But the next moment, his eyes widened in surprise. The fire-attribute artifact he had been dreaming of had left the old Taoist's hand and was flying straight toward him.
What's going on?
Seeing the old Taoist priest's astonished and indignant expression, he almost thought that he was the one who had done it.
Suddenly, the divine artifact was in hand, and a surge of heat rushed into his body, completely dispelling the icy chill.
He held the divine artifact and burst into laughter, but his laughter was interrupted by an overwhelming and destructive divine power.
At this moment, countless gods unleashed their most powerful killing moves at him with all their might.
What I can't have, you can't have either.
The vast majority of the gods shared the same thought, sending wave after wave of deathly aura toward that god who was both lucky and unlucky.
The combined power of most of the gods in the divine realm! While it's unknown whether the Turtle God and the Lonely God could withstand it, this particular god certainly couldn't.
He was exceptionally clever; without hesitation, he flicked the bead he hadn't even warmed in his hand. And with all his might, he sent out his divine thought: "He's taken the bead."
Sure enough, the gods immediately changed their targets. Countless whirlwinds, lasers, ice blades, and fireballs grazed past them, flying towards the artifact.
The deity, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly became wicked. "You won't let me take it... fine. Then nobody will take it!" He mustered all his divine power and launched the most powerful attack of his life against the deity before him who had just obtained the divine artifact.
Upon seeing the divine artifact flying towards them, the one who grabbed it was a minor god.
He never imagined that he would have the opportunity to obtain this treasure that should absolutely not belong to him, so he couldn't help but hesitate a little after receiving the sphere.
It was this hesitation that led to his utter destruction.
Countless divine forces struck him almost simultaneously. Although his divine body was incredibly resilient, it couldn't withstand such a powerful attack even for a moment and was riddled with holes, ultimately vanishing into nothingness.
Fortunately, his original power remained, and he immediately broke through the divine realm and hid in a certain lower realm, where he devoted himself to cultivation.
Just like Zha back then, it won't be long before he can return to the realm of gods.
In the countless days and nights in the mortal realm, he prayed day and night for one thing: Do not let the divine realm be destroyed, for when this world is completely wiped out, with his meager divine power, he fears he will be doomed.
The round beads exude an alluring divine power, attracting countless gods to their madness.
At this moment, the realm of the gods has indeed gone mad.
In just a quarter of an hour, five lesser gods and two higher gods had their divine bodies and divine realms destroyed due to momentary greed, and were forced to flee to the mortal realm to cultivate in seclusion.
For lesser and higher gods, supreme artifacts are treasures they can never even dream of. Therefore, their greed far surpasses that of the supreme gods. Coupled with their inferior strength, their fate of being purged is inevitable.
Xiao Wenbing watched coldly from the sidelines. Seeing these normally dignified gods fighting so fiercely over a supreme artifact filled him with contempt.
He's like a well-fed person who doesn't understand the hunger of a starving one. If it weren't for the more than 100,000 divine artifacts from the Underworld as a foundation, even if Keris and Queenie saw the current situation, they would probably still try to seize them.
After observing for a while, they even discovered familiar auras among these deities, such as the Feathered Deity and the Fire Deity.
He gave a cold laugh, and with a flick of his wrist, opened the gate to the underworld.
Go ahead and fight. Fight slowly, and it would be best if you both suffered heavy losses and were no longer able to bother me.
With this mindset, Xiao Wenbing left the realm of gods with a hearty laugh.
However, he did not see that a moment after he left the realm of gods, another rift opened, and an old man with white hair and a bitter face emerged.
The old man frowned deeply as soon as he appeared. He had been to the realm of gods countless times, but this was the first time he had ever seen such a chaotic scene.
With a thought, he immediately discovered the culprit: the round bead.
In a flash, he appeared beside the round bead and snatched the super artifact that no one dared to take.
The gods, caught up in the frenzy of their battle, didn't hesitate to strike anyone who tried to seize something. However, this time their attack clearly met with resistance.
The old man waved his hand, and countless spheres appeared before his eyes, forming an impenetrable protective shield around him.
With a deafening roar, divine power scattered across the arena. Many deities, unable to withstand the counterattack, were forced to retreat.
The gods, led by the elder supreme gods such as the Fire God and the Feathered Bamboo God, stopped at the same time. They respectfully bowed to the old man and said, "Greetings, Lonely God."
