Halahala!
This was the poison of the Ocean of Milk. Incomparably lethal, it rapidly spread in all directions the moment it appeared in the Ocean of Milk. Even the slightest touch would be fatal; a speck of this poison as tiny as a mustard seed could instantly kill gods and Asuras alike.
The potency of this poison could even be called the opposite of Amrita!
Amrita granted immortality; Halahala brought death!
Two sides of the same coin!
"Other than through blessings, Halahala Poison is nearly impossible to resist."
Indra instinctively lowered his head. His gaze fell upon the Golden Solar God Armor covering his powerful body. The divine armor gleamed brilliantly, like the faint light of dawn, radiating a gentle warmth.
This armor had been bestowed through Surya's blessing, so it would not vanish because of a curse.
"My armor can use the Power of Arduous Cultivation to add properties on its own. Perhaps I can try using its power to resist it."
Indra thought.
His Golden Solar God Armor had been specially given to him by Surya. With the Power of Arduous Cultivation, it could be forged into a layer of divine armor.
It was founded upon Surya's blessing.
Indra could grant this armor a power. Perhaps, like Jiaosheng Asura, he could make it so that only the Power of Arduous Cultivation from a thousand years could break it, but that clearly would not protect against poison.
"Perhaps I can wish for poison to be unable to harm me, or for the armor to absorb poison."
"But I have too little Power of Arduous Cultivation right now. There are only three hundred years left!"
"This is troublesome!"
Indra thought to himself.
He sensed the Power of Arduous Cultivation he had accumulated and could not help clicking his tongue.
He had only just cultivated arduously in the Heavenly Realm for several hundred years before being forced to curse Garuda. Under such circumstances, more than half of his Power of Arduous Cultivation had already been used up.
Only three hundred years remained!
However, the Power of Arduous Cultivation was still slowly increasing, signifying that his arduous cultivation had not stopped.
"Three hundred years?"
"So I used less than five hundred years of Power of Arduous Cultivation to successfully curse Garuda."
"Perhaps that had something to do with him provoking me and the influence of karma, but the quality of my Power of Arduous Cultivation is quite high!"
Indra, King of the Gods, muttered.
As he pondered, Garuda had already flown to Indra's side. The many gods all leaped down, dropping onto the Ocean of Milk like dumplings thrown into a pot. Holding divine weapons, they glared furiously at the Asura army on the other side.
Mandara Mountain also bobbed up and down at this moment.
Kurma lightly moved his four limbs and slowly sank beneath the water.
Vishnu the Protector God revealed himself, appearing before the host of gods and the Asura army like a great sun descending from above, resplendent in golden light.
"All the wealth in this world lies beneath the Ocean of Milk. Only by joining forces can you gods turn Mandara Mountain and churn the Ocean of Milk."
Vishnu said slowly with a smile.
Golden-Eyed's figure flickered. He narrowed his eyes slightly and stared hard at Vishnu. "How are we supposed to turn it? Mandara Mountain is so enormous that even I cannot turn it many times. What use are those little bugs?"
At those words, the Asura army's expressions darkened, but none of them said anything.
The gods, on the other hand, were furious.
Golden-Eyed was actually so arrogant as to call them bugs. He was truly hateful.
"It is merely a blessing!" Surya snorted angrily. "If I still had my divine power, I would burn him to ashes with the Sun God's fire."
"That's right. My divine wind could blow his flesh apart as well!"
Vayu spoke.
"My water could drown him too!" Varuna added.
Agni nodded as well and said in a deep voice, "My flames could burn him to nothing and send his soul into Yama City!"
With Vishnu before them and the army of gods behind them, while Golden-Eyed remained so restrained, the gods naturally had nothing to fear and began hurling insults.
Golden-Eyed curled his lip, his face full of disdain.
Vishnu, however, did not get angry. He merely smiled faintly.
"Shesha can naturally bind Mandara Mountain and serve as the rope with which you churn the Ocean of Milk."
Vishnu said with a smile.
Crash!
Boundless waves surged over the Ocean of Milk, endless foam roiling as segments of a black body rose above the sea.
That body appeared and disappeared as it floated upon the Ocean of Milk. Whenever a section surfaced, countless black scales could be seen upon it, layered like verdant mountain ranges. Its length was unimaginably vast.
Rumble!
Thousand-headed Serpent King Shesha emerged from the water. The Ocean of Milk thundered and roared, its surface trembling violently and sending up countless clouds of sea mist that obscured his form.
"By the Supreme Lord's command!!!"
Thousand-headed Serpent King Shesha spoke.
Amid that vast sound like rolling thunder, the sea mist cleared away.
In the sky, thousands upon thousands of serpent heads stood between heaven and earth, blotting out the sky and sun. Serpent eyes like countless stars dotted the heavens, displaying boundless might.
Shesha coiled his body.
His serpent body wrapped around Mandara Mountain. On one side were countless serpent heads, and on the other was a thick, powerful tail.
Whoosh!
Vishnu vanished, transforming into a streak of golden light that descended before Indra and the other gods.
"The Asuras are overbearing, arrogant, and suspicious!"
"Go to the side with the serpent heads. The Asuras will surely demand to exchange positions with you, so agree. Once you begin churning the Ocean of Milk, Shesha will feel pain from both sides pulling and will breathe fire. The Asuras holding the serpent heads will be injured and suffer greatly."
Vishnu said softly.
Upon hearing this, the gods were both startled and delighted.
The Supreme Lord truly was helping them!
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu! Once those Asuras are exhausted and severely wounded, they will surely be unable to fight any longer. The gods will certainly win a great victory."
Surya said excitedly.
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"
Agni and the others were also overjoyed, praising the Supreme Lord's benevolence.
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"
Indra also pressed his palms together, carefully considering the matter.
If he remembered correctly, churning the Ocean of Milk would take several hundred years. That was just enough time for another round of arduous cultivation and to complete the forging of this first layer of divine armor. It would surely come in useful somewhere.
The serpent-head position was quite good!
If Shesha breathed some fire and struck him a few times, he could gain quite a bit more Power of Arduous Cultivation.
Indra's eyes shifted slightly before he spoke.
"We should go to the serpent tail instead!"
"As a warrior, even if they are Asuras, I believe we should maintain a sense of fairness. To fight them after they have been burned by Shesha's fire would truly violate my dignity as a warrior."
Indra said.
Vishnu: "..."
That was not what you said before!
Not long ago, Indra had wanted him to kill every last Asura. Yet now he was talking about fairness!
What flexible moral principles!
"The gods are weak. Only by doing everything possible to weaken the Asuras can the gods stand a chance of victory!"
Vishnu said slowly.
"Say no more. A Kshatriya must die like a Kshatriya. I would rather die as a warrior than live as a coward!"
Indra paused after saying this.
That seemed a little overboard. He only wanted to accumulate some Power of Arduous Cultivation; he had no intention of actually dying!
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"
"May the Supreme Lord bless me!"
Indra pressed his palms together and praised Vishnu.
Vishnu gazed intently at Indra. After hesitating for a moment, he finally gave a faint nod.
Done!
Seeing this, Indra breathed a sigh of relief. Then he shot toward the serpent tail.
When the army of gods saw their king move, they all followed after him.
"Huh?!"
Surya stood frozen in place, his mouth slightly open, nearly having his jaw dropped by Indra's words just now.
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