Chapter 679: Slaying the Firmament Envoy

The Firmament was a person!

Hearing this outrageous claim, the World-Suppressing King felt his very heart tremble.

Such an unorthodox theory was a massive blow to his ingrained beliefs.

In the understanding of all deities, the River was the River, Fertile Earth was Fertile Earth, and so naturally, the Firmament was just the Firmament.

Names were merely identifiers. In truth, they represented some supreme authority or unfathomable existence—something entirely unlike themselves.

Just as they were unlike humans.

Although he looked very much like a human, that was his own choice.

Just look at the demigods of the Inner World. Which of them resembled a human? Some didn't even possess a humanoid form.

Because in truth, they were no longer human.

They existed in a higher dimension, occupying a position unfathomable to humanity.

They possessed their own believers, and in the eyes of those believers, sometimes merely speaking their names directly was a sin.

Humans turned fanatic and mad just to possess a tiny fraction of their power, even willingly abandoning everything to follow in their footsteps.

Family, friendship, love...

He had seen countless people waver in the face of their power, ultimately abandoning those very things.

All for a sliver of their pity.

He had seen much and experienced much, which only made him believe this even more firmly.

And precisely because of this, he also believed the Firmament was an unfathomable existence.

Such an existence could be challenged, but it could hardly be treated with contempt.

Just as there had always been humans throughout history who challenged deities, yet almost none could maintain their disdain after actually laying eyes on one.

But clearly, Yan Jing did not share that sentiment.

"Don't you feel it?"

Yan Jing looked at the stunned World-Suppressing King.

"Would you be afraid of the actions of ordinary residents? Would you ever intervene because you worried one might hurt you?"

"No, forget ordinary residents. Have you ever even been afraid of a demigod?"

The World-Suppressing King took a deep breath, at a loss for words.

Beside them, Chen Nian and the Old Man felt their hearts jolt.

Although they had already guessed as much from the interaction between Yan Jing and the World-Suppressing King, it wasn't until they heard Yan Jing's words that they fully confirmed the person before them was truly a deity.

A deity.

Standing right before their eyes.

Furthermore, judging by Yan Jing's demeanor, he didn't seem the least bit afraid of this deity.

"You wanted me to stay earlier purely so I could attempt to strike at the Firmament, right?"

Yan Jing smiled.

"Then we can discuss some deeper matters now."

The World-Suppressing King remained silent for several seconds before finally nodding.

"Let's change locations."

Yan Jing looked toward the empty sky in the distance and smiled.

"So no one catches up to us."

He immediately walked over to his two friends and leaned in.

"I've already said what needed to be said. Think it over carefully, guys, whether you want to become deities."

"What's your opinion?"

Chen Nian looked at Yan Jing.

Yan Jing shook his head.

Naturally, he didn't want his friends to step into this deep pit, and he believed they wouldn't be willing to abandon their freedom and families just to become so-called deities.

"Then what are you going to do?"

The Old Man asked the crucial question in a low voice.

Naturally, both of them could tell that Yan Jing had already taken that step.

If neither of them became deities, it meant they wouldn't be of any help when it finally came time to face the Firmament.

"I mostly just want to leave a way out."

With Chen Nian and Old Master Liu, Yan Jing had no reason to hide anything, directly voicing his true thoughts.

"If this doesn't work out in the end, at least I'll have the two of you to help look after the others."

"Is it impossible to just walk away from this?"

After a few seconds of silence, Chen Nian looked at Yan Jing.

"You go be a proper deity, and we'll be demigods. Once this Advent Day passes, everything will belong to us."

"Yeah... kid, you should think about this long-term."

The Old Man, usually reckless and impulsive, surprisingly sided with Chen Nian this time and offered his advice.

Yan Jing pondered for a moment, then finally smiled and shook his head.

His mind was made up. If he reached a similar conclusion after meeting other deities, he absolutely wouldn't be able to endure the kind of life the World-Suppressing King had just described.

Abandoning most of his closest friends to go to an unfamiliar place, only to end up working for someone else.

He had lived through multiple lifetimes and traveled to the River several times—he hadn't done all that just to live a life like this.

If he were forced to choose a few people to bring up with him, who would he bring, and who would he leave behind?

Mantou, Teacher Shen, Wen He, Fei Yu—that was four right there. There was also Papa Rat, Zeng Qing, Bobo... Even assuming the Old Man and Chen Nian both became deities, he still had many people he wanted to see. The beautiful memories he had made in the Surface World and Inner World couldn't compare to the so-called higher-dimensional Divine Realm.

