Chapter 306: The Storm Descends!

Since Anna’s successful advancement to the position of Warden of Impermanence and her acceptance of the Yama Authority, the spread and development of the underworld’s faith had grown wings, entering an unprecedented period of rapid expansion.

This newly promoted Fifth Hall Yama King, despite her petite and adorable loli appearance, acted with decisiveness and thunderous efficiency, exuding a presence and authority that completely belied her looks.

Stationed at the underworld temple in Macdon City, she used the Yama Seal as her core to swiftly construct a rudimentary Yinsi system.

Through divine statues and dreams, she issued divine decrees to her devout believers and recruited souls with potential after death, granting them the chance to enter the underworld sequence and ascend to Sequence Nine: Wandering Soul.

Anna also used the power of the Yama Authority and gathered faith to successfully carve out a small underworld realm within Macdon City for the souls to rest and recuperate.

Though the size of this Yinsi was limited, covering only Macdon City, the changes it brought were monumental.

The appearance of divine decrees and miracles greatly elevated the status and influence of the underworld among mortals.

Where once death was shrouded in mystery and fear, the underworld now painted a relatively clear and orderly afterlife.

Though this was merely the beginning—limited to low-sequence transcendents—the speed at which the underworld was growing meant that establishing an underworld to receive the departed in the Mysteria Version was only a matter of time.

Almost daily, Lu Yan could clearly feel the vast influx of pure faith flowing in like countless streams from every corner of the world, endlessly merging into the foundation of Fengdu Underworld.

These streams of belief not only nourished the fledgling netherworld realm of Fengdu but also subtly strengthened the order and laws of the Celestial Court Underworld system through the people’s acceptance.

As the Fengdu Emperor, Lu Yan was naturally the greatest beneficiary of this returned faith.

Thanks to the massive feedback generated from six thousand Yin Soldiers advancing to Wardens of Impermanence, his cultivation had skyrocketed to the Mid Nascent Soul stage in a very short time—his foundation solid, his magic power refined, without the slightest instability.

Such cultivation speed, if known in the cultivation world, would leave even the most reclusive geniuses dumbfounded and filled with shame.

Yet Lu Yan was not entirely satisfied.

He was fully aware that this was merely the dividend from solidifying the Celestial Court Underworld. Though those six thousand had successfully merged into the underworld sequence and become its core strength, the Sequence Six rank of Warden of Impermanence had also become their ceiling.

To help them reach the next stage and bring more rule feedback to the underworld, thus pushing Lu Yan to new cultivation heights, a higher rank above Warden of Impermanence had to be created.

But time was the true problem—Lu Yan had very little left in the Mysteria Version.

With such a short window, the chance of Anna, a newly advanced Warden of Impermanence, breaking through again was slim to none.

Thus, Lu Yan could only set aside that idea for now, placing his hope in the future.

He believed that with Anna’s potential and the current momentum of the underworld’s faith, given enough time, she would certainly comprehend the path of advancement herself, perhaps even forge a new underworld sequence better suited to this world.

Time flowed silently amid this seemingly calm yet turbulent interlude.

On the surface, the Seven Divine Churches had gone completely quiet since that Yellow Springs Banquet. They made no public moves to hinder the underworld’s expansion.

It was as if the erased Storm Angel King and that sword of Everworld Severance had thoroughly cowed them.

The six royal families of the kingdoms, having witnessed the immense benefits Queen Elizabeth of Victoria gained from cooperating with the underworld—and the terrifying strength the underworld displayed—also chose to turn a blind eye, not daring to meddle in the underworld’s growing struggle with the Seven Divine Churches.

The tide of the guilds continued sweeping through mortal society, and the underworld’s faith was becoming deeply rooted in people’s hearts.

Everything seemed calm. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

It was as if the darkness before dawn had finally been dispersed, and an era of light and order was about to begin.

In the quiet chamber of the royal palace in Victoria’s capital, Orank, Lu Yan sat cross-legged, his consciousness immersed in the fine control of his power and in sensing the laws of the world outside.

Before him, a semi-transparent panel only he could see floated silently, displaying rows of clear data.

[Version Update Progress: 99%]

According to the countdown on the panel, the new version would arrive in less than a day.

Lu Yan shifted his gaze from the panel, silently calculating in his heart.

Based on the intelligence he’d gathered and carefully analyzed, the Seven True Gods were currently awakening. The point at which they would be able to project most of their power into the present world should be about seven days from now.

As long as the version update proceeded smoothly, he would be able to avoid the sharp edges of these seven beings known as this world’s only ones.

Yet, for some reason, a vague and inexplicable sense of unease had quietly settled over his heart, like a shadow.

It wasn’t a specific danger premonition, but more a gut-level warning—a feeling that something crucial had been overlooked.

Lu Yan furrowed his brow and tried to pinpoint the source of this unease. But his divine sense swept in all directions and found nothing unusual.

Everything was quiet inside and outside the palace. The night sky above Orank was as it had always been, except for the cluster of stars outlining the immense and hazy corpse of the Old One still lingering in the heavens.

This strange celestial phenomenon had persisted since the Stellar Realignment more than twenty days ago, and the people had grown accustomed to it.

Yet tonight, certain sensitive transcendents faintly sensed that the celestial sign looked slightly… different.

“What… is that?” A startled cry shattered the silence of an observatory.

Around the outline of the Old One’s corpse, formed by countless stars, a new spectacle was forming—an endless convergence of starlight outlining seven colossal humanoid figures standing tall in the heavens.

Their forms were blurry and indistinct but exuded a terrifying divine pressure that struck the soul. Like eternal gods of ages past, they quietly surrounded the corpse of the Old One in various postures.

