Deities: Rulers of Nature

As the battle subsided, Qinglu, looking slightly tired, entered the underground river, where the icy water instantly submerged his chest.

Qinglu circulated the little remaining energy and blood in her body, creating a mist that washed away the blood and grime from her body and wounds.

After Qinglu reached the shore, a green light shone from the tip of his crimson finger. When his palm touched Qinglu's body, the light flowed, nourishing the wounds all over.

In just a few breaths, the wounds on Qinglu's body disappeared.

"Thanks." Green patted Red on the shoulder.

Then, it swung its tail and went straight to the location of the thick-maned bear, retrieving the other three bear paws that had been hidden under its body.

The bear paw that was used as bait was completely inedible. It wasn't just burnt; it was covered in blood, venom, and dust, and emitted a foul odor.

"Even a fool wouldn't eat this." The crimson-tailed bear curled its paw, shook its head, and threw the bear into the underground river.

The green and crimson flames reignited, roasting the bear paws while quickly restoring the body's energy.

The cave finally enjoyed a brief period of tranquility, with only the echoing sound of the underground river flowing by. But this tranquility was only an inconspicuous corner of the dark cavern.

From the perspective of the gods, various battles are taking place on every level of the dark cavern.

In a cave on the third level of the underground world, a battle is reaching its climax.

The Xishan Serpent People team encountered five Black Iron-rank Thick-maned Bear People and their beast kin. Without any unnecessary words, a battle was about to break out.

Each of the Thick-Maned Bearmen possesses immense strength; if their bone clubs strike a Snakeman, it can cause anything from broken bones to complete incapacity.

Fortunately, the cherry blossom spirit that accompanied the team released paralyzing pollen on the other side at the beginning. As time went by, the effect gradually became obvious, and the movements of both the thick-maned bearman and the thick-maned bear became obviously stiff and slow.

"Now!"

The Xishan snake people keenly seized this opening, their snake tails twisting as they nimbly weaved between the bear people and the thick-maned bears. In the instant they brushed past each other, two Xishan snake people tightly wrapped their tails around a thick-maned bear, while their poisoned bone spikes stabbed viciously into its vulnerable parts.

These bone spikes were spoils of war from their previous battle against the octopus-men. Some of the snake-men found them more useful than the stone knives and switched to these weapons.

The wound caused by the bone spurs may not look big, but it is very deep, allowing the snake venom to enter the thick-maned bear's body.

However, the venom of the Black Iron Rank Crimson Chain Serpent Man is ultimately not as potent as the Crimson Amethyst Poison Source, and the Thick-Maned Bear has a relatively strong vitality, so these attacks cannot truly kill it in a short time.

On the other side, a golden-ringed snake-man was circling around the leader, a thick-maned bear-man. With the help of his perception talent, he was always able to dodge the bear-man's attacks in time.

Just as the bear-man's bone club attack missed again, the golden-ringed snake-man's tail instantly wrapped around the bear-man's waist. The muscles contracted, and the scales rubbed against the skin, leaving wounds.

Using the force of the constriction, the Golden-Ringed Snake Man straightened up and thrust the bone spike in his hand directly at the Bear Man's unsuspecting nape.

The timing and angle of the attack were perfect, but from the front, which the Golden Ringed Serpent Man couldn't see, the Thick-Maned Bear Man's eyes instantly turned scarlet, and his body, which had been affected by the paralyzing pollen, returned to normal.

The bear-man grabbed the snake-man's tail with both hands, and with a roar, he broke free from the snake-man's strangulation. As his muscles bulged, he swung the golden-ringed snake-man around.

Due to the absolute difference in strength, the Golden-Ringed Snake Man simply couldn't break free from the Bear Man's grasp.

After smashing through several rock pillars, the Thick-Maned Bearman slammed it hard into the ground.

"boom!"

Fine cracks burst open from the rock, scattering rubble and blood. The Golden-Ringed Snake Man couldn't even scream; he lay limp in the pool of blood, as if boneless, already lifeless.

The thick-maned bear-man's eyes were fixed on another snake-man not far away, and he was about to launch a new round of attacks when a white figure blocked his way. It was a white-scaled snake-man.

The moment their eyes met, the white-scaled snake-man activated his Illusionary Eyes.

Originally, the white-scaled snake-man only intended to temporarily confuse the bear-man so that the other snake-men would come and kill him. However, he did not expect that the bear-man, who had entered a berserk state, was in a very poor mental state, which allowed the snake-man to gain temporary control.

But that was enough. The white-scaled snake-man controlled the thick-maned bear-man to attack the other bear-men and thick-maned bears. What was difficult for the snake-man to deal with was not so difficult for this bear-man.

After several attacks, many wounds were left on the other bearmen and thick-maned bears. The snake people took the opportunity to swarm in, and the cherry blossom spirit also secretly released poison powder.

