"A true god? But why do I feel that the divine power we use is different?"
"Of course they are different. None of you are true gods. What you possess is only a secondary level of pseudo-divine power, while the power you just witnessed was emitted by a true god."
"A real god?" Xiao Wenbing murmured, taken aback.
The Mirror God was right. Neither he, Zhang, nor the two women, nor the Dark God, were true gods. Even the Treasure God, because he had never entered the realm of gods, did not possess true divine power.
Given this, it's understandable that the energy they possess is inferior to that of the true gods from the divine realm.
“That’s right, the real god. Remember this, this is the true aura of a god, and it’s just a tiny, insignificant aura that was accidentally leaked out.”
"Is that so? Is it really that powerful just from a little bit of leaked aura?" Xiao Wenbing's expression changed slightly. The aura he just felt was the strongest he had ever sensed in his life. Even the aura of the Treasure God and the Divine Tree Ancestor when they were facing off with all their might was no more than that.
However, in the Mirror God's words, it became a little bit of energy that the god accidentally leaked. Could it be that the difference between the real god and the treasure god is so great?
“Exactly.” Mirror God gave him an affirmative answer without hesitation.
A glint flashed in Xiao Wenbing's eyes. So this... is the true god!
"Buzz..."
A loud, strange sound suddenly rang out from all directions.
All eyes turned to the Qiankun Ring. The sound was almost identical to the warning it had given earlier. Had something changed again? This time, however, the volume was much louder, and the source of the sound was impossible to pinpoint, making it even more eerie and unpredictable.
Zhang Yaqi raised her snow-white wrist and said with a wry smile, "It's not the Qiankun Ring."
Everyone was taken aback; it wasn't the Universe Ring issuing a warning after all. Looking around, they saw strange ripples spreading across the water, and the peculiar sound grew louder and louder, making them increasingly uneasy.
"Oh no!" The Food King cried out as he saw what was in front of him.
Xiao Wenbing was startled and asked, "Senior Food King, what's wrong?"
"Death bees! It's death bees!" the Food King cried out in terror. "How can there be so many of them?"
"Death bees?"
Knowing the source of the sound, Xiao Wenbing, Long Shi, and the others were relieved. Although thousands of years ago, the Food King had been chased by this death bee and forced to flee in a sorry state, the people here today might not necessarily take this little creature seriously.
While the King of Food's cultivation was indeed profound, no one here was inferior to him, and the serpent incarnation and Shabir were even at the immortal level. They wouldn't even consider a small swarm of bees a threat.
The Food King, with his keen eye, immediately understood their thoughts upon seeing their expressions and quickly advised, "Everyone, be careful. The Death Bees are extremely powerful and should not be underestimated."
"Understood, Senior Food King," Xiao Wenbing casually reassured him, though he didn't really believe it.
It's no wonder he found it amusing. The King of Food was truly terrified by the Death Bees. Did some Golden Core stage bees really think they could threaten the serpent incarnation of an immortal?
However, there's something quite strange: if it's a bee, how can it swim in water? The world is truly full of wonders!
However, after a short while, he could no longer laugh.
Clusters of black shadows appeared before everyone's eyes. The shadows varied in size, the smallest being the size of a fist, while the largest was comparable to a washbasin. Although they could not compare in size to the colossal hundred-zhang-long body of the serpent's transformation, their sheer number completely made up for the difference in size.
"What is this?" Xiao Wenbing exclaimed.
“Death Bee,” the Food King said coldly.
"So big?"
“That’s right, the smaller ones are Golden Core cultivators, while the larger ones are Divided Spirit cultivators.” The Food King said urgently, “Don’t get entangled with them. Let that long worm unleash the power of an immortal to drive them away.”
"Okay." Xiao Wenbing responded without saying another word. The serpent's incarnation was immediately filled with a strong aura and rushed towards the dense swarm of bees all around.
The great serpent played a crucial role in their unimpeded journey. Once it released its powerful aura, which was beyond the realm of cultivation, all creatures immediately retreated. Even some creatures with similarly powerful abilities abandoned their intention to obstruct them after careful consideration.
Normally, once the serpent's aura is unleashed, even if there are many of these smaller creatures whose power is far inferior, they will have no choice but to scatter and flee.
But this time, the result greatly disappointed Xiao Wenbing.
At first, the swarm of bees moved aimlessly across the water like headless flies, without any clear purpose. However, once the giant serpent unleashed its power, they seemed to suddenly find a unified direction and launched a fierce attack on it.
