After the battle, Luo Qing imprisoned Heavenly God Mu Sang and took some time to reflect on the fight.
Overall, Mu Sang did possess considerable strength. Otherwise, three Blazing Thunder Pearls would not have failed to kill him.
But his combat experience could only be described as severely lacking.
For example, when faced with Luo Qing's three unknown thunder pearl artifacts, Mu Sang had chosen to defend himself immediately instead of dodging.
Another issue was that he had no suitable treasure at hand. When facing enemies, he could only rely on divine arts, divine abilities, and his powerful Divine Body.
When he encountered someone like Luo Qing, who possessed methods that countered them fairly well through Innate Spiritual Fire, he was sorely lacking in adaptability.
Thinking back to Bai Yan's earlier performance, he had not been much stronger than Heavenly God Mu Sang either.
"Looks like Innate Gods aren't extraordinarily powerful from the moment they are born. Even with their innate nobility, they still have to go through a process of growth and learning."
Luo Qing now had a deeper understanding of Innate Gods.
There were certainly peerless ruthless figures and powerhouses among the Innate Gods, but there were just as many weaklings.
To avoid alerting Hundred Gods Mountain, Luo Qing hid himself for a month after capturing Heavenly God Mu Sang.
Only after seeing that everything on Hundred Gods Mountain and in the valley remained normal did he act again.
Hundred Gods Mountain also remained completely unaware of Heavenly God Mu Sang's disappearance.
After all, Heavenly God Mu Sang had only left Hundred Gods Mountain a few months earlier.
That amount of time was simply too insignificant for gods.
Only gods like Bai Yan, who had been away from the mountain for over a thousand years, would be considered missing.
Luo Qing had spent only a few months luring out Heavenly God Mu Sang.
But it seemed as though his luck had been used up at the very beginning. Over the next five years,
he only lured out several fierce beasts and two Natural Heavenly Gods from Hundred Gods Mountain. He did not even catch a glimpse of an Innate God.
It was not that Luo Qing was simply unlucky. There were only so many Innate Gods below the True God realm in Hundred Gods Mountain.
Most Innate Gods were in seclusion cultivating every day.
Very few of them traveled outside.
And there were even fewer who happened to discover Luo Qing's bait.
Having run into Heavenly God Mu Sang was already an incredible stroke of luck for Luo Qing.
Several more years passed.
One day, another Innate God descended from Hundred Gods Mountain. This time, it was an Innate True God with an affinity for wind.
Because the Primordial Wilderness had given birth to countless fierce beasts, and fierce beasts reproduced extremely quickly,
Hundred Gods Mountain, like the Five Elements Tribe, had to clear out the fierce beasts in the surrounding area from time to time.
This mission fell to True God Feng Chao.
True God Feng Chao led three Natural Heavenly Gods and seven Natural Earth Gods, forming a Hunting Squad.
They began gradually clearing out fierce beasts above the God realm around Hundred Gods Mountain.
After killing dozens of Earth God and Heavenly God Fierce Beasts in succession, the Hunting Squad moved farther and farther from Hundred Gods Mountain.
True God Feng Chao stayed in the center to oversee the formation. Unless they encountered a large-scale group of fierce beasts or a True God Fierce Beast, he generally did not act.
Just as True God Feng Chao was growing bored, a Heavenly God who had gone after a fierce beast hurried back excitedly.
"Lord Feng, I discovered signs that a Low-grade or Mid-grade Innate Treasure is about to appear!"
"Oh? An Innate Treasure? Let's go take a look!"
The Heavenly God's words piqued True God Feng Chao's interest.
True God Feng Chao did not care much about a Low-grade Innate Treasure, but a Mid-grade Innate Treasure was still worth getting up for.
There was no helping it. The area around Hundred Gods Mountain was a remote region of the Primordial Wilderness.
Not to mention Divine Treasures—even the fact that no high-level Innate God had ever appeared there showed how desolate it was.
Few Innate Treasures appeared there, and it could not compare with the prosperous regions of the Primordial Wilderness.
