Chapter 1234: Chapter 982: Make a Decision!
"No, that’s not how it is," the woman tried to explain.
"Ah! It’s the same over here!" someone from God’s Association also shouted loudly.
At that moment, the battle between both sides almost instantly ceased.
"Someone is secretly seizing Divine Status amidst the chaos!"
"It must be one of our own doing this!"
"Could it be that woman’s accomplice?"
Although both sides were still on guard against each other, their focus had clearly shifted from their opponents to their own ranks.
"Regardless, let’s capture that woman first! Under interrogation, she’ll have to reveal her accomplices!" someone loudly declared.
"Yes! Chairman, give the order!" another person said.
At that moment, the chairman of the Hand of God Association was truly sweating bullets. Others might not know, but he was well aware that the woman was the true owner of the Hand of God Association! How could he possibly give such an order?
Meanwhile, the woman’s gaze swept over everyone present with a somber look. She was unsure who had orchestrated this, but it was clear that the perpetrator had executed their plan neatly, leaving no loose ends, and choosing this moment precisely to create chaos. To think that after all her efforts in running the association, her ultimate goal of seizing these people’s Divine Status, only to have it benefit someone else!
How could she allow this!
The woman exchanged glances with the man hidden among the members of God’s Association, and suddenly, a pressure of three hundredfold Divine Status descended. Everyone instantly felt an immense suppression. Those with lower Divine Status immediately fell to their knees, trembling. Those with higher Divine Status, although managing to endure for a short while, were also forced to kneel due to the vast disparity in Divine Status, unable to resist.
This three-hundredfold Divine Status not only suppressed the members of Hand of God but also affected those from God’s Association. Suddenly, the two associations that had been fiercely fighting seconds ago instinctively united, and their combined effort was just enough to counteract the three-hundredfold Divine Status. The members of both sides rejoiced, having not expected such a simple solution!
However, just then, another burst of three-hundredfold Divine Status erupted among the members of God’s Association, completely suppressing everyone from the association.
Originally, each association had a total Divine Status well over three hundred times, which would normally make it difficult for either person to suppress the other. But now, due to Long Yi’s influence, both sides only had two hundred each. Under the combined suppression of six hundred times Divine Status from the couple, the mere four hundredfold Divine Status of the group was utterly inconsequential!
Especially those nearest to the couple felt the pressure of Divine Status so intensely that they could hardly breathe!
"Hey, whoever you are, actually, you’re really helping us out," the man began, and the woman across from him laughed joyously.
As he spoke, the man casually waved his hand, and the Divine Status of several people near him was extracted and devoured.
"In order to gather all the Divine Status from the entire Lower Plane, we went to great lengths to establish these two associations, serving you for centuries. Now, it is time for a little payback! Come on, offer your Divine Status! These Divine Status are not meant for you weaklings!"
The man and woman burst into laughter, beginning to absorb the Divine Status of those around them.
Although the chairmen of both associations were kneeling, they weren’t overly worried at first, feeling that they were all in-house and shouldn’t have an issue. But as the couple approached, they quickly realized that their status as chairmen was now useless.
"My lord! My lord! I have served you with all my heart for so many years! Please spare me! Even just onefold Divine Status! I can’t live without Divine Status!" the chairmen of both sides cried tearfully.
"Heh, you should actually be content, considering how for many years, you’ve used Divine Power to continuously boost your business and influence in the secular world. It’s about time you turned it in, so go peacefully!"
Divine Status is naturally something one would want more of; hence, neither chairman managed to keep any, only able to collapse in despair. They weren’t dead, but after having Divine Status for so many years, suddenly losing it all left them feeling an indescribable emptiness.
At this moment, members of both associations finally understood what was happening. They couldn’t believe it—the two associations, supposedly established for the welfare of their members, were just a facade! In the words of the association leaders, the two associations were sworn enemies until death. But now everyone realized it was a grand deception! There were never any sworn enemies! It was all a lie!
Meanwhile, Long Yi and Ai Lin knew that there was no need to hide any longer. Seizing the moment of Divine Status suppression, Long Yi also unleashed all his Divine Status and burst forward, competing with the man for Divine Status. Ai Lin was not hesitant either. Although her Divine Status was lower, she had already eyed a few people with much higher Divine Status. She had been hiding behind them all along, and now, seizing the opportunity, she directly stole their Divine Status. In an instant, although her Divine Status was still somewhat lower than the woman’s, she no longer felt the oppressive suppression of Divine Status!
The appearance of Long Yi and Ai Lin had actually been within the anticipated outcomes of the couple, who had guessed there were definitely two individuals with not-insignificant Divine Status among the group. The emergence of Long Yi and Ai Lin proved them right.
