Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

"All gods, heed my command! Proceed swiftly to the Tianan River Plain to discuss a strategy to repel the enemy!"

The majestic voice of Amaterasu reached the ears of every deity.

In an instant, divine light shone brightly in every corner of Takamagahara, and countless dazzling pillars of light shot into the sky from all directions of the divine kingdom, heading towards the Crystal Palace.

Before long, dozens of deities with different auras gathered under the throne of Amaterasu.

On the altar, looking at the devastated scene reflected in the mirror, the Grand Master's face was extremely grim.

He finally realized what a foolish mistake he had made!

The Yata no Kagami contains the divine power of Amaterasu Omikami. One of its abilities is to connect with Takamagahara in the Dharma lineage. Simply point it at a target and it can draw them into this terrifying spiritual realm.

Previously, he had used this ability to put Oda Nobunaga inside the mirror, and then the gods of Takamagahara took complete control of him.

Their original plan was to wait for the young celestial master Zhang Zhiwei to make his move, then repeat their old trick, capturing him in Takamagahara and having him tortured by the gods.

Ordinary mortals, without the support of faith, no matter how strong they are, cannot make any waves once they enter the spiritual realm.

But plans never keep up with changes. He never got to see Zhang Zhiwei personally intervene.

His meticulously prepared parade of a hundred ghosts was completely ended by the thirty-six terrifying thunder generals.

Faced with the overwhelming and arrogant Thirty-Six Thunder Generals, he had no choice but to take a desperate gamble and capture them in Takamagahara.

However, this step was a complete mistake.

Because the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals were not ordinary people; they were originally great gods in the Taoist lineage.

They need the power of faith to descend into the real material world.

The amount of faith one has determines the strength of their power.

For example, Marshal Zhao Gongming was summoned by Zhang Zhiwei using a large altar with hundreds of people. His strength was so great that he could easily kill the Sixth Heaven Demon King and slaughter his way through the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.

However, if it were an ordinary Taoist priest, and he were summoned using the Shangqing Five Powerful Warriors Talisman, he would likely be easily defeated by Xiao Zi, a superhuman of this level.

It can be said that dealing with the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals from the outside is the best strategy, because their power is restrained by the power of faith.

Once they reach this pure spiritual world, they are free from constraints, like tigers returning to the mountains and dragons entering the sea.

They were facing the real Thirty-Six Thunder Generals!

The only suspense is whether the thirty-six thunder generals in the Taoist lineage are willing to project their power into this body that has intruded into other lineages.

However, judging from the current state of devastation in Takamagahara...

The true spirits of the Thunder Generals of the Thunder Department have clearly noticed this place and have begun to project their power.

The current power and destructive force have, if not all, already arrived, at least a portion of it.

Faced with this situation, the other gods were also at a loss for what to do.

The vast majority of them are deities in charge of agriculture, commerce, marriage, and arts, and are not particularly skilled in combat.

The thirty-six demons who rushed in were clearly skilled in combat, as evidenced by their methods. They were top-tier deities in charge of war and slaughter.

This led many gods to turn their attention to Takemikazuchi.

A deity said, "Judging from the power displayed by those invading Outer Gods, they should belong to the Thunder God's lineage, so... it is the Thunder God's responsibility to deal with them."

Takemikazuchi was born from the mythical event of Izanagi slaying the fire god Kagutsuchi, when the blood from his sword splattered onto the rocks.

Legend has it that sumo wrestling originated with him, and he also descended the sacred artifact "Futsu-no-Mitama" during Emperor Jimmu's eastern expedition to help Emperor Jimmu pacify the country.

Therefore, he is regarded as the guardian deity of Japanese samurai and soldiers.

His weapon, Futsu-no-Mitama, is currently enshrined at Ishigami Shrine in Tenri City, Nara Prefecture, and is an important sacred relic of Shintoism.

Takemikazuchi is as tall and imposing as a mountain, with a bare upper body full of bulging muscles and lightning-like patterns on his skin.

He held a huge longsword, and his body crackled with lightning, making him look incredibly imposing.

Sensing the gazes of the gods, Takemikazuchi frowned.

Although he had the home advantage, he wasn't confident about facing the thirty-six Thunder Generals outside.

He could tell that none of the thirty-six thunder gods outside were weaker than him.

If there were only one, he would still be confident enough to go and try.

But he had absolutely no idea about the thirty-six...

But to make him admit that he couldn't beat his opponent...

No, he can't do it.

The scene froze for a moment.

Just then, a calm voice broke the silence.

“This matter concerns the survival of Takamagahara, and I am willing to go with Takemikazuchi.”

