Chapter 1811: The Five Paths God's Plan

The gray fog slowly rolls over a mysterious road.

In the depths of the gray fog, one can vaguely see paths extending in all directions.

These are the “roads” leading from the various states of the Human World to this main temple, projected into the Divine Domain.

And right at the center where these roads converge, stands a figure.

The visitor is none other than the Five Dao General.

But this time, unlike any other.

Li Yan remembers distinctly: at first, when peering through the Hook Paper in the Daluo Law Realm, he could only see a Divine General’s silhouette shrouded in golden light, with a blurred face. In later dreams, the appearance of the Five Dao General changed each time—sometimes a dignified elder, sometimes a young Military Officer, and sometimes simply the face of the clay Divine Statue in the temple, clearly a deliberate concealment of true appearance.

This is a rule of the Heavenly Court, gods must not manifest directly before humans.

Yet at this moment, the figure standing in the gray fog is no longer concealing.

Approximately eight feet tall, shorter by half a head than the Divine Statue in the temple, but seemingly more real.

Wearing the same set of rust-covered Bright Armor, yet the dark red seeping from the gaps in the Armor Plate is indistinguishable from rust or blood stains. The face is square, with a thick, tangled beard beneath the jaw, eyebrows as thick as brushes, and deep-set eye sockets.

This appearance indeed bears a seven or eight part resemblance to the Divine Statues in the Five Dao Temples across the regions, all having the feared Military Officer look guarding the roads.

Yet, it paradoxically carries an air of “life.”

It’s a difficult feeling to describe:

The face of the Divine Statue is rigid, formulaic in its might, whereas the figure before him, naturally furrows brows due to fatigue, with beads of blood still dripping from the beard, the chest gently undulating with breaths.

Although Li Yan knows he doesn’t really need to breathe.

The most conspicuous are his eyes, now showing real fatigue, like an old Border Army soldier who has hastily traveled three hundred miles overnight and has fought seven or eight battles in succession.

Even more eye-catching is what he is holding.

His left hand thrusts a long spear inverted into the ground, with the Spear Tip still dripping black blood.

In his right hand, he holds a hemp rope, with seven or eight heads strung on it—human heads, beast heads with protruding fangs, and even one grotesquely horned ghost head.

Each severed neck still seeps blood, drip by drip pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

The entire person seems as though just pulled from the Blood Pool.

“Come?” the Five Dao General spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping iron.

Li Yan suppressed his doubts and clasped his fists in salute: “General, what is this?”

His gaze swept over that string of heads.

The Five Dao General glanced at them and casually tossed the hemp rope to the ground.

The heads rolled a few times, one bumping against Li Yan’s foot—a woman’s head, face cyanotic, eyes wide open, yet mouth perversely curled upwards, as if smiling.

“The ‘road toll’ collected along the way.”

The Five Dao General snorted and kicked the head back into the gray fog.

The fog immediately churned, faintly accompanied by the sound of chewing.

“From Jinbei to Lunan, three official roads, seven relay roads, this month marks the third batch.”

He sat on the bluestone slab, laying the long spear across his knees, as naturally as a traveling merchant resting beside the road. But those eyes fixed on Li Yan: “The aura of the Hook Paper in your hand, is three times thicker since last we met. Did you reap considerable benefits in Japan?”

Li Yan did not respond directly, “Those are not important, let’s first discuss what’s happened on the general’s side?”

He pointed to the restless shadows within the surrounding gray fog: “The temple’s incense is still flourishing, yet why has the Divine Domain appeared in such a state?”

The Five Dao General was silent for a moment.

“The world has changed,” he said, his voice growing somber, “The Daluo Law Realm has been torn apart, you should understand the magnitude of its impact.”

“Once the rift opened, many things could no longer be stopped.”

The Five Dao General continued, “Those truly powerful beings either have long secluded themselves or rushed to claim certain Cave Heaven Blessed Lands to retreat before the rift completely deteriorates, seldom appearing. The rest, either failed to escape in time or couldn’t part with their incense roots, have all fallen.”

He paused, as if reminiscing: “I witnessed the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals, more than half transformed into golden light heading towards Kunlun Mountain. The remaining few tried to stabilize Thunder City, but the Chaos Qi spewed from the rift directly shredded half of Thunder City—now the Thunder Department’s main hall door is tightly shut, what’s happening in there, nobody knows.”

Li Yan felt a chill in his heart.

No need to mention, he had already seen it.

The Five Dao General glanced at him, pulling at his mouth: “Think that’s the end? There’s worse!”

“Over at the Underworld, the palaces of the Ten Halls Yama are all locked. The Yin Bureau must begin avoiding disasters, the entire Yellow Springs Road is empty, Ghost Messengers, yin soldiers, even the soul-summoning lantern spirits by the roadside have vanished.”

“With no Heavenly Court’s restraint, the Heavenly Rules become nothing but waste paper. With no Underworld’s enforcement, the Yin Law is disregarded. The result is—”

He pointed to himself: “I count as the most awkward.”

Li Yan understood.

The essence of the Five Dao General is a Yin Si Divine General, but possesses independence.

He governs the peace of Human World roads, incense also comes from traveling merchants, bodyguards, and coachmen traversing north and south. As long as the roads are maintained, his incense will not cease.

In this chaotic era, instead can hold a foundation.

But the problem is, his “affiliation” still lies within the Yin Bureau.

“Previously, to mobilize yin soldiers, I used the Divine Position Token to transfer from each hall.”

The Five Dao General explains bluntly, “Now the Ten Halls are locked, even a strike from the Token makes not a sound. The Yin Bureau’s troop camp has long been vacant, some say they were redeployed to block the rift in the Daluo Law Realm, others say it was Yama’s order. Bottom line, I can’t mobilize a single soldier.”