You want me to take out a loan to practice cultivation? I'll just pay off the debt physically.

When the Star Demon God's majestic divine body, formed from the essence of billions of stars, fully descended onto the battlefield, the entire universe seemed to tremble.

The dazzling starlight was no longer just an embellishment, but transformed into a surging torrent, erupting in deafening cheers and songs of praise.

The countless stars seemed to come alive, slowly revolving around His divine body, casting down billions of rays of starlight imbued with boundless power.

That wasn't a deliberately emitted pressure, but rather the most instinctive submission and worship of the cosmic rules to a newly ascended star ruler.

This vast, ancient, and pure power of stellar rules slammed heavily into the hearts of the already crumbling gods of the Heavenly Pantheon.

【It’s over! 】

This desperate thought spread like a plague instantly through the consciousness of all the true gods in Heaven.

[Ye Lingtian alone was like an invincible spear of slaughter, suppressing the Heavenly God System to the point of being unable to raise its head.]

Together with the surrounding Red Heart Society gods, they shattered their proud Heavenly Sanctuary, causing their divine kingdom to collapse and true gods to fall one after another.

Under these circumstances, they were forced to consider retreating, and even contemplated surrendering in order to survive.

Now, with the addition of a terrifying being whose aura is even more ancient and profound than Ye Lingtian's, seemingly an incarnation of a star itself, how can this battle be fought?

Continuing to resist is simply a one-way ticket to eternal annihilation!

Stop hitting them!

[Vote now!!]

This thought, which had been torn between dignity and survival, was finally crushed by the raw will to survive.

The Lord of Radiance, the nominal ruler of the Heavenly Pantheon, felt the Star Demon God's stellar majesty that nearly froze his divine essence, and his last shred of hope vanished.

Surrender, and perhaps there's still a glimmer of hope.

[Resistance will only lead to certain death, and the kind that results in the complete annihilation of the pantheon, a fate beyond redemption!]

Although He truly didn't understand why these new gods had suddenly set their sights on Him and the pantheon of gods, what was the reason?

[Even though I had never had any connection with these new gods before.]

But all of that is insignificant in the face of life and death.

If I survive, I will naturally learn the details in the future.

If we can't survive, then it's all over.

Upon realizing this, the Lord of Radiance immediately began to transmit his voice to Ye Lingtian.

[The Great Lord of Slaughter!]

I, the Lord of Glory, on behalf of all the true gods of the Heavenly Pantheon, unconditionally surrender to you!

From this moment forward, the twenty-seven true gods of the Heavenly Pantheon will follow your lead!

Your will is the direction in which we move forward!

Where your sword points, that is the battlefield where we will die!

Our divine fire will never be extinguished; this vow is eternal!

The content of this message instantly stirred complex ripples among the gods of the Red Heart Society.

A barely perceptible flicker of emotion flashed in Ye Lingtian's cold, murderous eyes.

Meanwhile, Agrus, Wang Meng, Lin Xue, the old principal, and other core True Gods of the Red Heart Society couldn't help but exchange glances, their divine thoughts filled with absurd clicking sounds.

[The Heavenly Pantheon, the enemy that, in multiple past timelines, scorned the Red Heart Society, regarding it as insignificant heretics, and even repeatedly acted as the mastermind behind its collapse, directly or indirectly causing its downfall.]

[Now they're actually surrendering to them?]

【really! 】

To get someone to speak properly, or even listen to you properly, you need to possess considerable power.

If ideas can't change someone's mind, then fists and feet certainly can!

That proud pantheon, which prided itself on being the embodiment of order and the messengers of light, is now, under absolute military crushing force, so humbly and eagerly groveling in surrender to the heretics they once despised.

Driven by the deepest, most primal, and most basic desire for revenge, they wished they could immediately wield divine weapons to completely erase these former enemies from this universe, using the fall of heaven to commemorate their comrades who had sacrificed themselves in past timelines!

However, as high-ranking members of the Red Heart Society who had endured countless battles and bore the heavy responsibility of preserving civilization, reason, like a cold steel cable, instantly restrained the surging flames of revenge.

Their considerations now go far beyond just their own immediate gains and losses.

The Lord of Glory is right. Although the Heavenly Pantheon has suffered heavy losses, it is still a force to be reckoned with, possessing nearly twenty true gods.

This force cannot be ignored!

Moreover, as one of the oldest and most influential pantheons in the spirit world, the Heavenly Pantheon possesses immeasurable divine resources, lost knowledge manuals, and comprehensive intelligence on the abilities of the true gods of other pantheons.

If we can truly subdue them and use them for our own purposes, whether in the upcoming Three Realms War or as leverage to influence other pantheons, they possess unimaginable strategic value.

This value far surpasses the fleeting pleasure of revenge.

However, such a significant strategic decision was beyond the authority of all of them.

[Without the slightest delay, detailed intelligence regarding the collective surrender of the Heavenly Pantheon and the oath of the Lord of Radiance were delivered to you via high-priority encrypted transmission from the gods of the Red Heart Society.] [At this very moment, you are observing the astonishing changes in the Ultimate Path Rules Universe after it has devoured a massive amount of spiritual essence.]