The swarm of bees charged toward the giant snake, but the snake's enormous body was like an unyielding tower, and no matter how hard the little creatures tried, it did not budge an inch.
Although the swarm of bees was no match for the giant snake in disguise, Xiao Wenbing still sensed a sense of danger and immediately ordered the giant snake to break through with all its might.
Upon receiving the order, the giant snake transformed itself, identified a direction, and charged towards the swarm of bees.
It was unclear how many dead bees had arrived; they were piled up one after another, seemingly endless. The giant snake transformed and plunged into the swarm of bees blocking its path, moving forward rapidly.
Despite the large number of bees, they were no match for the giant snake. Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, the snake's massive body smashed through them, leaving a bloody path.
Xiao Wenbing breathed a sigh of relief. The strength of an immortal was indeed different. If they had ridden an old dragon instead of a giant serpent, they would probably be trapped in the swarm of bees and unable to break free.
However, the next moment, something unexpected happened.
"Boom boom boom..."
Countless cracking sounds came from the water, and intense energy continuously impacted the serpent's avatar.
A single death bee suddenly exploded, triggering a chain reaction in which countless death bees, as if they had conspired beforehand, exploded out of thin air.
In an instant, countless dead bees perished in the explosion, which stirred up towering waves. Although they were invisible in the deep water, everyone could clearly feel them.
Xiao Wenbing swayed and asked in a trembling voice, "What are they doing?"
"Self-destruct," the Food King replied swiftly.
"Are they self-destructing?"
"Exactly."
Xiao Wenbing looked up at the murky expanse before him, a strange feeling suddenly welling up inside him. He hadn't expected that before his grand plan for the self-destruction of his Golden Core had even been realized, these death bees had already made him experience the immense power of tens of thousands of Golden Core-level self-destructions.
Fortunately, they were inside the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm, a peerless treasure that formed its own space, so the attacks they received were not particularly intense.
However, their mount, the giant serpent incarnation, was not so lucky. Although the serpent's protective aura had reached the level of an immortal, when thousands upon thousands of Golden Core cultivators, and even many Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation level Death Bees, self-destructed together, its proud protective aura was as easily pierced as a magnificent decoration.
"Oh..." A shrill scream came from the giant snake's mouth, accompanied by a huge breath of death spewing out from its hideous, blood-red maw.
The energy of death instantly enveloped an area of several dozen feet in front of the snake's head. A layer of white frost immediately condensed on the countless death bees gathered there, and was instantly reduced to nothing by the force of the water flow.
After absorbing the energy of the Netherwater, the giant serpent has acquired some of the Netherwater's characteristics. Even its breath has become extremely cold, and its corrosive properties have been brought to their fullest extent.
However, although the serpent's breath was powerful, eliminating at least a thousand dead bees in one fell swoop, this number was nothing compared to the endless swarm of bees before it.
The subsequent swarm of bees seemed completely unaffected by the breath, and continued their relentless, desperate attack on the giant snake.
The giant serpent transformed, shaking its head and wagging its tail. Suddenly, its jet-black scales stood up one by one, and sharp bursts of energy shot out from the scales, weaving a net of death around its body.
With each roll of the energy net, several death bees were pulverized by the force of the energy, and the giant serpent's momentum grew ever stronger, the immortal's majesty reaching its limit. However, this powerful momentum, which would normally make all death bees retreat, was now useless. These death bees, larger than fists, flapped their fin-like wings and swarmed towards the giant serpent from the water.
"Boom boom boom..."
The continuous explosions echoed around the giant body of the serpent incarnation, which was hundreds of feet long. The Death Bees suffered extremely heavy casualties, but the follow-up troops continued to arrive. It seemed that they had some irreconcilable hatred for the serpent incarnation and were willing to fight with the strength of the entire clan.
Volume 5, Chapter 15: Nascent Soul Sniper
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With each breath from its gaping maw and each rotation of its aura, countless death bees were taken. However, after a full hour, these death bees showed no signs of diminishing or weakening; instead, they grew stronger and more numerous with each battle.
Even though the giant serpent was incredibly powerful in its transformed form, after enduring countless blows, its protective aura was severely damaged. Gradually, its scales covered its body again, protecting it with all its might, and it dared not open them again.
Faced with the endless swarm of bees blocking its path, the giant snake desperately unleashed its venomous breath, but its killing speed was clearly no match for the speed at which the swarm was gathering. Although the number of bees that had died in its mouth had reached a terrifying figure, its movements inevitably slowed down.
