Divine light blazed, illuminating the firmament.
Three terrifying figures soared from afar.
They made no attempt to conceal their auras, descending with overwhelming pressure and an air of absolute dominance.
One was a white elephant, possessing eight tusks, standing a hundred meters tall. Its entire body was pure white, without a single blemish. Its thick limbs were covered in dragon scales, resembling colossal pillars. Its landing caused the earth to shake and tremble, exuding an immense ferocity.
Another was an ancient tree, suspended in mid-air, its branches and leaves spreading across the sky like a vast canopy. Countless roots writhed like coiling dragons, emitting rumbling sounds.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas also recorded this tree: "There is a tree, named Emperor's Residence, whose leaves resemble peppercorns, with red fruits that can ward off evil."
This was an ancient divine tree with a profound origin. It was unexpected that it, too, had been tainted by human greed.
The third was a woman, clad in a red robe, with a voluptuous figure and breathtaking beauty.
However, her face was perpetually sour, as if everyone owed her a fortune.
Yet, she was the strongest among the three deities. Without making any move, simply standing there, the void around her rippled with black waves, a truly fearsome sight.
"What is this? The inheritance of cultivation techniques left by the Human Saint Emperor!"
The white elephant was the first to exclaim, its eyes widening like water basins, its jaw almost dropping to the ground.
The Emperor's Residence tree did not speak, but its branches and leaves trembled violently, betraying its excitement.
The red-robed woman's eyes gleamed. Her perpetually sour face, unchanged for tens of thousands of years, showed an unprecedented expression of ecstasy, her inner greed laid bare.
At this moment, these three deities were incredibly thrilled, almost bursting into laughter.
Dozens of divine abilities and techniques, along with the Five-Colored Divine Light Art, the Nine Revolutions Mystic Technique, and the Three Heads and Six Arms, three top-tier cultivation methods – such an opportunity was enough to make one laugh in their sleep.
"Master, this is where I discovered it..."
The bald monk fawned over the white elephant, seeking credit. He pointed to his wounds and cried out in pain, intending to use the white elephant's power to exact revenge and kill Zhang Ye and Li Shiying.
The other two chosen disciples also hurried to their respective deities to claim credit, believing that this merit would surely earn them unimaginable rewards.
The other cultivators watched with immense envy and jealousy. This immense opportunity was destined to elude them.
They wisely decided to leave, to distance themselves from the impending trouble.
However, misfortune struck suddenly.
The white elephant stomped down, its immense power surging like a tidal wave, instantly crushing these individuals into pulp. Limbs and scattered blood splattered everywhere.
Following that, the countless roots of the Emperor's Residence tree descended from the sky, absorbing the blood and flesh scattered on the ground. In an instant, the living beings were reduced to mere piles of white bones.
The bald monk and the other two chosen disciples were terrified, one even wetting his pants.
They never imagined that these deities, usually so amiable, would be so brutal, killing people as easily as swatting flies.
The red-robed woman did not act, but her malevolent gaze swept over the three surviving chosen disciples, as if intending to silence them all.
After all, the divine abilities and techniques on the altar were too astonishing. Even the God King would covet them upon learning of it. For safety's sake, the fewer people who knew, the better; ideally, no information should leak out.
However, as she was not confident in her ability to eliminate the white elephant and the Emperor's Residence tree simultaneously, she reconsidered and refrained from taking action.
The chosen disciple belonging to the red-robed woman began to question his existence.
Did his deity intend to kill him as well just moments ago?
His gaze dimmed, his spirit broken. He collapsed to the ground, finally realizing that in the eyes of the deities, he was nothing.
"Do you have any humanity?"
Li Shiying, witnessing the bloody scene, angrily questioned the three gods.
Although she held no affection for these cultivators, she was still shocked by how cold-blooded these so-called deities were, casually taking lives at their whim.
"Humanity? Heh, we are gods."
The red-robed woman spoke, glancing condescendingly at Li Shiying. "In our eyes, you are no different from ants."
The white elephant roared with laughter. "After eliminating these two eyesores, we'll discuss how to divide the cultivation techniques on the altar."
Just as it was about to make a move, Zhang Ye shouted, "How dare you? If you know what's good for you, scram quickly, or you'll be finished."
The white elephant sneered, "Little Daoist, you're quite brave to speak to me like that. Very well, I will crush every bone in your body bit by bit, letting you die in endless agony."
Zhang Ye spat and decisively formed hand seals, activating the most powerful technique of Longhu Mountain: "Fragrant incense fills the universe, burning pure incense to pierce the heavenly gate. The golden bird soars like a cloud arrow, the jade rabbit's radiance like a chariot wheel. Zhang Ye, an unworthy disciple of Longhu Mountain, implores the Old Heavenly Master to descend and vanquish evil!"
At this moment, if he could only summon the Old Heavenly Master Ji Mo, he could deal with these three scumbags.
The red-robed woman laughed. "Summoning spell? Your Longhu Mountain's Heavenly Masters have all perished in the starry wars. Who are you summoning? You can shout until your throat is raw, but not a single ghost will appear."
The white elephant bared its teeth, looking at Zhang Ye as if he were an idiot.
"Strange, perhaps my posture is wrong. I summoned the Old Heavenly Master like this last time."
Zhang Ye was dumbfounded and quickly changed his hand seals, continuing to recite the summoning incantation.
"Can you do it?"
Seeing Zhang Ye's summoning spell fail, Li Shiying resorted to a cruder method. Cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, she let out a high-pitched cry: "Great God, help me..."
This action only drew the mockery of the three deities, and even the Emperor's Residence tree emitted a "jiejiejie" of derision.
Ji Mo, who was busy mining elsewhere, suddenly sneezed, rubbed his nose, and showed no other reaction.
The summoning spell of Longhu Mountain naturally couldn't move him, and Li Shiying's distant plea could not be heard.
However, the Investiture of the Gods was reliable. It had a mystical connection with Zhang Ye and Li Shiying. It immediately emerged from the Moon God Ring on its own, alerting Ji Mo and indicating his location.
"Oh, you dare to touch my people? You're tired of living."
Instantly, Ji Mo and Anubis blurred into afterimages and vanished from their positions, heading to the rescue.
Zhang Ye and Li Shiying's desperate pleas, to the three deities, were like the performance of clowns, but they bought precious time.
"Hmph, you mere clowns, stop embarrassing yourselves and die."
The white elephant finally felt it had played enough. Its eyes glinted with ferocity as it prepared to strike the killing blow.
Its body surged with divine light, its long trunk glowing. It moved like lightning towards Zhang Ye and Li Shiying, intending to tear them to shreds.
And at this very moment, a whistling sound of air being rent apart echoed. A long, slender dachshund, entirely golden in color, was hurled with unimaginable speed.
Boom!
Anubis was thrown as a human shield, blocking the fatal blow for Zhang Ye and Li Shiying.
"The Old Heavenly Master has finally descended," Zhang Ye said with immense relief.
Li Shiying's face was filled with joy. "I knew it, the Great God would definitely come to save me."
Ji Mo's figure appeared. He looked up and surveyed the three deities before him, his gaze settling on the white elephant. His mouth watered, almost to the point of drooling on the spot.
"Very good, how do you wish to die... be cooked..."