CHAPTER 393: THE BATTLE AMONG THE TOP 393 WARRIORS

John asked with a chuckle, "When did you find out?"

The Thunder Heavenly King was forced to smile. "Yes, it’s this damn awkward feeling."

He glanced at John, then at the Body of the War God. "If it were only you, or him, I would never have noticed the anomaly between them. But you were too confident, sending two Puppets to my side. Although you can use different languages and interact with that fellow I have caged, your tones of voice and some habitual little movements are absolutely identical..."

Having been exposed, Lin Bai no longer bothered to split his focus playing two roles. Xingtian and John clapped simultaneously, saying in unison, "As expected of the Heavenly King. That was my oversight. Since the Heavenly King has found out, why don’t we cooperate?"

"Cooperate?" The Thunder Heavenly King was somewhat surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Lin Bai to make such a proposal.

"Heavenly King, those beside you are merely two of my Divided Gods. Even if you kill them, it won’t harm me in the slightest. That being the case, why don’t we cooperate and make a name for ourselves on the Continent of Gods and Demons?" A Magpie Bridge sprang from beneath the Body of the War God’s feet.

Xingtian stepped onto the Magpie Bridge, disappearing from the Lightning Cage.

Another Magpie Bridge extended to John. The Body of the War God stepped off it, completely breaking free from the Lightning Cage’s control.

Watching Xingtian’s actions, the Thunder Heavenly King was full of admiration. "I knew I couldn’t trap you, Lin Bai. Your Magpie Bridge is truly ingenious."

"Heavenly King, the Magpie Bridge is the foundation of our cooperation," War God Xingtian smiled.

The Thunder Heavenly King was forced to smile again. Frowning, he said, "Alright, you can stop that disgusting smile!"

"But Heavenly King, you said earlier that you liked smiles!" John also smiled.

"Lin Bai, don’t test my limits!" the Thunder Heavenly King said angrily. However, the smile that seemed stubbornly fixed on his face only infuriated him more. Suddenly, he paused. "How do you know my name is Beigui? Don’t tell me it’s some divination art; no one can truly predict the future."

"It wasn’t divination. Heavenly King, if you knew about me, you should know about the Righteous Door’s Way of Incompleteness," the Body of the War God said.

"..." The Thunder Heavenly King looked at Xingtian again and said grumpily, "Lin Bai, since both of them are you, stop talking to me as two people. It feels weird."

"I’m correcting the minor habits of each Divided God," John said. "I won’t make the same mistake twice."

"..." The Thunder Heavenly King fell silent for a moment, then turned to War God Xingtian. "Lin Bai, you’re truly bold."

"Thank you for the compliment, Heavenly King," Xingtian smiled. "Now, can we discuss cooperation?"

Again, the Thunder Heavenly King was forced to smile. His temper flared as he clenched his fists, restraining the urge to obliterate the man before him with lightning. He said, "Why are you so sure I’ll cooperate with you? You’ve plunged the entire Fairy World into chaos. Theoretically, you’re an enemy to the whole Fairy World."

"Throughout history, there are only eternal interests, no eternal enemies," John said. "Heavenly King, not only did I plunge the Fairy World into chaos, but I also unified the Mortal World. I disrupted the reality where those Players live, and I’m even about to stir up the Continent of Gods and Demons before us. My journey is to the Starry Sea; your Fairy World is merely a small milestone on my path."

"You’re arrogant," the Thunder Heavenly King said.

"The stage is as vast as one’s ambition," Xingtian replied.

"Your strength isn’t enough to support your ambitions. Disrupting the world is easy, but controlling it is difficult." The Thunder Heavenly King was in no rush to attack the Misty Forest, even as the fog above it thickened with the setting sun, threatening to engulf them. In his view, the Lin Bai before him was far more interesting than some unknown God of Darkness.

"A year ago, I was just a mortal who knew nothing," Xingtian retorted.

"..." The Thunder Heavenly King looked at Xingtian and smiled. "In that case, why didn’t you use your true self to negotiate with me? Am I to understand this as disrespect?"

"Heavenly King, by letting a Divided God negotiate with you, regardless of the outcome, there will always be room for reconciliation between us," John smiled. "But if my true self were negotiating, then if the negotiations were to break down, it would be a battle to the death. Perhaps only one of us would survive."

The Thunder Heavenly King laughed, and this time, the smile wasn’t forced. "Lin Bai, I’m starting to appreciate you. You truly do have some extraordinary qualities."

