Xiao Mu shook his head and said, "Sorry, I have not yet cultivated the Authority Technique of 'Opening the Gates of the Underworld,' so I cannot relieve you of its effects."

After a pause, Xiao Mu immediately asked, "After the Authority Technique of 'Opening the Gates of the Underworld' is lifted from you, will you serve the human world?"

"This..."

Yu Wen'en fell into hesitation, his expression struggling, seemingly unsure how to answer Xiao Mu's question.

Xiao Mu observed Yu Wen'en's expression and silently sighed.

This man had been too severely injured by Tai Cang City God, losing his courage after the injuries and no longer daring to face the powerful beings from beyond the heavens.

Thinking it over, he said, "Even if you do not serve the human world, as we are both from the same lineage, as long as you do not cause trouble for the human world, once I have cultivated the Authority Technique of 'Opening the Gates of the Underworld,' I can still relieve you from the influence exerted on you by Tai Cang City God."

Yu Wen'en was pleased, then showed a guilty expression, "Thank you, friend Xiao; your generosity makes me feel deeply ashamed. As for the matter of continuing to serve the human world, please allow me some time to think it over before I respond."

"Never mind, you can take your time to consider," Xiao Mu said.

Xiao Mu did not pressure Yu Wen'en. Instead, he made another promise, "Regardless of whether you decide to continue to serve the human world, as long as you do not cause trouble, once I have cultivated 'Opening the Gates of the Underworld,' I will relieve you of the influence."

"But I still hope you will continue to serve the human world. Though the beings from beyond the heavens are powerful, our human world is not weak. Tai Cang City God is strong because his authority is intact, and his divine treasures are complete. Otherwise, his own strength is not very extraordinary."

"If you join the Alliance and rely on it to improve your strength, there might come a day when you can surpass Tai Cang City God."

Yu Wen'en fell silent again. He did not refute Xiao Mu's words, but he did not immediately believe them.

Xiao Mu said no more, and after bidding farewell to Yu Wen'en, he left the temple.

After leaving the temple, Xiao Mu pondered for a moment and decided not to concern himself with Yu Wen'en's affairs anymore. He began exploring Canghua Mountain.

Canghua Mountain was vast, and the divine traces were concealed. Despite a thorough exploration, Xiao Mu did not find the place where Tai Cang City God had cast his spells.

In the end, Xiao Mu decided to completely hand over the task of locating where Tai Cang City God had cast his spells to Yu Jiasheng, instructing Yu Jiasheng to send people to excavate Canghua Mountain. Xiao Mu himself then began to stay at Canghua Mountain, cultivating, providing protection for the Village Protection Team searching for Tai Cang City God's spell casting location, and incidentally keeping an eye on Yu Wen'en.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mu also deployed his Divine Sense daily, monitoring any movements of divine figures in the temple accessed through the stone slab, and probing for information.

During this time, he specifically found an opportunity to assign a task to Li Gujian, giving him the Earth God Rank.

With the Earth God Rank given out, and after its assimilation by Li Gujian, Xiao Mu's "The King's Enthronement Technique" once again received an enhancement.

The renewal of "The King's Enthronement Technique" resulted in an increase in the white Power at the legs of the human-shaped illusion within the Seal of the Heavenly Emperor, showing a tendency to gradually solidify and even spread towards the hands.

The transformation of the human-shaped illusion made Xiao Mu realize that this enhancement was probably divided into three stages: the limbs of the human portrait solidifying from illusion to reality, the torso solidifying from illusion to reality, and the head solidifying from illusion to reality.

Currently, the human-shaped illusion that had completely solidified itself should be capable of using the Heavenly Emperor's Authority to strip divine weapons from the hands of Divine Sovereigns of realms not higher than his own, such as the Eight-Sided Hammer, Golden Melon Hammer, and Silver Mace.

Once the limbs are completely solidified, he would be capable of stripping Divine Treasures from the hands of Divine Sovereigns of realms not higher than his own, including the Book of Life and Death, and the Judge Pen.

The torso becoming substantial would enable him to strip official robes from Divine Sovereigns of realms not higher than his own.

If the head becomes substantial, he could strip the ranks from the Divine Sovereigns of realms not higher than his own.

The enhancement of "The King's Enthronement Technique" made Xiao Mu feel exhilarated. Each use of the Creation Axe reduced its Power, which by now had decreased by at least one-third or even more.