He was unwilling to settle. He would rather risk it all.

Seeing that Yan Jing's mind was made up, the two men fell silent before finally nodding in acceptance.

Yan Jing raised his hand and sent the two men away. Then, he opened a door and took Zheng Youlan and the World-Suppressing King somewhere else.

Shortly after the group left, a figure plummeted from high in the sky.

The person wore a gray robe that concealed his figure. Staring at the ancestral hall where the group had just been, he stuck out a snake-like tongue and licked the corners of his mouth.

He let out a long breath and dashed off into the distance once more.

Not long after he left, the Messenger appeared outside the ancestral hall.

He had followed Yan Jing here.

But soon, as his gaze swept over the spot where the figure in the gray robe had just stood, his expression drastically changed.

The next instant, like a mouse spotting a cat, he catapulted off the ground and soared tens of thousands of meters into the air.

Not only that, but door after door unfolded before him. He stepped through them, constantly teleporting, until he finally came to a halt.

He was now at the furthest point in the Surface World from that ancestral hall.

Seeing that no one had caught up, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

The feathers on the small pair of wings covering his eyes were completely drenched in sweat.

"Damn it... How did that kid provoke those monstrous freaks..."

He gulped, still feeling a lingering dread.

How could he not be afraid? He had finally managed to escape from the Inner World, and before he could enjoy even a few days of freedom, he bumped into something that could cost him his life.

To him, it was no less terrifying than walking through the gates of hell a second time.

"Wait, that's not right..."

He muttered softly.

"That seemed to be World-Suppressing's territory... Could that kid have his eyes on that guy's Divine Throne?"

"Isn't that kid supposed to be shrewd? He always targets upper deities..."

He noticed something was off, the wings covering his eyes trembling slightly.

"It's that Weird Energy..."

He recalled a highly unusual fluctuation of Weird Energy he had felt recently and seemed to understand something.

"No way... That kid created his own Divine Throne?!"

He carefully sensed the Divine Throne he had given to Yan Jing. It was still there.

But the aura of that Divine Throne seemed to be mixed with a tiny bit of something else. If he hadn't focused entirely on sensing it, he likely would have overlooked it.

"It really is that kid!"

The wings in front of the Messenger's eyes shot up in shock.

"That kid created his own Divine Throne. There's no one ahead of him on that path, so doesn't that mean he's practically become a deity?!"

"No wonder he attracted those freaks!"

"Wait..."

Confusion surfaced in his eyes again.

"If that kid has already become a deity, why would he seek out World-Suppressing..."

"Tsk..."

Failing to figure it out after thinking for a long time gave the Messenger a bit of a headache.

He was the extremely gossipy type.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be called the Messenger, nor would he have walked a path no one else had taken.

Yes, his Divine Throne was also self-created.

This gossipy nature was reflected in every aspect of his life, even becoming a pathological habit.

Establishing the Deity Ascension Roll, for example, was a major manifestation of this.

What deity would have the free time to gather information on those demigods every single day? He did.

Now, unable to uncover the truth, he felt an agonizing itch in his heart.

"I should go..."

He gritted his teeth, but his legs wouldn't move.

The Firmament Envoys were far too terrifying. He truly didn't want to get involved with those guys.

While he was hesitating...

Yan Jing and the World-Suppressing King were chatting passionately.

"Where do you think my strength ranks now?"

"At least an upper deity."

"Enough to fight the Firmament?"

"I don't know."

"Then is it enough to fight the strongest Firmament Envoy?"

"This..."

The World-Suppressing King hesitated slightly.

"That particular one has indeed fought two upper deities—the previous Space and the previous Fear."

"At the time, Space used spatial abilities, but the opponent didn't seem very affected. Later, Fear used fear abilities, and the opponent still seemed largely unaffected."

"You mean the opponent has magic immunity?"

"Magic immunity... Yes, something like that. The term fits perfectly."

The World-Suppressing King nodded.

"But it isn't total immunity. He can still get hurt. Space, for instance, did manage to injure him. It's just that when facing the path abilities those two used, he seemed capable of ignoring most of the effects."

Yan Jing nodded.

"So do you have any suggestions? Regarding fighting the Firmament."

"Me?"

The World-Suppressing King pointed at himself in disbelief.

He was just a lower deity, and the weakest kind at that.

Just because he had "World-Suppressing" in his name didn't mean he could actually suppress the world. Faced with Yan Jing's question, he was completely stunned.

"Of course you." Yan Jing smiled.

"You're the one who urged me to take it on, so shouldn't you give me some advice?"

