Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 178 An Earth-Shattering Battle! The Four Heavenly Kings Appear!
——Boom!!!!!!
Accompanied by Lu Chen's flamboyant roar!

Above the sky.

The plague spread in the five directions, making the divine power even greater.

—Crackling, booming!

Lightning flashed amidst the colliding clouds, moving like dragons and snakes!

"Ow!!!!"

In the mass grave, the seventh-rank ghost king broke out of the ground once again, its ferocious head roaring to the sky. It seemed fierce and mad, but its whole body was trembling, clearly facing a great enemy.

"Hmph, you little beast, how dare you be so arrogant!!"

The divine sound descended from the heavens, causing countless mortals to experience a ringing in their ears, and people on the streets covered their ears.

A single divine word is already a burden that mortals can hardly bear.

"Watch as I shatter your meager ghost domain!"

Li Qi, the southern plague messenger, was the first to go into battle.

Upon seeing this, Lu Chen immediately activated the Plague Emperor Banner to retreat in order to avoid being affected by the supernatural power, and shouted, "Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother!"

"It's nothing!" Li Qi replied casually.

……

"Wait, what did he call that plague envoy?"

Below, Young Master Wang was suddenly jolted awake from his daze, only to be even more shocked.

"He called me... Senior Brother?"

Lord Huang's scalp tingled, and he said in a trembling voice, "I understand! This Lu family head must have received the divine office of the Plague Department! Senior brother?... Could it be that he has received the position of the Plague Department's guardian deity!?"

- Om!

The family members behind him were struck dumb, frozen in shock.

Receiving clergy?

Even nationwide, this is extremely rare, a privilege usually reserved for scions of prominent families or high-ranking officials of the imperial court, and all of them are renowned figures in their respective regions.

But this young man was older than everyone else present;

In terms of cultivation, almost everyone is stronger than him.

It just so happens that he—is very likely to have received the guardian deity position of the Plague Department!

"No wonder he could summon the Five Plague Envoys to descend to the mortal realm..." Lord Huang gritted his teeth, his chest heaving like a bellows: "Today I've truly seen the light of day! I never imagined that Jiangdu City would harbor such a figure!!"

Before the various discussions had even ended, the sky suddenly darkened.

"go with!"

With a flick of his divine finger, the three giant, dark green pythons coiled around the Dharma Image, each as large as a mountain, roared and pounced toward the mass grave!

"Ow!!!!"

Inside the mass grave, the Ghost King roared, his long sword slashing out several streaks of dark light as it met the giant python.

—Whoosh!!!!
The three giant mountain pythons opened their mouths and spewed out torrents of green miasma. When the blade touched it, it was instantly corroded, disintegrated, and vanished without a trace.

--boom! ! !

In contrast, the giant python crashed into the mass grave like a meteor, its bloody maw wide open, about to swallow the ghost king whole.

Unexpectedly, it stopped just inches away from the Ghost King and could not advance any further!
A brilliant, blood-red divine light erupted from the depths of the mass grave, firmly resisting the earth-shattering blow.

Within the pillar of light, a faintly visible umbrella-shaped magical artifact could be seen slowly rotating, from which red light continuously emanated.

"This is……"

Lu Chen's eyes sharpened: "The Chaos Umbrella!?"

Following Virupaksha and Virupaksha, the third Heavenly King—the Northern Heavenly King Vaishravana—has finally revealed his presence!

Of the Four Heavenly Kings, Vaishravana is the most skilled in defense.

With a single turn, this umbrella can plunge the world into darkness, obscuring the secrets of heaven and earth, shaking the very foundations of the universe; it is truly extraordinary in its power.

No matter how the three giant pythons tore and rammed, the red light barrier only rippled slightly and remained unbroken.

"Shh!"

The sound of air being torn apart rose again—the three giant mountain pythons were all beheaded by an invisible force!

"Oh no, it's the Invisible Sword Qi of the Heavenly King of Growth again!"

Lu Chen's heart tightened as he watched the giant python's head, as big as a small mountain, fall down and smash into the ground.

But Li Qi in the sky just snorted coldly.

Where the python's head was severed, green miasma gushed forth, pulling the head back to its original position as if it were alive, and restoring it to its original state in an instant.

"Second brother, please allow me to give it a try."

Yang Wenhui, the envoy from the Northern Plague, stepped out.

Li Qi withdrew the Azure Python, and then Yang Wenhui raised the Plague Brush in his hand. Plague ink flowed like a river from the tip of the brush, transforming into the phantom of an unfurled ancient scroll in the air.

The scroll, shrouded in twisted and flowing miasma, gradually revealed three large characters:

"Solemn," "Silent," "Withered"!
Yang Wenhui gave a soft shout, and the scroll was fully unfurled. The green miasma suddenly turned crimson, sweeping towards the mass grave like a tidal wave!

Wherever it passed, the air distorted and evaporated, turning into a visible sea of ​​red fog.

