Bai Ruxue knelt uneasily before the Land God Temple, her face pale.
Kneeling in worship for ten days had not left her short of energy, but the Venerable God had ignored her throughout those ten days. Her unease had only grown, and she had no idea what the Venerable God intended to do with her.
And during those ten days,
at first, quite a few people had been afraid of the kneeling Horse Demon.
Though she had taken human form, Demonic Creatures still inspired fear.
But they saw her kneeling before the Land God Temple every day.
The villagers of Four Seas Village gradually grew accustomed to the kneeling Horse Demon.
Lord Zhangyue must have had his reasons for making her kneel.
And the Temple Keeper had told them that the Horse Demon had never eaten a human, which was why Lord Zhangyue had spared her life.
No one was afraid anymore.
"Do you have a name?"
Suddenly,
a calm, authoritative voice rang out in Bai Ruxue's mind.
She shuddered and hurriedly bowed even more devoutly, prostrating herself on the ground.
"Venerable God, this little demon is called Bai Ruxue."
"There are only two demons under my command, and you're one of them. What can you do?"
Li Yue stood in the Divine Domain, looking down at the Horse Demon Bai Ruxue as he spoke calmly.
Bai Ruxue froze.
What could she do?
Her thoughts raced.
The Venerable God wouldn't be asking about her strength!
After all, her strength was insignificant before him, and the Venerable God already knew exactly how strong she was.
If that was the case—
then the Venerable God was asking—
what special abilities she had.
And those abilities had to be useful to the Venerable God!
What could she do that would be of use to him?
She sensed that many villagers from Four Seas Village were kneeling respectfully behind her, offering incense to the Venerable God.
Among them were several Martial Artists.
A flash of inspiration struck her.
"Venerable God, I can raise warhorses for Four Seas Village!"
"If you give me a batch of ordinary horses, I can raise them to the First-Rank level, even to the very peak of the First Rank!"
She answered respectfully.
After all, her true form was a horse.
By using her own aura and even her blood to nurture them, she could gradually advance ordinary horses to the First-Rank level.
Raise warhorses?
Li Yue was immediately interested.
In God War, the Believer War was an extremely important component, accounting for thirty percent of a Deity's strength.
That was why he placed such great importance on the strength of his believers.
And there was no doubt—
at the First and Second Ranks, cavalry possessed tremendous strength!
If he could obtain a batch of First-Rank, or even Second-Rank, warhorses,
then the First-Rank Martial Artists and Second-Rank Martial Masters of Four Seas Village could charge into battle on horseback—
their might would surely surpass that of several times their number of Martial Artists and Martial Masters.
But there was one problem.
How could First-Rank and Second-Rank warhorses join the Believer War?
Only believers were allowed to fight in the Believer War.
In other words—
to let First-Rank or Second-Rank warhorses take part, he first had to make them his believers.
But that wouldn't be difficult for him.
After all, Bai Ruxue would raise them step by step within his Jurisdiction, where they would naturally be enveloped by his Divine Might. It would be easy for them to become believers.
It was extremely difficult, however, to turn Demonic Creatures from outside his territory into believers.
Most importantly, they could never have eaten a human!
The Divine Path took root in the Human Path; the Human Path was the foundation of the Divine Path.
Demonic Creatures that had eaten humans ran counter to the Human Path and were not tolerated by the Divine Path.
That alone ruled out ninety-nine percent of Demonic Creatures.
In this world, very few Demonic Creatures refrained from eating humans.
That was why he had subdued the Horse Demon Bai Ruxue after discovering she had never eaten a human.
"In that case—"
"Raise horses in Four Seas Village."
He looked down at Bai Ruxue and gave the order calmly.
"Bai Ruxue obeys your command, my lord!"
Bai Ruxue felt her heart ease and answered with delight.
She knew she had successfully become a subordinate of the Venerable God.
From now on,
she would no longer be a Demonic Creature. She would be a subordinate of the Venerable God!
Li Yue turned his gaze away from Bai Ruxue.
