Watching Li Youming, who now looked like a man in his thirties,
Zhang Ronggui was filled with shock.
As it happened, Li Youming was two years older than him.
Yet when the two stood together, they looked as though a whole generation separated them.
Truly, divine grace was as vast as the sea!
He sighed inwardly, but kept his expression solemn as he bowed to Li Youming.
"Temple Keeper, I'm Zhang Ronggui, village chief of Zhang Family Village. I've led the villagers here to pay respects to Lord Zhangyue. Zhang Family Village intends to join Four Seas Village!"
"Liao Family Village does too!" Liao Jinzhi, who looked like a middle-aged man, hurriedly added.
"Haha—"
"Welcome, Zhang Family Village and Liao Family Village! From now on, you're all villagers of Four Seas Village. May your descendants for generations enjoy Lord Zhangyue's protection!"
Li Youming laughed heartily.
He was also rather excited.
The Four Villages had been in this region for over a hundred years.
He never would have imagined that today, he, Li Youming, would bring the Four Villages together as one.
"May our descendants for generations enjoy Lord Zhangyue's protection!"
Zhang Ronggui, Liao Jinzhi, and the many villagers from both villages following behind them all beamed with joy.
With a Deity watching over them,
they no longer had to fear being eaten by Demonic Creatures one day in this harsh world!
In a mighty procession—
the villagers headed toward the Land God Temple.
When they reached the temple,
the villagers, including those from Four Seas Village, brought out sticks of incense, lit them, and bowed reverently.
"All the villagers of Four Seas Village thank Lord Zhangyue for slaying the Wolf Demon and protecting us!"
Li Youming spoke loudly and kowtowed in reverence.
"Thank you, Lord Zhangyue, for slaying the Wolf Demon and protecting us!"
Li Deyang, Li Xiuwu, Chen Mazi, Chen Ergou, Zhang Ronggui, Liao Jinzhi, and all the villagers cried out.
Their voices rolled far into the distance, solemn and dignified.
In the Divine Domain,
Li Yue looked at the vast crowd kneeling outside the Land God Temple.
A smile touched his lips.
He could sense it—
he had gained a great many Believers today.
And the faith of many Believers was growing stronger!
Slaying the Wolf Demon was the most powerful divine miracle.
It was also a great deed that had benefited every villager.
And it had avenged countless villagers' blood feuds.
"A Deity who truly exists, who slays Demonic Creatures for the villagers, and who bestows blessings on Believers."
"Who wouldn't want to worship such a Deity?"
"Especially in a world crawling with Demonic Creatures and Evil Specters."
He chuckled and opened Believer Information to take a look.
[Believer Information] [Daily Incense]: 1,694 strands [Dao-Grade Believer]: 0 "Provides 100,000 strands of incense daily" [Heaven-Grade Believer]: 0 "Provides 10,000 strands of incense daily" [Saint-Grade Believer]: 0 "Provides 1,000 strands of incense daily" [Grade A Believer]: 4 "Provides 100 strands of incense daily" [Grade B Believer]: 62 "Provides 10 strands of incense daily" [Grade C Believer]: 665 "Provides 1 strand of incense daily" [Grade D Believer]: 91 "Provides 1 strand of incense every ten days"
"There are 822 Believers now."
"The incense I receive each day has increased tremendously."
"I can almost condense three strands of divine power every two days."
Li Yue was satisfied.
He also noticed that besides Li Youming, Li Deyang, and Li Xiuwu, another person had become a Grade A Believer.
"Li Xiuling?"
"He was a young man who received a blessing later on. I didn't expect him to become a Grade A Believer so quickly."
Li Yue raised an eyebrow.
He had read Li Xiuling's life story.
There was nothing remarkable about it.
He had lived in the village since birth and had never left.
His parents farmed, and he had two younger brothers and a younger sister. As the eldest child, he naturally worked the fields alongside them.
He was only twenty-three, yet looked more like a middle-aged man in his thirties.
But the moment he became a Grade B Believer and received Li Yue's blessing, his fate had already changed.
Now that he was a Grade A Believer, he was even further ahead of the rest.
He took out the Land God Register and checked the information on all the Grade B Believers.
Six of them had committed a fair amount of evil.
For now, he wouldn't consider blessing them unless they worshipped him devoutly for over ten years while doing good deeds.
"Besides the ten Grade B Believers who have already received blessings,"
"there are forty-six others who can be blessed."
"Thirty-three are elderly people or women over middle age; the remaining thirteen are middle-aged men and young people."
Li Yue's gaze remained calm.
He raised a hand gently.
One First-Grade Blessing Talisman after another appeared beside him, shining with brilliant white light.
There were eighteen in all.
While the divine might of slaying the Wolf Demon still hung over the villagers' hearts, bestowing talismans would surely make their faith even more devout.
Slaying the Wolf Demon was divine might, terrible as a prison.
Bestowing talismans was divine grace, vast as the sea!
And next—
Four Seas Village would have to expand outward.
They would need more Martial Artists to complete the task more effectively.
At present, Four Seas Village—
including the two villages that had just joined—
had only nineteen Martial Artists.
Three of them were elderly, their qi and blood in decline, and no longer fit to fight.
But that didn't matter much.
As long as they received the First-Grade Blessing Talismans he bestowed, their qi and blood would immediately regenerate, making them ten years younger!
Whoosh—
At a thought, the eighteen First-Grade Blessing Talismans shot out of the Divine Domain.
Zhang Ronggui was utterly devout.
From the moment he had witnessed the miracle of the Wolf Demon being slain, he had felt nothing but reverence for Lord Zhangyue.
When he was young,
three of his older brothers and one older sister had been eaten by the Wolf Demon.
He hated the Wolf Demon with every fiber of his being.
But all these years later, even a Martial Master from the county had gone up the mountain and died at the Wolf Demon's hands.
Now Zhang Ronggui was old, while the Wolf Demon still lived.
He had long since given up hope of taking revenge, and feared the Wolf Demon terribly.
So when he first heard that Li Youming was going into the mountains to slay it, he hadn't believed a word.
In his mind, the Wolf Demon was too powerful.
It was simply impossible to defeat!
But now—
the Wolf Demon was dead.
Slain by a Deity!
His fear of the Wolf Demon instantly turned into devout faith in Lord Zhangyue!
"Thank you, Lord Zhangyue, for slaying the Wolf Demon and avenging my loved ones..."
He was filled with gratitude.
But just then—
he saw streaks of white light flying out from the Land God statue.
One streak shot straight into his body.
He saw it.
It was a talisman shining with brilliant white light.
The talisman shattered, turning into a torrent of qi and blood that surged through his body.
In an instant,
he completed his third Metamorphosis of qi and blood, then his fourth.
His once-aged body grew strong again in the blink of an eye.
Most of his gray-white hair turned black once more. His sagging skin tightened, and his strength surged throughout his body!
"What's happening to me...?"
He stared at his own hands in disbelief.
This terrifying strength, far greater than before—was it really his?
He had reached the First-Grade limit?!
He looked around.
More than a dozen people in the crowd had qi and blood surging through them. Clearly, they had also completed more than one Metamorphosis just now.
"So this is a Deity's blessing?"
"I actually received the blessing of a great Deity?"
He murmured to himself, then fell to his knees before the Land God statue, weeping with age-worn eyes as he bowed in utter devotion.
"Zhang Ronggui thanks Lord Zhangyue for this gift! Zhang Ronggui is willing to devote the rest of his life to my God!"
At that moment,
it was as if a light had appeared around him.
It was as if he had finally found the meaning of his life.
Before you continue