This also meant that right here in Great River City, or rather in its vicinity, such a mighty being existed. Yet, such an existence was simply too distant from the Great River City Sect; perhaps a single sneeze could cause Great River City to be utterly destroyed.
As for the manifestation of an Emperor-tier deity not necessarily representing terrifying strength on the other party's part, everyone had never considered it. After all, a divine statue of an Emperor's status was absolutely impossible to appear in the hands of someone with low cultivation.
The slightest spark of birth for any Emperor-tier divine statue would already be targeted by countless powerful figures and factions, and anyone even slightly weaker in strength was only fit to dream about it in their sleep.
Ordinary mortals wishing to peer into a divine statue of an Emperor's status could only pin their hopes on an Emperor-tier status that might naturally and spontaneously gather the collective thoughts of all living beings between heaven and earth. However, such naturally born Emperor-tier statues of heaven and earth were far too rare; it might be possible that not even a single one was born in several thousand or tens of thousands of years.
After quite a while, the gazes in the hall inevitably turned toward Yang Li and Zhang Yan, who served as the sect master and pillars of strength for the Great River Sect.
"Senior Brother, regarding such a mighty being who might be lurking in our Great River City, how should we respond?"
This concerned the life or death of the Great River Sect. After all, a single careless act that angered the other party might invite a disaster that wiped out the sect, so the members of the Great River Sect could not help but be cautious.
Yang Li exchanged a glance with Zhang Yan, seemed to have made a decision, and said to the others, "All of you, keep your disciples under tight rein and forbid them from stirring up trouble. At the same time, do your utmost to search for this entity. Should there be any clues, report back swiftly. Even if there is the slimmest of chances, we must use the full strength of the Great River Sect to befriend him."
They did not know whether such a mighty being would be a disaster or a blessing for the Great River Sect. If handled poorly, it would be no different from a ticking time bomb, but if handled well and they tried hard to befriend this entity, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for their Great River Sect.
Hearing this, the expressions of everyone present lit up. They had only thought of the harm and pressure a mighty being might bring them, yet forgot what kind of benefits they could gain if they were able to befriend him.
Compared to the reactions of the upper echelon of the Great River Sect, someone in the city was also looking up at the sky, even though the auspicious sign above the nine heavens had already vanished, the person still stood there motionless.
For a long time, the middle-aged man's eyes were filled with astonishment as he murmured softly, "An auspicious sign of an Emperor's status. Which mighty being has arrived here? How could such an existence exist in a tiny Great River City?"
"Cough, cough..."
A burst of violent coughing sounded. Within a courtyard, a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old was coughing intensely. He was dressed in a moon-white inner robe, draped in an azure long robe, with one hand tightly covering his mouth. His complexion was as pale as paper, and despite his desperate efforts to suppress the coughs, muffled sounds continued to spill forth.
The middle-aged man's violent coughs sounded exceptionally harsh in the courtyard. Almost as the man coughed, a figure flew over, and a voice filled with tenderness and reproach rang out, "Grandfather, why won't you listen? With such heavy injuries on your body, how can you just casually get out of bed!"
The young girl's eyes were filled with worry and care as she gently stroked Tang Yuan's back and poured the vital energy she had refined within her own body into the middle-aged man, only to be stopped by Tang Yuan who said, "Girl, there's no need to vainly waste that bit of vital energy of yours. For me, the vital energy you've cultivated and refined over several days is merely a drop in the bucket."
Slightly calming the injuries within his body, Tang Yuan wore a gentle smile on his face and said, "Grandfather will listen to you. Help me back to rest."
Hearing this, Tang Lin supported Tang Yuan as they walked toward the room, asking, "Grandfather, just now you looked up at the sky. What were you looking at?"
Tang Yuan's footsteps merely paused slightly, then he smiled and said, "I wasn't looking at anything. Wasn't that just daytime thunder a moment ago? I was just seeing if it's going to rain over the next couple of days."
Supporting Tang Yuan into the room and looking at her grandfather's pale face with a trace of worry, Tang Lin could not help saying, "Grandfather, didn't you say earlier that a close friend of yours is living in seclusion here, and that you came here precisely to find him to heal your injuries? Why..."
Reclining aslant on the bed, Tang Yuan looked at Tang Lin with doting affection and smiled, saying, "Grandfather's friend is temporarily away on business. Once he returns, Grandfather will go find him."
With that, he said to the frowning Tang Lin, "Stop letting your imagination run wild. Would Grandfather lie to you about such a matter? Go cultivate quickly and strive to open your Dantian Divine Palace early, stepping into the ranks of cultivation."
Seeing that Tang Yuan was temporarily fine, Tang Lin then left.
Watching Tang Lin depart, Tang Yuan muttered in a low voice, "Such a silly girl!"
In Shunfu Ward of Great River City, a three-courtyard household was exceptionally lively at this moment. Several tables were set up in the open space of the courtyard, laden with wine and dishes, and alongside them stood an altar table. Atop the altar table rested a divine statue: tiger-headed and human-bodied, yet possessing four claws.
This day happened to be the hundredth birthday of Zhu Yang's mother. Including Zhu Yang's brothers, sisters, grandchildren, sons-in-law, maternal grandsons, and others, the entire big family numbered a full fifty or sixty people.
Dressed in new clothes, Old Madam Zhu sat with a glowing, ruddy face at the head of the divine statue. First, she received birthday greetings from all her children and grandchildren, and then she stood up to hold incense candles alongside her eldest son, Zhu Yang, respectfully burning incense and bowing toward the tiger-headed humanoid divine statue placed there.
"Deities above, we pray that the gods bless my Zhu family with a thriving lineage, peace and joy, and longevity extending without end..."
Now, that tiger-headed humanoid divine statue had originally been completely unremarkable. However, the very moment the Zhu family members bowed and offered the incense candles—just as the birthday star, Old Madam Zhu, had inserted the incense candles she held into the censer—that tiger-headed humanoid statue, which had previously lowered its gaze slightly as if overlooking its believers, suddenly jerked its head up to gaze toward the high heavens.
It was originally nothing more than an utterly ordinary stone-carved divine statue, yet abruptly and forcefully, it raised its head and stared straight at the nine heavens.
This sudden change directly startled Old Madam Zhu, who was in the midst of offering incense, into uttering a cry of alarm before collapsing backward to the ground. The Zhu family members, who likewise witnessed this scene, each wore looks of utter shock.
Under everyone's gaze, the stone divine statue of the tiger-headed humanoid that they worshipped was undergoing a terrifying transformation. Blood-red fur grew across the stone divine statue at a speed visible to the naked eye, its original four stone claws transformed into fluffy, sharp talons, and its originally tiger-like face extremely bizarrely morphed into that of a living rat's head, its slightly exposed teeth gleaming with a chilling light.
"This... this is an evil spirit! How can this be? When on earth was the deity our Zhu family has worshipped for over a decade subjected to a cuckoo nesting in another's bird-form?"
Zhu Yang engaged in commerce abroad and could be considered well-traveled. When the Zhu family members were stunned by this sudden change and had no idea what was happening, Zhu Yang wore a look of terror.
He had never witnessed or experienced such a scene, but he had heard people mention it before.
Ordinary mortals in the world worshipped divine statues to seek the protection of deities and ward off the encroachment of gods, demons, and malevolent spirits. Yet, there were similarly some powerful gods, demons, and malevolent spirit entities capable of possessing divine statues thriving with incense, carrying out the act of a cuckoo taking over a magpie's nest. Once they devoured the incense and fire prayer power completely, they would devour every single member of the household that worshipped the statue before seeking their next home.
Before you continue