"Using the Xiantian Realm to slay a Spirit Bridge Realm martial artist?" Shen Zhui was stunned.
In the martial artist realm, after Houtian and Xiantian came the Spirit Bridge Realm.
Xiantian Martial Artists could communicate with the Power of Heaven and Earth, form protective Gang Qi, and briefly fly through the air. Every move they made possessed tremendous might.
Spirit Bridge Realm martial artists underwent a further qualitative transformation in the vital energy within their bodies, constructing a stable channel in their dantians that connected with Heaven and Earth. Their methods of controlling the Power of Heaven and Earth were even stronger, allowing them to roam through the skies and land, unlike Xiantian Martial Artists, who could only fly briefly.
If an Xiantian Martial Artist's control over the Power of Heaven and Earth was like a child kneading mud, then a Spirit Bridge Realm martial artist could shape that mud into exquisite porcelain!
The two were worlds apart.
"Captain Wang brought me here. Could it be that I can also Summon Deity power?" Shen Zhui could not help asking. With his current Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm strength, if he could receive the temple's power as a blessing, would he not be able to slay an Xiantian Martial Artist?
"Don't rush." Wang Long waved his hand. "Summoning a Deity isn't that easy."
"First, you need to obtain a Daoist Magic Token bestowed by the County Lord to communicate with the temple."
"Second, the martial artist must reach the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm. Otherwise, the body simply cannot withstand the Deity's power."
"Finally, your heart must be devout, and you must believe in the Deity to gain its recognition."
Wang Long looked at Shen Zhui and said, "These are the three basic conditions for the First Summon of Deity."
"The first summon?" Shen Zhui asked doubtfully. "Borrowing the temple's power is divided into many levels?"
Wang Long smiled. "Of course. The City God Temple is divided into Seven Divisions, and the power of each Deity differs. Moreover, the stronger you are, the more Deity power you can borrow."
"An Earl-level Temple can perform up to Five Summons of Deity!"
"They are, in order: Distinguish Good and Evil, Discern Right and Wrong, Slay Evil Spirits, Exterminate Ghosts and Monsters, and Subdue Heavenly Demons."
"Slay Demons and Exterminate Monsters..." Shen Zhui muttered.
"Each additional time you borrow Deity power, your strength increases severalfold. Of course, you don't need to consider so much right now. It would already be good if you could reach the level of the First Summon of Deity: Distinguish Good and Evil."
"Increase severalfold?!" Shen Zhui nearly choked. Good heavens! If a Peak Houtian martial artist's strength increased severalfold, they would definitely be able to contend with an Xiantian Martial Artist!
No wonder there were only a dozen or so Ninth Stage Houtian martial artists in the Martial Arts Department, yet the County Lord still had the confidence to resist all the major families in the city.
All the major and minor families in Heyuan County combined probably had no more than thirty Xiantian Masters, right?
What was more, the families were not necessarily united!
"Shen Zhui, come with me." Wang Long did not give Shen Zhui time to think. Instead, he led him onward.
He slowly walked up to one of the statues holding a bright mirror. Then he pulled a token from his robes, and Wang Long's entire body merged into the statue and vanished without a trace!
"This, this..." Shen Zhui's eyes widened.
"Come on." Wang Long's voice came from inside the statue, urging him.
"Yes." Shen Zhui immediately followed and walked toward the Mirror Deity Statue.
It clearly looked like a solid object, but when Shen Zhui approached, he passed straight through it.
A flash of white light then appeared before his eyes. Shen Zhui found himself standing on a white plain, with an endless starry sky overhead.
Before he could marvel, he saw Wang Long waving to him from nearby.
"Shen Zhui, do you know why, back then outside the city, when you were clearly ambushed by that young master of the Li Family, I couldn't act?"
Shen Zhui pondered for a moment before saying, "Because Li Ming possessed a treasure that concealed him from the Deity's detection."
Wang Long nodded. He stretched out a hand, and a tiny star overhead suddenly fell. Then he walked toward Shen Zhui and placed one hand on his shoulder.
"Don't resist."
"Yes."
The moment he spoke, Shen Zhui felt an immense force pulling at him, as though his entire soul were about to be dragged away. He instinctively wanted to resist, but then remembered Wang Long's words and simply went with the flow.
A streak of white light flashed. When Shen Zhui came to himself, he "opened" his eyes and was immediately shocked.
"What? This is..."
