ATG: My genius is almost frightening!

"Wuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

With a single thought, Xia Qingyue activated the soul mark on the unfortunate Moon God. She had never used it on anyone before, so she did not know the extent of the pain they would experience.

The man's eyes bulged from their sockets. Red veins spread across his eyes as an agonized scream tore from his throat. He roared in pure pain.

Xia Qingyue ignored the man and shot toward another Moon God, firing a purple beam in his direction. Today, she was determined to completely crush any trace of defiance or rebellious thought lingering in the minds of these Moon Gods.

Seeing the state of their companion, the two remaining Moon Gods turned pale with horror and fled in opposite directions.

Swoosh!

Yue Wuji and Yue Hong, who had been standing and watching the fight unfold, made their move the moment they noticed the escape attempt. Each of them rushed to block one of the fleeing Moon Gods. Since they had acknowledged Xia Qingyue and pledged their loyalty, they had to show their stance.

"What are you doing? Are you really going to stop us? This woman is clearly insane!" shouted the first Moon God, who had been blocked by Yue Wuji. No matter how he struggled, he could not break free. Yue Wuji was the fastest among the Moon Gods after the Moon God Emperor.

"Yue Wang, do you understand the consequences of your actions? You are defying the will of the God Emperor. That is an act of treason! Stop now, it is not too late to turn back!" Yue Wuji pressed his palms together, and golden divine power surged forth, forcing the man backward.

On the other side, the scene was the same. Yue Hong was engaged with the other Moon God, blocking his escape.

Xia Qingyue flew over at a calm pace. Her voice was cold and indifferent as she spoke, "Yue Wuji, Yue Hong, stand down. This king will deal with them personally."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the two Moon Gods replied, stepping aside and no longer obstructing them.

"It seems that both of you still do not understand the situation you are placing yourselves in." Xia Qingyue pointed her sword at them, her expression blank and her tone completely devoid of emotion. "You can try to run away. This king will not stop you. But you can also forget about your families."

"A traitor's fate is the extermination of nine clans, after all."

Her cold words froze the two escaping Moon Gods in their tracks. They turned around stiffly, staring at her with a mix of fury and disbelief.

"How could you be this despicable?!" Yue Wang's face twisted as if a million worms were crawling beneath his skin. Fury and killing intent burst from him like an erupting volcano.

"Ridiculous!" Xia Qingyue snorted coldly. "You call this king despicable? Is there anything more disgraceful than your own actions? You betrayed your God Emperor and even tried to flee your realm!"

"The Moon God Realm gave you life, raised you, granted you power, and made you who you are. You enjoyed fame and glory because of it!"

"..."

Both Moon Gods froze in place. They wanted to escape, but they could not bring themselves to risk implicating their families.

How had things escalated this quickly?

Why did this woman attack them so directly and overbearingly, without even trying to speak with them first? All they did was refuse to acknowledge her, was that truly a crime worth bloodshed?

If it had been the previous God Emperor, he would have at least tried to reason with them before taking action.

Swoosh!

Taking advantage of their hesitation, Xia Qingyue's figure blurred. In an instant, she appeared in front of Yue Wang and drove her sword straight through his chest.

Boom!

Violent purple energy burst from within him, surging wildly through his body.

"Agh!" he cried out, hurriedly gathering his power to fight back. But Xia Qingyue's movements were impossibly fast. She pointed her finger at him and fired a purple beam straight at his forehead.

BOOM!

The surrounding space trembled violently. The void lit up with a deep purple glow as the explosion engulfed everything.

Yue Wang's vision went completely blank from the attack. A large crack split across his head as his body swayed violently. Xia Qingyue took the opportunity, and a silver light shot from her index finger, entering his body.

Without sparing him another glance, she turned to the other man. Just as she was about to make her move, the Moon God dropped to his knees.

"God Emperor! Your Majesty! Mercy! This humble one was blind! Please forgive me!"

"Very well," Xia Qingyue halted and lowered her sword. However, just as the Moon God thought he had escaped this disaster, she added coldly, "But you still must be branded. Do not resist."

The best way to forcefully brand someone with a soul mark was to weaken them first. She had already beaten the other two badly before branding them. This last Moon God was a 9th-level Divine Master. Though injured, most of his strength remained.

A similar silver light shot from her finger toward him. The man shuddered, but when his eyes locked with her cold gaze, he didn't dare resist and let the light enter his body. The silver mark spread across his entire body before gathering on his forehead and disappearing.

"Good. Now it's time for your punishment," Xia Qingyue said with a satisfied nod before delivering the cruel words.

At her command, the Soul Mark activated, throwing the two Moon Gods into a world of hellish pain.

"Agh! Ahhh! Mercy! Mercy!"

"Your Majesty, I was wrong! Please, forgive this lowly one!"

"Aghhhhh! I was wrong! Forgive me! Please!"

Their anguished cries echoed in the void, as the three men hung suspended in the air, writhing like worms, screaming with everything they had.

