Even through the 'earth wall', you could hear the roaring sound of the flood surging on the other side. The Admiral of Prince Pingbian's Mansion gazed at the 'earth wall' blocking the path ahead, then looked at the map in his hand, and said to the guard beside him, "Go investigate."

On the large ship, a guard sprouted wings from his back. With a gentle flap, the winged guard soared into the sky and disappeared into the clouds, returning swiftly: "Reporting to you, sir, the other side is indeed the main route of the surging flood. We did not make a wrong turn; the road ahead seems to have been blocked by someone using Divine Techniques."

The admiral's face turned extremely grim: "This is bad! A disaster is imminent! Our route forward is obstructed, and the three million troops on the other side can't receive aid. They're likely to be swallowed by the flood. Quickly, send word to the Prince, and ask him for orders."

The winged admiral soared into the sky, darting into the clouds like a bird, vanishing into the misty rain.

The actions of the opposing navy did not escape Zhang Chen's notice. Watching the birdlike messenger, Zhang Chen shook his head silently: "It's too late! The back and forth will take at least two hours, and by then, the torrential flood would have long submerged the army."

"How about we go enjoy the spectacle together?" Xie Lingyun also agreed with Zhang Chen's judgment. Now that the floodwaters had been released, even if the masters at Prince Pingbian's side rushed to dismantle the 'earth wall', it was already too late.

Zhang Chen summoned the ice ship, and the two followed the rushing floodwaters. In less than half an hour, they had caught up with the torrential flood. From afar, they saw the dozens of meters deep floodwaters carrying debris, rushing into the endless camps retreating from the White Bone Great Wall.

Some smart Qi Blood Martial Artists dashed frantically towards the mountain tops, but ultimately, those who mastered Qi Blood were few and far between. The remaining majority were ordinary people who couldn't outrun the flood even if they ran frantically.

The flood was like a monster, continuously devouring the endless tents, swallowing countless soldiers one by one.

The screams were endless. In the face of this natural disaster, the millions of troops were like an ant nest drenched with water, utterly powerless to resist.

Even those who were good swimmers would be struck by the debris in the water, bones broken, sinking into the flood.

"Thrilling!" Xie Lingyun stood on the ice ship, looking at the submerged million-strong army, his eyes filled with excitement and exhilaration.

However, opposite him, Zhang Chen's expression turned somber. His eyes watched the lives struggling in the river; his gaze was extremely complex.

After all, he was only human, not a heartless beast. Seeing three million lives struggling in the flood, compassion stirred within him.

Xie Lingyun seemed to sense the heaviness in Zhang Chen's heart, reined in his smile, turned to Zhang Chen, and said, "Are you feeling compassionate?"

"It's three million lives, representing three million families, yet I buried them with a single thought. My heart feels uneasy." If he hadn't come to witness the scene, three million lives would have been just cold numbers to him. Being here, witnessing the tragedy and hearing the screams deeply moved Zhang Chen.

"These three million troops are Prince Pingbian's main force against the court. Once the two armies clash, that will mean six million families, even tens of millions. Your action has spared countless from disaster," Xie Lingyun said.

Even so, Zhang Chen knew it wasn't that simple. Xie Lingyun made sense, but his view was skewed, too partial.

"This is the foundation of Prince Pingbian's Mansion. Without removing it, Prince Pingbian's momentum will remain unabated, and you'll never get your revenge. You'll be hunted by Prince Pingbian's Mansion forever. So, there's no need to regret; we're on different sides, and naturally, we do whatever it takes," Xie Lingyun remarked.

Zhang Chen smiled wryly: "It's not regret, just compassion."

Does he regret it?

In truth, he didn't regret it. After all, his conflict with Prince Pingbian's Mansion was a matter of life and death. In their struggle, no means were spared. Most importantly, the karmic blame couldn't be placed on his head; it was all Prince Pingbian's doing. If he hadn't released the flood, how else could Zhang Chen have seized the opportunity?

Flooding the Northern Land was inevitable; Zhang Chen merely reversed the sequence.

Compared to the billions of people drowning, rendered homeless, the lives of just three million soldiers seemed trivial.

"Help! Save me!" A soldier struggled in the river, seeing Zhang Chen and Xie Lingyun on the ice ship, urgently calling for rescue.

Xie Lingyun looked to Zhang Chen, but Zhang Chen stood still on the ice ship, unmoving as a mountain, leaving the soldier to be swallowed by the river. Seeing this, Xie Lingyun nodded slightly, recognizing that Zhang Chen was not a person driven by emotions.

"I thought you would save them," Xie Lingyun remarked.

Zhang Chen shook his head with a smile, "It's not that I didn't want to rescue them..."

Zhang Chen didn't finish his sentence, but Xie Lingyun already understood what he wanted to convey.

