Chapter 1963: This Place Also Pies

To be honest, no one knows how strong the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses really is—not even Qingyang, who is quite curious, since this brat caused a ruckus in the Heavenly Palace and even got chased by her all over the place, yet now dares to claim he personally slew Miao Zhantian. Five years later, who could improve this fast?

If it were anyone else, it would sound fake no matter how you heard it. But if it's He Xiong, well, it might not be unacceptable.

Of course, Qingyang also knows what these people are expecting.

So she gave a faint smile and said generously: "Even if the Nine Abysses has many experts, throwing them into the entire Flash Gold Plain would be a drop in the ocean—your chances of encountering them are minuscule."

Of course, this line certainly won't reassure anyone, so she immediately added: "But the Heavenly Gods are benevolent and wish to relieve your worries. Therefore, I have here eight bodies of divine descent, ready for your occasional needs."

The envoys felt moved, and one asked: "May I know which deities we may invoke?"

"The Battle-Heaven, the Much-Hearing Heaven, the Broad-Profit Heaven, the true form or emanation of Lord Tongming—depending on battlefield conditions, even the Holy Lord of the Numinous Void might descend personally!"

The crowd gasped: "Is this really true!?"

That's the chief of the Numinous Void Gods—could he have appeared personally to defeat the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses?

"I am the Guardian of the Heavenly Palace. My words and deeds represent the will of the Heavenly Gods!" Qingyang's voice echoed in the courtyard, each word striking awe into hearts: "Whoever has doubts may now rise and leave—but from this moment on, you will be cut off from the Heavenly Gods' sight!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled.

Whoever dares to leave, the Heavenly Gods will never favor him again.

Mortals whom the Numinous Void Gods wish to ignore—let alone minor and wild gods—will not favor them either. Thus, this faction in Flash Gold, even if severed at the root, will henceforth rely solely on itself.

The Heavenly Palace Guardian also cannot appear too patient or too accommodating, or else these mortal powers will think themselves indispensable and grow even more arrogant.

This is Flash Gold Plain—when dealing with the locals here, might must outweigh kindness.

Qingyang even waited a moment, but the envoys' backsides seemed glued to their chairs—none budged an inch.

"Furthermore, more bodies of divine descent will support Flash Gold." Qingyang then smiled: "In short, now is the perfect time for you to join forces, harass the enemy rear. The Heavenly Palace's aid is already in place. Opportunity flees swiftly—once you miss these few months, what you'll face ahead needs no further explanation from me."

At this point, the Heavenly Palace's decree was also clear:

Either, the strongmen of Flash Gold mobilize troops and horses, taking advantage of the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses training his forces, to spark uprisings all over his domain—the Heavenly Gods will give strong support.

Or, they may remain as they are, huddled in their own territories, not provoking the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses—but in the end, he may very well come knocking, and when that day comes, heaven will not answer, earth will not respond, for the gods will have long abandoned them!

Cooperate with the Heavenly Gods to slay the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses; or be abandoned by the Heavenly Gods, then destroyed by the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses.

Pick one.

For these strongmen, there's really nothing to choose.

On this plain, heroes come and go, none meet a good end—only the Heavenly Gods are eternal.

Qingyang then offered another sweet date:

"Of course, in the coming war, whoever stands out will surely receive more resources from the Heavenly Gods!"

The meeting concluded, and the envoys departed with Qingyang's terms and the Heavenly Gods' sincerity, returning to report to their lords.

Yuan Xuan stood aside silent throughout, until seeing the guests off, and still dared not speak.

"The Palace Master has eight bodies of divine descent? How come I didn't know?"

"The Palace Master also said the major gods will personally descend to the mortal realm to fight the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses' army?"

This, this...

Sounds utterly absurd, but when these envoys left, their steps were light.

A bunch of ignorant mortals, they fundamentally don't know what the descent of a true god means.

Put it this way—only an opponent of the level of Qianhuan True Person would be worthy of Miao Zhantian's personal descent. The rest? Hah.

Qingyang seemed to hear his inner thoughts, and without looking up, said:

"What do you think they lack most?"

Yuan Xuan startled, then probed:

"An army?"

"If you give them an army, they lack weapons; if you give them weapons, they lack food; if you give them food, they lack tactics. The more I give, the bigger their gaps become—like a bottomless pit." Qingyang gave a cold laugh: "What they lack is ability!"

The reason these local powers on Flash Gold Plain can only hold onto "locality" and cannot sweep across Flash Gold like the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses is simple: they lack ability.

"Ability is forged by oneself—I cannot give it. But I can give them 'confidence.'" Whatever the Heavenly Palace provides—whether divine beasts or bodies of divine descent—comes down to giving all the strongmen courage and support, "You see, they truly want it."

"If they want it, I'll give it." Qingyang raised her cup, took a sip of cold tea: "However much they want, I'll give that much."

No typo, no missing character, no omission, no extra, no absence—everything is present!

Her movements were graceful, as always, but Yuan Xuan sensed a lioness-like ruthlessness and shrewdness.

"When will the next batch of envoys arrive?"

"Probably in the evening."

Within two days, Qingyang, as Guardian of the Heavenly Palace, received three batches of envoys, her words largely the same, and she made promises to all.

When she returned to Yaodi, Bai Tan heard the news and came straight to the point:

"Palace Master, I heard these envoys took away several bodies of divine descent. This, this...?"

"Not bad." Qingyang didn't blink: "They need support, and the Heavenly Gods have always been generous."

"Generous?" Bai Tan heard those two words and nearly snorted coldly.

"If the Heavenly Gods were generous, they'd have long helped him end the chaos in Yaodi! Then he'd have more time to train troops, secure the rear, and restore order."

"But the Heavenly Gods not only let Yaodi's internal strife continue, they secretly support his enemy!"

"Only when the Great Emperor of the Nine Abysses appeared out of nowhere, burning temples everywhere, did the Heavenly Gods grow anxious and decide to support him!"

"Yet his dissatisfaction dares not show: 'So, how many bodies of divine descent do you still have? May I...?'"

According to his intelligence, Qingyang had distributed over a dozen bodies of divine descent in total!

"These are vessels for the Heavenly Gods' descent—each must be carefully selected. If they're all given to the hillbilly monkeys on Flash Gold Plain, will he still get any?"

"Rest assured, you are the most favored by Heaven—your quota is naturally the highest." Qingyang extended five fingers, swaying them lightly.

"Good, good, the Divine Lord is magnanimous, the Palace Master works hard!" Having received her promise, Bai Tan relaxed, exchanged a few more pleasantries, then hurried away.

As he turned away, a thought flashed in his mind:

Are there really that many Divine Descent Bodies?

But that thought was dismissed in the blink of an eye.

Yuan Xuan, who was keeping Qiyang company, had grown numb from listening these past two days.

The "Divine Descent Bodies" the Palace Master entrusted to the envoys — counting the ones just promised to Bai Tan — totaled over twenty!

(End of Chapter)