Chapter 2276: The Sudden Halt of Chaos

The most terrifying two things here are hatred and profit!

The Lingxu gods originally controlled the demon realm all along, seizing how much profit that originally belonged to other heavenly demons?

Over these years, the demon realm has gone mad over the Punishing Dragon Pillar, and how many wars have occurred around it?

The most direct consequence of war is damaged profit and rapidly accumulating hatred.

Therefore, the little heavenly demon summoned by He Lingchuan last time straightforwardly told him that after years of chaotic warfare, the cause of a demon realm war now may not necessarily be the Punishing Dragon Pillar—sometimes it is simply pure hatred!

Hatred is easy to create but hard to resolve—it takes the strength of nine oxen and two tigers to dispel.

Thus, the Lingxu gods have dwindled to fewer than nine thousand, while their opponent, the Shali Heaven, has suffered even greater losses over these years, even splitting into several factions.

In short, a chaotic demon realm greatly harms the Lingxu gods, as they are the main maintainers of this order.

Once the old order is broken, new contradictions become endless.

In He Lingchuan's view, the demon realm's chaos has not yet reached its end, for hatred is like a snowball—it only grows larger as it rolls.

Now the demon realm war has suddenly ceased hostilities; there must be a special reason.

Moreover, why did it not appear earlier or later, but precisely at this time?

He Lingchuan smiled: "You strive to conceal for them—what use is it? With your divine position, even if there were any benefits outside, they would hardly fall to you."

"You..." The Pudian god showed anger for the first time.

The fury of being struck at a vital point.

It is merely a minor god, not belonging to either the Lingxu or the Shali Heaven; neither side wants it. In the divine realm, beings like it are mainstream, called "shenmin"—the common folk of the divine realm.

Whatever visible or invisible benefits exist in the divine realm are all snatched away by the big and middle officials above; it truly gets none.

Yet the Pudian god still has a few temples in the human world, some followers, and can gather a bit of nightmare qi using those Punishing Dragon Pillars at hand, so it lives slightly better than ordinary shenmin.

Of course, it wishes to live even better.

He Lingchuan interrupted it, pointing at the Punishing Dragon Pillar on the table: "If you refuse to speak, I will ask other heavenly demons. Are there not over sixty thousand heavenly demons? Surely a few would be willing to tell the truth?"

With his current prestige and power, is it not still possible to find whoever he wants?

If the Pudian god does not speak the truth, the Punishing Dragon Pillar will be given to other heavenly demons.

"Others obtaining it" must be more painful than "not being able to obtain it oneself," and as the Nine Abysses Great Emperor said, good things never come its way—so why should it guard secrets for existing beneficiaries?

Would others reward it?

"The Punishing Dragon Pillar is an ominous object; whoever holds it may encounter fatal disaster."

He Lingchuan lifted the Punishing Dragon Pillar and shook it twice: "Then I won't harm you. You may withdraw."

"I haven't finished speaking." The Pudian god complained, "However, I received news that the Lingxu Holy Venerable has already declared that it will no longer pursue the Punishing Dragon Pillar—at least temporarily."

"Why?" He Lingchuan slightly frowned, "The Lingxu gods are not just one person—he says he won't pursue, so do the Lingxu gods not pursue?"

In such a vast organization, the hardest thing to achieve is unified action and enforceable orders.

Given the demon realm's system, this is likely even harder.

The Pudian god hesitated for a long time this time.

He Lingchuan did not urge it, but asked: "Is it again related to the success of the divine descent experiment?"

The Pudian god immediately retorted: "You also heard the rumors?"

"For such a major matter, do you think they would truly not leak news? Humans have an old saying: which wall in the world is not leaky?" He Lingchuan shrugged, "As far as I know, the Lingxu gods have not been the first to announce divine descent success, have they?"

The Pudian god immediately relaxed. If the Nine Abysses Great Emperor had long known, this secret would not count as leaked by it.

"Well, seven or eight years ago it was announced that the divine descent experiment was only one step from success. The Lingxu Holy Venerable wanted to weaken the influence of the Punishing Dragon Pillar, so everyone would listen to it." The Pudian god said, "But it was useless—back then, everyone fought until their eyes turned red, and even the Lingxu gods themselves did not heed the Lingxu Holy Venerable's words."

He Lingchuan nodded. He had also heard of that world-shaking war, where the Lingxu Holy Venerable personally appeared, declaring the agreement had been reached and both sides had ceased hostilities.

Who knew that less than twenty shichen after the peace declaration was issued, the two great heavenly gods of the Lingxu gods again clashed with the enemy?

The contradiction intensified to this point, even the prestige of the Lingxu Holy Venerable became unusable.

"Then why is it effective this time?"

"This time it is a public trial of the true divine soul; the Lingxu Holy Venerable even invited the Shali Heaven and other great heavenly gods to come and witness in person." The Pudian god certainly was not invited to the scene, but it could hear rumors: "It is said that for fairness, the heavenly gods descending to the mortal realm this time are one from the Lingxu gods and another from the Shali Heaven."

"Wu Yao", "Xi Yu"—have you heard these two names?

"I recognize them. They are a pair of twins, their divine abilities also very similar; they belong to the gods..." The Pudian god suddenly realized, "You mean they are the heavenly gods for the mortal realm experiment?"

"They caused the sea to freeze over for ten li."

"Freezing? Yes, that confirms it. This pair of twins, one in the Lingxu gods, the other in the Shali Heaven." The Pudian god continued, "It is said they not only had their entire divine souls descend to the mortal realm, but even remained long in the human world, participating in a secular battle, and have not yet returned to the divine realm!"

He Lingchuan pressed: "They have not returned to the divine realm? Are you certain?"

"How would I know? I am merely repeating hearsay!" The Pudian god said confidently, "In any case, after these witnesses returned, they said the divine descent experiment counts as preliminarily successful, with a promising future."

"Did this news shock the entire demon realm?"

"Naturally. The heavenly gods I know have recently been discussing this matter, everyone wanting to return to the mortal realm."

It turns out the Lingxu Holy Venerable has colluded with the Shali Heaven—not simple.

No matter how much the Lingxu gods boast of experimental success, other heavenly demons only see it as self-praise. But the Shali Heaven, as the traditional rival of the Lingxu gods, if it also speaks well of the Lingxu Holy Venerable's experimental results, then this statement carries high credibility in the demon realm.

He Lingchuan stroked his chin.

No wonder he recently twice sought audience with Naraku Heaven, always feeling that fellow was not entirely sincere and had some concealment—now it makes sense.

The Pudian god paused, then added: "Moreover, the Lingxu Holy Venerable personally admitted that even if later trials succeed, the number of physical forms they can create is ultimately limited, impossible to equip every being in the demon realm with one."

He Lingchuan silently thought "Impressive." The Lingxu Holy Venerable employed this tactic to temporarily offset the negative influence of the Punishing Dragon Pillar in the demon realm and regain the initiative.