If he continued to use it this way, eventually, the Power within the Creation Axe would be completely depleted by him, causing him to completely lose this treasure.

Before losing this treasure, Xiao Mu must rely on his own ability to possess the power to deprive others of their Divine Weapons, Divine Treasures, official robes, and rank.

Compared to borrowing external forces, this power of his own is eternal.

"When I send out the City God's rank and the Divine Treasures in my hands, the limbs of the humanoid illusion should be able to solidify, and then I will gain the ability to deprive other Divine Spirits of their treasures, at which point I can pursue improvements in other areas."

"My Realm cannot be neglected either, this is key, as it directly determines whose Divine Weapons, Divine Treasures, and Divine Rank I can deprive."

"I should hurry and elevate my strength to the Peak of the Divine Spirit Realm."

With the plan set, Xiao Mu consumed Energy Fruits, continuing to enhance his Realm.

But although he already possessed all the Energy Fruits necessary to reach the Peak of the Divine Spirit Realm, digesting Energy Fruits also required time, and with the assistance of Creation Power, Xiao Mu knew it would take several months before he could achieve another upgrade.

In the meantime, Yu Jiasheng led the Village Protection Team, still searching daily in Canghua Mountain for the location where Qing Jie Thunder God deployed his arts, searching for the rebirth site of the Undying Divine Sovereign.

The Village Protection Team faced several attacks. These weren't major issues, as Xiao Mu covertly stopped them each time.

For this, he again obtained some Divine Treasures, Divine Weapons, Divine Ranks, and Energy Points, hence Xiao Mu's Energy Points reached as many as seventy-two.

Unfortunately, he couldn't kill any powerful beings; all newly acquired Divine Ranks were of the Yin God level.

Zheng Yunlei contacted Xiao Mu, bringing him "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld" Authority Technique, and used this Authority Technique to exchange with Xiao Mu for surplus Divine Weapons, Divine Treasures, and Divine Ranks.

This transaction actually resulted in a loss for Xiao Mu, paying more than the value of "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld," yet Xiao Mu wasn't concerned, considering the loss as support for the Alliance.

Having acquired "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld" Authority Technique, he performed a Variant on it, and the result of this second Authority Technique's Variant was linked to the first, eventually leading to Xiao Mu's variant of this Authority Technique consuming doubled Energy Points compared to the first, costing him twenty Energy Points to successfully Variant "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld."

Xiao Mu's Energy Points dropped to 52.

Having successfully Variant "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld" Authority Technique, an elated Xiao Mu immediately began experimenting with this Secret Art.

Holding the Judge Pen, he sat on a stone in Canghua Mountain, facing a valley.

The City God image appeared above Xiao Mu, Golden Light scattered, the aura of life and death spreading out, and inside Xiao Mu and the City God image, seven light spots related to Authority simultaneously lit up. Golden Light rapidly connected these seven light spots, linking every two light spots together.

Authority Power passed through Xiao Mu's right hand, directly into the Judge Pen.

Xiao Mu pointed the pen forward.

Wailing!

A blood-curdling cry rose from the ground, accompanied by a cracking sound, the Earth trembled, and a wave of deathly Black Gas suddenly surged from the ground, following which the Earth split open, revealing an immeasurably dark, deep, cold, utterly filled with death Black Hole.

Wailing!

Black Gas emitted from the Black Hole, as if it could suck everything into it, nearby light twisted, even the terrain became distorted, nearby creatures cried out, scattering toward far places.

"This is 'Opening of the Gates of the Underworld'; once opened, it can directly send people into the Netherworld."

"The so-called Netherworld is not the Land God Mansion, but refers to Yama Palace, the Underworld. It is the domain controlled by the Officials, deciding the Yin Souls' future fates, whether they are sent to reincarnation, City of the Unjustly Dead, or suffer retribution and enter Hell."

While experimenting "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld" Authority Technique, Xiao Mu also discovered that his variant of "Opening of the Gates of the Underworld" was slightly different, similar to the "One-stroke life and death" Secret Art, besides deploying its power, it also possessed strong offensive abilities.

A single stroke seemed to unleash the power of a Divine Treasure along with the Authority, the brilliant Golden Light almost invincible.

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