Armored God Liu opened his eyes from his meditation. If anyone was closed to him, they would see a strange rune flashed deep inside his eyes before disappearing. He looked in one direction as if he received some kind of signal.
"Is it time?"
He then smiled cunningly. Armored God Liu's previous arrogance was long gone, replaced by a calm and treacherous demeanor; it was like he was a completely different person from a year ago.
He proceeded to leave his temple and walked around the Heavenly Abode. Whenever he went, he would see many Gods either cultivating or training. And as soon as these Gods saw him, their eyes will momentarily turn into a blood-red rune before saluting him.
As he overviewed everything in the abode, Armor God Liu–who was now the Shadow–thought to himself:
'Over the past year, I have infiltrated most of the Fire Realm using the Blood Possession Curse. The only place left untouched is the Heavenly Abode of the Fire God.
"It would be very difficult to secretly control so many Gods under the eyes of a Being of Law. Plus, the risk is not worth it.
"Now that everybody has drawn their attention to the Death Realm, it is time to begin expansion."
After that, the Shadow sent an invitation to many of his friends in the other realms. Meeting with different gods from different pantheons is a common thing–especially if their leaders are close friends or allies.
In some cases, one God might change his allegiance and decided to serve another Supreme God. Although this situation is rare, it is not uncommon. However, this usually leads to fighting between two Supreme Gods.
After all, any God is a powerful source of incense, how could the Supreme Gods allow them to serve someone else. Especially if that God is a Void God with an abode full of worshippers of its own. That would be a terrible loss for any of them.
More than a week later, many gods from other realms came to see the hidden Shadow and celebrate with them. Because of the tense relationship of different Supreme Gods, entering another pantheon's realm requires proper etiquette and documentation.
The Supreme God must be able to know the location of any foreign Gods entering his realm; this is a way to prevent people from sneaking into their domains and starting to secretly spread other gods' faith.
Because of these tedious regulations, it took more than a month for the shadow's meeting to begin. Another reason for the delay was the fact he could receive so many foreign gods at once because of the rules.
So, he had to break his banquet into smaller ones.
Once the banquet began, the Shadow displayed his charm as he talked to everybody present. He took out his recently very famous wine [Forgotten Sorrow] which made all the attending guests very happy,
This newly created Divine Wine not only had a sublime taste but also could temporarily place people into illusion to see their innermost desires; it allowed them to escape reality and forget their sorrows, hence the name.
This wine has become so famous lately that there are rumors that even the Wine God–a Title God under the Wood God–admitted that his best wine could barely compare to this.
In addition to wine, there was also music, dancing, theater, and battle for the more aggressive Gods.
While everybody was having fun, one of the Void Gods in attendance was secretly observing everyone–especially Armored God Liu. While drinking his win, his eyes seemed to be scanning everything and everyone.
From the people's conversation to their actions, to their facial features, and many more. While he was doing so, the Shadow approached him with a smile on his face.
"Han God, are you enjoying the party?" asked the Shadow.
"Yes, Liu God," he replied after taking a sip of the wine. "This is truly a divine invention. I wonder how you came up with such a thing? Liu God must be truly talented."
Although Han God had a smile on his face, his mind was thinking of something else.
'Over the past year, this Liu God has changed drastically. His personality changed and he began to make friends all over the world. That alone made him suspicious–especially during the current times–but then there was this [Forgotten Sorrow Wine].
'How could some random god make a wine that is better than the Wine God that has been studying wine his entire life, and even his Divinity is based on wine. This is illogical.
'Unless this Liu God had outside help, for example, the Outsiders that have invaded our world.'
"This has nothing to do with talent, but everything to do with luck. As you know, after my failure with the Outsiders a year ago, I wanted to drink my pain away. Unfortunately, the wine of the Wine God is too expensive, and could not do help me achieve my goals,
"So, I tried brewing it myself, and by sheer luck, created this one."
The Shadow had a look of reminiscing on his face as he remembered the pain he suffered after his last failure.
'Have these Supreme Gods begun to suspect me?' thought the Shadow. 'However, it does not matter now as my plans are already set in motion.'
"There is no need to blame yourself, Liu God. Who amongst us has not suffered from failure. The important thing is to rise above it."
'Could it be that the Destiny Goddes was wrong? That there is nothing wrong with this Liu God? No, I should not doubt the Goddess. My job is to do what I was told to do. So, let's continue observing.'
After a brief chat, the Shadow went to talk to other people, while Han God continued to observe everybody. Unfortunately, even after the banquet ended, he did not discover anything.
So, after leaving and returning to the Destiny Realm and reporting back to his leader. After hearing what happened, the Destiny Goddess had a deep frown on her face.
She then proceeded to use her powerful soul to scan the body of Han God, but she did not find anything, so she dismissed him.
The Destiny Goddess then said: "What do you guys think? Did you find anything?"
"No," replied the Life Goddess. "All the other Supreme Gods have checked but there is nothing abnormal."
"With these people's method, it would be weird if we could actually discover something." The Destiny Goddess paused for a moment.
"I will personally catch this Liu God and interrogate him."
"You know the Fire God would never allow this."
"It does not matter. If he gets in my way, I will slaughter him as well," replied the Destiny Goddess with a calm tone.
"Mingyun, is everything alright?" asked the Life Goddess.
"I can feel that my time is rapidly approaching. If I do not do something, I will most likely be the next casualty in this catastrophe. So, it is time for extreme measures."
After saying that, she broke the space and headed straight for the Fire Realm. As soon as she arrived, the Fire God felt her presence and appeared in front of her.
"Destiny Goddess, what are you doing in my realm?"
"Hand over the Liu God."
"Impossible. There is no evidence to prove that he has betrayed us. Until then, he is under my protection."
"Fire God, I've always admired the way you protect your one people. Unfortunately, I am not here to ask for your permission."
A silver sword appeared in the Destiny Goddess' hand, gleaming with the power of fate. She looked at the Fire God with intense killing intent.
"Either move or be forcefully moved by me."
The Fire God's face twisted after hearing this, so he roared: "Are you going to break the [Divine Harmony Accord]?"
She sneered after hearing this, "The accord was negotiated by me to prevent all of us from fighting one another and causing too much damage to our God Civilization.
"However, over the years, how many of you have ignored the accord and fought between yourself. 200,000 years ago, you yourself broke it and fought with the Thunder God."
She raised her sword, looked at him deeply, then said: "Are you going to move or not?"
"You!"
The Fire God became enraged, however, he quickly remembered who his opponent was. This was the Destiny Goddes. Although she is known for her peaceful nature, all the Supreme Gods knew how powerful she is.
The only reason she does not hold the title of the most powerful God was because the Death God has the strange secret technique to turn his law into armor, and the Destruction God has some weird weapon that drastically increases his strength.
Despite knowing this, the Fire God refused to back down; his pride would not allow it. So, he began to fight with the Destiny Goddess.
Meanwhile, in the Fire Realm, the Shadow was in his temple, with countless images in front of him.. These images showed the situation of the other realms and were from the perspective of the people who attended the party.