As the Queen was about to collide head-on with the monster, she, being at the very front, finally saw just how colossal the creature truly was. Gritting her teeth to suppress the tremors in her heart, she hurled the Dragon Pearl into the sky and cried out, "Leng Jing! If you are still there, take back your Dragon Pearl at once!"
The Dragon Pearl froze in mid-air. Its faint halo gradually intensified until it was blinding, and the radiance spilling forth wove into a web of light that blocked the monster’s charge.
When the monster struck the web, it felt the numbing sting of an electric shock. Yet, disregarding the pain, it reached out a claw to seize the Dragon Pearl. In an instant, thunder and lightning erupted, enveloping the entire wilderness!
The monster howled in agony. Just as everyone thought the beast had been subdued, a crisp cracking sound rang out—the Dragon Pearl had been crushed by the monster’s brute strength!
The protective web of light vanished instantly. Its claw scorched black, the monster let out a grotesque laugh and raised its limb to swat the Queen down.
The Queen’s warhorse had already been scared to death. She fell to the ground, staring blankly as she awaited her end.
At the fatal moment, another scream erupted—the monster’s body collapsed backward, followed by a world-shaking boom as dust billowed several dozen feet into the air.
As the dust settled slightly, the Queen finally saw the majestic figure in the sky—the White Dragon had reappeared, circling and soaring.
"Wonderful! You’ve finally awakened!" The Queen shouted, heedless of the dust covering her face.
"Heh heh heh..." The White Dragon let out a cold, toothy sneer. He lowered his head to look at his right claw—it was clutching something shaped like a human.
The figure was a seductive, blue-haired person with pale green skin. Their gender was indistinguishable, but their lower half was a pitch-black, serpentine tail so long it trailed upon the ground.
"Let me go! Ahhh!" the blue-haired person wailed.
"It wasn't easy dragging you here from a thousand miles away. Take a good look at the tip of your tail!" the White Dragon threatened in a voice like rolling thunder. It turned out the true form of this massive monster was a creature spanning a thousand miles! Its true self was at the other end, a thousand miles away—the half-human, blue-haired being!
"How dare you touch me! I am a God King of the Heavenly Realm! Ahhh!" the blue-haired person shrieked piercingly.
"Monster, how many living souls has your tail devoured?" Leng Jing ignored the cries. His immense pressure made the blue-haired person tremble, but the tip of the tail—the massive beast—quietly opened its eyes, waiting for a chance to strike Leng Jing!
At that moment, the White Dragon roared. He suddenly surged into the clouds with the blue-haired person, vanishing in an instant. A moment later, the massive monster began to scrape across the ground at high speed, being dragged backward as if something were forcibly hauling it away. It screamed frantically, but to no avail. Under that immense pulling force, the entire thousand-mile-long creature retreated rapidly, leaving deep furrows in the earth before finally disappearing into the distant plains.
"The dragon dragged it away! Ahhh!" The King of Xifan, his voice hoarse, shouted in shock as he ran.
In truth, under the influence of Leng Jing’s extreme speed and immense strength, the long-bodied monster rapidly twisted and deformed, beginning to combust. Coupled with the thermal energy Leng Jing applied—hot enough to melt celestial iron—the people living in the northwest regions of the mortal realm witnessed a strange celestial phenomenon that evening: a long, narrow, brilliant streak of fire sliced through the sky, vanishing in a flash.
What on earth was that?
The Queen sat in her hastily reorganized tent, her face covered in grime, as she held a supreme military council with her generals. However, everyone remained silent; the events they had witnessed were clearly too shocking.
They had encountered horrors and wonders unprecedented since the dawn of time.
The ferocious, long-bodied monster had wiped out three neighboring countries and over a dozen cities of the Lu Kingdom in one breath. Most terrifying of all, this demon had been forcibly dragged away and eliminated by the White Dragon—the same one who claimed to be frail, sickly, and prone to fainting at any moment.
Thus, when Leng Jing walked in, neatly dressed, to report his success, everyone stood up in unison and recoiled.
Trembling gazes converged on Leng Jing.
Leng Jing bowed to the Queen and said, "Your Majesty, I have exhausted a great deal of strength this time. I wish to rest first."
Everyone looked at him with disbelief.
The Queen’s lips twitched before she finally said, "Very well. Go and rest. I will send men to stand guard outside."
Leng Jing looked around and noticed that no one even dared to breathe loudly.
In fact, the reason he had requested leave so early was simple: tonight, Leng Qingqing was cooking a "Nine Treasures of the Sea" seafood hotpot, along with his favorite small fried fish with sauce. He wanted to get home early to eat, so he had told the Queen he was going to faint and needed rest.
That night, a joyful gathering took place at the Prince Jing Estate.
Su Luo had arrived again for some unknown reason. Along with the Black Bear, the White Mink, Leng Qingqing, and Leng Jing, it was quite a lively scene. Leng Qingqing was overjoyed, and everyone chatted away while they ate. Only the pragmatic Leng Jing focused intently on his small fried fish and seafood hotpot.
"Young Master, don't just focus on eating! Come chat with us! Tell us about your experience leading the troops!" The White Mink patted Leng Jing with its paw.
Leng Jing turned his head and gave it a cold look. The White Mink shuddered. *Endure, endure, endure!* Fortunately, it hadn't been scared into an "accident" this time. *Hehe, it seems my courage has grown,* it thought smugly. One had to realize it was facing a Great Dragon God capable of destroying the three realms, yet it dared to tease him. *I am so magnificent!* The White Mink fell into a state of self-intoxication.
"Son, eat more~" Leng Qingqing doted on his son, placing food in his bowl. "I heard the battle with the enemy starts tomorrow. You must eat your fill to keep up your strength!"
