Fate. Cause and effect.
These two strange and mysterious laws had always been a taboo among the gods. Few people comprehended these laws on their own.
Originally, Liu Che possessed the Dragon of Destiny and had mastered a large number of fragments of the Law of Destiny. Many believers had sensed these law fragments and given birth to countless destiny magic arts. For example, Orochimaru's nightmare technique integrated the Law of Fate—letting things happen as they would. The same kind of magic also came at a cost: the consumption of supernatural power was ten times that of the same type!
Now there were one thousand more fragments of the Law of Cause and Effect. Integrating other fragments alongside them—the battle power of the Divine Realm would reach even greater heights.
Boom.
The terrifying star annihilation strike came crashing down! Yang Jian's body turned into a bubble.
"What?"
Wan Shi Haojie was stunned. He hadn't expected the opponent's reaction to be so fast! He quickly expanded his perception but found no trace of an opponent anywhere around him. What was going on?
Had he still hit an illusion?
"This is not an illusion!"
The sudden voice drew Shi Haojie's attention. His eyes locked onto the restored phantom—and he saw Yang Jian slowly materializing from the void, becoming a solid entity!
"This isn't a technique of space and time either..."
This level of annihilation strike was a move developed with sufficient understanding of power. Space and time magic—if it had truly been used, it would have been broken directly. Why? Because the degree of power was only god-level Five-Star. Unless Yang Jian was a god-level existence who had mastered a certain law of time, he couldn't reverse space and time. But even if he could, with such a massive expenditure of divine power, he couldn't mount an effective counterattack either.
"Then how did you escape my move..."
Wan Shi Haojie held his long rod tightly, constantly recovering his supernatural power at a rapid pace. He was making a gamble—as long as the opponent didn't possess sufficient divine power, he only needed to absorb the earth element's divine power, and his speed of recovery would be ten times that of an ordinary person. It would only take three minutes to restore peak combat power.
"Stop struggling. I didn't even consciously think of this power. Its name is Karma. In the face of divine power that cannot be overwhelmed by brute force alone, you will never be able to touch me.
But I can kill you!"
At this moment, in Yang Jian's eyes, numerous lines of cause and effect intertwined before him. And all he did was choose—or forcibly intervene in a cause and effect.
For example, when the attack came bearing down upon him, Yang Jian simply chose not to be harmed! Like a dream—immune to the strike. Although divine power was consumed in the process, it was far better than taking the meteorite attack head-on. That would surely have cost him his life!
When the words fell, Yang Jian vanished in place. When he reappeared, the three-pointed two-edged sword had already pierced through the heart of Wan Shi Haojie.
The lifeline that symbolized Hard Rock Haojie suddenly shattered!
The outcome had been decided. The protection afforded by the power of his six-fold law, as well as the power of the heavy earth elements—none of it could make Stone Haojie resist the strange power carried on the blade.
Cause and effect. Strange power.
[Winner: Yang Jian...]
Shenwu raised her little hand and announced the exciting news.
Up to this point, all of Xiao Luan's followers had fallen in the top sixteen. But after the battle, Yang Jian also collapsed to his knees on the ground. The forceful use of immature causal power had caused a backlash beyond one's imagination—the pain of a tearing soul.
Just when Yang Jian felt he was about to die, a soft divine light descended upon him. The power of the law fragments integrated into his body. Powerful divine power constantly nourished Yang Jian's soul.
"The soul is okay? No... God's grace!"
After Yang Jian recovered, he immediately knelt in Liu Che's direction and said loudly: "Thank God for the gift! Yang Jian has nothing to repay with!"
"Rise. Your causal power is too little for the time being. Before you truly master it, you shouldn't use it lightly."
"Yes!"
Yang Jian kowtowed, then stood and flew back to the resting area.
"Amazing, second brother... we were all on the verge of being eliminated at that time, and you comprehended the power of cause and effect!"
Tanjiro was like a little fan, his eyes shimmering with admiration.
Cao Cao looked at the closed Divine Eye and said sourly: "I really envy you. Why don't I have any strange means like that?"
One more eye—and one could comprehend the Law of Cause and Effect.
If only he had multiple heads...
Bah. Forget it. Don't wish for weird things. Just be honest about it.
Wan Shi Haojie's defeat didn't make Xiao Luan angry, but the woman looked at the rest of the tournament with keen interest. The quarterfinals were all civil wars among Liu Che's own people anyway.
Fahai was defeated by Longkui. Dragon fell into Chu Xuanfeng's hands. Yang Jian lost to Tu Shan Honghong—after all, they were on the same side, and he surrendered after a few token attempts.
"Damn... this guy definitely took something just now! He fought me like a beast, then turned into a worm the moment he met this vixen!"
"Brother Wanshi, don't shout. The godmother won't avenge us."
"Oh... if you lose, you lose. But I think Yang Jian is pretty decent!"
"Damn... Hua Luo Qing Feng, you're in heat!"
"Uh... believers who marry a priest—isn't there nothing wrong with that, right?"
The final semi-finals were born. Solanum, Chu Xuanfeng, Tu Shan Honghong, and Dongfang Huaizhu.
