The colors of fiery red and coldest blue painted the celestial sky of the divine realm behind Rong Nianbing as he swung down his knives at Mumashiki and his kin.
The complex divine magical formation arrays sprawling around them like constellations, each array blazing as brilliantly as the stars of the vast cosmos.
Mumashiki's expression twisted.
He grit his teeth and raised both arms, and in his palms opened a pair of strange yellow eyes similar to the Rinnegan. The eerie eyes lit up brightly as it started devouring the divine power of the magical formation arrays.
The divine magic formation arrays that Rong Nianbing that set up was incredibly powerful; with a simple purpose of trapping the opponent/s in a small space enveloped by several layers of distorted space to make an escape through teleportation impossible and be destroyed by the Seven Elemental Divine Laws: Fire, Water(Ice), Wind, Earth, Light, Darkness, and Space.
Such a killer move was similar to the Seven-Colored Planetary Calamity that a 2nd or a 1st Class God would go through when solidifying their God Position! It was a terrifying tribulation set by the universe, that it could annihilate an entire mortal world.
Even a God King would be wary in face of this array formation.
Mumashiki and co knew about the Seven-Colored Planetary Calamity and realized how trapped they were.
Rong Nianbing was resolute in battle, even when he used the False Seven-Colored Planetary Calamity magic formation, he didn't hold back and wanted to made sure his enemies were dead.
To anyone who didn't know him, they'd be utterly baffled by his masterful use of divine-level elemental magic and control over the Divine Realm despite being a Class 1 God, one who holds the divine title of Emotions.
That was because, before he became a God, Rong Nianbing was a famous person in his homeworld for being the greatest chef and also the strongest mage to the point of even challenging a God.
His background was rather pitiful. He was born with a rare physique and can use both ice and fire magic, but without the right opportunities he would've died from the internal conflict between the opposing magical energies.
When he was 10 years old, he lost his parents to the Ice God Pagoda sect. A fugitive of the sect, Nianbing barely escaped with his life when he was saved by a Master Chef called Zha Ji. Depressed by the lost of his parents, Zha Ji helped lift his spirits with his cooking. Upon realizing that he's too weak to fight and seeing the benefits of cooking to strengthen himself, Nianbing agreed to be Zha Ji's disciple.
But he would later calm down and fully embrace the path of a chef but he wouldn't abandon his path of a dual-mage, which later earned him the name—Magic Chef of Ice and Fire.
In his own words, he was a chef first and a mage second. And yet, he was a brilliant genius of a mage who managed to not just use and master two opposing elements but also the rest of the elements of his world. Unfortunately, when he became a God, the Godly Positions of Food and Elements were taken.
The Food God was a 2nd Class God who held dominion over cuisine and the profession of chefs.
Amusingly, he had once considered passing his divine mantle to Nianbing during the latter's mortal years, but in the end he decided against it.
For he had seen Nianbing's potential—and understood that it would be wasted in a lower position.
A 2nd Class Godly Title simply could not contain the boundless possibilities of a man who could fight a God Officer while being a mortal. Moreover he also didn't fulfill the requirement of coupling with a successor of the Nine Colored Goddess.
Nor could Nianbing inherit the position of the Element God—not because such a seat was vacant, but because there was no single "God of Elements."
Instead, each element already had its own ruler: the God of Fire, Goddess of Water, God of Earth, God of Wind, Goddess of Light, God of Darkness, and the God of Space.
Each of them stood as a 1st Class God, and to hold dominion over their combined authorities would require nothing less than becoming a God King.
But when Nianbing wanted to ascend, he had neither the time nor the accumulated energy to reach that level. There was no suitable God Position available for him. And though his talents could have threatened the order of the Divine Realm, he had no desire to stir conflict among its rulers.
In fact, he had no choice in becoming the God of Emotions.
Back in his homeworld, it was on the brink of annihilation all because of a powerful demon king that rivaled Gods—well 3rd Class Gods at the very least.
Still, it took merging of two God Rulers of life and death and Nianbing, elevating him into a true god in order to deal with the enemy.
As the god of emotions, he could control all aspects of emotions. This includes the emotions of all living creatures, objects, and even the elements in the air. The power of emotions served as not only a source of energy but also a form of destruction.