The moment the crimson miasma touched the red light barrier, it emitted a hissing sound, and even the protective divine light of the Hunyuan Umbrella could not completely withstand it!
"Boo! Hah! Hah!"

The invisible sword energy struck again, but this time it was ineffective and could not stop the spread of the crimson miasma in the slightest.

This poisonous miasma is like a bone-deep sore; even if it is cut open a thousand times, it can instantly heal and continuously erode the barrier.

"Hahaha!"

In the sky, the four Plague Envoys laughed heartily upon seeing this, appearing confident of victory and waiting to break the formation.

They were just waiting for the crimson poisonous miasma to successfully invade the body.

They decided to strike swiftly and decisively to break the formation.

……

Below, Young Master Wang, City Lord Huang, and others witnessed the true divine power of the immortals, their eyes already bloodshot and their breathing heavy.

"I never imagined that in my lifetime I would witness a battle between immortals!"

Lord Huang's hair and beard danced wildly in the gale, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was so excited that he was almost insane.

While it is not uncommon for deities to descend in divine form, to intervene for mortals—this is probably the first time in hundreds of years!
This is truly witnessing history!
"Lu Chen... Lu Chen!"

He stared intently at the boy's figure on the Plague Emperor's Banner, repeatedly chewing on the name, even spitting out a lot of saliva.

It seems they won't be satisfied until the name is completely imprinted in their hearts.

Standing to the side, Young Master Wang's face was as white as paper, his fat jiggling wildly, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and astringent flavors all burst forth at once.

He had previously hoped that Lu Chen would make a fool of himself so that he could save some face, but now he could only watch helplessly as the other party summoned gods to the mortal world and commanded the wind and rain.

Instead of trying to make up for lost time, they ended up living a life of "making up for lost time."

"This is what a scion of a prestigious family should be like in my mind! Why is he good, but I'm not?! Who is the real scion of a prestigious family here?! Waaaaah, I'm not good enough~"

Young Master Wang's mentality completely collapsed, and he started crying again.

……

On the Plague Emperor's Banner, although Lu Chen saw that his side was gradually gaining the upper hand, he dared not relax in the slightest.

The fact that the Four Heavenly Kings have not yet appeared in real life indicates that the situation is still unsettled.

But those four... are they really going to just sit by and watch the great formation be broken?

"Fine, if they really don't show themselves and allow me to break through the formation and obtain the treasure smoothly, that would be a good thing."

Lu Chen's lips curled up slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Once this mass grave is destroyed, the secret treasure will surely be within reach!

Little did he know that his entire scene had been witnessed by the Four Heavenly Kings.

……

The Heavenly Court, outside the South Heavenly Gate, on the glazed ground of Mount Sumeru, is the Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings.

The atmosphere inside the hall was as cold and oppressive as ice.

The Four Heavenly Kings had somber expressions, and their gazes were all sharp.

"Brother, we can't wait any longer! This Heavenly King Formation can trap mortals, but it can't stop the Five Plague Envoys!"

"The Western Heavenly King Virupaksha said urgently."

The purple-gold sable on my shoulder scurried about restlessly, squeaking.

It seemed as if he was trying his best to agree.

The Heavenly King of the Nation played his zither and sneered, "Why should my fourth brother be alarmed? Even if the first three formations are broken, I still have my 'Heavenly Music Formation,' which will prevent even the Five Plague Envoys from advancing an inch."

The Northern Heavenly King, holding the Chaos Umbrella, shook his head: "Third brother, this is no longer a question of whether or not to break the formation. Rather, it is that if our [Ministry of War] is challenged like this by the [Plague Department] and we do not respond, what will become of our authority in the Heavenly Court in the future?"

"Yes, Second Brother is absolutely right. What is the status of our Ministry of War in the Heavenly Court? And what is the status of the Ministry of Plague? So what if it is one of the eight ministries? Looking around the Heavenly Court, which deity would even look at the Ministry of Plague and the Ministry of Smallpox? They are only afraid of that killing god! If we retreat today, our Ministry of War will surely lose face!"

The Heavenly King Guangmu spoke again.

"But if my four brothers were to actually descend to the mortal realm, wouldn't that confirm our reputation as 'descending to earth to steal treasures'? Wouldn't that be inappropriate for our ancestral worship?"

"Dhritarashtra said with concern."

"Third Brother!" Guangmu Tianwang interrupted sharply, "You've enjoyed the offerings of the mortal world for too long, have you forgotten your roots? This rare treasure is of utmost importance, and we absolutely cannot allow it to be lost! That kid is very strange, if we delay any longer, things may go wrong!"

"Squeak!"

The purple-gold sable screeched and bared its claws and teeth.

He seemed even more anxious than the four Heavenly Kings.

"This..." Dhritarashtra was speechless for a moment, and looked at Virudhaka: "Brother, what do you think?"

The three brothers looked at each other at the same time, their gazes landing on the Heavenly King of Growth, who had been pondering for a long time...

　Here's the first chapter; the second chapter is still being prepared.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)