Chapter 1817: Slaying the Lord of Plagues, Quelling A Calamity

Compressed by the dark yellow sand and stone, the fog of plagues and diseases crumbled rapidly with sizzles. They grew weaker and thinner with every passing second.

Those formless, intangible germs and bacterias were crushed like ants before overwhelming power.

“As long as plagues still exist, I am undying! I will return! I will return!”

As the last wisp of grayish fog was wiped out, the Lord of Plagues let out one final roar of desperation and anger from its heart, “Just you wait, humans. I will return one day to spread diseases and plagues in the human world once more! You will all scream in agony and perish in despair!”

“But not today. Not while I am still here.”

Staring coldly at the direction of the voice, Ye Qing calmly and steadily, “Even if I am gone one day, others will step up to take my place.”

“You will never be more than the dust under our feet, Endless Lord of Plagues!”

“I cannot accept this... I cannot accept this!”

The Endless Lord of Plagues roared in anger, hatred, and defiance. Its voice echoed in the underground space for a long, long time.

When the roar faded away, the giant heart stopped beating once and for all, and the light surrounding it disappeared completely. It transformed into a pile of rotten flesh before scattering to the yellow sand and becoming one with the dust and soil. Soon, it was impossible to tell if there was even a pile of rotten flesh before.

“Hahaha... exhilarating! How exhilarating!”

Seeing that the Endless Lord of Plagues was slain, the Old Heavenly Master let out a bark of laughter containing a sliver of relief for having survived a deadly crisis and the exhilaration of having slain a monster, “We’ve finally eliminated this calamity once and for all, and boy was it a tough bastard!”

The Dragon Subjugating Zen Master observed the tattered wasteland around him and muttered a Buddhist chant. His deep, resounding voice carried a hint of relief and mercy as he said, “Amitabha! Excellent, excellent. It is truly fortunate that we arrived before the Endless Lord of Plagues was able to break free from its seal completely, or the consequences would be truly unimaginable. The human world is fortunate, and the creatures living in it as well.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Now, two of the ancient Four Evils are gone.”

A short while later, the Chief Libationist stroked his beard with a smile and swept his gaze across the group. He suggested, “As the saying goes, we should attack while the enemy is weakened. While our spirits are high, why don’t we seek out another Evil and slay them?”

Everyone echoed in agreement. They were all brimming with fighting spirit.

Haotian Hong pondered for a moment before asking, “There is only the Earthbearing Dragon Turtle and the World Ender Jiuying left. Who do you think we should kill first?”

Xuanyuan Wang mulled over the question before turning his gaze to Ye Qing. “What do you think, Joyless?”

Ye Qing let out a wry chuckle and clasped his fist in front of him. “I am just a junior, seniors. What right or ability do I have to make such an important decision? Please, decide on your own.”

“You are wrong.”

However, the Chief Libationist let out a guffaw and clapped his shoulder. “You are undoubtedly the main force in this extermination of the Four Evils. We oldies are at best your support. If even you cannot make this decision, then who can?”

Ye Qing hurriedly replied modestly, “You flatter me, Chief Libationist. I truly do not dare to make this decision.”

“Stop acting modest already, Joyless!”

The Old Heavenly Master let out a candid laugh. “You are the one tasked to eliminate the Four Evils. If you dare not make a decision regarding the Four Evils, who dares? So stop playing modest and just tell us your thoughts already!”

“Yes, Boy Ye. We already asked you to tell us your thoughts, so just give it to us! Are you a woman or what?!”

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Yeah, Joyless. If you keep this up it’s gonna turn into false modesty!”

The others echoed in agreement as well.

“If you insist. I apologize in advance for speaking out of turn.”

Knowing that he could not put it off any longer, Ye Qing let out a wry chuckle and mulled over the question seriously. “In my opinion, we should slay the World Ender Jiuying first.”

“First, the World Ender Jiuying is clearly more harmful than the Earthbearing Dragon Turtle. The World Ender Jiuying is naturally cruel and bloodthirsty, and it leaves behind a trail of death and devastation wherever it goes. Moreover, it possesses nine heads and is very cunning. If it returns, there is no doubt that it will harm many lives.”

“On the other hand, the Earthbearing Dragon Turtle is much more reserved and careful, relatively speaking that is. The amount of devastation it can cause is fairly limited as well.”

“Besides that, the World Ender Jiuying... may be easier to deal with than the highly defensive Earthbearing Dragon Turtle.”

The Chief Libationist stroked his long beard with approval in his eyes. “Yes, Joyless’ words make sense. Legend has it that the Earthbearing Dragon Turtle boasts unbelievable defense. The moment it hides its head in its shell, it becomes impervious to all common methods. Back then, even senior Earth Sovereign had to fight it for nine days and nights before he just barely breached its turtle shell and cut off its head. It is definitely a tough bone to crack.”

“All things considered, it is definitely wiser to tackle the World Ender Jiuying first.”

“Heh! All I’m hearing is that the Earthbearing Dragon Turtle is a coward!”

The Old Heavenly Master curled his lips in disdain. “This is perfect then. When the time comes, I’m going to cook the bastard into a soup of excellent nourishment! You’re all welcome to partake in the dish!”

Xiahou Zun let out a bark of laughter. “Well said! I’m actually feeling a little hungry now!”

“Hahaha...” Everyone laughed at the joke, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed.

Xuanyuan Wang said seriously, “The Jiuying is cunning, and each head boasts a unique Magia of its own. Flexible and unpredictable, the havoc it can wreak cannot be underestimated. It definitely makes sense to remove it first.”

“Since we have made up our minds, let us head to the Blue Hole of Primal Chaos immediately!”

Haotian Hong swept a sharp gaze across the group before declaring, “Let us slay the World Ender Jiuying!”

“Naturally!” Everyone erupted in agreement and high spirits.

And so the group left the underground and returned to the surface. Ye Qing was in the sky when suddenly, he looked down on the barren wasteland and paused in his tracks. Then, he gently channeled the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

Buzz...

The bell chimed low and deep. It felt like a chime from ancient times. It quickly spread across the tattered ground.

The dark yellow stone pillars that had been buried under yellow sand after the Endless Lord of Plagues’ origin power was destroyed abruptly shook in unison as if summoned by something. They burst out of the underground and transformed into several wisps of flowing light.

The brilliant light flew circles around the Earthly Sovereign Bell like weary birds who had finally returned home to their nests. Then, they transformed into old and profound patterns and embedded themselves on the bell’s wall.

Every time a beam of light joined the Earthly Sovereign Bell, its dark yellow qi[1] would grow richer, and the pictures of mountains and rivers; sun, moon and stars on the wall would become clearer and more lifelike.

For a time, the Earthly Sovereign Bell shone like the sun, and its dark yellow qi boiled like a golden ocean.

1. IDK why but the author stopped type Profound Yellow Mother Qi completely, but it’s not the Profound Yellow Qi—which would have been the proper translation—either because that’s just the inferior version of the PYMQ. Sigh. It makes me wonder if I missed something. ☜