Deities: Rulers of Nature

Victory is gradually shifting towards the snake people.

Under Matsushita Ichiro's conservative development strategy, the cherry blossom spirits actually didn't experience many battles.

Even when facing wild beasts at the beginning, with the three pinkies by their side, they could easily take them down. Not to mention, if they couldn't beat them, they could just fly away.

Therefore, Matsushita Ichiro was truly incompetent, had an inflated sense of self-importance, and unfortunately encountered Kigen.

As Matsushita Ichiro watched his beloved cherry blossom spirits die one by one, he was consumed by rage. He hadn't even had a chance to enjoy them yet... No, how could his kin die in their first battle? They clearly had a much brighter future ahead of them.

Not to mention, Matsushita Ichiro needs the power of faith from the cherry blossom spirits to maintain his condition. If more people die or are injured, all his efforts over the years will be in vain.

"You bastards, all of you, die!"

Matsushita Ichiro, unable to spare any time to mock Ji Xuan, rapidly depleted his accumulated faith points, unleashing a dense cloud of purplish-black, highly poisonous pollen towards the Xishan snake-man.

This is His most powerful divine art, the result of His research on multiple cherry blossom spirits who were sacrificed to Him.

Even just a whiff from afar can quickly damage the respiratory tract; a Black Iron-tier beast enveloped in this odor will turn into a pool of pus and blood within seconds.

The poisonous powder swept across the ancient tree canopy, and in the blink of an eye, blackness spread from top to bottom, turning into powder with a gust of wind.

Unfortunately, before the poison powder could even reach the snake-man, it was blocked by a barrier. Ji Xuan released a green halo with a wave of his hand, and the poison powder was quickly purified.

Ji Xuan was always on guard against Matsushita Ichiro, fearing that he might do something desperate.

"What, getting anxious now?" Ji Xuan's lips curled into a smile.

But Matsushita Ichiro saw this laughter as Ji Xuan's mockery of Him. After glaring fiercely at Ji Xuan, He unleashed a frenzied attack spell at Ji Xuan.

A storm of flying knives composed of countless flower petals, a huge whip of thorny vines covered in barbs and venom, even flames and lightning—even though simulating the attacks that followed would consume a lot of faith, Matsushita Ichiro couldn't care less about that now; all he wanted to do was kill Kigen.

In this way, He would have a chance to make up for the losses of this battle after taking over the Mountain and Sea Divine Realm.

But this is clearly another assumption by Matsushita Ichiro. Sometimes, it's not that a large number of clansmen necessarily provide more faith; you have to look at both quantity and quality.

With two saints, Green and Crimson, by his side, Ji Xuan's accumulated faith points far surpassed those of Matsushita Ichiro.

No matter what divine techniques Matsushita Ichiro unleashed, Ji Xuan neutralized them all, even blocking the attacks he launched against Seido, Seiraku, and the others during the chaos.

This time, Matsushita Ichiro was completely panicked. How could things have developed to this point when it was such a promising situation?

"You're feeling pretty smug now, aren't you? But my attack isn't over yet!" As soon as Matsushita Ichiro finished speaking, the corpses of the cherry blossom spirits that had been killed on the ground began to dissipate, turning into streams of scarlet torrents that converged on him.

His body solidified at a visible speed, and the divine power he released caused all the cherry blossom spirits and snake people on the ground to stop in their tracks.

Ji Xuan naturally wouldn't let Matsushita Ichiro unleash his ultimate move. He released the divine power he had recently transformed, and a golden-green longsword materialized in the blink of an eye.

In a flash, Ji Xuan crossed the distance between the two gods, his long sword aimed at Matsushita Ichiro's neck.

With a whoosh.

Matsushita Ichiro didn't even have time to react before his scarlet head was severed, turning into countless specks of light that dissipated. But the next second, a new head materialized, only its color was a little lighter.

Having no faith to form a divine body has its advantages. Without a divine body, ordinary attacks cannot touch a demigod. Only attacks that consume faith or carry divine power can be effective.

Even if they are attacked and scattered, they can be quickly restored by consuming faith.

That one strike just now consumed the faith that Matsushita Ichiro had accumulated over half a year, which pained Him more than the deaths of dozens of cherry blossom spirits.

Ji Xuan ignored his reaction and turned around to strike again, tearing Matsushita Ichiro's upper body apart.

This scene was witnessed by the cherry blossom spirits below. Even without the suppression of divine power, the cherry blossom spirits were all stunned. Their cherry blossom god had actually been shattered.

Even the leader of the cherry blossom spirits was stunned for a moment, her eyes filled with terror.

The opportunity to fight is fleeting, but how could the snake people possibly miss it?

With a burst of power from its crimson tail, the snake launched itself toward the leader of the cherry blossom spirits, its claws extending and coated with deadly venom, swiftly slicing across the leader's neck.

Qinglu immediately activated her burst power, leaping into the air and slashing rapidly at the surrounding cherry blossom spirits.

The seven leaders, including Jin Yan and Jin Sha, also unleashed their full power in their attacks, while the temple guards swung their swords and fired arrows.

In the blink of an eye, another large number of cherry blossom spirits died.

The cherry blossom spirit leader tried to cover the wound on her neck with both hands, but she couldn't stop the flesh from festering and the blood from gushing out.

Once again consuming faith points to solidify his form, Matsushita Ichiro glanced at the battle below. His previously fervent emotions were suddenly dampened, replaced by regret, panic, and a hint of resentment that he thought he had concealed well.

"Stop fighting, I admit defeat, I admit defeat, okay? I'm willing to give you the Qingwo mineral vein in my divine realm." Matsushita Ichiro's tone became humble, his words filled with flattery towards Ji Xuan, completely different from his initial attitude.

"I can make the cherry blossom spirits believe in you. I can become your follower, your vassal, and fight for you from now on."

"Think about it carefully. Actually, we don't have any major conflicts. Killing me would be a waste of our precious faith and divine power, so we might as well save them."

"..."

Ji Xuanli ignored Matsushita Ichiro and swung his sword again, shattering Matsushita Ichiro's body once more.

"Don't push your luck. If you really push me too far, you won't get away with it either!" Seeing that begging for mercy was useless, Matsushita Ichiro immediately changed his tune.

Ji Xuan still didn't respond, and slashed out with his fourth strike.

This time, the figure that Matsushita Ichiro conjured was almost transparent, clearly indicating that the faith points he had accumulated over so many years were almost exhausted.

"You won't keep winning forever, I'll be waiting for you!" These venomous words came from Matsushita Ichiro's mouth.

If He were within the Sakura Divine Realm at this moment, He would rather risk detonating the core of the divine realm and shattering the Sakura Divine Realm than not take Ji Xuan down with Him. Unfortunately, this void arena has become His death warrant.

After delivering the final blow to Matsushita, Ji Xuan stopped. His shattered figure dissipated into specks of light, never to coalesce again.

Ji Xuan knew that this battle would not have been so easy if it had taken place outside the arena.

As long as the cherry blossom spirits are not all dead, and as long as there are still followers who believe in Matsushita Ichiro, there is a chance for Him to be reborn in the cherry blossom divine realm.

Unfortunately, this is a virtual arena, and the rule here is that the winner gets the loser's bet.

Ji Xuan went all in right away; his stakes were higher than Matsushita Ichiro's.

Matsushita Ichiro had no choice but to gamble everything.

In retrospect, the winner is Kigen, so Matsushita Ichiro has no chance anymore.