Xiantian Martial Artists refined their bodies with the Power of Heaven and Earth, cleansed their marrow, purged their minds, broke through the shackles of the body, and lived for two hundred years!
Li Zhong was an Early-stage Xiantian expert infinitely close to the mid-stage. In the Xiantian Realm, because he was blessed by heaven, if he was burdened with grave sins and reached the Execution Threshold, the minimum starting price would be ten thousand Merit Points!
Even Shen Zhui, who could only be considered an assistant, had earned more than seven thousand Merit Points. This was how the system encouraged killing powerful experts.
"Enlightenment Time costs one hundred Merit Points per second. With seven thousand five hundred Merit Points, I can exchange for seventy-five seconds. I'll see whether it works!"
Shen Zhui exchanged all his Merit Points for Enlightenment Time, then immediately began reciting the second story.
"Heaven's way shows no favoritism; it always stands with the good. Accumulate benevolence and keep your conduct pure, temper your actions and establish your name, let those of like brightness illuminate one another, and those of like kind seek one another..."
The clear sound of reading drifted out from the courtyard. Shen Zhui read each character and every sentence extremely slowly. At that moment, his eyes and heart were united, his mind fully concentrated. Gradually, his entire expression grew solemn, and a faint white radiance spread from his whole body.
As he read and memorized, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around him also began slowly converging toward this place, with Shen Zhui at its center.
The book on the table trembled faintly. Phantom images of individual characters transformed into streaks of golden light and sank into Shen Zhui's eyes.
At first, the speed was slow, with the characters floating out from the book one by one.
But as time passed, entire sentences began to appear. Flowing light flashed, and a layer of golden radiance spread over the outer layer of the white light surrounding Shen Zhui's body.
The spiritual sense in his mind continued to condense, like a tangled mass of willow fluff gradually becoming neat and orderly beneath an invisible force.
Birds passing overhead would stop at Shen Zhui's window, while the flowers and grass leaned and curved slightly toward him, like students bowing their heads to receive instruction.
A faint, secluded fragrance wafted from Shen Zhui. When the flowers, grass, and birds touched this fragrance, slight changes suddenly appeared in them. The flowers and grass became even more vivid, while the birds seemed to grow a little larger.
County Office, Bright Hall.
Wei Wenhe had been standing before a map, concentrating as he thought, when he suddenly felt the shrine tremble faintly.
"Hmm? What is this..." Wei Wenhe sensed it briefly. Then a flash of azure light passed over his body, and he vanished from before the map.
"Whoosh~"
Wei Wenhe appeared out of thin air in Shen Zhui's courtyard.
Seeing Shen Zhui reciting beneath the window while birds and flowers lowered themselves to listen, he was unable to contain his shock.
"Fragrance born between the lips and teeth, spiritual energy paying homage... Which deity has favored this Shen Zhui?"
After listening carefully to the content, Wei Wenhe immediately cupped his hands and bowed toward the divine statue hall.
"So it is General Liu Gong. I thank General Liu Gong for his compassion."
Reciting the stories of the deities had the simplest and most direct benefit of tempering one's spiritual sense.
Afterward, by borrowing divine power, one could at least double one's strength with the First Summon of Deity.
Yet doubling one's strength was not the limit of the First Summon of Deity. It was merely the minimum standard.
The maximum could reach fourfold!
The degree to which divine power enhanced its user varied from person to person. Generally, it only ranged between two and three times.
But after sensing it, Wei Wenhe discovered that Shen Zhui's First Summon of Deity could control at least one additional fold of divine power, reaching the maximum fourfold enhancement of strength!
Clearly, this was not happening for no reason. The deity's true body had sensed Shen Zhui and given him a hand.
The stronger Shen Zhui became, the greater the help to Wei Wenhe. Naturally, he had to thank the deity on Shen Zhui's behalf.
"Wang Long said it took him five days just to approach the level of the First Summon of Deity, but judging by this, he still underestimated him." Wei Wenhe smiled. As the supreme authority of a county, he could naturally sense Shen Zhui's current progress with perfect clarity.
Others might not be able to see the streaks of golden light flashing, but he could sense them.
Shen Zhui had now already approached the level of the Second Summon of Deity!
"Lord Wei, what is happening with Brother Shen?" Lin Ze had arrived in the courtyard at some point. As a Qi Cultivation True Person, he was extremely sensitive to the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. After sensing the change in spiritual energy, he had followed it all the way here, only to discover that its source was Shen Zhui. What surprised him was that Wei Wenhe was here as well, apparently having laid down some profound means that made Shen Zhui's little courtyard into a space of its own, undisturbed by outside interference.
Wei Wenhe was actually protecting Shen Zhui's path like a guardian!
