At a rough count, there seemed to be no fewer than nine Gods and Buddhas, and each one radiated an exceptionally powerful aura. Clearly, they took this operation extremely seriously.
Yet even so.
They had still ended up empty-handed, their efforts going to waste.
The Gods and Buddhas all looked grim.
One of them was a Divine General of extraordinary bearing. He stood atop white clouds, with a Heavenly Eye on his forehead and a Three-Point Double-Edged Blade in hand. He said:
"Guanyin Bodhisattva, is that person the Ding Ling mentioned by the Outsiders?"
He was Erlang Shen.
He had been ordered to descend to the Lower Realm and assist Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Not long ago.
Guanyin Bodhisattva had sent an urgent order, saying that a powerful figure suspected to be Ding Ling had appeared, so he had come to help. But now, where was the man?
"There's a very high chance it was him."
Guanyin Bodhisattva drew a deep breath, suppressing the raging turmoil in her heart. She swept her gaze over the nine Gods and Buddhas behind her and said:
"Everyone. We'll guard the entrance to the Phoenix Mountain Secret Realm. I refuse to believe he can run all the way into the heavens!"
"So, you're saying the man escaped?"
A dignified, solemn man wearing golden chainmail and a golden crown said:
"So many Gods and Buddhas like us specially descended to capture him, and he simply ran away?!"
He was Great Emperor Zhenwu.
He had finally found time to slip away from his busy schedule and come here, only to encounter such a result. He could not accept it, and he gestured for Erlang Shen to use his Heavenly Eye to investigate.
Erlang Shen did as instructed, but after a long while, he shook his head, indicating that