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

Chapter 200 A grand scene unprecedented in a century in the Heavenly Court! What if I—don't let go!

"Brother Juncai, what does this mean?!"

Water Deity hurriedly helped the God of Wealth up, knowing that something big must have happened.

"Brother Shui De, I have an important matter to ask of you today, and I hope you will grant my request!"

"No rush, sit down and we'll talk slowly." Water Deity was about to lead Him to a seat.

"It's too late!" Jun Caishen waved his hand abruptly, his expression suddenly turning serious: "Brother Shui De, my sworn brother... something has happened to him!"

"Little friend Lu?!"

Jun Caishen nodded, and then recounted the whole story in detail, with appropriate emphasis...

……

Meanwhile, at Yunlou Palace.

On the cloud platform, the golden body of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King sat upright, divine light swirling in his palms, as he devoted himself to refining the World Core.

——Boom! ! !

A surge of violent and unrestrained divine power, like a raging sea, swept in from the horizon, causing even the glazed tiles of the Cloud Tower Palace to tremble!

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King frowned slightly, and couldn't help but ask in surprise, "You've arrived so quickly?"

--snort!

The next moment, a cold smile appeared on His lips: "A mere Plague Tribe, with such a small force, dares to trespass into my Cloud Tower Palace? They are simply overestimating themselves! — Giant Spirit God, Four Heavenly Kings!"

"My subordinate is here!"

Several streaks of rainbow light swept into the hall, and they all knelt down and clasped their hands in greeting.

"You all hurry to muster your troops, and lead the Fish Belly General, the Yaksha General, and the Linglong Guard to guard the central army. How can we not welcome our distinguished guests?"

Having said that, he threw down the commander's order.

"Yes, Marshal!"

The Giant Spirit God accepted the command, exchanged a glance with the Four Heavenly Kings, and then, with a sinister grin, accepted the order and left.

The Heavenly King Li Jing's divine power surged, filling the entire Cloud Tower Palace, and the surrounding area was instantly pressed down and solidified.

"Even if the Great Celestial Venerable were to inquire today, I, the General, would have every reason to keep the treasure—and even more so, to keep this child! Plague Lord, forgive me!"

He slightly opened his divine eyes and his gaze fell on the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, which was enveloped in divine fire and whose spiritual light flowed endlessly.

His eyes held a determination as heavy as a boulder, piercing through the void!
……

At this moment, inside the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes, the metallic taste of blood still lingering in his throat.

The intense exhaustion caused by forcibly activating the secret technique felt like a tide washing over my limbs and bones.

This made his already dizzy head feel even more like it was filled with lead.

"Where am I...?"

Looking up, one could see dense, dark purple thunderclouds overhead, with the faint rumble of thunder.

This is clearly not the same secret realm as before.

Lu Chen struggled to sit up, but a clear, cold female voice reached his ears:

"you're awake."

"Who?!"

Lu Chen suddenly looked in the direction of the sound, and only then did he see his surroundings clearly—

All I could see was the vast ocean, and the place I was in was just a tiny patch of green on the sea.

--boom! !
The sea suddenly exploded, and a clear blue dragon burst out of the water, landing and transforming into a girl in green clothes, standing barefoot in front of him.

Lu Chen immediately stared at the other person warily.

"Huh? Why are you silent now that you've seen me?"

The girl in blue tilted her head, a haughty smile on her face.

He had thought that this mortal would be terrified upon seeing his true form, either begging for mercy or crying and begging to leave. But the boy in front of him simply stared at him silently, his eyes wary.

"If you want to say it, you will naturally say it; why should I ask?"

Lu Chen continued to look around: "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the interior of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda."

"Wow, you do have some knowledge."

The girl in green chuckled softly, then raised her hand and inhaled. Several glistening fruits flew automatically from the lonely fruit tree not far away.

He casually picked up one and took a bite, while the rest flew precisely into Lu Chen's arms.

"From now on, if you get hungry, just pick them yourself. Master said that he will spare your life, but you will not escape punishment—just stay here in peace."

Lu Chen's mind went blank for a moment, and he suddenly stood up, causing the fruit in his arms to roll onto the ground.

He suppressed his emotions and asked, "How long will the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King imprison me?!"

"Hmph, now you know to ask?" The girl in green chewed on some fruit and mumbled, "I won't tell you! For you mortals, it will be a long time; for me, it's just a blink of an eye. Who told you to go against Master!"

When Lu Chen heard Him repeatedly address the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King as "Master," he knew that asking further questions would be futile.

He stopped talking and turned to look around, trying to find a way out.