"Lord Lin." Wei Wenhe noticed Lin Ze's choice of words and immediately replied courteously, "It is a good thing."
"A good thing? For even Wei Wenhe to call it a good thing, what exactly happened to Shen Zhui?" Lin Ze was secretly astonished as well.
He did not know Shen Zhui well. In truth, he had never understood why Wang Long valued Shen Zhui so highly. Now, however, it seemed that Shen Zhui was not merely valued by Wang Long—the county magistrate also cared deeply about him.
Shen Zhui's importance in the county magistrate's heart might be far greater than he had guessed.
"Lord Lin, if you have business, simply wait another three quarter-hours before going in." Wei Wenhe waved his hand. His figure then dissipated, leaving the courtyard.
Lin Ze nodded and stood in the distance, watching this wondrous scene with clicking sounds of amazement.
The moment Shen Zhui opened his eyes, the restriction Wei Wenhe had set up vanished as well. Shen Zhui immediately saw Lin Ze in the distance through the window.
"Brother Lin, what brings you here?" Shen Zhui hurriedly closed the book, rose, and walked outside.
"I came to see you." Lin Ze smiled and did not expose what had just happened.
"Please, come in and sit." Shen Zhui extended a hand and invited Lin Ze inside.
Lin Ze said, "It seems Brother Shen has made quite a bit of progress these past few days."
"I have indeed made some progress. I also have Brother Lin to thank for reminding me back then. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'd still be agonizing over it now." Shen Zhui was quite pleased as well.
He was now only a short distance from the Second Summon of Deity—just twenty-odd characters remained.
This Enlightenment Time had helped him cross the threshold of the First Summon of Deity and arrive at the threshold of the second. It truly counted as astonishingly rapid progress.
"Has Brother Shen thought about what you plan to do in the future?" Lin Ze asked as though making casual conversation.
"Plan?"
"Have you never thought about leaving Heyuan County to see the world beyond?"
"Not for now."
Shen Zhui shook his head. Although he also wanted to see the outside world, the current situation was unstable. With his strength at present, it would be difficult for him to protect himself outside.
"Why does Brother Lin ask?"
"Nothing. I was just making conversation."
Lin Ze smiled, quickly skipped over the subject, and changed topics to chat with Shen Zhui about other matters.
Shen Zhui did not think much of it and simply listened quietly.
From time to time, he also asked Lin Ze about matters concerning Qi Cultivation True Persons, though naturally he listened more often to Lin Ze speak.
"Brother Lin, I heard that the Wu'an Army has more than ten thousand Xiantian Martial Artists. Are there really that many?"
Lin Ze nodded. "There are! And that is not even the full number. The threshold for joining the Wu'an Army is the seventh level of the Houtian Realm or higher. The training and resources provided by the army are not something scattered martial artists can compare with."
"For an ordinary martial artist without some family wealth, breaking through to Xiantian might take ten or twenty years—or they might never break through in their entire life. But in the Wu'an Army, with a bit of luck, after completing seven or eight missions within a year, they might be able to accumulate enough resources and treasures to break through to Xiantian."
Shen Zhui was somewhat shocked. "A year? That's far too exaggerated!"
Lin Ze said boldly, "This is no exaggeration. My Wu'an Army is the imperial guard directly under the Capital City. Marquis Wu'an is an expert who has surpassed the Divine Ability Realm, and under him are countless Divine Ability Realm and Spirit Bridge Realm powerhouses. It is one of the strongest armies in the entire world. What does a little bit of resources for advancing to Xiantian amount to? As long as you have sufficiently outstanding aptitude and performance, dare to fight and strive, then achieving the Spirit Bridge Realm within a year is not impossible. There are far too many examples like that. After all, the army is the place least lacking in resources."
"Of course, however much you want to obtain, you have to pay just as much. Carrying out missions is also extremely dangerous. Accumulating resources is not that easy."
"The richer the rewards of a resource-gathering mission, the more difficult it is, and the greater the danger. Take me, for example. I spent nearly half my fortune on this mission, yet after chasing for a year, I still failed to complete it. Big Brother had terrible luck this time—the damn Li Family ruined my plans. I've truly suffered a catastrophic loss! To find that traitor's trail again, I'll have to spend a fortune... I'm afraid I can only give up in the end."
As he spoke, Lin Ze's expression grew somewhat ugly.
Shen Zhui had heard Lin Ze mention it several times. The reason he had remained in Heyuan County was, firstly, that he hoped to use the shrine's power to obtain clues about the criminal.
Secondly, he was furious that the two major families had ruined his plans and wanted to go to their doors to recover some of his losses.
But now, it seemed that neither matter was something that could be handled easily.
The compensation offered by the two major families had clearly failed to meet Lin Ze's expectations.
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