Of the four, three were women—only Chu Xuanfeng was a promoted male priest. Originally, Xiao Luan hadn't insisted on filling the bracket. But in the end, goddesses who hadn't yet achieved full divine status were allowed to join the competition in order to fill the numbers.
As a result... it still ended up looking like this.
For example, some unlucky priests drew a goddess in the early rounds. Among them, Yan Chixia was one of these poor souls.
What terrible luck! Alas—luck was part of strength, after all.
Since being eliminated, Yan Chixia had been drinking. Anyway, she had already lost. Drinking more divine wine wasn't a bad consolation.
The top three received rewards. There was no reward for fourth place. So what remained were the semi-finals—a battle between dragons and tigers.
Yang Jian looked at Chu Xuanfeng with a nervous expression. "Do you think this guy can beat Longkui?"
"Definitely not!"
"Chu Xuanfeng can win! I'll eat this wine cup if he doesn't!"
"If he wins, this old monk won't eat chicken legs for three months!"
Captain Jack blinked and asked in a low voice, "You really don't think he has a chance?"
"I'm not being pessimistic—it's simply impossible to win!"
Lao Gao commented from the side. This involved tactics. If you beat Nightshade, you'd earn her hatred. If you lost, that was normal. Hadn't they all seen that Yang Jian had a chance at the championship, yet chose to concede? Fight a woman? What glory was there in that? Playing the rascal was the sensible move!
Things went exactly as they had predicted—but one detail surprised everyone. When Solanum and Chu Xuanfeng fought, she stripped away the Red Sunflower and used her true ability to suppress this Controller of Heaven and Earth!
Divine art against divine art. The Law of Dawn and Light evolved with blinding brilliance. No other law could touch her body.
Chu Xuanfeng knelt on one knee, his body riddled with burning holes, his clothes nearly torn to shreds. He smiled bitterly and said: "Sister Longkui, it seems you've already come into contact with the divine stage."
"Yes. I've entered the final stage of the Law of Light. So you can step aside, Brother Chu..."
Nightshade smiled radiantly. This sent their world into a frenzy of cheering.
"The Longkui Goddess is invincible..."
"Woohoo... we want to become gods!"
"Sister, keep going..."
Sedum sat atop the fairy platform and watched his sister secure yet another victory—unable to help but cheer at the top of his lungs!
On the other side, the fighting was the fiercest of all.
Dongfang Huaizhu and Tu Shan Honghong. Flame versus flame—a direct confrontation of fire system laws.
Dongfang Huaizhu originally possessed Pure Yang Flame, but after going to the Divine Realm, the Law of Fire had made her stronger and stronger. When the second batch of gods was born, although she hadn't quite made it onto that train, she had also touched the threshold of divinity.
Compared to Xun'er's Law of Fire, Dongfang Huaizhu displayed the beauty of a goddess. Her attacks were breathtaking—like thousands of flowers flying through the air. The flame was sublimated to its extreme in her hands.
Although Tu Shan Honghong was a latecomer, relying on the god's favor, she too had touched the threshold of divinity. She was more devoted to the god than even her sister. In fact, her strength stemmed from the interaction of the Laws of Love and Tao. The fox clan drew power from love—the deeper the love, the stronger the strength. She had come from behind to overtake the rest.
This battle lasted a full thirty-six hours, with various magic methods and supernatural powers deployed one after another by both sides. Perhaps in one moment, the two were still clashing magical techniques; in the next, they were locked in a confrontation of pure law. In the end, after five days and five nights of fighting, Tu Shan Honghong activated her true fox clan form and, capitalizing on an opening created by an injury she'd inflicted, defeated Dongfang Huaizhu by half a stroke and advanced to the final.
Everyone thought the final match would be extraordinarily exciting.
But no one expected Solanum to choose to surrender.
The championship was handed over to Tu Shan Honghong.
"Give up? I thought this believer's strength could compete with that fox goddess..."
Xiao Luan was very puzzled. She couldn't understand why Solanum had chosen to concede.
"Elder sister?"
Tu Shan Honghong also looked at Nightshade with doubt on her face.
Solanum smiled at her. Her voice came out softly.
"The original intention of the god was to let us learn from each other and confirm our respective strengths. Now that goal has been achieved—we have all reached our threshold. As for the so-called wish... I actually don't have one. Because being with the god is already my greatest wish."
Solanum's words stunned countless believers. Everyone had selfish intentions—even exchanging the wish for a treasure or asking for a powerful pet, the god would agree. A word from God was worth a thousand gold. Once spoken, it would be fulfilled.
But Solanum had rejected the championship with a simple reason.
There was one more thing she didn't tell anyone. She could trust Liu Che, but she could not trust Xiao Luan. She still had a hole card up her sleeve—but performing in front of outsiders was not Nightshade's style.
Tu Shan Honghong, sharp as she was, immediately understood the real reason. However, not wanting to provoke her sisters into disliking her, when it came time to choose her wish, she spoke one that seemed almost unbelievable.
"I think... I think... I want to be held in the god's arms!"