After leaving the River God Temple, Yi Shuyuan immediately went to the water's edge and beckoned toward the water. His folding fan flew back into his hand.
The next moment, Yi Shuyuan turned into a gust of wind and flew away along the river.
Nian Chaosheng was, after all, the Orthodox God of the Kaiyang Grand Canal. Though Yi Shuyuan despised him, he did not wish to become further entangled with him.
The Kaiyang Grand Canal ranked among the great waterways within Great Yong, and its Kaiyang Water God, Nian Chaosheng, had received an official Divine Investiture from the Celestial Court.
Nian Chaosheng had been right about one thing: "Out of respect for the Heavenly Emperor."
The Kaiyang Grand Canal was an artificially opened waterway, so despite its vast expanse, the power of its water veins fell short of that of a great natural river. It was, however, slowly growing.
The Kaiyang Water God-or rather, the waters of the Kaiyang Grand Canal-also represented one of the few great rivers over which the Celestial Court could exercise control.
Even if Yi Shuyuan had been completely certain he could slay Nian Chaosheng, he could not kill an Orthodox God without any regard for the consequences. Still, the punishment he had dealt was far from light-indeed, it was somewhat heavier than even he himself realized.
With the route more familiar on his return, Yi Shuyuan traveled a little faster than on his way there. When he returned to the ship's cabin, everything was exactly as he had left it, without the slightest change.
"Ahh..."
Yi Shuyuan lay back down on his blanket and dispelled his illusion magic, then stretched and sat up.
Looking back over what had just happened, Yi Shuyuan felt the trip had been quite thrilling.
"I doubt he'd dare say