Startling! Startling! Startling! Startling! Startling!
Surya was utterly bewildered, Rahu panicked, Soma gaped in astonishment, Yamuna was at a loss, and Yama frowned in suspicion.
Indra's expression hardened.
Inside the divine hall, all the gods stood frozen. Their faces bore complicated expressions as their gazes crisscrossed, sparks seeming to fly from their collisions. A strange atmosphere suddenly spread through the hall.
Indra's eyes narrowed.
He had originally remained outside the divine hall, intending to watch for any Asuras sneaking in. Yet he had seen Yamuna hesitating anxiously outside the hall.
The broad-minded Heavenly Emperor naturally could not bear to see a goddess so hesitant and distressed, so he had gone forward to comfort her.
Who would have thought that when he returned, another identical goddess would appear?
Whoosh!
Indra's gaze instantly fell behind Soma, locking onto the Amrita.
The other gods also turned their eyes toward that jar of Amrita. They all realized something was wrong. One of them was fake.
The goddess was unimportant. The Amrita was what mattered!
Soma instinctively turned around, intending to shield the Amrita.
"Amrita!"
Indra also sprang into motion, flashing like lightning as he shot toward the Amrita.
Rahu beside them simply stopped pretending. As long as he drank the Amrita, he would gain an immortal body.
His madness erupted, and his body instantly swelled. The Maya power shattered, revealing his true form: an Asura with four arms and a serpent tail. One hand dragged Sun God Surya along, another shoved Soma aside, and a third seized the jar of Amrita.
At that moment, Indra had already rushed before Rahu, lightning flickering in his hand.
Rahu clutched the Amrita Pot and threw back his head, drinking deeply.
At the same time, his final ferocious hand clenched into a fist and smashed toward Indra's chest.
The blow landed heavily on the Golden Solar God Armor.
Slap!
A limp, soggy sound rang out.
At the same time, Rahu finally swallowed the Amrita. A fresh, blissful sensation instantly filled his entire head and gradually began to spread downward.
"Hahaha! Hahahahahaha!"
"I've already drunk the Amrita! I have an immortal body now! None of you can do anything to me! Hahahaha!"
Rahu laughed excitedly, thrilled beyond measure.
He could not help spreading his four thick, powerful arms, wanting to show off his wisdom and strength.
Splat!
As he moved his shoulders, a limp thudding sound abruptly rang out.
Rahu: "???"
He looked down, and his pupils instantly contracted.
The arm that had struck the Heavenly Emperor was turning pitch-black, shriveling and withering, rotting into black sludge before splatting onto the floor in a lump.
A blue-green radiance also emerged from that arm and rapidly spread, instantly reaching his torso before extending toward Rahu's other limbs, rushing up to his neck and remaining arms.
Eugh~
Surya's face filled with horrified disgust, and he hurriedly flung away Rahu's hand.
Soma also quickly turned and ran.
"Ahhhhh!"
Rahu's floating head screamed in terror.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In only a short time, his other three arms had also decayed, fallen to the ground, and turned to ash.
Clang!
The Amrita Pot fell, landing atop Rahu's enormous tail.
The Amrita splashed everywhere!
Immortal Power spread across that tail.
The Halahala Poison spread through Rahu's body, but before reaching Rahu's head and the base of his tail, it was finally suppressed by the power of Amrita and ceased spreading.
Indra swiftly acted.
He grabbed the Amrita Pot and tucked it into his robes before turning toward Rahu in relief.
Rahu was left with only a head and a tail. His head wailed in pain in midair, while his slender tail bounced wildly up and down through the divine hall in complete chaos.
Yet the gods were no longer looking at Rahu. Instead, they all stared at Indra in terror.
"This isn't my fault. He hit me himself!"
Indra spread his hands.
There was no helping it!
This was the poison of the world—Halahala!
Whoosh!
Indra waved a hand, drawing the Halahala that had sublimated into poisonous mist into his divine armor. Rahu's corroded, rotten body, reduced to sludge, instantly vanished into ashes.
Then he stretched out his hand. Lightning transformed into ropes, crackling as they shot forth and tightly bound Rahu's head and tail.
"What do we do now?"
"This Asura drank the Amrita. Even if only his head and tail remain, he is still immortal."
Sun God Surya frowned deeply, sweeping his gaze over Rahu's head and tail.
Soma's expression was stiff and gloomy.
He had actually felt desire for the Maya transformed from this Asura just now.
"He must be a spy sent by the Asuras of the Netherworld! Lock him in the Heavenly Realm's prison and interrogate him thoroughly!"
Soma said with a disgusted expression.
"That makes sense!" The Sun God pondered briefly and agreed. "Heavenly Emperor, what do you think?"
Indra did not speak.
He was considering whether to hand Rahu over to Vishnu.
In the legends, Rahu was discovered by Sun God Surya and Moon God Soma while drinking Amrita.
The two gods reported him to Vishnu the Protector God, and Chakravyuha severed Rahu's neck.
But because Rahu's head had drunk the Amrita, it did not die. Instead, it divided into two parts: the head became Rahu, and the body became Ketu, making them two of the Nine Luminaries of the Heavenly Realm.
Among the Nine Luminaries, the seven stars of sun, moon, gold, wood, water, fire, and earth were joined by the remaining two: Rahu and Ketu.
Rahu was even worse off now!
All that remained of his lower body was a tail!
"If we lock him up, it might be troublesome. What if he starts cultivating bitterly in prison?"
"Better give him to Teacher Vishnu!"
Indra thought.
He was not afraid of Rahu becoming one of the Nine Luminaries. He would be the Heavenly Emperor's subordinate then, easy enough to keep under control. What he feared was Rahu attaining enlightenment in prison and beginning serious cultivation there.
Indra did not want to bury a ticking bomb in his own home.
As Indra was about to speak, Yama stepped forward from among the gods instead.
"The Amrita was prepared for us by Supreme Lord Vishnu. Now that this Asura has drunk it, he possesses an immortal body!"
"Why not leave him to Supreme Lord Vishnu's judgment?"
Yama said.
Those words were exactly what Indra wanted.
"Indeed!"
The corners of Indra's lips rose as he nodded in satisfaction. Then he pressed his palms together, and the other gods followed, beginning to praise Vishnu the Protector God.
Soma was secretly displeased, but he still joined in the praise.
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"
"Praise Supreme Lord Vishnu!"
Amid the many praises, a sheet of golden light manifested before the gods, like a mirror, like water, revealing Vishnu's figure.
Vishnu wore golden robes and smiled faintly, Chakravyuha spinning on his fingertip.
"Supreme Lord, this Asura used Maya power to disguise himself as a god, infiltrate the Heavenly Realm, and drink the Amrita."
"How should he be dealt with?"
Indra asked slowly.
Hearing this, Vishnu's gaze shifted slightly and fell upon the head and tail tightly bound by lightning ropes into a tangled ball.
The curve of his lips rose even higher.
Rahu, however, felt like crying without tears.
What a regret!
For the first time, he regretted having four arms. If he had only three hands instead of four, he would not have touched the poisonous armor and would not have been left with only a head and tail.
At that moment, Vishnu spoke.
"Rahu, since you have drunk the Amrita..."
Next, the second-generation Asura King, Golden Bed, would make his appearance.
Also, thanks to reader Perhaps Existing Human Krypton Tool Box Under Heaven for the 100 Qidian Coins tip, and thanks to reader guzhenrenlf for the 300 Qidian Coins tip.
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