Chapter 345

Chapter 345: All Beings Can Become Gods!

It’s not that he didn’t want to keep a low profile, but the situation no longer allowed for it.

　　First of all, the Five Great Temples would absolutely not tolerate him developing like this. After all, the world’s interests had already been divided up — if another god suddenly appeared, how would they split things?

　　Therefore, Ye Tianming saw it clearly: going forward, the Five Great Temples would definitely come after him with everything they had.

　　Beyond that, he himself understood that once the Five Great Temples targeted him, his identity probably wouldn’t hold up for long.

　　Once his identity was exposed, he would become the enemy of the entire universe.

　　So rather than being endlessly on the back foot, it was better to take the initiative himself.

　　And as luck would have it, the people of Mohe Divine Prison were all rebels themselves.

　　You could say they hit it off immediately.

　　But not far away, the Prison Lord’s expression darkened. He sensed a feeling of crisis.

　　A threat to his position!

　　After all, he was the one in charge here!

　　Ye Tianming glanced at the Prison Lord nearby. “Follow me.”

　　Then he looked over at the white-haired woman in the distance. “You too.”

　　Along the way, he had noticed that the people around them showed a genuine, heartfelt respect for this white-haired woman — one that even surpassed what they showed the Prison Lord.

　　The white-haired woman didn’t know what Ye Tianming wanted with her, but she followed anyway.

　　Because when Ye Tianming had called out “what gives the gods the right to stand above all others,” it had given her a certain special impression of him.

　　Soon, Ye Tianming led the two of them into a great hall.

　　The hall was oppressively dark, gloomy and eerie, like something out of hell.

　　Ye Tianming really didn’t like this kind of atmosphere.

　　Ye Tianming suddenly turned to face the Prison Lord. “Do you think I’m here to take your power?”

　　The Prison Lord was momentarily stunned — he hadn’t expected Ye Tianming to be so blunt.

　　He stared at Ye Tianming, at a loss for words.

　　Ye Tianming smiled. “Such a mortal way of thinking.”

　　The smile made no effort to hide his contempt.

　　It wasn’t that Ye Tianming enjoyed acting this way — he simply had no choice. Gods were supposed to be lofty and above all others. If he came across as too humble and agreeable, it might actually raise suspicion.

　　Hearing Ye Tianming’s words, the Prison Lord’s expression immediately turned extremely ugly. “What are you trying to say?”

　　Ye Tianming glanced at the Prison Lord. “Your thinking is probably to find a quiet corner to settle into and take things one day at a time. Am I right?”

　　The Prison Lord said nothing.

　　The white-haired woman glanced at the Prison Lord but didn’t speak.

　　Ye Tianming continued, “Of course, I can understand your thinking. Moha the elder brother has been sealed and suppressed — he can’t break free. Without a true god, what does Mohe Divine Prison have to stand against the Five Great Temples?”

　　The Prison Lord was inwardly shaken. “You…….”

　　Ye Tianming went on, “Your thinking isn’t wrong — without a true god, Mohe Divine Prison cannot stand against the Five Great Temples. But what you haven’t considered is whether the Five Great Temples can truly tolerate Mohe Divine Prison’s existence. Sure, they haven’t made a move yet, but if Moha the younger brother were to break his seal, do you think the Five Great Temples would allow that?”

　　The Prison Lord fell silent.

　　Ye Tianming continued, “Hiding away in a corner is just a slow path to death. Rather than waiting to be destroyed, it’s better to strike first…….”

　　The white-haired woman suddenly nodded. “Exactly.”

　　The Prison Lord glanced at the white-haired woman and frowned. “But the Five Great Temples…….”

　　Ye Tianming said, “The Five Great Temples are nothing to fear!”

　　The corner of the Prison Lord’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t dare argue back.

　　Ye Tianming looked at the Prison Lord. “Have you ever thought about surrendering?”

　　The Prison Lord was first taken aback, then shook his head repeatedly. “No…….”

　　He had genuinely never considered it. Rebels who surrendered never came to a good end.

　　Ye Tianming nodded. “Good. Between us and the gods, what is this? It’s a class struggle. We must never harbor any illusions about our class enemies. Understood?”

　　The Prison Lord hesitated and was about to speak when the white-haired woman beside him suddenly said, “Well said!”

　　She looked at Ye Tianming with burning intensity.

　　The Prison Lord: “…….”

　　Ye Tianming glanced at the white-haired woman, then continued, “To stand against the gods, relying on our own strength alone is impossible. So we must unite our friends.”

　　The Prison Lord looked puzzled. “Friends? Where are we supposed to find friends?”

　　Ye Tianming looked at the Prison Lord and said nothing.

　　The Prison Lord felt a little stung, because Ye Tianming’s gaze was exactly like someone looking at a fool.

　　Beside him, the white-haired woman suddenly said, “The people out there.”

　　Ye Tianming smiled. “Exactly. But we have to be clear about which of those people out there are our friends and which are our enemies.”

　　The Prison Lord said gravely, “How do we tell them apart?”

　　Ye Tianming said slowly, “I divide them into three tiers. The first tier consists of the top-level god-affiliated clans. These clans cling to the various temples, and their survival and growth depend entirely on the divine temples. People like that can never be our friends.”

