"Interesting."
"This cultivation method actually stole the righteous energy of Human Race scholars and formed a vast aura of righteousness that could protect a demon soul."
Li Yue raised an eyebrow.
This was the first time he had encountered such a mysterious method among Demonic Creatures.
The Demonic Creatures he had slain before, including the Tiger Spirit that had just died, had all been rather ordinary.
Even that Tiger Spirit—
It had not possessed a single Chang Ghost. Clearly, it had no idea how to create one.
But this Spider Spirit's cultivation was too weak.
The thunderous Divine Might in his gaze, capable of destroying demon souls, was only around the lower Fourth Order.
Even so, the Spider Spirit could not withstand it with a single technique.
"Ah...!"
"You killed me... The lords of my Five Immortals Sect won't let you get away with this...!!"
The Spider Spirit screamed again and glared at Li Yue with venomous hatred.
It hated him!
It hated that damned Tiger Spirit for inviting it to confront such a terrifying being!
It also hated the Deity before it for showing no regard whatsoever for its background as a demon from Five Immortals Cave!
But most of all, it regretted its choice!
Why had it let its fleeting attraction to the Tiger Spirit's strength persuade it to come here with him?
If it had not come—
It could have continued mingling among humans, occasionally eating a few scholars and their entire families, with some human girls on the side. How comfortable that would have been!
The next moment.
The vast aura of righteousness vanished beneath the rolling thunder, and the Spider Spirit's demon soul vanished with it.
Two enormous demon corpses fell from the sky, but disappeared in the blink of an eye. Li Yue had already stored them in his Divine Domain.
"Third-Order demon corpses..."
"They should fetch quite a bit of divine power..."
A trace of satisfaction appeared at the corner of Li Yue's mouth.
Of course—
Most importantly, [Personal Quest—Five] was complete.
Those two Demonic Creatures had been rather considerate. They had delivered themselves right to his door.
With a single step, he returned to his Divine Domain.
Looking at the two demon corpses, he opened the Deity Shop and sold them.
Granted—
Believers could also eat demon corpses.
Demon flesh was excellent for replenishing blood and vitality.
But these man-eating Demonic Creatures were steeped in baleful blood energy. Eating too much of their flesh could easily affect a person's temperament, making them cruel and violent.
Especially when the difference in cultivation was too great.
So he would not bestow the Demonic Creatures he killed upon his Believers.
As for anything the Believers hunted themselves, he would not interfere.
If they could hunt it, they had earned the right to eat it.
"Not bad—"
"The corpse of a lower Third-Order Tiger Spirit sold for forty-five units of divine power."
"And the corpse of an upper Third-Order Spider Spirit sold for ninety-two."
Li Yue was quite pleased.
With these 137 units of divine power coming in, he was no longer a Principal Ninth Rank Orthodox Land God who could perform only one Principal Ninth Rank Divine Art.
He opened the Personal Quest interface and claimed the reward for [Personal Quest—Five].
At once—
Ten first-order Blessing Talismans and two second-order Blessing Talismans appeared before him out of thin air.
Another sixty units of divine power appeared within him as well.
Now—
His divine power had reached 268 units.
At last, he felt considerably more secure.
After all—
The Spider Spirit had said that the strongest Demonic Creatures around Xuan County were only at the peak of the Fourth Order.
But what if a Fifth-Order Demon happened to pass through?
He still needed to keep some divine power in reserve for emergencies—enough to perform the Principal Ninth Rank Divine Art at least three times.
If three Principal Ninth Rank Divine Arts struck in succession...
Even a demon at the peak of the Fifth Order would probably flee with grievous injuries, if it did not die outright.
"That Tiger Spirit was the Third-Order demon from the Land of Demons."
"The Third-Order demon and the demon at the peak of the Second Order there are both dead."
"It's time to bring all those humans into Four Seas Village. The village's population—and my number of Believers—will surge..."
He murmured to himself.
