Zhang Yaqi looked at the giant snake writhing wildly within the stone pillar and shook her head slightly. "Although the giant snake and its companions have long since become gods, their greed remains unchanged. If it weren't for Wen Bing, who kept them in check, perhaps..."
Feng Baiyi also agreed, saying, "That's right. I didn't expect Wen Bing to have such a deep understanding of the cycle of heaven. Giving each person a divine artifact is indeed the best choice."
Xiao Wenbing watched Long Shi disappear with a smile. Suddenly, he lowered his voice and said, "White Robe, could you put all these divine artifacts away?"
"Of course you can."
“Excellent. We’ll open the portal to the divine realm later and let each of them choose a divine artifact. After they leave, pack up all the remaining artifacts.”
"Packaging? Wenbing, what are you going to do?"
"Nonsense, of course we're hiding them! So many divine artifacts! Haha, we're going to be rich!"
Feng Baiyi and Zhang Yaqi exchanged a bitter smile. When Xiao Wenbing was angrily rebuking the giant snake, he appeared righteous and awe-inspiring. But as soon as he turned his back, he showed a completely different face.
It's unbelievable. It turns out that the most greedy person is actually him.
From within the stone pillars, occasional screams could be heard. Whether it was the giant serpent, Shabir, or the King of Food, they were all carefully selecting the most suitable divine weapon for themselves.
While the greater the power of a divine artifact, the better, there is a prerequisite: the attributes of the artifact must be perfectly compatible with one's own divine power fluctuations.
Only the artifact most suitable for one's own divine power fluctuations can unleash its greatest power in one's hands.
Imagine two people dueling. One is holding a Desert Eagle, and the other is holding a Mauser C96 pistol. Logically, the one with the Desert Eagle should win. However, if the Desert Eagle doesn't work with the shooter and can't fire, it's far less useful than the Mauser C96 pistol.
Therefore, even amidst a multitude of divine artifacts, Orochi and his companions remained extremely cautious, carefully selecting each item, lest they accidentally grab the wrong one and regret it too late.
The King of Food wandered among the stone pillars. Although he discovered several divine attributes that were quite compatible with his own, he was still unable to make a decision.
In his view, although these divine attributes were somewhat compatible with his own divine power, they were not perfect.
Of course, if it weren't for the specific environment of having over 100,000 divine artifacts, the Food King would never have made such a thought.
Before coming here, no matter which artifact he encountered, even if it was one that didn't match his divine power attributes, he would never have let it go.
But here, his mindset is different. Such a good opportunity, if missed, will truly never have a second chance.
Therefore, he walked slowly and calmly. Under each stone pillar, he would send out a trace of divine power to investigate. If he felt they were compatible, he would secretly remember them. If their attributes clashed, no matter how great the power of the artifact was, he would not hesitate to leave.
There seemed to be a mysterious power shrouding this place. Only when the Food King and others were under the stone pillar could they sense the divine power attribute of the artifact above.
They explored each one individually, so the process wasn't very fast. But since they were all gods, they could immediately find the answer simply by standing under the stone pillar. So, after several days, they had already explored one-fifth of the pillars.
Everyone had seen over 20,000 artifacts. By this time, even the most discerning serpent had made his decision, let alone the King of Food and Shabir.
They each arrived at the foot of the divine artifact they considered the best, and poured their divine power up the stone pillar.
All the artifacts here are unclaimed, meaning they bear no marks whatsoever.
Therefore, subduing them is much simpler than subduing artifacts controlled by gods. As long as you can gain the recognition of the artifact's spirit, you can use its power.
The three serpents had a deep relationship with Xiao Wenbing. They received the most help from him in their cultivation, and their divine power was extraordinary, almost on par with some supreme gods who had cultivated for hundreds of millions of years.
A continuous stream of divine power flowed through the stone pillars into the divine artifacts at the top. Gradually, these artifacts began to emit soft humming sounds, as if sensing the characteristics of their divine power and expressing joy.
These divine artifacts have been trapped here for countless years. The so-called spirituality of these artifacts is naturally due to their possession of the artifact's spirit.
If these magical artifacts were in a free environment, they might not willingly submit to human control. However, the fact that they have been trapped here for countless billions of years has taught them that if they miss this opportunity, they don't know how many more years they would have been imprisoned.
