Before you have absolute strength, it's always better to leave yourself a way out.
When the old Taoist priest Xianyun learned of his disciple's good intentions, although he still felt a little regretful, he ultimately agreed with his decision. However, secretly sending rare and precious materials and protective magical artifacts to the lower realms through the Treasure God was a very ordinary matter.
Thus, a strange scene appeared in the cultivation world: every year during the ancestral worship ceremony of the Secret Talisman Sect, the offering table would be piled high with defensive immortal artifacts and elixirs.
The sheer number of them is outrageous, even more exaggerated than the ancestral worship ceremony of the Flame Realm Temple.
Of course, one can't blame the many immortals of the Flame Realm for being stingy, because the old Taoist's backing was too strong. Let alone having a disciple who could create something from nothing, even scraping a little bit of skin off those more than ten thousand gods and more than five thousand immortals would be comparable to the entire collection of the Flame Realm's ancestors.
Thus, the reputation of the Taoist priest Xianyun spread throughout the two realms, making him a true mythical figure.
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Time is like a knife, each cut aging us; in the blink of an eye, another ten years have passed.
The forest and its surroundings became even more bustling, with over 15,000 newly ascended deities gathering around the small area. Moreover, the divine power of these deities was unexpectedly refined, with each one reaching the level of a supreme god.
"call……"
Violent explosions echoed continuously in mid-air. With the sound of heavy objects crashing to the ground, a hearty and triumphant laugh reverberated through the air.
"Great Serpent God, please stop being in heat."
The giant snake's laughter abruptly stopped. He looked down angrily, his eyes seemingly burning with two flames, making him look indescribably ferocious and terrifying.
However, his expression did not frighten the person who spoke. Mingzhu's figure slowly appeared in the void, facing the giant serpent from afar.
"Old Taoist, are you not convinced?"
"No. I am convinced of your superiority and know that I am no match for you. So I came up here just to remind you that Lord Xianyun is taking a nap."
The giant snake was taken aback, and its anger vanished without a trace.
Since Xiao Wenbing agreed to help them become gods, the Great Serpent Supreme became the first beneficiary.
What's even more astonishing is that after the Great Serpent ascended to godhood, his cultivation level was clearly superior to everyone else's. Even the Seven-Colored Winged King, who used to have him firmly under his control, couldn't gain the slightest advantage against him.
No one knew the reason, not even Xiao Wenbing was puzzled.
Over the course of ten years, Xiao Wenbing's divine realm would open intermittently according to the order of closeness to the person he was close to. Each time it opened, a deity would emerge, and at the same time, a master of immortal level would be absorbed into it.
During this time, everyone followed his instructions and did not go to the realm of the gods.
Although many people seemed to disapprove of Xiao Wenbing's caution, no one dared to go against his wishes from beginning to end.
In fact, not everyone is so honest. However, after witnessing Xiao Wenbing's methods, even the most foolish person knows that following him will definitely lead to a bright future.
It was precisely because of Xiao Wenbing, this key figure, that these deities were able to resist the temptation of flying directly to the divine realm and settle here peacefully for the time being.
Everyone here is a god-level expert, and each of them has opened up a small divine realm to live in. So even though there are more than 10,000 people in this place, it does not feel crowded at all.
However, there are too many people here, and they are all newly ascended deities, so it is quite normal for there to be some friction between them.
In particular, the gods who came from Huangzhou City were natural enemies with the snakes, insects and beasts of Wandu Valley.
Previously, he feared the two supreme immortals, the Great Serpent Supreme and the Multi-Armed Supreme, and thus always looked down on them. Now that he had become a god, he naturally wanted to learn from them once again.
As a result, these two groups would have several friendly duels every day. Although no one was seriously injured, minor accidents were still unavoidable.
The Great Serpent God was naturally warlike, and after becoming a god, he was even more unwilling to be idle. He simply put up a challenge sign, declaring that anyone could challenge him.
Although people challenge him every day, some are those who ascended from the Flame Realm with Xiao Wenbing, and others are friends of the Seven-Colored Winged King, but most are the gods from the Huangzhou City lineage.
Surprisingly, over the past ten years, the Great Serpent God has fought against the vast majority of the gods here and has never been defeated.
Of course, there were two people he dared not cross: the old Taoist priest Xianyun and Mu Xuanli.
As Xiao Wenbing's master and disciple, fighting them was a losing proposition; they couldn't win, and losing wouldn't look good either. So whenever they appeared, the Great Serpent God would simply stay far away, knowing that at his current speed, no one except the Seven-Colored Winged King could catch him.
Just moments ago, the Great Serpent God had unleashed his divine power, knocking a challenger down. He was laughing heartily when Mingzhu abruptly interrupted him, naturally displeased. However, when Mingzhu mentioned the name of the Old Daoist Xianyun, he immediately tensed up: "Has the Great Serpent God appeared?"
"Not yet, but if you keep yelling like this, I guarantee he'll come out and challenge you to a duel."
The giant snake gave a forced smile and said, "Nonsense, I only chuckled softly; it couldn't have alerted anyone."
"Then why can I hear your laughter from a hundred miles away?"
That's because you have an ear allergy.
Just as the two were locked in a fierce struggle, a very familiar fluctuation came from the void once again.
They exchanged a glance, fell silent, and flew downwards. Not only them, but all the deities who sensed this fluctuation sent their divine senses over.
This fluctuation was a sign that Xiao Wenbing was about to open the divine realm.
Sure enough, four figures appeared in the void. Apart from the lucky one who underwent the transformation to become a god, this was the first time in ten years that Xiao Wenbing and the other two had stepped out of the divine realm.
Quini quickly stepped forward, glanced at the excited man, and said respectfully, "Master, we have all become gods. You have worked hard."
