At the entrance to the barrier.
A forbidden existence stood above, watching everything below.
Though tens of millions had perished over the past few days, he felt no concern at all.
Kneeling within a vast cosmos, a subordinate asked respectfully, "Ancestor, why don't you act and kill that group of extraterritorial evil gods?"
The enemy was formidable, yes—but clearly not as powerful as the Ancestor. Even if they could rely on some strange force to tear apart a god, they were still far from the Ancestor, who could wield a primordial forbidden device.
"It takes an immense amount of blood to activate the forbidden device," the old taboo murmured. "To stain the heavens is not enough; we need hundreds of millions of corpses to float in the blood‐tide. That crowd down there has already gone blood-mad. When they all converge here, we can trap every last one of those evil gods."
"You intend to lure them here, trap them, and completely seal the evil gods' entrance?" The being at the Great Universe level reacted quickly, instantly grasping the Ancestor's design. His eyes lit up. If they gathered all taboos and sealed the gateway, they could certainly slaughter those entities. What were mere 'evil gods,' then? Their true bodies would never dare come—only plot from behind the scenes, just as the Ancestor did.
The taboo elder nodded lightly and sighed. "The other side is shrewd as well. I don't know if our calculations will succeed, but many below have already come into contact with us."
For all the Eternal Cult's virtues, it was, after all, an external force. And as the upper boundary of the Yang Realm, they themselves still possessed ways to communicate. Now it would come down to speed—who could move faster.
The team they had sent down moments ago was dead. The old man turned and urged the grand array into motion. The entrance below sealed shut.
Chu Xuanfeng and the others felt the surge of energy. He lifted a hand and, smiling faintly at his followers, waved everyone back.
They had suffered no losses this battle. The dead were all enemies. Every engagement had been a victory. The blood they collected was plentiful. When they returned to Qingzhou, they poured it upon the altar. The captured weapons and armor were redistributed to new believers in the cult. Those who had tasted victory were jubilant.
Soon, the leaders of several great powers came to meet Chu Xuanfeng and his companions. They first saluted the goddess, then turned to Chu Xuanfeng. "Chief Priest," one said, "it's been half a month. These so-called gods send people here every time just to throw their lives away. Obviously, there's a conspiracy. We must be prepared."
The speaker was the Overlord of Yongzhou. He had once wielded an iron mace and seized control of Bazhou City, intent on unifying the Yang Realm. Unfortunately, he ran into Tsunade. A pair of iron fists hammered his will to resist clean out of him. After hundreds of millions of beatings, he obediently yielded. Since joining the cult, his strength had risen to the Great Universe level, and he had become a loyal, wholehearted henchman. Yongzhou, too, had become one of the Eternal Cult's strongholds.
Some had mocked him—"A once-in-an-age hegemon, now someone else's dog." Then a god was torn apart, and the entire Yang Realm fell silent. The Eternal Cult's depth, its foundations, were truly unfathomable. Not only did they possess a method of perfection, they also provided powerful cultivation arts. Those who had once challenged the Overlord of Yongzhou were no match for him now. Even the so-called Number One Mountain in the world had surrendered under his assault.
In the Yang Realm, two powers faced each other across a deep divide.
One was the Eternal Cult.
The other was the faction that had submitted to the gods.
The former were mostly clans and unaffiliated cultivators. The latter were hegemons by nature—those who had refused to become believers and chose instead to seek the so-called "skin of the tiger" with the gods. They knew the danger. But they had no other choice. If the Eternal Cult came to their territories, annihilation was inevitable. And by all intelligence, the Cult's strength grew unceasingly—especially its goddess-level figures and priest-level figures. Their power was outrageous.
There was the demon in the vanguard, and Tsunade and Bai Suzhen in the rear. Who knew why so many remarkable people were gathered in the Eternal Cult?
When the battle ended, Orochimaru returned with his trophies to the Cult—jars of collected blood, materials to be used in a curse. Tanjiro and the others stood nearby, hardly blinking. It was their first time seeing Orochimaru's cursework. It was entirely different from Baguio's.
Baguio's sorcery began in darkness and took hold of the soul; her power leaned toward the shadowed arts. Orochimaru, by contrast, practiced true arcane divine arts. The two paths were different.
"Watch closely," Orochimaru said, grinning wickedly. "This is my gift to God—so they'll know I'm coming…~"
A sack descended over his head.
"Hey—! Who hit me!!!"
"It's me, you idiot!"
"Ahaha… Tsunade! Sorry—so sorry—hehehe…"
Orochimaru's fierce snarl melted instantly into a fawning smile. Among all the goddesses, the one he feared most was Tsunade. A punch from her left him no temper at all, only obedience.
Tsunade glared in disgust. "Stop clowning around. You're a Chief Priest—try to act like it, will you? Otherwise people will think you're an idiot."