The speaker was a deity dressed in ancient armor and carrying a longbow.

He is Hachiman Mushin, also known as Hachiman Daishobu.

It is one of the core beliefs of samurai and military commanders.

He is also an incarnation of Emperor Ōjin, a subjective deification product of Emperor Ōjin.

Later, he was gradually incorporated into the divine roles of God of War and God of Bows and Arrows, and step by step became the God of War of Japan.

Faced with this situation, he naturally could not sit idly by.

As soon as Hachiman expressed his opinion, another young god general, also clad in armor, stepped forward:

"Count me in!"

This person is the Japanese warrior, also known as Yamato Takeru, who is the god of war and military god of Japan.

He is the deified being who became the son of Emperor Keiko through the power of faith, and he is also a tragic hero known to every household in Japan.

In terms of seniority, he is the grandfather of Hachiman.

Immediately afterwards, a cold and powerful aura spread from the group of gods.

A deity dressed in royal court robes and with a pair of enormous black wings on his back slowly emerged.

He looked seven or eight parts similar to the Tengu who had been killed by the Thunder Generals, but his aura was much more majestic and terrifying.

He is a great master of Chongde Academy!
Its predecessor was Emperor Sutoku, the 75th emperor of Japan.

Having failed in the struggle for the throne and died in battle, his endless resentment transformed him into Japan's most powerful tengu, ranking among the "Three Great Vengeful Spirits".

Later, because its resentment was so terrifying, it was incorporated into the Shinto religion system and worshipped by later generations, which finally appeased it.

In terms of bloodline, he can be considered a direct descendant of the Japanese warrior and the god Hachiman, separated by more than sixty generations.

After Emperor Sutoku emerged, his resentful eyes swept over the assembled gods.

Where his gaze fell, a god also dressed in the robes of the Emperor frowned and retreated slightly behind the other gods.

The god who retreated was Emperor Go-Daigo, the ninety-sixth emperor, who had also been deified. Although he was a god of emperors, he was not skilled in martial arts and knew that he could not intervene in a battle of this level, so he simply retreated.

His retreat seemed to trigger a chain reaction.

Among the gods, a large number of human-gods who had been personified by faith all took a step back.

These gods are mostly the lingering subjective consciousness of certain historical figures after their death, which continues to exist in the spiritual world through the immense faith and willpower of believers.

The more thoroughly one's subjective refinement is done during their lifetime, the higher the integrity of their subjective continuation.

If subjective refinement is inadequate, or there is no refinement at all, then the deity born from the power of faith is the power of faith itself.

The personality and abilities displayed by this deity depend more on what the believers "believe" it to be.

Therefore, in many places around the world, there is a saying:

There are three kinds of death in a person's life.

The first is respiratory arrest, which is biological death;
The second is the farewell at the funeral, where social identity disappears;

The third time is the cruelest: being forgotten by everyone, no one mentions your name or discusses your story anymore, you truly disappear from this world, as if you had never existed.

……

In this current situation, there are deities who have retreated, and naturally there are also deities who have moved forward.

A divine general clad in samurai armor, with a ferocious face, stepped forward from the crowd; he was none other than Taira no Masakado, the guardian deity of Tokyo.

He was a powerful clan leader in the Kanto region during the Heian period. He once raised an army and rebelled, calling himself "New Emperor" and openly defying the Emperor.

After his defeat and execution, his powerful resentment transformed into a vengeful spirit, wreaking havoc in the region. Later, he was also incorporated into and worshipped by Shintoism, which resolved the calamity.

Next to appear was a war god wielding a katana, exuding a chilling aura.

He is the White Flag Great God, the founder of the Kamakura Shogunate, and the divine incarnation of Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the first shogun who overpowered the imperial family and established the shogunate.

He was an extremely powerful extraordinary person during his lifetime. He single-handedly ended the Genpei War in Japan, became the most powerful person in Japan, and brought the Bushido culture to the core class of Japan.

It can be said that he ushered in a new era in Japan, and his status is self-evident.

Besides him, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three great unifiers of the Sengoku period, and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the great power of the Tosho era, also stood up without saying a word.

Of the three great unifiers of the Warring States period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu were both deified by Shintoism and had temples erected in their honor.

Only Oda Nobunaga, who called himself the "Sixth Heaven Demon King," was not tolerated by gods and Buddhas because of his actions of burning down Buddhist temples and massacring monks during his lifetime, and thus did not enjoy this honor.

Instead, he was imprisoned in the Well of Bones, never to be reborn.

