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"Yingying?!" The Black Carp anxiously wagged its head and tail as it looked at its River God.

He Qinglan pursed his lips. "The River God's power alone cannot fully restore the Source Spring Spirit Pearl. It needs the river's living creatures, grasses, and trees to complement it."

"Yingyingying!!" There was Black! Black was one of the river's living creatures!

He Qinglan glanced at this lone sprout within a hundred li. "You alone are not enough."

He turned his gaze toward this stretch of river, littered with trash and bare earth. "Clear water must flow again, living creatures must fill the river, and grasses and trees must flourish... Only then can the Source Spring Spirit Pearl slowly be repaired."

"Ying..." The Black Carp immediately became listless. Even its little head, which had only recently gained intelligence, understood just how difficult this would be.

This river had long since lost all other living creatures. If it had not guarded the Source Spring Spirit Pearl year after year and received a trace of the River God's origin power, allowing it to gain intelligence and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it likely would not have lasted until the River God descended.

This place was filthy and stinking. Never mind a river full of life and luxuriant vegetation—even the water that had finally begun flowing again due to the heavenly rainfall and the River God's arrival turned from colorless spring water into polluted water when it passed through this area.

What was it supposed to do? This was worrying a fish to death, yingyingying!

The palm-sized Black Carp anxiously swam several circles in the River God's little water tank.

He Qinglan extended a slender finger and lightly flicked its little head. "Do not rush."

"Though it is difficult, now that I have awakened, it will get better."

All kinds of trash along this river had piled into mountains, and several areas upstream produced wastewater. The plants along the banks had long withered, and there were no living creatures in the river.

But to a powerful River God, none of these were problems too difficult to solve. With a wave of his hand, he could...

Thinking this, the River God prepared to mobilize the Spiritual Power within him to clear away some of the trash by the river first. Then, to his shock, he discovered that his Spiritual Power was empty.

His! Spiritual! Power! Was! Empty!

An expression of utter disbelief appeared on the River God's face. He was the strongest River God in all Huazhou, the Qinglan River God who could go toe-to-toe with the Fire God and Thunder God and beat up the Rain God—yet he had no Spiritual Power left?!

He had merely traveled east from the snowy mountains to this place, shattered five of his natal spirit pearls, watched his true river body nearly run dry, and repaired one spirit pearl...

He Qinglan pursed his lips, and a glimmer of grievance passed through his deep blue eyes.

Fine.

The situation was indeed a little dire.

Then... then I'll conserve my strength for now. I'll recuperate for a few days and recover my Spiritual Power first.

"Yingying?" What was wrong with the River God?

He Qinglan gloomily poked the Black Carp. "Nothing. I am merely somewhat tired. Rest for a while. Tomorrow... you will restore the Qinglan River with me."

Then the River God wanted to find a clean place to close his eyes and rest, to absorb some of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

But there was filth and garbage everywhere. He could not find a single clean spot in this stretch of river.

The River God clutched his chest. "..." This was enough to anger a god to death, yingyingying!

Thus, the River God, driven to fury, did not rest that entire night. He found a somewhat cleaner spot and picked up trash in the rain all night long.

Fortunately, although the River God's greatly diminished Spiritual Power prevented him from clearing an entire area of trash at once, he could borrow the rainwater from the sky to control part of the current, sweeping away and gathering some garbage. However, this water was water without a source and had not become his river water, so controlling it was somewhat troublesome.

Still, it was better than picking up trash piece by piece.

After an arduous night, when the clouds dispersed and the rain cleared, He Qinglan had finally used the current to clear a patch of land about half the size of a football field. This patch was one of the higher points along the riverbank, so the night's rain would not pool there.

The garbage swept together by the current had also been piled at a trash heap a hundred meters away, making this small patch of ground look much tidier and cleaner.

Having only just awakened, with his power overdrawn and his true body severely damaged, even someone as powerful as the River God was beginning to find it hard to endure.

Moreover, He Qinglan keenly discovered that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this area was so thin it was enough to make a god's hair stand on end. After an entire night, his Divine Power had likely recovered only a strand of hair's worth.

He could barely maintain even his immaculate, formless divine body.

He Qinglan: "..."

Thus, the Black Carp, which had been swimming back and forth in the pure River God water, watched in shock as its River God closed and opened his eyes—and suddenly, his entire appearance changed!

The water spirit power surrounding him was restrained to the utmost. His hair, which had merely been shortened a little, and his clothing, which had merely changed styles, instantly became ordinary, drab, and even less eye-catching.

If the River God had previously looked like a deity descending into the mortal world, transformed into a handsome young nobleman, then now he had gone from a young nobleman to an unkempt but beautiful poor youth!

Yingyingying, its breathtakingly beautiful River God!!! Yingyingying, he had actually fallen to such a state!!!

The Black Carp was still yingyingying when it quickly discovered that the River God gave it a pitying glance. He casually fished a large lidless jar out of the mountain of garbage, then, before the Black Carp's stunned fish eyes, washed the jar and poured it and the River God water into it!

Splash!

The Black Carp, having fallen into the jar, still looked utterly bewildered.

No, it was a carp that had gained intelligence and become a spirit. Had it really fallen so low that it now had to live in a jar?!

Then its River God sighed and patted the jar. "My Spiritual Power is insufficient, so I must use it sparingly. I can only wrong you for now."

"But I have now sealed off most of my power and become a mortal body as well... A mortal body is somewhat heavy."

Two streams of hot tears suddenly burst from the Black Carp's fish eyes. "Yingyingying!!!"

Black Carp was not wronged! You were the one being wronged, my lord, yingyingying!! My noble River God had become a beautiful, poor, miserable human, yingyingying! Though you are still so beautiful, Black Carp's heart hurts so much!!

Then, weeping and yingyingying, the Black Carp stayed in the jar and watched eagerly as its River God conjured drab gloves and tongs, then continued picking up trash.