As he sensed the divine power within him, he suddenly noticed another twenty units appearing out of thin air.
That brought his total divine power to 288 units.
"Five pounds of Black-Striped Bee Spirit Honey sold that quickly?"
"One Blue Star Deity bought it all?"
Li Yue's eyes flashed, and a smile touched his lips.
Then—
He turned his gaze beyond the Divine Domain, toward the house beside the Land God Temple.
Li Youming's aura had grown considerably stronger. He had advanced to the upper Second Order on his own!
"To gather the humans in the Land of Demons, the upper Second Order is still a little weak..."
"Very well."
"I'll raise your strength by another major realm."
Li Yue's expression remained calm.
He extended his right hand.
At once, one hundred units of divine power surged out and condensed into a Strengthen Temple Keeper Talisman above his palm.
Condensing this talisman required one hundred units of divine power.
But Li Youming had already advanced to the upper Second Order. Any excess divine power would return to Li Yue after Li Youming's advancement.
Whoosh—
The Strengthen Temple Keeper Talisman glowed, shot out of the Divine Domain, and landed on Li Youming in an instant.
"I've finally advanced to the upper Second Order."
"With stronger cultivation, I can carry out Lord Zhangyue's Divine Oracle even better."
Li Youming opened his eyes in high spirits.
An advancement like this called for a hearty drink!
With his current strength, he felt he could at least hold his own if he faced the Wolf Demon of Thousand Wolf Mountain again.
After all—
He did not cultivate the Martial Path. He was a Qi Refiner who practiced the art passed down by a Deity. His combat strength surpassed that of Martial Path practitioners at the same level.
He also held a great advantage against Demonic Creatures with no real cultivation inheritance.
But just then—
He saw a flash of deep-blue light pierce the house's wooden wall. Laden with dense Divine Might, it darted into his body.
"Lord Zhangyue's blessing!"
Wild joy surged through him.
At last—
He, Li Youming, had finally received Lord Zhangyue's blessing again!
Boom—!
At that moment.
He felt as though a Smelting Furnace had appeared inside him.
Fierce waves of heat rose from the furnace, rolling into countless streams of Qi that poured into the sea of energy in his dantian.
His dantian's sea of energy, which had expanded once when he advanced to the upper Second Order, swelled again—!
In the blink of an eye, he reached the peak of the Second Order!
And it did not stop there.
The Qi within him spun furiously, suddenly forming a vortex inside his body.
As the vortex spun, the power of his blood and vitality rushed into his dantian's sea of energy several times faster than before and transformed into Qi!
The Qi was continuously refined as it spun, becoming purer than ever.
Li Youming knew.
He had advanced to the Third Order!
He could hardly believe it.
Had he really reached the Third Order just like that?
The Wolf Demon of Thousand Wolf Mountain, which had once left the Four Villages trembling in fear, had only been at the peak of the Second Order.
He felt—
If he raised his hand and unleashed a Lesser Golden Blade Art now, he could kill the Wolf Demon of Thousand Wolf Mountain that he had once believed he could never defeat!
"The Third Order..."
"In the Martial Path, the Third Order is called the Origin Essence Realm. Practitioners can project their protective energy outward and melt metal or sever iron. They're known as Great Martial Masters."
"In the county seat, a Third-Order Great Martial Master is already among the strongest."
"I, Li Youming, have actually become a Third-Order Great Martial Master!"
"Thank you, Lord Zhangyue!"
"I, Li Youming, will bend my back to the task for Lord Zhangyue and give my all until the day I die!"
His heart swelled with excitement.
The Strengthen Temple Keeper Talisman within him still shone, releasing a torrent of Qi!
His newly attained Third-Order cultivation stabilized in an instant, then rose to the middle Third Order!
Only a corner of the Strengthen Temple Keeper Talisman remained, but it could no longer increase Li Youming's cultivation.
That last corner flashed out of Li Youming's body and returned to Li Yue in the Divine Domain, where it became ten units of divine power.
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