"No need," the Lonely God-King waved his hand. "What happened? Where did this thing come from?"
The Fire God carefully recounted what had happened. The Lonely God pondered for a moment, calculated with his fingers, and laughed, "You bunch of fools, you've been completely fooled."
The Fire God and the others looked at each other in bewilderment and respectfully asked for guidance.
The Lonely God said, "This divine artifact is one of the most precious treasures left behind by the ancient gods. How could it possibly have been crafted by a mere lesser god? If such a person exists, bring him here so I can see him."
Huo De and the others searched frantically, but there was no trace of Xiao Wenbing to be found.
"If I'm not mistaken, this must be Xiao Wenbing's doing." The Lonely God sighed, "After obtaining this unparalleled treasure, he intends to use it to turn the God Realm upside down. In that case, whatever your plans are, you'll be too busy to care about him."
Yu Zhu Divine Lord's thoughts shifted, and he suddenly remembered something. He said, "That's right, this time the Divine Realm is in great chaos. Why haven't we seen any of Xiao Divine Lord's forces come out?"
Upon hearing this, the gods together sent out their divine senses to investigate. However, they were surprised to find that the place where Xiao Wenbing's deity was located had long been deserted, leaving only a trace of disguised divine power.
At this point, everyone had guessed the whole story. The gods were united in their hatred and wanted to take revenge on Xiao Wenbing.
The Lonely God shook his head slightly and said, "What they are doing right now is entirely beneficial to us. It's fine if we don't help them, but it would be absolutely unacceptable if we hinder them."
Huo De was greatly alarmed and quickly asked, "Senior, what are they doing?"
The Lonely God-King glanced at him indifferently and said, "They are eliminating the Dark God; their actions are of immeasurable merit."
………………
Having returned to the Underworld, Xiao Wenbing was naturally unaware that his plan had been completely exposed. Fortunately, although the gods in the Divine Realm had ceased their infighting, they would not come to the Underworld to cause him trouble, thanks to the mediation of the Lonely God.
Upon returning to the Underworld, they saw Feng Baiyi and Zhang Yaqi directing numerous deities to enter the stone cave in batches to select divine artifacts.
Nearly 20,000 deities... to select them all would take at least a year and a half.
Therefore, although Xiao Wenbing was delayed in the God Realm for about a month, after returning to the Underworld, most of the people there still hadn't chosen their preferred divine artifact.
Depending on the circumstances, everyone's requirements will also be different.
Before these 100,000 divine artifacts, even if a low-grade divine artifact that did not match their attributes were placed before them, these gods would only be able to express their gratitude profusely.
But at this moment, after seeing so many unclaimed divine artifacts, the gods' thoughts immediately changed.
Moreover, when they learned that each person could only have one choice, they became even more cautious, afraid of missing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The first thousand people selected to enter the cave had wandered around for over half a month before finally finding their targets with satisfaction. However, even after obtaining the divine artifacts, some still coveted the other artifacts.
However, when encountering such greedy individuals, Feng Baiyi would often strike them down with lightning speed.
Under the supervision of this stunningly beautiful woman, who was like a goddess of death, these people finally realized their mistake and dared not make any further demands.
Seeing the eager looks on the faces of the many deities, Xiao Wenbing frowned and said, "Waiting like this isn't a solution. Let's just let them all go in and get it together."
"If we put them all in at once, I'm afraid it will cause disputes," Zhang Yaqi said worriedly.
Indeed, a thousand people and ten thousand people in a stone cave are two different concepts. If ten thousand gods were together, the possibility of them coveting the same divine artifact would greatly increase, which could very well cause a disturbance.
Xiao Wenbing sighed and said, "Now the Dark God is restless, and the four races of the Underworld are all waiting for our news. If we let them take their time to make their selections, I don't know how long it will take. Besides..." He lowered his voice and said, "How to arrange the order of entry is also a problem."
The two women considered for a moment and then nodded simultaneously.
Logically speaking, the Yan Realm people who ascended to the Immortal Realm with Xiao Wenbing should have priority in choosing. However, the relationship between Mu Xuanli and his son from Huangzhou City in the Immortal Realm and Xiao Wenbing is different. And the serpent's subordinates also need to be taken care of.
Therefore, arranging the order in which everyone enters is quite difficult.
"Fine, let them all go in together, first come, first served."
