As long as one lives in this world, there will be many helplessness, whether it is an ordinary person or a cultivator. Even Chen Jing, who became the river god, did not want to become the river god, but he became one anyway and could not live in peace, having to work hard to keep his position as a god because he did not want to die, at least not without any meaning. If someone who knew him before saw how he acted after becoming the river god, they would be surprised that the normally quiet Chen Jing had such a side. This was also his helplessness; in order for people to believe in him, he had to put on this show.

  Under the starry sky, on the banks of the Jinghe River in front of the Spring Temple, Chen Jing stood on the river surface and on the riverbank with people having a courtesy call, having a worship, and having a promise.

  As the sky began to brighten, people dispersed. What happened on the Jin River today will be passed down through generations in Heqian Village and will also be added to "The Records of Mysterious Things".

  The river water no longer overflowed the embankment, and the thirty-mile-long Quixian Bend along the riverbank returned to calmness. The people of Heqiao Village, who were in the forefront of the river, also felt at ease. In this region, the name of Chen Jing, the river god of Quixian Bend, was deeply engraved. Even farther away, people had already recognized Chen Jing as a river god and no longer saw him as the young man who was about to die after being pulled out of the water with a net.

  The village in front of the river and Junling Town had been in a state of turmoil for a while before slowly calming down, but the incense at the River God Temple was getting stronger and stronger. However, no one saw that figure in linen clothes with a long sword hanging from his waist again, which made those girls who heard about the handsome River God return home disappointed one by one.

  Thus, day rises and month falls, four seasons change, time flows like a river rushing away.

  At this time, Chen Jingzheng was sitting in the embroidered spring bay, with a rushing river scene floating on his head, a steep black cliff and a waterfall rushing down, majestic as a rainbow, all the way to a calm water area.

  Under him was a dark stone, and in the distance, there were only a few large red shrimp and a giant green shell left in the Embroidered Spring Bend, watching. They were intimidated by the killing aura emanating from the stone and did not dare to approach.

  This stone was the treasure of the River God of the Evil Dragon Gorge, and at that time, the killing energy filled the sky, transforming into a small mountain that pressed down on Chen Jing. Chen Jing used all his might to mobilize the spiritual power of the Embroidered Spring Bow to calm it down.

  This black stone itself is just a magnet, but because it has been soaked in the river for countless years and is located above a spiritual cave of the river, it has a rich spiritual energy.

  As for the surging killing intent above, Chen Jing only knew after asking an old turtle in the Evil Dragon Gorge that a thousand years ago, a sword had fallen from the sky and was inserted into this stone. The sword's killing intent surged towards the sky, and no one dared to approach it. After several decades, it was pulled out by a Taoist priest, and this stone was stained with an aura of absolute killing intent that would not disperse for a thousand years.

  Chen Jingfu sat on this stone, excited in his heart, and at the same time, he had a lingering admiration for that sword and person. What kind of person could possess such a sword? The killing intent stained on the stone was still able to make people feel palpitations after a thousand years.

  What kind of person can make someone who has held a sword for thousands of years drop their sword?

  What happened a thousand years ago? Are those legends in the world true?

  Chen Jing sat on the black stone, excited that the sword in his hand could proceed to the next step of refinement. Slowly, he inserted the sword into the sword mark left by the sword that fell thousands of years ago. Not too much or too little, not wide or narrow, it was just right. He slowly closed his eyes, and at the point where his hand met the sword, a mist seemed to rise up.

  Communicating with spirits, condensing evil energy, refining the aura, this is the first half of the sword practice's ritual steps. At this time, Chen Jing was in the process of condensing evil energy.

  The sword is originally made of ordinary iron, and as long as it doesn't revert from acquired to innate, it must be nurtured with body, mind, qi, blood, and spirit. If not, even if only for one day without nurturing or refining, the spiritual energy on the sword will not increase, and over time it will fade back into an ordinary sword.

  The sword is hard to come by, and finding a place to condense the killing energy is even harder. The dense and sharp killing energy in this black stone is an excellent place for the killing energy to gather.