"Heavenly King, it’s not that I possess extraordinary qualities, but rather that I am sincere," Xingtian said. "More friends mean more paths. When I negotiate, I never resort to deceit. Heavenly King, as long as we make the pie big enough for everyone to have a share, we can cooperate indefinitely."

"Never resort to deceit?" The Thunder Heavenly King looked at Lin Bai teasingly. "As far as I know, those who cooperate with you either become your subordinates or are coerced by you into cooperating."

"That’s because their strength is insufficient," John shrugged. "If their strength is lacking, it’s only natural they serve me, but I don’t mistreat them. Moreover, I allow them to betray me, provided they can bear the price of such betrayal."

"..." The Thunder Heavenly King didn’t know how many times his train of thought had been derailed today. Looking at the two before him, he shook his head. "Your shamelessness is truly in a league of its own."

"Heavenly King, I look forward to our cooperation." War God Xingtian extended his hand.

"May our cooperation be pleasant." The Thunder Heavenly King glanced at him and shook his hand.

Both men wore smiles, but it was hard to tell how much sincerity lay behind them.

「...」

"Heavenly King, our strength is insufficient. Against a powerful enemy, we can only play auxiliary and restrictive roles. We’ll have to rely on your protection," the Body of the War God said.

"Alright." The Thunder Heavenly King glanced meaningfully at the two of them, nodded, and suddenly took a step forward. A dense rain of Thunderbolts fell from the sky, pouring into the Misty Forest like a torrential storm.

The view-obscuring black fog was instantly swept away by the lightning. Numerous trees, struck by the lightning, ignited like torches, illuminating the Misty Forest.

By the light, Xingtian could clearly see countless Demon Beasts beneath the trees struck by lightning. Those with formidable strength were charred, while the weaker ones were reduced to mere black stains. After being struck by lightning, these innumerable Demon Beasts couldn’t even utter a single cry.

「Holy Extreme Sect.」

Lin Bai, watching the battlefield through the perspectives of his two Divided Gods, wore an exceptionally grave expression. Although he seemed to have held his own in the negotiations with the Thunder Heavenly King, only he knew that the Heavenly King hadn’t revealed any useful information, which was not a good sign.

Upon entering the Fairy World, the intelligence level of his enemies had skyrocketed, far surpassing that of the Sect Masters in the Mortal World.

The Thunder Heavenly King and the God of Darkness were top rulers of two different worlds. Lin Bai had never interacted with masters who had grasped the Laws. Therefore, he paid close attention to their battle. It would be best if he could understand the gap between himself and these top-tier masters from it. After all, the Power of Laws at the Star-glowing Realm was already quite wondrous.

「...」

"God of Darkness, are you afraid? My Divine Power is endless. Having your minions test me will only lead to unnecessary sacrifices. Come out! Let me witness the power of this world’s gods." The Thunder Heavenly King ignored Xingtian and John behind him. With a single step, he appeared like a bolt of lightning, standing directly above the Misty Forest.

Electricity wrapped around him, even his eyes were shrouded in it, looking like two high-wattage light bulbs.

"Thunder God," John muttered.

"He should be more powerful than the Thunder God," Xingtian said. "The Thunder God needs a hammer, whereas this one controls lightning at will. Moreover, the power of his lightning is countless times greater than that of the Star-glowing Realm. It’s hard to imagine how someone at the Star-glowing Realm could pass the challenges to claim the title of Heavenly King."

Lin Bai stopped his musings. The Thunder Heavenly King hadn’t shown many techniques, but his speed alone was enough to overwhelm anyone at the Star-glowing Realm.

Because his speed was even faster than his own, despite his enhanced Agility.

If they were to fight, he probably wouldn’t even be able to use any Laws before his body was pierced by this fellow.

The Thunder Heavenly King could utterly dominate him with speed alone...

At this moment, the starlight in the sky abruptly vanished.

The trees ignited by the lightning were still burning, but the Little Flames were like artificial ones in a shopping mall: they had no heat and emitted no light, merely flickering continuously.

The surroundings were pitch-black.

Apart from these Little Flames and the Thunder Heavenly King in the sky, who resembled a light bulb, Xingtian could see nothing else; even John, who was close by, had disappeared into the darkness.

Light itself was completely suppressed!

Lin Bai sucked in a sharp breath. So this was the God of Darkness?

