Indian Mythology: the Heavenly Emperor is not working today

Helakela!

This was the poison of the Milk Sea, a poison so virulent that upon its appearance, it rapidly spread in all directions. Even the briefest touch, small as a Sumeru mustard seed, would instantly kill both Devas and Asuras.

The potency of this poison could even be seen as the antithesis of Amrita!

Amrita offers immortality, Helakela brings death!

Two sides of the same entity!

"Aside from divine blessings, the poison of Helakela is almost impossible to withstand,"

Indra instinctively looked down to find the golden Sun God Armor adorning his sturdy frame—glittering like the first light of dawn and emanating a gentle warmth.

This armor, bestowed with the blessings of Surya, would not be dissolved by any curse.

"I could use the power of asceticism to enhance this armor and add special properties to it. Perhaps I can try using the power of the armor to withstand it," Indra thought to himself.

His golden Sun God Armor, especially gifted by Surya, could be forged with the power of asceticism into a layer of divine armor.

Based on the blessings from Surya.

Indra could then imbue this layer of armor with a power, perhaps making it so only those with a thousand years of ascetic power could break through it, clearly not a defense against toxins.

"Perhaps I could make a wish that I be unharmed by deadly poison, or perhaps absorb it."

"It's just that now I have too little ascetic power left, only three hundred years' worth!"

"This is difficult," Indra mused.

He sensed the ascetic power he had accrued and was taken aback.

He had only been practicing asceticism in the Heavenly Realm for a few centuries when he was forced to curse a wave of Garudas. Such circumstances had already consumed most of his ascetic power.

Now, only three hundred years of ascetic power remained!

However, his ascetic power was still slowly growing, which signified that his penance had not ceased.

"Three hundred years?"

"In that case, I used less than five hundred years of ascetic power to successfully curse Garuda."

"This might be a result of him provoking me and the influence of karma, but the quality of my ascetic power is really high!" Heavenly Emperor Indra murmured to himself.

While he was pondering, Garuda had already flown to Indra's side, and numerous Devas leapt down in unison, landing on the Milk Sea like dumplings being dropped into a pot, holding divine weapons and glowering at the Asura army opposite them.

Mandara Mountain also began to rise and fall at this time.

The divine turtle Kurma moved its four legs slightly, gently sinking downwards.

Protector God Vishnu revealed his form, like a great sun descending, radiant with gold, appearing before the assembled army of Devas and Asuras.

"All the treasures of this world are beneath the Milk Sea; only with the joint efforts of you Devas can Mandara Mountain be turned, stirring the Milk Sea," said Vishnu, smiling gently.

Jinmu's figure flickered as he squinted and stared intently at Vishnu, saying, "So how should it be turned? Mandara Mountain is so vast, even I can't turn it many times, let alone a bunch of little bugs!"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the Asura army darkened, yet none of them said a word.

The Devas, however, were furious.

To think Jinmu dared to be so arrogant as to call them bugs—it was truly detestable.

"It's merely a matter of bestowing blessings!" Surya grunted angrily. "If I weren't without divine power right now, I would reduce him to ashes with the fire of the Sun God."

"Exactly, my divine wind could scatter his flesh and blood!" Wind God Vayu spoke up.

"My water could drown him!" Water God Varuna added.

Fire God Agni nodded in agreement and said in a deep voice, "My flames could completely incinerate him and send his soul straight to Yama City!"

Vishnu was right before them, with the Devas Army at their back, and Jinmu kept quiet, so the gods fearlessly traded verbal jabs.

Hearing this, Jinmu curled his lips and looked on with disdain.

But Vishnu did not get angry; he simply smiled slightly.

"Shesha can naturally bind Mandara Mountain to serve as the rope for you to churn the Milk Sea," Vishnu said with a smile.

Splash! Splash!

Above the Milk Sea, endless waves churned, and foam bubbled ceaselessly as segments of a black body appeared above the Milk Sea.

This body emerged and submerged intermittently in the Milk Sea, each segment revealed covered in countless black scales, layered like the undulating hills, extending unfathomably.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Thousand-headed Serpent King Shesha emerged from the surface of the water, the Milk Sea thundering, the sea surface violently shaking, causing countless sea mists to arise, obscuring the figure from view.

"Your command shall be obeyed!!!"

The Thousand-headed Serpent King Shesha spoke.

In the midst of this thunderous noise, the sea mist cleared completely.

Above the sky, the myriad snake heads reached from earth to heaven, blocking out the sun, their eyes like clusters of stars scattered in the sky, displaying immense power.

Shesha coiled its body.

Its serpentine form wrapped around Mandara Mountain, with its countless heads on one side and its stout tail on the other.

Whoosh!

Vishnu vanished into a streak of golden light, landing before Indra and the other gods.

"The Asuras are arrogant, boastful, and suspicious!"

"Next, you will head towards the direction of the snake heads. The Asuras will surely demand to switch places with you. Agree to it and when the churning of the Milk Sea begins, the pulling from both sides will cause Shesha pain, leading it to spew out flames, injuring the Asuras at the snake heads, making their suffering unbearable."

Vishnu whispered softly.

Upon hearing this, the gods were both shocked and overjoyed.

The Supreme Lord was indeed on their side!

"Praise to the Lord! By then, these Asuras will be exhausted and severely injured, surely incapable of further combat, and the Devas will be certain to triumph."

Surya said excitedly.

"Praise to the Lord!"

"Praise to the Lord!"

The Fire God Agni and others were also overjoyed, praising the mercy of the Supreme Lord.

"Praise to the Lord!"

Indra too, with hands pressed together, mulled over in his heart.

If he recalled correctly, churning the Milk Sea would take hundreds of years, which would be a good time to undertake austere cultivation. He could forge the first layer of the Divine Armor, which would certainly be useful someday.

The position at the snake heads seemed quite favorable!

If Shesha spat a bit of fire, he could further augment his Power of Asceticism.

Indra's eyes shifted slightly as he then spoke.

"We should go towards the snake tail instead!"

"As a warrior, even if they are Asuras, I think we should still possess a sense of fairness. It feels dishonorable for a warrior like me to fight them after they've been burned by Shesha's fire."

Indra said.

Vishnu: "..."

That's not what you said before!

Just a short while ago, Indra was asking him to annihilate the Asuras, and now he's talking about fairness!

What a flexible moral baseline!

"The Devas are weakened. Only by doing our utmost to weaken the Asuras do the Devas stand a chance of victory!"

Vishnu said in a calm tone.

"No more talk, a Kshatriya should die a Kshatriya's death. I'd rather die as a warrior than live as a coward!"

Indra stopped at this point.

It seemed he had spoken too strongly; he only wanted to accumulate some Power of Asceticism, not truly to die!

"Praise to Lord Vishnu!"

"May the Lord protect me!"

Indra, with hands pressed together, praised Vishnu.

Vishnu looked at Indra with a fixed gaze, hesitated for a moment, and eventually nodded slightly in agreement.

Done!

Seeing this, Indra breathed a sigh of relief, then swiftly flew towards the direction of the snake tail.

Seeing the Heavenly Emperor take action, the entire Devas Army also began to move.

"Huh?!"

Sun God Surya stood frozen in place, mouth slightly agape, almost dropping his jaw in astonishment at Indra's words just now.