First Encounter with Evil Spirits, 'Paper Effigy Shop' Enters "Jurisdiction"

"Slash!"

Murderous intent surged in Li Youming's eyes.

From all directions, five massive golden blades manifested, and a startling bolt of thunder descended from the sky!

Having received the blessing this time, not only had his Lesser Cloud and Mist Protection Technique evolved into the Cloud and Mist Method, but he had also learned another spell.

Lesser Heavenly Thunder Art!

BOOM—!

The massive black serpent was struck by the thunder, its body stiffening before being hacked into six pieces by the five giant golden blades!

Cold serpent blood rained down.

The severed sections of the serpent's corpse slammed heavily onto the clouds and mist, bobbing up and down, devoid of any remaining vitality.

Within its cold, ferocious vertical pupils, only despair and deathly silence remained.

The River Lord of the Shunling River had been slain by Li Youming!

In Cangmu Town, barely seventy or eighty feet away.

Every townsman who witnessed this scene gaped in shock, their expressions filled with horror.

What had they just seen?

...The... the River Lord...

Had been hacked into five or six pieces!

In this moment, they all wondered if they were dreaming.

Otherwise—

How could they be seeing such an incredible sight!

That was the River Lord!

A great demon who had come to Cangmu Town sixty or seventy years ago, whom no human had ever been able to resist!

The River Lord was so feared that parents didn't even dare use his name to frighten crying children.

Because for sixty or seventy years, this River Lord had devoured far too many people from their Cangmu Town!

"Ho... how could this be..."

"The... the River Lord has been slain..."

"That lowly human... how could he slay the River Lord..."

The shamaness turned deathly pale, collapsing onto the ground as she muttered in utter disbelief.

From all directions.

The townsfolk suddenly turned their gazes toward her, filled with fierce hatred.

"Beat this old hag to death!"

Following a roar, dozens, then hundreds of people surged forward, raining fierce blows down upon the shamaness!

Although the shamaness was a Body Refining Realm martial artist of the first rank, middle stage.

There were also martial artists among the charging townsfolk, who knocked her down with a few strikes before the crowd swarmed over, beating her to death on the spot!

Inside the Wei Clan.

"What did you say?"

"The River Lord has been slain?"

The Wei Clan patriarch looked at the clansman who had come to report the news, his face filled with excitement and agitation, unable to believe his ears.

"It's true!"

"Lord Li Youming, the Temple Keeper, used golden blades to slay the River Lord!"

"The River Lord's corpse is severed into five or six pieces, lying right outside the town!"

The clansman said, brimming with excitement.

"He... he really killed him?"

The Wei Clan patriarch's eyes lit up instantly, and he looked at Wei Wei with agitation:

"Is the Temple Keeper of Four Seas Village truly that formidable? He actually managed to slay the River Lord!"

Wei Wei's expression was filled with pride as he placed his hands on his hips:

"Of course!"

"Lord Temple Keeper is a man close to the gods, walking the mortal realm on behalf of Lord Zhangyue!"

He was also incredibly excited in his heart.

Lord Temple Keeper was truly formidable!

"Could it be that in this world—"

"Are there truly gods?"

The Wei Clan patriarch muttered to himself, then hurriedly rushed out of the Wei Clan and ran toward the Shunling River.

In the town.

A large number of townspeople had heard the reports from their neighbors; at first, they were incredulous, but soon they became incomparably excited and thrilled.

Masses of townspeople immediately ran toward the Shunling River.

They wanted to see the corpse of the River Lord with their own eyes.

Countless people were even streaming with tears, kneeling on the ground to pay respects to their relatives who had been eaten in the past, telling them this monumental piece of good news.

Inside the "Divine Domain."

Li Yue glanced at his "Personal Quest."

It showed that a Tier 3 demon had already been slain.

"Li Youming is not slow at all."

A trace of a smile appeared on his face.

He had only issued the divine oracle yesterday, and today there was already success in demon-slaying.

He was very satisfied with the Temple Keeper he had chosen back then.

He had decisiveness and courage.

He cast his gaze outside the "Divine Domain."

Many more human commoners from the Land of Demons had already been brought over.

