When it completely dissipated, the underworld fish laughed loudly and then summoned the black hand to once more reach out and grab at Xu Qing.
“I’ll bless you with some good fortune! Wipe your memories and sever your path to mortality. You won’t be going into the cycle of reincarnation, from now on, you’re going to be the slave girl of an Underworld Judge!”
Just when the black hand was about to grab onto Xu Qing, a strand of divine sense suddenly flew up into the air and began to emanate an astonishing power. The strand slashed down, slicing the black hand in two!
A miserable scream could be heard from the underworld fish. With an expression of complete astonishment and terror, it shot backward in retreat.
At the same time, a cold voice echoed out through the River of Forgetfulness.
“How dare you touch the daughter-in-law of the one surnamed Fang!” The voice seemed enraged, and the entire River of Forgetfulness shook. The underworld fish couldn’t look more shocked.
“You…. Fang…. You’re….” It began to tremble with such fear that its soul nearly dissipated. Before it could finish speaking, the strand slashed out into the starry sky, severing all natural law. The strand continued to slash down toward the underworld fish. It screamed as its body was sliced into two halves. The strand then appeared to be preparing to finish the job and completely destroy it.
“Your excellency, please spare my life!” cried the underworld fish. It was completely terrified, and filled with a sense of deadly crisis. Unfortunately, it was incapable of fleeing, and had no other option than to beg for mercy.
It was at this point that another voice, ancient and archaic, echoed out from within the River of Forgetfulness.
“Elder Brother Fang, calm your anger. Considering my position as king, can’t you give me some face….”
In conjunction with the voice, an enormous face appeared within the River of Forgetfulness. It had a third eye on its forehead, and as soon as it appeared, all the stars in the sky trembled.
“No, I can’t,” was the cold response. A bloodcurdling scream rang out from the mouth of the underworld fish. Its body was destroyed, completely and thoroughly. Then, a will of extermination appeared that quickly found the true self that the clone originated from, and destroyed it as well.
Nothing could prevent this from happening!
The starry sky was now tranquil and quiet.
“Elder Brother Fang, we haven’t seen each other for years, but you still have the same temper…. You know, you might just be a stream of divine sense come from the lands of South Heaven, but that’s still a violation of the agreement.
“The 100,000 year period has just begun. You and your beloved are not permitted to leave South Heaven!”
“During the 100,000 years, I can send out one stream of divine sense,” replied the cold voice. “That was also written in the agreement.”
Down below, they eyes of the enormous face in the River of Forgetfulness flickered. “True, true. Although, you may only do that one time, ostensibly to provide a Dao Protector for your son. I never imagined you would use the divine sense on this girl.”
“The son of Fang is a dragon of Heaven and Earth! He doesn’t need me to act as Dao Protector!”
“Oh? You’re not afraid that someone might kill him?!” the face replied coldly.
“If someone kills my son, I will kill his everything!” responded the voice, cold and calm. “I will destroy his entire family, and their chance at reincarnation!” The words were spoken with a monstrous, domineering air. Intense, icy coldness spread out, and as for the face on the river, it trembled inwardly.
“Even after all these years, he definitely deserves to be called the number one Chosen of the Fang Clan,” thought the face. “For the sake of his crippled son, he was stationed on planet South Heaven for 100,000 years… unable to leave. South Heaven is old and dull, and his cultivation base cannot advance. It won’t take 100,000 years for plenty of other people to pass him up.”
At this point, the cold voice continued: “This is my daughter-in-law. My strand of divine sense will stay with her to protect her and ensure that she is peacefully reincarnated. During her time in the underworld, no one is allowed to interfere with her in any way.” With that, the strand of divine sense slowly floated down to circle around Xu Qing’s arm, then faded into her.
The face on the river water said nothing. After a moment passed, it slowly sank back down into the water. This stretch of the vast River of Forgetfulness now had no souls in it other than Xu Qing’s. Gradually, she drifted off into the distance.
Back in the Southern Domain, on the battlefield, the Southern Domain cultivators milled about, not attacking, but merely surrounding the Northern Reaches cultivators. They had long since grown accustomed to the reek of blood. They looked on coldly as the Northern Reaches cultivators let out their final screams.