Therefore, once these artifacts come into contact with the divine power of the gods, and this divine power is in perfect harmony with their attributes, they are like lustful women who cannot bear to be thirsty. They accept the status of the great serpent and others as their masters without any resistance.
Strands of golden light shimmered within the stone tears. Once the artifact left the stone pillar, these beams of light automatically transformed into specks of starlight, vanishing without a trace.
Xiao Wenbing watched in astonishment. Although he was somewhat prepared, the ease with which the artifact acknowledged him still broadened his horizons.
Looking at the dense, endless stone pillars before him, Xiao Wenbing wondered, "Why let the good stuff go to outsiders? Should I be greedy and take all these divine artifacts for myself?"
Volume 23, Chapter 27: Sneak Attack
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Some things are fine to think about, but if you actually do them, you'll incur the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, and you'll be courting death.
So after considering it for a long time, Xiao Wenbing sent the three, including the giant snake, outside the cave, ostensibly to let them refine their divine artifacts, and gave each of them a genuine peach to help them.
The three, including the giant snake, were moved to tears and hurriedly went into seclusion. They had no idea what Xiao Wenbing would do next.
"White Robe, Yaqi, Dapeng, each of you is responsible for an area. Find the most powerful artifacts among them," Xiao Wenbing hurriedly instructed.
"Wenbing, isn't this a bad idea?" Zhang Yaqi said hesitantly.
"Sigh... Yaqi, think about it, what is the current cultivation level of the Great Serpent and the others?"
"very nice."
"It is indeed very good, but what do you think would happen if it were to control those top-tier artifacts?"
“This…” Zhang Yaqi remained silent for a while before saying, “It might be somewhat dangerous.”
“It’s not just somewhat dangerous, it’s extremely dangerous. It’s like a child trying to wield a 180-pound meteor hammer. It’s easy for him to kill himself instantly.” Xiao Wenbing had a pitying expression on his face. “So I’ve decided to temporarily put away those most powerful artifacts. Once Orochi and the others have improved their abilities and reached the point where they can use the meteor hammer, I will give them back to them.”
Zhang Yaqi said with a rather strange expression, "This idea is good, but Wenbing, can you be sure that you will still give the divine artifact to them?"
"Of course. You see, I, Xiao, never go back on my word." Xiao Wenbing said seriously, "At most, I'll just exchange them for the divine artifacts they have."
Zhang Yaqi and Feng Baiyi both secretly shook their heads.
While the Great Serpent and his companions were not weak in cultivation, they were merely average. They still had a long way to go before they could wield top-tier divine artifacts with complete ease. If they were to truly cultivate to that level, their first divine artifact would already have formed an inseparable spiritual bond with them. Such an artifact would be no less important to them than a super divine artifact, and exchanging it would be absolutely impossible. Therefore, while Xiao Wenbing's words were eloquent, he had no real intention of giving it away.
Although the two women were somewhat dissatisfied, they still quietly went to investigate the artifact's attributes under Xiao Wenbing's urging.
As for the Roc, it didn't care about any of that. After Xiao Wenbing gave the order, it had already plunged into the stone pillar.
Xiao Wenbing naturally took in the expressions of the two women. He seemed incredibly greedy, but in reality, he had his own difficulties. Although he had more than ten thousand direct subordinates in the God Realm, apart from the ten thousand from the Flame Realm, the rest were people he had gathered after arriving in the Immortal Realm for various reasons.
His closest relatives, however, are still practicing asceticism in the secret talisman sect on Earth.
Even for the sake of his fellow disciples, who are like brothers to him, he still needs to prepare more good equipment.
Moreover, those most powerful artifacts are priceless treasures, and Xiao Wenbing wouldn't be so generous as to give them away for nothing unless they were his true confidants.
It is safest to keep these most important strategic resources in our own hands.
So even though the two women weren't very enthusiastic, Xiao Wenbing still insisted on his opinion and asked them to help him choose the most powerful and strangest artifact.
These divine artifacts possessed diverse attributes, making it virtually impossible for any other deity to acquire them all. However, Xiao Wenbing was different. He freely manipulated his divine power fluctuations, achieving a 100% compatibility with the artifacts' attributes. Under these circumstances, he managed to capture the thousand or so most powerful artifacts out of over 100,000.
