Angrily Defying the Heavenly Law

Xu Ying had long since given up caring. He bowed to the Green Robe Deity, which counted as making an offering. As for incense, candles, fruit, and the like, he could forget it.

He did not even have enough to eat himself, let alone anything to offer a deity.

The other two villagers named by the Green Robe Deity, however, wore ashen expressions.

The villager Jiang Lu was in his forties, yet he looked over eighty. His face was covered in wrinkles, his back was hunched, and he trembled as he said, "My lord deity, this old man can't even afford food. Last night, I only had a bit of tree bark to chew on. Then the officials came to extort miscellaneous taxes again. Where would I find anything to show my respect..."

The Green Robe Deity glanced at him and sneered. "You show respect to the officials but not to me? Do you think I'm inferior to them?"

Jiang Lu did not dare speak.

The Green Robe Deity's eyes shifted. "Don't you still have a daughter? Offer your daughter to me. I'll become your son-in-law and guarantee you food and clothing for the rest of your life!"

Jiang Lu's legs went limp, and he knelt on the ground. "My lord deity, the officials came to extort miscellaneous taxes last night. This old man couldn't pay, so they took my younger daughter away and said they would waive my taxes..."

The Green Robe Deity snorted coldly and smashed over with a fist as large as a wine jar. "Don't you have two daughters? You're trying to hide one from me?"

Jiang Lu was sent flying several yards by the punch and crashed into the wall opposite. His broken ribs pierced through his chest, with jagged splinters jutting out as blood gurgled from his mouth.

The many villagers in the ancestral hall trembled like leaves. They dared neither to feel anger nor to speak.

Xu Ying clenched his fists tightly and pretended he had seen nothing.

That was a deity, possessing a majesty that made people tremble at the mere sight of him. Ordinary people could not even summon the thought of resisting a deity. Even Xu Ying, who had cultivated the Taiyi Guiding Technique since childhood, could only tremble before the Green Robe Deity.

Moreover, his godfather and grandfather had taught him from childhood that commoners did not fight officials, nor did they fight deities. Snake Catchers risked their lives to capture venomous snakes for the sake of survival. Fighting officials or deities was simply courting death!

Jiang Lu tried to crawl up, but he could not.

The Green Robe Deity shouted, "Where's your other daughter? Hand her over! I'm going to consummate the marriage with her today! Don't fail to appreciate my generosity!"

Suddenly, Steward Jiang of Jiangjiatian laughed. "My lord deity, you may not know this, but I heard that you had taken a fancy to Jiang Lu's daughter. So I spent money to buy her and planned to send her to you today. Someone, bring the bride over!"

The Green Robe Deity was overjoyed. "Steward Jiang, you certainly know how to conduct yourself."

He turned to the other villagers and sneered. "You don't even have offerings, yet you expect my protection? Today, those without offerings will receive only three fingers' worth of rainfall for their farmland this entire year. Those without even incense and candles won't receive a single drop of water. You deserve to die of thirst, you bastards! And you!"

The Green Robe Deity pointed at Jiang Lu and shouted, "I originally planned to let you become my father-in-law and give you some benefits! But now your daughter is an offering presented to me by Steward Jiang, and she has nothing to do with you! You came empty-handed, without a single offering for me, so your fields will not receive a drop of rain this year!"

Jiang Lu sat blankly beneath the wall. He looked haggard, without the slightest trace of color in his face.

Without rain in the fields, there would be no harvest.

"How am I supposed to live?" His hopes had turned to ashes.

The Green Robe Deity threw back his head and laughed. Embracing the bride, he said, "Better to seize the day than choose one! We'll consummate the marriage today. There's no need to wait until nightfall!"

Steward Jiang hurriedly smiled obsequiously. "Today is already an auspicious day!"

Xu Ying silently turned and followed the people out of the ancestral hall. He had never seen a deity take a wife, but he had heard of it.

