Chapter 170: Placing the Pieces

Cassius took a deep breath. He stored the statue away before turning his gaze to the virtual divine artifact.
This virtual divine artifact took the form of a precious tree, entirely in pale green. It was a wood-type virtual divine artifact, perfectly matching Cassius’s own elemental affinity.
Cassius’s body trembled slightly. Even a powerful virtual god like him found it hard to control himself upon seeing this artifact. It was not only far superior to the staff, his own life-bound virtual divine artifact given to Lian Shang, but also on a completely different level—like heaven and earth apart.
Cassius reached out and absorbed the precious tree into his body. Using the laws of the virtual god within his avatar, he began to slowly refine this treasure of virtual divine artifacts.
At this moment, his avatar was even more powerful than his original self.
Seeing this, Chen Xiao stretched out his hand and unleashed another wave of the Primordial God’s power, helping Cassius instantly refine the virtual divine artifact.
Streams of green wood-type laws of the virtual god flowed throughout Cassius’s body in an instant, raising the strength of his avatar by another level.
The next moment, Cassius raised his head and looked at Sou Hen and Meng Fei, a battle intent flashing in his eyes.
“Oh?” Meng Fei smirked playfully upon seeing this. “Obtaining a peak-level virtual divine artifact indeed gives you the right to challenge a peak virtual god. But…”
Smiling, Meng Fei suddenly appeared a pale blue staff in his hand. A faint golden light seeped from the staff, along with a subtle pressure emanating from it.
A divine artifact!
As a disciple of a Primordial God, such artifacts naturally belonged to them.
The moment Cassius saw the divine staff in Meng Fei’s hand, he slumped in defeat.
“Hmph,” Chen Xiao’s expression darkened upon seeing Cassius’s state. He said coldly, “I granted you power not to engage in fierce battles and fight among your own. Your weapons and your strength must always be directed at your enemies. This time, as it’s your first offense, I won’t punish you.”
Chen Xiao was warning Cassius—what if all his subordinates acted the same way, using their strength to provoke each other?
Cassius suddenly snapped back to reality, shuddering. He realized he was now a subordinate of a Primordial God.
Cassius remained timid, not daring to speak.
Chen Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly and said coldly, “Fighting among your own is absolutely forbidden. If any of you dare to exclude or fight each other, don’t blame me for being merciless.”
Now even Sou Hen and Meng Fei involuntarily lowered their heads.
“Alright, let’s drop this matter,” Chen Xiao slowly exhaled before continuing, “Cassius, you’ve just joined me and haven’t yet earned any merits. I can’t give you a divine artifact for now.”
“Young master, this peak-level virtual divine artifact already makes me invincible in the outer regions of the Source Continent. If I also possess a divine artifact, even the gods deep in the continent will try to seize it from me.”

Cassius also had self-awareness; he understood the principle that an innocent person is not guilty, but holding a precious treasure makes one guilty. With his current strength and a divine artifact in his hands, it would be suicide.

Chen Xiao nodded. “On the Continent of Origins, develop your forces quietly, expand silently without drawing attention from others. Also, send three Domain Practitioners, seven Origin Realm cultivators, and twelve Ninth-Level Abnormality Users to the Abnormality World.”

Chen Xiao pondered for a while. His forces were still quite small at present and unable to stand on their own, so expansion was urgently needed.

“Chen Xiao…” Suddenly, Shui Miao’s voice echoed in his mind once again.

“Hmm, Shui Miao, what else?” Chen Xiao was momentarily stunned before asking.

“I don’t approve of what you’re doing—moving Cassius’s subordinates to the Glory Temple,” Shui Miao’s voice showed a hint of emotion. Having interacted with her for a long time, Chen Xiao realized that she was becoming more and more like a being with a soul.

“Why?” Chen Xiao was taken aback.

“Because your strength isn’t strong enough yet,” Shui Miao’s voice calmed down shortly after. “You don’t have the ability to control these subordinates. Moreover, the waters above Earth and that Abnormality World are extremely deep, hiding immense forces. It is those forces that are the true masters of Earth and the Abnormality World. If such an unknown force appears there, think about the consequences by yourself.”

After hearing Shui Miao’s words, Chen Xiao shook his head slightly. He immediately realized that his strength was too weak. Having too many powerful subordinates might lead to complacency and neglect in his cultivation.

More importantly, the existence on Earth was clearly the real behind-the-scenes force maintaining order in the secular world. That force would never allow such a huge power to emerge on Earth.

If Chen Xiao absorbed some of Cassius’s power, the Glory Temple might suffer a fatal blow the very next day.

Shui Miao was absolutely right. Neither internally nor externally was he capable of taking in such a large number of subordinates for now.

“Forget it. Cassius, keep all your subordinates at your forces’ base. As for that one wearing a green hat, let him join the temple,” Chen Xiao said indifferently.

Hearing Chen Xiao change his mind, although Cassius didn’t understand why, he didn’t dare to argue and could only nod in agreement.

After finishing everything, Chen Xiao gave a few more instructions, sent Cassius away, and then returned to the Glory Temple, going to Leng Shi’s side.

Although a long time had passed in the Main God’s Space, no time had passed in reality. Even Leng Shi didn’t notice Chen Xiao’s departure.

At this moment, Leng Shi was staring at Chen Xiao eagerly, waiting for his decision.

Chen Xiao approached Leng Shi. With a stretch of his hand, a vast force of faith was poured into Leng Shi’s soul. Instantly, Leng Shi, who was already at the peak of the Soul Law, had his soul purified by the force of faith, becoming incredibly clear.

In just a moment, he grasped the true meaning of life—the Law of Life.

The second law took shape instantly, enveloping Leng Shi’s body from within.

“Thank you, young master, for your generosity!” Leng Shi had been trapped at the peak of the first level of his domain for hundreds of years, but today he finally made a breakthrough, filling him with immense joy. He quickly knelt before Chen Xiao. “Get up,” Chen Xiao said, frowning slightly. He really disliked such gestures of bowing and kneeling, as he thought in a modern way. With a gesture of his hand, two items appeared in his hands: a blue ring that could conceal one’s cultivation level, and a blue virtual divine staff. “I’m giving you these two items. Return to Atlantis, and I want you to secretly build influence there and recruit followers for me.” In Chen Xiao’s eyes, Atlantis was a huge opportunity—gaining their faith would bring endless benefits. Leng Shi was now just a pawn in Chen Xiao’s game, a pawn to control Atlantis.