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

Chapter 195 Plague Emperor VS Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King! Lu Chen's power is unparalleled throughout history!

Plague Department Nine Dragon Palace.

The divine light shot straight into the main hall like a shooting star.

After circling the Plague Emperor once, it disappeared completely.

On the cloud platform, the Plague Emperor, who had understood the situation, suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes shining brightly, and boundless divine power burst forth.

On the dome of the Nine Dragons Palace, a pair of divine eyes suddenly opened!
Divine radiance swept across all directions.

It not only covered all the military camps under the Ministry of War, but also the residences of the guardian deities.

Even the Cloud Tower Palace, the residence of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King who commands 100,000 heavenly soldiers, was firmly locked onto by this divine eye.

"boom--!"

Almost simultaneously, another powerful divine sense surged into the Nine Dragons Palace like a raging tide, carrying an undisguised chill.

"Plague Lord, the Heavenly Rules clearly forbid the use of the Divine Eye to spy on immortals. Although you are a noble deity of the Eight Departments, in charge of the Plague Department, is it not too presumptuous of you to be monitoring my [Ministry of War] this time?"

On the cloud platform, the Plague Emperor smiled and said, "I have offended you greatly, and I hope the Heavenly King will forgive me. However, I have something to say to you, and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you."

"Oh? Then please enlighten me, Plague Lord." The other party's voice remained cold.

The Plague Emperor, not one to feign weakness, cut to the chase: "Although the Ministry of War has the authority to raise its own military supplies, some things... weigh less than four ounces on the scale, but once weighed, they can weigh a thousand pounds. I hope the Heavenly King will not concern himself with those petty squabbles in the mortal realm, lest it diminish the Heavenly King's divine might."

"Thank you for the reminder, Plague Lord. I have learned my lesson." The voice of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King followed, but with a hint of sarcasm: "However, the actions of the Plague Department over the years, in the words of the Plague Lord, are probably quite heavy if weighed. It is indeed a pity that the Plague Lord has gone to such lengths. In addition, the provocative manner of the Five Plague Envoys coming to our door today is rather... too unseemly, isn't it, Plague Lord?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Plague Emperor's expression changed slightly, but then it transformed into a gentle, bright smile.

"Your Majesty is too kind. The guardian deities were merely exchanging Taoist techniques with your esteemed immortals. I will summon them back immediately. If Your Majesty has some free time, you are welcome to come here for tea and a game of chess. I will certainly welcome you with open arms."

"Alright, if I have some free time, I will definitely come and bother you to play a few rounds of chess with the Plague God."

"good."

As soon as he finished speaking, that powerful divine sense receded like a tide and disappeared without a trace.

On the cloud platform, the Plague Emperor withdrew his divine eye, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he flicked out a divine light from his fingertip, conveying only three words:

"All is well, stay and guard!"

……

Heavenly Court, Cloud Tower Palace.

The palace stands tall in the left auxiliary star field of the South Heavenly Gate, with its magnificent buildings and golden tiles shining brightly.

The divine soldiers on both sides stood solemnly with halberds, displaying the majesty and solemnity of the palace.

Inside the main hall, a pagoda radiating divine light floated in the air, its body exuding supreme divine power to suppress evil spirits.

On the throne in the cloud platform was none other than Li Jing, the Great Marshal who commanded 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals, and who was also the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

Withdrawing his divine sense, the Giant Spirit God clasped his hands and said angrily, "Marshal! The Plague Department's actions this time are clearly going too far in bullying our Ministry of War! If the Marshal agrees, I am willing to join forces with the Four Heavenly Kings to challenge the Plague Department! I refuse to believe that we, working together, cannot deal with those Five Plague Envoys!"

"No need." The Heavenly King Li Jing closed his eyes slightly and snorted coldly. "What kind of people are the Plague Department? And what kind of status do my Ministry of War have? It's not worth arguing with them."

He waved his hand: "You may step back. I, the commander, will personally retrieve this treasure."

"Marshal!" The Giant Spirit God hurriedly dissuaded him, "Your status is so noble, it would be inappropriate for you to descend to the mortal realm personally. Why don't you send your subordinate instead?"

"It's alright. I've heard that the 'Grand View Breaking the Netherworld Formation' is there, and obtaining the treasure will only take a moment. Even if the Plague Lord senses something, it will be too late. Moreover, even I, the commander, cannot glimpse the situation of the secret realm, and the Plague Lord will be the same—the initiative is already in my hands."

"Yes!" A gleam of joy flashed in the Giant Spirit God's eyes, and he said with confidence, "That lad from the lower realm may be a bit strange, but in just half an hour, he can't cause any trouble. Once the Marshal takes the treasure, this great mission will be half accomplished!"

Upon hearing this, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King slightly opened his divine eyes, his gaze falling on the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda floating to the side, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief:
"There is only one last bloom before it is fully ripe; this time... it was a close call but ultimately without serious harm."

……

At the same moment, in the lower realm, behind the mountain of Caomiao Village.

A gust of wind swept by, and two beautiful figures appeared. They were Sun Yourong and Xinyao, who had arrived late by car.

A large crowd had already gathered under the towering tree.

"The formation... is broken?" The two women were stunned and hurriedly stepped forward.

