The gods were not pleased by Ji Xiang's "return."
If they possessed clear self-will, they would have unleashed their powers to cast this scavenger, who had previously caused such chaos in Fu Li, out of the Great Fu Li once more!
The gods' strong reaction stemmed from the last time... when the Tai Xu Bao Guang invaded Fu Li. Ji Xiang, using the Tong Tian Ming Yan and his spirit-dispelling techniques, had forcibly used them as a shield wall.
They, the dignified gods of the Thirty-Six Heavens, were stacked up like bricks and tiles. And in the end... it wasn't just their divine positions that were scattered by the Tai Xu Bao Guang, but also their dignity as gods of the Thirty-Six Heavens!
Even worse... this heretical celestial demon, who disrespected the heavenly gods, had even caused the Primordial Heavenly Venerate to "awaken" for a moment!
If the heavenly laws could be applied to Ji Xiang, this heretical celestial demon, and if the gods possessed clear and definite self-will and could act independently, they would have bound Ji Xiang within the Thunder City of the Thunder Department, allowing the True King of Jade Purity and the Heavenly Venerate of Universal Salvation by Thunder to bombard him with heavenly lightning, ensuring that this "sinful" celestial demon paid a heavy price!
Celestial demon, you will surely pay...
The divine tablets of the gods began to shake. But before their anger could be fully vented, the divine tablet of the Fire Virtue Star Lord was seized by the Tong Tian Ming Yan. It was like a large hand formed from white smoke, which unhesitatingly grabbed the Fire Virtue Star Lord as if drawing a card.
Divine Tablets: !!!
Celestial demon, do not be so presumptuous!
Did you not just say you were borrowing them?
Do you call what you are doing now borrowing!
You scoundrel!
You take and you keep, utterly domineering!
"Thank you all for giving me this face."
The divine tablets heard Ji Xiang's "thanks," but they were naturally not pleased. Instead, they were furious!
True "fury"!
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
Thunderous roars suddenly erupted within Fu Li, continuous and at a high frequency! Vast lightning emerged from the depths of the distant Fu Li, accompanied by several white lights, striking down from the azure heavens!
The entire Azure Sky of Bi Luo, the Great Fu Li Land, was like a vast ocean suddenly experiencing an undersea earthquake, stirring up immense waves. And those white lights that struck down were all divine tablets of heavenly gods!
Level-hopping reception is not advisable, we urge you to release the Fire Virtue Star Lord as soon as possible...
Boom!
As they rushed out, attempting to stop Ji Xiang from this absurd act of level-hopping reception, suddenly, a large amount of incense offerings vanished from these divine tablets, consumed by the floating Tong Tian Ming Yan!
The Tong Tian Ming Yan was what remained of the Emperor's nameless karmic fire, capable of ascending three thousand zhang into the sky. These divine tablets suddenly halted their movement and then flew back into the depths of Fu Li at an even faster speed!
Almost forgot!
This brat can steal their incense offerings!
The divine tablets "remembered" this, of course.
The last time this brat came to Fu Li to receive divine positions, he forcibly level-hopped to receive the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, and then two of the other Four Sacred Marshals went to rescue them, only to be captured by this brat and never return.
Along with them, a large amount of incense offerings were also swept away!
Every time Ji Xiang returned to Fu Li, some god would lose some incense offerings. So why must it be oneself?
This damn Tong Tian Ming Yan!
Why did that damn blank divine tablet and these two things meet?
Who is the culprit!
We must capture her and bring her into Fu Li, to have heavenly lightning strike her head!
Thus, the scene became one where the gods rushed out, the gods sent them off with thunderous roars, the gods offered a lot of incense offerings, and the gods returned, content.
The divine tablets vanished, carrying vast amounts of Tai Xu Qi, arriving in a vast expanse and departing in a vast expanse.
"Thank you all for coming out to send off some incense offerings. Great kindness needs no words!"
Ji Xiang had not expected more divine tablets to rush out this time, just like when he level-hopped to receive the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy for the first time. Except that time, there was an even more powerful force that wanted to shatter the reception power of the blank divine tablet, but it ultimately failed.
This time, that powerful force did not appear.
Ji Xiang pondered for a moment.
He quickly saw through it.
The problem lay in the hierarchy of the Heavenly Department. The court had established barriers in the thirteen ranks of the Heavenly Department. Earthly cultivators could not receive gods above the thirteenth rank unless they obtained permission from the Emperor. This secret method might be related to the Grand Dao of the Dynasty.
And the gap between the thirteenth and twelfth ranks was immense. Ji Xiang recalled that when he received divine positions, the sense of pressure from the two venerable gods of the twelfth rank and the heavenly gods of the thirteenth rank was completely different.
Then, there was the tenth rank of the Heavenly Department, where numerous demon kings, god kings, and generals of all gods resided.
