Chapter 705 - 704: Tamamo-no-Mae, Playing it Cool

Speaking of power, the newcomer was indeed much stronger than Lilith and Gabriel.

From Li Jing’s perspective,

The value displayed on his health bar is 23895.

This health bar represents the standard level of the Late Sixteenth Realm.

His Essence Source shows a value of two billion.

This Essence Source value,

Is enough to make Li Jing drool.

He was getting ideas...

Given Lilith and Gabriel’s previous descriptions of the Divine Domain of the X Clan,

This person in front of their eyes was undoubtedly a top-level figure in the Divine Domain of the X Clan.

Moreover,

Her image clearly points to one of the few identities that Li Jing was familiar with from the mythology of the Island Nation, the nine-tailed fox demon, Yulian.

Seeing her, Li Jing finally wrapped his head around it.

Yulian,

Is undoubtedly a demon.

In the mythology of the Island Nation, she is also one of the famous Great Demons.

Strictly speaking,

She has no connection with the gods at all.

However, when he thought deeply,

In the Divine Domain of the X Clan, which claims to have eight million gods, only a few are named and known, while the rest are all unknown characters.

On second thought,

All the powers possessed by the gods in Eastern mythology are matched in the mythology of the Island Nation.

However, most of these powers are held by various demons.

In the Island Nation,

There are indeed many demons, monsters, ghosts, and beasts worshipped by the people for protection.

Isn’t it appropriate to regard these demons, monsters, ghosts, and beasts as gods?

Thinking this way, the Divine Domain of the X Clan seems to have been diluting the definition of godhood all along...

Looking again at Yulian, who strode forward with graceful bare feet,

Yes, she is one of the famed three Great Demons from the myths of the Island Nation, but that’s just one interpretation of her identity.

There is also a saying that she is the head of the Divine Domain, a reincarnation of the god Amaterasu.

This way,

She can indeed be regarded as a god,

And a high-ranking one at that...

While Li Jing was analyzing the Divine Domain’s so-called eight million gods, Yulian came out and landed near him.

After taking a look at Li Jing, Lilith, and Gabriel, her final gaze fell on Li Jing and she nodded slightly.

"Yulian greets the World Watcher."

Li Jing was momentarily silent before pulling out a stool and setting it down.

"If you have something to say, take a seat."

Yulian heard and nodded slightly, stepping forward to sit down.

Li Jing sat down as well.

Seeing that the two settled down without any signs of conflict, Gabriel looked awkward and lowly said to Lilith.

"Well, she should be an enemy. She found us so quickly and could confirm our identities. The Divine Domain must have planned this, and she clearly came prepared. Why is our master..."

Lilith blinked and thoughtfully said.

"There is an old saying in the Eastern World, ’A guest is a guest.’ In Eastern culture, there is also the saying ’do not kill the messenger.’ Clearly, Yulian has come as a messenger, it’s only natural for the master not to harm her."

With that, she pulled the shorter Gabriel and whispered.

"Don’t worry about it, that’s not our concern. With our master here, even if Yulian were capable of moving heaven and earth, she would not dare to act rashly. Instead, let’s sit down. Whatever our master has brought out, even if it’s just snacks or tea, they won’t be simple."

Gabriel thought about it and felt that with Li Jing, Yulian wouldn’t be able to make any waves. Together with Lilith, they sat down on the other side of the long table.

Meanwhile,

Li Jing, having settled down, took a moment to size up Yulian.

This one,

Is a "standard" nine-tailed fox demon.

But its exposed bestial features are nothing more than its nine tails. Unlike the common pure white tails of nine-tailed foxes, her tail is a golden color.

Li Jing did not know the meaning behind this,

But it does correspond to her image in the mythology of Island Nation of having a white face and golden hair.

While Li Jing looked at Yulian, she was also studying him.

However, no matter how she looked at him, Yulian could not fathom his true strength.

This,

Was a reflection of the large gap in power between them.

Setting aside the unfathomable perception caused by a difference in power, no matter how Yulian looked at Li Jing, he appeared as a standard human.

For a moment,

Some of the memories that Yulian had long forgotten in her mind showed signs of revival.

Different from Lilith and Gabriel, who had only heard of it,

She was once a being living in the Upper Three Realms. She had witnessed a group of supposedly insignificant human cultivators pounding the high and mighty Eastern gods, completely overturning the existing structure of the Upper Three Realms.

The person in front of her,

Is undoubtedly a being that can be compared to those "insignificant humans" back then.

With such power,

It makes sense that he, as a human, can become the World Watcher...