The mantle of Emotions suited him. He had lived them all: joy and grief, hatred and love, despair and hope. He had seen them break mortals and raise them higher than gods. His cooking was meant to touch hearts, his magic was born of vengeance, and his very life had been a storm of clashing feelings.
He became the God of Emotions.
And though he was "only" a 1st Class God, the depth of his dominion rivaled that of kings. Heck, it's said that he was second only to the God of Destruction in terms of pure combat strength! That was the reason why he was chosen to be the Divine Realm's temporary leader.
"Don't just stand there you fools!" Mumashiki barked, snapping his comrades out of their daze.
The other Ōtsutsuki needed no further reminder.
At once, they raised their arms in unison, pale palms blooming with blood-red lights that pulsed like dwarf stars. From those eyes surged a dreadful suction force, devouring the terrifying storm of elements raging within the formation—the waves of ice and fire that cascaded from Rong Nianbing's blades, the divine laws condensed within the arrays themselves.
With their combined efforts, the Ōtsutsuki did what few could have imagined possible: they began to collapse the False Seven-Colored Planetary Calamity.
Space groaned, the distorted layers quaking as cracks spread like fractures across a shattered mirror. One by one, the divine arrays flickered, their brilliance dimming as though smothered beneath the Ōtsutsuki's insatiable hunger.
Mumashiki's lips curled into a maniacal smile. His ordinarily featureless white Byakugan gain blue pupils filled with what resemble overlapping white flower patterns. His entire body became shrouded in a fierce cyan blaze, his horns elongating as his aura surged to its peak.
This was the final evolution of their Byakugan—the Tenseigan!
Then—whum—space rippled behind him. Ten black orbs materialized, hovering in a perfect circular formation. Truth-Seeking Orbs. Each was a condensed sphere of origin energy, the essence of all chakra natures fused into absolute tools of power; equivalent to a pseudo ultra divine tool.
They could shift in form and size at will, erase anything they touched down to the molecular level, nullify elemental attacks, and grant their wielder an impervious defense against nearly all powers, etc.
Mumashiki lifted a hand, and two of the orbs elongated into massive barriers, absorbing and erasing swathes of the raging elemental storm around him. The sheer tempest of fire, ice, and space fractured against the dark void of the orbs, dissolving into nothingness.
But Mumashiki wasn't finished. He reached for two more orbs. One pulsed with a radiant golden light, searing like the sun itself as it formed into a golden sword. The other shimmered with cold, argent silver, like the moon reflected in still water as it formed into shimmering silver sword.
He gripped them as though they were weapons forged for him alone, their opposing lights clashing.
Mumashiki grinned and muttered,
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion."
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion."
The other Ōtsutsukis behind him started to show similar transformations.
"Hahahahaha! You should've killed us all when you had the chance! Although I might emit a 2nd Class Godly aura, my Shinjutsus makes it possible for me to rival even a Half-step God King. I had underestimated you, you truly deserve to be the temporary leader of the Divine Realm. But this is the end!
Rejoice! I will finally use my full strength and we shall finally begin our conquest upon this wretched realm of you false Gods!"
The sky quaked beneath the swelling golden and silver light.
Rong Nianbing's expression remained cold. His knives blazed brighter, his crimson and grey eyes gleamed like twin stars.
"You court death, junior. In all my years, you and your detestable clan are the most arrogant people that I have ever known. Your arrogance truly knows no bounds. But, besides your hubris and pride, I can feel something more..."
"Hmph. And what the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it about my unimaginable power? Yes. Look in me in the eyes and tremble...eh?" Mumashiki's pupils trembled, golden blood trickled from the corners of his eyes, dripping down his flawless face.
Then, in the span of heartbeats, the same affliction spread to his kin. One after another, the proud Ōtsutsuki cultivators staggered, their pale jade skin torn open by. Gashes split across their arms, shoulders, and chests—golden divine blood gushed forth, staining their once-pristine robes.
"W-What... what is this?! What is this nonsense?!" Mumashiki's voice cracked with panic. His hands shook as the golden and silver lights of his Shinjutsus flickered, unstable. His Truth-Seeking Orbs wavered and started disappearing.
