Facts have proven that the denizens of the Underworld are all stingy exploiters.
Niannian, who had followed them into the Underworld, signed an unequal treaty with the Black and White Impermanence.
Zhan's soul was too fragmented. Although she had forcibly merged it together, it was no simple task to send him into reincarnation.
The Black and White Impermanence and the Judge took turns lecturing her on a long list of reasons.
The general gist was that if they were to send Zhan into reincarnation while ensuring the stability of his soul, it would be extremely taxing on their energy, and it hardly seemed worth it.
Unless she was willing to work in the Underworld for a thousand years.
It wasn't a difficult task.
She was a carp that had transformed into a dragon. From the moment she became a dragon, she could generate an endless stream of good fortune and wealth.
All she had to do was live in the Underworld as a mascot, focus on cultivation, and not worry about anything else.
Niannian had no idea why she had to go through such a surreal experience. She was clearly a human, but somehow she turned into a fish, and then into a dragon.
Now she was going to become a laborer in the Underworld.
But in any case, at least she now had a physical form and could move around.
It was better than constantly floating around as a soul before.
A thousand years should be enough for Zhan to replenish his soul through numerous reincarnations.
Since she had used the body of the little carp, she should at least do something for it.
Niannian didn't hesitate for long and agreed. She dutifully took on the role of the Underworld's mascot.
Even when she was human, she had natural talent. After becoming a little carp...
Oh no, a dragon.
Her talent became even better.
Every time she saw Zhan's soul on the Naihe Bridge, she would transfer her extra good fortune and wealth to him.
Watching the golden light on him grow thicker, Niannian felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
Half of the time had passed before she knew it. She had lost count of how many times Zhan had been reincarnated.
But it seemed that going to the Naihe Bridge every few decades to wait for him had become a habit.
Zhan also seemed to have an impression of her.
On several occasions, when he looked at her, he would ask if they had known each other before.
Niannian didn't dare to answer.
After drinking the Mengpo's soup, they became strangers again.
Even if she let him know that she had been silently guarding him for five hundred years, what difference would it make?
Recently, Niannian felt that she had grown a lot. There were many memories in her mind that didn't seem to belong to her.
No, they should belong to her, but she had never experienced those things.
The memories were of her time with her master, in the old mountain and the familiar Taoist temple.
She did the boring and tedious tasks every day. From a playful child, her personality gradually became extremely calm.
She hardly recognized herself in the memories.
The additional memories also seemed to have an impact on her current personality.
In front of others, she became more and more composed.
The Underworld had been quite busy recently, and Zhan had been reincarnated several times in a row.
Normally, the Underworld wouldn't be this busy.
This meant that there was turmoil in the human world.
But it had nothing to do with her. She just needed to be a cute little mascot.
"Niannian, that wood spirit! Something's happened to the wood spirit!"
The Black Impermanence rushed over in a hurry.
Hearing his words, Niannian's heart skipped a beat.
"Ah?"
"I told you not to secretly give him so much good fortune, but you just wouldn't listen. Now there's a sect called the Holy Cult in the human world. Everyone in it is a sorcerer. They've been eyeing the wood spirit for a long time. Now they've captured him and are going to sacrifice him!"
Niannian was stunned.
Good fortune was a wonderful thing for both humans, gods, and demons.
She knew it was good for people, so she had been constantly giving it to Zhan.
But she had completely overlooked the principle that "a jade is innocent, but its possession may invite guilt."
In the past, Zhan was just an ever - living tree spirit that could only heal others. Now, Zhan wasn't even a tree spirit anymore. He was just an ordinary human.
He didn't know any spells and didn't have the abilities of a demon.
It was no wonder that he was targeted by those who practiced evil sorcery.
If it weren't for the good fortune sustaining him and making his luck much better, he would probably have been discovered many times over the past few hundred years.
A sacrifice!
That wouldn't do!
At first, she was afraid that someone would snatch or borrow Zhan's good fortune, so she always gave it to his soul.
If this was a sacrifice, what would be sacrificed would be Zhan's soul.
He would be completely annihilated then.
"Tell me where he is first?"
Niannian was a bit anxious. She hurriedly asked the Black Impermanence for the location and then rushed to the human world.
But she was still a step too late.
The sacrifice was already halfway through, and Zhan's soul had become even more fragmented.
It was even worse than last time.
There was a huge gourd above his head.
The gourd was absorbing his soul, as well as the good fortune and wealth on his soul.
Niannian couldn't seem to think of a good way to interrupt this sacrifice.
The sacrifice was already halfway through. If she forced it to stop now, the soul fragments that had already been absorbed by the gourd would be lost forever.
Then, Zhan would only be a broken soul, a wandering ghost, roaming the world.
He would never have the chance to be reincarnated again.
No!
Absolutely not!
She had worked so hard and waited for hundreds of years to piece together a fragmented soul into a complete one.
She had spent so much effort, and she would never allow anyone to destroy it!
Stubbornness welled up in her, and Niannian became a bit reckless.
She looked up at the gourd.
The ultimate goal of the gourd was to absorb good fortune and wealth.
Then let it absorb!
After cultivating for so many years, she had plenty of both.
She didn't believe she couldn't burst it!
As long as she could burst the gourd, Zhan's soul would automatically return, and he wouldn't become a broken soul.
Niannian thought this was a perfect plan.
Without hesitation, she mobilized all the good fortune in her body and poured it into Zhan without any restraint.
As she had guessed, the gourd grew bigger and bigger, becoming more and more swollen.
There were even cracks appearing on it.
It was going to succeed. It would succeed soon.
Niannian was overjoyed, but at that moment, a group of sorcerers who had organized this sacrifice all exerted their power to stabilize the gourd and prevent it from breaking.
A tug - of - war ensued. Niannian had lost count of how much good fortune she had poured in.
Her eyes were fixed on the gourd.
She watched it being gradually inflated until she was completely exhausted.
There was nothing left. Really nothing left, but it seemed that it was just a little bit away from the gourd bursting.
She refused to accept it.
That it could absorb all the good fortune of a dragon was simply an insult to the dragon!
She glanced at Zhan.
The extremely good - looking man's features were distorted. He seemed to be suffering great pain. The feeling of having one's soul being torn apart was simply unbearable.
Niannian inexplicably felt that just imagining the pain he was going through made her heart ache.