Ch 89: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

As the clouds churned, a group of celestial soldiers arrived, standing majestically on a cloud, exuding a formidable divine presence. The leader, a god in golden armor, looked down with disdain and arrogance, demanding, “Who are these people below? What has transpired here?”

The common folk, having never witnessed such a display, quickly knelt down to worship the gods. Even Li Jing followed suit, kneeling alongside them.

The only one still standing was Jiang Lin, making him stand out all the more.

The leading god took a closer look at Jiang Lin and gave a perfunctory bow. “So, it’s the Third Prince of the East Sea. I was patrolling for the Heavenly Court when I sensed someone here using the power of thunder and lightning without authorization. I came to see which bold immortal dared to act so recklessly.”

Suddenly, his expression turned stern. “Who dares to misuse the power of thunder and lightning to harm others!”

Though he claimed not to know who it was, his gaze was fixed directly on Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin remained calm. “Your Excellency is mistaken. How could the use of thunder and lightning warrant the term ‘misuse’?”

The god sneered, “The Heavenly Court has specific deities who are solely responsible for the power of thunder and lightning—Leigong and Dianmu. If it wasn’t them, then what else would you call it but misuse?”

Jiang Lin’s expression remained serene. “I am the one who used the power of thunder and lightning to punish the wicked. Are you saying that I, the Third Prince, am guilty of misusing this power?”

The god had come with the intention of causing trouble, and upon hearing Jiang Lin admit to using the power without any excuses, he was secretly delighted.

He scolded, “Since you know this, why would you knowingly break the law? You must come with us to the Southern Gate to face the Emperor and plead for mercy!”

With that, he signaled the celestial soldiers to apprehend Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin snorted coldly. “Hold on! I haven’t finished speaking.”

The god looked impatient.

The Dragon Clan wasn’t a deity clan that anyone feared, nor did they have any powerful patrons. If it weren’t for his superior ordering him to personally come and apprehend someone, he wouldn’t have bothered to lower himself to come here.

Jiang Lin noticed the god’s expression and sighed inwardly. He had known that the Dragon Clan’s situation was bad, but he hadn’t realized it had deteriorated to this extent.

For even a mere god of such rank to dare show such disrespect to the Third Prince of the Dragon Clan.

Suppressing his smile, Jiang Lin said calmly, “Your Excellency, judging by your appearance and cultivation, you must be quite young, right?”

The god was puzzled as to why Jiang Lin had brought this up but gave a number in response.

Jiang Lin nodded, as if confirming something, and said, “As I thought. You’ve barely lived for ten thousand years, and with the Heavenly Court not prioritizing the cultural education of its deities, it’s no wonder you’re somewhat ignorant.”

The golden-armored god, hearing the veiled insult, angrily demanded, “What do you mean by that?”

Jiang Lin’s face turned stern as he coldly replied, “I mean exactly what I said! Do you think the Dragon Clan needs to steal the power of thunder and lightning? We dragons are born divine beasts, inherently possessing the power of thunder and lightning! When the Dragon Clan wielded the power of thunder, the deities you mentioned, Leigong and Dianmu, had not even come into existence!”

Heavenly Court.

Hmph, the Heavenly Court!

In their efforts to weaken the Dragon Clan, they truly stop at nothing.

The Dragon Clan’s innate divine abilities include the power of thunder and lightning, so the Heavenly Court established the positions of Leigong and Dianmu as deities, granting them these powers under the guise of “heavenly endowment.” From then on, in the human world, only Leigong and Dianmu were known as the gods of thunder and lightning.

The Dragon Clan, once the rulers of all aquatic creatures, found themselves further diminished when the Heavenly Court appointed a Water God to oversee all the waters of the world. The Water God managed all the waterways, and the once-mighty rulers of the water were divided and conquered, with even the strongest among them reduced to hiding in the mere East Sea!

The Dragon Clan, a bunch of powerful but foolish brutes!

The Heavenly Court had long seen through the heavenly mechanisms and perhaps even made a pact with the “Heavenly Dao.” The Heavenly Court’s influence had spread across the human world, with temples everywhere receiving endless offerings.

Jiang Lin flicked his sleeves and stood with his hands behind his back. “Such absurd accusations—Your Excellency should be more careful before making them!”

The god hadn’t expected Jiang Lin to be so bold.

Who didn’t know at least a little of the Dragon Clan’s history?

But they didn’t know much, as the records of the Heavenly Court had been rewritten countless times, and few ancient gods and demons who had survived from the primordial era were still around—most had long since retired from the world.

The newly ascended deities had only occasionally heard that the Dragon Clan once had a glorious past.

But how glorious? They didn’t know.

And even if they did know, so what?

No matter how powerful they once were, what did it matter?

Now, they were nothing more than the Heavenly Court’s lapdogs, begging for scraps.

These deities had learned over millennia how to discern the wishes of their superiors.