  If the sword is good, then the sword's power will be greater when it forms a circle.

  Chen Jing's black hair flowed with the water, dispersing like black seaweed. A green robe from the Dragon Abyss River God Cave had not a speck of muddy dirt on it.

  The lush green mountains of Bai Li, like a screen, stretch far and wide in serene seclusion.

  Cuiping Mountain and Qianluo Mountain are separated by 300 miles, with Balin City in between. Junling Town is just near Cuiping, while the Jing River flows through Qianluo Mountain and then flows from Cuiping to the edge of the mountain.

  The sky was dotted with stars, and the hazy starlight spilled across the land. In the Emerald Screen Mountains, the awakened spirits of the refined monsters lifted their heads to face the starlight, absorbing the primordial energy. The starlight contained the spiritual power of the stars, which was a very pure spiritual energy for both cultivators and demon creatures.

  In the Cuiping Mountain Shengong Temple, the smoke is lingering. For the mountain god, her incense is not as prosperous as that of the land god, and even less than that of Chen Jing's river god temple. However, neither Chen Jing nor the land god dare to provoke her.

  She leaned sideways on a throne made of jade, holding a string of bright red and tender mountain fruits in her hand, eating them one by one. These mountain fruits were a specialty of Cuiping Mountain, known as Qingxin Hongyan Fruit, with a sweet and refreshing taste, and were the main medicine for refining the Stay Youthful Pill.

  And by her side stood a little girl of about ten years old, with a small red flower on her head, and clothes that seemed to be woven from green leaves. A small red flower was also on the corner of her forehead, making her look exceptionally pure and lovely.

  On the ground, there was a person wearing a black robe kneeling on the ground, his head tightly pressed against the ground, his whole body trembling, it was Huai Gui.

  "Huai Mei, you have achieved great merit, I will reward you."

  "Spare my life, spare my life, I'll never dare again."

  "Oh, I don't dare, what am I not daring to do?"

  "Spare my life, spare my life... I won't dare again, I won't dare..." He didn't say what he wouldn't dare do, he just kept kowtowing.

  "Hmph, you won't dare again, I see you're quite bold." She said seemingly carelessly, but suddenly waved her hand, and the ground in the cave suddenly cracked open silently. The crack was right under Huai Mei's feet, a cold and gloomy wind blew out, and a deep, bottomless abyss appeared, from which came faint, mournful wails.

  Huai Mei's face changed greatly, and she was shocked in her heart. Without saying another word, she rolled on the ground and turned into a ball of smoke and fog, fleeing towards the outside of the cave. The cold wind from the deep abyss swept over, and those black smokes were instantly swallowed up, and the crack closed.

  "Ah...... spare my life..." was met with a cold hum from Cui Ping, the mountain god.

  Something that is rotten inside but looks good on the outside.

  Cui Ping Mountain God said faintly, "I'll just take a bite of this Qing Xin Hong Yan fruit." As if it was nothing, he continued, "And that Chen Jing actually survived, not bad at all."

  The little girl next to her, wearing a red flower, also smiled and said: "His incense is now very prosperous, I'm afraid that after using it for a long time, the number one incense god in Junling Town will be him."

  Cui Ping Shan Shen was leaning against the emerald throne, leisurely eating Qing Xin Hong Yan fruit, lost in thought.

  In the midst of Embroidered Spring, Chen Jing's body was as steady as a boulder, but his mind was focused on the sword. With the sword as his body and his spirit connecting with the sword, he refined and tempered the killing intent within the black stone.

  Every day at midnight, he would draw his sword out, wipe it with his hand, and gaze at the sword quietly. This is to nourish the sword with his breath. If not, a thread of murderous aura on the sword's ridge would create a rift between the sword and itself, so every day, he still had to warm it up with his own spiritual energy.

  In the blink of an eye, a month has passed with the rise and fall of the tides.

