Chapter 2367: The Struggle for Points
If there had been no mistake in the Heaven-Hunting Battle, no god would have had the standing to step forward, accuse the Destiny Temple, or demand points.
But a mistake had indeed occurred.
Any being who could cultivate to the Divine Realm, and moreover survive to the end in the brutal environment of the Hell Realm, was a combination of wisdom and cunning.
How could they let this opportunity slip by?
Without even needing to exchange glances, they all knew what to do next.
Qi Feng, a false god and a divine general of the Destiny Temple's "Judgment Division," knelt on one knee before the statue of the Fortune God Venerable, clad in divine armor. "This general was negligent and nearly caused a grave error. Please punish me, God Venerable."
The Fortune God Venerable's voice was vast and mighty. "The punishment should have been carried out by your Judgment Division. However, the Heaven-Hunting Grand Banquet was hosted and managed by the Fortune Palace. Since the error occurred on the Heaven-Hunting battlefield, this Venerable has the authority to handle it."
Punishing a god was no small matter.
Yet, with the Fortune God Venerable's status and cultivation, he was still so cautious, unwilling to overstep his authority easily. This caused all the gods present to fall into deep thought.
They realized that the internal strife within the Destiny Temple must have reached an extremely severe level.
This was not a good thing.
If it continued to escalate, not only would the Destiny Temple fall into chaos, but the entire Hell Realm would be engulfed in the flames of civil war.
The Fortune God Venerable said, "The Merit Battlefield of the Kunlun Realm has been reopened, making it the most important battleground between the Heavenly Court and Hell. You will go there now and report to the Nutian Shenzun's camp. Do not return until you have earned enough merit to atone for your mistake."
"Understood."
Divine General Qi Feng rose and left the temple.
The Kunlun Realm battlefield was divided into the inner realm battlefield and the outer realm battlefield.
The inner realm battlefield was for cultivators below the Great Saint realm, the most brutal, where blood stained the mountains and rivers.
The outer realm battlefield belonged to Great Saints and gods.
Of course, without significant interests, Great Saints and gods would not directly intervene, nor would they engage in large-scale battles. Their role was more about maintaining fairness on the inner realm battlefield and engaging in covert struggles.
For example:
The plan to destroy the World Spirit Root of the Kunlun Realm was decided and participated in by gods.
However, beyond the Kunlun Realm, in the vast starry sky, there were Divine Throne Planets, divine cemeteries, ancient city-protecting walls... in short, there were enormous interests.
For this reason, the number of gods dispatched by the Heavenly Court and Hell to the periphery of the Kunlun Realm was gradually increasing.
Not to fight each other, but to compete for treasures.
After a brief silence, Xue Jue War God spoke again: "God Venerable, the Undying Blood Clan is the greatest victim. Fortunately, my grandson was resourceful enough to overcome the difficulties and slay the powerful enemy. The five million points should undoubtedly be awarded to him."
The greatest victim?
The Stone Clan gods were enraged, feeling that Xue Jue War God was utterly shameless, blatantly lying. They were about to step forward.
But Luo Yan of the Rakshasa Clan manifested his divine shadow first, saying, "My daughter also contributed to killing Qi Die. If five million points are to be awarded, our Rakshasa Clan should receive at least two million."
Then, he slowly added, "We were almost the greatest victims. I almost... lost my beloved daughter."
As he said this, Luo Yan glanced at Xue Jue War God, as if to say, "If you, Xue Jue War God, can be shameless, then I, this Emperor, will not hold back either! Who hasn't been shameless in their youth?"
The Stone Clan gods grew even angrier. Luo Yan, you are a generation's Great Emperor, one of the few titans of the Rakshasa Clan. Why must you imitate Xue Jue War God? What makes your Rakshasa Clan the greatest victim? It was clearly your daughter who recklessly charged forward; if she died, it would have been her own fault.
Of course, they could not say this out loud.
There were few gods in the entire Stone Clan who dared to offend Emperor Luo Yan easily.
Although the Fortune God Temple had not yet decided whether to award the five million points, the gods of the Undying Blood Clan and the Rakshasa Clan were already arguing over the distribution of points.
"Your Rakshasa Clan wants to share the points? Did you have anything to do with killing Qi Die?"
