Mountain God Temple

The Village Building Order contained no detailed explanations or clauses regarding the establishment of faith-based organizations. This meant Zhang Yang could do whatever he wanted—even proclaim himself a deity and have everyone worship him, and it would still be fine.

But he himself knew that if things were really that simple, it would be wonderful.

This concerned the village's survival over the next three hundred years. He had to choose a faith-based organization that was the most widespread, the easiest to establish, and the least likely to cause trouble.

Thus, his initial consideration was ancestor worship—in other words, an Ancestral Temple—which had been one of the most widespread traditions in China's civilization on Earth.

But after careful consideration, he decided to build a Mountain God Temple first.

The reason was simple. He felt that for a person to exist in this world, they had to possess some sense of awe, whether it was awe in their heart or awe in their thoughts.

Being fearless was certainly a commendable quality, but if a person truly became someone who feared nothing at all, it would become a disaster both for themselves and for the people and society around them.

However, one could not be overly reverent either. If they became timid and constrained themselves and others with countless rules, all that would remain was the stench of a zombie.

These two standards alone eliminated most of the religions Zhang Yang knew about.

As for the Mountain God Temple, it represented one corner of a vast, mysterious, ethereal system of gods and ghosts. Yet despite being a system that could not be fully described even after three days and three nights, it would not bind people hand and foot. At the same time, it could still give people enough of a sense of awe.

Of course, Zhang Yang had no intention of digging into that even vaster system of gods and ghosts. He merely wanted the people in his village to revere something, rather than becoming overly free and undisciplined.

Moreover, the Mountain God Temple could easily be connected to his Ghost Priest. If handled properly, the two might even complement each other.

Actually, Zhang Yang could also establish an Earth God Temple, a City God Temple, or something similar. But both of those would first require more people. In this desolate wilderness, a Mountain God Temple was still more reliable.

Building a Mountain God Temple was very simple, even easier than building a Level 1 Residential House.

He found a scenic spot on the hill, casually put up a small hut, and personally carved a mountain god statue that looked like none of the proper animals out of wood. After placing it inside, two streams of information immediately appeared.

"Establish the village's special building—the Mountain God Temple? Complete the mountain god enfeoffment. Find one complete or fragmented demon soul, 50 units of demon blood, and 1,000 points of energy, then seal them within the Mountain God Temple."

"Explanation: Different demon souls will produce different effects. A complete demon soul may rebel after being enfeoffed as the mountain god, but the Mountain God Temple's accompanying building traits will also be stronger."

The contents of this information surprised Zhang Yang slightly. After thinking it over, he kicked over the crude Mountain God Temple, threw the mountain god statue into the fire, and directly suspended construction of the Level 3 Residential House. He had all the craftsmen come build the Mountain God Temple instead. At the same time, he summoned Wu Yuan and had him personally carve a mountain god statue.

After a full day of work, a completely different Mountain God Temple was successfully built. At the very least, it could now accommodate more than a dozen people in worship.

As for the mountain god Wu Yuan had personally carved—well, why did it look so familiar? Wasn't it Duan Jiu, who had died at the hands of the Spider Lord? The same Duan Jiu who had once fought shoulder to shoulder with Wu Yuan. In the end, Duan Jiu had died, while Wu Yuan had lived.

Zhang Yang would not stop Wu Yuan from commemorating his fallen comrade. Once the mountain god statue, a full person in height, had been erected, new information indeed appeared.

"Establish the village's special building—the Mountain God Temple? Complete the mountain god enfeoffment. Find at least one complete demon soul above Level 5, or enough fragmented demon souls above Level 5, along with 100 units of demon blood and 2,000 points of energy, then seal them within the Mountain God Temple."

"Explanation: A mountain god that is too powerful will certainly rebel. Please prepare for battle."

"A mountain god that will rebel? How interesting!"

Zhang Yang gave a sly chuckle and beckoned Wu Yuan to bring the Four Berserker Bears over. They stood like iron towers at the entrance of the Mountain God Temple. Zhang Yang then took out the nine Red Eagle fragmented souls he had kept and had the Village Building Order begin the enfeoffment.

For a moment, white light flashed and enveloped the mountain god statue. Within that white light, the phantoms of nine Red Eagles cried out as they rushed into the statue. In a mere few seconds, the statue actually came to life. It radiated an awe-inspiring might without even getting angry and stared straight at Zhang Yang, as if thunderous fury were about to pour down.

But at that very moment, Wu Yuan and the Four Berserker Bears simultaneously stepped forward, brimming with killing intent.

"Er, this lowly god—pays respects to Village Chief."

Within the white light, the mountain god statue that had come to life immediately revealed a brilliant smile and gave Zhang Yang a slight cupped-hands salute.

The next second, the white light dissipated. The mountain god statue returned to normal, and streams of information appeared in an instant.

"Successfully constructed the special building, Level 3 Mountain God Temple."

"Village Prosperity increased by 15 points."

"Building effect: Energy can be spent to purchase Level 3 Invisibility Talismans, Protection Talismans, and Vision Talismans from the Mountain God Temple. 100 points of energy per talisman."

"Building effect—Intimidation: When soldiers fight wild beast-type monsters, morale increases by 15%."

"Building effect—Faith: Villager loyalty increases by 5."

"Building effect—Submission: There is a small chance of subduing wild monsters."

"Building effect—Gods and Ghosts: There is a chance that haunting incidents will occur in the village."

"Building effect—Blessing: Praying for favorable weather has an extremely small chance of success."

--

"Pretty good!"

Zhang Yang was very satisfied. As expected of a Mountain God Temple in a Fantasy Setting—it was incredibly useful.

He immediately spent 6,000 points of energy to purchase twenty Invisibility Talismans, twenty Protection Talismans, and twenty Vision Talismans in one go. He then handed them to Wu Yuan and had him distribute them among the members of the patrol team.

These three types of Talismans were extremely useful and could save lives at critical moments, although they also had considerable drawbacks.

After dealing with the Mountain God Temple, Zhang Yang did not have time to rest. He hurried to inspect the Farmland Wu Yuan and the others had cultivated over the past five days.

A full two hundred mu stretched out before him, an impressive sight at a glance. It also showed that Wu Yuan and the other soldiers had worked with great dedication and had not slacked off.

They had first needed to chop down the trees and clear away the enormous roots, then use shovels to dig the entire ground down forty centimeters. It had truly been a massive undertaking.

When Zhang Yang personally stood in this vast expanse of cultivated land, new information naturally appeared in the Village Building Order.

"Newly cultivated land: 210 mu."

"Soil fertility: Level 5."

"Land cultivation level: Level 5."

"Soil moisture: Level 5."

"Quantity of weeds on the land: Level 5."

"Land cultivation successful. Obtained twenty-one plots of Level 5 Farmland. After the first harvest of the crops, Village Prosperity will be obtained."

These messages filled Zhang Yang with wild delight. He had previously wondered why the Farmland had not provided any Village Prosperity. As it turned out, he had to wait until the first harvest.

Moreover, the Village Building Order calculated things like this: ten mu of farmland counted as one building, and the farmland's level was then calculated according to indicators such as soil fertility.

Good heavens, the soil in this Primeval Forest was truly fertile beyond compare.

Twenty-two plots of Level 5 Farmland would amount to 198 points of prosperity. If he then found a way to raise the villagers' loyalty to 80, the villagers would be able to have three children.

This was of enormous significance to Zhang Yang. After all, he could only operate things for twenty years, meaning he could actually command only as far as the fourth generation of residents. The more children born during this period, the greater their chances would be of making it through the 280-year cutscene in the future.