Then he looked toward Li Youming, who was cultivating in his room.
"It seems the last Deity Invocation Art gave him quite a few benefits. He'll probably advance to the upper stage of the Second Rank soon."
A faint smile touched his lips.
If Li Youming raised his cultivation to the upper stage of the Second Rank on his own, then Li Yue could save nearly ten units of divine power when he used the Principal Ninth Rank Divine Art, Strengthen Temple Keeper.
It wasn't much, but it was a reward Li Youming had earned through his own efforts.
He liked it when his believers worked hard.
After all—
he was a Deity, not a babysitter.
"Li Youming."
He spoke slowly, his authoritative voice ringing out in Li Youming's mind.
In the past, to maintain an air of mystery and power, he had delivered Divine Oracles to Li Youming through Dream Projection Art.
But now he had advanced to the Principal Ninth Rank, and after twice slaying demons, his terrifying strength had already taken root in people's hearts.
He no longer needed Dream Projection Art to maintain his mystery and power.
"Lord Zhangyue!"
Li Youming started in surprise and immediately dropped to his knees, his expression respectful and devout.
"The Horse Demon Bai Ruxue will raise horses for Four Seas Village from now on."
"Choose the strongest warhorses for her to raise."
"In the deep valley ten li west of Four Seas Village, there is a group of Bee Spirits that have already submitted to me."
"Do not go and disturb them."
Li Yue's authoritative voice boomed through Li Youming's mind.
"Li Youming obeys Lord Zhangyue's Divine Oracle!"
He answered respectfully.
Li Yue withdrew his gaze.
He looked at the one hundred and fifty jin of Tier 2 Spirit Honey floating in the Divine Domain.
"I wonder what this Tier 2 Spirit Honey is worth—"
he murmured.
With a thought, he opened the Deity Shop and listed one jin of Tier 2 Spirit Honey.
Immediately—
a great deal of text appeared in the Deity Shop.
[Name]: Black-Striped Bee Spirit Honey [Rank]: Tier 2 [Effect]: When consumed by living beings of Tier 2 or below, it speeds up the recovery of wounds. The more they consume, the faster they recover. Its medicinal effects are mild. [Price]: 2 units of divine power/jin
"Black-Striped Bee Spirit Honey."
"A healing item."
Li Yue's eyes flickered.
And it was worth a fair amount: one jin could sell for two units of divine power.
The one hundred and fifty jin of Black-Striped Bee Spirit Honey in his hands would bring in three hundred units of divine power!
Before this,
he had painstakingly sold seventy-six Yin Soldier Artifacts and earned only seven hundred and sixty units of divine power.
Now, a group of Bee Spirits discovered after his Jurisdiction expanded had brought him three hundred units of divine power.
And it was a steady, ongoing return.
It was clear that heaven and earth held countless treasures. As long as his Jurisdiction kept expanding, he could discover even more!
"The Deity Shop offers two units of divine power per jin."
"If I list it on Regional Trading for four units of divine power per jin, that doesn't make me a profiteer, does it?"
he murmured.
Without hesitation—
he listed fifty jin of Black-Striped Bee Spirit Honey to test the waters, at four units of divine power per jin.
If all fifty jin sold, he would earn two hundred units of divine power.
Still, he guessed it wouldn't sell very well.
After all, there weren't many Deities who had advanced to the Subordinate Ninth Rank yet. Everyone was saving their divine power and striving to break through to the realm of an Orthodox God of the Subordinate Ninth Rank.
A healing item like this wasn't urgently needed, so few Deities would buy it.
"There are a hundred thousand Deities in each region."
"Even if few people buy it, someone will. No rush."
Li Yue remained calm.
He had plenty of patience. Listing items on Regional Trading didn't cost anything, anyway.
If they didn't sell, he could simply take them down.
But just then,
he suddenly sensed two Demonic Creatures entering his Jurisdiction.
A Spider Spirit.
A Tiger Spirit.
He looked over, his expression indifferent.
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