A chorus of compliments erupted from all around, and all the beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to the three of them.
Xiao Wenbing waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's alright."
An aura of majesty emanated naturally from him, and all the gods who came into contact with him couldn't help but feel fear, as if he were an insurmountable mountain in front of them, a mountain that they had to look up to.
With a thought, he immediately discovered countless pits on the nearby ground, clearly formed by divine power.
"What? Has someone come to cause trouble?"
Quinni felt a chill run down his spine. Although Xiao Wenbing's tone was not harsh, he felt a deep sense of fear for no reason.
"No one came to cause trouble. These pits were created when the Great Serpent God fought with other gods."
Xiao Wenbing and Quini communicated with each other using their divine senses, and in a short while, they knew everything that had happened outside in the past ten years.
"Hmph, what a big snake." Xiao Wenbing laughed and cursed, "Big snake, if you don't behave, I'll have the roc eat you."
The Great Serpent God stepped forward, first paying his respects to Feng Baiyi, then said with a smile, "God Xiao, I no longer consider a mere stinky bird worthy of my attention. If it dares to come, I will roast it to fill my belly."
Xiao Wenbing looked at him with a half-smile and asked, "Really?"
"Of course." The Great Serpent God puffed out his belly and said, "Don't forget, I am a god now." Xiao Wenbing waved his hand, and a black shadow flashed in the air as a huge roc soared freely in the sky.
"Dapeng, this giant snake says it's going to eat you. You'd better watch out."
Suddenly, an angry cry rang out from the sky, and the roc transformed into a black lightning bolt, swooping down fiercely at the giant snake.
The giant snake was quick-witted and agile. It took out its snake whip to defend itself, but it only felt a jolt in its wrist before the indestructible snake whip broke in two.
He was shocked and exclaimed, "Something's not right! How did this stinky bird become so powerful?"
The roc did not answer, but its attack became even more ferocious.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Great Serpent God immediately opened his divine domain. However, to his horror, the Roc seemed to be unaffected in his divine domain and instead attacked even more fiercely.
This change terrified the Great Serpent Supreme. Before he knew it, the Roc pecked at his arm, causing it to bleed profusely and a large chunk of flesh to be torn away.
"Help! The Roc is eating people..." With a pitiful cry, the great serpent god and the roc, these two sworn enemies, vanished in an instant.
Within the divine realm, after devouring over fifteen thousand inner demons, the Roc's cultivation had reached a level that would make it arguably the king of all Rocs throughout history. These inner demons, once absorbed, had become one with its body.
This method is similar to the cultivation method of the Turtle God, who condensed his divine realm and body into one.
Therefore, when the Great Serpent God encountered the Roc, he was still no match for it.
Xiao Wenbing's gaze lingered on Mingzhu, and he slowly asked, "Mingzhu, what did Lord Yuzhu say?"
Mingzhu bowed deeply. Although he had also become a god with Xiao Wenbing's help, he was still Yuzhu God Lord's messenger and stayed here as a bridge for communication between the two.
"The Divine Lord Yuzhu has already prepared a territory for you in the Divine Realm. All you need to do is ascend to the Divine Realm."
"Good." Xiao Wenbing nodded in satisfaction, and with a thought, all the gods received his command.
"Let's go..."
Volume 23, Chapter 13: The Secret of the Five Elements
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In the realm of gods, the sea of clouds still lingers.
Suddenly, a massive spatial rift was torn open at one of the edges of the divine realm.
Almost all the gods who sensed the crack began to pay attention. Such a large crack must require immense divine power.
Ever since the Turtle God suddenly appeared in the God Realm decades ago and caused a great disturbance, all the gods here have become quite sensitive to excessively wide spatial rifts.
However, the changes that followed still made all the gods' eyes bulge out.
A group of gods slowly emerged from the crack.
This is the realm of gods, so it's no surprise that gods have come here. But what surprised them was that one god after another emerged from the crack, their numbers simply unbelievable.
A moment later, more than ten thousand new gods appeared in this divine realm. These people were obviously country bumpkins who had never entered the divine realm before.
More than ten thousand gods buzzed and swarmed across a patch of land like locusts, genuinely curious about everything in the divine realm. Some even unknowingly approached the divine domains of other gods.
Normally, when encountering such a newly ascended deity, the established deities around them would simply ignore him. But now it's different. The deities beside them all teleported away into the distance, leaving them a large territory.
It wasn't that the old gods were cowardly, but rather that the number of these newly ascended gods was simply too terrifying.
In order to avoid causing misunderstandings among these seemingly indistinguishable rookies, the surrounding deities wisely chose to back down.
After all, faced with such a vast number of gods, and not being a freakish god like the old tortoise, they naturally wanted to avoid them if possible.
Xiao Wenbing carefully released his divine sense, sensing the cautious attitude of these gods towards them, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He felt extremely gratified about his decision to summon ten thousand gods to enter the divine realm at once.
There's strength in numbers.
With a flash of divine light, Xiao Wenbing issued a series of orders.
The actions of these deities immediately changed. They fixed themselves in a certain position in the sea of clouds, forming a super-large formation controlled by more than 10,000 deities.
Following a strange fluctuation, everyone released their divine domains and regrouped around Xiao Wenbing.
The boundless divine power from the divine realm surged into the formation of ten thousand people like a tidal wave. As soon as this divine power entered the formation, it automatically transformed into divine power attributes suitable for each god.
And these gods were not idle either. They filled their divine realms with the divine power they absorbed, constantly expanding and perfecting their divine domains.
The veteran gods in the divine realm exchanged bewildered glances. Judging from their auras, they were clearly novices who had never entered the divine realm before, yet their movements were incredibly skillful; they even knew how to absorb divine power by forming an array.