Chapter 139: Rousing the Gods

The moment Nan Luo spoke, the Twelve Heavenly Venerables were no longer as composed as before. When their own interests were involved, they proved highly emotional after all.

As a member of the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable’s faction and one who had always been on friendly terms with him, the Literary Speech Heavenly Venerable was the first to step forward and sing his praises. His expression was fervent as he declared, “None is wiser than Your Imperial Majesty, the Divine Emperor! The Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable has rendered outstanding service and commands both virtue and prestige. He should be promoted to Great Heavenly Venerable.”

The Martial Soldier Heavenly Venerable, the Devouring Origin Heavenly Venerable, and the Phantasm Soul Heavenly Venerable then stepped forward in succession to voice their support for the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable.

As the person directly concerned, the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable naturally could not praise himself. He could only smile calmly and watch the proceedings unfold.

As his greatest rival, the Defying Antiquity Heavenly Venerable was naturally unwilling to see the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable promoted to Great Heavenly Venerable and placed above the Twelve Heavenly Venerables. He hurriedly voiced his opposition, bringing the Thunder Punishment Heavenly Venerable, the White Splendor Heavenly Venerable, and the Dark Gloom Heavenly Venerable with him.

The Heaven Equilibrium Heavenly Venerable, the Vacuous Step Heavenly Venerable, and the Creation Heavenly Venerable all remained neutral, neither expressing support nor opposition.

Seated high upon the Divine Throne of Creation, Nan Luo watched the Twelve Heavenly Venerables below divide into three factions, and his expression grew darker by the moment.

In the hundred thousand years since founding the divine race, Nan Luo had been occupied with secluded cultivation and had paid no attention at all to the changes within the divine race.

As the saying went, where there was a party, factions and rivalries were bound to arise.

He had never imagined that a mere hundred thousand years would be enough for the newly born divine race to develop all manner of political struggles and become tainted by the ailments of power-seeking and profit-seeking.

What angered Nan Luo even more was that the Twelve Heavenly Venerables had all begun competing for power. They did not even take the Divine Emperor seriously, arguing noisily right in front of him.

Just as Nan Luo had expected, he had not shown himself for a hundred thousand years. Not only were the myriad gods of the divine race unfamiliar with him, even the Twelve Heavenly Venerables regarded him merely as a spiritual leader to be enshrined high upon a pedestal.

They had now even forgotten that the Nan Luo before them was the true body, not the incarnation worshiped high in the temple. That was why they dared to quarrel in his presence.

“Silence!”

Nan Luo’s furious shout erupted like a volcano. The might of a Half-Saint surged from his body and descended upon the Twelve Heavenly Venerables like the towering Mount Buzhou itself.

Crash! Crash! Crash!…

Before that heaven-shaking Half-Saint pressure, the Twelve Heavenly Venerables were utterly powerless to resist. One after another, they fell from their divine thrones and dropped to their knees in worship, seemingly unable even to speak.

“You dare bicker and squabble in the presence of this Emperor? What kind of conduct is that?”

Nan Luo’s golden eyes were dazzlingly cold as he looked upon the Twelve Heavenly Venerables, his voice filled with boundless killing intent.

Only then did the Twelve Heavenly Venerables awaken as if from a dream, realizing that the Nan Luo before them was the Divine Emperor’s true body, not an incarnation.

“We beg Your Imperial Majesty to punish us!”

The Twelve Heavenly Venerables prostrated themselves on the ground. Cold sweat beaded on every brow as they confessed their guilt in unison.

“Guilt? Of course you are guilty! Look at this disgraceful spectacle of you struggling for power and profit. I have no confidence whatsoever that you will survive the Calamity.”

“Have you forgotten that the Calamity exists? Have you?”

Thinking of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin races, as well as the Fierce Beast clan, which had spent years preparing for war, and then looking at the Twelve Heavenly Venerables scrambling for power before him, Nan Luo’s anger and dissatisfaction intensified, and his tone grew increasingly harsh.

Seeing the Twelve Heavenly Venerables’ unconcerned expressions, Nan Luo knew exactly what they were thinking: When the sky fell, someone taller would hold it up. The Divine Emperor would bear everything.

Indeed, from the divine race’s establishment to its domination of the Northern Wilderness, Nan Luo had personally handled everything.

The Twelve Heavenly Venerables had originally emerged from the loosely organized Alliance of Gods. How could they be willing to give their lives for the divine race?

Take the avatar of the Fierce Slaughtering Heaven, for instance. Could the Twelve Heavenly Venerables truly have been unable to defeat it by joining forces?

No.

They simply had no desire to fight for the divine race to the death. If they had been willing to pay even a small price and had not feared death, how could the avatar of the Fierce Slaughtering Heaven have run amok in the City of the Gods, only to be subdued by Nan Luo in the end?

Before the myriad races of the Primordial World, the divine race had lost all face.

To put it bluntly, the Twelve Heavenly Venerables had been leaning against the great tree of Nan Luo, enjoying the rich fruits of the divine race without lifting a finger.

“Hmph! Do not expect this Emperor to hold up the heavens for you. I will tell you the truth: the Calamity has already descended. I can barely protect myself, so how could I have the strength to protect you as well?”

Seeing the Twelve Heavenly Venerables’ indifferent expressions, Nan Luo grew even angrier. In a fit of rage, he revealed that the Calamity had arrived, forcing them to understand its severity.

His words were devastatingly effective.

“Your Majesty, are you saying that the Calamity has already descended?” the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable asked cautiously.

The other eleven Heavenly Venerables also looked at Nan Luo with pale faces and desperate hope.