Other villages and towns also enshrined deities. When some villagers could no longer survive, they offered their daughters to deities as wives. He had heard that the Water Earl of the Xiao River had married over a hundred women, all of them offered by the nearby villages and towns to that deity.

Jiang Lu trembled as he rose. Seeing this, Xu Ying walked over, intending to support him.

Xu Ying's relationship with Jiang Lu was not bad. When Xu Ying was young, his grandfather had rescued him from a fire and brought him to Jiangjiatian. Jiang Lu had even given him a steamed bun, and his grandfather had told Xu Ying to call him Uncle.

Xu Ying remembered it very clearly.

"Uncle, I'll take you home..." Xu Ying said.

Suddenly, Jiang Lu charged toward the wall.

"Bang!"

Blood splattered all over Xu Ying's face.

Xu Ying's vision blurred, and several drops of blood splashed into his eyes. Through the haze, he saw the old man smash his head viciously against the wall. Blood instantly stained the white wall, like a plum tree blooming on a snowy winter field.

Xu Ying's ears rang, and his mind went blank.

"Uncle..."

He reached out, only to see Jiang Lu's shattered head stuck to the wall. The corpse slowly slid down, painting a robust plum tree trunk across the white wall.

The old man's corpse was like the trunk of a plum tree, kneeling before the wall.

The ancestral hall erupted into chaos. People scattered and fled, screaming one after another.

The Green Robe Deity held the bride, who was crying as if she were about to lose her breath, and laughed. "Steward, clean up the corpse and repaint the wall. Don't spoil my mood."

Steward Jiang hurriedly agreed and strode over to Xu Ying. He shoved Xu Ying and scolded him, "A Ying, hurry up and move the corpse outside! My lord deity is about to consummate the marriage!"

Xu Ying's head rang, his body trembled, and he clenched his fists tightly.

Steward Jiang shouted, "Are you planning to defy my lord deity..."

"Bang!"

Xu Ying swung a fist into Steward Jiang's face. His face caved into his skull, and the back of his head suddenly exploded. The corpse swayed before collapsing to the ground.

"Murder! A Ying murdered someone!" Steward Jiang's servants fled in panic.

Xu Ying's body was still trembling. His mind remained a blank void. He did not know why he had blown Steward Jiang's head apart with a single punch, or why he had suddenly been unable to restrain his fury!

"I killed someone. I killed someone... I didn't want to kill anyone..."

His hands shook. The blood on his face had not yet dried. He trembled as he raised his head. The person he wanted to kill had not been Steward Jiang.

His gaze fell upon the Green Robe Deity. The one he truly wanted to kill was this deity.

"But I don't know why. I just couldn't control my hand. I just wanted to beat you to death!"

Xu Ying panted like a beast and rebuked Steward Jiang's fallen corpse, "You're too noisy! Stop talking! Don't rush me... I said stop rushing me! I'll beat him to death right now!"

Steward Jiang's head had already exploded, his skull caved in, and he naturally could not speak.

Yet Xu Ying's mind was still filled with all kinds of chaotic voices, buzzing and urging him to beat the deity before him to death.

The Green Robe Deity's pupils contracted as he stared at Xu Ying.

In Xu Ying's eyes, he suddenly could no longer see the familiar fear. This caused a raging fury to ignite in his chest.

Fearful eyes were the eyes he knew best—the fear that mortals ought to have toward deities!

In the past, he had been able to see that reverence in Xu Ying's eyes, the reverence of an insect toward a great figure.

But now, that reverence was gone!

In its place was blasphemy!

Killing intent!

In this young man's eyes, he saw undisguised murderous intent toward himself!

Even more terrifyingly, he discovered that he was somewhat afraid of that gaze!

The Green Robe Deity flew into a rage, threw aside the bride, raised his wine-jar-sized fist, and smashed it viciously toward Xu Ying's face. "Bastard! What kind of look is that?"