The Emperor and Empress disdained the Dragon Clan; one only had to look at the Heavenly Court’s dish called “Dragon Liver and Phoenix Marrow” to understand. This wasn’t just disdain—it was outright humiliation.

The god found himself in an awkward position after Jiang Lin’s retort.

His gaze shifted to the charred patch of ground. “And what is this? I detected the presence of a deity.”

His tone grew ominous. “The Third Prince dares to openly kill a deity! This is a grave offense, punishable by the removal of your immortal bones!”

He was completely unreasonable, eager to pin a crime on Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin looked puzzled. “What is Your Excellency talking about?”

He pointed to the charred spot. “What deity? I can testify, and so can the thousand people of Chentang Pass, that this was clearly a demon sowing chaos among the people. I acted to protect the people of Chentang Pass by punishing him.”

The people of Chentang Pass didn’t understand why these lofty gods were arguing, but they understood Jiang Lin’s words.

Several young, spirited mortals spoke up loudly, “That’s right! That Chen Banshen was a wicked man! He nearly cost countless lives in Chentang Pass! The Third Prince rid us of an evil!”

Jiang Lin feigned innocence. “Did Your Excellency hear that? This was clearly a demon. Perhaps you mistook a demon for a deity of the Heavenly Court.”

The god: “…”

When did the Dragon Clan become so slippery and cunning?

He couldn’t out-argue Jiang Lin, but he had orders to capture him.

Deciding not to bother with reasoning any longer, the god loudly commanded, “Celestial soldiers, hear my order! Seize the Third Prince, Ao Bing!”

He glared at Jiang Lin, his voice booming like thunder, “If the Third Prince has anything to say, you can explain it in the Lingxiao Palace before the Emperor and Empress.”

Bang!

A golden, glowing weapon flew straight at the god. He raised his own weapon to block it, but the force behind the attack was so great that he stumbled back several steps, disheveled.

The weapon, after striking the god, whirled around and returned to its owner’s hand.

A young boy with delicate features and a fierce expression—who else but Nezha, who had been silently standing aside?

The weapon was none other than the Universe Ring.

Nezha, clearly irritated, snapped, “You keep babbling on! I’ve been listening for a while, and I haven’t heard a single reasonable thing from you people in the Heavenly Court. If you’re going to arrest someone, just get to the point! Let’s fight directly, enough talking, come on!”

Li Jing nearly fainted at the sight.

He scolded, “Nezha! What business is this of yours? Get over here, now!”

At the same time, he hurriedly apologized to the god, “Your Excellency, this is my young son, Nezha, a disciple of Taiyi Zhenren. Nezha is young and impulsive; I apologize for the trouble he has caused you.”

The god was furious, but upon hearing the name “Taiyi Zhenren,” he suppressed his killing intent and coldly said, “Irrelevant people, step aside!”

Nezha, however, wasn’t pleased. He raised his little head and said, “How am I irrelevant? I promised Ao Bing that I would be his bodyguard for a hundred years!”

He looked at Li Jing disapprovingly. “Father, a person must keep their promises!”

Li Jing: “…”

He opened his mouth to scold Nezha further, but Nezha, growing impatient, said, “Father, you should lead the people to a safe distance. These Heavenly Court gods don’t seem like good ones. If a fight breaks out, and you get hurt, it would be bad.”

To his surprise, as he openly sided with Jiang Lin, the god in golden armor hesitated.

He had originally thought that capturing the Third Prince would be a simple task.

The Dragon Clan had been hiding in various waterways for so long—where would they find the courage to resist the Heavenly Court?

But the Third Prince had resisted.

When Jiang Lin spoke earlier, he hadn’t concealed his dragon’s aura.

The god knew he couldn’t defeat him.

Now, there was Nezha as well.

And so, just as Nezha and Jiang Lin were preparing for a battle, they heard the god in golden armor say, with a tone that belied his lack of confidence, “Very well, Nezha! Ao Bing! You dare defy the Heavenly Court! I will report this to the Emperor, and you will be punished!”

Jiang Lin: “…?”

So this is the kind of character that has kept the Dragon Clan suppressed for millennia?

Seeing that the god was about to leave, Jiang Lin called out loudly, “Your Excellency, wait! There’s one more thing!”

“The people of Chentang Pass have devotedly worshipped, so why hasn’t it rained for three years? Could Your Excellency please report this to the Emperor?”

The three-year drought was nothing more than the Heavenly Court using mortal lives to set a trap, intending to place the blame on the Dragon Clan.

The gods of the Heavenly Court, accustomed to arrogance, wouldn’t care about mere mortals.

He sneered, “If they cannot summon rain, it is because they have committed sins. Instead of reflecting on their own faults, they dare to plead?”

Jiang Lin silently praised the god as an unwitting ally.

Nezha, unable to tolerate this, frowned and retorted, “Then tell me, what sins have we committed?”

But the god in golden armor had already flown far away, leaving only a parting remark echoing in the air:

“If the Emperor says you are guilty, then you are guilty.”