Chapter 1266: Chapter 478: No Rescuing a Sinking Ship (Part 2)

With his strength, trying to save this sinking ship was almost impossible."

"So?"

"So to save Mingjiang Prefecture, we still need a truly mighty power."

"What power is that?"

"At first I couldn’t figure it out. I thought there was no way Zhou Xuan could prop up a raging tide already about to crash, or pull back a great edifice on the verge of collapse. But when I saw the Seventeenth Route, I understood."

The Butcher said, "I understood what power Zhou Xuan wants to use to save Mingjiang—that is, to gather together the tiny strength of the tens of millions of people of Mingjiang Prefecture."

"The power of all living beings? Isn’t that just how a Heavenly God is born?" the incense fire Taoist said.

The Heavenly Gods of Jing Country are born from the resonance and vibration of the Wish Power of the human world’s common folk; this too is the power of all living beings.

"It’s different."

The Butcher said, "Those Heavenly Gods, in the eyes of the common people, are no more than clay-and-brick idols, while Zhou Xuan is a living, breathing man!"

"Does that make a difference?"

"Ignorant, muddle-headed worship and clear-eyed, sincere support... the difference between the two is enormous."

"Zhou Xuan is a lamp; he has lit the fire in the hearts of tens of millions in Mingjiang Prefecture. For one man to gain the heartfelt support of an entire Prefecture City’s people—this has never appeared once in the history of Jing Country."

"Therefore, this is Jing Country’s new grand trend—Seventeenth Route, the Ten Thousand People Returning to the Origin."

When the Butcher spoke to this point, the incense fire Taoist at once understood. Once he comprehended this new grand trend, he broke into repeated laughter, the kindly smile of an elder looking upon a promising junior.

"Zhou Housheng, Zhou Housheng, you truly have ability. This old man did not misjudge you."

The Butcher also smiled as he ground the blade, while the incense fire Taoist rode his donkey, gazing toward the direction of Mingjiang Prefecture,

In a daze, he saw above Mingjiang Prefecture a great ship whose hull was riddled with countless gaping holes, river water pouring into the hull,

This great ship, with an unstoppable momentum, kept sinking downward, and just then, tens of millions of tow-ropes hooked onto the hull,

On both banks of the river stood tens of millions of tugmen. With their own hands they clamped tight onto the rope-ends, and under Zhou Xuan’s shouted work chant, in perfect unison they hauled that great sunken ship forcibly back up out of the water...

A sinking ship cannot be saved?

There will always be some people who can unite everyone that can be united, and drag that great sinking ship back.

"The blade is honed."

As the Butcher kept grinding the knife, the entire Dunjia Mountain had already collapsed inward, almost gouging out a deep pit.

And that kitchen knife of the Butcher’s had shrunk in size by a large circle, its entire body a pure gem-like color.

"Is this the Sword Spirit?" the incense fire Taoist asked.

"Mm, this is the Sword Spirit formed from the convergence of countless famed blades over thousands of years of Wuwen Mountain’s lineage."

"Once, the Sword Spirit was too ferocious; the Tao Ancestor thought its edge too overwhelmingly sharp, so he used Meteorite Iron from beyond the Starry Sky to seal the Sword Spirit.

Now, I can only use the entire Dunjia Mountain to grind away the Meteorite Iron shell that seals the Sword Spirit."

"Time to borrow the blade."

The Butcher cupped the Sword Spirit in both hands and said softly, "Wuwen Mountain originally had no successors, but Heaven took pity; today we have Zhou Xuan. He is a fine seedling of our Wuwen Mountain and ought to have a famed blade that fits his hand.

Sword Spirit, go. Go find your new master."

He flung his hand, and the Sword Spirit soared up. Its texture was extremely supple and could change into any shape.

After several transformations, its form actually condensed into a white dove, lightly fanning its wings as it soared across the vast rivers and mountains of Jing Country,

The dove was exceedingly pure, yet it was about to bring slaughter to Mingjiang—a righteous slaughter.

...

Inside the theater, flames filled the sky,

That mass of great fire burned all through the stage, driving Medicine Buddha, Hulu Taishang and the others to huddle together in a tight cluster.

Hulu Taishang and Medicine Buddha had indeed tried to find a way to extinguish this great fire.

Medicine Buddha kept pounding medicine, but the sound of her pounding could not damage that mass of flames in the slightest,

"The thing inside this fire—is it still Zhou Xuan or not?"

"How would I know?"

Medicine Buddha was also completely bewildered. When had she ever seen such a scene?

"The figure within that fire is certainly not Mr.; that is the God our Mingjiang Prefecture common folk have called forth."

"A true God, just as Mr. said."

No sooner had the words fallen among the audience seats.

From within that mass of fire came Zhou Xuan’s extremely faint voice.

"Netherworld, flowers, great fire, Sound... come to guide them."

The volume of this sentence was not large, but its penetrative power was immense, even piercing the invisible barrier between the stage and the Battlefield.

Zhou Lingyi heard the voice, and her heart surged.

"Little brother, if you want Netherworld and flowers, then I shall give you Netherworld and flowers."

She immediately chanted the "Other Shore Flower Curse." Perhaps because she had Zhou Xuan’s approval, her Flower Spell actually pierced through the audience stands and bloomed upon the theater stage,

Wherever those blood-red flowers grew became a Netherworld domain.

Ghostly, chilling aura sprouted from the ground like wild grass, growing madly.

"Mr., if you want Sound, then I shall set Sound in motion."

The Music Master in the audience seats deployed the Law of Sound. His ribs grew outward, becoming a Bone Zither.

He stroked the zither, plucking terrifying notes,

Sinister notes, on the land covered with Red Spider Lily, and the already vast stage underwent a dramatic change,

Turning into the Soul Shepherd City that Zhou Xuan once knew so well.

In this city there were only Dead People and yet more Dead People, not a trace of living breath.

With wave after wave of mournful ghostly wails, the Netherworld ground split; a chasm hundreds of zhang wide appeared before everyone’s eyes.