"Qi Die died by self-destruction. Princess Luo Sha participated in that battle. Why can't she share the points? This god believes the Rakshasa Clan should get half."
"Who dares to take points from my Undying Blood Clan? Come and fight! Come on! Even if I have to burn my divine blood and self-destruct my divine source, I will do it!" The god from the Yellow Heaven Tribe had fallen into a frenzied state again, his battle intent soaring as he pointed at Luo Yan, who stood in the center of the temple.
The gods of the Undying Blood Clan and the Rakshasa Clan all changed color, quickly fell silent, and distanced themselves from him, not daring to provoke him.
Even Luo Yan's eyelids twitched.
He recognized that god—the son of the Great Clan Leader of the Yellow Heaven Tribe. In his life, he had never lost a battle.
Every time he was about to lose, his enemies were scared off by him.
Because, since he began cultivating, this god had self-destructed his Saint Source three times and his Divine Source once, killing many powerful beings far stronger than himself.
His experience with self-destruction was unmatched; he could choose the optimal timing to self-destruct, never giving his opponent a chance to escape.
Most crucially, his physique was special. After each self-destruction, he killed his enemies but did not die himself. He could then re-cultivate his Saint Source and Divine Source, a truly heaven-defying ability.
Some gods speculated that he had consumed White Pale Blood Soil.
Otherwise, he could not be so reckless and still survive.
Taking advantage of the momentary silence in the Destiny Temple, a god from the Stone Clan finally stepped forward. "Our Stone Clan is the greatest victim. Lei, our most promising talent, has perished. Fifteen Great Saints from the Stone Clan also died at Qi Die's hands. God Venerable, the Stone Clan must be compensated—at least ten million points."
The gods of the other clans all showed sympathetic looks.
Half of the Great Saints who could participate in the Heaven-Hunting Battle had a chance to become gods. For a rising star like Emperor Lei, as long as he was not killed in the cradle, he had a seventy to eighty percent chance of reaching the Divine Realm.
The Stone Clan was indeed the greatest victim. It was quite tragic.
Suddenly, a jarring, thunderous voice rang out.
"Are you Stone Clan shameless? Casualties are inevitable in the Heaven-Hunting Battle. Since when do a few juniors dying warrant a demand for point compensation? The Ghost Clan's number one genius, Xu, died by self-destruction, his soul scattered. Did the Ghost Lord demand compensation?" Xue Jue War God said.
Damn it!
The Ghost Lord sat in his Divine Realm world, so angry that smoke was rising from his head, almost spitting blood. What does this have to do with me?
Why bring up a sore spot? Am I someone you can casually mock?
Forget it. Hold it in.
Let those clans fight and argue. Let them tear each other apart and come to blows.
Luo Yan assumed the majestic posture of a generation's Great Emperor and said in a deep voice, "On the Heaven-Hunting battlefield, only by killing the Heavenly Slaves can one earn points. To demand point compensation after being killed by a Heavenly Slave—is it not enough that the Hell Realm has already lost enough face?"
"Exactly. The Stone Clan has brought shame to the Hell Realm. They should have some points deducted," a god suggested.
It was getting more and more outrageous.
The Stone Clan gods were completely enraged and could no longer hold back. They manifested their divine shadows in the Destiny Temple one after another.
"If not for the negligence of the Destiny Temple's gods, how could the young talents of my Stone Clan have perished?"
"Lei was gifted, cultivating a third-rank Sacred Intent, and had the will of the ancient city lord of Snow Stone Ancient City. He was destined to become a god. But he died because of a miscalculation of the enemy's strength. Alas! How tragic!"
"Who dares to deduct the Stone Clan's points? I will fight them to the death!"
Hearing this, the son of the Great Clan Leader of the Yellow Heaven Tribe was overjoyed and rushed forward. "Come on! Self-destruct your divine source! Let's see who dies first!"
...
The gods of the three clans argued endlessly, leaving the more venerable gods stunned.
The key point was that the gods who dared to personally appear and argue were all powerful and held high positions. Ordinary false gods and new gods did not dare to show their faces before them.
