supreme deity

Chapter 804 Supreme Celestial Venerable?

The process of refining the flesh and blood of the Great Sun Heavenly Venerable took a full thirty-seven hours.

This was, after all, the flesh and blood essence of the Great Sun Celestial Venerable before his full recovery. It was very strong, so strong that the Goddess of Despair and Pain was helpless and could only suppress it, slowly wearing it down over hundreds of thousands of years.

However, it wasn't very strong, not reaching the level of the Great Sun God King at his peak.

When Lin Rui raised his Purity and Holy Thunder Tribulation Fire to near-limit levels, his flesh and essence gradually disintegrated under the burning of his divine fire.

The instant he fully refined it, Lin Rui felt that he had gained more control over the various concepts of the Great Sun within the Holy Thunder Tribulation Fire, and was able to achieve a deeper level of mastery.

At this moment, the 7.2 million priests under his command were exhausted, all of them were physically and mentally drained, and many could not hold on any longer and fell to the ground and fell fast asleep.

They actually benefited as well; in assisting the King of Light in refining the false sun, these priests gained a deeper understanding of the laws of light.

It is foreseeable that these priests will advance one or two realms in the coming months.

These people had followed Lin Rui on his expedition to Huangshan Island and had indirectly come into contact with the pseudo-sun source material, giving them an exceptionally deep understanding of light and holy lightning tribulation fire.

Lin Rui continued as usual. After treating his mother's injuries and cultivating her alien body, he specially set aside two days to accompany her to travel around the Ninth Base City and even in that virtual world to relax and have fun.

At this moment, countless nobles and powerful figures from the Earth Federation and Celestial Star eagerly awaited an audience with this newly ascended deity.

Lin Rui, however, ignored them for the time being.

Unfortunately, Li Weiliang didn't recover many memories and didn't remember Lin Rui's childhood. This made Lin Rui feel regretful and increased his anger and hatred towards the gods who 'bestowed' 'divine grace' on Li Weiliang.

Only then did he have some time to meet with many dignitaries from the Earth Federation and to make contact with various forces on Tianji Star.

Lin Rui's act of condescension was extremely effective. Over the past ten days, Lin Rui secured a total of 32 trillion Federal Credits in interest-free loans, 12 'Pure One Altars' sponsored by him, and monthly orders of 7 trillion Federal Credits for his own Forest Group and Ruifang Pharmaceutical. He also brought 120 'Light-class' farm warships, as well as a full set of agricultural equipment and technical assistance to the Church of Light.

Lin Rui also secured nearly 4000 billion federal dollars in donations monthly for several charitable foundations related to the Church of Light.

Based on the cost of 3 yuan for a bottle of milk and 2 yuan for two eggs, the Church of Light can provide 27 billion Holy Communions to its believers every month.

4000 billion is the cost of two 9SS+ level combat robots, but it can provide 27 billion people with a barely enough breakfast every morning.

However, Lin Rui deeply despised the 'Lord of Milk and Eggs'.

He is no longer in danger of dying, so he should now spend more time and energy focusing on improving the quality of his followers.

We must also take this opportunity to reorganize and integrate the Church of the King of Light and the Church of the God of Light, try our best to break down the barriers between the two religions, and revise the doctrines of the Church of Light so that the doctrines of the two religions can completely become His shape.

Lin Rui realized he had to put on airs and raise his standards.

He used to beg others to believe in the light, but now he has to be picky when others want to join the Church of the King of Light.

The Church of Light will continue to offer Holy Communion, and will expand it several times over, but it must distinguish between devout believers and those who drink eggs and milk.

Lin Rui resigned from his positions as chairman of both the Forest Group and Ruifang Group, handing them over to Fang Ranran.

As a dignified deity, the abyss of heaven, it would be beneath his divine dignity to continue serving as chairman of two companies.

However, Lin Rui has no intention of giving up the identity of Lin Hao.

The profits from the Great Song Star Port are enormous. Currently, Ruifang Pharmaceutical and Forest Group's operations there, including pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, machinery, and factories, generate nearly 13000 trillion Federal Credits per month. Moreover, as the new port expands, the profits of the two groups are increasing daily.

As the regent of the Song Dynasty, Lin Rui also maintained government procurement, and the revenue from this area exceeded 8000 billion federal currency.

