Chapter 177.1: The Black Dog Howls at the Heavens, the Vertical Eye Reveals its Might

Far from Little Stone Village, two men clad in iron armor lay concealed, watching with the relaxed interest of spectators enjoying a play.

"Are we really not going to help Liu Yan?" the taller one asked.

"Help him?" the shorter man scoffed. "That bastard's arrogant and constantly disrespects the gods. If you ask me, he should've died long ago. It is better if he clears out a seat."

The tall man nodded. "That ancient god of Clearwater Village does seem capable, he's already killed two new gods."

"Perfect timing," the shorter guard said calmly. "The new gods under Gale Wind Town aren't part of our lord's true faction anyway. Let them all be wiped out. Once our lord makes his move and slaughters that ancient god of Clearwater Village, he can openly bring in his own people."

Sarwolf, the god of Gale Wind Town, had learned of Qi Yuan's arrival days ago. He simply hadn't cared. Since the new gods under Gale Wind Town were not his followers, he'd rather have Qi Yuan purge the village. Once it was over, he would kill Qi Yuan and take all the credit.

Of course, Sarwolf wasn't foolish enough to be eaten by the tiger he raised. That was why he had dispatched two temple guards to quietly assess the situation.

In the next moment, the sound of a suona horn pierced the air. The two guards straightened, eyes sharpening. A long procession surged forward in the distance. Rather than an army marching to war, it seemed like a funeral escort.

The tall guard chuckled. "This ancient god of Clearwater Village really knows how to put on a show."

"The Lord God at the front is interesting," the shorter one muttered.

"Only early-stage Violet Palace, there is nothing to fear," the tall guard said dismissively.

They themselves were elite temple guards of Gale Wind Town, all early-stage Violet Palace cultivators. There were more than thirty like them. Naturally, a single black dog at the same level didn't impress them.

"I've heard that the Clearwater Village's god isn't even at Violet Palace realm," the shorter guard added, "he just relies on a powerful sacrificial artifact to kill new gods. That artifact will eventually belong to Lord Sarwolf."

Although Sarwolf wasn't famous among the seven towns, the temple guards who had assimilated with him knew the truth. Their god wasn't merely at the peak of Violet Palace, he had opened half a divine aperture. A demigod. Hence why Nangong Wujin, a peak Violet Palace expert, had been gravely injured by him.

The two guards remained hidden as the suona grew louder.

"Let the show begin," the tall guard said, smiling.

They watched from on high, aloof and condescending.

At that moment, Liu Yan of Little Stone Village soared into the air, terrifying aura rolling outward.

"Sending a dog to provoke me?" he roared. "Clearwater Village will pay for humiliating me like this!"

Before the procession even arrived, his voice thundered first. He launched an attack without hesitation. The faith of his villagers condensed into a sacrificial artifact, radiating Origin Divine Technique. Decades of accumulation erupted in a single, terrifying blow.

Though it could only be fired once, even a mid-stage Violet Palace cultivator would struggle to endure it.

Zhu Zhuangshi's face went pale. "Can Big Black Dog really handle this?"

In a drawn-out fight, the dog would likely outlast Liu Yan. However, since it had only broken through, its grasp of Origin Divine Techniques was still crude. Without an overwhelmingly powerful divine technique, it didn't stand a chance against that blow.

Yulei and Shen Tu thought the same. They hadn't expected the enemy to be this dangerous.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Yet at the very front, Big Black Dog's eyes flashed with ridicule. It leaped skyward, releasing a lion-like roar that shook the heavens. Spreading its blood-red maw wide, it inhaled. What followed was horrifying.

The clouds overhead collapsed as though the sky itself had sprung a leak, rushing endlessly into the dog's mouth like floodwaters rushing into a drain. The Howling Celestial Dog's divine technique was to devour clouds and exhale mists, and Big Black Dog had visualized it perfectly.

It swallowed the heavens and spat it at Liu Yan. Instantly, a torrent of multicolored mist exploded outward, laced with divine fire, earthflame, and raging wind.

Liu Yan's eyes bulged in disbelief. "Your Origin Divine Technique is unheard of in this world!"

His sacrificial artifact disintegrated within the mist, and his body followed, torn apart piece by piece. It wasn't fog at all, but fire.

From afar, the two hidden temple guards stared in horror, their faces drained of color. "That's not a divine technique of this world. Is that an evil god?!"

Unlike Qi Yuan, who had long learned to conceal the origin of his techniques, Big Black Dog had not. Its newly awakened Origin Divine Technique hadn't yet adapted to this world's laws. One glance was enough for experts to tell that it didn't belong to this world.

The two guards turned to retreat, hurrying to report this situation to Sarwolf.

Suddenly, a vertical eye appeared beside the black dog. A cold and absolute voice resounded, as though infused with the laws of heaven and earth, "Who dares spy from the shadows?"

Every gaze was irresistibly drawn toward the fading afterimage of that eye.

The shorter guard trembled violently. Even though it was just a remnant, he felt as though he stood before an unreachable, towering god.

"What kind of True God is this?" the taller one whispered, utterly lost.

He had once witnessed an ancient god's follower visualize a Great Venerable-level Origin Divine Technique. However, the effect wasn't even one ten-thousandth of this eye. He could not believe what he was seeing.

Following the vertical eye's ruthless command, a golden light descended from nothingness. The two guards were erased instantly, reduced to ash.

***

In Gale Wind Town, Sarwolf was jolted awake, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. "What just happened?"

Moments ago, he had felt a sense of impending catastrophe. An overwhelming terror descended upon him. Moreover, he had been injured for no discernible reason.

"Did a god target me?" Sarwolf's expression flickered. "I better lie low for now."

Until he understood what had happened, discretion was survival.

***

Back in the village, Yulei watched as the vertical eye vanished, his heart pounding. Shi Zhongshan felt the same. In all his years, he had never witnessed something so vast and indescribable. Big Black Dog did a sit and its tail wagged furiously.

Everyone understood that this was a secret that could never be spoken aloud.

"Anyone who leaks today's events will die," Yulei declared grimly.

Zhu Zhuangshi knew how critical the matter was. Even the gossipy aunties and the plump cook nodded solemnly.

The weakest among them were Foundation Establishment cultivators. Most were Core Formation.

***

Far away, inside the village shrine, Qi Yuan opened his eyes in surprise. "Buy one, get one free?"

Even he hadn't expected that visualizing the Howling Celestial Dog would come with a complimentary gift of Erlang Shen[1]. In Blue Planet's myths, Erlang Shen was a legendary powerhouse like Yang Jian of The Investiture of the Gods, the mountain-splitter who saved his mother, the equal rival of the Monkey King. A hundred of the previous-tier evil gods wouldn't have been enough to summon him.

It wasn't Erlang Shen's projection, much less his true self, but merely a fragment shaped by the dog's memories. Still, it was terrifying.

"Should I start visualizing only buy-one-get-one-free options?" Qi Yuan mused, then shook his head.

Fate was better left alone. Watching his level rise while sitting around felt amazing. He was now a level 30, an equivalent to early-stage Nascent Soul in this world. Leveling here was much faster than in Moonwatch Continent or the Flowing Wind World.

1. Erlang Shen (二郎神) is a powerful Chinese warrior god known for his distinctive vertical third eye on his forehead, which grants him truth-seeing abilities and powers. Hence the eye that appeared beside the dog was his eye. ☜