In the end, amidst the resentment of the Thick-Maned Bear People and the Thick-Maned Bear, the Snake People and the Cherry Blossom Spirit emerged victorious.

(Cherry blossom essence sprinkled with healing pollen.jpg)

In a stone forest on the second level of the cave, there was another squad of Thick-Maned Bearmen, but their enemies were a group of Flying Darkwing Batmen.

This area has a great difference in elevation, because countless stalactite columns hang down from the top.

Although the terrain somewhat limited the Bat-Men's flight space, the Thick-Maned Bear-Men and the Thick-Maned Bears were still at a disadvantage in their ground-based counterattacks.

That wasn't the most troublesome thing. What truly gave them splitting headaches and bloodshot eyes was the ultrasonic attack from the bat-people.

On an open plain, the bat-men's ultrasonic attacks would be nothing more than noise, and the actual results wouldn't necessarily be very good.

However, this underground stone forest and rock walls caused ultrasonic waves to refract, overlap, and even resonate, enveloping every bear and thick-maned bear in an all-round, immersive way, just like surround sound.

Gradually, blood began to flow from their ears and nostrils.

But the bat-men's attacks don't stop there. They'll swoop down at the right moment, their sharp claws leaving bloody marks on the bear-men's bodies. Even if they miss, these bat-men will quickly take flight and never linger in battle.

"This can't go on!" said an older, thick-maned bear-man, stopping his swinging of the bone club as he panted heavily.

He knew that if they couldn't break the deadlock, their team would be worn down and killed here.

"Everyone, aim at the stone pillar above and smash it!" the bear-man commanded, pointing at the inverted stone pillar.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The bear-men erupted simultaneously, swinging their bone clubs and hurling them fiercely. Cracks appeared on the stone pillars they struck, and they shattered with a crash.

And this was just the beginning. The bear-men were like tireless machines, picking up the fallen stone pillars and throwing them again to strike the other pillars.

Within moments, the constantly falling stone pillars became an obstacle to the bat-men's flight. They not only had to dodge the crashing pillars, but also the hurled attacks from the bear-men.

One of the bat-men swerved to avoid the stone pillar, but was instead used as a target by the bear-man who had already aimed at him, who hurled a large rock at him.

"Bang!"

"squeak!"

The bat-man who was hit screamed, and the sound of bones cracking echoed from his chest. Like a kite with a broken string, the bat-man plummeted rapidly towards the ground.

Upon landing, he was greeted by a thick-maned bear that had been prepared in advance.

The thick-maned bear's paw slammed down, causing the bat-man's eyes to bulge out, before its gaping maw snapped down, silencing the bat-man completely.

The scales of victory quietly tipped in favor of the Thick-Maned Bears.

(Thick-maned bear tearing apart bat-man.jpg)

Deeper into the fourth level of the dark cavern lies a huge rock cave overrun by fungi. Hundreds of giant mushrooms, each over ten meters tall, spread out their caps, with glowing folds hanging down from the edges.

The air is filled with dense spores. These spores are beautiful, but deadly. Prolonged inhalation can paralyze the nerves, causing the inhaler to hallucinate and smile as they face death.

As the gaze moves downward, countless white mycelia cover the ground, and scattered among these mycelia are the corpses of countless wild beasts and spider-men. Among them are even the most ferocious predators in the cave, all of whom have become a breeding ground for the mycelia to grow.

Here, a group of iridescent octopus people encounter dark-winged bat people.

Due to the effects of spores and mushrooms, the bat-men's prized ultrasonic attacks were significantly weakened, even interfering with their judgment.

Octopus-like beings, on the other hand, can attach themselves to rock walls or mushrooms using their tentacles, and their ability to change color allows them to blend into their surroundings in the blink of an eye.

When a bat-man enters the attack range, the octopus-man will spew out jet-black ink.

The bat-man, who had lost his sight and whose ultrasonic waves were restricted, flew around in a panic. Luckily, he crashed into a mushroom and was cushioned and unharmed. Unfortunately, he was directly entangled by the octopus-man's tentacles and then killed.

Of course, the spores also had some effect on the octopus-men, causing them to hallucinate and fall off the rock wall, where they were then killed by the bat-men who flew in.

(Octopus man sucking spores.jpg)

Similarly, in the fourth level of the dark cave, several underground rivers converge, carving out a deep underground lake.

The Thick-Maned Bearman had only two choices: either avoid this area of ​​water and return the way he came, finding a new passage to bypass it, or enter the lake directly and follow the passage hidden underwater.

Although both the Thick-maned Bearman and the Thick-maned Bearman can swim, they knew that entering the tunnel without knowing its length might cause them to suffocate halfway through, so they decided to return the way they came.

