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

Chapter 183 What does "protecting one's own" really mean? Look! This is what true protection looks like!!

"Well, young friend, are you confident that you can break my Qian Tian Musical Array?"

The voice of Dhritarashtra came, his words carrying an undisguised sarcasm.

Lu Chen took a deep breath and shook his head secretly.

Even the plague-spreading envoys were helpless against this situation, so naturally he had no confidence whatsoever.

He turned back to his senior brothers, only to see that the five Plague Envoys all had solemn expressions.

Even Zhou Xin, the usually composed Eastern Plague Envoy, gently shook his head at him.

Clearly, this Heavenly Music Array has truly stumped everyone.

"Hmph, fellow Daoists, what kind of treasure is hidden in this secret realm that warrants such a large mobilization?"

Zhu Tianlin snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the Four Heavenly Kings.

The fact that such a protective array could be set up suggests that the treasures within must be incredibly precious!

"Well, my brothers and I can't say much about that," the Heavenly King of Growth said calmly. "In short, our Ministry of War is determined to obtain this extraordinary treasure. If you gentlemen have the ability, you are welcome to continue testing the formation!"

"You!" Li Qi roared in fury.

"Second Brother." Zhou Xin raised his hand to stop him, his face darkening. "So, this is the 'literary duel' that Brother Zengzhang was referring to?"

The King of Growth nodded: "Excellent!"

"Very well, I won't deny that this formation does have its unique aspects. For the time being, my brothers and I indeed cannot find the key to its formation. But if..."

Zhou Xin abruptly changed the subject, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Before he finished speaking, the Plague Sword, a magical weapon in his hand, was already drawn!

The Plague Sword transformed into a streak of azure light, swiftly reaching the sky above the Heavenly Sound Array. The sword suddenly spun, spewing out countless cyan-black miasma.

In an instant, they coalesced into four weapon spirits: a dragon, a tiger, a snake, and a sword.

They are respectively stationed in the four directions of east, south, west, and north.

In an instant——

"hold head high!"

"Roar!"

"Ow!"

"Zheng!"

The whistling and sword sounds intertwined, actually enveloping the entire Qian Tian Sound Array in reverse!

"you……!"

Upon seeing this, the Four Heavenly Kings' expressions changed drastically. Their previous composed smiles vanished completely.

Zhou Xin sneered, "Since you four fellow Daoists are so confident, why don't you try my Plague Tribe's Four Spirits Plague Formation? If you can break it, you can take any treasure you want; if you can't... weren't you all a bit too confident just now?"

"Good! Brother, that was a brilliant move! If my Plague Department can't get it, your Ministry of War can forget about it either!" Li Qi and Zhu Tianlin immediately echoed loudly.

Yang Wenhui scoffed, "I've heard that when that extraordinary treasure matures, it will develop sentience. At that time, with the power of nature, even your Qian Tian Sound Array might not be able to trap it. Don't end up with nothing!"

The situation reversed instantly.

The smiles that were just on the faces of the Four Heavenly Kings have now completely shifted to the faces of the Five Plague Envoys.

The Four Heavenly Kings exchanged glances. The Heavenly King of Growth gripped his Qingfeng sword tightly, his tone turning serious: "Fellow Daoist Zhou, Brother Zhou! We are both ministers in the same court, must we really end up at such a point of contention?"

Zhou Xin did not back down at all: "Brother Zengzhang previously asked me if I knew about the Ministry of War's authority to raise its own military supplies, and I answered 'I know.' Now I would like to ask you: Brother Zengzhang, are you aware of the rules of my Plague Department?"

"Brother Zhou, what do you mean...?"

"Simple. We know our Plague Department's reputation in the Heavenly Court."

That is why the Star Lord often teaches us: We should be of one mind and one heart and fight against the same enemy.

Today, our junior brother is determined to break the formation. How can we, as his senior brothers, not do our best to help him?

Even though we are all ministers in the same court, I can only defy their sentiments this time, to uphold the loyalty of my Plague Tribe!

Upon hearing this, the Four Heavenly Kings' expressions all hardened, clearly realizing that there was no need for further maneuvering.

A surge of warmth welled up in Lu Chen's heart, and his eyes became slightly hot.

What does "protecting one's own" mean?
Take a look!

That's what you call true favoritism!
—The Plague God was right!
—This family of hers is really awesome!

After a long silence, the Heavenly King of Growth suddenly burst into laughter: "Good, good, good!"

He said "good" three times in a row.

"Since that's the case, I will no longer engage with you fellow Daoists. Let me tell you the truth: before descending to the mortal realm, we had already received a decree from the Plague Lord!"

"what?!"

Zhou Xin's eyes suddenly narrowed.

The Heavenly King of Growth sheathed his sword and put his hands behind his back, slowly saying, "The Star Lord has promised that He will not interfere in this matter any further."

Once this Qian Tian Musical Array is closed, it will be left for young friend Lu to break it himself.

As for the first three formations, they were broken by several fellow Daoists.

In this way, we have done our utmost, and you have also exerted your full strength; the Plague and Military departments have not suffered any damage to their harmony.”