"This... well..." The World-Suppressing King thought hard. Finally, a flash of inspiration hit him.

"You could look for the River and Fertile Earth!"

"Look for the River and Fertile Earth?" Yan Jing blinked.

"Right!" The World-Suppressing King nodded. Just as he was about to continue, a sharp blade suddenly pierced straight through his abdomen.

"Pfft—"

A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his lips.

From a distance, the sharp blade looked like a sharpened wooden stick wrapped in tentacles. It thrust out from the void, instantly impaling the World-Suppressing King's abdomen.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...

A terrifying surge of Weird Energy bloomed outward.

Countless motes of divine light flowed along the tentacles toward the other end of the dagger. The World-Suppressing King's figure began to wither away at a visible rate.

In just a brief moment, he had completely lost his human shape.

Yan Jing looked up at the gray-robed figure radiating towering Weird Energy in the distance.

"The Revelation of the Gods has yet to begin. Those who use Divine Power without authorization shall die!"

The gray-robed figure spoke slowly.

Yan Jing merely smiled.

"What, are you playing the 'speak-and-kill' routine?"

"I haven't agreed to that."

He raised his hand, and the power of life surged. The World-Suppressing King, who had lost his human form, simply reappeared just like that.

The World-Suppressing King stared at his surroundings in complete bewilderment, not yet understanding what had happened.

His consciousness was still stuck on the moment he had been sucked dry. He had no idea why he was suddenly alive again.

Meanwhile, the gray-robed figure across from them looked at the resurrected World-Suppressing King and was visibly shocked.

Before he could react, Yan Jing had already reached out and grabbed the dagger.

Feeling the force of Yan Jing's grip on the dagger, the gray-robed figure's eyes darkened.

"Those who become deities without authorization before the Revelation of the Gods begins shall die!"

The Weird Energy around him flared once more. The blade of the dagger twisted, slicing a small cut onto Yan Jing's hand. Then, a terrifying suction force emanated from the dagger.

"Always shouting 'die, die, die' all day long."

Yan Jing chuckled.

"If someone didn't know better, they'd think you were a professional mourner crying at a funeral."

He extended a finger.

Praying for Death Evolution.

This was the first time he had used his abilities since becoming a deity.

An ability belonging to a deity.

Instantly, the dagger in his hand disintegrated, and the Weird Energy surrounding the gray-robed figure completely dissipated alongside it.

Although the Weird Energy showed signs of rising again the very next moment, this brief window was more than enough for Yan Jing.

He appeared in front of the gray-robed figure in a flash and spoke softly.

"I create a world without you."

Buzz—

A bounded realm materialized around the gray-robed figure just like that, trapping him inside.

In the next instant, the gray-robed figure felt a terrifying power of rules descend. His entire body distorted continuously, as if he was being stretched and crushed flat by an invisible force.

And then he exploded violently.

Splat!

Blood splattered everywhere.

Hum, hum, hum...

A mote of gray light rose from the collapsed gray robes.

"That is the origin essence of the Firmament! Don't let it escape!"

The World-Suppressing King widened his eyes, his palms sweating as he recklessly threw himself forward to block it.

If the Firmament's origin essence returned and reported what had happened here, they would be severely short on time.

He had seen such origin essence appear a few times before. Every time, the entities present had tried to stop it but failed. And not long after the origin essence returned, whoever had killed the Firmament Envoy would be slain by an even stronger Firmament Envoy.

But... to his surprise.

After the mote of gray light appeared, it didn't seem to have any intention of returning to the Firmament. It just hovered there quietly in mid-air.

"What's going on?"

The World-Suppressing King froze.

This was the first time he had ever seen the Firmament's origin essence fail to return.

"I don't know." Yan Jing shook his head. He reached out and withdrew that bounded realm, pulling the Firmament's origin essence into the palm of his hand along with it.

"Oh... I get it! It's because that is an entirely different world!"

It was as if a lightbulb had gone off in the World-Suppressing King's head; he suddenly understood.

"Yes, that's it! Because you didn't just carve out space, you created another world! The Firmament belongs to this world—it has no jurisdiction over that one!"

"Yes, that has to be it! The power of rules and whatnot—they are the rules of our world!"

He grew increasingly excited, his words spilling out faster and faster.

"Creating a world to completely isolate the opponent... to think this was possible! But... who else can create a world? It seems only you can... No, wait, that's not right..."

"There's also..."

He widened his eyes, staring at Yan Jing.

"There is also Creation."

Yan Jing spoke softly.

"Perhaps we've found one of the reasons why the Firmament wanted to kill him."