Heaven's Sacred Venerable stared at White Horse and Golden Toad for a moment, then shook his head, chalking it up to an unforeseen change arising from the formation's first use in actual combat.
That was the only explanation he could accept.
Surely the two deities before him could not be fake?
Haha, that would be utterly absurd. If even a Seventh Realm cultivator's deities could be counterfeited, what in this world could not? Such a thing was beyond human power.
Heaven's Sacred Venerable found his own thought amusing. He promptly raised the Heaven-Balancing Ruler upright, and starlight surged backward, forcibly sweeping the two deities back into his grasp.
Then he sat cross-legged, and a Faceless God appeared behind him. Towering and lofty, this deity had a human shape but no facial features, as though mortals were forbidden from beholding Heaven's countenance.
It was none other than his deity-Heaven.
The moment the deity of Heaven appeared, he reached out and pulled. White Horse and Golden Toad turned into two streaks of light and were instantly drawn into his body.
"Three deities unified, Yin and Yang refined together!"
Heaven's Sacred Venerable gave a low cry, circulated his magical power, and began refining the two deities. At first, everything went as he had expected. The fusion proceeded smoothly, as though the three deities had always belonged to a single whole.
Yet once White Horse and Golden Toad had been completely digested, it felt as though he had refined nothing but a pocket of air. His deity felt hollow, with nothing left inside.
At the same time, an itch spread through his brain, as though another consciousness were growing there, crowding out his original mind. "Something's wrong!" His expression changed drastically, and he blurted out, "The deities are fake!"
However bizarre the truth might