At the river mouth stood a square sacrificial platform.
As time passed, more and more county residents gathered before the altar, numbering roughly a thousand.
Among them were unremarkable mortals as well as officials of every rank serving in Guan County.
Clang! Clang! Boom!
At that moment, everyone's gaze rested on the newly appointed county magistrate atop the platform.
"Will this work?" An old man's eyes held hope.
With the new county magistrate officiating, surely His Majesty the Dragon King will show him some courtesy, another middle-aged resident thought.
"Alas, is Magistrate Chen conducting a sacrifice or wrecking the place?"
The officials present all sighed inwardly, their eyes drifting unobtrusively toward Li Jin and Guangyu. They were already thinking of retreating.
But with their two superiors, the county deputy and county commandant, waiting beside them, they had to risk their lives to keep them company. Otherwise, they would surely lose even their official posts.
"Present the offerings."
As soon as Chen Beiwu spoke, Foundation Establishment cultivators slit the throats of the three sacrificial animals and cast them into the Jianjiang River along with the bloodstained five grains.
Under everyone's gaze, Chen Beiwu performed the Profound Heaven Steps and began reciting the sacrificial address.
Its contents were simple. Chen Beiwu opened by emphasizing that he was the magistrate of Guan County, representing the authority of the Great Shang Imperial Dynasty and charged with governing its people and safeguarding its territory. The more the cultivators below listened, the less it sounded like a sacrificial address.
The next instant, Chen Beiwu's tone changed. He enumerated the Jianjiangkou Karmic Dragon's three great crimes and sternly denounced it as an evil dragon that defied the Great Shang Imperial Court and disregarded its authority, unworthy of the position of Jianjiangkou Dragon King.
Hearing this, Li Jin