With a thought, he activated the last of his magical power and wanted to fly through the air to investigate.

But to everyone's surprise, the magical power within his body was as stagnant and obstructed as a mud ox sinking into the sea.

He had barely lifted his feet off the ground when all his strength was instantly drained, and he crashed heavily back onto the green field, wincing in pain.

The girl in green let out a string of silvery laughter: "A mere mortal dares to fly through the air inside the Linglong Tower? How laughable! Even a Golden Immortal entering this Three Thousand Weak Water Realm cannot fly more than a hundred miles. I advise you to save your energy."

"Weak Water?!" Lu Chen looked at the vast white sea and felt a chill run down his spine.

He had naturally heard of the name "Weak Water"—it was so dangerous that even a feather could not float on it, and even immortals and gods could not cross it!
"I didn't expect you to even know about Ruoshui. Your knowledge is indeed quite impressive."

The girl in blue casually tossed the fruit pits she had finished eating into the water.

Instead of the expected "plop" sound, it sank straight into the water without even making a ripple.

"See this? This is the Weak Water. So give up your thoughts of running away and peacefully receive the precepts here!"

Having said that, He transformed back into His true form as a dragon and plunged into the Weak Water, stirring up a huge wave.

A few drops of water splashed onto Lu Chen's hand.

In an instant, a chilling coldness that penetrated to the very core of one's being permeated the air, as if even one's soul was being dragged into an abyss.

The sensation gradually subsided only after the water droplets slid off.

Lu Chen was panting heavily, his back already soaked in cold sweat.

He knew full well that with his current strength, there was absolutely no way he could escape from here.

Now that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King has captured him, it is impossible for him to let him leave in the short term.

Even if he were only imprisoned for a few days, several years would have passed in the human world.

"No! We absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die!"

He mustered his last remaining magical power and took out a simple statue of the Kitchen God from his storage ring.

Fortunately, this simple idol can be used twice more.

"The only way out now is to ask the Kitchen God to send a message and beg the Plague God to come to our rescue! Only then will we have any chance of escaping this predicament!"

Lu Chen lit a stick of incense and placed it in front of the statue. However, as the smoke curled up, he could not sense any spiritual energy fluctuations at all, as if the statue of the Kitchen God in front of him was just an ordinary piece of wood.

"Don't waste your energy." The voice of the girl in green came again: "The secrets of heaven are sealed inside the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, and the gods cannot hear you—it's no use asking anyone."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen was first taken aback, then slumped down in a daze.

There was no despair in my heart, only overwhelming anger!
--Oh shit!
The mission involved more than 900 people, and everyone else was safe and sound. Why is it that he always encounters this kind of trouble?

"Grass!!!!!!!!"

He looked up at the sky and cursed angrily.

The sound echoed for a long time in the desolate realm of the Weak Water, yet it was terrifyingly lonely and helpless...

…………

——Boom! !
Meanwhile, outside Yunlou Palace.

The boundless miasma sea was like a dark cloud covering the sky, arriving in an instant.

Amidst the churning miasma, blue lightning bolts continuously struck down.

The roar shook the heavens and earth, its power terrifying beyond measure.

Yunlou Palace, the gate of the Divine Path Palace.

The dark mass of heavenly soldiers and generals had already formed their ranks.

An atmosphere of bleakness and desolation permeated the air.

Several beams of divine light burst forth from the formation.

The Giant Spirit God and the Four Heavenly Kings successively revealed their divine forms, standing majestically outside the palace.

Among them, the most astonishing was the Dharma form of the Giant Spirit God—the Dharma form rose from the ground, its body growing larger and larger, as if it would break through the clouds and pierce the sky before it would stop.

It is comparable to the boundless miasma sea.

The images of the Four Heavenly Kings are already extremely majestic, yet they still only reach their waists.

——Boom!
Three divine lights fell from the miasma sea.

Li Qi, Zhu Tianlin, and Yang Wenhui all revealed their Dharma forms, with blue faces and fangs, radiating divine light, and a dense plague aura soaring into the sky.

Once again, they are facing off against the Four Heavenly Kings from afar.

--hold head high!!
--Roar! ! !

Almost simultaneously, the Plague Guardian Beast—that poisonous dragon—suddenly swelled to a size of ten thousand feet, its body coiling and intertwining, appearing and disappearing in the miasma sea, occasionally letting out deafening roars towards the military formation.

The five plague demons merged into one, transforming into a plague demon no less powerful than the giant spirit god. It spewed blood-red miasma, and wherever the miasma reached, the surrounding immortals and spirits retreated as if avoiding snakes and scorpions.

