The Qilin looked at the four Immortals standing in the sky, its limbs trembling uncontrollably, its body shaking slightly. It stammered, "Your… Your Exalted Majesty, Immortals…"
Although the Qilin was a legendary divine beast, it was ultimately a creature living in the mortal realm, and far from the true mighty beings of the Immortal Realm.
Each of the four gods emerging from the Heavenly Gate made the Qilin feel an immense, suffocating pressure.
In the past, if any one of the four above had appeared, the Qilin would have prostrated itself in submission. Now, with four of them descending at once, the Qilin had already resigned itself to death.
Ye Ling, however, showed no emotional fluctuation. He chuckled as he appraised the four deities in the sky, finally settling his gaze on Yang Jian. He noticed that Yang Jian’s eyes were devoid of any emotion, as if he were a dead man.
"Is he being controlled?"
Ye Ling murmured to himself and beckoned to Yang Jian, calling out, "Yang Jian, what brings you to the mortal realm? Want to grab a drink sometime? I quite like you."
Yang Jian: "..."
Facing Ye Ling’s greeting, Yang Jian offered no response. He merely stared at Ye Ling with extreme coldness, his eyes like millennia-old ice.
Not only Yang Jian, but the other three gods also stared fixedly at Ye Ling, remaining silent. However, their auras were continuously escalating, making it clear they were here to kill.
Seeing the reaction of the four gods in the sky, Ye Ling’s lips curved slightly. He said softly, "As expected, they're controlled. I wonder if the one behind them is the Shadow Hall or the Void Organization…"
"Woof—!"
At that moment, a dog's bark echoed from the direction of the blood moon. Half of the crimson blood moon in the sky was suddenly devoured. Yang Jian and the four heavenly gods seemed to be suddenly activated, leaping down from the clouds and charging towards Ye Ling!
Fierce spiritual energy erupted!
In the Wang family manor, Wang Xing’s body was also engulfed in a surge of blood qi. All the cultivators from the four great families within the manor were devoured by the blood qi erupting from Wang Xing.
Instantly, screams echoed throughout the manor.
The Qilin could no longer concern itself with what was happening in the Wang family manor. It looked at the four heavenly gods charging through the sky, its eyes filled with growing fear. It exclaimed in panic, "Your Exalted Majesty! They're here!"
"I know."
Ye Ling replied nonchalantly, then patted the Qilin’s back and pointed to the blood moon being devoured by the celestial dog. He said softly, "Go deal with that Howling Celestial Dog."
Upon hearing Ye Ling’s command, the Qilin shuddered and stammered, "Your… Your Exalted Majesty? Are you sure? You want me to deal with the Howling Celestial Dog?"
Ye Ling raised an eyebrow, "What? As a Qilin, can you not even handle a dog?"
The Qilin forced a bitter smile, "Your Exalted Majesty, that is the divine dog of Erlang Shen. I… I am merely a small Qilin from the wilderness. How could I possibly…"
Ye Ling said, "As my pet, Ye Ling, if you can't even handle a dog, then you are not worthy of following me. Go back to the wilderness and hide."
"Your Exalted Majesty, I will go and face that Howling Celestial Dog right away!"
Hearing Ye Ling’s words, the Qilin’s attitude underwent a complete 180-degree turn. Its massive body shot out like a cannonball, charging towards the blood moon.
Ye Ling watched the Qilin’s receding back, a slight smile on his lips, and then looked up.
The attacks of the four heavenly gods arrived in an instant.
Four-colored divine power intertwined, striking Ye Ling mercilessly.
Facing the onslaught of the four gods, Ye Ling neither dodged nor evaded. The black mist surrounding him condensed into a black shield above him to block their combined assault.
Boom!!!
The four-colored divine power poured onto the black shield. Powerful spiritual energy spread outwards, illuminating the night sky of the capital, as if an aurora had appeared.
Ye Ling stood in the clouds, unmoved. He scanned the bodies and souls of the four heavenly gods with his divine sense and discovered a pink lotus imprint on the back of each of their heads. Furthermore, this lotus imprint was connected to their souls.
"It seems that lotus imprint is controlling these four. Is the person behind them not acting personally, but wants to use these four to test my strength?"
The divine power of Yang Jian and the four heavenly gods had been amplified. Currently, all four of them exhibited the strength of a Half-Saint, one step away from being a Saint. This was perfect for testing Ye Ling’s strength.
"Since they are testing my strength, should I put on a show?" Ye Ling murmured to himself. Upon realizing this, his mind became exceptionally active.
Currently, it was widely rumored throughout the Three Realms that he had lost all his power, leading all sorts of demons and monsters to emerge. He could use this rumor to lure out all his adversaries and deal with them in one go.
This was an opportunity for Ye Ling to achieve a lasting peace.
If Ye Ling were to instantly kill Yang Jian and the other four now, it would prove to the Three Realms that his strength was still above that of a Saint, and the news of his lost power was merely a rumor. This would cause those who wished to take advantage of the situation to retreat and remain hidden.
"Thinking about it this way, I should appear slightly weaker to give them confidence, so as not to let them despair. However, I still need to put some pressure on them so they will gather and attack me…"
Having figured this out, Ye Ling understood what he needed to do. He immediately withdrew his demonic energy!
Crack!
Cracks appeared in the black shield above Ye Ling, and the combined attacks of the four heavenly gods broke through Ye Ling's defense.
"This is bad…"
Ye Ling deliberately exclaimed loudly, then quickly dodged to the side.
Boom!
The combined attacks of the four heavenly gods broke through Ye Ling's defense in that instant, piercing the clouds where Ye Ling stood. The violent power swept outwards, causing the spiritual energy in the capital to become exceptionally volatile.
The energy unleashed by Yang Jian and the four surged towards the barrier above the Wang family manor. However, the energy did not break through the barrier. Instead, it was completely absorbed and channeled into Wang Xing’s body.
Wang Xing’s aura rapidly grew!
"Satisfying!"
Wang Xing let out a loud laugh. He looked at Su Chen and Qi Yu, who were lying on the ground, gasping for breath. With a grab, a blood-red hand flew out and directly devoured them both!
Inside the Wang family manor, it had already become a blood-colored hell!
Ye Ling took a moment to glance at the Wang family manor below, then fled towards the blood moon, intending to lure Yang Jian and the four to pursue him.
Above the blood moon, the Qilin and the Howling Celestial Dog were already locked in combat. However, the Howling Celestial Dog's strength had been significantly amplified, while the Qilin’s own strength was not strong. After only a short period of engagement, the Qilin was already covered in wounds. Deep claw marks on its neck were bleeding profusely, and it was on the verge of being bitten to death by the Howling Celestial Dog!
The Qilin, being suppressed by the Howling Celestial Dog, saw Ye Ling approaching and quickly yelped, "Your Exalted Majesty, hurry and help! I discovered this guy is guarding a blood lotus. That blood lotus must be some kind of array core. If we break that array core, their amplification will disappear!"
Ye Ling, who had discovered this long ago, feigned delight. He glanced at the four heavenly gods rapidly approaching from behind and said with a smile, "Alright! I'll come and help you!"
With that, Ye Ling instantly appeared before the Howling Celestial Dog, punching it away from the blood moon, and grabbed the blood lotus.
White runes materialized in Ye Ling’s palm and quickly seeped into the blood lotus.
"Found it!"
Ye Ling located the person manipulating the four heavenly gods through the blood lotus. He immediately released his domain, the Unnamed Void Realm, slowing down the flow of time around the blood moon by tens of millions of times. He then split off a wisp of his divine consciousness, tore through space, and pursued the owner of the blood lotus!