The scene made Yue Wuji's and Yue Hong's skin crawl. Watching their companions twist and writhe in pain, gouging at their skin, they recalled the dreaded name of a curse; the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark.

Xia Qingyue stayed still, ignoring their cries. Only after more than half an hour did she lift the soul mark. She narrowed her eyes and said, "This is the first and last offense this king will allow. If I sense any insubordination, the pain you feel will be ten thousand times worse!"

"Ghh, haah."

"Huuff, Huff, huff."

"Wuuuu, haaah."

The three Moon Gods writhed on the ground, their bodies spasming. Though the pain had stopped, lingering agony still gripped their bodies and souls. They crawled slowly across the void as if it were solid ground, then prostrated themselves. "Yes, God Emperor!"

"Good! You all wait here," Xia Qingyue said plainly. After giving the order, she vanished in a streak of purple, shooting back the way she came. Knowing a battle awaited her, she had left her mother somewhere safe, and now she was going to pick her up.

-

-

-

Returning to the Moon God Realm, Xia Qingyue didn't make her existence known. She quietly gathered the Moon Gods, 'bestowed' the Soul Mark to the two remaining ones, and explained what had happened.

Her explanation was simple; the Southern Sea God Realm ambushed them and poisoned Yue Wuya. At the critical moment, the new Star God Emperor, Jasmine, appeared and saved them.

Jasmine saved them because she had some connection to Xia Qingyue and her husband.

The Southern Sea God Realm was infamous for its devilish poisons, especially the Absolute God Slaying Poison they once used on Jasmine.

Her explanation was full of bullshit, and her lies could easily be exposed over time, especially by the four Moon Gods still under the Star God Realm's control. But Xia Qingyue wasn't worried. With Yun Wuji and Jasmine 'guiding' and 'teaching' them, she was confident they wouldn't say nonsense.

She also told them about the sudden surge of strength in the Star God Realm.

"We stand at a tipping point, not just for the Moon God Realm but for the entire God Realm. A war is coming, and we must choose which side to take." Xia Qingyue stared at the gathered Moon Gods and spoke solemnly. "This king has already decided to side with the Star God Realm and declare war on the Eternal Heaven God Realm."

The Moon Gods were utterly flabbergasted by all the news they had just learned. Now, they heard their God Emperor was ready to go to war with the Eternal Heaven God Realm.

"My king, what do you mean by a war drawing near? Who is trying to start this war and with whom?" Yue Wuji was the first to voice his doubts.

"The Southern Divine Region, led by the Southern Sea God Emperor, has allied with the Western Divine Region. They have decided to start a war against the Eastern Divine Region and the Northern Divine Region," Xia Qingyue spoke slowly. "If it were only that, this king would not be so eager to start a war. But we just learned that the Eternal Heaven God Realm has betrayed our Eastern Divine Region under the influence of the Heavenly Mystery Realm and the Dragon God Realm."

"Our only allies right now are the Star God Realm. We tried to contact the Brahma Monarch God Realm, but they did not seem to believe us," Xia Qingyue continued, her tone serious and solemn.

Of course, this was all just bullshit. It was a way to give them a reason to attack the Eternal Heaven God Realm and seize the Eternal Heaven Pearl. Once they succeeded, it would not matter if they ever found out they had been lied to.

"What!?" The seven Moon Gods present paled. The combined force of two Divine Regions was focused on them. That was too much to bear. Heck, just the Dragon God Realm alone was enough to crush them. That realm held the combined power of the four King Realms.

"God Emperor, can you tell us where you learned this?" Yue Wuji asked another crucial question.

'Source: Trust me, bro,' Xia Qingyue answered in her mind. She glanced at Yue Wuji and replied, "My husband has the ability to peek into the future. He informed the new Star God Emperor, the Heavenly Slaughter Star God about this, and after investigations, she confirmed it."

"But... but God Emperor, even if we want to start a war, with only our strength, I don't think we can easily win against the Eternal Heaven God Realm, even with the Star God Realm's help," Yue Hong said cautiously.

"This king naturally thought of that before. We don't only have the Star God Realm's help," Xia Qingyue replied indifferently as she took out a jade bottle. "This king paid a great price to get this. Each of you will take one."

"You will understand where this king's confidence comes from after taking it."

-

-

-

Dragon God Realm, the Dragon Monarch Sacred Palace.

Knock! Knock!

"Come in."

A soft knock echoed against the hall door as the deep voice of the Dragon Monarch, Long Bei, responded.

The door opened, and a tall man stepped inside. He stood over two meters tall, with long bluish-gray hair. Dull gray scales covered his arms, and his twilight blue eyes held the depth of a vast world, "Dragon Monarch."

"Azure, what's the matter that has you in such a hurry?" The Dragon Monarch set down a bamboo scroll on the desk. It was an image of his goddess, Shen Xi, painstakingly painted with 350,000 years' worth of simping.

Azure Dragon God didn't dare look at the scroll. He said solemnly, "Yue Wuya has died."

...

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