In just one glance, the two sides were already on the verge of war, exuding murderous intent.

The surrounding spiritual energy suddenly became violent.

Above the distant clouds, countless divine senses of immortals quietly descended, yet none dared to approach even half a step, all holding their breath as they watched this rare confrontation in the Heavenly Court.

The Giant Spirit God was the first to bow, his divine voice resounding: "Why has the Plague God mobilized such a large force to grace my Ministry of War with his presence today?"

In the center of the miasma sea, the Plague Emperor sat in the central palace, smiling without saying a word.

Li Qi stepped forward and raised his voice, "Fellow Daoist Juling, why ask a question you already know the answer to? Please inform the Marshal and beg him to show mercy and quickly release my protector!"

"Oh?" The Giant Spirit God chuckled. "Fellow Daoist Li Qi, I don't understand what you mean. What does your esteemed protector have to do with my Ministry of War? Have you come to the wrong place?"

"What nonsense!"

Zhu Tianlin grew impatient and immediately summoned his natal magic weapon, the Plague Banner. With a wave of the banner, it instantly transformed into the size of a mountain range, and a ferocious Plague Demon was faintly visible on the banner's surface, exuding a murderous aura.

"Hmph! Do you really think I, the Ministry of War, am afraid of you?!"

The Western Heavenly King, who had previously had a grudge against Zhu Tianlin, snorted coldly. The purple-gold flower fox sable at his waist flew out and suddenly expanded in the air, transforming once again into a giant elephant that treads on the sky.

--"eye!!!!!!!"

The roar shook the universe, and fierce winds swept in all directions.

……

"They've really started fighting!"

"Hiss... If it were just a normal battle, that would be fine, but if it's two factions fighting each other, have the Plague God and Li Tianwang both gone mad?!"

"Lively! It's been a long time since the Heavenly Court has been this lively!"

The immortals watching from afar seemed to have their long-dormant hearts ignited by this scene.

They whispered amongst themselves, their eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

……

"Plague Lord, you have no evidence whatsoever, yet you have led your troops to interrogate and accuse my Ministry of War. Do you really think my Ministry of War is without capable men?!"

Amidst the standoff, a mighty divine power suddenly surged forth from the depths of the Cloud Tower Palace. Above the dome, a pair of enormous golden divine eyes suddenly opened, their divine light shining brightly and instantly enveloping the entire battlefield—it was none other than the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

"Without any evidence?" The Plague God sneered, turning his head to say, "Then I'll have to trouble the Kitchen God."

The Kitchen God nodded, transformed into a wisp of smoke, and drifted between the two armies.

He bowed slightly to the Buddha's eyes, his voice calm: "Heavenly King, now that I have arrived, do you still wish to... continue to argue?"

"Kitchen God?!" The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's eyes widened in surprise: "As the foremost immortal in the mortal realm, why are you getting involved in this matter?"

"It's very simple," the Kitchen God said calmly. "Young friend Lu has done me a great favor."

At this point, He changed the subject and spoke to the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King via telepathy: "I have witnessed the entire process of him being captured in the pagoda by you. To save face for the Heavenly King, there is no need to show that scene to all the immortals."

Upon hearing this, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King indeed fell silent.

In an instant, the atmosphere outside Yunlou Palace became extremely oppressive. Both sides held their breath and stared intently at the several great gods in front of them.

A moment later, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter shaking the clouds: "So that's how it is! I was wondering why the Plague God arrived so quickly; it turns out the Kitchen God was stirring things up!"

"So, the Heavenly King has admitted it?"

The Plague God suddenly straightened his body, the coldness in his eyes materializing and pressing down on the Cloud Tower Palace like a dark cloud covering the sky.

Just one glance—

The giant spirit god, the four heavenly kings, and all the heavenly soldiers and generals were intimidated by that aura and took a step back in unison.

"presumptuous!!!!"

The Heavenly King Li Jing opened his eyes wide in anger, his divine light sweeping away the chilling aura and protecting his generals.

Two powerful divine senses collided fiercely in the void, intertwining and impacting each other, creating endless gales.

The weaker heavenly soldiers immediately collapsed in droves.

"Plague Lord, do you truly intend to make an enemy of the entire Ministry of War?!"

"If the Heavenly King is willing to release the people, I will naturally withdraw."

"Is it……"

The cold voice of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King was no longer concealed, and resounded completely:

"What if I, the commander, refuse to release him?!"

　Brothers, don't rush me so much. The author's skills aren't as strong as you think. I can't keep up the pressure.

This chapter is almost four thousand words long!

　
(End of this chapter)