Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

"Daoist, what are you doing? Move aside quickly."

"Do you dare to bear the consequences of disrupting the Dragon King's sacrificial ceremony?" an old man with his face painted in various colors said harshly.

"Oh? You don't know who I am?" Yi Chen said in 'surprise'.

"Who are you?"

"To be honest, I am an old friend of the Black Evil Dragon King and have shared life-and-death experiences with him. Who might you be?" Yi Chen counter-asked.

"I am the river sacrifice official of Blackwater Town. Move aside quickly, or do not blame us for being impolite."

"The Dragon King has vast magical powers, can summon clouds and rain, and control clouds and water. Having offended His Excellency, our Blackwater Town would be flooded."

"Only by offering constant tributes and annual sacrifices can we ensure the safety of Blackwater Town. For hundreds of years, we have done so; if you do not move now, do not blame us for being impolite."

As the river sacrifice official finished speaking, the townspeople immediately became agitated.

Seeing the cunning glint in the old man's eyes, how could Yi Chen not know that this person could not sense the depth of his cultivation and was thus inciting the populace?

A laughable notion, a small practitioner with an awakened external path dares to play tricks in his presence.

After revealing a bit of his spiritual intimidation, the noisy and foolish folk immediately fell silent, trembling in fear.

"River sacrifice official, I am an old acquaintance of the Black Evil Dragon King. Please go down and speak for me; tell them an old friend has come to visit."

A large hand rested on the old man's shoulder, and Yi Chen brushed with his Extreme Origin mana, immediately scattering the little disordered mana accumulated within the old man's sea of qi, making him seem several years older in the blink of an eye.

With a splash that resembled 'Ximen Leopard Taming Ye', Yi Chen directly threw the river sacrifice official into the Black Water River.

The Black Water River's currents were swift, dotted with rocks; after a few bobs, the old man disappeared among the waves.

After a short while, Yi Chen retracted his oppressive aura and said coldly, "The river sacrifice official has been gone for a long time; does anyone else wish to find the Dragon King for me?"

At that moment, an elderly man with a full head of silver hair and leaning on a cane stood out, his voice trembling, "This is a disaster, a disaster, Daoist, please step aside and let us send Xiuniang into the river, the auspicious hour is almost upon us." Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

"For hundreds of years, it's not as though no practioners have come to Black Water River intending to stop the Dragon King's human sacrifice, but all of them, without exception, died uneventfully within months."

"The old man is not ignorant of the Daoist's good intentions; it's not that we are unwilling, but that we cannot. Please, move aside."

"One human sacrifice a year and only one person dies, but if the time is missed and the Dragon King metes out punishment, the dead will number more than tens or hundreds. Xiuniang is my granddaughter, and I am the mayor of Blackwater Town; if it weren't this way, how could I willingly send my own flesh and blood into the river?" The silver-haired old man broke down in tears.

Yi Chen, upon hearing this, couldn't help feeling astonished, his heart brimming with doubt.

How could a creature like the Black Evil Dragon King, who was at least of a standard comparable to a True Monarch of others, covet the annual sacrifice of a young maiden?

Even if all the towns up and down the Black Water River offered sacrifices to the Black Evil Dragon King, it wouldn't be enough for him to subsist on.

It's true that lower-level demons enjoy blood, but even a True Person Realm great demon would see eating common people as nothing but a small appetizer; they require the robust energy of martial artists or practitioners instead.

The sparse vitality of ordinary people isn't even as nourishing as catching a wild boar in the mountains and feasting on that.

Such elaborate arrangements and retaliation one can't help but wonder if this Black Evil Dragon King is seriously ill.

"Old man, has the government really never sent out troops to eradicate this Black Evil Dragon King?" Yi Chen couldn't help asking again.

"Ah, haven't they? I clearly remember that over a hundred years ago, the county dispatched troops, a force of ten thousand led by a powerful array, in a joint strike with nearby sword sects, but they were soundly defeated. The Dragon King, in its rage, even burnt down the county government office with a single breath of fire."

"After that, it's said a highly skilled person came and watched over the Black Water River for three years, but failed to find even a trace of the Dragon King, and the matter was thus left unsettaken."

"Every year, the towns near Black Water River must build temples for the Dragon King, offer yearly tributes, and present the most beautiful virgin from the town. Otherwise, unforeseen calamity would befall them."

As the elderly man spoke, not only did Yi Chen fail to unravel his doubts, but his expression also grew odder.

Intuition told him there was certainly something fishy going on here.

Allowing these foolish men and women to continue the river sacrifice for the Dragon King was absolutely out of the question; Yi Chen's interest in this mysterious Black Evil Dragon King grew.

Stirring up such a commotion without having been killed yet, this mysterious Black Evil Dragon King truly had some tricks up its sleeve.

"Interesting, no need for further talk, old man. Lead me to your town to take a look. I am very keen to meet this esteemed Dragon King."