Unexpectedly, the iridescent octopus-men were already lying in ambush in the lake.

As the bear-men and the thick-maned bear turned around, several tentacles shot out from underwater. These tentacles were covered with dense suckers, which clung tightly to the bear-men and the thick-maned bear. If they lost their balance, they would fall into the lake.

"roar!"

Large splashes of water rose from the lake, caused by the struggles of the bear-man and the thick-maned bear in the water.

The Rainbow Octopus Man is extremely agile in the water, while the Bear Man and Thick-Maned Bear are limited in their physical abilities and their proud strength, making each swing of their arms appear slow and clumsy.

They could indeed tear apart the octopus-man's tentacles, but it was utterly useless. Once one was torn apart, two, three, or even more tentacles would immediately wrap around it.

Furthermore, the octopus-men are not invincible; they specifically target the weaknesses of the bear-men and thick-maned bears. Once attacked and their mouths open, icy lake water will pour in. At the same time, the ink spit out by the octopus-men obstructs vision, making it difficult for the bear-men and thick-maned bears to discern directions.

This is a war of attrition. As long as the octopus-men can keep the bear-men and thick-maned bears underwater, they will eventually suffocate.

(Thick-maned bear-man blowing bubbles.jpg)

However, on another battlefield, in a spacious cave, the same Thick-Maned Bearmen and Octopus Men fought, but the situation was completely different.

Without the protection of water, the octopus-men were not as fast as they used to be, while the thick-maned bear-men on land were like wolves among sheep. They wielded bone clubs and palms, and each strike either broke several tentacles or tore open deep wounds that exposed bone.

One of the bear-men, who had entered a berserk state, grabbed the octopus-man who was trying to escape with both hands. With a burst of strength, he tore the octopus-man in half.

This was a one-sided massacre.

The octopus-like creatures tried to spray ink to block their vision, but this only resulted in an even more ferocious attack.

Meanwhile, in other areas of the underground world, snake people, bat people, bear people, and octopus people would engage in fierce battles whenever different races clashed.

The octopus-man brandished its tentacles, attacking with a variety of weapons in turn, occasionally spitting ink; the bat-man released ultrasonic waves and seized the opportunity to suck blood to recover; the snake-man's attacks were precise and deadly; and the bear-man's ferocious brute force was unstoppable.

Various talents and skills intertwined, resulting in a fierce and chaotic battle.

In certain terrains, the octopus-men and bat-men can manage to hold their own, and with a bit of luck, they might even gain the upper hand. But overall, the snake-men and bear-men are more likely to have the last laugh.

(Four races in battle.jpg)

But this is the Dark Cavern, the territory of the Snowflake Spiders, how could they not join the battle?

Inside the underground tunnels, the sound of countless spider legs rubbing against the rock walls could be heard.

The spider-people, led by the Matriarch, strictly followed her orders, striving to become her best assistants and quickly eliminate the alien race.

More solo Spider-Man squads, relying on their familiarity with the underground, either lay in ambush or launch suicide attacks.

As mentioned before, Spider-Man's transparent webs cover most of the caves, allowing them to approach silently.

Inside a cave, several octopus-men were resting. They had just escaped from the jaws of a centipede-like beast and were about to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly the sky above them darkened.

Looking up, I saw several spider webs falling all over the sky.

The octopus-men didn't even have time to dodge before they were bound by the spider web. They struggled instinctively, but because the web was so sticky, the more they moved, the tighter it tightened, and soon, their last bit of room to move was taken away.

The next second, the spider silk suddenly tightened, and the huge pull caused the spider web to be lifted up from the ground.

In the blink of an eye, several white spider-balls were hanging in the cave. As some Spider-Men injected venom, the spider-balls quickly stopped swaying.

In another stalactite formation, several spider-men hung upside down from the cave ceiling, patiently lying in wait, their eyes fixed on what lay below.

As the bat-men flew over, the spider-men contracted their abdomens, and their highly adhesive spider silk precisely struck the bat-men's wing membranes.

As the bat-men, losing their balance, struggled violently, they emitted ear-piercing ultrasonic attacks, yet they could not escape the fate of being dragged along by the spider-men, bit by bit. Like reeling in a kite with a string, once the bat-men were pulled a certain distance, the spider-men's sharp spider legs would launch an attack.

However, these were only a few battlefields; the Snowdrop Spider Clan actually paid a heavy price.

The teams led by the Bronze-ranked matriarchs were alright, but the Spider-Men who formed their own teams were practically cheap expendable resources.

Inside the cave, one can see everywhere the bodies of Spider-Men that have been smashed, drained, or pierced by bone clubs, and even those that have died from fighting each other.

In terms of sheer casualties, the Spider-Men even outnumbered the Snake-Men, Bear-Men, Bat-Men, and Octopus-Men combined.