In the end, to control the situation and prevent the impact from spreading, the Fortune God Venerable announced: "Qi Die's spiritual power had reached the sixty-sixth level, making her a Heavenly Slave second only to Chi Di. Two million points indeed did not match her status. So, as you all wish, her points will be increased to seven million."
"Zhang Ruochen of the Undying Blood Clan receives six million points. The Rakshasa Clan receives one million points."
The Stone Clan gods were about to start arguing again.
The Fortune God Venerable continued: "This error has indeed caused losses to the Stone Clan. The Fortune Palace will compensate you with Divine Stones."
How much could Divine Stones compensate?
The ranking of the Heaven-Hunting Battle and the distribution of interests were astronomical figures—that was why the gods were willing to tear their faces apart to fight.
But the Stone Clan gods also knew that receiving compensation in Divine Stones was already the best outcome.
If it weren't for the Fortune God Venerable being easygoing and a kind old man, if it were the Death God Venerable or the Nutian Shenzun, would they still want Divine Stone compensation? Even killing Divine General Qi Feng to atone for the crime would not result in Divine Stone compensation.
Now, this distribution result naturally pleased everyone.
After Luo Yan returned to his Divine Realm world, a smug smile still hung on his face. He thought to himself, effortlessly seizing one million points. It seems that sometimes, one must fight for what is due. Holding back out of pride only leads to losses.
Tian Yin said, "Now, do you understand Xian'er's intentions?"
Luo Yan's smile instantly vanished, and he felt extremely annoyed.
An ancient god of the Yama Clan manifested his divine shadow in the Destiny Temple. His long black hair hung down to the ground, and he clasped his hands in salute. "God Venerable, this old one has a proposal."
The appearance of this ancient god surprised the various clan gods, and they all fell silent.
The Fortune God Venerable smiled. "Xue Zhi Ancient God, please speak freely."
Xue Zhi Ancient God said slowly, "Chi has obtained the supreme sacred artifact, the Five-Colored Stone Sword. With this sword, he has likely already cut off the chains binding him. The juniors on the battlefield are far from his match now."
The Fortune God Venerable said, "No god may interfere with the Heaven-Hunting Battle in any way—this is the rule of all previous sessions. Even if Chi becomes stronger, he cannot be taken off the battlefield early."
Xue Zhi Ancient God said, "This old one would not dare to ask the God Venerable to change the rules of the Heaven-Hunting Battle. But since Chi has become stronger and harder to kill, shouldn't his points be higher?"
The gods of the ten clans immediately understood what Xue Zhi Ancient God intended.
In previous Heaven-Hunting Battles, the gods of the Yama Clan almost never interfered.
Why, in this session, would the venerable Xue Zhi Ancient God of the Yama Clan personally appear in the Destiny Temple to meddle in the affairs of the Heaven-Hunting Battle?
Mainly because of the impact from the Undying Blood Clan, they felt threatened.
Just now, Zhang Ruochen had led the Undying Blood Clan's Great Saint army to a great victory, causing their points to skyrocket again. For the Yama Clan to catch up to the Undying Blood Clan was now as difficult as reaching the heavens.
After all, the total points on the Heaven-Hunting battlefield were limited.
So, they had to make a move on Chi Di.
As long as Chi Di's points were high enough, the Yama Clan could kill him in one fell swoop and have a chance to turn the tables.
Although Xue Zhi Ancient God had an extraordinary background and was extremely ancient, Xue Jue War God was unconstrained by taboos and said very rudely, "Is the Yama Clan so confident that they can kill Chi?"
Xue Zhi Ancient God said, "If there is any cultivator on the Heaven-Hunting battlefield who can kill Chi, it must be in the Yama Clan. God Venerable, this old one proposes raising Chi's points to thirty million."
"Isn't that too high?" said the Great Clan Leader of the Yellow Heaven Tribe of the Undying Blood Clan.
Xue Zhi Ancient God smiled. "Qi Die can have seven million points. Chi's combat power is several times greater than hers. Isn't it normal for his points to be several times higher? As long as one's combat power is strong, their points are high. Isn't that what you all just said?"
Clearly, Xue Zhi Ancient God was telling the gods of the Undying Blood Clan that if Chi's points could not be raised, then Qi Die's points could not be either.