75: Bold ideas

Xu Le checked Ghost Executioner's space ring several more times, but he still found no way to leave the Divine Realm.

The group began to explore the Divine Temple once more.

In the center of the main hall were an incense table, an incense burner, and a divine statue. The back hall consisted of four rooms: three large communal dorms and a tiny utility room next to them, which held miscellaneous items such as incense oil, sandalwood incense, and bedding.

They were all ordinary items.

Everyone returned to the main hall, and one person suddenly spoke up, "Could it be the incense offering? When we came in, Ghost Executioner performed the extra step of offering incense."

When Ghost Executioner was fleeing, the absolute confidence he showed in being able to escape this place was not faked.

If he hadn't been certain of leaving, he wouldn't have brought everyone here to perish together with a bunch of 'small fry.'

"No," Xu Le shook his head in refusal. "That old geezer tried to lure me into that Evil Cult, and the first point was to offer incense to this Serpent Mother. There's definitely a conspiracy involved."

"Then do you have any ideas?" Zhuang Xiaoyan's gaze shifted away from Nine Phoenix.

Xu Le pointed at the magnificent statue of the Divine Mother: "I do. Chop it down."

"Don't! You can't chop it!"

While Zhuang Xiaoyan was hesitating, the other three had already spoken up to stop him.

Xu Le said, "You don't actually think there's a secret to becoming a god hidden in here, do you? Or are you just afraid of this statue?"

Having their thoughts exposed, the few of them turned red and insisted, "Anyway... you just can't chop it."

It had to be said that all three of them were quite foolish.

If this statue could really help them become gods, would it even be their turn? If this statue were truly a god, would it just stand by and let them kill all the God Slaves and finish off Ghost Executioner?

Zhuang Xiaoyan frowned, about to offer her own persuasion.

Xu Le had already let out a sneer: "You don't think I'm asking for your opinion, do you? What exactly gives you the confidence to object?"

The greed in the three's hearts immediately vanished, leaving them like eggplants hit by frost.

Zhuang Xiaoyan also felt quite uncomfortable; the feeling of being ignored was truly unpleasant.

Xu Le activated the Divine Eye again but still didn't see anything. He suddenly struck the divine statue with his blade.

Clang!

A majestic force passed through the blade; even a block of diamond could have been split in two.

But the result was that the demon slaying blade snapped into two pieces!

The divine statue was completely unharmed.

"Again!"

Xu Le gave a loud shout and directly discarded the broken blade in his hand. Pushing off the ground with his feet, driving his waist with his legs, and his fist with his waist, he concentrated all twelve thousand-plus points of strength into a single punch.

Boom!

His fist slammed violently into the divine statue, erupting with a massive sound.

Zhuang Xiaoyan and the other four instinctively covered their ears, their hearts trembling: If this punch had landed on them, they would likely be dead even if they didn't want to be!

Xu Le also felt a massive counter-force, exactly identical to the one he had struck with.

It was as if that punch hadn't hit the divine statue, but as if he were clashing against himself.

But he didn't stop.

Again, he gathered all his strength and slammed a fist heavily into the head of the divine statue.

Then the back of the head, the nose, the seven-inch mark, and other positions. He threw nine punches in a row, yet the divine statue remained motionless.

On the glittering golden body, not even a single flake of gold paint fell off.

"Master, let me try too."

Nine Phoenix flew over, her body shaking as nine identical Clones appeared.

Now they all possessed 80% of Nine Phoenix's attributes, making them a level stronger than before.

Ten Nine Phoenixes formed a circle and activated their skill simultaneously.

Blazing Shockwave!

Ten oversized fireballs submerged the head of the divine statue. Amidst the violent explosions, flames splattered everywhere.

The terrifyingly high temperature could melt rock, and the divine statue finally began to melt, the golden liquid flowing down like water.

When the flames vanished, the golden snakes and gold paint on the divine statue's head had flowed all over the ground.

Now only a pitch-black head and blurred facial features remained.