Xu Ying raised both forearms to block in front of himself. He immediately felt as though a bull weighing several thousand pounds had crashed into him. He flew backward, bringing down the ancestral hall wall with a thunderous boom and flying out of the hall!

The Green Robe Deity strode forward, stepping over the collapsed wall, and sneered. "Mortal fool, you can only accept the fate arranged by the deities. You must not resist! Xu Ying, I saw evil thoughts of blaspheming the deities in your eyes! I shall cleanse your sins!"

Xu Ying landed with both feet planted firmly on the ground. He slid backward over a yard before finally steadying himself.

"You seem..." Xu Ying shook his hands, then raised his head. His gaze was strange. "You don't seem as strong as I imagined."

"What?"

The Green Robe Deity flew into a rage. He swept out with one leg. His thick limb was like a pillar being swung through the air, accompanied by surging, roaring wind!

"Petty mortal, how dare you discuss divine might! You shall be cast into the Hell of Tongue Extraction!"

His expression was solemn and majestic. That kick seemed capable of sweeping Xu Ying directly into hell, where he would sink for all eternity!

Xu Ying desperately urged the blood and qi throughout his body and swung a fist toward the deity's sweeping leg!

The scriptures he had just read involuntarily surfaced in his mind. The diagrams showing the circulation of blood and qi from the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist came rushing forth, allowing him to circulate his blood and qi according to the scriptures without any hesitation!

His blood and qi surged through his body at an incomparably violent speed. The flow shook his organs and rubbed against his muscles and sinews. A sonorous elephant cry rang out from his chest, deafeningly loud!

Xu Ying poured his strength into his right arm. The surging blood and qi instantly made it swell, his right hand growing a full circle larger. The wind of his fist roared as it tore through the air!

The first stance of the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist—Horned Strength Splits the Mountain!

Xu Ying's strength soared. His fist collided with the Green Robe Deity's sweeping right leg, and with a bang, he punched straight through the deity's thick limb!

At the same time, explosive crackles rang out from within his body. They were the strange sounds caused by his blood and qi breaking through barriers!

He had cultivated for seven years, painstakingly practicing the Taiyi Guiding Technique, but had never cultivated a martial arts technique. He had not known what stage he had reached. Now, upon encountering a martial arts technique for the first time, he unleashed every bit of the accumulation from those seven years!

The Taiyi Guiding Technique tempered his blood and qi—it was Xu Ying's cultivation. Martial arts techniques were the means by which that cultivation was released!

Seven years of honing a single sword, its frosty edge never yet tested.

At this moment, the time had finally come to test that edge!

At the Xu household, the Snake Demon had finally reconnected all the severed joints and was fleeing toward the edge of the village when he suddenly heard strange explosive sounds. He froze, then hurriedly looked back in their direction.

"The second, third, and fourth stages of the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist were broken through in an instant! This brat—is he human or a monster? How can he cultivate so quickly?"

Just as he thought this, Xu Ying's blood and qi suddenly circulated. A soaring elephant cry burst from his chest, deep and resonant. It shook the sixty-seven households of Jiangjiatian, sending every window lattice rattling!

Basins, vats, drainage ditches, and even the water in the ponds rippled from the vibrations!

The Snake Demon's mind boomed.

To break through the fourth stage of the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist in a single burst of blood and qi was already astonishing. Yet Xu Ying had actually broken through another stage and cultivated the fifth!

He hurriedly looked toward Xu Ying, only to see his blood and qi circulating violently, even seeping out through the pores on his skin!

The escaping blood and qi formed the image of an Elephant-Headed Deity behind him!

The image was formed from blood and qi and was extremely illusory, like a transparent phantom. It stood a foot and seven or eight inches taller than Xu Ying and moved along with his fists and feet!

This was precisely the phenomenon that appeared upon cultivating the fifth stage!

The Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist had seven stages. The first was blood coursing through the entire body and qi moving through every limb; the second doubled one's blood and qi; the third sent force a yard away; the fourth granted the strength of a divine elephant; the fifth manifested the Elephant Deity and Bull Demon; the sixth forged a Baleful Intent body from blood and qi; and the seventh formed the Elephant King Divine Body!

Among the Demon Race's experts, anyone who cultivated to the seventh level of martial arts could be called a demon king and be conferred as a Mountain God or Water Earl!

Cultivating to the fifth stage already qualified one as a great demon!

Xu Ying could now be called a great demon!

"But this brat is clearly human..." The Snake Demon was bewildered.

Xu Ying did not think much. He unleashed the second stance of the Elephant Strength Bull Demon Fist—White Elephant Swings Its Trunk!

He spun sideways and kicked through the air like an elephant's trunk whipping around. The air split apart with a sharp whistle!

Behind him, the Elephant-Headed Deity simultaneously turned and swung its leg. The elephant leg overlapped with his own, and with a crisp crack, it smashed into the Green Robe Deity's waist, staggering him. His waist bent, and his body nearly folded to the ground.

The Green Robe Deity was shocked and enraged. He retreated several steps to avoid Xu Ying's attack, then suddenly tore down a wall beside him and raised it high. Like covering a fly with a lid, he intended to smash Xu Ying beneath it!

The wall exploded apart. Xu Ying shattered it with one punch, sending bricks and stones flying into the deity's face.

The Green Robe Deity shielded his face with one hand and struck with the other.

His fist collided with Xu Ying's incoming punch. With a crisp crack, his fist was actually broken outright!

Terror filled the Green Robe Deity's heart. When his gaze met Xu Ying's, his soul was once again dominated by that fear.

That was the fear mortals felt toward deities!

He had actually developed fear like a mortal, while Xu Ying seemed to be the deity who controlled his life and death!

He blocked left and right, but at last he could no longer evade.

Seeing Xu Ying's increasingly massive fist hurtling toward his face, he hurriedly shouted, "I am a deity conferred by the City God! My name is recorded in both the Yin Court and the Imperial Court. Killing me means violating the Heavenly Law..."

Before he could finish the word "law," Xu Ying's fist smashed through his face and burst out the back of his head, punching a huge hole through his skull!

The Green Robe Deity froze. His corpse swayed before collapsing to the ground, its vital essence dispersing and transforming into a pile of wood.

"Ahhhhhh—" Not far away, the Snake Demon opened his mouth wide and shrieked in terror.

----Thanks to Zhai Cai and Heng Feng for the silver tips! Thanks to Walking on Clouds QAQ, Liang Hong, Divine Dynasty_Uncle Chuang, Long Companion Xiao Hui, Divine Dynasty_Ying An, Chuankong Stone_, Sister Lin Ah, Stars Change in a Thousand Ways, Divine Dynasty_Night Cat Kull, Divine Dynasty_Only Fight for This Moment, Divine Dynasty_Big Refrigerator, I Fell in Love with a God Tonight, Ancestor of Immortals Demons Heretics, Flowing Tears, Only by Growing Up, Joyous Heaven, Mirror Flower Water Moon and Careless, Divine Dynasty_Era, Three Lives Fate Small Knife, Divine Dynasty_Qing Er, Water Meter Transcriber, Heaven's Sin Can Be Forgiven, but One's Own Sin Cannot Be Lived With, I'm Truly Arrogant, Yan Ling Ji, Happy Gigi, Not Leaving Blue Mountain, Q Purple Night Sky, Mo Heng 106, Clear Dream, Nothing Left Behind, Layered Towers Ultimately Misled the Youth, Fei Tian Yu Himself, Divine Dynasty_Array, Yu Xiaoqing, Gather All Human Dreams, Divine Dynasty_Coffee, I Live on Black Mountain, Ma Yitao, iampetty, Zhuo Yao, Three Lives Fate Hunter, Mom is a Tycoon in the Cultivation World, and everyone else for your tips. Sorry for the expense, everyone!!! My thanks!!!