She let out a light breath and Yulian began to speak.

"Respected World Watcher, I came here to represent the god of the Divine Domain of the X Clan, Amaterasu, to request a ceasefire. We are willing to surrender, and we plead with you..."

Before she finished speaking, Li Jing shook his head.

"A ceasefire is impossible. The Divine Domain of the X Clan must pay a price."

With that, he chuckled.

"As for why, someone like you should know very well. I came from the Heavenly X Divine Domain, and you lot have guessed something. Clinging to hope is very foolish."

Yulian heard this and fell silent, then stood up.

"Understood."

?

Li Jing sent out a question.

No way!

This one...

Is she planning on leaving?

Shouldn’t she try to convince him a bit?

What happened to her preparedness?

Watching as Yulian slightly bowed in his direction, giving an impression that she was just about to leave, Li Jing spoke up in confusion.

"You...aren’t you going to try to convince me?"

Yulian pursed her lips and spoke softly.

"As the respected World Watcher said, the Divine Domain of the X Clan has been hoping for the best in dealing with the invasion. Unfortunately, you clearly already know enough to destroy the Divine Domain of the X Clan while also not enough to be pacified. As a World Watcher, your duty is to uphold order and represent the will of the Heavenly Path. Personally, I do not believe that I can convince you who has already seen through everything, and the will of the Heavenly Path will not allow you to be convinced."

Hearing Yulian’s words, Li Jing frowned.

Yulian’s words,

Are quite rational.

He sees things quite clearly.

But no matter how you look at it, this guy is just slacking off.

It might be hard to convince him to spare X-Jin Divine Realm, but why not at least try to negotiate a bit of leniency?

As a peace envoy, Tamamo no Mae had no plans in mind, giving up after a quick conversation, Isn’t this the very definition of not caring?

Li Jing observed the peculiar Tamamo no Mae and spoke up.

"You don’t seem to care if the X-Jin Divine Realm gets destroyed."

Upon hearing this, Tamamo no Mae pursed her lips and replied,

"Honorable World Watcher, as you can see, I’m a Monster, not a God. The affairs of the Divine Realm have little to do with me. For me, the X-Jin Divine Realm is nothing more than a shelter."

With that, she continued.

"In fact, if Amaterasu hadn’t initially persuaded me with various promises, I would have had no reason to leave the Upper Three Realms. Although the decision to leave the Upper Three Realms some years later saved me from a potential disaster, Amaterasu didn’t fulfill most of her promised conditions."

"..."

Li Jing.

Actually.

He had just speculated that Tamamo no Mae’s indifference might be a strategy of ’feigned retreat.’

But now it seems,

This guy really couldn’t care less.

What’s worse, is,

She clearly expressed her dissatisfaction with the X-Jin Divine Realm and the god emperor, Amaterasu.

This...

Actually had Li Jing at a loss for words.

The X-Jin Divine Realm was able to identify his landing location in such a short time, and even correctly identify his identity and send an "envoy". This clearly wasn’t just a well-prepared move, but a considerable effort.

But this envoy...

Sending an envoy who strongly disagrees with the X-Jin Divine Realm and doesn’t feel any sense of belonging to negotiate peace... Did the X-Jin Divine Realm run out of people?

As if aware of Li Jing’s thoughts, Tamamo no Mae explained further.

"Perhaps you don’t know, Watcher, but as soon as you launched an attack on the X-Jin Divine Realm and destroyed all their preparations for war, the upper echelons of X-Jin Divine Realm were in complete chaos. Firstly, considering their overall strength, X-Jin Divine Realm wouldn’t even be able to tie the shoelaces of the X-Jin Divine Realm that was invaded, let alone resist the invasion. Secondly, some people in the X-Jin Divine Realm are guilty, as an invasion was inevitable and the X-Jin Divine Realm was the only participant in the incident. It was expected that you could learn something from the X-Jin Divine Realm."

After her explanation, Tamamo no Mae continued,

"Therefore, the upper echelons, including Amaterasu, fled long ago."

"..."

Li Jing.

Not just him,

Upon hearing Tamamo no Mae’s words, Lillith and Gabriel from the other side were also shocked.

This situation was beyond comprehension.

The X-Jin Divine Realm is guilty,

That’s understandable.

They should be guilty.

But the high-ranking members, including the God Emperor, fled from the Divine Realm straight away, this is too much...

Oh my goodness!

This is beyond expectations!

Granted,

The X-Jin God Clan originally came from the Upper Three Realms, and this Divine Realm called Gaotianyuan was created afterward.