One bowed his head in contemplation.

Another raised a cup to the moon.

A third tilted an ear to listen.

They sat as if gathered around an invisible banquet table, waiting for the feast of the ages to begin.

At that very moment, deep within the majestic Steam Cathedral in Orank—the domain of the God of Steam and Machinery—a secret divine temple erupted in fervent, solemn energy.

Thousands of robed believers raised intricate brass clocks in their hands, singing ancient, sacred hymns.

Their voices surged like a river, filled with fervent belief and devotion.

BOOM!

Suddenly, a blinding holy light burst forth from the hidden temple.

This divine light, infused with centuries of accumulated faith, tore through the cathedral’s multiple protective barriers and the heavy earth above. Like a divine sword piercing the dark, it soared into the sky, resonating with one of the seven towering silhouettes above.

Bathed in the holy radiance, that silhouette began to crystallize.

Its once-blurred features now bore a metallic sheen and the hazy aura of steam. The swirling stars surrounding it spun and reassembled into a massive emblem.

A giant hammer, formed from countless interlocking gears—the sacred insignia of the Church of Steam and Machinery.

“Not good!”

Within the quiet chamber, Lu Yan shot to his feet the moment that divine light soared skyward, stunned by the sudden celestial upheaval.

The unease in his heart surged to a peak.

Without hesitation, his figure flickered and reappeared atop the highest spire of the royal palace, his gaze locked onto the anomalies in the sky.

To his dismay, the upheaval wasn’t isolated to the Steam Cathedral.

Far beyond the borders of the Victoria Kingdom, the other six kingdoms each erupted with equally brilliant beams of holy light.

The blazing light of the Eternal Sun Church, the endless shadow of the Night Goddess Church, the arcane glow of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the fertile yellow hue of the Earth Mother, the bloodthirsty crimson war aura of the God of War…

One by one, the emblems of the Seven Divine Churches lit up like stars, illuminating the night sky as if it were day.

Only after the six emblems were fully manifested did the seventh beam of divine light descend—late, but apocalyptic in its power.

Thunderclouds surged from the void. Lightning and hurricanes screamed through the sky. The final emblem—a hideous mark forged of storm and thunder—was the insignia of the God of Storms.

Seven divine emblems. Seven colossal avatars.

It was then that Lu Yan was struck by a bolt of realization.

“Devout believers…” he muttered, his face darkening.

More than twenty days ago, during the initial Stellar Realignment, he had ordered Elizabeth to monitor the movements of the Seven Divine Churches closely.

The reports had revealed that each church was gathering thousands of its most devout followers.

Back then, Lu Yan assumed they were preparing some large-scale ritual to assist in manifesting the Old One’s corpse through faith-fueled celestial phenomena.

A logical conclusion, since an event of such scale would demand immense belief as a foundation.

So, having confirmed this, he dismissed it from his mind. Even during subsequent monitoring efforts, he overlooked the believers who had vanished from public view after completing their “mission.”

But with tonight’s terrifying revelation, Lu Yan understood the fatal mistake he’d made.

These believers were not causes of the celestial phenomenon.

They were coordinates—anchors.

Each one, brimming with the purest, most fervent faith, served as a precise beacon. They constructed stable bridges of belief to draw the Seven True Gods from their slumber ahead of schedule.

Thousands of believers, acting as bells before the feast, ringing clearly and inviting the ancient gods sleeping deep within the river of time to awaken… and partake in the Feast of the Old One.

“Why did Elizabeth and I both overlook them so easily?”

Lu Yan’s eyes narrowed into slits as a terrifying sharpness burst from his gaze, locking instantly onto the still-glowing Steam Cathedral.

His divine sense surged, tracing the stream of holy light and piercing the cathedral’s deepest sanctums—through the gates of bronze, silver, and gold—and finally arriving at the hidden temple filled with believers.

The sacred hymn echoed. The faith was so dense it was nearly tangible.

Upon the throne formed of gears and steam pipes sat the Angel King of Steam.

Sensing Lu Yan’s intrusion, the angel slowly turned his head. His ever-gentle smile now carried a touch of mocking amusement.

Below the throne, the believers remained lost in fevered prayer. Their brass clocks blazed, pouring their worship directly into the holy beam of light.

“I see now…” Lu Yan muttered, eyes glinting coldly. “These hidden temples blocked outside perception… and the Goddess of Night used her authority over secrets to obscure them even further.”

It all became clear.

His past victories over the Seven Divine Churches had been too easy—almost effortless.

Unwittingly, he’d grown complacent.

But ever since the Stellar Realignment, the enemy had been preparing for this moment.

And in the final hours before the version update… they had launched a masterstroke.

As Lu Yan’s thoughts raced, the sky changed once again.

With the seven divine emblems fully lit, the Seven Gods’ positions in the stars stabilized.

But in the next instant—chaos erupted.

An apocalyptic storm of thunder and lightning exploded from the emblem of the God of Storms.

The tempest was overwhelming. Boundless lightning and howling winds tore across the heavens, threatening to annihilate the world itself.

The stars vanished. The corpse of the Old One disappeared. Even the newly formed silhouettes of the other gods were engulfed in the wrath of the storm.

And then, at the storm’s heart… a face appeared.

Forged entirely of pure elemental wind and lightning, vast beyond imagination.

No features—only two abyssal eyes and a mouth brimming with destructive thunder.

Its mere existence exuded a divine might capable of crushing the world.

One of the Seven True Gods, the ruler of catastrophe and thunder…

The Storm God had descended!
(End of Chapter)