After the battle, Deng Jiugong returned to his tent and went into seclusion again.
Having obtained a Taixu Blind Box, Deng Jiugong was full of anticipation.
"Open the Taixu Blind Box!"
Deng Jiugong spoke.
"Ding-dong! The Taixu Blind Box has been opened. The host has obtained the Vast Void Divine Blade Art Immortal Scroll!"
At this, Deng Jiugong froze.
"This!!!"
After a brief probe with his divine sense, Deng Jiugong discovered that the Vast Void Divine Blade Art Immortal Scroll was far more profound than the Mortal Scroll.
Moreover, this was a blade art divine technique truly meant for immortals!
The Vast Void Divine Blade Art Immortal Scroll had six stages in total!
The first stage could be cultivated at the Mystic Immortal Realm. If one mastered the sixth and final stage, they could actually slay a Saint!
That was incredible!
"Begin cultivating!"
Deng Jiugong activated the Time Dao Disk and prompted the Creation Jade Disk Fragment, beginning to comprehend the art.
The more he comprehended, the more excited Deng Jiugong became.
The Immortal Scroll was much more profound than the Mortal Scroll, and its power was naturally much greater!
If he fully comprehended the first stage, Deng Jiugong's strength would improve considerably!
However, time was short. Even with the Time Dao Disk and the Creation Jade Disk Fragment, he likely couldn't master it in a short time.
Fortunately, he still had Great Dao Merit!
Buzz!
With a thought, Deng Jiugong spent five hundred thousand points of Great Dao Merit to aid his cultivation.
The first stage of the Vast Void Divine Blade Art, which had once seemed immensely complicated to him, now became countless times easier to understand.
Before long, Deng Jiugong had mastered the first stage of the Vast Void Divine Blade Art Immortal Scroll.
At that moment, Deng Jiugong felt that he could defeat a Golden Immortal Realm cultivator all by himself!
"Marshal, the Western Qi general Yang Jian is outside, challenging us!"
Just then, Tailuan came to report.
"Yang Jian?"
Deng Jiugong murmured.
To Deng Jiugong, Yang Jian's strength was unfathomable.
Yang Jian was the strongest of Western Qi's generals. He was also half-human and half-god, almost certainly the strongest among the Chan Sect's third-generation disciples. He had cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Art and was the hardest to deal with.
With his current strength, Deng Jiugong might have trouble dealing with Yang Jian.
As for the generals under his command, they were only at the Earth Immortal Realm and far too weak.
Lu Yue's disciples were all at the Mystic Immortal Realm. Sending them out would be no different from sending them to their deaths.
That left Lu Yue and Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan's strength couldn't be revealed too soon. As for Lu Yue, the other side had two Great Unity Golden Immortals keeping watch, so it wouldn't be wise to send him out either.
Deng Jiugong was at a loss.
"Ding-dong! The system has detected the host's current predicament. God-Tier Options activated!"
"Option One: Raise the 'No Battle' sign. Reward: Pangu Divine Art Immortal Scroll!"
"Option Two: Send out Kong Xuan. Reward: one million points of Great Dao Merit!"
Just then, the system's notification sounded in Deng Jiugong's mind.
"This!!!"
Both options came with rewards!
But it seemed he couldn't choose both.
Besides, sending out Kong Xuan might speed up the evolution of the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, bringing with it many drawbacks. The reward was also rather small. Deng Jiugong had already accumulated ten million points of Great Dao Merit, so another million wasn't that important.
As for the first option, the Pangu Divine Art Immortal Scroll filled Deng Jiugong with anticipation.
He had to get it.
At most, he could cultivate the Pangu Divine Art Mortal Scroll to the peak of the Mystic Immortal Realm.
But the Immortal Scroll could let him advance to an even higher realm!
"I choose Option One!" Deng Jiugong thought.
That way, he could happily raise the "No Battle" sign without suffering any losses!
"Ding-dong! The host has made a choice and obtained the Pangu Divine Art Immortal Scroll!"
Without immediately checking the contents of the Pangu Divine Art, Deng Jiugong turned to Tailuan and said,
"Put up the 'No Battle' sign!"
Tailuan froze.
"Marshal, we've won successive victories against Western Qi's great generals, and morale is soaring. Wouldn't it be better to press our advantage and dampen Western Qi's spirit?"
"If we put up the 'No Battle' sign..."
Tailuan was confused.
He couldn't help feeling that it would weaken their own morale.
"Tailuan, you still have a lot to learn from me about the art of war!"
"A few victories are nothing. We can afford to lose a hundred times, as long as we win the last one."
"Yang Jian is formidable, and none of our generals can match him. If we lose that final battle, all our previous victories will count for nothing!"
Deng Jiugong explained calmly.
"Tailuan understands!"
With that, Tailuan withdrew.
As it happened, he had run into Kong Xuan before coming here.
Kong Xuan had said that the marshal wouldn't send out a general this time, but Tailuan hadn't believed him.
Now he understood why the marshal valued Kong Xuan so highly.
Had Kong Xuan already become the marshal's trusted aide?
Tailuan felt a strange pang of jealousy.
He was still the vanguard commander, to be sure, but Kong Xuan was a newcomer who had already become deputy marshal.
Fortunately, Deng Jiugong's son, Deng Xiu, was still his deputy vanguard commander. That gave Tailuan a little comfort.
Still, Marshal Deng was an upright man. He wouldn't promote Deng Xiu to vanguard commander just because he was the marshal's son; he assigned rank according to strength.
After Tailuan left, he ordered his men to put up the "No Battle" sign!
When Yang Jian saw it, he had no choice but to withdraw.
Western Qi!
"Deng Jiugong actually put up the 'No Battle' sign? Outrageous!"
Jiang Ziya's expression darkened.
He had finally brought out his trump card, Yang Jian, only for Deng Jiugong to refuse the challenge.
"Martial Uncle, Deng Jiugong must be afraid of Yang Jian. Why not let me go challenge him?"
Tu Xingsun spoke up.
Deng Jiugong's son, Deng Xiu, had castrated him before, and Tu Xingsun still felt deeply wronged.
He couldn't avenge himself, and the injustice rankled.
Although he was no longer an Earth God, he had become a eunuch all the same. Naturally, he had given up on Deng Chanyu.
Tu Xingsun's only wish now was to avenge himself.
He hated Deng Jiugong even more than he hated Deng Xiu.
If Deng Jiugong hadn't gone back on his word and refused to marry Deng Chanyu to him, none of this would have happened.
"Dear nephew, your injuries may have healed and your strength may have improved, but Deng Jiugong has put up the 'No Battle' sign. We'll have to wait at least three days!"
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