After the battle in the Barbaric Wilderness Forest, the name of the Long-Eared God rose from obscurity to blazing prominence, and its faction expanded at a breakneck pace!
In the first year after the great battle, the number of its believers surpassed one million. More than half were ordinary disciples who had cultivated a trace of divine power, while there were also twenty thousand elite disciples, three thousand senior disciples, and eight hundred elders. The Long-Eared God was revered throughout the court and commonfolk of Qing Kingdom as one of the Nine Orthodox Gods. Temples dedicated to it sprang up across every province and city like bamboo shoots after spring rain.
In the second year, other false gods began to rise, filling the void left by the fall of false gods such as the Ear-Wisdom God.
The growth in the Long-Eared God's believers began to slow, but their numbers still broke through five million by the end of the year. Shen Mo then launched a divine war, beginning the purge of all false gods apart from the Nine Orthodox Gods.
He had wanted to purge the remaining eight Orthodox Gods as well, but the Long-Eared God's authorities were somewhat lacking. Authorities over matters such as warfare, wealth, harvests, and offspring still needed other false gods to fill them. Otherwise, the people of Qing Kingdom would worship the false gods of neighboring nations, allowing stronger and more difficult-to-control false god factions to infiltrate Qing Kingdom.
By the third year, few false gods remained within Qing Kingdom. Only a little over a hundred were left, with the Long-Eared God at their head. The immortal corpse fragments left behind after the false gods perished were all collected by Guan Ling. Meanwhile, the number of the Long-Eared God's believers and disciples reached its peak,