Just as the couple was about to head to the Celestial Realm, they suddenly felt the earth shake violently.
"It's the power of the Primordial Pearl," Yaoyao blurted out.
The ground cracked open in several places. Yaohua quickly checked on the commoners living outside Danxue Mountain and rescued those who had accidentally fallen into the cracks.
Immediately afterwards, several fire - like meteors streaked across the sky on the horizon, clearly indicating that meteorites were crashing down heavily.
In the direction of the sun, eight other glowing orbs slowly rose, each as blazing as the sun itself.
Nine suns appearing simultaneously, earthquakes, meteorites...
The flood broke through the dams in Jiangzhou and wantonly harmed the commoners. The commoners could only pray for the protection of the gods on the highest ground.
All kinds of disasters emerged, and the people of Shenzhou were in great distress.
The couple quickly rushed to the Celestial Realm and happened to meet the God - Lord.
"I was just about to look for you two," the God - Lord said. When he saw them coming, there was a hint of relief in his tense expression.
Now that disasters were breaking out everywhere in the world, as the God - Lord, he summoned all the ancient gods and the clan leaders of the Shenzhou survivors to a meeting.
The God - Lord's Hall was filled to capacity.
A water mirror stood in the middle of everyone, reflecting all the current scenes of the Shenzhou land.
The clan leaders frowned deeply. "What on earth is going on? Why have so many disasters suddenly occurred between heaven and earth? Could it be that we've done something wrong and angered the heavens?"
All expectant gazes were fixed on the ancient gods.
The ancient gods looked at each other. The Thousand - Handed God - Venerable suppressed the joy in his heart and put on a sorrowful look. "We don't know about this matter either."
Yaohua strode in. "Don't know? This is clearly because the Primordial Pearl has been misused, which has led to these disasters between heaven and earth!"
"What is the Primordial Pearl?" None of the clan leaders knew.
"The Primordial Pearl is a magical treasure that appeared alongside the ancient gods in ancient times. It has the power to move mountains and fill seas, and can even create disasters between heaven and earth," Yaohua explained.
Everyone cast suspicious glances at the ancient gods.
The Dragon Clan leader blurted out, "Since it's a companion magical treasure of the gods, why do they seem to know nothing about it..."
Halfway through his words, he realized his impropriety and shut his mouth, but everyone's suspicion still fell on the ancient gods.
The Thousand - Handed God - Venerable sighed. "I didn't tell you about this for fear of causing panic among you."
"But if you don't tell everyone the truth, how can we solve the problem? Now the Primordial Pearl has fallen into the hands of the Demon - Lord. If we don't solve this problem and let him act recklessly, the human world will turn into hell in an instant!"
At this point, Yaohua paused. "Or is it that you don't want everyone to solve this problem at all? Do you just want to collect the power of faith from the commoners while they're suffering?"
The Thousand - Handed God - Venerable's expression changed slightly. "How can you make unfounded accusations? We ancient gods have compassion for all sentient beings. Our strength has not fully recovered yet. Going to snatch the Primordial Pearl from the Demon - Lord now is like going to our deaths!"
The other ancient gods all spoke up. "Little Phoenix, don't talk nonsense. I remember the Primordial Pearl was last in your custody, right? If you hadn't lost it, it wouldn't have been used to resurrect the Demon - Lord!"
Just thinking about this made Yaohua angry. "The Primordial Pearl was indeed in my custody at first, but Mu Hua the Page used a dirty trick to steal it, which led to this great disaster."
Seeing that the topic was turning into a blame - shifting game, Chongming coughed lightly to interrupt their conversation.
"The most urgent thing now is to save the commoners. For every moment we delay, an innocent commoner will die."
He looked at everyone seriously and briefly explained the whole thing. "Yaohua and I were in charge of the Primordial Pearl, but it was stolen by Mu Hua the Page. Then Qingque stole the Primordial Pearl from him and used it to resurrect the Demon - Lord."
"All these disasters between heaven and earth are because the Demon - Lord has misused the power of the Primordial Pearl, which has led to the appearance of nine suns, the raging flood, and the shaking earth..."
"Now, we must either defeat the Demon - Lord or snatch the Primordial Pearl from his hands to restore peace to the Three Realms."
After hearing this, all the immortals and demons nodded.
Chongming asked, "Who is willing to go on an expedition with us to retrieve the Primordial Pearl?"
The God - Lord and most of the clan leaders of the Shenzhou survivors raised their hands.
Among the ancient gods, not a single one raised their hand.
The Purple - Pole Great Emperor looked around and touched his nose. "I don't think we need to solve the disasters right now. We have no chance of winning if we go now. We should wait until our strength grows before setting out on the expedition. What do you all think?"
The ancient gods all nodded. "What the Purple - Pole says is quite right."
"We really want to help but are unable to."
...
All kinds of such words were heard, all just excuses for shirking responsibility.
Yaohua couldn't help but scold, "What do you mean by lack of ability? You seemed to have plenty of ability when dealing with us. Why do you all claim to be lacking in ability when it comes to saving the commoners?"
She pointed at the Thousand - Handed God - Venerable and scolded, "I think you all are extremely cold - hearted. You don't understand the sufferings of the commoners. You just want them to give you the power of faith!"
The Purple - Pole Great Emperor moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but finally remained silent.
Yaohua also knew that scolding them like this would do no good to the situation. Since they were determined not to help, what could she do?
Just relying on the power of the couple alone was not enough to save all sentient beings in the world.
The meeting ended unhappily. Just as they were feeling dejected, the system suddenly spoke up. "I have another way."
"What way?" Yaohua was like someone who had grabbed a life - saving straw.
The system said, "The way is to sacrifice Yaoyao. She already has part of the power of the Primordial Pearl in her body. As long as we use all her blood to draw a formation, we can temporarily seal the power of the Primordial Pearl. But the price is that she will die."
"Daddy, Mommy, who are you talking to?" Yaoyao suddenly asked.
"Can you hear the system?" Yaohua was slightly surprised.
Yaoyao nodded. "I heard this voice coming from the crystal ball. Mommy, will this method really work? If it does, I'm willing to save all sentient beings in the world!"
The couple said in unison, "No!"
"Why not?" Yaoyao's eyes were filled with determination. "If I hadn't been so willful, Mu Hua wouldn't have had the chance to steal the Primordial Pearl. This whole thing started because of me, so it should end with me."
She looked at the couple. "Daddy, Mommy, please let me go. Maybe my mission since birth is to prevent disasters between heaven and earth. Sacrificing a little phoenix like me can save thousands of commoners. Isn't that a good thing?"
The couple didn't expect her to say such words and were deeply touched. "Yaoyao, you've grown up."
After some thought, Chongming said, "But the system is full of tricks. The method it proposed may very well be fake. We need to think this over carefully."