Deities: Rulers of Nature

"God said, 'Let there be light!'"

As Tony finished speaking, a pure light source rose from his hand, instantly illuminating the entire dark cavern. For Spider-Man and the cavern beasts, who were used to the glow of fireflies, it was the first time they had experienced such blinding light.

Even with all eight of Spider-Man's eyes closed, tears still streamed down his face.

Tony's goal was not to dazzle everyone; he wanted to find Ji Xuan's figure.

Sure enough, under the light, Ji Xuan's figure went from blurry to clear, and he was not far from Tony. The fallen leaves were just an illusion.

In other words, Tony was just a demigod without divine authority at this time; otherwise, the effect of this divine spell would definitely be much more than that.

The moment Ji Xuan appeared, Tony once again transformed into a streak of light and attacked Ji Xuan with his spear.

Tony's previous divine magic source was still present, so Ji Xuan couldn't conceal his form this time, but he had more than one method.

This time, Ji Xuan didn't dodge either, and even smiled at Tony.

Tony sensed something was wrong, but he didn't know where it came from.

"burst!"

With Ji Xuan snapping his fingers, Tony, who had transformed into a streak of light, was forced to stop. Countless tiny vines sprouted from his wounds, absorbing Tony's divine power as they rapidly grew and bound him.

Ji Xuan flashed behind Tony, and the light blade formed from divine power pierced through Tony directly. At the same time, several light blades fell from the void, leaving several more holes in Tony's body.

More vines grew out, not only binding Tony more tightly, but also rapidly depleting his divine power.

"These parasitic vines are quite useful; we can continue to develop them in the future," Ji Xuan said thoughtfully as he attacked Tony.

While Ji Xuan continued to deplete Tony's resources, the battle in the underground cave was far from over.

The previous collapse did block some passages and even killed some unlucky people, but it also opened up the various levels, allowing the cyan and crimson creatures to directly reach the spider's nest on the seventh level.

Also arriving here were the snake people led by Seido and Hanae, as well as the cherry blossom spirits. The Thick-maned Bear King and the Thick-maned Bear King also arrived with a group of their people.

After Kester's death, Carlos finally suppressed her negative emotions. She couldn't intervene in the battles between the gods in the heavens, but as a candidate for the High Priestess, the knowledge Carlos had acquired made her understand the importance of the Familia to the gods.

Now that he has switched his allegiance to Ji Xuan, Carlos will naturally lean towards Ji Xuan when making plans for his clan.

Carlos first worked with Kadia to relocate a group of ordinary tribesmen and young children to the ancestral land, thus preserving a seed of life for the tribe.

Afterwards, the two and the remaining three matriarchs gathered the remaining members of their clan who were still able to fight and prepared for battle, launching an attack the moment Tony's Familia arrived.

The reason he didn't attack the snake-man was because Ji Xuan took the opportunity to remind Carlos, since he would most likely follow him in the future, and some troubles could be avoided from the beginning.

As a candidate for the High Mother, Carlos still held considerable prestige among the Snow Spider Clan. Now that High Mother Caroline and the strongest among them, Kester, were both dead, and with Kadia's support, the remaining three High Mothers did not disobey Carlos's orders, let alone the Iron and Mortal rank members of the clan.

The Snowy Spider-Man's web greatly restricted the movements of the Bearman and the Thick-Maned Bear, and Carlos's Frost Poison caught Crimson's eye. He felt that this could be combined with the Blood Burning Serpent Venom, and perhaps there would be some surprises.

Bai Qian also performed very well, successfully gaining control of a thick-maned bear. She then let the bear Kuku attack her without caring about her injuries, becoming even more ferocious than a bear in a berserk state.

Jin Yan and Jin Sha can accurately pinpoint the enemy's weaknesses, not only attacking themselves but also providing timely intelligence to their companions.

The cherry blossom spirits scattered three powders, and because their flying style was more agile than that of the bat people and their size was relatively smaller, they gave the bear people a headache but they were helpless.

In this situation, even the Bear King and the Thick-Maned Bear King did not gain a significant advantage; they simply took the opportunity to kill two more Spider-Women mistresses.

As the number of his followers dwindled dramatically, Tony lost his initial confidence. He never imagined that he himself would be at a disadvantage.

Tony didn't understand why Spider-Man would team up with Snake-Man to attack Bear-Man, but now was not the time to dwell on that; if he dragged this out any longer, he really would die here.

Thinking of this, a ruthless glint flashed in Tony's eyes. It wasn't that he didn't have the means to break free from Ji Xuan's restraints, but he was rather injured.

Now that defeat is inevitable, if we don't use it now, we might never have another chance.

Tony abandoned all defenses, letting the vines bind him, but the divine power within him began to spin and compress wildly, even tearing off the roots of the parasitic vines.

The next second, Tony's body exploded.

The blinding golden light, accompanied by a violent surge of energy, swept outwards. The parasitic vines were the first to suffer, not only being blasted apart but also crushed into powder by the turbulence.

Next to be affected was Ji Xuan, but Ji Xuan was prepared. A cyan-gold protective shield rose up and firmly protected Ji Xuan.

The scattered points of divine power did not dissipate; instead, they fell towards the cavern, enveloping the remaining bear-men and thick-maned bears before rising into the air together.

Tony had already reformed his form at the edge of the crystal wall. He was in extremely poor condition, having exhausted all the divine power he had accumulated over the years, leaving him with only some faith points.

He raised his hand and tore open the crystal wall in front of him. Before leaving with his kin, Tony looked back at Ji Xuan.

After sending a divine thought to Ji Xuan, he turned and left without hesitation, his figure completely disappearing into the void.

"I'll remember you, and I hope you won't forget me either. We'll meet again in the future."

The dark cavern returned to tranquility. After dissipating the aftershocks of the battle, Ji Xuan flashed to the corrupted priest.

Tony thought He had risked serious injury to leave, but in reality, Ji Xuan had let him go.

Although Tony's body shattered and then reformed, Ji Xuan had already left a hidden trick, which allowed Ji Xuan to pinpoint Tony's location.

Even if they are discovered, it doesn't matter, as Ji Xuan has hidden agents among the surviving bear-men and thick-maned bears.

However, Ji Xuan will not use this backup plan in the short term, as the gap between him and Tony is not large enough.

Suppressing these thoughts, Ji Xuan held up the Corrupting Godhood in his palm, activated the Eye of Omniscience once more, and divine power surged into each node.

This is why Ji Xuan didn't act beforehand—not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

Cleric positions are not easy to obtain. The reason why the world's will was so weak in the early days of the Underdark was largely due to its flow into the Cleric Rune Corps.

To break through the defensive mechanism surrounding the divine authority, one can only use divine power to wear it down little by little. This process will take a long time, and the deity will essentially be worn down here.

If Ji Xuan had arrived earlier to break the spell, with his all-knowing eye, he would indeed have been faster than the other gods, but he would still have faced a combined attack from the other gods.

It would be better to let all the other gods be out of the picture, and then let Him calm down and break the deadlock.