# 264
**Chapter 264: Not Over Yet**
Great Xia, East Sea.
Turbulent waves surged violently, white foam splashing into the air, transforming into tens of thousands of razor-thin water blades that rained down from the sky!
Beneath the spray stood a young man in a black shirt, long sword in hand. With a casual flick—
*Clink—!*
A clear sword hum echoed between heaven and earth. Rolling sword qi met the howling waves, shattering every drop with perfect precision.
*Splash…*
Seawater cascaded down, yet not a single drop touched Zhou Ping. He gazed calmly at Poseidon and spoke slowly:
“Don’t waste your strength. I told you—today, you’re not getting through.”
Poseidon stared in astonishment; he had to admit this young man truly possessed the power to stand against him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Yang Jian’s voice thundered from afar.
“A hundred-year cycle has passed! Today, the gods of Great Xia… return!!”
Both Poseidon and Zhou Ping froze—shock on the former’s face, a smile on the latter’s.
Zhou Ping gripped his sword and laughed like a child. “Who said… Great Xia has no gods?”
Light flickered in Poseidon’s eyes as he stared toward the voice, horror finally overtaking him.
“Indra? He’s actually dead?” He frowned, muttering, “The gods of Great Xia… have truly returned?”
After a moment’s hesitation, he ceased driving the waves and stepped back. Behind him, a passage to the ocean depths slowly unfolded.
“Giving up so soon?” Zhou Ping asked quietly.
Poseidon narrowed his eyes. “Mortal, don’t grow arrogant. Even if your gods return, Olympus fears you not… Our battle is far from finished.”
With that, his figure receded and vanished into the sea.
Zhou Ping watched until the last ripple faded, then crouched, hugging his knees, curling into a ball. He stared at the sand and sighed:
“Finally… I can go home and rest…”
…
Great Xia, Northern Frontier.
Within darkness shrouding several mountain peaks, a hazy man’s expression shifted.
“What, now that Great Xia’s gods return, you dare not advance?” Bathed in brilliant Buddha-light, Ye Fan narrowed his eyes at Hades.
Hades frowned. “You don’t seem surprised?”
Ye Fan shrugged. “I am, after all, commander of the Night Watch. I know a few secrets—like how Great Xia’s gods never vanished; they’ve simply walked beside us unseen.”
Hades stared into Ye Fan’s eyes, then spoke coldly:
“Don’t celebrate too soon. Many mythic lands remain. Your gods’ return will shatter the old balance… You’ll become the target of all.”
“That’s none of your concern,” Ye Fan replied flatly.
Hades snorted and melted into darkness. The nether realm covering the peaks swiftly withdrew, dissolving from the mortal world.
Ye Fan exhaled, turning toward Cangnan City, his relaxed expression turning complex.
“Yang Jian…”
…
Cangnan City.
Most roads and buildings had vanished; only a few scattered high-rises and rows of new streets remained—structures built within the last decade alone.
The city seemed shattered into fragments, fewer than one-tenth of its dazed inhabitants wandering among the ruins.
At the city’s edge.
Yang Jian dragged Indra’s severed head, limping across the earth. The vertical eye on his brow dim, his silver battle-armor flickering.
Howling Sky Dog followed, whining, eyes full of worry.
“Little Black, it’s fine.” Yang Jian patted the dog’s head, smiling. “The century of accumulated cycle-power is spent; my godhood is gone… This life ends here.”
The dog nuzzled his hand and knelt beside him.
“Still, this battle proclaimed the name of Great Xia’s gods. Next time the foreign deities covet our land, they’ll think twice. Long enough, I hope, for the others to recover and guard our gates.”
Yang Jian sat wearily, gazing at the distant city, lips curving upward.
“I, Yang Jian, have no regrets.”
He leaned against Howling Sky Dog, eyes slowly closing, breath fading.
Just then, a Daoist approached from afar.
Hair pinned with a wooden簪, face bright as moonlight, coarse robe unstained, straw sandals silent—his steps unhurried yet swift as a startled swan, arriving in an instant.
Yang Jian sensed him and opened his eyes, shock blooming within.
“Tianzun, why are you here?!”
The Daoist smiled helplessly. “Rash as ever. Why gamble your future to slay a mere foreign god?”
Yang Jian started to reply, but the Daoist laughed:
“Yet what you did gladdens the heart—exquisite, exquisite!”
He crouched, channeling a breath of true essence into Yang Jian, then straightened.
“Rest easy. With me here, you’ll be fine. Once back, Old Lord will cast you into his furnace and reforge your godhood.”
Yang Jian stared, mouth agape. “That Tianzun’s reincarnation has been found?”
“We didn’t find him—he awoke on his own.” The Daoist shook his head, lifting Yang Jian onto the dog’s back.
“No more recklessness. Leave what comes next to us.”
Yang Jian asked, puzzled, “What comes next? ‘Us’? Tianzun, what do you mean?”
The Daoist’s smile turned cold as he gazed afar.
“The foreign gods retreat—yet that doesn’t mean this is over.
Great Xia is not a place they may enter and leave at will.”
…
At that moment, on Changbai Mountain.
A bare-chested middle-aged man stepped to a cliff’s edge, longbow in hand, nocking an arrow…
His eyes pierced the boundless void, locking onto a distant figure.
The next instant, a blazing golden arrow ripped through space and shot forth!!