Jade Capital Celestial City, in the Xuanhui Hall.

The Emperor hadn't finished a sentence when he fell into a long dream.

In the dream, he dispatched an army to intercept Chen Xu and Wen Daoyuan before they could cast magic to spill the dragon's blood.

Wen Daoyuan, tears streaming down his face, knelt before him, offering the dragon's blood. He ascended the sacrificial altar, using the nation's fate as a guide to unleash the power of the blood to its utmost—

The dream was too perfect, so much so that the Emperor completely didn't know, as he shouted loudly, "Wang Zhen, Liu Shao, come here..."

At that moment, Wang Zhen and Liu Shao hurriedly rushed over.

Wang Zhen hurriedly supported the Emperor, gently calling, "Your Majesty, your old servant is here, listening."

The Emperor's throat emitted a faint, hoarse rasp, "I command you... command you to quickly take Ziwei, Ziwei Academy all, all..."

All what?

The Emperor could not finish his words, but suddenly coughed up a trace of blood from his throat.

He cried out "ah," finally collapsing on the ground, eyes closed, overwhelmed by intense emotions.

Years of effort destroyed in an instant; in reality, Chen Xu and Wen Daoyuan dismantled and spilt the blood of the "wicked dragon" the Emperor had carefully nurtured.

Yet the Emperor, being the ruler, did not receive a single benefit.

How could the Emperor not be angry?

Wang Zhen panicked, immediately calling out, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Yet all he could hear was the rushed sound of rain outside the window, pattering loudly.

Amidst the vast rain, there were distant cheers from the palace people: "It's raining, it's raining! That's wonderful, hahaha..."

As the saying goes, the law does not blame the multitude.

Normally, it was indeed a rule not to make loud noise in the palace, but this rain had come so timely and miraculously that even the seasoned eunuchs and senior maidservants, deeply ingrained with rules, couldn't suppress their emotions.

The Northern Border was experiencing a severe drought, and there had been no rain in the capital for months.

Some high-ranking officials were not anxious, but the common people and most palace servants certainly were!

The Emperor didn't know that now a single bowl of clean water in the palace had to be exchanged for silver coins to drink.

Xuanhui Hall replaced ice mountains day and night, and cool springs were used to send breezes, with jade talismans to lower temperature.

But in the residences of certain palace maidservants and eunuchs, just a few walls away, it was stifling, sticky, and as harsh as a prison.

When the heavy rain descended, the entire Northern Border cheered.

Wang Zhen dared not do much, except hurriedly send the Emperor back to bed, and anxiously summoned the Imperial Physician.

As for the Emperor's unfinished command, Wang Zhen couldn't execute it.

Not to mention, the Emperor hadn't clearly stated what to do with the "Ziwei Academy people," even if he had, what could Wang Zhen do?

Bring the Xing Tian Guards to wipe out Ziwei Academy?

Wang Zhen couldn't do it!

And Liu Shao, even before the Emperor finished half a sentence, had already vaguely guessed the Emperor's intentions.

The Emperor couldn't directly do anything to Wen Daoyuan, thus intended to investigate Ziwei Academy from another angle.

If only to seize on some trivial faults, even fabricating some trivial faults—

No, no need to fabricate.

In such a large academy, with three to five thousand disciples, how could there be no impurities?

Such incidents just need to be amplified and spread nationwide, and even if Wen Daoyuan is a Great Scholar or has unprecedented achievements, his reputation might still be damaged.

In this way, it might force the other side to reveal a flaw.

This unprecedented achievement of diverting water from the south to the north, the Emperor might not be incapable of seizing it.

Liu Shao displayed urgency and concern on his face, yet in his heart, there was no sorrow or joy.

He guessed the Emperor's thoughts, but he didn't intend to proactively become the Emperor's blade.

Though he had served as the Emperor's blade countless times, even the blade needs the right opportunity to strike; he couldn't blindly stab on his own and didn't necessarily need to do what was absolutely impossible.

The Emperor was confused by anger, impulsively thinking of using Ziwei Academy against Wen Daoyuan just a moment ago.

Once he regains his senses, he might not still act that way.

Even if he truly acts that way, it's unclear on whose head the blame will fall.

Liu Shao pondered slowly, not caring about the blame, having been stained with the blood of countless innocents throughout his life.

Yet, the current change in the situation suddenly sparked another thought in his mind.

Perhaps the key to achieving his goal might not lie with the Emperor, but rather possibly with the young man named Chen Xu.

The rain poured down violently.

On the small Feng Mountain, in front of the Water Mirror.

The Ugly Monkey looked at the bead-like dense rain curtain in the mirror and sighed, somewhat convinced:

"Transforming dragon's blood into rain to fight the Drought Demon, Chen Xu actually dared to throw away all the dragon blood he painstakingly refined. Such magnanimity, I indeed underestimated him."

The Ugly Monkey's tone was world-weary; after sighing, it couldn't help but reveal its monkey form.

It couldn't control itself from scratching its head and face, saying in a few screeches, "Heh, but just rain isn't enough, what next?"

But Mr. Zhou beside him said with a slight smile: "Next, naturally it should be as stated in the 'Strategy to Eliminate the Locust Demon', reforest, restore the land and protect water, so that the verdant landscapes of a thousand miles can reappear."

Only then can we truly change the world.

