Drawing the Sword

Unless you're the Thunder God, the process of merging divine positions is very slow.

From defeating the Devil-Slaying Bladesman and obtaining half of his divine authority to fully assimilating it, it took Hu Mang nearly half a month.

However, now that Hu Mang has just killed those dozen or so priests, their divine positions were absorbed and merged into Hu Mang without any delay or hindrance. This is why his divine power is rising wave after wave, even clearly surpassing the level of ordinary priests.

He Chang's plan was simple: to kill the opponent by having a group of priests surround and kill them, or at the very least, to deplete the opponent's Blood Qi and divine power by exhausting the priests.

However, in Hu Mang's eyes, who had comprehended the "Divine Office Burning," his actions were like adding fuel to the fire; the fire not only failed to be extinguished but instead became even more intense.

The firewood from a dozen or so priests quickly ignited the divine fire to an incredible degree.

"Spear techniques are merely a means to an end. What the previous generation of Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier truly wanted to do was to find a way to break through the limitations of the Thunder Net through spear techniques."

If we consider the Thunder Net as a giant spider web, then the priests are the prey stuck to it.

With the fall of the Jade Firmament Divine Dynasty and the loss of control over the divine authority, the spider web, driven by hunger, instinctively feeds, and the divine office becomes the object of its digestion.

The previous generation of Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier attempted to break this fate, and at the last moment of challenging the Thunder Net, they comprehended the method of Divine Office Burning and left it in their spears, waiting for a newcomer to regain control and take the half-step she had not completed.

Then, the fate of Demon-Subduing City was just like its destiny: the Thunder Net devoured all the divine offices and then fell into a state of disconnection until a new false god Thunder God, was born and reactivated all the divine offices.

Then, this false god will be hunted down by the righteous disciples as a beginner village boss, and these divine positions will lose their effectiveness once again, and this time, they will lose their divine power permanently.

"Divine Office Burning" is a half-step taken by the previous generation. Through burning, it unleashes power beyond the limit, just like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon and escaping the sticky spider web.

Therefore, the female Thunder God's divine duties were stripped away, causing her to become ineffective.

Even if his "divine authority" is indeed above that of the Hu Mang.

However, there was still one step left, which the previous generation had not grasped.

That is, how does a butterfly escape from a spider's web and avoid being strangled again?

For example, the current situation.

Gong Lei, the female Thunder God, appeared opposite Hu Mang as if she had traveled through the void, and her hand reached out to grab Hu Mang.

In an instant, Hu Mang saw the scene that the previous generation of Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier had seen.

The thunderclouds in the sky dissipated, replaced by an enormous Thunder Net. The Thunder Net was woven from countless fine lightning bolts, each thread containing terrifying power enough to shred an ordinary cultivator. Dazzling electric light flashed between the meshes, carrying an inescapable, all-encompassing sense of oppression as it enveloped him from all directions.

The Hu Mang's vertical pupils suddenly shrank to their limit.

The same scene, the same opponent, and even after completing the Divine Office Burning," his divine power was still inferior to that of the previous generation of Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier.

Not much.

However, the gap between his marksmanship and that of the previous generation is still enormous.

There's no way you can simply copy and paste someone's marksmanship after observing them once.

If he really had that skill, his Compatibility would have been over 90% by now.

Thus, in almost the same situation, Hu Mang only had time to raise his spear before the Thunder Net closed in.

"Clang!!!"

A dull, metallic clang rang out. The gun barely managed to block the delicate, pale hand, the edge of the palm pressing against the gun barrel, producing a sickening metallic groan.

The gun barrel visibly bent into a breathtaking arc, as if it might break at any moment.

Under immense pressure, the Hu Mang's two legs visibly sank into the ground, with its legs below the knees completely submerged in rubble and soil. The stone slab beneath its feet cracked inch by inch, with dense cracks radiating outwards.

However, Hu Mang grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth stained red with blood.

"It seems it's not just me who's failing; you're not as good as you used to be either."

The same Thunder Net, but this person in front of me is not even in the same league as he was back then.

Is it because of the incarnations? Did the other four incarnations share divine power?

Similar to shared power banks, the more plugs there are, the less power is available.

Hu Mang's brow was also shining brightly to an extreme degree. The Demon-Subduing Divine Runes was like a red-hot iron, with crimson-gold light gushing out from the depths of the mark, illuminating his entire face in an uncertain light and shadow.

Gong Lei suddenly looked up.

The thunderclouds in the sky parted, and a massive bolt of lightning, almost as powerful as the previous beam of light, descended from the heavens! This lightning was not the usual branching lightning, but rather a straight pillar of light, its edges sharp as knives, as if a celestial being were holding a golden bullet and a silver bow, drawing the bow and shooting an arrow that would pierce through the heavens and earth.

"Boom!!!"

The entire street was plowed through by this "arrow," the bluestone pavement was blown away, shattered, and vaporized, leaving a scorched ravine dozens of feet long, with wisps of smoke still rising from the bricks and stones at the edge of the ravine; Gong Lei's figure was also sent flying backward by the direct impact of the thunder, her feet plowing two long drag marks on the ground, until she finally stopped after crashing into half of a broken wall.

