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

The Grand Master never expected that the gods, who had been devoutly worshipped by the people of Japan for so many years and had accumulated countless units of faith, would be so utterly vulnerable in the face of the gods of China.

He couldn't understand it!
Clearly, in Japan, the names of Yamato Takeru and Hachiman Daimushin are household names, known to everyone from children to the elderly. How immense and pure is the power of faith they wield?
He didn't recognize many of the gods from the Central Plains opposite him, and he couldn't even recall their names.

Logically speaking, the power of faith in these deities should be far less than that of figures like the Japanese warrior god, Yamato Takeru, or Hachiman Daimushin, who are household names in Japan and revered by thousands.

But why? Why are they stronger than Hachiman Musashi? And by a significant margin.

"Why...why is this happening...could it be...could it be that the gods of our Shintoism are really inferior to the gods of Taoism?"

The Grand Master muttered to himself, somewhat lost and dejected, as he looked in the mirror at the great gods who were usually high and mighty, now being slaughtered like stray dogs. His Dao heart was wavering, and his worldview was collapsing.

As the chief priest of Shintoism, his understanding of ghosts and gods was that as long as ghosts and gods were given stronger divine powers, and then the people believed and worshipped them, then with the blessing of the people's wishes, the god would become what the people thought he was.

If all beings believe he is an invincible thunder god, then he is an invincible thunder god.

If all beings believe he is an invincible god of war, then he is an invincible god of war.

To be stronger than them, one would need a higher priesthood and more believers to defeat them.

But those demons and gods known as the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals, in terms of divine authority, could not possibly be stronger than Takemikazuchi or Hachiman.

Especially Hachiman, the God of War, who has 40,000 shrines of all sizes throughout Japan. The accumulated power of faith he has can be imagined. Why was he instantly killed by that red-faced thunder god?

But in reality, this is still a case of Ōmiya Jūta being a frog in a well.

He thought that 40,000 seats of Hachiman Mushin was quite remarkable.

But in fact, this was the time when the worship of Guan Yu was at its peak, with more than 300,000 temples dedicated to him across the country, far exceeding the number of Confucius temples and ranking first among all types of temples.

His divine authority and faith far surpass those of Hachiman Mushin, so it's quite normal for him to be easily defeated.

Moreover, in addition to factors related to priesthood and faith, the deity itself also plays a significant role.

The more thoroughly a person refines themselves subjectively, the stronger they become after being deified by the power of faith.

As for Guan Yu and Yamanashi, even if Yamanashi's divine duties and faith are stronger than Guan Yu's, he is still most likely not as great as Guan Yu.

Because Guan Yu was inherently stronger than Emperor Shenying.

One was a peerless warrior who could take the head of an enemy general from among ten thousand troops, while the other was deified simply because he was the emperor.

The difference between these two cannot be compensated for by the amount of divine investiture or the power of faith.

It is precisely for this reason that the Thirty-Six Thunder Generals beat the Japanese gods as if they were beating a dog.

The inherent differences are simply too great.

One side consists of people connected to the royal family, who are obsessed with maintaining an unbroken imperial lineage for generations. They even want to deify every dog ​​in the royal family. It is said that a tall building starts from the ground up, but if the foundation is rotten, the divine power built up is also illusory.

One side consists of either highly accomplished Taoist masters or top-tier generals in the world. Only a very few Thunder Generals are forcibly deified to promote certain virtues.

When the two are compared, the difference in quality is immediately apparent.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the people of the Celestial Master's Mansion were also in shock.

When Zhang Yi, Yi Qian, and their fellow disciples saw the thirty-six lightning generals transform into lightning and then mysteriously disappear in mid-air, everyone's hearts sank.

"What happened? Why have the divine generals suddenly disappeared?" Yi Qian asked anxiously.

"Disappeared? Just vanished into thin air like that? Could it be... could it be that they were killed by the sorcery of those Japanese pirates?"

Zhang Yi blurted out, but then shook his head. That's impossible! Those are the Thirty-Six Generals of the Thunder Department.

They had paid such a huge price to invite this righteous deity of the Dharma lineage! How could he have fallen so silently to these Japanese demons?!
Zhang Yi was about to rush up to the altar to ask Zhang Zhiwei what had happened when Zhang Shoucheng grabbed his sleeve.

"Senior brother, don't rush! Look over there!"

Zhang Shoucheng pointed towards the execution platform.