"Throughout the night yesterday, Li Youming went to the Land of Demons and slaughtered all the demons there."

"Today, the hunting party went to the Land of Demons to bring people back, while he went to slay a Tier 3 demon himself."

"The population of Four Seas Village is growing more and more."

"After the second Great Sacrifice, Four Seas Village will be upgraded from a village to a town."

"And I will be promoted to the Subordinate Eighth Rank divine tier..."

Li Yue's eyes flashed.

His "Personal Info" showed that it required the consumption of 15,000 strands of divine power.

But in reality—

To be promoted to the Subordinate Eighth Rank divine tier, there was another hidden condition.

"Once I reach the Subordinate Eighth Rank divine tier, I will no longer be the Lord of the Land of a village."

"I will be the Lord of the Land of a town."

"To become the Lord of the Land of a town, Four Seas Village must first become Four Seas Town."

His eyes shimmered.

His Land God Temple was located in Four Seas Village.

Four Seas Village was his foundational base.

Only when Four Seas Village became Four Seas Town could he truly be promoted to the Subordinate Eighth Rank and become the Lord of the Land of a town!

Of course.

It was still too early to talk about this.

After all, 15,000 strands of divine power was a massive threshold.

He did not have much divine power right now.

Therefore—

He was looking forward to the second Great Sacrifice.

He hoped that the offerings, after a hundredfold increase, would allow him to exchange for enough divine power to be promoted to the Subordinate Eighth Rank!

"It is a pity that the gods of Blue Star are not wealthy right now."

"A Tier 3 'Yin Soldier Artifact' will certainly be hard to sell..."

He shook his head.

There were not many Subordinate Ninth Rank Orthodox Land Gods yet.

The production cost of a single Tier 3 'Yin Soldier Artifact' was as high as fifty strands of divine power.

He would have to sell them for at least one hundred strands of divine power each, right?

At the current stage—

Who could take out one hundred strands of divine power to buy a 'Yin Soldier Artifact'?

Not to mention those Subordinate Ninth Rank gods.

It was him—

He couldn't bear to part with it either.

Just then, he suddenly sensed an anomaly somewhere within his "jurisdiction."

"Hmm?"

His gaze immediately snapped toward that direction.

It was on the side of the mountain path leading from Four Seas Village to Cangmu Town.

Originally, that spot had been nothing but an unremarkable patch of shrubbery.

But now—

A Paper Effigy Shop had appeared there.

At the entrance of the Paper Effigy Shop stood seven paper figures, their faces painted with thick rouge and wearing eerie, fixed smiles.

The black door stood open, and sounds of laughter and merriment seemed to drift from within.

Yet, even as an Orthodox Land God of the Principal Ninth Rank and the master of this "jurisdiction," he could not see clearly into the interior of the shop.

"An evil spirit..."

Li Yue's eyes narrowed instantly.

He hadn't even noticed how this Paper Effigy Shop had appeared within his "jurisdiction."

Although that location was on the very edge of his "jurisdiction," it was still entirely within his domain!

A "jurisdiction"—

It was the land radiated by his divine laws.

Yet now, a Paper Effigy Shop had managed to appear within his "jurisdiction" without him even noticing.

"It actually dispersed the radiated power of my divine laws..."

"Is this what an evil spirit is?"

"Why does it feel..."

Li Yue frowned.

Of course—

He could sense that the strength of this Paper Effigy Shop was not high, at most a Tier 4 level.

However, it was extremely bizarre, faintly containing a trace of law-based power!

And it was similar to the laws of the divine path!

Whoosh—

He stepped out of his "Divine Domain" and stood outside the Paper Effigy Shop.

In that moment—

His surroundings changed instantly.

It was no longer the mountain path, but a flat expanse filled with massive, jagged boulders.

In front of the sea of boulders, the ink-black Paper Effigy Shop exuded a dense, overwhelming black mist that blotted out the sky.

A little girl wearing a pink and white bellyband, her face as pale as a corpse, walked out holding a rattle.

The little girl tilted her head and smiled sweetly:

"Big Brother, let's play hide-and-seek."

"If Ayin finds you, Big Brother, you'll have to stay here and keep Ayin company forever..."