Chapter 2671: The Heavenly Madness

It was always Naluotian who kept causing trouble for Him, but now it's His turn to make Naluotian taste the bitterness of being unable to defend oneself against many accusations.

Then He Lingchuan heard another unexpected name.

Although he had never personally dealt with this deity, in the past twenty-plus years, many major events were related to Him, even in the Panlong World.

Even the actions of the Lingxu multitude in the human realm were connected to Him.

He is Jin Du Mu.

He Lingchuan first heard this name not in reality, but in the Panlong World. Jin Du Mu could cause demon offspring to be born in human women, letting them be born in the human realm. These half-human, half-demon beings were relatively very powerful compared to humans; Jin Du Mu originally intended to use them against Panlongcheng, but failed.

In reality, He Lingchuan had also dealt with His descendants more than once.

However, the name written on this list was "Jin Du Shengmu," with an extra "Sheng" character, making all the difference.

"It seems Jin Du Mu has also suffered bitterly before finding sweetness." He asked He Chunhua, "Do you know this celestial demon?"

He Chunhua shook his head. There are over sixty thousand celestial deities; he knows little about these miscellaneous gods.

Moreover, he is burdened with worries now.

Then He Chunhua began to speak of the family's misfortune:

The death of He Changjue.

He Lingchuan was also greatly shocked, remaining silent for a long time.

"To force me to continue attacking Balin, they actually killed my grandson!" He Chunhua gritted his back teeth until they seemed about to shatter, "Celestial deities, celestial deities—how hateful they are!"

Likewise speaking of the death of the eldest grandson, before He Yue he was a dignified sovereign and strict father; but before He Lingchuan, he could not help but redden his eye sockets.

Because, the eldest son is far stronger than him.

"Do you still call them 'celestial deities'?" He Lingchuan's face sank like water, "Their nature—you have served Naluotian for many years; haven't you long seen through it?"

Before, He Chunhua knew celestial deities were hateful, but his attitude toward them had never been as resolute as the eldest son's, until today he truly felt the pain cutting to the bone.

"I want to ask you..." He Chunhua felt a lump in his throat, composed himself, then spoke softly, "Am I to obey their wish and send troops to attack Balin, or remain idle and let the army return to Shen after a few months?"

He Yue was still on the front lines; as the ruler of a state, He Chunhua faced three choices: reinforce, hold position, or withdraw.

The option "withdraw" was first ruled out—He Changjue had just been killed, the entire Shen state was furious, and He Chunhua could not possibly withdraw troops immediately, whether publicly or privately.

Then he either angrily reinforced and launched a fierce assault on Balin—this was to fight to the death.

Or, let He Yue continue attacking Balin, with Shen state adding few or no troops, wait a few months for public opinion to calm, then lower the flags and silence the drums.

He Chunhua of course knew the second option was somewhat weak, and the Crown Prince might be the first to disagree.

But this war was ninety percent instigated by Beijia or the celestial deities; if Shen state continued to expand the war, it would likely end in the people being impoverished, the treasury exhausted, and lives lost. And this, as a responsible ruler of a state, was what he least wished to see.

Upon first hearing of the grandson's terrible misfortune, He Chunhua was also grief-stricken and enraged; but after calming down for a few days, his reason again prevailed.

Yet this matter, he could not discuss with He Yue; instead, the eldest son was the best choice.

"Fight, continue fighting, but do not go all out." He Lingchuan said without hesitation, "Now the world is in great chaos, human wars flare up everywhere—this is exactly what the celestial deities want. Look around Beijia: which country is peaceful and untroubled? How many are not plunged into war? Fu State, so small a place, first had a rebel general murder the ruler, then offered itself to the Xuluo Barbarian Demon State; even distant Beijia, never provoking it, the overseas island nation of Suyao, because of twenty years of prosperous maritime trade and explosive population growth, was casually given a pretext by the Bolang Barbarian Demon State to invade with a great army, hard and fast swallowing it whole."

"The deities are about to descend; now Beijia must exhaust all means to generate nightmare energy for them, and cannot bother with surface appearances. So, those who follow it will not prosper, but those who oppose it will surely perish! Shen state lies beside Beijia, lacking the strength to confront them directly. At present, I send you four words: outward compliance, inward defiance."

The celestial deities want Shen state and Balin deeply mired in war, to draw endless nightmare energy from the human realm; Shen state should not openly defy them, at least not on the surface.

But it can show effort without real effort—one face outward, another inward.

"The predicament Panlongcheng faced back then has now fallen upon you. If you do not wish to repeat Panlongcheng's past fate, remember these four words well." He Lingchuan said solemnly, "As for 'proper balance between tension and relaxation,' you understand it more deeply than I do."

He Chunhua did not respond, his face overcast.

In fact, he also thought this way, but needed confirmation from the eldest son.

Recognition from the Great Emperor of Jiuxiu could make him confident he had not erred.

The human realm is already in great chaos, Shen state's situation is dire; the most important thing for him leading Shen state is self-preservation.

"In just the past month, one thousand five hundred and seventeen celestial deities have died in the heavens." He Lingchuan had his own information channels; saying this made He Chunhua suffer a great shock: "Actually, so many have fallen?"

If it were said that over two hundred people died in the human realm, that would be nothing surprising, but human numbers are not just in the hundreds of millions—there are only over sixty thousand celestial deities in heaven! Calculated this way, it equals twenty-five fallen per thousand celestial deities, and this within one month!

How frenzied the state of heaven is!

"Now you know why Naluotian cannot attend to you and Shen state, right?" He Lingchuan said heavily and solemnly, "Heaven has already become a chaotic mess; the upheavals of the past three thousand years, added together, cannot compare to now."

"This is a great opening of slaughter." He Chunhua felt uneasy in his heart, with not a trace of encouragement, "What exactly does the Lingxu Holy Venerable intend to do?"

A smart person hearing this number would know heaven is deliberately indulging, or rather deliberately stirring up slaughter! As the supreme maintainer of heavenly order, why does the Lingxu Holy Venerable listen and allow it?

"The clamor of dissatisfaction with the Lingxu Holy Venerable has already shaken the heavens." He Lingchuan coldly smiled, "But this is not yet the peak. You know, not all celestial deities can obtain a quota to descend to the lower realm, and the so-called 'deities descending,' especially those few righteous deities wishing to descend to the human realm, require an environment of extraordinarily abundant spiritual energy."

"By the way, among the over one thousand five hundred fallen celestial deities, not one was a righteous deity or great celestial deity." Heaven originally had thirty-six righteous deities; ten years ago only sixteen remained, and now still sixteen.

Among these top-tier big shots, they temporarily and barely maintain balance.

Without needing to say it outright, He Chunhua understood at once, his face changing greatly:

"Could it be, He is raising the slaughter knife against His own kind?"

"Isn't that just how humans always act? Celestial deities do the same—what's strange about it?" He Lingchuan said lightly, "The Lingxu Holy Venerable can strike down even His own kind and allies; killing He Yue's son is naturally no problem."