This journey to the Middle Continent is not a pleasant task...
The Red-tailed Monkey, in a fit of resolve, swallowed the elixirs that even the great immortal sects were reluctant to use. The next moment, the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation's momentum increased by more than double, and the rift between the Yin River and the mundane world was further expanded!
Bitter indeed!
Let me just say, if you want to control the water, find a Water Monkey, alright? It's just a monkey from the mountains, how could it manage water?
The Red-tailed Monkey felt like cursing. Xu Qing was not the Great Yu, and it was not Wuzhiqi, but Xu Qing really treated it as if it were Wuzhiqi!
Feeling its body nearing its limit, the Red-tailed Monkey thought that after this job, it would need ten days to half a month before it could get out of bed.
A little earlier, a hundred miles away.
An eccentric with a mask, carrying a sword box, and wearing a flowery robe appeared above the muddy river.
The person gazed into the distance, and upon seeing a skinny monkey of modest cultivation shouldering such undue pressure, the eccentric decisively lent a hand.
He patted the sword box, and twelve magic swords transformed into radiant rainbows, falling directly towards the surrounding mountains and rivers.
Slicing mountains and severing seas, carving land into rivers.
However, before the masked eccentric could unleash his full power, he saw the heavily pressured monkey fling out a yellow flag, and in an instant, the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation covered a thousand-mile water region.
The eccentric grunted, for he had been perceived by the grand formation, activated by borrowing the majestic force of heaven and earth, as excellent fuel for maintaining its operation.
"Is this the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation?"
The eccentric felt his hair stand on end. This legendary formation had long been lost to time, existing only in ancient tales. How could someone manifest it?
As he observed the rift in the Yin River and the mixed auras emerging from within, his heart filled with dread.
"Mad! Absolutely mad! To dare use the muddy river as the foundation, harnessing the power of the imbalance between Yin and Yang to launch this great formation..."
The eccentric realized the other party intended to use the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation to channel spiritual power, cleansing the turbid world, but who possessed such vast incense offerings to purify the mixed spiritual power within the Yin River?
Under the mask, the eccentric was full of regret. He now faced not only the crisis of an out-of-control muddy river but also the predicament of the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation forcibly extracting his magical power to restrain the flow of the Yin River.
He was merely an Immortal, and although his magical powers and divine techniques rivaled some gods, he was absolutely incapable of breaking the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation, let alone escaping its binding.
If only he hadn't joined the spectacle...
In distress, the Immortal, like the Red-tailed Monkey and Bai Junzi, was forced to act.
...
In the Ancient Yin River Dao, Xu Qing tossed the corpses of the three Corpse Demon brothers into the Mountain and River Cauldron, which weighed as much as a mountain. The cauldron would cook the eerie bodies towering a hundred feet as life-giving spiritual medicine to nourish the world.
Xu Qing spared no expense, throwing out millions worth of incense offerings as if they were of no value.
Compared to the Red-tailed Monkey, his state was even more severe. Xu Qing felt like a heartless machine running, and if not for his abundant magical power allowing him to switch between three states, he feared he might have already been physically exhausted.
Converting death into life, Xu Qing used the blood lake incense as fuel, thoroughly transforming the corpses of the three celestial generals into pure vitality, and did not forget his promise to the Celestial Lord General for a proper burial.
The water of the Spiritual River nourished the world, perfectly embodying the water burial rites, as Xu Qing recited mourning scriptures, saying:
"May the soul return to the vast unknown, with only the homeland remaining; blood spills in torrents, but this body endures."
In life, the Celestial Lord General cared deeply for the people. If, in death, his body could serve as medicine to heal the ailments of the world, then it was a fulfillment of his existence.
"I wish to eliminate all afflictions and obtain true wisdom and clarity. I officiate the coffin for the three generals and see them on their way!"
Xu Qing raised the Mountain and River Cauldron, tilting it towards the Yin-Yang rift, letting the pure vitality spiritual power flow out.
The river of rebirth would flow into the mountains, rivers, and marshlands, nurturing everything in the Middle Continent, while also nourishing the land's people.
"What path does death traverse, but to entrust the body to the mountains; may the three generals rest in peace!"
This meant the flesh returned to the mountain rivers, and the spirit united with heaven and earth.
As a funeral master, Xu Qing spared no effort in bestowing the departed with one final dignity.
Watching the three departed return to their native soil, Xu Qing finally relaxed a bit.
Feeling the drained magical power of the Water Corpse and Fire Corpse within him, he gritted his teeth, consumed several bottles of Yin Essence Pills, and continued refining the lingering corpse soldiers and corpse generals.
Xu Qing calculated the losses but maintained enough magical power to deploy the Divine Travel Celestial Scripture.
Once the realm of peace was completely cleared, the Nine-bend Yellow River Formation on the muddy river also disassembled, returning to heaven and earth.
Quite the sight: looking at the extensive incense offerings lost from the Blood Lake Dharma Realm and the Cat Immortal Hall Dharma Realm, Xu Qing felt not a trace of heartache. Instead, he smiled like an old farmer waiting for harvest.
These incense offerings were like seeds. As long as the Middle Continent's offerings to the Bao Sheng Temple or Cat Immortal Hall flourished, he would reap endless virtue over the decades!
In the devastated realm of peace, Xu Qing gathered the relics of the three brothers of the Celestial Lord General in one place, including their belongings from life and three yellow scarf strips.
The cloth strips placed in a tomb's copper box by the Celestial Lord General left Xu Qing thinking they might contain treasures, but they were merely three yellow scarves stained with blood and grime.
Casually glancing at them, Xu Qing noticed names embroidered on each yellow cloth.
"Celestial, Earthly, Human..."
"I see now."
Seeing the cloth strips, Xu Qing suddenly realized what the Celestial Lord General desired was always just one word—fairness...
Stepping out of the tomb, Xu Qing looked up at the skies above the Yin River.
By then, the torn Yin-Yang rift had closed up, leaving only the dim, barren tombs, with his Mountain and River Cauldron still emitting a faint glow.