Chapter 694: The Secret of the Heavenly Gods

Tang Luo grabbed the Sage's Palace, not even bothering to look at those panicked gods.

His gaze swept over the surroundings, stopping at the Heavenly Might God Lord's divine pillar.

Perhaps because of his swordsmanship, the top of Heavenly Might's divine pillar was much narrower.

Overall, it even gave off a slightly sharp feeling.

Like a giant sword piercing straight into the heavens.

"Not bad." Tang Luo extended his other hand toward the divine pillar and grabbed it.

With a tremor, the massive heavenly pillar shattered, large amounts of rubble falling into the sea, stirring up thousand-layer waves, upon which the gods and divine soldiers could not even stand on the trembling divine pillars.

They too fell into the sea.

"Zhu Bajie, Xiao Bailong, you go inside to interrogate. While you ask, we'll keep moving." Tang Luo said.

"Yes, Master!"

Zhu Bajie carried the unconscious Heavenly Might God Lord flying into the Sage's Palace area, with En Yu Lie closely following.

The two threw the Heavenly Might God Lord forward, letting him hover in midair: "Who is this? You all saw him!"

In the manner of a bully blocking the road.

As for Tang Luo, he had already flown up into the high sky, heading toward the Nine Abyssal Lands.

On both sides, one side was the massive "Sage Mountain Peak," the other was the divine pillars.

The Sage's Palace had already adjusted to the correct direction, and many gods had already landed.

Zhu Bajie and the others were the same, though they still had the Heavenly Howling Dog, none of them entered the palace, merely staying on the outskirts.

Like the other gods' palaces, the Sage's Palace also had sufficient crystal ore forming a weak domain.

Zhu Bajie and the others certainly wouldn't make the mistake of walking into a trap, going in only to be held down and beaten—what then?

With a hostage in hand, outside they could do as they pleased.

"Heavenly Marshal Tianpeng?"

"Pure Altar Envoy!"

Several elderly-looking gods and sages recognized Zhu Bajie.

"Oh, you know this humble monk?" Zhu Bajie laughed, "Then it couldn't be better."

Those few gods, upon seeing Zhu Bajie's smile, trembled.

Not because of Zhu Bajie, but because they recalled that blood-clothed child who had toyed with them in the palm of his hand.

That bald little monk—could he not be the current Zhu Bajie's master, the Fighting Victory Buddha Tang Xuanzang?

That was indeed an extremely ferocious monk!

"I have some matters I wish to discuss with all of you in depth and detail." Zhu Bajie said, "What do you think?"

"Hmph, if the Bodhisattva has anything to ask, speak quickly, we will naturally inform you." A god readily agreed on the spot.

The Bodhisattva referred to in his words was naturally Zhu Bajie.

The Pure Altar Envoy actually belongs to the Bodhisattva fruit position, of course, a normal Bodhisattva, not the "Great Bodhisattva" of the Five Great Bodhisattvas—it is not of the same rank.

In the sky, Tang Luo leisurely made his way toward the Nine Abyssal Lands.

After a while, Zhu Bajie and En Yu Lie flew out of the Sage's Palace simultaneously, still carrying the unconscious Heavenly Might God Lord.

Beside them was also the Heavenly Howling Dog.

"Master, we've already figured out what's going on." En Yu Lie said.

"Some of the gods are qi refiners from the Mountain-Sea Realm, altered by the crystal ore." Zhu Bajie and En Yu Lie spoke in turn, explaining everything.

After the Mountain-Sea Realm shattered, forming this world, large numbers of qi refiners were injured here.

They slowly rested and recuperated.

Part of them, while healing, searched and discovered the existence of the crystal ore.

This included Wen Shu and Gou Chen.

At first, just like Tang Luo and the others, the qi refiners did not believe the crystal ore had any effect on them.

Places with crystal ore were listed by them as "forbidden zones."

Until one battle, when an injured qi refiner accidentally fell into the crystal ore zone.

Originally injured, he could not leave, forced to long-term reside here, with enemies still guarding outside.

With the passage of time, that qi refiner discovered he was undergoing changes.

Various spells and divine abilities gradually became unusable, his true essence and spiritual power seemingly transforming into another kind of power.

While continuously weakening, his body began to grow strong, yet remained utterly powerless, extremely strange.

