Chapter 1328: Chapter 499: Borrowing the Tiger’s Power
"Jing Country is beset by internal and external troubles; indeed, it’s troublesome and thorny. It’s a bit unreasonable to place all the burdens on you alone."
The Witch God said, "Currently, the Four Great Divine Lords have entrusted the Chess Slave to convey their words to you, indicating that they, too, will reveal themselves. As for whether there will be more Heavenly God Level beings coming to trouble you... it’s quite foreseeable."
He sighed at this point and continued, "But speaking of it, the elixir you, Young Master, have refined is truly splendid, of superior quality, even Heaven and Earth covet it... It’s no wonder so many people are thinking about it."
"Is it wrong for my elixir to be good?" Zhou Xuan raised his eyebrows.
"Not at all."
The Witch God said, "Although I am one of the Heavenly Venerates, I cannot fully engage in battle. If I exert too much force, Heaven and Earth will escape the cage, and I can’t help you much."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan immediately understood and asked, "Does Heaven and Earth have another name called Blood God Will?"
"You know about this too?" The Witch God felt Zhou Xuan was a bit too insightful; he hadn’t even mentioned the Blood God yet, and this Young Master had already caught on.
"I only learned recently that the Ancient Buddha uses the Supreme Secret to suppress the Blood God Will... However, how could just one Ancient Buddha suppress the Blood God? Surely, the rest of you Heavenly Venerates have made a move. You fear Heaven and Earth will escape the cage. If Heaven and Earth isn’t the Blood God, what else could it be?"
Zhou Xuan responded matter-of-factly.
The Witch God heavily nodded and said, "Indeed so! A Heavenly Venerate has a Heavenly Venerate’s mission. This time of catastrophe, I’m afraid I won’t be able to exert much strength either."
"But if each Heavenly God wants to snatch my elixir and you don’t intervene, then I won’t be saved."
Zhou Xuan gestured with a "seven" and said, "I’m just one of the Seven Incense Sticks! Surrounded by Heavenly Gods, I can’t fight them."
Yun Ziliang asked from the side, "Witch God, why don’t you issue a divine decree to order those Heavenly Gods not to take action."
"That’s where the difficulty lies."
The Witch God sighed and said, "Heavenly Gods have legitimate reasons to act against Young Master. From a formal standpoint, I can’t forcibly stop them."
"Why?" Li Changxun asked.
"Think about it... The duty of the Heavenly Gods is to guard against the Heavenly Fire Clan. Whoever helps the Heavenly Fire Clan, the Heavenly Gods have the authority and responsibility to act, and eliminate anyone assisting the Heavenly Fire Clan."
"Young Master is now the appointed Dan Officer of Bai Yujing, and on the surface, an unprecedented helper of the Heavenly Fire Clan."
"What if you forcibly intervene?" Zhou Xuan asked the Witch God.
The Witch God said, "Then my true strength will be exposed — my current strength isn’t that formidable due to being stretched too thin."
"Understood."
Zhou Xuan nodded.
He realized that the Witch God, more than anything, was now a symbol of a Heavenly Venerate without the actual power of a Heavenly Venerate.
Simply put, a paper tiger.
Can a paper tiger scare people?
Of course it can... But if others find out the tiger is made of paper, the Witch God’s name will no longer instill fear.
Zhou Xuan immediately closed his eyes, concentrating on finding a good strategy to break the impasse — on the surface, the Heavenly Gods want to trouble him, and might even want to imprison him for Heavenly God Level alchemy.
"How to deal with these Heavenly Gods?"
In Zhou Xuan’s mind, one thought after another arose, gradually coalescing into a single sentence — one yin and one yang make the Tao.
"Since the Heavenly Gods represent yang, we must seek out the yin to balance against them."
Zhou Hu suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Since Heavenly Gods, under the guise of eliminating helpers of the Heavenly Fire Clan, forcibly act against me, I can apply for protection by the Heavenly Fire Clan."
"By using the Heavenly Fire Clan to restrain the Heavenly Gods, won’t that cement your position as a helper of the Heavenly Fire Clan and mark you for elimination by all?" said the Witch God.
"When they falsely accuse me of being a helper of the Heavenly Fire Clan, it would be best if I am."
Zhou Xuan said, "With the Heavenly Fire Clan and Heavenly Gods negotiating, I am most safe."
"A bit risky." the Witch God said.
"But adding one more move would eliminate the risk." Zhou Xuan said.
"How so?" the Witch God asked.
Zhou Xuan made a throat-slitting gesture and asked the Witch God, "If you exert full force, could you quickly kill a Heavenly God Level being?"
"It can be done, but only capable of quickly killing one." the Witch God said.
Zhou Xuan nodded and said, "One is enough. Old Witch, in the coming days, think of a way to send a message to those Heavenly God Level beings, revealing that I am under your command, and no Heavenly God Level may harm me,
simultaneously subtly hint that your strength has reached its peak."
"And then? Those Heavenly Gods might not believe it."
"Of course, they won’t believe it, so among those Heavenly Gods, surely a few will voluntarily step forward. You then, with thunderous speed, quickly eliminate the most active one..."
Zhou Xuan said, "Kill chickens to scare monkeys. Your reputation will be established, and all Heavenly God Levels will believe you remain the omnipotent Witch God; that indeed you’ve regained your peak."
The Witch God was quite surprised upon hearing this and said, "Young Master, where did you get these ideas from? Truly clever, but with Buddha Country’s invasion imminent, the two countries haven’t yet warred, if we proactively eliminate one Heavenly God Level, it will somewhat deplete Jing Country’s strength."
He understands that in a large-scale war, Heavenly God Levels are Jing Country’s sole belief and reliance. Killing one for no reason not only depletes resources but also disbands morale.
"Witch God, do you know the consequence of you proactively killing a Heavenly God?"
Zhou Xuan asked and answered his own question, "A Heavenly God dies, and I gain an excellent survival space. Between me and the Heavenly God Level, which is more important?"
