Night fell.
The Golden Court Lake sparkled under the moonlight. There were only a few boats berthed ashore that had lamps still lit up.
There was no wind, however, a small boat was floating by itself on the lake. It was a unique sight.
On the boat, there was a gorgeous young lady clad in chiffon. However, her expression was cold as ice and she seemed different from normal people.
"Since I came over personally, why does the Dragon God not want to meet me?"
The lady let out a quiet sigh at an empty spot.
After a long pause, a voice could be heard from beneath the lake, "Divine Demon Queen, ruler of all demons on Da Chu's land, what brought you here personally?"
A shadow appeared underneath the lake. It was the Golden Court Dragon God. He then emerged from the waters and sat opposite the Divine Demon Queen.
"You really do not know? Or are you acting like you do not know…?"
The Divine Demon Queen's eyes reflected the lights from the moon and the nearby lamps. With a cold and emotionless voice, she continued, "The heavenly trend is like a sharp knife! Even if us demons ruled for centuries, we can only tread on eggshells now to stand a chance of survival! I have already sacrificed some of my favourite granddaughters, else, why would Da Chu be in chaos and why would Wang Qiao be dead?"
"Sigh…, the heavenly trend has long been hard to understand, why would you seek trouble? Although us demons are downfalling, we can still survive in a faraway land in this vast world!"
The Golden Court Dragon God sighed.
"You have indeed become a people dao deity, you don't even any remaining fellowship as demons left!"
The Divine Demon Queen laughed, "Why must humans be the protagonists while us demons have to be at their mercy? Last time…, I saw you let the small carp go near Xu Ting, and I still thought you were being considerate for us demons. But now, after three years, I finally realised you all were befuddled by fate energy and willingly chose to forsake yourself!"
As they spoke, the Golden Court Dragon God's god dao golden body could not be concealed.
Furthermore, she knew each and every movement Xu family made.
However, either because she was apprehensive of the Dragon God's arrangements or she was too focused on Da Chu's capital, she did not do much about Xu Ting. But now, she was extremely disappointed at such.
Although Li Luan had abandoned her demon form and her cultivation to reincarnate into a human, she was still ignored by Xu Ting.
Hence, from that, it could be told that even if demons gave up their powers and compromised, their outcome would still be the same.
After all, different species had different goals in mind!
The Golden Court Dragon God remained silent. As they were both powerful demons and had supreme intelligence, they could understand each other without speaking.
Li Luan getting close to the dragon energy was actually part of the Golden Court Dragon God's probe too.
However, as Xu Ting married his wife and neglected Li Luan, he lost a lot of fate energy, especially those related to the demons.
"But this is the heavenly trend, what can I do about it?"
The Dragon God finally replied, "Even if Xu Ting were to fail miserably and die, another true hero would still rise amongst the humans! His strength might even be greater!"
"That is why I have already schemed! On one hand, I will create chaos, on the other hand, I will kill any potential heroes from emerging. Even though us demons are dwindling, we must make the humans' population dwindle too!"
The Divine Demon Queen indifferently added, "Both Wang Qiao and the previous emperor of Chu had great amounts of fate energy. Now that they are dead, their fate energy has dispersed! Thus, it will be harder to unite the countries and this would be very beneficial to us!"
"I guess you are determined to kill Xu Ting this time?"
The Golden Court Dragon God's eyes turned golden at once.
"The Golden Court Lake is my territory, if it was like the last time, I could still contend with you in my territory! But now, you are going against the heavenly trend and your elemental energy is greatly affected! How much strength would you even have left?"
"Of course I wouldn't strike this time!"
The Divine Demon Queen smiled, "Just that…, out of this Golden Court Lake, how long can you still protect the humans? For the sake of us demons, would you not interfere?"
"I am afraid I cannot obey you!"
After the Golden Court Dragon God answered, he then waved his hand, causing spiritual energy to gather, thus sealing the lake's surface.
"Ahh…, after knowing each other for hundreds of years, I can't believe we have reached such a situation!"
Seeing how the Dragon God fell out, the Divine Demon Queen could only let out a sigh.
If it was her, she would have definitely made her move and seized such a good opportunity. Since he was already her enemy, she was no longer bound by their fellowship.
Under the heavenly will, one had to fight for every opportunity to survive!
"What a pity…"
The Divine Demon Queen suddenly grinned as she slowly disappeared into thin air.
"An illusion?"
The Golden Court Dragon God reached out to grab her, only to grab a handful of water.
"What an impressive Celestial Fox Technique!"
The Dragon God's expression turned solemn at once, "The demons are already determined to kill the water dragon! Xu Ting is in danger!"
An River.
Xu Ting was fully geared as he stood on the deck of an ironclad warship with an overpowering aura.
During this deployment, he sent a total of 50,000 soldiers. Out of the 50,000, 20,000 of them were marines. There was also 100 ships and countless of small vessels.
The vast troop travelled through An River with an imposing appearance.
The districts along the way were all terrified of Xu Ting's troops and they immediately surrendered. Xu Ting's force was unstoppable.