At Xiao Wenbing's command, more than 10,000 deities surged into the stone cave like a swarm of bees.
However, this time Xiao Wenbing established several strict rules. First, only one person is allowed to remain under the same stone pillar. No one else is allowed to approach until that person leaves.
Under the strong pressure from Xiao Wenbing and Feng Baiyi, no deity dared to challenge their limits of tolerance.
Secondly, all the divine artifacts are first-come, first-served. If someone hesitates, the chances of the artifact they initially wanted being taken by another god are greatly increased.
As a result, many gods would immediately collect any artifacts they fancied, increasing the selection speed by hundreds or thousands of times.
A month later, with the exception of a very few deities, the vast majority of deities had obtained their desired divine artifacts. Then, each deity received a peach from Xiao Wenbing and began collecting their divine artifacts.
Only a handful of deities remained in the stone cave. Among them, Keris and the Seven-Colored Winged King were delayed because they couldn't find anything satisfactory no matter how they chose. As for Quini and the others, it was even simpler. After receiving Xiao Wenbing's telepathic message telling them not to choose, they knew that their master must have been hoarding some good items, which was why he had given them this special instruction.
"Sister Kairis, haven't you found any artifacts you like among so many?" Xiao Wenbing couldn't help but ask as he stepped forward.
Kairis sighed wistfully, and Xiao Wenbing's heart stirred at the sight of her gaze.
"Brother Xiao, I'm waiting for you..."
What are you waiting for?
"I'm waiting for Quinni and the others."
"What are we waiting for them for?"
A look of sorrow appeared on Keris's face. She said, "Big sister, I'm so pitiful..."
"Wait, how could you be pitiful?"
"Of course. Think about it. Even Queenie and the others get special treatment from someone. But I, your older sister, not only provided you with the location of the treasure, but I also have a sibling relationship with someone. Yet my brother has always favored one over the other. Tell me, am I pitiful or not..."
Xiao Wenbing blushed at her words and awkwardly laughed, "Elder sister is joking. Actually, I have long prepared a divine artifact for elder sister and Seven-Colored God Lord, and I will do so with a sigh. Please accept it." He glanced at the Seven-Colored Winged King beside Kairis and said helplessly.
As he spoke, Xiao Wenbing retrieved two super artifacts from the Divine Realm. He gave Kairis a porcelain bottle containing the primordial energy of heaven and earth, capable of containing all things under heaven—an extremely powerful artifact. The artifact he gave to the Seven-Colored Winged King was equally formidable; it was a wind feather. Once used, it would increase speed by fifty percent and possess the ability to transform into wind, making one virtually invincible as long as they were in mid-air.
Kairis was overjoyed. He quickly accepted it and expressed his gratitude without reservation.
Xiao Wenbing handed the peaches to the two women with a wry smile. He thought to himself, "A fox spirit is a fox spirit indeed; she is not to be underestimated."
Fortunately, he had many divine artifacts at his disposal, including over a thousand super divine artifacts, so Xiao Wenbing wasn't too bothered. He simply called together the people he was closest to, including Quini and the other two, Elder Yan, Zhu Bajie, and the old Taoist Xianyun.
In fact, when Xiao Wenbing collected those super artifacts, he had already pre-selected the items for these people.
They were taken out one by one and distributed according to each person's divine power attribute, which indeed brought joy to everyone.
These super artifacts are not only incredibly powerful, but they also perfectly match their divine attributes. Even if they were to choose for themselves, they would never find such suitable artifacts.
Humans are inherently selfish, and even gods are no exception.
It's only natural for Xiao Wenbing to keep the best things for his closest friends, but his actions were accidentally discovered by Kairis, which is why he had to pay the price of two more super artifacts.
After everyone began cultivating, Xiao Wenbing and the two women, Zhang and Feng, did not sit idle. They carried out a massive relocation of the remaining nearly 100,000 stone pillars in the cave, moving them all to Xiao Wenbing's divine realm.
As a result, the vast cave was completely empty, with nothing else inside.
Time stands still in the cave. After the gods had refined their divine artifacts and absorbed the power from the peaches of immortality, a full hundred years had passed.
However, Xiao Wenbing was prepared. After the gods began their seclusion, he joined forces with Zhang and Feng to expand their divine realms, moving the gods into them and using a time-shifting technique.
So although the gods have been cultivating for no less than a hundred years, in reality, only a mere year has passed.