As these deities appeared, Amaterasu, her figure shrouded in radiance, nodded slightly, her voice ethereal and sacred:
"My lords, the glory of Takamagahara and the unbroken lineage of ten thousand generations all rest in your hands. Go forth, with your martial prowess, annihilate the foreign enemies, sweep away the evil spirits, and restore peace to the divine kingdom!"

"As ordered!"

Takemikazuchi, Hachiman, and other war gods all bowed and accepted the order.

Then, they transformed into streaks of light and rushed towards the area ravaged by lightning and fire.

As soon as they set out, they saw the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals fighting against Inari.

Inari is the god who governs agriculture. The Thirty-Six Thunder Generals destroyed all the rice fields in Takamagahara that symbolized a bountiful harvest, so Inari naturally couldn't help but take action.

This time, Amaterasu summoned all the gods, but many of them were not present.

For example, Emperor Jimmu, the first emperor, did not have Tsukuyomi and Susanoo, two of the three noble gods, present.

The Inari deity didn't come either.

It turns out that it was fighting against the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals.

He conjured hundreds of white fox clones, which fearlessly pounced on the thunder generals.

But the lightning generals simply waved their hands casually, and a net of lightning swept across, instantly turning the hundreds of foxes into ashes.

Enraged by this, the Inari god caused the earth to shake violently, and a continuous mountain range suddenly rose from the ground, transforming into a giant nine-tailed fox statue!
The fox statue suddenly shook its tail, and countless rocks on its body rained down on the thirty-six thunder generals like a meteor shower!

However, the Thunder Generals merely snorted disdainfully and responded with even more ferocious thunder!
Thirty-six white lightning bolts, each as thick as a water vat, descended from the sky, instantly annihilating all the incoming "meteorites" and striking the giant fox statue with pinpoint accuracy.

In an instant, the Inari God's enormous body, formed from mountains, turned into dust like a sand sculpture baked by the scorching sun, and fell in a flurry.

With his strength, he couldn't even defeat a single Thunder General, let alone all thirty-six of them.

Having dealt with Inari, the Thirty-Six Thunder Gods turned their attention to Takemikazuchi, Hachiman, and other Japanese war gods who were approaching.

The atmosphere instantly became tense upon meeting the two sides.

Takemikazuchi, wielding a stone sword, roared:
"What kind of demon dares to trespass into the divine realm of Takamagahara, destroy my sacred land, and harm my gods! Surrender now and await your fate!"

Upon hearing this, the thirty-six Thunder Generals burst into laughter, their laughter filled with disdain.

"A divine realm? This dares to call itself a divine realm?"

"These licentious shrines and wild worshippers, a bunch of unruly gods who privately receive incense offerings, dare to bark and howl in front of us!"

"Today, we will settle accounts with you evil gods, we will destroy your mountains and temples, sever your lineage, and ruin your shrines, so that you will know what it means for the wrath of Heaven to be unpredictable!"

The generals roared angrily.

In Japan, there are many gods and humans.

This situation is actually quite common among the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals.

For example, Guan Yu, one of the Thirty-Six Generals, the Thunder God who vanquishes evil, the Great Emperor who subdues demons in the Three Realms, and one of the Four Marshals who protect the Dharma in Taoism, is a human-god who was subjectively deified by the power of faith.

Besides him, Yue Fei, one of the four marshals who protect the Tao, was also a human-god who was subjectively deified by the power of faith.

Others include Wang Lingguan, the head of the Lingguan, Marshal Xin, Marshal Zhang, and so on.

Most of them were Taoist priests who had achieved success in their cultivation and had subjectively honed their skills to a certain level before being appointed as the main gods of the Thunder Department.

It can be said that each of the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals was a prominent figure in their time, and only those with truly great abilities could be deified.

In contrast, in Japan, apart from a few purely religious deities like Takemikazuchi, there are...

In addition to true powerhouses like Minamoto no Yoritomo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Others, such as the Japanese warriors, Hachiman, and Emperor Sutoku, are all related to the Emperor's lineage.

They shout out their divine titles with great fanfare, and they have all sorts of random names and titles, but in reality, they're just a bunch of worthless scoundrels.

At this moment, Guan Yu, the Manifestation Marshal, clad in green robes and golden armor, wielding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly.

His murderous gaze didn't even spare a glance; he glanced at the other man with disdain, stroked his long beard, and said scornfully:

"Martial Lord? Martial God?"

"Guan thought he was someone important, but he didn't expect him to be a group of ugly dwarfs who sell their bodies."

"What a waste that my Green Dragon Crescent Blade was used to slay you rats." (End of Chapter)