The people hiding in the Starry Sky Illusionary Realm looked at each other in dismay. Watching this strange creature attack desperately without regard for its own life, no one could remain calm anymore.
"What's going on? Have they gone mad?" Xiao Wenbing asked angrily.
“Indeed, they’ve gone mad,” Feng Baiyi said coldly.
"Why?" Xiao Wenbing clenched his fists, as if he were enduring immense pain.
Zhang Yaqi stepped forward and took Xiao Wenbing's hand. A warm current flowed from her hand into Xiao Wenbing's body, making him feel much better immediately.
Xiao Wenbing took a deep breath. The serpent's incarnation had a mysterious spiritual connection with him, so as the serpent suffered repeated blows, his mind was also constantly subjected to intense shocks. That was why he couldn't control himself. However, after receiving Zhang Yaqi's help, he quickly regained his composure, gave her a grateful smile, and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"Hmm, Wenbing, that aura from just now," Zhang Yaqi said softly.
"The aura just now?" Xiao Wenbing was slightly taken aback. He asked in return, "What do you mean?"
"These death bees have really gone mad. They were driven insane by that powerful aura just now."
Xiao Wenbing opened his mouth slightly, and after listening to Zhang Yaqi's explanation, he suddenly understood.
The aura of a true god they had just witnessed was almost unbearable even for them, let alone for these death bees, most of whom were only at the Golden Core stage. Under the impact of that mysterious and powerful aura, these death bees had gone mad, completely losing their minds, which is why they launched a suicidal attack on the immortal-level serpent avatar.
Just as there's no reasoning with a madman, the Death Bee was now in a state of extreme madness. Naturally, it no longer feared the sage-like aura emanating from the giant serpent.
Under normal circumstances, Xiao Wenbing would have thought of this long ago, but because his serpent incarnation was attacked, his headache worsened, and it was understandable that he couldn't think of it at the moment.
The Food King and the others watched the battle unfold with bated breath, while Long Shidi's old face paled slightly. The old dragon inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; if he had actually followed the Food King's advice, and instead of the giant serpent in disguise it was him, the old dragon, then he would have been blasted into a bloody pulp by the swarm of death bees long ago.
"Fellow Daoist Xiao, why don't you let me go out and give it a try?"
The ethereal voice echoed in the air. Under these circumstances, only this strange cloud of smoke, Chabir, would volunteer for battle.
Xiao Wenbing hesitated for a moment. Although he knew that since Shabir dared to speak, he must have some confidence, he only considered it for a few seconds before resolutely refusing, saying, "No need, I'll do it."
This operation was primarily aimed at the cultivation world. If they asked Shabir to take action, wouldn't that be admitting that they were helpless? He couldn't bring himself to do that.
Looking at the swarm of bees before him, Xiao Wenbing sneered inwardly. "Want to compete in numbers? I'm no worse than you."
He lowered his head, and a familiar feeling instantly spread throughout his body. The moment he raised his head, there was no longer any emotion in his eyes; control of his body had been completely taken over by his divine nature.
Extending his finger, countless points of light suddenly emerged from the Heavenly Void Ring. Following a pre-determined route, these points of light instantly left the Starry Sky Illusion Realm and arrived on the giant serpent's body.
The serpent's scales opened again, and its protective aura was activated to its fullest extent, providing powerful protection for the points of light.
Long Shi and the others suddenly widened their eyes; they could hardly believe their eyes.
These points of light all resembled Xiao Wenbing; if they weren't mistaken, these points of light should be Xiao Wenbing's nascent souls. However, what they found unbelievable was the sheer number of these points of light—thousands upon thousands, countless.
"My God, what is this? A Nascent Soul?" the Food King exclaimed without any regard for his image.
Tens of thousands of Nascent Soul cultivators! He'd never seen or even heard of such a thing before, let alone witnessed it. Even the Food King, with his vast knowledge and experience, was utterly dumbfounded, unable to process what he'd just witnessed.
Long Shi pursed his lips, recalling what Quini had said at the Jade Cauldron Sect, and felt a pang of shame. It turned out that Quini's intuition was correct; Xiao Wenbing did indeed possess a Ten Thousand Yuan Nascent Soul.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, each of the tiny Nascent Souls raised their little hands, a tiny ray of light gathering in their palms. Then, this ray of light, imbued with the power of death, shot out and struck a Death Bee hard.