"Li Qi, I've become a river god!"
When Honghong appeared once more, she no longer looked like a carp, having transformed into the image of an adorable five-year-old girl.
In the process of transforming into the river god, she had also completed her human transformation.
The five-year-old Honghong was exceedingly cute, resembling a white porcelain doll, with the sole exceptions that her hair was red, her dress was red, and a pair of tiny, slightly protruding horns peeked through her crimson locks.
At the same time, a jade divine crown rested upon her head, and a silver divine seal floated above her small hands.
Li Qi could sense a faint, dignified aura emanating from the crown and the seal—withheld and unreleased, like a dormant volcano.
Clearly, the divine crown and seal possessed immense power in their own right.
"You've become a deity! Could it be that you are now the river god of this great river?"
Li Qi had no intention of revealing the existence of the mysterious prompt.
Therefore, he put on an act of having just learned of the matter himself. When Honghong ascended to godhood, there had been so many competitors; heaven knows how many powerful beings had been secretly pulling strings behind the scenes.
Were those competitors merely pawns of the strong?
After all, the river god of the waterway where Huaguo Mountain's Water-Curtain Cave was located could influence the Journey to the West to a certain extent.
It would be strange indeed if a divine position of such critical importance went unnoticed.
"Yes, I've become the river god here. From now on, no one can bully me. And as my best friend, I can protect you too!"
Honghong said happily.
Clearly, the divine position of a river god came with formidable power, which gave Honghong the confidence to make such a statement.
Perhaps even the Demon Immortals residing in Aiguo and Huaguo Mountain posed no threat to Honghong now.
With Honghong becoming the river god, Li Qi could not say whether this was a blessing or a curse for her, but he could only offer her his best wishes.
"This will be my divine palace from now on. You can cultivate here as well, and help me out while you're at it!"
Honghong felt that with Li Qi's cautious nature and meticulous mind, he might just be able to offer her some assistance.
She was naive, but not unintelligent.
Honghong's idea was also beneficial to Li Qi, because the river god's grotto-heaven could provide a safe sanctuary for his own development.
Unlike the untamed wilderness outside Huaguo Mountain, where one had to constantly guard against potential Demon Cultivators, this place was different.
As long as Honghong's divine position remained secure and this little grotto-heaven was not breached, Li Qi would be safe.
Yet, although Honghong had inherited the position of the Aolai River's river god, she was currently a commander with no army, lacking subordinates altogether.
"Alright, I'll stay here and help you stabilize the situation!"
Li Qi agreed.
Honghong explained the situation to him. The heritage she had received included methods for shaping a river god's incense-fire divine body, the traditions for training shrimp soldiers and crab generals, as well as the river god arts of water control, cloud manipulation, and rain summoning.
In the future, as the river god, she would govern the rainfall across the Aolai River basin, deciding when it would rain, how much it would precipitate, how many clear days there should be, and so on.
However, a river god would not lightly interfere with naturally occurring weather.
The heavens and earth naturally generated clouds, rain, and other climates; river gods would only intervene when absolutely necessary.
The reasons for doing so might stem from the orders of the Heavenly Court or from their own volition.
The vast majority of rain, snow, wind, and frost in the Primordial World remained the result of natural forces, rather than the manipulation of deities.
Excessive interference in the operations of nature by deities brought no merit; instead, it accumulated karmic retribution.
While they could weaken natural floods when they occurred, they must never eradicate them or make them vanish entirely.
For floods were a manifestation of the operation of the Primordial heavens and earth.
To obstruct the operation of the Primordial World was to pay a price.
When a flood came, it cared not whether one was human or of the Demon Clan.
It was simply a force of nature, and in the Primordial World, there was no such thing as gaining merit merely for helping humans.
Merit was granted only when one's actions favored the operation of the heavens and earth!
Of course, river gods could intervene in natural disasters to reap the power of incense and faith, but this could not be overdone.
Summoning wind and rain was merely a secondary duty for a river god.
Their true core responsibility was dredging the formless water veins to ensure the stable operation of the water networks, preventing any disruption in the flow of the world's transcendent powers.
It was impossible for just one water vein to experience issues; rather, when problems accumulated across all water veins and finally erupted all at once, it would trigger a mega-disaster that would collapse the entire circulation of waters throughout the Primordial World—a disaster that would spell doom for the entire world.
A river god's true duty was to guard and dredge the water veins!
After understanding the relevant information, Li Qi grasped what Honghong needed to do right now.
Dredge the water veins!
Due to special circumstances, the Aolai River had remained without a river god for countless years, and the blockage of its water veins was severe.
This task now had to be carried out jointly by Li Qi and Honghong.
As for the issue of subordinates, it could be resolved in the future.
Having subordinates was not important; having loyal ones was the key.
Therefore, rather than rushing to expand her sphere of influence, Honghong—the newly minted river god—needed to focus on her primary duty.
There were specialized spells for dredging water veins.
Li Qi learned arts such as the Water-Evasion Technique, the Water-Taming Formula, and the Spirit-Connection Vein-Transforming Hand from Honghong, truly achieving freedom of movement within the water.
Following that, together with Honghong, he began dredging the Huaguo Mountain water veins starting from the mouth of the Aolai River.
The Aolai River spanned eight thousand miles, and at its estuary, it was nearly eighteen miles wide—a super-river far surpassing any river width from his past life.
Yet, this super-river in Li Qi's eyes was merely an extremely inconspicuous branch among the countless rivers of the vast Primordial World.
Water flowed from top to bottom, and the flow of water-qi within the veins also moved from top to bottom.
Therefore, dredging the water veins had to begin from downstream; otherwise, the flowing water-qi cleared upstream would simply clog up the silted areas further down.
The Spirit-Connection Vein-Transforming Hand was used for dredging water veins.
This was one of the standard spells shared among river gods for dredging water channels. The two of them now employed this method, bit by bit repairing the water veins of the Aolai River.
The entire process bore some resemblance to dredging a silt-choked river, requiring patience and incremental progress.
One a fish and the other a silkworm, Honghong and Li Qi, guided by Honghong's river god authority, plunged into the water veins and cast spells with their magic little by little to dredge the channels.
In the deep dimensions of spacetime, the water veins connected with the Aolai River while existing on a different plane entirely.
Without the authority of a river god, ordinary people found it exceedingly difficult to enter places such as river water veins, mountain dragon veins, and the spiritual veins of heaven and earth.
Fortunately, Li Qi harbored no ill intent, and Honghong trusted him implicitly.
Should a malicious person leverage Honghong to sabotage the water veins, a crushing amount of karmic retribution would descend upon Honghong.
Honghong had already learned of this through her inheritance, but her intuition and the friendship forged through their companionship led her to trust Li Qi.
Though unfamiliarity made their initial progress slow, the dredging of the water veins grew increasingly swift as time went on.
During this process, the two of them unexpectedly discovered a unique benefit.
Namely, as long as they dredged the water veins, their cultivation techniques would automatically operate at their most perfect state, elevating their realm and strength in the optimal condition on their own accord.
That state felt as though they had unlocked a cheat, blessed by the heavens themselves; it was as if the universe were actively helping them run their cultivation methods.
Dredging the water veins was arduous, tedious, and exhausting.
Yet this very process allowed both of them to experience a steady growth in strength.
Realizing the importance of strength, the pair conferred and resolved not to stop until they had completely cleared the water veins of the eight-thousand-mile Aolai River.