Fortunately, he still had his Divine Sense and his other five senses. Otherwise, relying on sight alone, fighting this God of Darkness would be impossible; he wouldn’t see a thing!

Xingtian’s Divine Sense, at the Bronze Realm, was already quite formidable, capable of covering a radius of nearly fifty kilometers. But under the God of Darkness’s suppression, his detection range shrank to less than five kilometers.

John was in an even more pitiful state. Relying on his own mana, he was effectively blind within the God of Darkness’s domain. Thanks to the support from Lin Bai’s spiritual power, he could barely perceive his surroundings, but only vaguely within a half-kilometer radius.

The Players’ own abilities were too low, affecting their combat effectiveness. Lin Bai considered whether he should cultivate a few Players with sufficient loyalty and then perform Body Snatching on them.

In a battle of this caliber, his Disciples were completely useless.

Two Magpie Bridges extended from beneath Xingtian’s and John’s feet; both Divided Gods were ready to flee at any moment.

John could revive, but the Divided God that possessed him wouldn’t revive with him. It was just a Divided God; if it died, it died.

But Lin Bai didn’t want to lose his Body of the War God.

After all, the Body of the War God was his true external incarnation. Losing it would be a great waste. Although its current cultivation level wasn’t high, he could place a Divine Status in it in the future, turning it into a top-tier assistant.

「...」

"Outsider God, you have successfully angered me! I will tear you to shreds, then transform you into a Lich to be displayed in my palace!" A colossal voice boomed from all directions, making Xingtian’s and John’s ears ring violently.

Following the voice, Lin Bai felt Xingtian’s Divine Sense detection range compress further, and the air itself seemed to grow heavy.

Attribute debuff!

Lin Bai gathered combat data and concluded that, with his current strength, he was no match for this God of Darkness.

"Enough talk! If you want to fight, then fight!" The Thunder Heavenly King suddenly raised his hand. Countless Thunderbolts pierced the darkness, momentarily illuminating the land.

But soon, these flashes of lightning vanished, as if swallowed by something.

"Outsider, don’t struggle. Within my Darkness Sky, all your attacks will merely become nourishment for me, strengthening my power," the God of Darkness cackled arrogantly. "Pitiful creature, you don’t even know where to attack..."

Two bolts of lightning suddenly appeared beside Xingtian and John. Then, the lightning seemed to melt, transforming into two ropes that coiled around their waists.

Lin Bai’s vision blurred; the two Divided Gods were now standing beside the Thunder Heavenly King.

Damn!

Lin Bai, controlling the Body of the War God, struggled twice but failed to break the lightning ropes. Instead, his skin was scorched. He cursed inwardly again. Since when could lightning be used as a rope? This is absurd!

Changing the properties of lightning... this must be the Power of Laws!

The Thunder Heavenly King said with a grin, "Lin Bai, a partner who only thinks of fleeing isn’t a good one. I know you’re skilled at taunting. Now, it’s your turn to lure out that skulking fellow."

The Body of the War God looked helplessly at the teasing Thunder Heavenly King, then used the Provocation Skill at double the usual volume, "God of Darkness, stop hiding! I can already see you!"

Before his voice had even faded, the Thunder Heavenly King’s eyes suddenly snapped towards a direction, and two streaks of golden lightning shot out from his eyes, hitting a dark silhouette.

The dark silhouette let out a muffled groan. What in the world is this? It actually dragged me from outside into the Darkness Sky?!

"So you do have your uses. Continue, don’t stop! Let’s take down this sneaky fellow in one fell swoop!" the Thunder Heavenly King laughed.

Without any visible action from him, four Thunder Spirits—gold, white, red, and blue—appeared in the sky. Each Thunder Spirit emanated light of its own color, forming an electric net that descended upon the spot where the dark silhouette had appeared.

But the net captured nothing when it landed.

Then, a torrent of negative emotions—rage, frustration, sorrow, pain—welled up in Lin Bai’s heart. Immediately after, he felt the head of War God Xingtian’s body being forcibly severed from its torso.

John’s health bar emptied instantly, and the Divided God possessing him was forcefully ejected from his body, left to float alone in the darkness.

Three Heads Six Arms!

The Body of the War God’s vitality was more tenacious. The instant Lin Bai felt its head detach, he immediately activated the skill, and three new heads sprouted.

"Your mistake was dragging me into the Darkness Sky," the God of Darkness’s voice boomed once more. "I’ve told you before, Thunderbolts cannot harm me. I am darkness, and darkness is formless..."