"Lord Huang, Young Master Wang, where is Lu Chen?" Sun Yourong looked directly at Lord Huang and Wang Yiming in front of the crowd.

Wang Yiming pointed to the big tree behind him and casually said, "They went in."

Xin Yao: "He really broke the Qian Tian Musical Array?!"

"It wasn't just broken, the way it looked was incredibly cool!" Wang Yiming was still savoring the moment, clicking his tongue as he said, "Especially the moment when it stopped the Divine Weapon of Music and performed the 'Bull Charge' move, it was absolutely awesome! It's a pity you guys came too late and didn't get to see it in person."

Xin Yao: "..."

Sun Yourong was more concerned with the core question: "What did he do all day? Did he go to offer sacrifices to any deity?"

"He's said to be the Wenchang Emperor, but when he came out, he couldn't hear or speak. No matter how I look at him, I feel like he was worshipping... two celestial children, one deaf and one mute?"

"Deaf and mute?" Upon hearing this, even Lord Huang, who was standing to the side, looked surprised and said with great interest, "Impossible, right? These two are the guardian attendants of Emperor Wenchang. They never accept individual offerings from the mortal world and always enjoy the incense offerings from the Emperor."

"I can't really explain it, but that's how he was when he came out. But that Qian Tian Musical Array, anyone who hears the zither music will be driven out. Now that I think about it, isn't the Heavenly Deaf and Earthly Mute technique its weakness?" "That's impossible, Young Master Wang!" In the crowd, a family head who had challenged the array before couldn't help but speak up: "I also tried the unique sound-blocking technique before, but I was still shaken out by the zither music!"

"Hmph, those are divine powers of immortals, what use are your mortal magic?" Wang Yiming scoffed.

"Yes, yes, yes! Young Master Wang is absolutely right!" The family head's face stiffened, and he quickly bowed and smiled obsequiously.

Although he was a fifth-grade Great Spirit Master, he dared not offend Wang Yiming, a fourth-grade cultivator, and could only swallow his anger.

"It seems that Patriarch Lu must have obtained the blessings of the two celestial children, the Deaf and the Mute, through the Wenchang Emperor." Lord Huang stroked his beard and exclaimed, "It's unbelievable that his affinity with the Wenchang Emperor is so high! It's probably at least 30%, or even more than 40%!"

"Yes..." The expressions on everyone's faces were complicated.

Among the crowd, only Sun Yourong, Wang Yiming, and the head of the Hu family had subtle expressions.

"Rongrong, what's wrong?" Xinyao noticed that her best friend's expression was a bit off.

"No...nothing."

"You must know something! Tell me quickly!" Xin Yao persisted.

Sun Yourong looked at the group of Rongcheng dignitaries around her, hesitated for a moment, and slowly said, "Actually, you've all misunderstood. Lu Chen and Emperor Wenchang's divine favorability is not high, in fact... very low."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent, and everyone's ears perked up.

Wang Yiming: "Very low? How low?"

Sun Yourong: "His affinity with the Wenchang Emperor is only 0.5%."

"What?!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Everyone present was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

"0.5%?!?!" Wang Yiming's mouth almost dropped to the ground.

When Lu Chen bought ordinary incense, he guessed that the level of divine favor was not high, but he never expected it to be so low as an outrageous 0.5%.

It should be noted that any student with even a little sincerity who worships Wenchang Dijun for one or two years can achieve a service level of at least 1%.

This 0.5% is simply unheard of!

But it was precisely this low level of service to the gods that triggered such an amazing blessing!

"Mr. Lu... he is truly a divine being!" City Lord Huang gasped several times. "In all my years, I have never seen such a strange thing. To receive such a blessing with such a low level of divine service is probably a rare case in history."

Wang Yiming's head was buzzing: "This guy isn't human... he's a god! No, in a sense, he really is a 'god'!"

At this moment, Sun Yourong stepped forward and asked City Lord Huang, "How long has he been inside? Why aren't any of you going in?"

Lord Huang explained, "This is a one-way secret realm. We can only enter after Mr. Lu emerges. However..."

He changed the subject, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and asked hesitantly, "Do you think it's possible for Mr. Lu to directly take over the boundary hub of the secret realm?"

"Jie Shu?"

One of the family heads instinctively wanted to laugh, but swallowed the laughter back down his throat.

Everyone looked at each other.

Yes, if a mere 0.5% of the Divine Servant's power can create miracles, then taking down the Realm Hub... doesn't seem like a pipe dream anymore.

The room suddenly fell silent.

Everyone had their own thoughts at that moment.

But the only thing that is the same is.

Everyone wants to know—

What exactly is happening in this secret realm right now?
……

Meanwhile, inside the secret realm...

With the purification of the altar and the lighting of the furnace completed in succession.

Lu Chen stared in astonishment at the swirling light before him.

"Did it pass the test on the first try?"

This was truly beyond his expectations.

He had thought it would take at least three, four, or even five attempts to start the furnace.

But to my utter surprise, this little world agreed so readily.

It could even be said that Jie Shu agreed so readily!

"Could it be that it's the first time they've encountered such a novel thing as a religious ceremony, so they're not resistant to it, but rather somewhat curious about it?"

This was the only possibility Lu Chen could think of...

(End of this chapter)