He is a dignified god, the Abyss of Heaven, yet he lies infiltrating the Abyss of the East as an undercover agent. If this were to become known later, he would likely be ridiculed.

But here, one can earn back 10 9SS+ type combat robots or a Pure One Altar that can accommodate 500 million people in a month. Even if people laugh at one in the future, it doesn't matter.

It should be noted that the transformation of the 'Great Sun Golden Crow's' physical body into the abyss would cost ten trillion federal dollars.

The Earth Federation will contribute 20% of the money, the East Asian Republic will contribute 20%, and the other important states will contribute 40%, thus sharing the research and development results. However, Lin Rui himself will also have to bear 2 trillion federal currency.

He also needs to build more 'Pure One Altars' inside and outside Tianji Star. Currently, each altar with a capacity of 500 million costs 2 trillion Federal Credits. At the same time, there are also the mechanical saintess's body upgrade, the Dyson Artillery Group Project, and the God of Ten Thousand Machines Project. Each project is a money-devouring beast.

Lin Rui's thirst for money and resources is now inexhaustible. He must exhaust all resources to solidify his foundation and accumulate power before transcending the God War.

At the same time, Lin Rui continued to refine the source core essence of the Southern Abyss.

He adopted a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, he gathered the 800 million priests of the underground farm every day for about an hour of ritual; on the other hand, he took time to go to the Eastern Continent Tianyuan Battlefield to kill demons and collect soul power points.

Unfortunately, after the fall of the Southern Abyss, the already conflicted Three Gods of Purgatory completely broke off their mask, greatly reducing the intensity of the Eastern Continent's Heavenly Abyss Battlefield.

The Lord of Darkness harbors deep resentment and fear towards the Lord of Devouring, and hopes that the Celestial Venerable will also become enemies with the Lord of Devouring because of the Battle of Huangshan Island.

The Lord of Devouring, however, was unconcerned. Although he had not yet refined the power of 'Extinction', he was relying on the support of the Eastern Abyss and the Central Abyss to lead his demon army in conquering cities and seizing territory in the Southern Continent.

This Devouring Lord had long since lost interest in Purgatory and was determined to take over the 'Southern Continent'.

However, the Great Sheng Dynasty also had the Dark Lord and the Hopeful Celestial Venerable as reinforcements, and managed to barely hold on and defend the capital city of Liyang.

Therefore, the Purgatory Army on the Eastern Continent's Tianyuan Battlefield side had no fighting spirit and no will to fight.

Seeing the situation was not good, all the high-ranking demons retreated to the depths of the Heavenly Abyss to hide, leaving only hundreds of millions of low-level cannon fodder who, under the strong command of the Lord of Darkness, halted their troops in the Heavenly Abyss to maintain the battle line.

Therefore, Lin Rui rarely saw high-level demons each time he went down, and the soul power points he collected were pitifully few.

However, as Lin Rui continued to refine it, the price of the Battle Spirit Ring decreased, and after two months it had dropped to 110 million Soul Points.

Just as Lin Rui had gathered enough Soul Power Points to exchange for the 'Battle Spirit Ring,' which was the True God's Throne, he received a summons from the Grand Celestial of the Eastern Continent, saying that there was an important matter summoning him and that Lin Hao should go to the Divine Palace to see the God as soon as possible.

Lin Rui hesitated for a moment, but still managed to ride the demonic dragon to the Divine Palace.

There was no way around it; he was now beholden to those who paid him. As the regent of the Great Song Dynasty, with a monthly income of over two trillion federal dollars, he naturally had to obey their orders.

Lin Rui was actually very worried that he would be recognized by the Eastern Abyss during this appearance.

He has now entered the eighth realm. His blood is like mercury, his bones are like diamond, his vital energy is like a raging torrent, and his primordial spirit is like the sea. His soul and physical energy have undergone tremendous changes. The key is that the increasingly rich primordial aura inside and outside his body is something that Lin Rui cannot completely suppress no matter how hard he tries.

Lin Rui could only keep the Imperial Seal of the State with him and try his best to conceal it.

He wasn't actually worried about his safety. Even if he were recognized by the Eastern Abyss, it would just be a battle. Lin Rui was confident that with his current strength, he could escape unscathed even against this 'Lord of Movement and Stillness'. What he truly cared about was the money, and the sales channels that Ruifang Pharmaceutical and Forest Group had worked so hard to build.