"The war is already over," Leng Jing said, and then he recounted the day's events from start to finish.
The White Mink eventually couldn't take it and left halfway through; the content of Leng Jing's story was too frightening.
Su Luo listened with an inscrutable expression before saying, "It seems the aberration in the Heavenly Realm has already broken through spatial limits and begun to spread to the mortal realm."
Leng Jing said, "The direction of the spread is from the northwestern desert. The spatial rift between the Heavens and the mortal realm might be there. However, the aberration seems ineffective against mortals. I flew over the three destroyed neighboring countries; there were mountains of white bones, likely digested by the monster, but no one had undergone an aberration."
"It is necessary to investigate. Furthermore, we might be able to reach the Heavenly Realm directly through that spatial distortion," Su Luo said.
In reality, if one simply kept flying upward, they would never reach the Heavenly Realm. When the aberration occurred, space itself distorted; one could only enter the corrupted Heavens through specific connection points.
Leng Qingqing became worried and quiet, tightly clutching Leng Jing’s hand under the table.
Su Luo spoke to Leng Jing again: "Based on your description, the one you eliminated today was the Wuyou God King of the Heavenly Realm. He is the Heavenly Emperor’s brother, second only to the Emperor in status. Generally speaking, the higher the divine rank, the greater the degree of aberration. Since you can easily eliminate a God King, I imagine even the Heavenly Emperor would be no match for you. So, Leng Qingqing, do not worry. Nothing will happen to the little dragon when he goes to the Heavenly Realm."
Leng Qingqing sniffled and could only say, "I know you are thinking of all living souls. I’ve already come to terms with it. Go ahead; I won't hold Xiao Jing back."
Su Luo nodded. "It is good that you have such a sense of righteousness. I will go make preparations and meet with Leng Jing in three days."
With that, he cupped his hands to the group and vanished like the wind.
The Black Bear stared blankly until they finished talking, then asked, "Who was that guy?"
"He was once the King of the Flower Gods in the Heavenly Realm. He was infected by the aberration and turned into a monster while trying to expose a conspiracy. Later, his body was destroyed, and he is now a wandering soul," Leng Jing explained.
"Xiao Jing! You must take good care of yourself!" Leng Qingqing grabbed his arm, offering a thousand exhortations.
"If you're worried, you might as well come with me when the time comes," Leng Jing said nonchalantly.
"Huh? But I'll get infected by the aberration and turn into a monster that hurts you!" Leng Qingqing shook his head in worry.
"You won't," Leng Jing said, looking at him with profound meaning.
"Why? Do you have a way to grant immunity?" The White Mink popped out from behind a door, asking curiously.
Leng Jing said, "Whether one is infected or not depends on the individual. What I am about to tell you is a most shameful scandal of the Heavenly Realm, and it is also what Su Luo has been hiding from us."
The other three widened their eyes, waiting for the revelation.
"I think it would be a pity if I were the only witness to this unprecedented event in the Heavens. You all shall bear witness with me," Leng Jing said, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
The group fell silent, listening intently to Leng Jing’s scoop.
Leng Jing crossed his arms and said, "Based on my encounters with the monsters and my deductions, I have discovered that the key to being infected and turning into a monster is—using the Power of the Rift. In other words, only those who were greedy and absorbed the Power of the Rift became infected. If you resist your own desire for power, you will not be infected. Therefore, the scandal is that almost all the gods in the Heavenly Realm were seduced by that power. Even people like Immortal Hua Yun and Su Luo eventually borrowed that seemingly infinite Power of the Rift for one reason or another. The entire Heavenly Realm committed the sin of greed!"
"Ah!" The White Mink and Leng Qingqing cried out in unison. The White Mink patted its chest. "We definitely won't be seduced by power!"
"Really? When you actually see that power, anyone would feel a spark of greed. Don't you wish you could become as powerful as I am instantly, without thousands of years of arduous cultivation?" Leng Jing squinted at it.
"Uh... that is indeed a powerful temptation... but the consequences are severe!" the White Mink said.
"That leads to the second suspicious point regarding the Power of the Rift. I deduce that when they first obtained the power, there was nothing unusual. The aberration only manifested after a period of time. If the first god used the Power of the Rift to become incredibly powerful, other gods followed suit, creating a vicious cycle. The so-called high-ranking gods used their privileges to control this Rift and absorb it to their heart's content, so their degree of aberration is higher than others. That is why the Great Demons we see are usually high-ranking gods. In the beginning, none of them realized the terrifying consequences."
What did the current Heavenly Realm look like then? And just how was a terrifying creature like Leng Jing conceived?
Everyone’s gaze fell upon him.
"Xiao Jing was hatched by me!" Leng Qingqing raised his hand proudly.
"Enough. The discussion ends here. In three days, let's go to the desert and take a look." Leng Jing stood up and announced the end of the gathering.
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 无忧神王 | Wuyou God King | A high-ranking deity from the Heavenly Realm; "Wuyou" means carefree. |
| 罅隙之力 | Power of the Rift | A corrupting source of power from a spatial gap/rift. |
| 异变 | Aberration | The monstrous transformation/mutation affecting the gods. |
| 净王府 | Prince Jing Estate | Leng Jing's residence in the Lu Kingdom. |
| 九珍大火锅 | Nine Treasures Hotpot | A lavish seafood dish prepared by Leng Qingqing. |
| 花神之王 | King of the Flower Gods | Su Luo's former title in the Heavenly Realm. |
| 画云仙 | Immortal Hua Yun | A character mentioned as having succumbed to the Power of the Rift. |