The Hu Mang pulled out its legs and looked in another direction. In the thunderclouds there, a huge Ghost God figure and a golden Thunder God figure appeared one after another, making a more intense commotion than this side.

"If I don't go, you won't go; but as soon as I go, you all go. How despicable."

Hu Mang muttered to himself, and the spear in his hand automatically sprang back. Hu Mang took a deep breath, and the strong smell of blood entered his throat through his mouth and nose, and seemed to return to his heart.

Within the Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian, the Profound Yin Devil Qi, comparable to the reserves of the twelve regular meridians, was continuously transferred into the Buddhist energy.

Within the well of the heart, the moon in the sky disappeared once more, replaced by a sky full of radiant light.

Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie!

The seven illusory handprints flashed past Hu Mang's body, and with each one, the golden light emanating from his body intensified.

As the phantom of the seventh hand seal dissipated, the Hu Mang's body was already coated with a faint golden light. The golden light was not dazzling, but it carried an indescribable sense of weight and solemnity, as if his whole body had become a walking gilded Buddha statue.

The next moment, Hu Mang transformed into a bolt of lightning, and the spear in his hand transformed into a thunder dragon, directly crashing into Gong Lei.

Outside the city, Daoist Yun Shuo picked at his ear while looking up at the sky.

Above the sky, a colossal celestial palace phantom appeared, majestic and magnificent, resplendent in gold, yet it floated upside down. The Heavenly Gate, which should have been high in the heavens, now faced the Demon-Subduing City below, resembling an inverted Heavenly Court. Two lightning shadows were charging left and right within the inverted celestial palace, each collision causing the celestial palace phantom to tremble slightly, but they could not break through that invisible barrier.

Clearly, these righteous disciples hadn't been idle during the two days that Hu Mang was in seclusion; at least the two Thunder God they had besieged were their best achievement.

The two trapped by the Great Art of Heavenly Law ", the one entangled by Zhen'ezi, and the one being fought against by Hu Mang, mean that apart from the unborn true form, there is only one Thunder God maintaining the normal operation of the city's restrictions.

In other words, if they were to act at this moment and slay this last incarnation of the Thunder God, thus suppressing the Demon-Subduing City, then the Thunder God's true form would most likely be suffocated on the spot and unable to emerge.

This temptation also tormented Daoist Yun Shuo's ears. He had lost count of how many times his junior sister had sent him telepathic messages, each one more remarkably similar: "Senior brother! Draw your sword!" "Senior brother! Aren't you going to draw your sword?!" "Senior brother!!!"

Master Yun Shuo hesitated.

Whether it's the divine revelation he calculated or the current situation, both seem to prove that the current situation is the best possible outcome.

With the four gates wide open, the energy of heaven and earth reversed by Zhang Zhixian, and Zhen'ezi suppressing one of the Thunder God, it seemed that as long as they made a move, they could successfully complete the suppression and escape from this damned mission.

"But----"

Master Yun Shuo seemed to realize something, pondered for a moment, and was about to reply to his junior sister when he suddenly looked up at the sky and laughed heartily.

"It seems we don't need to lift a finger; someone else has taken care of it for us."

The next moment, the thunderclouds suddenly parted, and a small sun, carrying surging yang energy, crashed down directly from the clouds, its target being the Demon-Subduing City! The small sun shone brightly, its yang energy boundless, and wherever it passed, the clouds were dyed golden red, and the air was filled with a dry and scorching atmosphere.

And this incarnation of the Yang Spirit was none other than Mingting, who had been missing for some time. Clearly, this one had come to reap the rewards—at least from Bai Ningjie's perspective.

Master Yun Shuo's eardrums were once again bombarded.

"However," he rubbed his ears, which were still ringing from the vibrations, but a relaxed, even somewhat pleased smile appeared on his face, "It seems that Junior Brother Mingting has come full circle and gained nothing."

Faced with the situation of "picking the peaches," Heavenly Secrets Sword, one of the Six Swords of the Southern Dipper known for his wisdom and strategy, actually relaxed and even seemed to be in a better mood, looking completely at ease.

My ears are a little sore from being bombarded.

However, having been subjected to cow dung smears on his face since childhood, he said it was nothing, at least now that his junior sister has grown up, she no longer smears cow dung on her face.

Therefore, the two members of the High Heaven Sword Sect outside the city remained inactive.

Hu Mang and Gong Lei, these two arch-rivals, were once again sent flying backwards simultaneously.

Hu Mang smashed an empty Demon-Subduing Tower, while Gong Lei transformed a martial arts arena into a pool of lightning slurry, in which a female figure could be seen faintly.

As it turns out, strong marksmanship is indeed very necessary.

Especially its abnormally powerful nature makes it even more necessary.

Hu Mang is in a much better state than the previous generation of Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier, especially after burning his divine authority, he feels that he has once again reached the "Primordial Spirit level".

The opposing team is clearly not as strong as it used to be.

However, due to his limited abilities, he was unable to develop superhuman spear skills, and Hu Mang was never able to inflict effective damage on his opponent.

The only noteworthy point is that in this level of combat, his spear skills began to improve rapidly, already showing signs of breaking free from their limitations.