As for how to reforest and restore the land and protect the water?

Over at the Water Mirror, Chen Xu, clad in wind and rain, suddenly raised his hand, and virtually grasped the golden light of the Treasure Map on the ground.

As he was the original creator of the Treasure Map, he naturally had a remarkably magical control over it.

When he virtually grasped the golden light of the Treasure Map, large areas of land on both sides of the canal suddenly seemed to come to life, thumping and pulsating strangely—

This pulsation was certainly not physical, but more like a semi-illusory, semi-real hazy feeling.

At this moment, the many living beings on both sides of the canal also felt their hearts race.

People looked up, and so did the Demons.

At this moment, Chen Xu, standing on nothingness, raised his hand and suddenly released a vast expanse of crystal-clear, magical soil from his palm.

Swish, swish, swish—those tiny granules of soil drifted and scattered like golden sand in the rain, yet landed very precisely along the banks of the canal.

Following this were large quantities of tree seeds, as well as floating rice seeds that landed straight into the canal.

At first, the floating rice seeds did not sprout.

However, the tree seeds on both sides quickly shot up and grew rapidly upon landing.

The Ugly Monkey by the Water Mirror made a "tsk" sound, eagerly moving in closer and exclaimed:

"This kid has quite a few treasures, although they are just low-grade spiritual crystals, in this barren world, using them to plant some mundane things, hey, they really have miraculous effects."

Indeed, the "crystal-clear soil" Chen Xu just scattered was actually not soil, but a special Spiritual Material captured by the Food Cauldron Celestial Book: Thousand Spirit Mobile Earth Crystal!

The entry reads: [Thousand Spirit Mobile Earth Crystal, when ground down, mixed with ten thousand-year snow and demon bone magic powder, can yield the Essence of Earth Transformation.

Sowing this Essence of Earth Transformation into the ground, plants, and living beings that consume it can accelerate growth, significantly amplifying their energy.]

The so-called "plants, and living beings consume it" is essentially plant fertilizer.

Chen Xu scattered all the Thousand Spirit Mobile Earth Crystals he had refined—

He hadn't had this treasure for long, but earlier, while flying back to Pingyang Prefecture with Wen Daoyuan on the Cloud Boat from the Northern Border, Chen Xu took the time to delve into the Fire and Smoke Kitchen.

He refined the Thousand Spirit Mobile Earth Crystals in the shortest time possible.

At that time, he had already anticipated that once the south-to-north water diversion was successful, these Thousand Spirit Mobile Earth Crystals would come in handy.

Simultaneously, Chen Xu suddenly pulled out a hairpin shaped like a lotus stem from his head, the end of which grew a jade-like lotus pod.

This was an Exotic Treasure obtained from the Shimmering Star Lake Water Monarch: the Demon Heart Lotus Room.

Chen Xu released the little hedgehog and Little Mouse living in the Demon Heart Lotus Room, and with a spell, gently carried them with the wind to the ground.

From afar, Chen Xu's voice rang in the ears of the two Little Demons:

"Ah Shi, Ah Yuan, we are now undertaking a great deed benefiting future generations, needing to plant vegetation along the banks of the canal to preserve the soil and water.

I also ask you two friends to lend a hand, either by casting your Magic or by rallying your kindred to help plant trees and earn this merit."

Yes, Chen Xu released the two Little Demons at this time precisely for them to earn merit.

Now that the major crises during the south-to-north water diversion process had mostly passed, if he didn't let his two friends reap merit now, when else?

The two Little Demons were still somewhat confused about what was happening.

But since Chen Xu asked them to plant trees, they naturally plunged enthusiastically into the tree planting campaign.

On the northern bank of the canal, a group of foxes, somehow, quietly gathered.

The foxes appeared semi-human, standing upright, wearing human clothes, walking like humans, with various dried flowers pinned in their hair.

Some quietly dashed toward the banks, while others shyly looked up at Chen Xu in the sky, suddenly smiling at each other.

"Chirrup, chirrup…"

The foxes called out.

Their beastly words and tongues had a uniquely wild charm.

Some foxes carried hoes and tilled the soil in the front, while others took out various saplings from their embroidered pouches and earnestly planted trees behind.

Soon, the foxes became a vital force in the great tree-planting venture.

Indeed, the tree seeds Chen Xu had brought were limited.

Even though he employed Magic to build sections of green embankments along the canal, how could he, with only his own strength, turn all these thousands of miles of riverbanks green?

But what one person's strength could not achieve, various Demon Race creatures once hidden in the Northern Border all took action.

In the wind and rain, who else but the foxes came rushing now?

The children and grandchildren of the Wolf King refused to fall behind, the Snake King's snake clan Demons were especially adept at tilling the soil.

And there was a group of yellow-shirted demons, most of them wearing small melon-skin hats, short in stature, about three or four feet tall.

The leader peeked around from behind a small hillock, with small brows and eyes, sporting a pair of mustaches, speaking in an authentic capital dialect:

"Hey, everyone's here? Little Demon Huang Silang also brings our clansmen to join the fun.

Not hoping to help much, but for tilling and cultivating, we won't lag behind, hehe, hehe…"

With a wave, the yellow-shirted Little Demons rushed over.

This left Little Mouse Ah Shi, who was casting a soil-stabilizing spell beside a tiny tree, awestruck.

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