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

Chapter 198 All Backers—Assemble!
"What on earth happened?!"

The fire in the stove is the source of the Kitchen God's essence.

Looking across the Three Realms, no matter where Lu Chen is, the flame can never be extinguished.

Given the current situation, there are only two possibilities:
Either Lu Chen stepped into a forbidden area where the heavens sealed off and all communication was cut off;

Or, the Kitchen God's heart tightened, and he dared not think too deeply—that meant his body had died and his soul had vanished.

Regardless of the reason, it all means one thing: Lu Xiaoyou is currently in a life-or-death predicament!

The Kitchen God reached out and beckoned, and the "Fireworks Book" flew into his palm.

In the next instant, His figure darted straight into the pages of the book, already activating a secret technique, using the three fires of the human body as a guide to track Lu Chen's whereabouts.

……

Rewinding time, to the back mountain of Caomiao Village.

When the Kitchen God appears.

Lu Chen was surrounded by a halo of light as he focused all his efforts on breaking through the formation.

The grand formation before him was the "Heavenly Musical Formation" he had mentioned earlier.

Before long, Lu Chen successfully broke through the formation, consumed the Vermilion Fruit, and stepped into the entrance of the secret realm.

Without hesitation, the Kitchen God followed him in.

Although the secret realm is a world unto itself, isolated from the secrets of heaven, it is ultimately rooted in the mortal world and its connection with humanity remains unbroken.

Even though the Kitchen God is one of the most powerful household deities in the human world, he can still force his way in using the "Fireworks Book" as a bridge.

It just consumes more spiritual energy.

But the situation was critical at this moment, and even if He ran out of spiritual energy, He had to go in!
Upon entering the secret realm, the Kitchen God witnessed Lu Chen driving hundreds of plague demons to clear the way, gathering rare and precious materials along the way.

The scene shifted until the extraordinary treasure came into view—

The spiritual energy surged like a tide, rising and bubbling.

Even the Kitchen God was shaken to his core: "It's a primordial spiritual material! I never imagined that such a divine object could be born in the mortal realm! No wonder the Four Heavenly Kings were willing to tarnish their celestial reputations to secretly descend to the mortal world and seize this treasure!"

Next, Lu Chen unleashed the [Dragon and Tiger Opening Ceremony], drawing upon the energy of heaven and earth to forcefully pull the boundary pivot.

Seeing this, the Kitchen God was not surprised at all.

After all, Lu Chen could even reactivate the spiritual essence of the [Fireworks Book].

It is not surprising that the boundary pivot was activated.

All I can say is that this young friend Lu's methods are truly unfathomable.

—"Boom!!!"

Just then, the secret realm suddenly shook violently, and a hideous gash appeared in the sky above the cave.

A celestial figure clad in golden armor suddenly leaped out.

The moment the celestial being appeared, the Kitchen God's eyes narrowed sharply, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King?!"

A furious roar erupted from the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, his voice like thunder, sweeping across the entire secret realm: "You bastard!!!"

Before his shout had even faded, he unleashed his signature treasure – the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

It actually took the entire secret realm, including Lu Chen, into the tower.

Immediately following was the scene of Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, flashing into the rift and returning to the Heavenly Court.

Just as the Kitchen God was about to give chase again, a mournful cry suddenly came from the [Fireworks Book] in his consciousness.

Looking down, I realized that the spiritual energy of the [Fireworks Book] had been over-consumed and could not support this level of cross-realm pursuit.

Left with no other choice, the Kitchen God had to retreat.

Sure enough, the energy of the [Fireworks Book] rapidly declined, and even the spiritual light that had been surrounding it dimmed considerably.

The Kitchen God gently stroked the pages of the book, his expression more solemn than ever before.

"So that's how it is. It was taken into the Linglong Pagoda by the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King."

Knowing Lu Chen's whereabouts, He felt a little relieved.

As the Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Army, Li Jing, who holds military power in the Heavenly Realm and maintains order in the Three Realms, would surely not rashly kill mortals and violate the Heavenly Laws.

But the Kitchen God reconsidered and became suspicious: even if it was a naturally occurring spiritual material, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King would not have lost his composure like this, going so far as to personally descend to the mortal realm and directly take away the entire secret realm with the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

"It seems that this innate spiritual material is of extraordinary significance to the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King!"

The Kitchen God took a deep breath and temporarily suppressed his doubts.

What is certain at present is that Lu Chen is trapped inside the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, and his life should be safe for the time being.

But He couldn't be completely sure whether the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King would secretly harbor murderous intentions.
However, judging from Lu Chen's previous actions of activating the boundary pivot, even if the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King wanted to take action against him, he would have to refine the boundary pivot within Lu Chen's body first.

There is still a chance for survival in the short term!
"No matter what, we have to find a way to rescue Lu Xiaoyou!"

The Kitchen God's mind raced.

Although he became an immortal relatively early, he lived in the mortal realm for a long time and had only casual acquaintances with the other immortals in the Heavenly Court.

The celestial beings that could be invoked were probably not enough to persuade the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King to release the person.

Unless—I must see the Great Celestial Venerable!

However, since the emergence of the temple's legal system, the Kitchen God has been relieved of his duty to report all matters of the mortal world to the Great Heavenly Venerable.

