As these words were spoken, the whole place fell silent.

Everyone present had personally witnessed that "Heavenly God Cataclysm" all those years ago, and each knew a bit about what went on behind the scenes.

Even if they hadn’t pieced together the full truth, they could more or less make some guesses.

Now that the North God King had called it out directly, everyone instantly went quiet.

Maybe the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. After a few seconds of silence, the North God King couldn’t help but mutter, "Anyway, all those who walk the ’Order Path’ are bad news!"

"If they’re not control freaks, they’re scheming bastards."

Qiu Tu: ???

Qiu Tu had just been lost in thought, going over the ins and outs of the "Heavenly God Cataclysm." And suddenly, he got roasted for no reason.

He looked up with total confusion, only to meet everyone’s gaze.

The four God Kings and Zhao Ji were all, inconveniently, looking right at him, too.

But it wasn’t just the four God Kings—even Zhao Ji slightly nodded, as if she agreed with the North God King’s take.

Qiu Tu: .....

When did I become a scheming bastard? Apart from usually walking the "dark side," aren’t I always upright and proper? Seriously though!

This is ruining my reputation!

And at this moment, just as Qiu Tu was thinking this, the East God King, Longchuan Ying, spoke up as well.

She looked down her nose at the North God King, then said coldly, "Beize, you’re still as useless as ever."

"For one general’s fame, ten thousand bones wither. If you want to reach the peak, you’re going to have to make sacrifices."

"Being able to keep this world safe is already hard enough. Don’t set your standards so high."

"Besides... why are we digging up these old tales, anyway?"

"What happened back then is over and done with—there’s no changing the past."

"The key issue now is... the birth of a new generation of Heavenly Gods."

Speaking of this, her icy gaze, as venomous as a snake’s, fell on Zhao Ji and Qiu Tu. Then she said, "Based on the senses I’ve received, this ’Heavenly God Trial’ will produce at least two or three new Heavenly Gods."

"As long as they exist in this world for just a day, our power will keep getting weaker."

"And as long as we remain in this world, their power will be suppressed to a certain extent."

"This is a contradiction that can’t be reconciled."

"And it’s even...—" Longchuan Ying paused, then continued, "This isn’t just our own business anymore."

"Zhao Ji has no family or friends, but Qiu Tu does."

"His lovers, beloved ones, friends—even his people—are all in this world."

"Even if you come to an agreement that he leaves this world. But... can he really rest easy putting all these important lives in your hands?"

"How’s that any different from being a hostage?"

At this point, Longchuan Ying couldn’t help stirring the pot again, "Even if he claims he doesn’t care, can you really trust him?"

"Don’t forget... he’s an Order Path deity."

Qiu Tu: ....

Hearing Longchuan Ying’s words, the North God King couldn’t help but laugh, "Haha."

He said, "Longchuan Ying, you really don’t have to stick your nose in. Since I’ve accepted Qiu Tu’s invitation, you better believe I’ve weighed all the pros and cons."

"You think a few words from you are enough to make me switch sides?"

Hearing what he said, Longchuan Ying let out a faint sigh. Her gaze shifted over the Southern God King’s panda clone, and then she spoke directly, "I actually was going to give you a chance to survive."

"But it seems... you don’t cherish it."

"So don’t blame me for forgetting about our old camaraderie on the battlefield."

As she said this, Longchuan Ying slowly stretched out her hand. In the next second, a silvery whip appeared, segment by segment, assembling in her grip.

"Crack!" With a sudden flick of her wrist, that silver whip snapped, its crisp crack echoing across the whole Dragon Burying City.

At this, the North God King and the panda clone of the Southern God King shouted and leapt into the air to meet her head-on.

In the blink of an eye, the three God Kings were locked in battle.

And as this happened, Zhao Ji coolly tossed out, "I’ll be back in a bit," then flashed into action as well, slashing a sword straight at the West God King.

Soon, the five top Heavenly Gods were trading blows.

The Cataclysmic Power surged, echoing like mountains collapsing and seas roaring out in every direction. It was only because the "Edge Region" had now completely fused into the "Boundless Heart Sea" that it could withstand shockwaves from a brawl like this—otherwise, there’d be no way.

At the same time, watching this chaotic melee, the only one of the six who hadn’t moved—Qiu Tu—didn’t look at all pleased.

Because... honestly, this really wasn’t how he’d wanted things to go.

Due to gaps in his intel, his initial assumption was that the two sides didn’t have any irreconcilable conflict. So, when his side had four Heavenly God-level fighters, able to go toe-to-toe with the East and West God Kings, the East and West would most likely back off or negotiate. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

That would’ve been his domain, his specialty. He could use that glib tongue of his to talk the East and West God Kings into leaving, buying his side the most precious time for their own development.

As long as they held out for a day, the Heavenly God Positional Frames would be distributed, and he and Zhao Ji could ascend as Heavenly Gods.

By then, offense and defense would swap places.

But who could have known? Only today, listening to the North God King, did Qiu Tu realize the contradiction between Heavenly Gods and Pseudo-God Kings was totally unresolvable.

This was pretty damn screwed up. It meant the two sides were almost guaranteed to fight to the bitter end.

And what made things even messier... Even after dragging Baiyi and the North God King onto their side, Qiu Tu’s group was still weaker than the East and West God Kings.

The East God King’s strength should be high-level Heavenly God, close to peak; the West God King is mid-level Heavenly God.

The North God King is close to mid-level Heavenly God, and Baiyi’s clone is, at best, a junior Heavenly God.