But no matter how you see it, the Divine Realm is their root.

Where could they go after leaving the Divine Realm?

More importantly,

If the believers were to know that they can abandon the Divine Realm, wouldn’t their faith collapse in an instant?

A collapse in faith.

For gods who rely heavily on faith from the earth, it will be extremely deadly. As a result, they will lose the vast majority of their power brought by their divine status and divine power, leaving only the power that increases over time as they exist as gods.

This cannot be considered as losing everything.

The unique talents of the god clan mean that they still have some strength left.

But without divine status and divine power, can they still be considered gods?

Gabriel and Lilith stared in shock.

Li Jing raised his hand to touch his brows, saying,

"According to you, the X Shrine Divine Domain lost even the God King, who is left to resist...?"

"What fled were after all only a part of those whose guilty consciences and higher-ranking individuals were involved. Although the X Shrine Divine Domain’s claim of having eight million gods is exaggerated, there is still a considerable overall number. When facing invasion, at least they know to resist."

Yulian described, then shrugged.

"It’s just that most of them probably didn’t know that the God King had actually run away long ago, leaving only an avatar in charge to give the illusion of the X Shrine God Clan putting up resistance, in order to maintain faith and buy time for the fleeing high-ranking individuals."

Hearing Yulian describe as such, Li Jing fell silent, then let out a strange sound.

"Since you know so much about the inside story, why...?"

"Even if the X’s Shrine Divine Domain isn’t up to much, it’s currently where I am staying. Although I can’t say I like it here very much, it’s one of the few places in the world that can accommodate me. If it was ruined, it would be quite painful for me."

Yulian replied, reaching for a golden fox tail behind her to play with, then added.

"As a Watcher, you are an easterner and should not be unfamiliar with the natural abilities inherent in fox demons. I, as a fox demon, differ from ordinary fox demons in that I was born with a strong natural charm, which becomes uncontrollable and grows stronger as my strength increases, and occasionally it gets completely out of control."

"When I can subjectively suppress it, it’s manageable, but when it’s completely out of control, neither I nor beings below Thirteen Realm can resist it, especially males. Regardless of whether I wish it or not, they will compete to possess me and to please me."

Having finished her words, Yulian continued without thinking to leave, sitting down to take a piece of pastry to eat.

"In some ways, my existence is a kind of disaster. Even a standard divine domain cannot accommodate me, after all, not even I, myself know when my talent will lose control and what impact it will have."

Before her words had finished, Gabriel blinked, turning to look at Lilith beside him.

"Although it sounds ridiculous, she seems to be more formidable than you, who once caused countless disasters."

Upon hearing this, Lilith displayed a somewhat unconvinced expression.

But just sitting there, Yulian looked like a disaster waiting to happen, causing her to drop her head down in defeat.

"Whether it’s monster or humans, when beings from the Eastern World becoming powerful enough, they have the ability to rival the gods, the key being the capability for self-cultivation. In contrast, although gods have the gift of growing with the passage of time, it is relatively slow. The rest of the means for improvement are nothing more than gaining faith from the earth and swallowing the power of other gods. In general, the God Clan relies heavily on external factors, while the humans in the cultivation system of the Eastern World rely wholly on themselves. Under this structure, the God Clan has a very obvious early advantage, but is totally outmatched in the late stage."

Over here.

After hearing Yulian talk about her extraordinary talent, Li Jing got surprised.

Fox demon.

He was, of course, familiar.

At the very least, he had a fox demon companion.

Back when his realm was not very high.

Didn’t Yulian almost lose control just because of an unintentional action?

But for a fox demon’s natural abilities to grow into a "moving disaster" like Yulian’s, it is definitely not something that can be achieved simply by improving one’s realm.

Up to now.

Yulian’s actual realm was not low, having reached the Thirteen Frontier.

She was a fox demon specializing in charm.

However, with Yulian.

As her realm improved, her charming ability became stronger, but her ability to control it also increased.

In fact.

Yulian, who had achieved the Thirteen Frontier, had the ability to actively shut down her originally uncontrollable natural charm, to avoid affecting those around her.

Obviously.

According to Yulian’s account, her talent as a fox demon was not only strong but also unique, different from other fox demons.

Internally marveling, Li Jing scrutinised Yulian, who was nibbling at her pastry.

"Regarding you, there are many legends spread on Earth. In one of them, it was said that before you went to X Shrine, you were the demon queen So Dakki who caused chaos in the entire Shang Zhou period. Is this true?"

Meeting his query, Yulian blinked.

"It was me, or to be precise... it was my one tail."