Nan Luo regarded their fearful expressions with eyes as cold as ice and sneered. “That is correct. The Calamity has already descended.”

Upon receiving Nan Luo’s definite answer, the Twelve Heavenly Venerables were thrown into complete disarray, their minds and limbs left helplessly floundering.

Leaning against Nan Luo’s great tree, they knew a fair amount of inside information and naturally understood how terrifying the Calamity was.

Before the Calamity had even descended, the Titan clan—which had once dominated part of the Southern Wilderness, enjoyed immense power, and remained locked in stalemate with the Phoenix race for tens of thousands of years—had already been destroyed as mere cannon fodder before the Calamity. It had not even possessed the strength to fight back.

Needless to mention the clan leader of the Titans, the Titan Divine Sovereign who had once been no weaker than Nan Luo. He too had become cannon fodder on the eve of the Calamity, his soul scattered and his spirit destroyed. He had not even managed to escape.

Then there were the myriad races of the Western Wilderness, which had been exterminated by the Fierce Beast clan. Not one had managed to flee the Western Wilderness intact.

The leaders of those races had all died in battle. Not a single one survived.

And that had been merely the great purge on the eve of the Calamity, yet it had already been so brutal, so cruel, and so tragic.

Now that the Calamity had descended, what sort of earth-shaking upheaval, rivers of blood, and wails of suffering would engulf the Primordial World?

The Twelve Heavenly Venerables did not even dare imagine such a terrifying and惨烈 scene, lest their Dao hearts be damaged.

The Fierce Beast Calamity was the first great calamity since the creation of the Primordial World. No one had anticipated how devastating it would be, how vast its effects would prove, or how far its reach would extend.

Whether they were the lofty Saint Immortals, or figures such as Nan Luo, the Dragon Emperor, the Phoenix Emperor, and the Qilin Emperor, none had imagined that the brutality of this Calamity would exceed their expectations and slip beyond their control.

Of course, Nan Luo still believed that he could control and gauge the extent of the Calamity’s devastation.

Looking at the Twelve Heavenly Venerables’ pallid faces, Nan Luo sneered inwardly.

I refuse to believe I cannot bring you to heel. Once this Calamity is over, I will deal with you properly and restore order to the divine race.

“Your Majesty, our divine race is the race chosen by Heaven’s Mandate, and Your Majesty is the Lord of Heaven’s Mandate. The Calamity should not be able to inflict severe damage upon the divine race, should it?”

The Literary Speech Heavenly Venerable was, after all, the master of the Literary Law. His mind was nimble, and he immediately grasped the crucial point.

Indeed, as the race chosen by Heaven’s Mandate, with Nan Luo as its lord, the divine race ought to rise with the Calamity. How could it be destroyed by it?

According to ordinary reasoning, the Literary Speech Heavenly Venerable’s thoughts were perfectly sound.

But Nan Luo was an outsider from beyond Heaven. With no more than a gentle flap of his little wings, he had caused the river of destiny of the Primordial World to veer slightly from its original course.

Now, no one knew whether the divine race, the people chosen by Heaven’s Mandate, would still rise from the Calamity along its original path.

Nan Luo pondered for a moment. Thinking of his own circumstances and the schemes laid by those lofty Saint Immortals, he shook his head and said, “This Emperor does not know.”

“However, I do know that once the great war begins, the divine race may be besieged by the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin races, as well as the Fierce Beast clans.”

Nan Luo’s merciless prediction caused the Twelve Heavenly Venerables’ faces to grow even paler, their hearts turning cold as ice.

Of the five great imperial races of the Primordial World, the weakest—the divine race—might be besieged by the other four.

Your Majesty, are you joking? Are you amusing yourselves at our expense?

“Moreover, the Calamity should descend and the great war should begin after this Emperor journeys west to enter the battle.”

“In other words, you and the divine race may have to face the combined assault of the four great imperial races on your own.”

“No living being will come to help you. Not even this Emperor will be able to do anything.”

That was it. The Twelve Heavenly Venerables’ fragile hearts had been driven straight from the mortal world into the deepest abyss of the nether realms, dead beyond all hope of revival.

Seeing them hang their heads one after another, utterly dispirited and despairing, Nan Luo still offered a word of comfort.

“This is merely the worst-case scenario.”

“Generally speaking, after this Emperor journeys west to enter the battle, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin races should first clash with the Fierce Beast clan. The divine race may be able to stand aside and watch.”

“Your Majesty, is that truly so?” The Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable gazed intensely at Nan Luo, while the other eleven Heavenly Venerables also looked at him with renewed hope.

To plunge from hell straight into heaven was probably the feeling shared by all twelve Heavenly Venerables at that moment.

The difference between being besieged and standing aside as an observer was immense. It was the difference between certain death and a narrow chance of survival.

“Mm.” Nan Luo nodded, then warned them, “However, if you cannot even withstand a probing attack, the four great imperial races may still choose to destroy the divine race first.”

“Your Majesty, rest assured. We ministers shall live and die with the divine race. We will never allow the four great imperial races to take even one step into the Northern Wilderness.”

The Twelve Heavenly Venerables made their vows one after another, boasting without the slightest restraint.

Nan Luo paid no heed to their declarations. If the divine race truly faced annihilation, he suspected they would flee faster than anyone else.

“In that case…” Nan Luo swept his gaze across the Twelve Heavenly Venerables before looking toward the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable. “Does anyone still object to the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable’s promotion to Great Heavenly Venerable?”

“We ministers support the promotion of the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable to Great Heavenly Venerable.”

With the divine race now hanging by a thread, none of the Heavenly Venerables opposed the promotion any longer.

Let the Wonderful Speech Heavenly Venerable take this poisoned chalice.