Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 168 If it really was the work of a deity, I think this matter will be easy to handle!
Xin Yao's voice wasn't loud, but it struck Lu Chen and Sun You Rong like a heavy hammer.

The two looked at each other.

Sun Yourong couldn't hide her surprise: "Yaoyao, you...you must be mistaken? A secret realm in the mortal world has been targeted by the gods? Such a thing is extremely rare!"

"Rongrong, you said it yourself, it's one in ten thousand. But what if it's one hundred thousand, one million, or ten million? Wouldn't that make it possible?"

Xinyao's counter-question was so sharp and concise that it left no room for rebuttal.

"Please elaborate, Miss Xin," Lu Chen gestured for her to speak.

"Actually, I didn't think of this at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong."

Xin Yao recounted in detail: "The secret realm is in Caomiao Village. According to the villagers, two weeks ago, one night, a beam of divine light suddenly shot up from the mountain behind the village, and then the whole village smelled an unprecedented fragrance. This fragrance was very magical—sick people felt better immediately after smelling it, spiritual practitioners who were stuck at a bottleneck broke through on the spot, the children in the village became much smarter overnight, and could remember any article they read. Even the cattle and sheep in the pen became much stronger."

"It sounds like a rare and precious treasure that can enhance intelligence and nourish one's fortune."

Sun Yourong said.

This nourishing effect is unlike that of magical treasures, inheritances, or other special opportunities.

"Yes, it must be a rare and precious treasure. So early the next morning, the bolder villagers went together to search for the treasure."

And guess what happened?

A mass grave suddenly appeared on the back mountain, and countless fierce monsters even roamed around it in broad daylight.

The villagers were terrified and fled back to report the incident to the authorities.

Lu Chen interrupted, "Miss Xin, are you saying that the mass grave didn't exist originally, but appeared overnight?"

Xinyao: "That's right!"

Sun Yourong pondered, "It sounds more like the Ghost Realm."

Xin Yao nodded: "It should be the Ghost Realm. But the key is that those fierce and eerie creatures appear in broad daylight, showing no fear of the light."

Even in the Ghost Realm, aside from other times, they generally don't dare to appear in the mortal world at least at noon.

But this mass grave exists 24/7!
At first, I thought it was the emergence of a treasure from the netherworld, and it wouldn't be surprising if it gathered strange creatures from hundreds of miles around to protect it.

But after asking the villagers and hearing their descriptions of the strange fragrance that night, they felt something was amiss.

Something with such miraculous effects could never be a rare and precious material belonging to the Netherworld. This is the first point of doubt.

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Later, more and more new noble families came to Caomiao Village, and my group also had many experts, including a fifth-grade Great Spirit Master."

He forced his way through using supernatural powers, and the result was…

"What was the result?"

"The next day we found him knocked unconscious outside the mass grave."

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow, surprised: "A fifth-grade Great Spirit Master was actually knocked unconscious outside? It seems that Li Gui is just the outermost line of defense, and there are even stronger methods inside."

Sun Yourong nodded: "The mission background does mention that the secret realm has multiple layers of defense."

Lu Chen pressed further, "Did that great spiritualist later say what the second level was?"

Xin Yao gave him a strange look.

Sun Yourong quickly explained, "Lu Chen, you haven't been involved in secret realm missions before, so you might not be aware of some of the rules—those who explore secret realms will never easily reveal what they've encountered. After all, exploring a secret realm is itself a process of unlocking the secret realm."

Who wants to let someone else benefit for no reason?

“Exactly. If Rongrong and I weren’t close, I wouldn’t have said any of this.” Xinyao pouted.

"I see, I was being presumptuous." Lu Chen clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, no longer asking any questions.

“But Yao Yao…” Sun Yourong changed the subject: “Even so, how can you be so sure that this secret realm is being targeted by those beings in the heavens…”

“It’s very simple, just one point.” Xin Yao held up a finger. “This mission has been accepted over nine hundred times, but so far there haven’t been any casualties—isn’t that obvious enough?”

Her gaze swept over the two of them: "As you know, it's common for people to die in secret realm missions; those who don't die are extremely rare."

Given the high level of this mission, the outermost layer of red-clad fiends alone should have killed quite a few people.

But the result?

None of them died.

Even that fifth-rank Great Spirit Master, who had killed so many fierce monsters along the way, should have been torn to pieces and devoured by them long ago after falling into a coma.

Yet they are still alive and well.

Doesn't that say it all?