It seemed it was still uninjured; only the gold paint on the head had been melted away.

Nine Phoenix indignantly spat out several more rounds of fireballs, but she couldn't cause any more damage.

Xu Le stepped forward and placed his hand on the head of the divine statue. The temperature was at least 2000 degrees, making it feel somewhat hot to him.

He looked toward the Water Mage nearby and told him to throw a few Water Bullets over.

"Huh? Oh, okay."

The mage didn't dare to delay and immediately threw a string of Water Bullets over.

The terrifyingly high temperature caused the Water Bullets to vaporize instantly, sending white steam rising.

"Continue!"

Following that were skills like "Water Shield," "Rainstorm Spell," and "Water Ball," which finally brought the temperature of the divine statue down.

Nine Phoenix began to breathe fire again... thermal expansion and contraction, alternating between cold and heat. After cycling through this more than ten times, the divine statue still had no reaction.

"What should we do?"

The greed in everyone's hearts cooled, and fear surfaced. The performance of this divine statue had already far exceeded their imagination.

"Brother Le, let me try offering incense once." The man whose eyes had been blinded walked over.

Xu Le remembered his name was Liu Qi.

"Why?"

Liu Qi gave a miserable smile: "I can't see with my eyes, so I'm of no use in the team. Why not let me try?"

"Besides, I feel that if this divine statue really has something special about it, it will definitely show when the incense is offered."

Xu Le: "Aren't you afraid of ending up like Huang Yongqiang?"

Huang Yongqiang had turned directly into a Serpent Slave because he saw the Serpent Mother's true form in a dream.

If Liu Qi offered incense now, wouldn't he be delivering himself right to the Serpent Mother?

Liu Qi was silent for a long moment before smiling, "We have to try. I can't let you do all the work alone."

Xu Le's mind raced, and a bold idea suddenly formed in his heart.

As long as one is bold enough, even Sadako can be put on maternity leave.

According to normal methods, it would be very difficult to destroy the divine statue.

But what if he used a different method and didn't destroy the divine statue?

Seeing Xu Le's silence, Liu Qi fished out the three sticks of incense he had found in the back hall.

Xu Le snapped out of it and snatched the sandalwood incense away, throwing it aside.

"Brother Le!"

Liu Qi was moved, and tears began to flow like an open sluice gate.

Xu Le: ...I just thought of a better way, why the hell are you crying?

Forget it, better not to dampen the young man's enthusiasm.

Xu Le organized his words and comforted him for a moment.

Beside them, Zhuang Xiaoyan's eyes were full of spirit.

She looked at Nine Phoenix again, and the light in her eyes grew even stronger.

It seemed... she could do it!

Xu Le ushered everyone away, took out Materials from his space ring, and began to set up an enlarged version of a Formation.

This was his first time setting up an enlarged Formation. Although he had set them up five times before, he was still a bit nervous this time.

Zhuang Xiaoyan and the others also craned their necks to watch.

Theoretically, those most skilled at setting up Formations were of the Spirit Array Master class. But if an ordinary person practiced, they could also learn many common Formations.

They were just a level behind in terms of setup speed and the power of the completed Formation.

"This is..."

Zhuang Xiaoyan's beautiful eyes widened. Although she didn't know how to set up Formations, she had seen some common ones and suddenly cried out.

"A Contract Array!"

The corners of Xu Le's mouth curled up.

Yes, a Contract Array!

Since he couldn't kill it, he would turn the opponent into one of his own!

He couldn't beat the Serpent Mother currently, but he should be able to handle a divine statue that the Serpent Mother had only glanced at, right?

At least so far, the divine statue hadn't shown any aggressiveness.

Even if he guessed wrong.

It was worth a clash!

For a transmigrator like him, if he ended up being a dog for an Evil God after Transmigration, wouldn't that be a waste of a Transmigration?

The Formation was complete. He infused mana, and as a brilliant white light rose, the divine statue opposite him opened its eyes for the first time.