"You have finally appeared!" the man bellowed, his Divine Status, originally only around three hundredfold, suddenly surged to over five hundredfold! And it was not only him, the woman did the same! Her Divine Status also rose to over five hundredfold! Combined, their Divine Status of over a thousandfold instantly suppressed Long Yi and Ai Lin!
"Let’s unite!" Long Yi roared, his four hundredfold Divine Status bursting forth, and Ai Lin also unleashed her three hundredfold Divine Status. The others, having a bit more than a hundredfold Divine Status combined, barely withstood the pressure of the Thousandfold Divine Status. However, this resistance merely kept them from kneeling on the ground.
Long Yi guessed that the opponent’s original three hundredfold Divine Status might have been concealed, but he had not entirely expected that the opponent could reach a stunning five hundredfold.
"I thought it was someone else, but it’s just you." The man laughed.
Long Yi also sneered, asking, "How so, can’t it be me?"
This was not the first time Long Yi had encountered this man, and clearly, the man had met Long Yi before as well.
"Sure, it can be you, actually, it doesn’t matter who it is, after all, you’re all just delivering Divine Status to me. How could I not welcome that?" the man said as he moved toward Long Yi, thrilled by Long Yi’s four hundredfold Divine Status. If he could fully absorb Long Yi’s Divine Status, who else in this Plane could be his match?
However, fundamentally, Long Yi possessed a four hundredfold Divine Status, plus the more than a hundredfold Divine Status of those around him. Merely relying on Divine Status to suppress Long Yi was nothing but a fool’s dream!
Long Yi was also aware of this, so he suddenly shouted loudly, "My brothers, I know you don’t recognize me, and you don’t trust me, but now it’s time for you to make a decision! Do you really want to give your Divine Status to him, or to me?"
Long Yi’s words surprised everyone, the man among them breaking into laughter.
"Boy, are you crazy? All of your Divine Status is, of course, mine!"
Ignoring him, Long Yi continued, "Look, you are now faced with a choice, those two bastards have deceived you for hundreds of years, their only goal being to seize your Divine Status, and although I also came to seize Divine Status, I have not deceived anyone. So you really need to decide, do you wait for me to be defeated and end up handing over all your Divine Status to that swindler, eventually dying on this desolate planet? Or would you rather give your Divine Status to me and let me fight for you?"
At this point, the man started to instinctively sense that something was amiss.
"Look, I swear on my own soul, as long as I defeat that guy, I guarantee you will be safe! Think about it, even though you lose your Divine Status, at least you stay alive, right?"
Long Yi’s bold statement was a risky maneuver since he and the man were hardly different in that they both targeted these people’s Divine Status from the start. However, the subtle situation now was that Long Yi, together with those around him, joined forces against the man. Long Yi’s previous seizure of others’ Divine Status had been done so covertly that no one had seen it.
Most importantly, there was Long Yi’s oath. Long Yi had made a vow on his own soul, and for these beings who melded their souls with their Divine Status, such an oath carried extreme binding power. If Long Yi indeed won but broke the oath, his soul would be instantly obliterated.
This clearly inclined the situation.
"Bastard!" The man visibly felt the atmosphere around it turn sour, and attempted to continue pressuring Long Yi, but relying on his own Divine Status alone couldn’t accomplish this. Thus, he repeatedly signaled to his wife, and immediately, the woman from the Hand of God shifted some of her Divine Status pressure onto Long Yi. Of course, as she had been marginally ahead initially, the aid to her husband was naturally limited.
Upon realizing he could not directly snatch Long Yi’s Divine Status, the man decided to start with the ordinary people around him. In the blink of an eye, the Divine Status of everyone around him was drained!
"It’s time to make a decision!" Long Yi shouted loudly.
At that moment, someone beside Long Yi, with a sudden resolve, transferred all of their Divine Status to him!
"Damn it! That’s my Divine Status! You can’t give it to him!" the man screamed frantically, as he began relentlessly snatching Divine Status from those around him using his absolute advantage. Meanwhile, the woman also started her process of plundering Divine Status.
You see, Divine Status is such that each time you take one from the opponent, the gap doubles; while the situation had been barely even initially, it started to grow as the couple continuously seized more Divine Status.
On Ai Lin’s side, Ai Lin remained silent, but suddenly someone beside her transferred all their Divine Status into her, setting an example that led more and more people to follow suit.
One side was seizing, while the other was voluntarily offering—a clearly faster process. But this was merely slowing the pace at which the other side widened the gap.
Eventually, no one around Long Yi and Ai Lin held any Divine Status, and they were forced together. Finally, the couple also stood united, the gap in Divine Status now having expanded to three hundredfold!
A three hundredfold gap in Divine Status could change everything. (To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)