And the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy was the eighth rank of the Heavenly Department, above the tenth rank. The other two generals of the Four Marshals were in the tenth rank.
However, this was not important for now.
Because the Fire Virtue Star Lord was merely a thirteenth-rank "Universal Star Aspect," far from reaching the level of "General of All Gods."
"With the incense offerings of the gods to help me, my form and spirit can recover faster! It just so happens that the temple has been without incense offerings for the past few days. The incense offerings left by the gods this time will be of great help to me."
Ji Xiang was grateful to the gods from the bottom of his heart.
Where else could he find so many staunch friends?
Although they could not speak, Ji Xiang knew that they were all willing to help him. Not only could they form a divine tablet shield wall at critical moments, but they also occasionally offered timely assistance, sharing incense offerings with him.
Here comes the incense!
Picking up incense offerings, what a beautiful thing.
And at the same moment.
Yin Ping Niang Zi, who had been watching from the side as the gods descended and then quickly departed, was already stunned.
This scene had shaken her heart, and for a moment, her thoughts became somewhat chaotic.
What exactly was going on?
Did a person holding the divine position of the Great Emperor Zhenwu truly exist? Although... the name seemed a bit different?
Could it be the Blessed Saint True Monarch on Mount Wudang?
But even a mortal cultivator... no, perhaps even an immortal in the Ascension Realm entering Fu Li would not cause such a violent reaction from the gods of the Thirty-Six Heavens!
This was the Great Fu Li Land, a place where only immortals could truly enter and exit with their primordial spirits intact. For minor deities like herself, or cultivators, they could only reach the middle of the Great Fu Li with their spiritual will when receiving divine positions.
"I haven't seen an immortal in the Ascension Realm... no, no, no, I see one now, it's this person, but, but for some reason, I feel that perhaps, other Ascended Immortals, those powerful immortals who ascend in broad daylight, would not cause such great turmoil in this azure sky..."
"This immortal, who holds a thirteenth-rank divine position in the Heavenly Department, can simply take it as he pleases. For this, even divine positions in the top ten of the Heavenly Department have manifested to see him off... Aren't all the gods of the Thirty-Six Heavens inanimate objects? How can they behave so much like living beings?"
"Could it be that heavenly gods are actually sentient, not just wooden carvings and clay statues that bestow power, but truly possess life?"
Yin Ping Niang Zi interpreted the emergence of the top ten deities of the Heavenly Department as them "seeing off" the Great Emperor Zhenwu. This was a very polite gesture, indeed fitting for the interactions between deities in various stories, where they would bow and travel on clouds. It was just that the deities here were all flying tablets...
As for those thunderous roars and white lights, these must be the way the gods greeted each other!
However, since it was the Great Emperor Zhenwu, the guardian deity of the Ming Dynasty, it was normal to have such prestige!
This... is indeed reasonable!
This... the way gods greet each other is indeed majestic and powerful! In major events in the mortal world, gongs and drums are also beaten, and the origin of gongs and drums is to imitate the sound of thunder from the heavens!
Legend has it... the Yellow Emperor made drums to boost morale!
This... is indeed worthy of the Great Emperor Zhenwu, who subdued all demons and is the guardian deity of a dynasty, to receive such treatment!
"If I become a heavenly god, and ascend to the top ten of the Heavenly Department in the future, I wonder if I will also have such status?"
"As expected... the Great Emperor... is so formidable!"
Yin Ping Niang Zi was truly convinced by the immortal who made the move, this immortal who called himself "White-Faced Zhenwu." Of course, this was respect for the power of this "immortal," not a genuine willingness to be his subject.
However, as she watched intently, after the gods retreated, the roar of a furious dragon sounded in her ears!
Yin Ping Niang Zi suddenly turned around. The ghost fires on her body, which had been completely consumed by the incense offerings given by Ji Xiang, reignited!
Burning fiercely from her waist, the幽青色 (you qing se - dark green/blue) flames represented the anger of heaven, and the auspicious dragon, with its three eyes, appearing to wear three magnificent stars, was glaring at her!
The appearance of the gods, for some reason, had caused it to temporarily cease its actions.
And as the gods departed, it instantly resumed its actions!
All of this happened in a short period. Ji Xiang appeared, directly bypassed the auspicious dragon, and seized the divine tablet of Fire Virtue, attracting the attention of all gods. Then, gods of the tenth rank and above in the Heavenly Department descended and suddenly departed.
For the auspicious dragon, it was merely a slight change in Fu Li. Its actions were only paused for a very short time. And before that, it had failed to attack Ji Xiang's white smoke, and instead, its mouth had been filled with the Yin Fire of Heaven by that white smoke, which had provoked its "anger"!
The first target was naturally the weakest, Yin Ping Niang Zi!