With a thought, Yi Chen decided to go see the temple of the Black Evil Dragon King in Blackwater Town, for perhaps the root of everything stemmed from that temple.

The towns that worship the Black Evil Dragon King are not limited to Blackwater Town alone, but by seeing just one part one can understand the whole; if there is anything peculiar about this temple, Yi Chen believed that it certainly wouldn't escape his eyes.

Seeing that Yi Chen was determined, the townsfolk who had come out to worship the Black Evil Dragon King immediately scurried back the way they had come, as if they were mourning the loss of their parents.@@novelbin@@

Only the young girl sitting atop the palanquin had an expression of both fright and joy on her face.

After all, being spared from a desperate situation, how could one not rejoice?

Sometimes personal interests do not align with those of the larger community, perhaps for the other townsfolk of Blackwater Town, sacrificing a young girl along with a portion of their annual tribute was a fair price to pay for a year of peace and stability.

As for which family's daughter was chosen, that was just considered bad luck, it was all fated, and no one had any control over it.

But for the individual being sacrificed, was there ever a shred of fairness?

"Old man, have you or your ancestors ever seen the Black Serpent Dragon King?"

The old man shook his head at the question, "Since that last great battle, no one has dared to provoke the Dragon King by pulling on his whiskers. We are but lowly commoners, how could we have the fortune to see the true countenance of the Dragon King."

"So after you worship the Black Serpent Dragon King, do the winds become mild and the rains timely, and does good fortune turn calamity into blessings?" Yi Chen, with time on his hands, began to pry deeply into the matter.

"Eh, it doesn't seem so, but if the Dragon King is not worshiped, there are sure to be calamities," the white-haired elder pondered before affirming, "I still remember when I was a child, it was the mayor's daughter who was chosen by the draw."

"However, the mayor of that generation was too heartbroken to sacrifice his daughter, and as a result, on that very night, the entire mayor's family was claimed by the river ghosts,"

"The mayor's family of more than a dozen people, all strangled by water plants and hung from the rafters of the house, and several other families were also struck by sudden disasters, with people murdered for no reason at all – that's the fate of those who offend the Dragon King."

"Since then, no one has dared to disrespect the Dragon King."

Yi Chen: "....." He had not expected it to be a Dragon King that took money but shirked his duties and lacked martial virtue.

As the procession moved along, and about half an hour later, Yi Chen and his companions arrived inside the temple of the Black Serpent Dragon King in Blackwater Town.

At that time, inside and outside the Dragon King temple, the place was packed with countless heads, many devout believers were even kneeling on the ground with incense in hand, praying for the Dragon King's protection.

"Mayor, didn't you go to worship the Dragon King?"

"Why has Xiuniang also come back? Mayor, have you become muddled with age? Are you trying to doom us all?"

With their appearance, a commotion broke out among the crowd at the Dragon King temple, and some of the stronger youths rolled up their sleeves and tried to pull Xiuniang by the arm, wanting to make amends and take her to the Blackwater River for the sacrifice.

"All of you damn well quiet down!"

Yi Chen, not bothering to waste words with the foolish men and women, displayed an aura that intimidated all the ordinary townspeople inside and outside the temple. Whoever dared to resist the pressure bearing down on them felt it grow stronger, and one stubborn young man had already buried his face in the ground...

"Everyone, do not be afraid. I have come here to have a word with the Dragon King,"

"To see if the Dragon King can give me some face and spare everyone from the annual human sacrifice."

Yi Chen stood tall and proud, stepping into the Black Serpent Dragon King temple amid the diverse gazes of the crowd.

A black python wooden sculpture, with a large protuberance on its head, stood erect in the center.

Various colored strips of cloth hung down from the roof of the temple.

Yi Chen's eyes nearly went cross from looking, and even after using his Third Eye reflection, he could not find anything unusual.

"Damn it," Yi Chen sighed reluctantly in his heart.

It seemed he had no choice but to use that move.

Sometimes it's not necessary to go looking for someone yourself; making them come to you works just as well.

Once he made up his mind, a violent wind suddenly rose, and a tornado even lifted off the entire roof of the temple. Yi Chen's angry voice immediately exploded over the skies of Blackwater Town.

"I curse you, Black Serpent Dragon King."

"Seeing me, why don't you kneel?"

"Dragon King, what kind of Dragon King are you? Your fucking greed for money without doing your duty causes the people of Blackwater Town to wail for their parents, and you sit in the middle of the temple wearing a padded jacket backward, pretending to be a sheep?"

"I'll count to three, and if you don't show yourself, that's disrespecting me, and I'll blow up your damn temple right now."

"Three"

"Two and one"

Yi Chen's Extreme Origin vibrated, and he stepped forward.

On this day, in full view of everyone, the statue of the Dragon King that Blackwater Town had worshipped for many years, exploded.

A shower of wood chips fell from the sky.