Ji Yuan descended from the source of the Lin Fu River, sinking to the riverbed, his divine light flashing and filling the entire riverbed.
Under the illumination of his divine light, the yin energy integrated into the lake water surged, and beneath the silt on the riverbed, a vast resentment erupted.
He looked with his divine eyes, and all he saw was resentment so dense it was almost solid, seeping out from the riverbed like viscous ink.
This vast resentment contained extreme emotions of anger, hatred, despair, and more. Even ordinary cultivators who accidentally touched it would have their bodies eroded and their foundations damaged.
Not to mention for deities, this substance was an absolute poison that must not be touched. Once a trace was contaminated, it would immediately spread throughout the body, causing even the most solid golden body to decay.
However, even the Dao, Confucian, and Buddhist paths had far inferior means of clearing such substances compared to the divine path.
Heaven and earth, all things, created and counteracted each other. Divine beings were naturally opposed to such things, and were precisely the best at restraining them.
With a thought from Ji Yuan, divine power surged from his body. He did not use any special divine abilities, but rather employed the most direct method, using his own divine power to obliterate the resentment on the riverbed.
Gradually, he became more adept at this task. Once fully accustomed, he even utilized the divine abilities he had learned from Jiang Yun Zhou.
As the resentment on the riverbed was continuously ground down, some water ghosts, hidden within, finally revealed their tracks.
Since the River God and the temple priest confessed their sins, these water ghosts had vanished, using their divine abilities to conceal themselves throughout the Lin Fu River, masking their presence with vast yin energy and resentment.
Now that Ji Yuan intended to purify the vengeful spirits and resentment in the river and dismantle the more than ten formations laid out within, he first needed to deal with these water ghosts.
In their former lives, these beings were either innocent commoners or cultivators who had achieved some level of cultivation. After death, they were transformed by the mastermind through various means into water ghosts that plagued the area.
Having existed for so many years, the weakest had a cultivation close to the Second Realm, while the strongest two or three water ghosts possessed power comparable to the mid to late stage of the Second Realm.
Especially within the Lin Fu River, their power could be significantly amplified. Ordinary Third Realm cultivators entering the river might not gain much advantage.
However, as the Water God with the divine spark, and now holding some authority of the River God, his cultivation in the river was also enhanced, even far more so than these water ghosts.
Naturally, he was not afraid; on the contrary, he was their natural nemesis.
Gazing at the water ghosts forced into the open, he simply waved the River God's scepter in his hand. Instantly, several beams of divine light swept out, coiling around the water ghosts and crushing them one by one.
As the water ghosts' bodies were destroyed, fragmented souls emerged. They cast grateful glances at the deity before them, then completely dissipated into the heavens and earth.
From the moment they were transformed into water ghosts, these souls lost the chance to reincarnate and enter the cycle of transmigration. Only the ending of their souls scattering remained.
But to be completely freed from the prolonged torment, no longer being controlled to commit evil deeds, and no longer having to constantly endure the torment of yin energy and resentment.
Perhaps, for them, this was their final wish.
Ji Yuan could feel that as several fragmented souls vanished, a few wisps of merit suddenly appeared on his person, clearly an acknowledgment from heaven and earth for his actions.
He sighed deeply, his expression gradually becoming serious as he began to diligently clear the resentment on the riverbed.
As a large amount of resentment was ground down, water ghosts were revealed one after another, and then either destroyed by his divine power or by the giant python beneath his feet.
As they moved downstream from the source of the Lin Fu River, diligently clearing the resentment and water ghosts on the riverbed, they also encountered attacks from numerous demonic creatures.
These demonic creatures were either subdued by the mastermind or had been specifically cultivated by him over the past three hundred years with some effort.
Their cultivation realms ranged from the First Realm to the Second Realm. The strongest among them had even initially taken on human form, possessing power comparable to the mid to late stage of the Spirit Point Realm.
However, before the divine incarnation, who had now ascended to the Third Realm, such powerful demonic creatures could not even last for a single exchange. They were smashed into pieces by several heavy water pearls.
For an entire month, Ji Yuan's divine incarnation and the giant python beneath him submerged themselves in the riverbed of the Lin Fu River, meticulously cleaning from the source to the end.
There were over a hundred water ghosts alone, and more than thirty various aquatic demonic creatures, all of whom were ultimately dealt with by him and the python.
Now, the Lin Fu River was devoid of water ghosts and demonic creatures, and its yin energy and resentment had been significantly weakened. Standing on the bank, it no longer presented a sinister appearance.
At the same time, the altar on the shore was prepared. Under the supervision of Magistrate Zhang Qingyang and Li Buwei, rituals of salvation and purification had already begun in an orderly fashion.
A total of over one hundred and seventy Daoist priests and monks, gathered from the cities and counties of the region, were now spread across all sections of the Lin Fu River.
Even more Confucian scholars arrived, standing on the riverbank and loudly reciting the sages' writings, using the righteous energy within their chests to draw upon the majestic aura of the sages' words to purify the resentment in the river water.
As the rituals began, Ji Yuan, at the tail end of the Lin Fu River, immediately felt an intuitive guidance from the unseen.
A sheathed small knife appeared in his hand, which was precisely a saintly artifact he had obtained in Xuanhuang City.
He did not activate it with divine power, but closed his eyes and chanted in his heart, repeatedly recalling the situation in the river, thus transmitting this thought into the sheathed knife.
After more than half an hour, a majestic righteous energy surged from the blade forged from ordinary materials.
The sheathed knife flew up from Ji Yuan's hand, floating in the water before him. Countless streams of righteous energy gushed forth, accompanied by the circulation of saintly resonance, permeating the entire riverbed.
Under the saintly resonance and righteous energy, the resentment accumulated in the deep riverbed was continuously purified, and the gloomy river water became clear.
At this moment, with the saintly artifact above his head and his divine golden body releasing immense divine power, Ji Yuan began to move with great difficulty from the tail end of the Lin Fu River towards its source.
Compared to the journey down, the current path was significantly more arduous. He no longer faced easily subdued water ghosts and demonic creatures, but the resentment accumulated in the riverbed for over three hundred years.
Even with the assistance of the saintly artifact and the support of a large amount of incense transformed into pure divine power, he had to withstand immense pressure with every segment he advanced.
If he made even the slightest mistake, it would not be him purifying the riverbed resentment, but rather the resentment defiling his golden body, leading to him falling into the ranks of malevolent gods or his divine spark collapsing, resulting in his death and destruction.