This information caused your eyes to flicker slightly, and the star map and data stream were reflected in your deep pupils.

In the next moment, you made your decision.

[We accept your surrender!]

Under the banner of the Red Heart Society, our doors will always be open to our friends.

When friends arrive, we naturally welcome them with the finest wines and spirits!

However, the word "friend" must be bound by the strongest shackles in the face of the cruel laws of survival in the universe.

Your thoughts, like cold chains of law, instantly traveled back to the front lines.

[Preliminary landing!]

However, all true gods in the Heavenly Pantheon are now under the absolute control of the Red Heart Society.

[Within a specified period, its core divine essence and primordial divine fire must be branded by the Red Heart Society.]

Meanwhile, an urgent order was sent directly to the core of the Red Heart Research Institute.

[Activate the Godbinding Project with the highest priority!]

Based on the energy analysis map of divine military forces and the control model of faith runes, combined with samples of true gods from the Heavenly Pantheon, we must develop a high-dimensional contract imprint system capable of real-time monitoring and efficient control of true god-level units within the shortest possible timeframe.

[Requirements: Irreversible, instantaneous effect, annihilation triggered at the thought level!]

[Within the research institute, the massive amount of research data on true gods that had been stored up beforehand was instantly activated, and countless AIs and researchers entered a state of overload operation.]

[Thanks to our previous in-depth analysis of the nature of divine power and the network of faith, as well as the live samples that the future Heavenly pantheon will actively provide, the research institute is confident that it can develop a mature solution in a relatively short period of time.]

But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst!

Before the mature branding system of the God-Binding Project is available, the most primitive yet reliable means must be used to bind these newly surrendered allies with an inescapable leash.

Regarding Ye Lingtian's conditions, the Heavenly God System had nothing to say.

[If you've already surrendered, what's the point of having any self-respect?]

[The fact that the other party did not directly ask them to abandon their divine kingdom and integrate them entirely into its own divine kingdom, becoming servants of God, is already an unparalleled honor.]

What else do you want?

[The other party just wants to leave their mark on the divine essence and divine fire; isn't that basic stuff?]

[If we don't impose some restrictions, are we just waiting for them to rebel in the future?]

[And the Lord of Radiance, as the spiritual symbol and power nexus of the Heavenly pantheon, naturally receives the highest level of care.]

Ye Lingtian took a step forward, and the rules of slaughter condensed at his fingertips into a dark red rune, refined to its extreme and radiating an aura of annihilation.

Then, under the complex gaze of the Lord of Radiance, Ye Lingtian's finger, imbued with supreme killing intent, struck the Lord of Radiance's pulsating divine core and burning divine fire essence with precision and ruthlessness, like a red-hot branding iron.

The intense rejection and agonizing screams triggered by the branding process caused the observing gods of Heaven to sigh softly.

From this moment on, the life and death of the Lord of Glory rested entirely on Ye Lingtian's decision.

If its divine essence and divine fire show even the slightest abnormality, what awaits it is utter and complete annihilation from within, according to the rules.

The remaining twenty-six true gods of Heaven were imprinted by others.

[Aglius's War God Mark, burning with undying fighting spirit; Wang Meng's Destruction Fist Imprint, condensing the ultimate martial arts essence; Lin Xue's logical chains, weaving a torrent of information; the old principal's primordial runes, containing the power of chaos.]

The unique divine imprints of the gods of the Red Heart Society are each branded onto the core nodes of their divine fire or divine essence.

[This is not because Ye Lingtian lacks the ability to control all the true gods of Heaven simultaneously; with his current mastery of the rules of slaughter, doubling that number would not be difficult.]

The key lies in his awareness of his own inherent uncertainty and his consideration of the impermanence of himself.

He is the embodiment of slaughter, an eternal storm on the battlefield.

As long as the war between the gods continues and the killing never ceases, he can draw power from them, growing stronger and stronger, and perhaps he can truly live forever.

But the game of the universe is unpredictable and ever-changing; who can guarantee there won't be any surprises?

Who can guarantee that he won't be targeted by an even more terrifying attack from the will of the greater world?

The only thing he could absolutely guarantee was that if he were to fall, in the final moment before his life's flame was extinguished, he would detonate the mark and destroy the Lord of Radiance.

After all, keeping a former ruler of the Heavenly Pantheon alive, who has lost control of the realm, is like leaving a spark next to a powder keg; who knows what kind of huge problems it will cause.

To achieve a better strategic effect, Ye Lingtian suppressed news of the Heavenly Pantheon's surrender.

The battle between the two sides continues, even as they put on an act.

[At least in the eyes of the God of War, the Star Demon God has been completely slacking off since joining the battlefield.]

[Perhaps the Star Demon God and Ye Lingtian are allies, but this alliance is definitely not very solid.]

This is one of the few pieces of good news these days. (End of Chapter)