Meanwhile, at the upstream Celestial Pool, several divine spirits moved one of the mountains aside, placing it in an open space to allow the flood waters of the pool to pour forth. At that moment, the Qi Mechanism in the Heaven and Earth inexplicably shifted, and they saw an inexplicable strange wind gathering among the clouds. It transformed the black clouds in the sky into a swirling vortex, followed by a deafening roar of thunder emanating from that vortex. The eight divine spirits moving the mountain screamed in agony, with crimson flames suddenly erupting from their bodies.

'Ah~'

Screams echoed throughout the Heaven and Earth as the divine spirits engulfed in flames emitted cries of pain. They tried to douse the flames by plunging into the water, but shockingly, the crimson fire remained unfazed by the water, burning continuously within the flow.

"What kind of fire is that, able to burn unimpeded in water?" Prince Pingbian exclaimed in shock, watching the divine spirits struggle in the floodwaters. The crimson fire seemed to ignite the water itself, filling his eyes with terror.

At this moment, Great Zhenren Gu Mingyue of the Yellow Heaven Dao said with an uncertain expression: "It seems like the legendary Karmic Fire."

"Karmic Fire? What kind of fire is that?" Mr. Wuliu asked curiously.

"Every action of a cultivator impacts the Heaven and Earth. The positive consequences are known as merits, while the negative ones are called Karmic Force. If Karmic Force accumulates to a certain level, it transforms into Karmic Fire for reckoning. In the past, I only saw records of it in our sect's scriptures, never imagining it was real, and that Karmic Fire indeed exists." Gu Mingyue fixed his eyes on the flames, grave in his gaze: "The divine spirits must have moved the mountain, causing the Northern Land's countless beings to suffer disaster, and then they were entangled by Karmic Force, turning into Karmic Fire for retribution."

Gu Mingyue was uneasy. He had only ever seen descriptions in sect scriptures about Cause and Effect Force and Celestial Punishment, remaining skeptical about these intangible concepts. But now, unexpectedly, it was all real.

"Is there any way to extinguish it?" Prince Pingbian, hearing the wails and seeing the gods struggling in the lake, quickly asked.

Gu Mingyue shook his head, indicating helplessness. Prince Pingbian watched the rolling flames in the water, anxious and exasperated, muttering to himself: "What can be done? What can be done?"

As he mulled over this, they noticed the rolling flames in the water ceased, and all eight divine spirits turned to ashes, disappearing from the Heaven and Earth without a trace.

"This..."

Witnessing the tragic fate of the eight divine spirits, all experts under Prince Pingbian were terrified, looking at each other in shock, and they fell silent.

"Today I finally understand Cause and Effect Force is not a lie." Gu Mingyue sighed with lingering fear. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Prince Pingbian heard Gu Mingyue's words and turned to look at the divine spirits under his command, seeing their faces were drawn, and they all lowered their heads under his gaze.

Prince Pingbian felt helpless at this sight, knowing well that should a similar situation arise in the future, summoning the divine spirits to act would likely be difficult.

But the matter was not over; amid the oppressive atmosphere in the scene, a rumbling sound was heard from the clouds. Then a point of purple light brewed within the clouds, and a purple bolt of divine thunder, as thick as a bowl, formed within the clouds, twisting and turning as it descended toward Prince Pingbian.

When that purple bolt of lightning formed, all cultivators in the vicinity, possessing mysterious powers, appeared as if facing a mortal enemy, terror flashing in their eyes. Their Bloodline Power and Divine Power fell silent, their minds blank, as if they were prisoners headed to execution, unable to do anything before the purple divine thunder.

"Protect the prince! Quickly protect the prince!"

Watching the purple lightning bolt rush straight towards him, Prince Pingbian showed a flash of terror in his eyes, screaming out frantically. Yet the cultivators around him were like wax statues, petrified, their spirits seized by the Celestial Punishment, unable to even react.

As the purple lightning was about to strike Prince Pingbian, at the critical moment, purple Dragon Qi emerged from him, roaring and rising to meet the lightning.

From a distance, as Zhang Chen sailed, he felt the familiar mysterious aura in the Heaven and Earth, quickly looking towards the clouds. Indeed, a familiar purple light caught his eye:

"Celestial Punishment!"

"Who has provoked Celestial Punishment? Who has dared to attract its wrath?" Zhang Chen's voice was filled with terror.

"Celestial Punishment?" Xie Lingyun also turned to look, seeing the purple light that connected Heaven and Earth, her eyes showing a hint of caution: "What terrifying lightning! It's as if I've been reduced to an ant, unable to deploy even the Yin Spirit. What is Celestial Punishment?"

Zhang Chen explained the meaning of Celestial Punishment to Xie Lingyun, and she drew a sharp breath: "Such things actually exist in the world? I've never heard of it before. Surely it is Prince Pingbian who is targeted by Celestial Punishment!"

"Perhaps it's because no one has ever committed atrocities like Prince Pingbian before, hence you've never heard of it. Today, Prince Pingbian may truly be the pioneer." Zhang Chen also felt that the Celestial Punishment was directed at Prince Pingbian, estimating the direction and finding it coinciding with where Prince Pingbian was.