Liu Zhengyuan was deeply moved. He knew that there was no point in saying anything now, so he went to inform the residents of the city to prepare for battle.
"This is the invasion of the gods, who attempt to destroy us. The God of Willow cares for the human race and wishes to fight against all the gods. He has taken on this calamity for the human race. If the human race rises in the future, I am willing to serve as the guardian god of the human race and enjoy the human race's fortune for ten thousand generations!"
Liu Zhengyuan looked at the crowd below the stage, clasped his hands, and swore an oath to the heavens.
"I wish to worship the Willow Goddess as the guardian deity of the human race, and to enjoy the eternal fortune of humanity!"
"I wish to worship the Willow Goddess as the guardian deity of the human race, and to enjoy the eternal fortune of humanity!"
"I wish to worship the Willow Goddess as the guardian deity of the human race, and to enjoy the eternal fortune of humanity!"
...
Everyone made a vow to the heavens.
In an instant, Zhang Mu felt the weight of karma upon him, and was protected by auspicious energy. This karma was naturally a positive outcome.
Even his cultivation technique of Qi Luck immediately broke through a small realm.
"An unexpected bonus..."
Zhang Mu smiled.
Soon after, dozens of deities broke into the barrier.
All of humanity was on high alert, and everyone mobilized their energy and spirit.
"Huh? A tree?"
The gods were astonished, thinking it was the kingdom of the gods, but they only saw a towering willow tree.
"Everyone, this is human territory, please do not cross the boundary."
Zhang Mu's voice came through.
"Human territory? Ha! What a laughable statement! When did humans ever deserve a place here!"
Liu Zhengyuan clenched his fists as he listened to the gods' contemptuous words, while the other humans were also furious.
"I didn't care before, but now humanity is under my protection! If you don't retreat, I'll spare your lives!"
Zhang Mu said domineeringly.
"Hahaha... A mere willow tree that has become a spirit dares to utter such words! I'll destroy your intelligence and extract your essence!"
A deity unleashed its divine power to attack Zhang Mu's true form.
"You may all seek refuge in my little world."
Zhang Mu activated his spatial magic, and in an instant, all of humanity entered the small world he had created.
The situation outside can also be seen from within.
Suddenly, Zhang Mu's main body sent out a slender willow branch that cleaved the attack and lashed out fiercely at the deity.
"What!"
The god was greatly alarmed and immediately activated his divine power to protect himself.
"Smack!"
The willow whip sent the god flying thousands of miles, crashing into and damaging many mountains along the way.
The gods' expressions turned serious; how could the willow tree's fighting power be so terrifying?
Zhang Mu thought to himself in disbelief: How could this guy be so weak? Did he underestimate me and not use much strength?
"Fanfou?"
The gods were enraged upon hearing this.
"How dare you be so arrogant! Attack us all!"
They dared not be careless and quickly joined forces to attack.
Zhang Mu, meanwhile, wielded countless willow branches, striking relentlessly. No matter how powerful the attacks or his innate divine abilities were, they did little to cause any real damage to Zhang Mu's body.
On the contrary, these gods were whipped by the willow branches and howled in pain.
"Heh, I see now. You are all too weak. You thought yourselves to be powerful gods, but in the end you are nothing but clowns. In that case, stay here!"
In an instant, countless slender willows covered the sky and the sun, trapping all the gods in a cage.
The gods wanted to use their spatial powers to escape their cage, but they found that the space was completely sealed off, preventing them from using any spatial abilities.
"Destroy!"
The terrifying branches began to lash mercilessly. This time, each lash caused the god unbearable pain, his divine body cracking and his soul on the verge of extinction.
They were terrified! They were filled with fear!
This time, my life is truly in danger.
So he immediately cried out and begged for mercy.
"My lord, we know we were wrong. Please spare us! We are willing to be your slaves!"
What nonsense about divine dignity? When life and death are at stake, they are all abandoned in the pursuit of survival.
After a moment's thought, Zhang Mu stopped what he was doing, hoping to extract some information from these guys.
"If you want to live, you must answer my questions."
"Yes, yes, sir, please ask us, we will answer to the best of our knowledge!"
The gods nodded quickly.
"What level of strength do you possess?"
The gods looked at each other, then said, "Our strengths are not much different; we are all at the lower god level."
"Oh? Lower-level gods? How are the realms of gods divided?"
"My lord, those who have just been promoted to godhood are priests. After gaining followers in a country, they become lower-level gods. The higher realms are middle-level gods, upper-level gods, god-kings, god-emperors, and god-kings."
Each realm is divided into four smaller realms: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. It's only because our strength is so low that we can only huddle in this peripheral area and develop slowly.
The gods smiled bitterly.
Zhang Mu seemed to be deep in thought. In the battle just now, he had only used 10% of his strength, yet he was able to single-handedly suppress dozens of lower-level gods.
So, my strength must be at least that of a high-ranking god, right?
After figuring out his approximate strength, he inquired about the situation in this world.
Zhang Mu learned this from them.
This world is very large. The area he is in is only the outermost part, with a sparse population, but it still covers an area of one billion acres.
The most powerful gods reside in the very center of the world, a place with a large population and where the gods fiercely compete for believers.
However, gods rarely wage war against each other; once a war breaks out, it is a fight to the death.
If you can't overwhelm your opponent, you have to be careful that if you both suffer heavy losses, you might be attacked by other gods.
There, even the lower-ranking gods have no status, and in order to avoid being caught in the sudden divine war, they all choose to stay away from that area.
"My lord, that's all we know. We lack the strength to obtain more definitive information. What do you think..."
The gods flattered him.
"Hmm, answer one more question correctly and I'll let you go."
What is my real name?
"Forehead..."
Upon hearing this question, all the gods were dumbfounded, staring at each other in disbelief.
"Hmph! You can't even answer this correctly! You should go ask Yama, the King of Hell, in the deepest hell!"
In an instant, countless willow branches pierced the gods' hearts, leaving them covered in thorns. The terrifying spatial power continued to destroy their divine bodies and erode their souls.
"Shameless..."
The gods died with their eyes wide open in disbelief, ultimately dying with resentment.
Zhang Mu didn't take it seriously and released all the humans in the small world.
They were still in shock, staring at the gods nailed to the air, speechless for a long time.
Liu Zhengyuan was the first to come to his senses.
"Many thanks to Goddess Liu for shielding humanity from this calamity!"
The others also quickly knelt down and bowed.
"Since I promised to protect you, I will keep my word. Now that the gods of this region are all dead, you can go and save the humans in their divine kingdoms."
Zhang Mu spoke up.
"Yes, may humanity rise!"
Liu Zhengyuan said solemnly that with Zhang Mu's help, they could now steadily develop their strength in this remote area.
"Furthermore, the body of a deity is a great tonic for you all, and you may drink it together afterward."
Zhang Mu retrieved countless willow branches and placed dozens of divine bodies on the ground.
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