The flying dragon raised its head. Above the Great Fu Li, the stars twinkled. Suddenly, a stream of light flashed, transforming into a giant ball of light burning with the Yin Fire of Heaven, roaring from the west!
The Universal Star Aspect was being drawn by it!
"What power is that?"
Yin Ping Niang Zi looked at the giant ball of light flying towards her, drawn by the dragon's roar. Even more terrifyingly, above the Azure Sky of Bi Luo, behind the colorful clouds, the ancient floating celestial river and stars were visible.
The radiance of these stars converged on the giant ball of light rapidly revolving in the sky. When the auspicious dragon's three bright eyes blinked once, this giant ball of light had completed its stellar convergence and began to fall towards her location!
"Thirteenth rank of the Heavenly Department... and above..."
"Known as..."
"Universal Star Aspect!"
This auspicious dragon actually possessed the power to manipulate the divine power of numerous star lords!
Not only that, but fierce winds spewed from the dragon's nostrils. These storms tore through the clouds of Fu Li, causing even the radiance manifested by the stars to tremble faintly!
Nine Heavens Gang Wind!
The Gang Wind tore through the clouds of Fu Li, shook the void, covered the heavens and earth, and contained all things, leaving Yin Ping Niang Zi with nowhere to escape!
And the wind fanned the flames. With the appearance of the Gang Wind, the dark green ghost fire suddenly blazed intensely, gradually causing Yin Ping Niang Zi's form and spirit to collapse. Yin Ping Niang Zi's consciousness was entangled by the ghost fire. At this moment, only her head remained of her form and spirit, and her last thought was one of regret.
She had become too engrossed in watching the immortal's methods...
The auspicious dragon was far more powerful than her...
This time, she had truly failed. She was so close, even with the Great Emperor's help... but she would disappear like this... If her form and spirit were destroyed, her soul would also scatter...
But at this moment, a faint reprimand echoed through the void:
"Do not disturb the heavens and earth!"
"Stop!"
Ji Xiang unleashed his magic power, a power derived from the immortal artifact he had absorbed: the Huang Tian Fan Zhang.
The Huang Tian Fan Zhang had four divine powers, one of which was creation. The first divine power could interrupt the opponent's spellcasting, invoking the wrath of heaven. Any spell the opponent was casting or had already cast would be immediately interrupted and disappear!
And that one creation power was the ability to restore the form and spirit of the deceased to their original state, and... to bestow a divine body!
Coupled with the fact that Ji Xiang had obtained Yuan Huang's "Middle Volume Jade Book" from the world of the True Spirit Ranking, which could help people, gods, or lonely souls fabricate new forms and spirits!
And as expected, the Huang Tian Fan Zhang also belonged to Yuan Huang. This expert of the Heavenly Heart Realm, or rather, half-step Heavenly Heart, specialized in the path of gods!
Ji Xiang parted the colorful clouds with his hand. Yue Yin Ping's collapsing form and spirit were instantly restored, and she was imbued with initial divine power!
In this Great Fu Li, she regained her divine pháp (fa - law/method)!
She had the divine pháp, but not the divine name or position. Now, the divine tablet of the Fire Virtue Star Lord was to be delivered to her!
Yin Ping Niang Zi stared blankly at her restored form and spirit!
It was like a shattered mirror being mended, or spilled water being collected!
And the auspicious dragon, seeing this, naturally became even more enraged!
Ji Xiang's voice, containing explanations, all pointed towards the auspicious dragon. In Yin Ping Niang Zi's bewildered gaze, he shouted into the rolling wind and smoke ahead:
"In August of Xia, the Morning Star appears in the west of the Celestial River. Now, a comet appears west of the Morning Star, its light reaching the Celestial River in the east."
"The light of the comet, in the astronomical books of the Jin Dynasty, is written as a type of comet, but its calamities are more severe than those of a comet. And the light of the comet does not appear without reason; its radiance must have a source star."
"When you see the comet appear from the west, pointing to the Celestial River in the east, then it must be the power of the Morning Star that is emanating it."
Ji Xiang's voice echoed in her ears:
"Alright, although the gods of the heavens have given me this face, allowing me to take the divine tablet of True Lord Fire Virtue for you to use..."
"But!"
His tone paused:
"This Star Lord's power is truly immense. Since ancient times, it has been a sign of dynastic changes, the demise of ministers, popular uprisings, and so on! The destiny it carries, good or ill fortune, you must grasp it yourself!"
"Go down to the mortal realm! Use it well!"
With that, Ji Xiang manipulated the Tong Tian Ming Yan, grabbed Yin Ping Niang Zi and the divine tablet of the Fire Virtue Star Lord. In an instant, the divine tablet of the Fire Virtue Star Lord could not resist and was easily integrated into Yin Ping Niang Zi's divine soul!
