"Just now—"
"Was I being watched by Lord Zhangyue, the Orthodox Land God of the fabled Four Seas Village?"
"Could he truly be a deity?"
"Or an unparalleled Demonic Creature?"
Zhao Jiuyuan drew a deep breath and murmured inwardly.
He pressed a hand against his violently pounding heart.
As a person "gifted by nature," he had been born with a crimson heart, and his perception far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Thus, while others could not sense the gaze of a terrifying existence, he could.
This was also why his Martial Path had gone exceptionally smoothly. Before he was fifty, he had advanced to the third-tier Origin Essence Realm, and at sixty-five, he had even reached the middle stage of the third tier.
"Since the rumors say that he is a true deity."
"And the third-tier Demonic Creatures within Cangmu Town have indeed all been sent by him to be slaughtered."
"Lord Ming sent me here. No matter what, I must meet him."
"If he truly is a deity of legend—"
A glimmer appeared in his eyes as he clenched his fists.
Even if he was not a true deity but an unparalleled Demonic Creature, then Zhao Jiuyuan would merely die.
What was there to fear in death?
Every year, were there few commoners within Xuan County who were devoured by Demonic Creatures?
Zhao Jiuyuan was also Human Race. He was no nobler than the other commoners, so why could he not die?
His gaze was resolute as he continued toward Four Seas Village.
"Interesting."
"A naturally gifted member of the Human Race."
"To think he was born with a crimson heart."
"The heart itself belongs to fire. The fire energy in this man's heart is exceptionally abundant, giving him naturally vigorous qi and blood. His talent for martial arts far surpasses that of ordinary geniuses."
Within the "Divine Domain," Li Yue smiled.
Over the past half month.
The population of Four Seas Village had grown by the day.
Every day, quite a few Human Race commoners from all over Cangmu Town arrived with their families in tow.
Those who dared come naturally believed Li Youming's words. They believed he was a true deity, not a Demonic Creature in disguise.
But at the same time—
There were still vast numbers of Human Race commoners within Cangmu Town who did not dare come over, afraid that after escaping the tiger's jaws, they would enter the wolf's den.
Li Yue did not care about that either.
Once he advanced again and his Jurisdiction expanded, these commoners would still become his Believers.
It was merely a matter of sooner or later.
Whoosh—
With a thought, he opened "Believer Information." Looking at the number of Believers displayed there, satisfaction appeared on his face.
[Daily Incense]: 10,173 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]: 12 "Provides 100 strands of incense daily" [Grade B Believer]: 652 "Provides 10 strands of incense daily" [Grade C Believer]: 2,308 "Provides 1 strand of incense daily" [Grade D Believer]: 1,455 "Provides 1 strand of incense every ten days"
"The total number of Believers has reached 4,427."
"I can harvest ten points of divine power every day."
"Two more Grade A Believers have appeared among them."
The life histories of these two Grade A Believers surfaced in Li Yue's eyes.
One was named Li Xiudao. He was only eighteen and, like Li Xiuwu, was an orphan who had grown up eating from a hundred households. His parents had been devoured by Wolf Demons from Thousand Wolf Mountain in his early years.
The other was named Li Xiuqi. He was twenty-three, already married, with a son and a daughter. Both his parents were still alive.
"Back in Li Family Village, there are already four Grade A Believers from the Xiu generation."
"Adding Li Youming and Li Deyang, the old Li Family Village actually accounts for half of the Grade A Believers."
Li Yue sighed.
It was already evening.
Large numbers of villagers gathered before the Land God Temple to offer incense.
Two sticks of incense in the morning and evening—though Li Youming had not set a fixed time, it was generally when the sun rose and when it set.
This was a schedule the villagers had naturally formed after a long period of adjustment.
Of course—
Some villagers also came during the day or even at noon, but Li Youming paid them no mind.
He only required every Four Seas Village villager to offer two sticks of incense in the morning and evening. At any other time, they could offer as many sticks as they wished.
Clear incense drifted through the air.
Smoke coiled and curled.
The entire Land God Temple seemed far more ethereal.
"The White Jade Spirit Rice has already sprouted. I can use 'Spirit Rice Essence' to speed up its growth..."
"Besides that, I still have ten first-tier 'Blessing Talismans' and three second-tier 'Blessing Talismans.'"
"Those suits of armor have not been bestowed yet either."
"Then today, I'll bestow them all."
Li Yue's expression remained calm.
He glanced at the "Spirit Rice Essence" floating within the "Divine Domain."
At once—
The "Spirit Rice Essence" flew out of the "Divine Domain"!
Deng Jiu'e was patrolling the Spirit Field.
Every day, she carefully inspected every single White Jade Spirit Rice Plant.
The White Jade Spirit Rice had now sprouted, spreading in a lush green expanse that filled her with joy.
These—
Were all future Spirit Rice!
She had not known how precious Spirit Rice was before, but the village chief had repeatedly come to inspect it and had told her of its value.
"These are all resources that will make the village stronger in the future."
"Lord Zhangyue has bestowed such divine treasures upon us. Naturally, we cannot waste them."
Deng Jiu'e murmured inwardly.
Suddenly—
She spotted a bluish-gray insect with wings, gnawing on the tender leaves of a White Jade Spirit Rice Plant.
Her gaze sharpened. Without another word, she drew her blade and struck.
A flash of blade light cut through the air. The bluish-gray insect was instantly severed in two, its corpse falling into the soil, while the tender leaves of the White Jade Spirit Rice remained completely unharmed.
This showed that her mastery of the Gale Blade Technique had already reached a considerable level.
"Good thing Temple Keeper brought back a Tier 1 Spirit Blade. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to kill this first-tier Spirit-Eating Bug in one slash."
A smile appeared on Deng Jiu'e's delicate face.
The shell of a first-tier Spirit-Eating Bug was extremely hard. If it was not killed in one strike, it would immediately fly away.
This was also the main purpose of her patrols: killing bugs!
She bent down, picked up the Spirit-Eating Bug corpse that had been cut in half, and placed it into the small pouch at her waist.
There were already three or four Spirit-Eating Bug corpses inside.
"Every day, I can kill around four or five Spirit-Eating Bugs."
"I heard Temple Keeper say that once these Spirit-Eating Bug corpses are dried, each one can sell for more than ten taels of silver."
When Deng Jiu'e first heard this, she had been greatly shocked.
After all, back in the Land of Demons, even a single tael of silver had been extremely precious.
Now, the bug corpses she obtained merely from exterminating pests each day could sell for sixty or seventy taels of silver. This made her understand even more clearly how precious this Spirit Rice field was.
She had long since made up her mind.
Even if Deng Jiu'e died, she would never let anyone destroy this Spirit Field!
Just then—
She saw a dazzling streak of white radiance fly over from the Land God Temple.
"A divine bestowal from Lord Zhangyue?"
Deng Jiu'e shuddered and hurriedly knelt on the ground.
Then she saw—
From within that dazzling streak of white radiance, vast amounts of starlight scattered down. The stars glittered as they fell upon every White Jade Spirit Rice Plant throughout the Spirit Field.
Immediately afterward—
She discovered in shock.
The tender stalks of the White Jade Spirit Rice Plants touched by the starlight instantly shot upward by a large amount at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Grade C Spirit Field! White Jade Spirit Rice! Spirit Rice Essence!"
This scene—
Was also witnessed by Zhao Jiuyuan, who was being led toward the Land God Temple by the Four Seas Village Temple Guard.
His body shook as he cried out in shock.
Before you continue