The surrounding scene had completely changed. Shen Zhui was now standing in a Bamboo Forest, his feet planted on fallen leaves and mud, with Wang Long standing beside him.
That was not what shocked Shen Zhui. Ahead of them, two figures were slowly approaching from the distance.
One of them was dressed like a farmer, with a trace of sorrow occasionally flashing between his brows.
A dozen meters behind the farmer was another man. He wore a pair of rulers at his waist, had delicate features, and looked like a boy of seventeen or eighteen.
"That's..." Shen Zhui could not help exclaiming, "Liu Bin and me?"
"Keep watching." Wang Long smiled.
Shen Zhui suppressed the doubts in his heart and watched.
The other Shen Zhui and Liu Bin slowly approached them, then passed directly through their bodies and followed Liu Bin to an open patch of ground.
"This place is secluded and peaceful. I often come here to practice my saber. What does my lord think?"
"The Azure Dragon Turns Its Lair, the White Tiger Enters the Firmament, the mountains rise in overlapping ridges, and the waters wind around them. It is indeed a blessed land of Wind and Water Array. If one were buried here, it would surely bless their descendants."
The clear conversation reached them, and every movement of the two men was visible.
The conversation and battle that followed unfolded with perfect clarity. Shen Zhui had even broken into a cold sweat as he watched his past self withstand Liu Bin's final saber strike.
In the end, however, Shen Zhui still won.
The Iron Ruler pierced Liu Bin's chest, and he ultimately died.
"Well done. I didn't expect you to already possess the strength to slay a Ninth Stage Houtian martial artist at that time." Wang Long smiled in appraisal.
After watching the entire scene, Shen Zhui was already filled with questions.
Wang Long showed no intention of explaining. With a wave of his hand, the surroundings blurred again, and Shen Zhui once more felt that pulling force.
This time, having gained experience, Shen Zhui recovered quickly.
When he opened his eyes, Shen Zhui and Wang Long were standing on a hillside.
It only took Shen Zhui a moment to react. This was... Fanshan Pavilion!
The very place where he had been ambushed before!
Shen Zhui vaguely understood something, but he still patiently watched.
"Look, that's you." Wang Long pointed. Down the hill, another Shen Zhui was riding a horse, leisurely basking in the afterglow of the setting sun.
From this angle, Shen Zhui naturally noticed the two squads of elite archers lying in ambush among the forests on both sides of the road.
"Whoosh~" The sound of arrows tearing through the air rang out.
A storm of arrows howled toward Shen Zhui below. At that critical moment, Shen Zhui's movement technique broke through to the Great Accomplishment Realm, allowing him to escape the calamity.
"Your reactions are pretty quick." Wang Long praised him.
"I barely dodged them." Shen Zhui shook his head with a sigh.
Shen Zhui watched everything that followed: how he went from dodging the arrows to being besieged by A'Da and A'Er.
Even the words exchanged during the standoff were relived from an onlooker's perspective.
Seeing his own battle, Shen Zhui seemed to gain some insight.
And when Wang Long saw Shen Zhui take a hostage and calmly threaten his opponents during the standoff, he could not help secretly praising him.
With that composure and calmness, even in his younger days, Wang Long admitted that he could not have matched Shen Zhui.
The standoff ended. A'Er died, and "Shen Zhui" hurriedly fled up the hillside.
The two of them quickly followed, arriving at the location of the final scene.
Once they reached this place, Shen Zhui immediately sensed that something was wrong!
The other Shen Zhui had just fled up the hillside when his expression suddenly became shocked. Then the Iron Ruler was knocked away.
Essence of Vital Energy erupted from the Iron Ruler, and it was abruptly flung away...
"How could this be?!"
Shen Zhui's eyes widened. He finally realized what was wrong!
Because whether it was the attack at the beginning or the direction in which the Iron Ruler had torn through the air afterward,
there had been no one there at all!!
Li Ming and Elder Cang had not appeared in this scene from beginning to end!
It was as though...
he had been fighting the air the entire time!
"This..." Shen Zhui was speechless.
After that, the squad of more than twenty archers was killed.
A'Da died with hatred in his heart.
Wang Long arrived.
Shen Zhui was saved...
Throughout the entire process, "Wang Long" and "Shen Zhui's" words and actions were perfectly clear, yet Li Ming and Elder Cang, who should have been there, were nowhere to be seen.
"Quite miraculous, isn't it?" Wang Long said with a smile. "Don't rush to ask questions. Keep watching."
The scene changed again.
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