# 263
**Chapter 263: Great Xia Has Gods**
Beneath the pitch-black sky, Indra hovered in the air, his body wreathed in crackling lightning. Dense spheres of ball lightning orbited around him, emitting a low, resonant hum.
On the ground, a battered carriage stood to the side. Master Chen, dressed in white, stood before it.
The birdsong and floral fragrance around him were constantly shattered and reconstructed by the lightning, like a lone blade of grass swaying in a storm—though violently tossed, it remained unbroken.
Master Chen held a ruler in his hand, striking down the falling thunderbolts one by one. The tip of the ruler was already charred black. His face was grim, and scorch marks from the lightning were clearly visible on his white robes.
“Ant, if you had stayed hidden in that carriage, I might not have been able to do anything to you…” Indra looked down at the battered Master Chen and sneered. “But you chose to seek death, to come out and fight me. Now, do you still think you can leave?!”
**Boom—!!**
A thick bolt of lightning struck down toward Master Chen’s head. He dispersed most of it with his ruler, but the remainder crashed into his Mindscape. Master Chen grunted, his face turning pale.
He snorted coldly, straightened his back, and declared in a clear voice:
“You’ve slaughtered my people, ravaged my homeland. If I still cower in fear, what right do I have to call myself a citizen of Great Xia?
The land of Great Xia shall never be a playground for your kind!”
Master Chen swung his ruler repeatedly, and a surging killing intent swept across the sky, nearly solidifying. From within his Mindscape came the resonant sound of recited texts—majestic and powerful!
Indra’s body transformed into a streak of lightning, his right foot suddenly kicking through the killing intent. Lightning surged, forcibly shattering it!
“Ridiculous!” Indra’s eyes flashed with disdain. “You mortals truly overestimate yourselves! Don’t forget—Great Xia has no gods. So… who gave you the courage to defy us deities?!”
Indra stomped down again, crushing a large portion of the Mindscape surrounding Master Chen. The old man spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered back several steps.
“A bunch of ants dare to challenge gods? Are you even worthy?!” Indra’s cold laughter echoed across heaven and earth.
Master Chen clenched his ruler, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, took a deep breath, and once again raised his chest, proudly facing the thunder of the heavens.
“Today, even if I lose this old life, I will show you foreign gods what it means… to never underestimate Great Xia!”
The Mindscape around Master Chen surged. The birdsong and fragrance vanished, replaced by a blood-red abyss.
A cold and terrifying aura emanated from it, as if some extreme and dreadful killing move was brewing.
Just then, a brilliant divine light shot out from within the city, piercing through the three realms of heaven, earth, and man. The layers of storm clouds above the city were instantly torn open by a massive, exaggerated hole!
A terrifying presence descended upon the mortal world!!
Indra sensed this aura and his expression changed instantly. He jerked his head toward the distance, eyes filled with shock and suspicion.
Master Chen was stunned and turned to look.
Under the twilight, the sunset pierced through the hole in the storm clouds. The orange light formed a dazzling pillar, casting down from beyond the heavens. Against the dark city sky, this single ray of light tore through all shadows.
Within the orange sunset, a figure clad in silver armor, wielding a three-pointed double-edged blade, walked slowly through the air.
Beside him was a fierce black hound.
“That’s…” Master Chen stared blankly at the figure walking out of the sunset, his hand holding the ruler trembling slightly, his eyes filled with unprecedented excitement.
“—I am Yang Jian.”
A deep voice echoed across heaven and earth, stretching for thousands of miles.
Yang Jian, stepping through the void, slowly spoke. The vertical eye on his forehead burst forth with endless divine light, locking onto Indra in the sky. A terrifying killing intent swept across the world!
“Who said… Great Xia has no gods?!”
**Thud—!!!**
Yang Jian’s figure vanished in an instant, as if tearing through the boundless void, appearing directly in front of Indra!
Indra’s pupils contracted sharply. Lightning surged around him as he tried to block the man before him—but in the next moment, that hand effortlessly shattered all lightning within a ten-mile radius and seized Indra by the throat!!
Lightning burst apart!
Silver light filled the sky!!
Yang Jian gripped Indra’s neck, his eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke coldly:
“Just you? Just your kind… and you dare call yourselves gods?!”
Indra’s eyes trembled like an earthquake, filled with endless fear and confusion. His body instantly transformed into lightning, trying to escape Yang Jian’s grasp!
But in the next moment, the divine light from Yang Jian’s vertical eye flashed again, sealing all space. No matter how hard Indra tried, he couldn’t break free.
Yang Jian’s hand suddenly exerted force, slamming Indra from the sky into the ground. A deafening explosion erupted, and a terrifying shockwave spread across the empty land, dense cracks rapidly spreading.
In the center of the crater, just as Indra tried to rise, Yang Jian’s figure appeared before him again.
**Thud—!!**
Yang Jian stomped on Indra’s chest, sinking the surrounding ground dozens of meters!
“You, who survived in the fog only by sacrificing your people and abandoning your land… you are the ones disgracing the title of god!”
Yang Jian leaned down, grabbed Indra by the shoulder, and flung him upward. Indra’s body was hurled ten thousand meters into the sky. Yang Jian, wielding his three-pointed double-edged blade and wreathed in silver lightning, shot up after him!
A flash of silver—his blade slashed across Indra’s arm, and a severed hand spun through the air, blood spraying.
Indra’s face twisted in fury and pain. He roared, and a massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the heavens, striking straight at Yang Jian!
Yang Jian didn’t dodge in the slightest. His figure flashed like lightning, charging straight into the bolt. With a sudden swing of his blade, he cleaved the lightning in two!
Lightning splashed across the gleaming blade. Yang Jian, like a peerless war god, appeared instantly before Indra.
“We, the gods of Great Xia, gave up our divine power and physical forms, transforming into nine divine monuments to guard our borders, ensuring the fog could not invade our land, protecting our people from its corruption!”
Yang Jian’s blade flashed again, slicing through Indra’s neck—beheading him!
He took a deep breath and roared:
“We, the gods of Great Xia, stand and fall with our people!!
We have lands we must protect, people we must defend, beliefs we must uphold!
That—is what it means to be a god!”
Indra’s blood rained down from the sky. Yang Jian, drenched in it, stood proudly in the heavens.
He held Indra’s head in his hand, his gaze seeming to pierce through endless space, landing on the other divine kingdoms hidden in the fog. He shouted:
“The century-long cycle has ended! Today, the gods of Great Xia… return!!”