Zhang Yi looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that behind Zhang Zhiwei, the thirty-six huge incense sticks, each as thick as an adult, were burning quietly.

The wisps of smoke produced by the burning did not drift away with the wind. Instead, they gathered and intertwined above the altar, transforming into thirty-six incredibly clear curtains made of smoke!

On each screen, the figure of a Thunder God General was clearly displayed, along with their current environment and the battle they were engaged in.

At a glance, Zhang Yi and the others were drawn to the battle behind the curtain.

He saw Wang Lingguan whip Takemikazuchi away, he saw Guan Yu kill Hachiman Mujin with a single stroke, he saw Yue Fei kill Tokugawa Ieyasu with a single spear thrust, and he saw Ma Wangye's third eye purify Emperor Sutoku...

Although I don't quite understand the specific identities of those Japanese deities, I can tell from their attire that they are from the Japanese pirate side.

"Good! Good kill!"

"Hahaha! That's great! That's really great!"

A group of old Taoist priests burst into laughter, their laughter filled with unbridled joy.

The worries and doubts from before vanished instantly, replaced by a sense of pride.

"I knew it! How could a mere minor Japanese deity possibly be a match for my Heavenly Thunder General!"

"But where are the Thunder Generals now?" Yi Qian asked.

Zhang Shoucheng said, "Although the altar we opened this time is very large, the divine generals summoned by imperial decree should not be able to destroy the world with every move, just like in the picture. Such power... can only be found in the lineage, and since that cannot be our lineage, it can only be the lineage of the Japanese pirates."

"The lineage of the Japanese pirates?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi slapped his thigh and burst into laughter: "The Thunder Gods have cut down mountains and destroyed temples, cleared out licentious shrines and wild cults, and eradicated countless lineages. These evil gods from Japan, not only do they not avoid them, but they even dare to come to their door. It's like lighting a lantern in a toilet, they're courting death!"

Yi Qian also burst into laughter: "Looks like they're going to confiscate their property and wipe out their entire family."

“It’s not that easy.” Zhang Zhiwei on the altar suddenly spoke up: “The lineage of the Japanese pirates is different from those licentious shrines and wild worships that our Taoism has destroyed and destroyed. Shintoism has a history of more than a thousand years. Their name originated from the phrase ‘Observe the divine way of heaven, and the four seasons will not be wrong’ in our Taoist classic, the Book of Changes.”

"In a sense, they absorbed a lot of our Taoist elements, then incorporated some Yin-Yang philosophy elements, and added the foundation of their native primitive shamanism, creating a hybrid that is neither fish nor fowl." "Although it is a hybrid, as the state religion that has been passed down to this day, it has accumulated a fairly solid foundation. If we only use this method and do not cut off its roots, it is impossible to destroy their mountains and temples."

After all, the root cause of the destruction of the mountain and temple lies in the temple itself.

Despite this, the senior disciples were not discouraged at all, and they stared intently at the scene in the smoke and light screen.

In the scene, the Thunder Gods are still wreaking havoc.

"You Japanese pirates, you've done your best!"

Marshal Zhao, who was both the God of Wealth and the Marshal of the Mysterious Altar, sneered and flicked his iron whip in his right hand, which transformed into thousands of purple lightning chains, covering the gods of the East like a net.

He picked up a token with his left hand and threw it. The token flew out of his hand and grew in the wind. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a majestic mountain intertwined with lightning.

A colossal mountain descended from the sky, bearing down with an overwhelming force that could suppress everything!
Screams and explosions filled the air. Those Japanese deities were utterly powerless against Marshal Zhao.

Wherever the lightning chains passed, divine bodies crumbled.

When the giant mountain of lightning pressed down, everything was reduced to ashes.

Only a few gods escaped this calamity.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi escaped, not because he was stronger than other Japanese gods, but because he was good at assessing the situation.

As the saying goes, "A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit." Having suffered a great loss in Shenzhou before, he naturally had to be cautious this time. After witnessing the strength of those ghosts and gods in Shenzhou, he lost the desire to continue fighting. What difference was there between that and suicide?
Although they are gods born from the power of faith, they will reappear as long as their lineage is not destroyed and as long as faith exists.

But this will not be without cost, especially now that it appears as a true spirit. Every death is a huge wear and tear on the true spirit, that is, the subjective consciousness. If too many people die, the wear and tear on the subjective consciousness will be too severe, and then he will no longer be himself. What appears afterward will only be an aggregate of faith power.