  It was the first day of the month, and the earth was pitch black. The stars were all hidden behind dark clouds and couldn't be seen. Lifting one's head, no sky could be seen, but a feeling of oppression could be felt, with wind and rain on the way, and people had already fallen asleep. Suddenly, the wind started to blow, initially just a gentle breeze, but in the blink of an eye it became a fierce gale. A loud clap of thunder rang out, startling many people awake from their dreams. In the sky above, a dazzling flash of lightning cut through the darkness like a sharp sword, striking down towards the earth below.

  Heavy rain poured down, hanging in the sky like a string of pearl curtains.

  Looking down from the sky, after this lightning bolt struck the ground, it disappeared silently and soundlessly, just like a sword falling into water without even stirring up a single ripple. Ordinary people naturally thought that this was just a bigger storm, and the thunderclap was nothing out of the ordinary, but within the dozens of miles around Junling Town, those who had cultivated to a certain level all knew that this was a spiritual being undergoing a lightning tribulation.

  Another bolt of lightning fell from the sky, and where the lightning passed, it was bright. Under the lightning, a pitch-black house appeared, which was the Heqian Temple. On the roof of the Heqian Temple, a woman who looked extremely weak raised her head to meet the falling lightning, and her already pale face seemed to turn even whiter. A black mist floated above her head, and in the black mist, an intangible spirit tablet appeared.

  This is her third tribulation of thunder, so this time three bolts of lightning will be brought down, once every ten years, until she transforms from a yin spirit to a yang spirit and becomes an immortal. Otherwise, the tribulations of thunder will only intensify with each passing one, never ceasing.

  Lightning struck, ********, and in the ears of the void spirit, there was not a single sound of thunder to be heard, only the lightning that flashed down like a sharp sword, dazzling and resplendent.

  A soul tablet burst forth from the dark fog, blocking the lightning. The electric light spread downwards like water droplets flowing down a stone. The electric flowers spread across her ethereal body, and she was seen trembling all over, yet remained motionless, allowing those electric flowers to pour down on her like water.

  The lightning fell quickly, and it was gone just as fast, but in that instant, her body seemed to have become a lot more illusory. The dark clouds had not yet dispersed from the sky, with electric flowers flashing, and after a while, another dazzling bolt of lightning struck down.

  The ghost suddenly leaped up and transformed into a cloud of black smoke that merged into the spirit tablet.

  "Bang, boom..."

  A flash of lightning illuminated the dark night sky, and the black smoke under the lightning only slightly resisted for a moment before suddenly dispersing. The lightning disappeared, and the world returned to darkness, with not even five fingers visible when stretching out one's hand. The wind and rain gradually subsided, and the temple in front of the river remained serene. If there were people with sharp eyesight, they would certainly be able to see a faint mist gathering above the temple. At first, it was just a wisp, as if it had life, twisting in the air. Every time it twisted, the mist grew thicker. The black smoke seemed to come out of nowhere, and before long, it had gathered into a ball. The black smoke churned and condensed into a black spirit tablet. The spirit tablet trembled in mid-air, and a beam of clear light descended from it. In the clear light, a young girl appeared, wearing a black skirt that trailed on the ground, with her black hair scattered around her waist, like a night spirit, but without any evil charm. It was the spirit of the Old Ancestor of the River Front Temple, who had been called by Chen Jing earlier.

  She raised her head to look at the already dispersed dark clouds, with a smile on her face, seemingly extremely delighted.

  Just then, a white light suddenly enveloped her, and she was greatly frightened. Her body went limp, and she tried to turn into black smoke to escape into the river temple hall, but it was too late. The white light flashed and disappeared, and when it reappeared, it had already wrapped around the woman, binding her with a rope-like light.

  She was shocked in her heart, but the spiritual power in her body at this moment was like a dead water, and it couldn't be mobilized at all.

  The void was like the surface of the water, surging and churning. A figure emerged from the void, silent and soundless, looking youthful and handsome in his dark Taoist robes, with an air of confidence about him. Yet, there was something somber in his eyes - it was Qin Hu, the land god of Nanyue.

  "This land is lacking a spiritual guardian, and you are just suitable."