Ch. 761Minghe: This Job Wasn't Easy
Chapter Summary: Minghe: This Job Wasn't Easy
1. Key Plot Points & Events
- At a joyful banquet in Jade Void Palace, Niu Ben suddenly senses Dijiang, the lead Ancestor Witch of the Wu Clan, leaving the Witch Realm and heading toward the Underworld.
- The Three Pure Ones deduce the Wu Clan is seeking an alliance after the Demon Clan's pact with the Western Teachings. Niu Ben agrees to negotiate, stating he'll work with them only if they show sincerity, and departs for the Underworld.
- Meanwhile, Dijiang arrives in the Netherworld, his domineering aura causing chaos among ghosts and underworld officials.
- Ancestor Minghe, now Central Ghost Emperor, restrains his fellow Ghost Emperors and goes to meet Dijiang alone.
- After tense verbal sparring, Dijiang bluntly reveals he came to see his sister Pingxin (Houtu) and, more importantly, to speak with Niu Ben.
2. Character Developments
- Niu Ben: Now a decisive political prize courted by major powers, he is confident, strategic, and personally vested with full authority by the Three Pure Ones. He favours straightforward allies over scheming ones.
- Minghe: Depicted as a fallen figure—once a formidable being who could swagger beneath the Saints, now humiliated as a subordinate. He is calculating, viewing his Asura Clan as "cannon fodder" for future gains, and feels the burden of his role as the Underworld's front man.
- Dijiang: Introduced as the Wu Clan's epitome: domineering, blunt, and disdainful of refinement, yet revealing nostalgia and loneliness when witnessing the realm his sister created through her sacrifice.
3. Significant Themes
- Tribulation politics and alliances: The pre-war scramble for allies; Niu Ben emerges as the central pivot between the Demon Clan–Western Teachings camp and the incoming Wu Clan.
- Humiliation and endurance: Minghe's bitter contrast as a "tiger fallen onto the plains," forced to swallow insults.
- Clash of natures: The simple, brute force of the Wu Clan colliding with the gloomy, rule-bound order of the Underworld.
- Sincerity vs. scheming: Niu Ben's preference for honest if rough allies over the Western Teachings' clever treachery.
4. Character Interactions
- The Three Pure Ones and Niu Ba dote on Niu Ben; they defer to his judgment entirely.
- Minghe's meeting with Dijiang is tense and laced with mockery—Dijiang openly mocks Minghe for serving under the "Great Emperor," while Minghe internally seethes but maintains strained decorum.
- Minghe's guardianship over the Underworld and his suspicion of Dijiang's true target (Niu Ben) drives the chapter's closing tension.