Of course, Xiao Wenbing also had a plan. He didn't collect it directly, but instead simulated a similar space in the divine realm and put the entire stone pillar inside.
After all this was done, Xiao Wenbing directly opened the passage to the realm of gods in this space.
This time, it wasn't the Heavenly Dao Divine Sword that was used, but rather Feng Baiyi's guiding technique.
In the fifth layer of the Underworld, the power of the Thunder God was immense. Even Xiao Wenbing, wanting to use the Heavenly Dao Divine Sword, faced numerous concerns and struggled to unleash its full potential. However, Feng Baiyi was different. The greater the Thunder God's power, the stronger the guiding spell became. Therefore, with a single incantation, Feng Baiyi directly opened a passage to the gathering place of the gods of Xiao Wenbing's lineage in the God Realm.
As soon as the passage opened, chaos erupted inside. Only after the auras of Feng Baiyi and Xiao Wenbing emanated did the gods calm down.
Xiao Wenbing emerged from the passage. His gaze immediately fell upon the poison, causing the gods to appear as if facing a formidable enemy. He couldn't help but...
He asked, "What are you doing?"
Quini bowed and said, "Master, things have been rather unsettled in the divine realm lately."
"What?"
"The Fire God's lineage is secretly contacting other gods, trying to wipe us out in one fell swoop." Kairis stepped forward and said with relief, "It's fortunate you're back, otherwise we would be without a leader and really wouldn't know what to do."
Xiao Wenbing frowned and said, "Such a big thing, why weren't you informed of it?"
Quini smiled wryly, "Master, after you went to the Underworld, I could sense your presence at first, but later I couldn't sense it anymore. I can't even send a message by flying sword. How do you suggest I notify you?"
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback. He thought of the Thunder God's power that permeated the Underworld and was immediately speechless.
"Sister Kairis, how did you know about their actions?"
Kairis smiled and said, "The Pearl God has returned."
"Mingzhu?" Xiao Wenbing immediately understood and asked in surprise, "You mean Lord Yuzhu?"
"It was indeed Lord Yuzhu who sent him to deliver the message; he will absolutely not interfere."
"Alright, I'll remember this favor."
"Sigh, forget about favors. Even if Yu Zhu doesn't intervene, their strength is still far inferior to theirs. What do we do now? You should come up with a plan."
Xiao Wenbing chuckled. Before he went to the God Realm, this matter would have been truly difficult to handle. But now, it was a natural progression, and resolving it required absolutely no effort.
Pointing to the passage behind him, Xiao Wenbing said, "Since we can't defeat them for the time being, we can only avoid their sharp edge. Everyone, please follow me inside."
"Where to?" Kairis asked curiously.
"Of course, we've gone to a place where the gods can't find us," Xiao Wenbing said smugly. "And... I have something good for you too."
"A divine artifact?" Kairis's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise.
She naturally knew the purpose of Xiao Wenbing and the others' trip to the underworld, and seeing his expression, she immediately guessed it.
“That’s right. It’s definitely a divine artifact.” Xiao Wenbing raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “Tell everyone that we’re leaving right away.”
"So fast?"
"Yes. The sooner the better."
Although Kairis, Queenie, and the others were puzzled, they still went down to make the arrangements.
Fortunately, these were all beings who had already attained godhood. A simple notification using divine thought was sufficient. For ordinary mortals in the lower realms, gathering tens of thousands of people together in a short time would be no easy task.
Xiao Wenbing was not idle either; compared to most people, he was extremely busy.
According to the pre-arranged plan, not everyone would be taken away at once, but rather in rotations of about one hundred people.
However, the reality far exceeded his expectations. Heaven knows how the Fire God managed to persuade the gods. He actually managed to contact a large number of people.
The lives of gods are almost endless, and their efficiency is also shockingly slow.
Under normal circumstances, if the Fire God wanted to successfully contact the gods and obtain their consent, it would take at least a thousand or eight hundred years.
That is why Xiao Wenbing felt at ease going to the underworld.
Unexpectedly, upon returning today, I immediately heard some extremely bad news.