　　He paused, then continued, “The second tier: the clans beneath those top god-affiliated families. These clans are more conflicted — not only do they fail to gain much benefit, they’re also oppressed by those top-tier clans. They want to change their situation and get a bigger slice of the pie, but they’re afraid of dying, and they’re also afraid of those below them rising up to threaten their interests.”

　　The white-robed woman suddenly asked, “And the third tier?”

　　Ye Tianming said, “The third tier is made up of the more ordinary wandering cultivators. They have no powerful clans behind them and no substantial resources. They can only scrape by doing things on their own. They don’t live well, but they’re not quite starving either. They curse those above them, they curse everything, because they see no future for themselves…….”

　　The white-robed woman said, “These people are our friends.”

　　Ye Tianming looked at the white-robed woman and smiled. “Why?”

　　The white-robed woman said, “First, there are a lot of them. Second, they see no future for themselves.”

　　But Ye Tianming shook his head. “They’re not our friends yet either, because even though they’re relatively low on the ladder, they can still get by on their own. And the clans and temples above them are far too powerful. So even if they have some grievances, they can still endure.”

　　The white-robed woman was puzzled.

　　Beside her, the Prison Lord said with a sarcastic edge, “So then there are no friends at all — just enemies everywhere.”

　　Ye Tianming said quietly, “There’s another group of people. They’re buried under mountains of debt, bent under the weight like oxen. They are among the most wretched of all living beings — the most severely oppressed. They have no backing, no resources. Others at least have some path forward, but these people have absolutely no way out…….”

　　The Prison Lord was somewhat skeptical. “Are there really people living that miserably in this world?”

　　The white-haired woman also looked puzzled.

　　Ye Tianming said, “There are. They are the beings of the divine residences.”

　　The beings of the divine residences!

　　Both the Prison Lord and the white-haired woman were taken aback.

　　The Prison Lord immediately said, “No, no — the beings inside the divine residences are treated worse than livestock. There’s no future in uniting with them…….”

　　Ye Tianming looked at the Prison Lord. “Are you a god, or am I?”

　　The corner of the Prison Lord’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t dare flare up. He could only mutter, “Aren’t we just discussing this?”

　　Ye Tianming said, “The beings within the divine residences have been oppressed their entire lives. The living beings of this universe at least have some path forward, but those inside the divine residences have no way out at all. They are imprisoned for life, endlessly forced to contribute to the gods here…….. They are just like us — they desperately need allies, and our enemies are the same: the gods.”

　　The Prison Lord couldn’t help but say, “But they’re too weak.”

　　Ye Tianming said, “A single spark can start a prairie fire.”

　　The Prison Lord thought to himself, “Start what fire — even I could slap an entire crowd of those beings to death with one hand.”

　　”They’re not weak!”

　　At that moment, the white-haired woman beside him suddenly spoke. “Guanxuan Sword Master.”

　　The Prison Lord’s brow furrowed.

　　There had once been someone who suddenly broke out from within a divine residence, wiped out a god-affiliated clan, and even carved a path right at the entrance of that divine residence.

　　That event was known to everyone across the entire divine universe.

　　The white-haired woman added, “The people below are not weak.”

　　The Prison Lord said gravely, “In all these years, there’s only been that one Guanxuan Sword Master.”

　　Ye Tianming looked at the Prison Lord, and the Prison Lord quickly said, “I’m not trying to argue — we have to be realistic.”

　　Ye Tianming said, “Where does the power of the gods come from?”

　　The Prison Lord said, “Incense offerings.”

　　Ye Tianming asked again, “And where do the incense offerings come from?”

　　The Prison Lord was stunned.

　　Ye Tianming said quietly, “If we can unite the beings within the divine residences, then we will have a chance to overturn the gods — and overturn them from the very root.”

　　The white-robed woman’s eyes instantly blazed with intensity. “Yes! Yes!”

　　The Prison Lord: “…….”

　　Ye Tianming glanced at the excited white-robed woman, then said, “Why has Mohe Prison been beaten into a desperate retreat by the Five Great Temples all these years? It’s because Mohe Divine Prison has always been fighting alone, never uniting its friends. So if Mohe Divine Prison wants a future, it must go and unite its friends — and we’ll start with the divine residence universe.”

　　The Prison Lord said gravely, “The divine residence universe of the Guanxuan Universe?”

　　Ye Tianming nodded.

　　The Prison Lord hesitated, then said, “But I still feel the odds aren’t great. The Five Great Temples have five true gods…….. plus all those god-affiliated clans that follow them. We…….”

　　Ye Tianming looked at the Prison Lord. “This battle is one that Mohe Divine Prison will have to fight eventually. After all, everyone in Mohe Divine Prison is a blasphemer, aren’t they?”

　　The Prison Lord let out a quiet sigh.

　　Ye Tianming said, “I’ll handle contact with the divine residence universe side. As for your side…….”

　　He glanced at the white-robed woman and the Prison Lord.

　　Of the two, the harder one to deal with was the Prison Lord.

　　The white-robed woman’s desire to rebel was practically written all over her face.

　　The Prison Lord was cunning and seasoned, full of hesitation.

　　Ye Tianming looked at the Prison Lord. “Don’t you want to go further — to prove your way and become a god?”

　　With those words, the Prison Lord’s eyes instantly blazed with intensity. “I…… could that really be possible for me?”

　　Ye Tianming nodded. “No one is born a god.”

　　The white-haired woman said, “We need a slogan.”

　　Ye Tianming said quietly, “Our slogan is……. All beings can become gods!”