If something goes wrong at Xinggang, it will significantly delay his preparations for war.

When Lin Rui arrived at the Divine Palace, he saw that Wu Xiaoqiu, the first Divine Envoy of the Great Song Dynasty, Yu Huaxuan, the second Divine Envoy, Lin Zhenghua, the candidate for the third Divine Envoy who was on duty at the Divine Envoy Bureau this month, and his master Luo Wangshu had all gathered here, but the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty was missing.

Lin Rui's gaze met Luo Wangshu's for a moment, and he saw a hint of surprise and doubt in his master's eyes.

Clearly, their master was also completely unaware of the purpose behind the Eastern Abyss summoning them.

Lin Rui immediately became solemn, lowered his brows and bowed respectfully to the curtain above.

When he came in, he had already sensed the powerful aura of the Eastern Abyss behind the curtain.

This 'Lord of Movement and Stillness' had already awakened from his divine slumber before Lin Rui arrived.

but--

Lin Rui narrowed his eyes, sensing that something was off about the spiritual energy emanating from this person from the Eastern Abyss.

The abyssal aura that should have stretched across the sky like a pillar was now strangely divided into yin and yang.

Two extreme forces are clashing, battling, and intertwining behind the curtain, forming a dark vortex.

The ambergris in the shrine was particularly strong today, but Lin Rui noticed a strange fragrance hidden within it.

The fragrance was delicate and refreshing, rich and intoxicating; Lin Rui felt as if he had smelled it somewhere before.

His pupils then contracted as he recalled the day he went with his parents to see the Throne of Truth.

At the time, he was in a spirit form when he paid homage, but he still smelled the fragrance emanating from the remains of the Supreme Celestial Venerable, which was engraved in his bones and could not be forgotten.

But how could the fragrance of the Supreme Celestial Venerable appear on the body of the Eastern Abyss?
Just as Lin Rui was secretly surprised and suspicious, the one from the Eastern Abyss was also watching him with divine eyes from behind the curtain.

The deity seemed unable to discern anything, and after a moment withdrew his gaze.

At this moment, the Grand Astrologer of the Eastern Continent turned around with a heavy expression and said in an extremely cold tone: "Do you all know that Jiang Jianming has defected today? Just an hour ago, the Rebel Emperor led his troops, totaling 750 million men, into Purgatory through the Heavenly Abyss Passage."

Upon hearing this, the First Divine Envoy and the others present immediately changed their expressions.

Jiang Jianming is the current emperor of the Great Song Dynasty! This emperor of the Great Song Dynasty has actually defected to hell.

Lin Rui and Luo Wangshu were not surprised at all upon hearing this.

Lin Rui previously held simultaneous command of the Imperial City Guard of the Great Song Dynasty, the Federal Security Bureau, and the Church of Light. He already had extensive information channels and numerous informants. Now, as a deity, his spiritual senses have begun to cover the entire world, allowing him to uncover many secrets.

He knew that the Eastern Abyss had long intended to take action against the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, but the previous war between the Eastern Continent and the Purgatory was so intense that the Grand Astrologer of the Eastern Continent was hesitant to act rashly.

With the fall of the Southern Abyss and the clash between the three gods of Purgatory, the Eastern Continent is no longer able to attack. This presents the perfect opportunity for the Eastern Continent to resolve this major threat.

The Song emperor was quite astute; if he didn't escape, the Grand Astrologer of the Eastern Continent could easily put him to death.

In addition, Lin Rui also knew that the emperor's escape might be related to another god who was about to appear in Purgatory.

After the Devourer Lord establishes himself and rebels against Purgatory, the Dark Lord will likely support a god among the many immortals in Purgatory to replace the godhood left behind by the Devourer Lord.

Although Lin Rui and Luo Wangshu had expected this, they still showed surprise on their faces.

"How dare you, you traitor!" Wu Xiaoqiu's hair and beard bristled, his body surging with true energy, emitting a deep, thunderous roar. "Your Highness, Divine Master, I am willing to lead the Divine Guard and all my troops to pursue and annihilate this rebellious emperor! I will surely present this wicked head to the divine throne!"