Countless times, cultivators nearly died, but he did not die, ultimately enduring, bit by bit becoming strong—another kind of strength.

A perfect body, incredibly powerful attack power, and a single method.

This is the embryonic form of the gods.

Throughout the long ages, staying within the influence of the crystal ore, continuously weakening, if one could not die and endure, they could walk another path.

The news spread, and all cultivators were utterly astonished.

After all, the Mountain-Sea Realm had never before had such a miraculous ore.

The situation gradually changed.

Initially, the "gods" (later self-proclaimed) were naturally no match for cultivators; qi refiners had various methods—would it not be simple to deal with gods whose methods were singular?

But one must know, not all cultivators can improve their cultivation day after day.

The path of many cultivators has an end.

If this path fails, then what about another?

Moreover, there are powerful cultivators whose lifespan is nearly exhausted, who suffered heavy injuries in the Mountain-Sea Realm's shattering, did not die, and whose recovery is also extremely difficult—their gaze inevitably fell upon the crystal ore.

Another path lies before you—will you take it?

This includes Wen Shu and Gou Chen.

The saying "When the sky falls, a tall person props it up" is not entirely accurate when applied to the shattering of the Mountain and Sea Realm, but it holds about eighty percent truth.

Tang Luo, Yang Jian, Nezha, Wen Shu, Gou Chen, and many other great beings have suffered severe injuries.

Even in a world abundant with heavenly and earthly qi, recovery would still require a long span of time.

If it were a world devoid of heavenly and earthly qi, refer to the cases of Nezha, the Bull Demon King, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Kui Mu Lang.

Even Yang Jian, with the aid of the Supreme Old Lord, was not otherwise than slowly refining day after day, year after year, within the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

The true day of emerging from the furnace remains far off.

Tang Luo relied on the Merit Jade Lotus and the transmigration through the divine demon game to recover, and even advance further.

Others do not possess such fortunate conditions.

Making certain choices can also be understood.

When qi cultivators approach the end of their lifespan and can no longer progress, taking another path and growing increasingly strong thereafter.

Naturally, the situation changes, and more and more qi cultivators begin to choose the "Heavenly God" path.

Everyone gradually discovers that heavenly gods have many advantages over qi cultivators.

First, their lifespan is much longer, as long as sufficient crystal ore exists for them to absorb and generate so-called "divine power," they can remain in peak condition and live on.

Second, there are no restrictions.

No matter your former cultivation level, if you can survive the transformation stage, consuming crystal ore thereafter allows continuous growth and ever-increasing strength.

This path, compared to the hardships and perils of cultivation, is like a broad, smooth highway.

Even if one's talent and comprehension are low, it merely affects efficiency—it will not be like cultivation, where the path ahead is blocked and no progress can be made.

The number of qi cultivators has greatly decreased, while heavenly gods continue to increase.

And the demon clan of this world, naturally, has also noticed this situation; indeed, from external conditions, they are actually more suited for transformation than qi cultivators.

However, the problem lies in the fact that after experimentation, the demon clan discovered they cannot take another path.

The silent transformation of crystal ore is effective only for humans.

Moreover, after becoming heavenly gods, qi cultivators, compared to their former pure and desireless state, develop various desires, become "emotionally rich," "emotionally intense," and surpass ordinary people in this regard.

How could they tolerate the demon clan laying hands on their precious crystal ore?

The demon clan was defeated and retreated to the Nine Underworlds; the lineage of qi cultivation was basically severed, leaving only a small number of qi cultivators.

In the end, it formed the current situation where heavenly gods rule the mortal realm.

As for why heavenly gods conscript mortals to mine crystal ore,

there is also a reason for this.

Having passed the initial trial, heavenly gods do not mean they can rest easy afterward; before reaching a certain level of strength, they still experience some weakening.

However, this weakening is not significant.

Only upon reaching the "God General" realm, or in other words, being completely unaffected, do they qualify to compete for the position of God General.

The children of heavenly gods possess the same traits as their parents and do not need to first become cultivators before transforming into heavenly gods.

Furthermore, heavenly gods of the God King level can infuse divine power to alter mortal bodies.

This alteration takes two forms: one is a simple strengthening of the physique, known as a divine envoy.

The other is an internal-to-external complete transformation, turning mortals into heavenly gods.

The hope of the divine slaves lies in the latter.