When True God Feng Chao led the ten Earth Gods and Heavenly Gods toward the valley where the treasure was appearing,
Luo Qing's expression turned solemn.
One Innate God at the True God level, three Heavenly Gods, and seven Earth Gods.
If he confronted them head-on, Luo Qing might be killed in a single exchange.
But asking Luo Qing to let this Innate True God go and retreat first made him hesitate.
It had already been ten full years since he had captured Heavenly God Mu Sang.
If he delayed any longer, who knew when he would encounter another Innate God?
"Forget it. I'll take a gamble!"
"It's only one True God, three Heavenly Gods, and seven Earth Gods. I'll bury them under a pile of Immortal Artifacts if I have to."
Luo Qing gritted his teeth and ultimately decided to bite into this hard bone.
Once he had made his decision, Luo Qing reached out, and at least fifty Blazing Thunder Pearls appeared before him.
They came from the payment and leftover materials from refining dozens of Immortal Artifacts for others.
Aside from using some to refine a set of Surveillance Immortal Mirrors, the Five Elements Arena, a set of Concealment Immortal Artifacts, and several Defense Immortal Artifacts,
Luo Qing had used all the remaining materials to refine Blazing Thunder Pearls.
Only these thunder pearls could give Luo Qing the ability to challenge opponents above his level.
The fifty thunder pearls accounted for eighty percent of Luo Qing's entire stock. If even these could not defeat a True God, he could only accept that he was out of luck.
After True God Feng Chao's group passed through the Surveillance Immortal Mirrors Luo Qing had set up,
they arrived above the valley shortly afterward.
They had slowed down deliberately to accommodate the Earth Gods. Otherwise, True God Feng Chao could have reached the place in just a few breaths.
After True God Feng Chao arrived above the valley, he discovered that the aura of the treasure had weakened considerably. For a moment, he was unable to locate it.
He then said:
"The treasure's aura came from this valley. All of you, go down and search. Whoever discovers the treasure will receive a generous reward from me!"
"Thank you, Lord Feng!"
The others immediately grew excited. They did not dare dream of obtaining the treasure itself, but no one would ever complain about a True God's reward.
However, before the Earth Gods and Heavenly Gods could descend into the valley to search for the treasure, the Five Elements Arena instantly locked onto the battlefield.
"There's someone here!"
The Five Elements Arena, an Immortal Artifact pulsing with spatial force-field fluctuations, was discovered by the gods immediately.
"It's an ambush! Be careful!"
Just as the gods prepared themselves for battle, ten Blazing Thunder Pearls had already been sent by Luo Qing from different directions toward True God Feng Chao and the others.
True God Feng Chao's cultivation was profound, and he immediately sensed the world-destroying power concealed within the Blazing Thunder Pearls.
"Everyone, be careful. Don't let the enemy's Immortal Artifacts hit you."
With a warning, True God Feng Chao flicked his sleeve. A force of divine wind blocked the three thunder pearls flying toward him several kilometers away.
Unfortunately, the other gods did not possess strength as formidable as True God Feng Chao's.
The moment the Blazing Thunder Pearls were activated, they became genuine weakened versions of Mid-grade Innate Treasures.
How could several Earth Gods and Heavenly Gods withstand them without top-grade defensive treasures?
In an instant, the ten Blazing Thunder Pearls exploded together above the valley, turning the entire valley into a sea of flames.
Because True God Feng Chao had been wary of the thunder pearls and was farther away, the explosion left him covered in soot but caused no substantial injury.
His ten subordinates were not so fortunate.
The ten gods, including the three Heavenly Gods, were instantly blasted into a mass of vital essence by the Blazing Thunder Pearls, scattering into the Primordial Wilderness.
Even their crudely crafted divine artifacts were completely destroyed.
"Which fellow Daoist dares ambush us before the gates of my Hundred Gods Mountain? Aren't you afraid of retaliation from my Hundred Gods Mountain?"
With all ten subordinates dead, True God Feng Chao's face flushed red with fury.
The answer to True God Feng Chao was another ten Blazing Thunder Pearls.
This time, all ten Blazing Thunder Pearls shot straight toward True God Feng Chao himself.
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