"Hm, yes, yes, we understand."
He bobbed his head like a pecking chicken.
He didn't notice that Chu Xuanfeng had already recorded the entire scene and sent it to the group under the title: "On How Fast a Man Can Change His Face!"
…
The Myriad Worlds Chat Group.
Pursuing All Sentient Beings: "Hahahahaha! I can't—this is killing me. Good stuff… there's really something like this? Is that Orochimaru? So the 'Hatching Master' finally came out?"
Second Li: "You don't know? That guy and Goddess Tsunade are from the same world. They were classmates."
The Fox Who Only Loves Money: "Terrible luck. You can tell Orochimaru's been holding back for ages—finally gets to have some fun, and runs into the one person he fears most!"
Bearded Swordsman: "Pitiful, but it does make you feel things. Shame the imperial court's in ruins. I've got to found a state religion, or I'd come have a proper chat with you."
In the ghost realm of a Chinese maiden, chaos reigned. With the court destroyed, they had to both rescue people and gather intelligence without pause. They also had to secure food for the populace. The centipede demon had ravaged everything; within a hundred miles there was nothing good left. Without divine techniques to save people, they would have been cursed to death long ago.
Vampire Queen: "@Ninja Scientist I didn't expect you to have this kind of skill."
Ninja Scientist: "No choice—I'm terrified of Tsunade!!! Miserable.jpg"
Tanjiro: "All right, all right, we weren't laughing at you, not really."
General Yuwen: "@Bearded Swordsman, gather the court officials and put them to work. Otherwise you'll wear yourself out."
Bearded Swordsman: "Understood. To secure the state religion's development, I destroyed the emperor's soul!"
Demon Hunter: "Good grief—scattering bones and raising ashes for real!"
Blond Boy Sam: "Honestly, that was saving him. After such long torment, his soul must have been twisted."
Bearded Swordsman: "Couldn't be helped. If I didn't erase the emperor's soul, he'd reincarnate and we'd never get rid of him."
Spirit of the Demon Sword: "Do what you must—answer to your own conscience!"
Tosaka University: "Weren't you headed to the Tomb of Saints?"
Spirit of the Demon Sword: "No, I'm on your plane. It's fascinating here. I'm particularly fond of the Heroic Spirits' moves."
Sadly Reminded Old Gao: "Question: why are all the messages I receive showing up three days late?"
Tanjiro: "???"
Second Li: "???"
Young Master Murong: "???"
Pirates of the Caribbean: "Same here. What's happening!!!"
Tosaka University: "Your time isn't… accelerating, is it?"
Pursuing All Sentient Beings: "Is that even possible?"
Sadly Reminded Old Gao: "Yes. I don't know why, but time is flying by unnaturally fast."
General Yuwen: "I'd guess the gods accelerated your world's time! Not certain—but Old Gao and Jack, you two are the slowest to progress. Uncle Jiu comes next…"
Time acceleration—this was Liu Che's doing. The same old thing again and again was impossible. If Gao truly had to wait five years, he wouldn't tolerate it. So the flow of time had been sped up.
Tanjiro: "Honestly, time acceleration's not so bad. It'll help them integrate into the Divine Realm sooner."
Sadly Reminded Old Gao: "Fair point. Sigh… back to work. With time accelerating, I hope the heavens collapse already."
General Yuwen: "How are your two faiths developing?"
Pirate King of the Caribbean: "Three-quarters of the world has fallen within the state religion's scope."
Sadly Reminded Old Gao: "Passable. I've unified the continental plate!"
Chu Dashan: "That's not slow at all—that's downright fast."
"Unifying the plate" meant seizing all of Asia. The speed truly was impressive.
The Fox Who Only Loves Money: "I'm honestly envious, watching you all ascend into the Divine Realm one after another! When will we three Tushan sisters get our turn?"
Spirit of the Demon Sword: "Don't tell me you still haven't subdued Proudly Come Nation?"
Vampire Queen: "That's probably it; otherwise, she wouldn't be talking like that."
The Fox Who Only Loves Money: "I'm sick of it. A bunch of idiot gods have been awakened by people from the Proudly Come Nation. The Four Princes, the Dragon Kings—they're all opposing us!"
Chu Dashan: "Go at them hard. Worst case, flip the table. Gather the humans under your hand and hold a great altar."
The Fox Who Only Loves Money: "If it comes to that, I'll flip the table. Let those monsters that the gods keep penned up see who the real master of this world is!"
At this point, Tu Shan Yaya truly had no other way. She had originally gathered the last patch of territory and stood on the cusp of stepping into the Divine Realm. And yet here she was, still delayed. Tu Shan Yaya was nearly mad with frustration.
Just then, the chat group chimed again.
Ding… a member has fallen into the chat group.
Ding… the Judicial God has joined the chat group.