Chapter 12: Who Is Scheming Against Whom

The air around them congealed, and a subtle smile appeared on the faces of Li Mingxing’s two bodyguards. The bodyguard who claimed to be the "Ranger King" aimed her bow at the sky and released an arrow. Although it only climbed a short distance before falling back to earth, the message had been successfully transmitted.

Following this, the power emanating from the two bodyguards rose steadily. Li Mingxing observed that their strength had jumped from the upper tier of the sixth rank to the upper tier of the seventh, with the potential for even further breakthroughs.

Li Mingxing and the trainee hero from the Light Alliance were both surprised by this development. Based on earlier remarks, the Alliance’s plan was to wait for one of these two to become a vessel for a deity, at which point they would proceed to "slay the god." Yet, even knowing this, the bodyguards dared to summon a divine possession—a move that left the Alliance members with unsettling premonitions.

The mage hesitated for the first time, watching the scene unfold and frantically recalculating his plans. In that brief moment of distraction, the bodyguards sensed his internal state. Though the mage’s trap had already been laid, they realized that killing him would be a massive blow to the enemy’s morale, especially since the Alliance had yet to discern which of the two was possessed by the Goddess of the Forest.

Under the circumstances, the mage was forced to order his summoned reinforcements into action. The gods they had consulted had made it clear: they would not intervene unless the situation reached a breaking point. That "breaking point" hinged on the outcome of Apollo’s mission. If Apollo failed, the gods would not only abandon them but likely eliminate them immediately to ensure there was no evidence of their involvement. The mage had to dispose of Li Mingxing and his group as quickly as possible, or they would be the ones to perish.

Just as the mage decided it was time to strike, the trainee hero from the Light Alliance finally made his move. The Solar Spear he had obtained from Apollo erupted with a blinding, radiant light, releasing an overwhelming aura. However, the spear was not aimed at Li Mingxing, but at one of the two bodyguards. Though Li Mingxing did not fully grasp the situation, he drew his longsword and charged toward the trainee hero, convinced that stopping him would secure his victory.

He failed to notice the flash of excitement in the trainee hero’s eyes as he charged. Once they clashed, Li Mingxing realized he had been deceived; the trainee hero’s true target had been him all along, and he had simply been better at hiding it. Moreover, Li Mingxing discovered that the trainee hero’s understanding of spear-play far eclipsed his own expertise with the sword.

This was not because the hero had reached the impossible eighth level of spear mastery, but because he already possessed a foundation in the skill, which was further bolstered by the "Sixth-Level Spear Essence" he had acquired upon entering the mythical tier. Combined with the Solar Spear, his mastery was vastly superior to Li Mingxing’s.

Li Mingxing was immediately suppressed. If not for his own agility and his occasional use of flying swords, he would likely have been run through several times over. The trainee hero, however, was dissatisfied; he had underestimated Li Mingxing’s resilience, as the latter managed to hold him off for five grueling minutes.

During those five minutes, the overall situation shifted. The Alliance had finally identified which bodyguard was the vessel for the Goddess of the Forest. However, the method to draw out the goddess's power rested in the hands of the trainee hero, who was now preoccupied with Li Mingxing. They were unable to proceed with their god-slaying plan. Forced to adjust, they sent others to assist the hero, hoping to free him to complete their scheme.

Yet, they never expected that as soon as the trainee hero broke away from Li Mingxing, the two bodyguards would smile. They both retreated a few steps and unleashed a full-scale assault on the nearby enemies.

At that moment, the trainee hero deployed the item Apollo had provided. According to Apollo, this artifact could forcibly drag a deity into a pre-prepared vessel. If successful, they could use the power of three nearby deities to trap the target, mortally wounding the possessing god and achieving a successful "god-slaying."

The mage and the hero had spent a long time preparing for this, even learning from Apollo how to counter divine possessions. But to their horror, after the item was activated, no divine aura appeared on the two bodyguards. Instead, the aura of the Goddess of the Forest erupted from Aisha, one of Li Mingxing’s subordinates.

Even Li Mingxing was stunned. He had never expected his own subordinate to become the vessel. However, with the situation already unfolding, he had no choice but to prioritize Aisha’s safety. As the enemies swarmed toward her, Li Mingxing stood before her. Suddenly, the two bodyguards pulled at him. "Do not worry," they whispered. "The Goddess has not harmed your subordinate. I can assure you that if she suffers a few injuries, it will be to your benefit later."

Li Mingxing weighed the advice. He sighed, tucking their whispers into his mind, and turned to engage the enemy, though no one noticed that he now fought primarily to protect Aisha. With Li Mingxing’s focus shifted, the Alliance members began to execute their god-slaying techniques, and Aisha began to falter under the pressure.

Seeing victory within reach, the trainee hero shouted, "You can come out and help now!"

The moment he finished, three formidable figures emerged from the location where the three divine auras had been sensed. Li Mingxing felt his strength wither just by looking at them. One was a massive Western dragon; its golden scales, shimmering with sacred light, marked it as a Divine Dragon of the dragon race.

Behind the dragon stood a man in black robes. His power was also divine, but compared to the dragon’s, it was far more volatile and violent, resembling scorching flames.

Neither of these two caused Li Mingxing much alarm, but the third figure sent a jolt of terror through him. Beyond the divine aura, this individual radiated a power Li Mingxing knew all too well: the aura of an Emperor. Clad in Eastern imperial robes, the figure was almost certainly a founding emperor of some Eastern dynasty—a man known for his unerring judgment of others.

After a single glance at Li Mingxing, the figure turned and walked away without a word, leaving the Divine Dragon and the black-robed man stunned. It was clear he had assessed the situation and determined that this was not the right time to intervene.

After the Emperor-deity departed, the others hesitated but, seeing Aisha’s divine state, decided to strike. Suddenly, the space around them was locked down once more—a containment so powerful that even the two remaining deities were caught off guard.

They looked up to see the two bodyguards smiling at them—a smile the deities found hauntingly familiar.

"The Goddess of the Forest and the Goddess of Nature?" the black-robed man exclaimed.

"Your reaction is not slow," one bodyguard said, her voice clearly that of the Forest Goddess. "But do you still think your Flames of World-Ending can burn down my entire forest, Lord of the Sacred Apocalypse?"

The two deities’ eyes lit up; they steeled themselves to eliminate the Forest Goddess at once. But the other bodyguard spoke: "Do you truly think you have the strength for that?"

The Divine Dragon roared, "Goddess of Nature, this is none of your business! Return to whence you came!"

"Return? My dear sister spent so much effort to trick you fools into revealing yourselves. Do you really think we would let you go so easily? You should have followed that man’s example and left immediately. It is too late now."

As the Goddess of Nature spoke, a giant axe was hurled from the distance, and the formidable warrior Xing Tian appeared amidst the rising dust.