord Wealth God?
Why the Plague Ministry!?
At that moment, from the vault of heaven, a beam of auspicious light descended with great splendor.
Five figures, clad in divine robes of five colors, appeared like celestial beings descending to the mortal realm, exuding boundless majesty!
Then, a grand and resounding divine voice shook the heavens and echoed through the underworld:
“The decree of the Plague Emperor of the Azure Heaven has arrived—hurry and receive it!!”