With his sleeves fluttering, Yu Huaxuan's face was equally grim: "Your Highness! The Rebellious Emperor has been blessed with divine grace for over 6,700 years, and his reign has lasted for 16 generations, yet he is still not satisfied and has committed this act of rebellion against Heaven and the Way!"

Your Highness, I hereby proclaim to the world that, effective immediately, the Jiang clan's royal status is stripped, their ancestral temples destroyed, and their mausoleums demolished! I am willing to lead the armies of the Heavenly Realm as the vanguard, to quell the rebellion in this hellish realm, and to avenge the shame of the Divine Court!

Luo Wangshu and Lin Zhenghua did not speak, but one of them moved her plain white wide sleeves without wind, and a wisp of sword energy condensed into a three-foot-long cold blade at the bottom of her sleeve, making her eyes look murderous; the other's dragon-slaying knife at her waist suddenly leaped out half a foot, and the dragon pattern on the blade flowed like a living thing under the candlelight, and actually made the sound of dragon roar and tiger howl.

"enough."

The Grand Astrologer of Dongzhou flicked his sleeves and let out a cold shout, causing the gilded dome to tremble violently: "The rebellious emperor will be dealt with by the gods and this department. You need not say anything more. I summoned you here so that after the rebellious emperor's defection, you can work together to maintain the military and political order of Dongzhou."

"Remember this! From this day forward, the Eastern Continent's court must be as firm as a rock in the North Mountain, and all the armies of the realm must follow the example of the Southern Sea's fixed needle, preventing any changes, so as to protect the Eastern Continent's destiny from decline. You may suppress rebellions, but you must not shake the foundation of the nation in the slightest."

His words carried a strong warning: "Although the three gods of Purgatory are too busy to attend to the Eastern Continent at this time, the Southern Abyss collapsed two months ago, the conflict among the gods is intensifying, and you should also have heard about the news of the extraterrestrial demons beyond the Heavenly Curtain. At this time of great change, our Eastern Continent must remain calm and prioritize stability."

The divine messengers present exchanged glances upon hearing this, each harboring strange emotions, yet none of them showed on their faces.

First Divine Envoy Wu Xiaoqiu bowed again and asked, "Your Highness, since the Rebel Emperor has betrayed us and entered Purgatory, should the court choose a virtuous and capable successor from the Jiang family? Or should a new dynasty be established elsewhere?"

The Grand Astrologer of Dongzhou glanced intently at the First Divine Envoy, then chuckled, "Since we intend to calm things down, then naturally everything will remain as before! Lin Hao will continue to oversee the country."

With the battle for transcendence imminent, neither he nor the God intended to be distracted by the internal political situation and the people's livelihood in Dongzhou.

However, the Grand Astrologer of Dongzhou then glanced at Lin Rui and said, "From this day forward, you are hereby promoted from Duke of Zhenguo to 'King of Dependence,' and you will be in charge of the Imperial Seal and oversee the country on behalf of Heaven! Your Highness, King of Dependence, you must remember your promise: within six months, you must double the tax revenue of Starport! At the same time, you will also be responsible for purchasing some supplies on behalf of the gods. I will give you a list later."

A flush instantly appeared on Lin Rui's face, and he bowed deeply, seemingly overwhelmed with excitement: "Your subject will obey the divine command!"

He was indeed very happy. Without the emperor's restraint, his power as regent had greatly increased, and Lin Rui was confident that he could more than double his income within three months.

At this moment, the First Divine Envoy Wu Xiaoqiu's face was extremely ugly. He almost lost control of his emotions in front of the gods, causing his aura to fluctuate violently.

At this moment, the Grand Astrologer of Dongzhou clapped his hands again: "The second reason I summoned you here is for her."

As the Grand Astrologer applauded, the sandalwood side door of the temple slid open silently, and at that moment, fine specks of stardust suddenly floated in the air.

A woman wearing a gilded cloud-patterned robe walked out from the side door.

When Lin Rui clearly saw the woman's figure and face, his pupils contracted sharply.

This woman's face was so beautiful that it eclipsed even the celestial maidens in the temple murals, yet her right cheek was covered in dark gold dragon scales.
—That face was exactly the same as the Supreme Celestial Venerable he had glimpsed when he was comprehending the Abyss Divine Stele, even the faint golden divine mark between her eyebrows was exactly the same.

And her silver hair looked like a starry river bathed in moonlight.

(End of this chapter)