"Sir!"
A daoist priest suddenly asked, "Since we are passing the An River Dragon God's area, should we host a ritual and provide some offerings?"
"An River Dragon God?"
Xu Ting thought for a moment and remembered, "This deity is vicious and bloodthirsty, why would I host a ritual for him? Am I foolish?"
"General!"
The priest was appalled, "The An River is the An River Dragon God's area, if we pass through his area without paying respects, we will be harassed!"
"Harassed?"
Xu Ting laughed and pointed at the warships, "I have ten thousands of soldiers, hundreds of warships and our troops are so strong! Do you think I am scared of a water dragon? Even if he comes to obstruct us, we will kill him! You think my military law is a joke?"
Although he replied stately, there was something different in his laughter.
It was because he was not the one who came up with this idea. He was reminded by what daoist Qing Xuan and some other daoists recommended.
People dao were strong and self-reliant, they did not have to rely on deities! Furthermore, deities absorbed their fate energy and were detrimental to their progress!
Xu Ting then further added, "Besides, don't I have the help from all you daoists?"
"Sir, not to worry!"
The daoist priest's face turned ashen while Kong Luo suddenly replied, "With us, you will be fully protected!"
"With you and other daoists from Xuan Zhen Sect, there's nothing I am afraid of!"
Xu Ting chortled; he had left out the daoist who questioned him at the start.
That daoist's expression turned even worse as Kong Luo could only glance at him with pity.
Kong Luo understood Xu Ting's temperament, he knew this daoist would be shunned and if he was not cautious with his manners again, he would definitely be killed.
"One less competing daoist!" Kong Luo thought.
Kong Luo then sighed as he turned to look at Qing Xuan.
Daoist Qing Xuan worked hard for three years and was gradually favoured again. After all, this was because Xuan Zhen Sect was a powerful and extensive sect, and thus, there were many areas daoist Qing Xuan could help out in.
However, not only did these daoist from Xuan Zhen Sect marginalised others, they were ardently against deities too. This made Kong Luo bewildered.
Suddenly, the crisp noise of a sword rang from his dantian.
"Eh? There's demonic energy spying on us?"
Kong Luo raised his eyebrows and strode to the side of the ship. With a wave of his hand, a few green sword essences plunged into the waters.
"Glub! Glub!"
Streams of bubbles and blood rose to the surface.
The carcasses of a few water guardians and spirits floated to the top.
"Eh, just a few water guardians… not to bother, continue forward!" Xu Ting instructed.
Xu family rose from purging evil gods and their temples, thus, Xu Ting held no regards for the Water God.
The warships ran over the carcasses with no qualms.
"Dead, dead, dead…"
Kong Luo did not realise that his sword essence had missed out a fish!
A large green fish had dodged the sword essence by luck. He was utterly astonished and terrified when he saw his companions' carcasses, he then immediately swam for his life and arrived at a water palace.
"Stop! How dare you trespass the Dragon Palace!"
In front of the colossal doors, the two rows of crustacean army immediately hollered.
One of them, named Prawn Thirteen, curiously asked, "Eh? Aren't you the big green fish under the patrolling water guardian? Where's your general? Do you have anything urgent to report?"
"Dead, dead, dead…"
The big green fish swam around frantically, his spiritual will was in chaos.
"What… this fish is so dense, how could he become a soldier? What an embarrassment to us and the Dragon God!"
A crab general at the side sneered immediately.
"General, please pardon him, although this big green fish seems dense, he is hardworking and he has cultivated really quickly…"
Prawn Thirteen went forward to pacify the big green fish. Finally, the big green fish managed to stammer a few words, "Dead… dead… so many humans… so many ships! General… is dead…"
"What?"
The crustacean army was surprised and angered, "Who dares to kill the patrolling water guardian! How insolent! Just wait, I will report this to the Dragon God now!"
"No need!" the voice of a dragon resounded.
A middle-aged man donned in a black crown stepped out and behind him were a group of tortoise guards and shell ladies.
"I know everything that's happening in the river, this Xu Ting, hehe…"
Although he had a human-like appearance, there was a black horn on his head. As he sniggered, his mighty aura spread across the area, causing the crustacean army to immediately kneel on the ground and tremble in unease.
"Dead, dead, dead…"
The big green fish was terrified too, however, he quickly swam away and started swimming in circles.
"This fish…"
The An River Dragon God was surprised at such too, "Although he is unintelligent, his loyalty and bravery are commendable!"
The Dragon God pointed his finger and a beam of golden light landed on the big green fish's body.
The big green fish stumbled on the ground and transformed into a strong man. He had green clothes on his body, thick brows, large eyes and an honest looking appearance.
The nearby soldiers were envious of him.
The Dragon God's transformation technique was naturally different from that of water guardian.
Normal transformation techniques merely gave life, the demons formed were disabled and their spiritual awareness was incapacitated.
Whereas the Dragon God's transformation techniques had no repercussion, instead, it increased their intelligence and their bodies would not be deformed. It was a benevolent gift bestowed by the Dragon God.