They Blocked the Waterway? We'll Block It Too!

Chen Wei had only just stabilized his True Immortal Dao Fruit within his spiritual altar and had barely had time to celebrate when a dazzling golden light plunged straight down from the clouds, stopping above his official desk.

The golden light dispersed, revealing a white jade command token issued by the Bright Hall.

A military deployment order was engraved on the Jade Tablet.

Chen Wei drew the Jade Tablet into his hand and sent his divine sense into it.

A moment later, he set down the Jade Tablet. "The Bright Hall has issued military orders stating that frequent demonic disturbances on the Heaven-Reaching River have gravely disrupted customs and public conduct in the lower realm. Those waters fall within the Censorate's jurisdiction. Everyone in our office is ordered to pack immediately and march with the Holy Manifestation True Lord's army to suppress the rebellion at the front. There must be no delay."

"Wonderful news!"

Ma Muzhi beamed and hurried up to the desk. "Sir, this is a plum assignment! With the Holy Manifestation True Lord commanding the expedition, what demon in the Three Realms could possibly stand against him? Every battle won, every fortress taken! If our office follows behind his command banner, we'll be picking up credit for free. When the army returns victorious and rewards are handed out, the Bright Hall will surely allocate another enormous sum of merit!"

Old Ma's abacus was already clacking away. He could practically see merit raining into his pockets.

Chen Wei cast a sidelong look over the Folk Customs Bureau's lineup: one Heavenly Immortal, one Loose Immortal, and himself, a True Immortal.

All told, three combatants.

As for the unfathomable Yang Niansan, she was actually at home on leave, supposedly feeling unwell?

An exalted, inscrutable member of the immortal elite could actually fall ill?

Without their strongest fighter, the Censorate's lineup was downright pitiful. What earth-shattering feats could three pen-pushing civil officials accomplish in a deadly place like the Heaven-Reaching River, where mighty demons gathered?

They probably weren't even fit to fill the gaps between a demon king's teeth.

"Fine." Chen Wei immediately made his decision and set the tone for the expedition. "All three of us will go. However, the Folk Customs Bureau is a civil office. Our duties are investigation and recording case files. Once we reach the Heaven-Reaching River, we stay at the back in everything. Under no circumstances are we to lead a charge!"

Ma Muzhi wholeheartedly agreed, nodding repeatedly.

They were just there to coast along and collect credit!

He knew the drill better than anyone. Stay far enough away, and the spells wouldn't come crashing down on his head.

The two old hands exchanged a knowing smile.

Only Xiao Yan trembled with excitement upon hearing they would be marching with the army. Clenching both fists, he declared, "Rest assured, sir! Though my cultivation is low, my blood burns with the desire to slay demons and vanquish evil! At the front, I am willing to serve as the vanguard and carve a bloody path for you, winning glory and distinction!"

Chen Wei and Ma Muzhi turned toward him in unison, both looking at him as though he were an idiot.

Still young, after all.

He had never suffered a brutal beating from the treachery of the Three Realms, yet he dreamed of fighting his way to prominence on a battlefield.

"Xiao Yan," Chen Wei said earnestly, dousing his subordinate's unrealistic ambitions, "having hot blood is a good thing. But remember this: only while you're alive can you advance. Once you're dead, your soul scatters into oblivion. You might not become an immortal in your next life."

Xiao Yan only half understood. Taking it as his superior's concern for his subordinates, he nodded firmly, his eyes reddening with emotion.

With the arrangements settled, Chen Wei sighed again. "A pity Lord Yang is on leave. I wonder how she's feeling?"

At this, Ma Muzhi's expression turned peculiar.

Old Ma privately weighed his options. Should I pierce that paper window and spell it out?

Lord Yang was no male immortal. She was a counterfeit—a female immortal dressed as a man.

Her mannerisms, the fragrance of her cosmetics-there were telltale signs everywhere.

It was obvious. Yang Caiwei.

Could it be... A thought flashed through Ma Muzhi's mind, and the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed. What if he's already seen through her and is simply playing along? When high-ranking immortals have nothing to do, they enjoy a beauty's red sleeves beside their incense, a little romantic amusement with a woman disguised as a man. If I rashly expose her and spoil their fun, wouldn't I be cutting off my own future?

