Silence fell over the scene. The False Gods of Ganges Academy lay prostrate in the craters left by their suppression. They could not communicate with one another, but every one of them was weighing the same choice.
Leaving Grand Sovereign Yellow-Tseng Heaven meant abandoning this wager.
This wager concerned control over the Thirty-Two Heavens Realm and the future balance of power among the various factions.
Ganges Academy had invested vast resources and manpower in it. The two True Gods stationed outside the heavenly secrets lockdown had placed particularly high hopes on them.
If they withdrew now, even if they were lucky enough to leave Grand Sovereign Yellow-Tseng Heaven alive, those two True Gods would not let them off easily.
Yet the situation before them was undeniable.
Their debt loomed like a mountain, the laws confined them like a prison. Those who attacked would die, and even those who stood by could find no peace.
If they stayed, they would have to face the debt collection contract in Zhou Yao's hands, with hundreds of millions still remaining on its limit.
Whether they withdrew or stayed, death seemed inevitable. But Zhou Yao gave them little time to think.
He glanced at Xie An. The successor to White Impermanence immediately understood, moved forward, and drew the pure white Mourning Staff from his waist.
A faint aura of the netherworld curled around the staff-the distinctive aura of authority belonging to a Ghost-Deity Origin treasure.
He approached the nearest Brahmin priest.
The priest tilted his head up, his face ashen, his lips moving as though he wanted to say something.
The Mourning Staff descended. There was no elaborate technique, just a simple blow.
The moment it touched the priest's body, the power of death contained within its Ghost-Deity Origin poured out, piercing straight through his