So, of course he didn't want to die.

But in this situation, he can't just run away whenever he wants.

Before the Thunder God, how could he possibly run away?

Among the thirty-six generals of the Thunder Department, the fastest was Zhang Yuanbo, the Marshal of the Flying Swift Report, who appeared in front of him in a flash.

"You monster, where do you think you're going?!"

Marshal Zhang has a blue face and red hair, two wings on his back, a pair of fleshy horns on his forehead, an eagle's beak, dragon claws on his hands and feet, and a red dress with a flying fairy belt. Every move he makes is accompanied by wind and thunder.

The thunder god in various myths and legends, including Lei Zhenzi in the Investiture of the Gods, uses the image of Marshal Zhang.

Marshal Zhang's appearance, coupled with the word "monster" that he blurted out, made Toyotomi Hideyoshi feel a sense of unease. No matter how you looked at it, the other party seemed more like a monster than himself.

However, at this moment, he did not engage in pointless verbal sparring, because he could sense the extremely terrifying aura emanating from the other party.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi took a deep breath. The "Taiko," who had once unified all of Japan, looked grim. He knew that with the speed of his opponent just now, he had no chance of escaping. Only by fighting to the death could he possibly have a chance of survival.

He raised Onimaru Kunitsuna, one of the Five Great Swords of the Land, its blade gleaming with a sharp, menacing light.

"Born with the dew, gone with the dew; past events like smoke, like a dream within a dream, kill!"

Feeling moved, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then let out a roar and swung his sword violently.

In an instant, thousands of sharp blades transformed into a storm of blades, sweeping towards Marshal Zhang.

Marshal Zhang snorted coldly. His divine title was Thunder Six-Step General of the Flying Swift Messenger, in charge of the Thunder Talisman's mandate.

He made a hand seal, and a lightning talisman appeared out of thin air, with lightning crackling around its head.

"Edict!"

With a soft shout, the talisman instantly transformed into a blazing bolt of lightning, roaring as it met Toyotomi Hideyoshi's sword light.

Lightning and sword light collided violently in mid-air, producing a deafening sound. In the clash, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's sword light was like an egg hitting a rock, and was instantly annihilated by the lightning.

Then, Lei Fa continued its momentum and swallowed up Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was wildly slashing with his sword.

"Disappearing like morning dew, this is my life!"

With a mournful cry, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the powerful man who once unified all of Japan, was reduced to ashes by lightning.

Outside, the senior disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion saw this scene through the smoke and light screen above the altar, and cheers immediately resounded throughout the entire altar.

"Good! Excellent! Well done!"

"That's how it should be!"

Although they didn't know the exact identity of the Japanese pirate demon who was blasted to death in Japanese mythology, judging from his flashy outfit and the eerie Japanese sword, they knew that he was definitely not a low-ranking figure among the Japanese pirates. Yet, such a person couldn't even last a single round against Marshal Zhang.

"Hahahaha! That's exhilarating! Truly exhilarating! These mere minor deities from Japan, dressed like monkeys in crowns, dare to be so arrogant? Before the Thunder Generals of my Taoist Heavenly Department, they are nothing but a bunch of chickens and dogs, utterly vulnerable!" Uncle Yi Qian laughed heartily.

However, just as the senior disciples were in high spirits, Zhang Zhiwei, who had been sitting upright on the altar and presiding over the entire ceremony, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

His gaze wasn't fixed on the thunder generals who were wreaking havoc like his uncles', but rather pierced through layers of mist, looking towards the deepest part of the light screen, at the magnificent palace suspended above the clouds.

“Beating a dog will bring out its master. These Japanese pirates’ minor gods are dying too many times and too quickly. The true god is about to emerge.”

The moment the thought crossed his mind, he saw a dramatic change in the smoke and light curtain on the altar!
The Takamagahara, which was originally shrouded in thunder, was suddenly illuminated by a light that was indescribable.

The light was initially gentle, but in an instant, it transformed into a great sun, suspended in the air.

Its radiance swept across the entire Takamagahara in an unstoppable manner!

Where the light passed, the thick, mountain-like thunderclouds dispersed, the lightning that leaped like dragons ceased, the raging flames on the earth were extinguished, and the billowing smoke and dust dissipated...

Under the illumination of this light, the eight million gods below, who were still fleeing, also stopped their escape.

They seemed to receive some kind of blessing; the fear in their eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by piety and fervor. (End of Chapter)