At that thought,

Ma Muzhi swallowed the warning he had been about to give.

Seeing through things without speaking of them was the true wisdom of self-preservation.

Old Ma made up his mind to act blind and deaf, leaving the two officials to enjoy themselves.

The lower realm.

At the boundary between the Western Ox He Continent and the Southern Jambudvipa Continent.

The eight-hundred-li Heaven-Reaching River surged onward in a vast, ceaseless torrent.

Its boundless surface churned with towering waves, like a water dragon stretched across the earth.

Ordinarily, this waterway was one of the busiest thoroughfares in the Three Realms, its surface crowded with Magical Treasure Flying Boats weaving back and forth.

White sails joined the clouds, and the radiance of treasures soared into the sky. It was a bustling sight indeed.

Why was a boundary river occupied by Demonkind so lively and prosperous?

Everyone in the Three Realms knew the story behind it.

Immortals needed to cultivate, and demons needed to fill their bellies. Thus, the Heaven-Reaching River had become the largest trading hub: independent cultivators from the Southern Jambudvipa Continent exchanged talismans for Spirit Stones, while Demonkind from the Western Ox He Continent traded local specialties for cheap magical treasures.

Where there was profit to be made, Flying Boats dared to pass right beneath demon kings' noses.

The heavenly soldiers and generals responsible for patrols naturally kept one eye open and the other shut. After all, immortals needed cheap magical treasures too.

As long as the magical treasures weren't too outrageous, they let them through.

Otherwise!

They would sweep from the head of the Heaven-Reaching River all the way to its mouth, crushing everything in their path and letting no one escape!

However,

the Heaven-Reaching River had now undergone a change of skies.

The thriving waterway had been forcibly cut off. Within its inner waters, three enormous demons had entrenched themselves and established camps.

Their leader, the Green-Haired Lion, opened a bloody maw that seemed capable of swallowing heaven and earth. To his left, the demon king White Elephant swung his long trunk, whipping up a thousand towering waves. To his right, the Golden-Winged Great Peng spread his wings, blotting out the sky and sun.

These three were the peerless great demons who had once occupied Lion Camel Ridge.

After the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had turned their lives upside down and mighty figures from Spirit Mountain had subdued them, the three demons had spent some time enduring thin gruel and watery fare in the Western Paradise.

Day after day, they listened to scriptures and chanted the Buddha's name until their mouths tasted so bland a bird could have hatched in them.

Unable to bear Spirit Mountain's strict rules and solitude, the three great demons had simply found an opening and sneaked back into the lower realm. They had wandered all the way to the Heaven-Reaching River, claimed a domain, and returned to their old trade.

As for whether Buddhas or Bodhisattvas had tacitly permitted their actions behind the scenes?

No one spoke of it, nor was there any need to.

In any case, the Heavenly Court had already resolved to deal with these three demons under the pretext of suppressing a rebellion and give certain Bodhisattvas on Spirit Mountain a warning along the way.

Meanwhile, outside the river's inner channels,

demonic clouds blanketed the water, and war drums thundered.

Another force, no weaker than the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge, stood arrayed for battle: the five great Demon Sages who had once followed the Great Sage Equal to Heaven in rebellion against Heaven!

The years had passed, but the five Demon Sages' fearsome renown remained undiminished.

Upon hearing that the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge had seized the Heaven-Reaching River's waterway, how could the five Demon Sages possibly let the matter rest?

They immediately led a hundred thousand demon soldiers surging toward the river, vowing to seize control of the waterway.

Two earth-shaking demonic forces collided on the Heaven-Reaching River.

Seeing the five Demon Sages approaching with such ferocity, the three demons immediately ordered the river's inner channels sealed! No one was allowed through!

Magical treasures barred the passage, cutting off the waterway.

Outside,

the five Demon Sages flew into a rage when they saw that the three demons actually dared to blockade the river.

"Fine! They blocked the waterway? We'll block it too!" The Dragon Demon King immediately gave the order. A hundred thousand demon soldiers spread out into formation, surrounding the Heaven-Reaching River's outer waters as tightly as an iron barrel.

The three demons sealed it from within, and the five demons sealed it from without.

A double blockade, watertight.

The ones who suffered were the third force caught between the two, unable to advance or retreat.

They could neither move forward nor turn back.