Lu Chen and Sun Yourong stared at each other for a moment, a chill running through them.

"So, Miss Xin means that all these strange and powerful things, or even the unknown horrors within, have only one purpose: to prevent ordinary people from trespassing!"

"That's right. So think again, who would do that?"

Lu Chen took a deep breath, stroked his chin, and nodded, saying, "In that case, it is indeed very likely the work of the gods. After all, gods cannot easily take action against mortals. If they really have their eyes on this secret realm and want to forcibly seize the treasures within, this in itself has already broken the rules. To create further karma through killing would be too heavy a consequence, and the loss would not outweigh the gain."

"Hmm, you've got some knowledge!" Xinyao nodded with a smile. "Rongrong told me before that you'd risen to prominence at such a young age, and I didn't believe it. I thought you were just some rich kid. Now it seems you've got some skills. By the way, which deity do you worship? And how many degrees of deity do you serve?"

“Uh…” Lu Chen smiled: “King Yama, in his thirties.”

"How...how much?!" Xin Yao jumped up from the sofa: "Thirty-something? Thirty-something?"

"Thirty-six," Lu Chen casually replied.

Xin Yao's expression changed several times before she finally gave a thumbs up: "Offering sacrifices to the King of Hell—awesome! Serving the gods at 36%—even more awesome!"

Sun Yourong: "..."

If she knew that this guy actually had a deity with nearly 60% divine power, who knows how shocked she would be...

Lu Chen changed the subject: "So now, apart from the outermost layer being Li Gui, we know nothing about what's inside?"

"Hmm. So far, apart from that fifth-grade Great Spirit Master and a fourth-grade Spirit Master with outstanding lightning magic, no one else has succeeded in passing the first level."

After the two men woke up, they completed their routine report to the government office and then left without looking back.

The things inside are probably even more terrifying, or rather... even more unsolvable.

Xin Yao leaned back on the sofa and lowered her voice: "Tell me, if it weren't for those extraordinary beings above intervening..."

Who do you think can maintain this situation?
That's why I said this extraordinary treasure has probably been targeted by someone, who has set up multiple layers of defense to prevent us from interfering.

Lu Chen and Sun Yourong nodded, agreeing that it made sense.

If it truly is the treasure's own defense, any intruder would have no chance of survival.

"As expected, a reward of one hundred million and twenty thousand military merits are just bait to lure people in. If even a fifth-grade Great Spirit Master can't get past this, let alone us."

Sun Yourong sounded somewhat disappointed.

"Yes. Actually, if you hadn't contacted me yesterday, I should have gone back soon."

Since you're here, I'll stay a couple more days.

Anyway, in the week I've been here, I've seen four or five hundred groups of people, and ninety-nine percent of them have left.

I have nothing to do when I get back; I'll just treat this trip as a vacation.

Xinyao crossed her legs comfortably.

Sun Yourong chuckled: "Alright! Then all expenses for food, clothing, lodging, and transportation these two days will be on me."

"Thank you, boss lady!" Xin Yao clasped her hands in a fist and smiled.

Sun Yourong looked at Lu Chen: "How about... we go take a look now?"

"go!"

"I'll go too, I know the way!"

The three of them went downstairs, got into the car, and drove towards Caomiao Village.

en route.

"By the way, Miss Xin, since you said this secret realm has been targeted by immortals, can you tell which immortal is behind it?" Lu Chen asked.

"How could I possibly see that? If we're just talking about the outermost layer of malevolence, it seems more like the methods of the Underworld."

At this point, Xinyao belatedly realized and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh right, don't you just happen to worship the King of Hell? It's a perfect match!"

Lu Chen smiled and said, "I don't think it's that simple."

Xin Yao's expression turned serious, and she nodded, saying, "I agree with you. This mission in Caomiao Village is indeed extremely rare."

In the past, the secret realms where gods intervened were all famous forbidden zones.

I've never heard of anything like this that suddenly appears out of nowhere.

And think about it again, it's very fast!

The extraordinary treasure appeared late that night, and all defenses were completed early the next morning.

It seems this extraordinary treasure must be extremely important to that deity.

That's why I said, we have no chance with this mission!

"Well...that's not necessarily true." Lu Chen clicked his tongue. "If it really was the work of a deity, I think this matter would be easier to handle..."

"What?" Xin Yao was stunned when she heard this muttering, then her eyes widened suddenly as she stared at Lu Chen as if he were a madman: "What did you say?! On the contrary... it's easy to handle?!"

　The second update is being polished.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)