As for those ghost fires, they were, of course, once again accepted by Ji Xiang. Now that Ji Xiang possessed the Purple Gold Pill, he could accept all powers within the element of fire without refusal; they were all treasures for his cultivation!
Yue Yin Ping was astonishingly thrown out of the Heavenly Gate, her spiritual consciousness instantly returning to her original body. All the fires in the Yin Ping Niang Zi Temple floated up!
At the same time, Ji Xiang was still using his magic power within the Heavenly Gate. In the Great Fu Li, his Ascension Realm cultivation could be fully utilized. As the immortal ascended, the large hand formed from white smoke steadily caught the oncoming Gang Wind!
"Nine Heavens Gang Wind, into my hands!"
Ji Xiang was very happy. He had seen Gang Wind before, but that was merely a Bi Xiao Tian Gang Wind set up by the great demon Taoist Tao Zhongwen, and it had never been triggered.
Clouds accumulate to form the heavens, supported by剛氣 (gang qi - rigid/firm energy), treading on it is like cotton, capable of supporting ten thousand jun!
The Gang Wind was full of power. Even when caught by the Tong Tian Ming Yan, it still wanted to resist. And Ji Xiang felt for the first time that the Tong Tian Ming Yan had encountered a "rival" with which it could stalemate!
As for facing the Tai Xu Bao Guang, that was not a rival; he was crushed that time.
The Nine Heavens Gang Wind thrashed within the Tong Tian Ming Yan, and continuous dragon roars echoed, rolling up the clouds and smoke into a vortex. The Gang Wind was within, the smoke and clouds were outside, swirling violently, covering the vast expanse of stars!
"You're putting up a bit of a stubborn resistance... but you dragon cannot stop me. This Gang Wind was left by the Shen Xiao Sect. The Nine Heavens Qi rotates within it. Since you have already breathed it out, I must have it!"
The auspicious dragon seemed to understand Ji Xiang's words. At this moment, it did something miraculous. It opened its large mouth and exerted a powerful suction, intending to suck this vast Gang Wind, along with the Tong Tian Ming Yan, back into its belly.
"You little dragon! You bully me because my form and spirit are not present, so I cannot manifest the Dharma Heaven and Earth!"
Ji Xiang suddenly raised his eyes: "You are formed from the national destiny of the Great Ming and transformed by the Grand Dao of the Dynasty. I did not wish to harm you, for harming you might cause the Ming Dynasty's national prestige and destiny to decline. But since you are so arrogant, I must show you what I am capable of!"
"I must teach you a lesson!"
With that, with a thought, a nine-colored treasure light flew out from the Heavenly Gate!
Tai Xu Bao Guang!
The treasure light cannot be used to seize others' abilities. This thing is incompatible with the blank divine tablet. If the item is eaten by the Tai Xu Bao Guang first, it cannot be retrieved.
Storage is also only a temporary ability; it cannot last long, otherwise, the item will "mysteriously" disappear.
The treasure light flew out, transforming into a divine sword. In an instant, one of the auspicious dragon's eyes was gouged out and dissolved into nothingness. The auspicious dragon then realized the unusual nature of this nine-colored radiance and quickly closed its mouth, but it still wanted to fight. The Tai Xu Bao Guang charged again. This time, the auspicious dragon used some unknown power and managed to briefly block the Tai Xu Bao Guang!
But it was only a brief blockage!
Its form was too massive. The Tai Xu Bao Guang broke off one of its dragon horns and collected it!
Ji Xiang, taking advantage of this moment, activated the form and spirit of the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, replacing the normal state of the White-Faced Zhenwu. In an instant, the forms and spirits of three hundred and sixty thousand heavenly soldiers appeared in the Great Fu Li!
"Heavenly soldiers, listen to my command! Contain the Gang Wind! Push it towards the Heavenly Gate!"
The forms and spirits of the three hundred and sixty thousand heavenly soldiers held back the Nine Heavens Gang Wind. As the auspicious dragon, fearing the Tai Xu Bao Guang, did not charge forward immediately, Ji Xiang's spirit and the Tong Tian Ming Yan, with the help of the power of the three hundred and sixty thousand heavenly soldiers, grabbed the Nine Heavens Gang Wind and vanished into the Heavenly Gate with a roar!
The auspicious dragon, with its broken dragon horn and blinded eye, could no longer find Ji Xiang's trace and could only retreat.
And not far from the auspicious dragon, also within the Great Fu Li Land, in the area east of the auspicious dragon, a giant eight-headed serpent appeared. This eight-headed serpent was entwining a weakened yellow python. The python was emaciated, and the national destiny it possessed was being gradually devoured by the eight-headed serpent.
The eight-headed serpent suddenly saw the auspicious dragon, its eye blinded and its dragon horn broken.
And its own existence seemed different from other "symbols of national destiny," emitting a heavy aura of decay and confusion from within.