His gaze was sharp as lightning, fixed on Zhou Xin: "Brother Zhou, we have already yielded, what do you think?"

Zhou Xin was quite suspicious: "Is this true?" "With the Plague God above, how dare we speak presumptuously? If Fellow Daoist Zhou does not believe it, just go back to the Plague Department and ask."

The five plague messengers looked at each other in surprise.

This was clearly beyond their expectations.

Mingming Xingjun previously sent them down to the mortal realm to break the formation, so why did he suddenly say he wouldn't get involved in the aftermath?

But judging from their demeanor, they clearly didn't seem to be lying.

If... the Star Lord truly has this intention, then they don't necessarily need to insist on taking the lead.

It seems that the Plague God's actions were also intended to test Lu Chen.

The plague messengers were pondering this.

Lu Chen stepped forward and bowed deeply to his four senior brothers:
“Senior brothers, since it is the Star Lord’s decree, I will naturally obey. I will remember this great kindness and never forget it.”

Now that the Star Lord had spoken, Lu Chen naturally dared not force his senior brothers to stand up for themselves any longer.

Besides, even the senior brothers are helpless against this great formation. There's no need to let the Plague Department and the Military Department become enemies for the sake of his mission alone.

Ultimately, this is just a task. It would be best if he could complete it, but even if he couldn't, he would just do his best and have no regrets.

Forcibly dragging his fellow disciples into a dilemma would be far too selfish and certainly not what he wanted.

"Well... alright, since it is the Star Lord's decree, we will naturally obey."

Seeing this, Zhou Xin no longer hesitated. He pointed his finger, and the Plague Sword immediately retracted the Four Spirits Plague Array, turning into a streak of green light and returning to his hand.

He turned to look at Lu Chen, his tone softening:

"Junior brother, this formation is indeed extraordinary. Our supernatural powers are insufficient to overcome its weakness. The rest of the journey is up to you."

"Yes. My senior brothers have done their best for me. From now on, success or failure will depend on my own fate."

Lu Chen bowed deeply once again.

Upon seeing this, the four plague envoys, Zhou Xin, Li Qi, Zhu Tianlin, and Yang Wenhui, all nodded with satisfaction.

It's clear that this junior apprentice hasn't been discouraged by the difficulties ahead; he remains ambitious, a truly rare quality.

“Brother Zengzhang, the first three battles are still ongoing, what about next…?” Zhou Xin asked again.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, rest assured. The four formations were set up earlier simply for safety, but now that this treasure has passed its critical period, the other three formations are of little use. My brothers and I will remove them ourselves, leaving only the Qian Tian Sound Formation. At that time, Young Friend Lu can break the formations at will without any restraint. However..."

He paused, then turned his gaze to Dhritarashtra, the King of the Nation.

Dhritarashtra immediately replied with a smile, "However, this young friend doesn't have much time left—at most two more days in the mortal realm. You'd better hurry, or you'll miss your chance!"

Only two days left?!
Lu Chen's heart tightened suddenly, and he clicked his tongue in surprise: This is too rushed!

It seems that the treasure in that secret realm has reached its full maturity and may break out of the formation at any time!

"Alright, that's enough for now, fellow Daoists, we'll head back now."

Seeing that the matter had been settled, the Four Heavenly Kings lingered no longer. Their bodies shone with divine light, and their four imposing forms, capable of shaking the heavens and earth, slowly rose to their feet, their imposing aura sweeping across all directions.

"call--"

A fierce wind swept through, blinding people.

……

"Holy crap, they've activated their Dharma form again!"

Outside the mass grave, the crowd, who had just calmed down a little, were shocked again upon seeing this.

Several of the family members with weaker cultivation levels collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way.

The four Dharma images transformed into a dazzling stream of light, soaring straight into the sky and disappearing into the horizon in an instant.

Along with it, the mass grave in front of us also disappeared, and it returned to the winding mountain path, without a trace of evil spirit.

"The mass grave... is gone?!"

Everyone was stunned!
Young Master Wang was the first to jump up, pump his fist, and shout:
"The Ghost King is gone! The formation is broken! Charge!!!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already transformed into a streak of light and sped away along the path!
Behind him, City Lord Huang dared not slack off and followed closely.

Not to be outdone, the other family members also activated their supernatural powers, and streaks of spiritual light intertwined as they chased after the secret realm!
"Let's go, let's go too!"

Xin Yao suppressed her excitement, summoned a divine wind to sweep the two of them away, and chased after the crowd.

……

Outside the secret realm.

"Junior Brother, we'll head back now. Wishing you every success!"

"Please take care, fellow disciples. I thank you again!" Lu Chen bowed and clasped his hands in thanks.

"Let's go!"

Each of the five Plague Envoys rode a divine light, instantly flying into the swirling vortex of light and disappearing from sight.

Once all eight immortals had returned to the Heavenly Court, this world was completely restored to normal.

The dark clouds dispersed, the sun shone brightly, and white clouds drifted leisurely by, the previously oppressive atmosphere vanished.

In the distance, the commotion in Rongcheng City, after reaching its final climax, gradually subsided, and everything returned to normal...

　I stayed up too late last night, so I'm not feeling well today. The second update is coming soon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)