Even He Himself had not seen the true face of the Great Celestial Venerable for hundreds of years.

If one were to rashly go to pay homage, there is a risk of offending the emperor's authority, which would only backfire.

Unless... this matter spreads and reaches the attention of the Great Celestial Venerable.

Then, He can step forward and tell the truth, which may have a miraculous effect! "It seems that the best way right now is to go to Lu Xiaoyou's teachers and sworn brothers, tell them about this matter, and see what they decide!"

—The Plague Emperor.

—The God of Wealth.

—King Yama of the Underworld.

A few names flashed through my mind.

Among them, He felt that the Plague Emperor and the God of Wealth were the most reliable;
As for Yama... the underworld and the heavenly court are inherently different, and Yama's status is also slightly inferior, so he probably won't be able to accomplish much.

With this thought in mind, the Kitchen God did not delay any longer. His figure transformed into a wisp of smoke and flew straight towards the Heavenly Court.

……

Heavenly Court, Nine Dragon Palace.

On the throne in the cloud platform, the Plague Emperor slowly opened his divine eyes, his brows furrowing slightly: "Strange, why hasn't this kid come out yet?"

With a flick of his finger, a mysterious mirror appeared out of thin air, overlooking the direction of the Grass Temple Village in the lower realm.

However, the sight in the mirror caused His expression to change drastically—

Behind Caomiao Village, a group of people were gathered near the entrance to the secret realm, their expressions filled with fear.

Suddenly, a woman from the mortal realm cried out "Lu Chen" in a shrill voice, and then fainted.

A strong sense of unease suddenly rose in the heart of the Plague Emperor as he looked toward the entrance to the secret realm.

The towering spiritual tree that was originally connected to the secret realm had withered and died, becoming a piece of rotten wood.

——Buzz!!!

The Plague Emperor glared angrily, his divine power erupting forth, causing the entire Nine Dragons Palace to tremble violently under his pressure.

"What exactly happened? Why did the secret realm suddenly collapse?"

At this moment, even the righteous god who was in charge of the Plague Department was shaken to his core, and his breath fluctuated.

There was clearly no unusual activity anywhere within the Ministry of War!

Why did the secret realm collapse?
"Could it be... that this kid attempted to seize the World Core by force, only to reap the bitter consequences of his own actions?"

However, the Plague King expressed his doubts about this.

He knew that although the boy was radical, he was by no means reckless.

It's impossible for someone to do something like this, resulting in mutual destruction.

"In the end what happened?!"

The Plague Emperor suppressed the turmoil in his heart.

Although He still strongly suspected that it was the Ministry of War that was responsible, the fact that the Ministry of War remained inactive was an undeniable fact.

Without solid evidence, even if He were to come to question him, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King would certainly deny it outright.

He descended from the cloud platform, his brows furrowed, and paced back and forth in the main hall. Suddenly, with a flick of his sleeve, he issued a decree, urgently summoning the five plague messengers back to the palace.

……

The Hall of the Four Heavenly Kings.

The five plague messengers, who were using their divine sense to seal off the area outside the palace, all tensed up upon receiving the decree.

"What happened? Why did the Plague Lord suddenly summon us back? Could it be that Junior Brother has accomplished something big?" Li Qi, the Plague Envoy from the South, spoke first.

Zhou Xin hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Let's go! Let's go back first!"

The four Plague Envoys nodded in unison, then withdrew their divine senses, transforming into four streaks of rainbow light as they hurriedly headed towards the Nine Dragons Palace.

Inside the hall, sensing the Plague Envoy's divine sense receding, the Four Heavenly Kings on the cloud platform exchanged a smile.

"It's done! The Marshal's side is definitely on track!"

Laughter echoed in the hall, lingering for a long time.

……

Meanwhile, on their way to Kowloon Palace.

"Why are you plague messengers in such a hurry? Is something urgent?"

A familiar divine voice suddenly came from the side.

The Five Plague Envoys suddenly froze, turned their heads, and saw the God of Wealth standing smiling on the clouds.

The group quickly bowed and greeted Lord Juncai: "Greetings!"

Jun Caishen flashed and appeared in front of the Five Plague Envoys, stroking his beard and smiling, "You Plague Envoys look so hurried, is there something important?"

Zhou Xin knew that the God of Wealth and his Plague God had become close friends since their last chat, so he did not hide anything and reported the truth: "Lord of Wealth, the Plague God urgently summoned us back to the palace, which is why we are in such a hurry."

"The Plague God urgently summoned you?" The God of Wealth's expression hardened: "Let's go, I will go with you!"

Just as they were about to set off, they heard a voice from afar:
"Brother Juncai, so you've been here all along! This saves me the trouble of searching for you at your residence!"

Jun Caishen turned his head and saw a thick plume of smoke rushing towards him, instantly reaching him.

He quickly cupped his hands and smiled, "So it's the Kitchen God. What brings you to Heaven today?"

"Brother Juncai, please wait a moment." The Kitchen God's expression was as solemn as iron. He turned to the several Plague Messengers and asked, "Is the Plague God in the palace?"

"Kitchen God, you're here!"

"That's good! We'll go see the Plague Lord immediately! Young friend Lu... something's happened to him!"

　Sorry for having to work overtime!
　　Today's plan: Stay up all night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)