"What did you do?!" He panicked, feeling his divinity, vitality, and divine consciousness was slipping away from him.
He was dying.
Across from him, Rong Nianbing's figure remained unwavering. His Morning Dew Dagger gleaming with icy light, and his True Sun Dagger blazing with searing flame.
His mismatched eyes pierced Mumashiki's soul, one reflecting fire, the other ice—two extremes bound in harmony.
"I felt your fear. Your despair. Your anger. Your hatred. You and your disgusting kin parade yourselves as untouchable and lofty beings, yet you're all extremely sensitive beings. And to bare such unstable emotions before me—heh"
He then swung his knives, decapitating their heads.
"No! This isn't the end—!"
"You have already lost."
Rong Nianbing lowered his knives, their radiant edges flickering dimly before returning to their dormant state.
He took a breather. Using the False Seven-Colored Planetary Calamity formation array, his daggers and divine authority all at the same time took a chunk of his divine reserves.
It might've looked simple, but Rong Nianbing had to use the array at full blast to weaken them enough that he could hijack their emotions and divine consciousness to self-destruct.
Taking care of a few Gods of Class 2 and below usually wasn't a problem for him, and with access of the Divine Realm Core his recovery rate was fast, but he'd been fighting invaders like Mumashiki constantly every almost a couple of hours.
Rong Nianbing tilted his head towards the east and used his divine consciousness for telepathy.
"Zhou Weiqing, how's the situation in the forbidden land?"
"...All clear. The invaders were vanquished just now. Fortunately, there wasn't a 1st Class God this time."
"Good. Make sure you and the Seven Sin Gods protect that place."
Considering the cheat-like abilities of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Rong Nianbing decided to have a group of Gods band together to deal with the invaders at precious locations of their realm rather than be overwhelm.
Zhou Weqing and the Seven Sin Gods together are strong enough to deal with a God King or two. Not only can they handle the invaders, but in case of a break-out of a certain "goldie"—they'd be able to handle it.
"God of Darkness, how's the situation in the borderland?"
"A bit boring actually. It's been a while since one popped up. I think we—ah crap. Talk to you later. A bunch just slipped in, about a dozen with the strongest being 1st Class."
Rong Nianbing narrowed his eyes, worried. "Should I head over there?"
"Nah. We got this. They boast of having superior combat prowess than their divinity, but they have shit combat experience. But if we really do need help, Sea God's friends are here to help us."
"Hmm. Got it. Then, God of Magic how's the situation in the ascension path?"
"CHAT LATER! FIGHT NOW!!"
Rong Nianbing raised his eyebrows and closed his eyes, sending his mind towards the ascension path—the place where newly ascended Gods would appear. He then saw the God of Magic and others fighting the Ōtsutsukis.
"...They'll be fine." He said, opening his eyes.
(AN: The last one is an OC, one of the other 1st Class Gods in the divine realm. Don't think much about them.)
Rong Nianbing raised his head towards the "sky", the divine barrier around the Divine Realm that separates this land from the vast cosmos. His eyes pierced through the celestial veil and witnessed the Five God Kings were still fighting against the leader and elders of the Ōtsutsuki Clan in a stalemate.
He narrowed his eyes and muttered,
"C'mon, you guys got this. Ugh. Why did those two fools have to be busy with their honeymoon?
Even if they had handed off their God Positions, they should've also handed over their divine tools to the new God of Evil and Goddess of Kindness. They better get back here as soon as possible, or so help me I'll hunt them down...
God of Destruction and Goddess of Life are doing well, but, what is that old fox doing? Why does he appear to be.... a bit dazed?"
Rong Nianbing narrowed his gaze at the last God King, Tang San, who's the Asura God at the moment and not his usual Sea God mode. He would've tried investigating further if it weren't for another rift in space happening before him.
"Tsk. They're faster than usual." His divine consciousness returned to his body and he faced the new group of invaders arriving in the Divine Realm.
'Ah. When this is all over, I'm getting a successor as soon as possible and getting the hell out of this realm! Ever since I arrived here, I've been encountering disaster after disaster.'
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Double chapters~