Within Xuan County, there was only one and a half mu of Spirit Fields.
Zhao Jiuyuan knew this very well.
After all, that one and a half mu of Spirit Fields were in the hands of his Zhao Clan.
But those one and a half mu were merely Grade D Spirit Fields!
They were far inferior to the Grade C Spirit Field before him!
Turbulent waves surged through his heart. Four Seas Village actually possessed a Grade C Spirit Field!
The value of one mu of Grade C Spirit Field rivaled that of seven or eight mu of Grade D Spirit Fields!
Moreover, Four Seas Village had somehow obtained seeds of White Jade Spirit Rice and planted White Jade Spirit Rice Plants.
This was the finest first-rank Spirit Rice Plant.
The Spirit Rice Plants cultivated by the Zhao Clan were a notch weaker than White Jade Spirit Rice in effectiveness.
Besides—
He had actually seen Spirit Rice Essence being scattered!
It left him dizzy and dazed.
Spirit Rice Essence!
It was an item of astonishing value. Not only did it require the stalks of over twenty mu of Spirit Rice Plants to refine, but the refining process itself was exceedingly delicate and difficult.
Their Zhao Clan had been rooted in the county seat for over a hundred years.
Yet they had refined only two portions of Spirit Rice Essence!
After selling those two portions of Spirit Rice Essence, the resources they obtained had allowed the Zhao Clan to cultivate two third-rank Origin Essence Realm Great Martial Masters!
And now, such precious Spirit Rice Essence was simply being scattered?
Spirit Rice Essence—
It could accelerate the growth of even second-rank and third-rank Spirit Rice Plants to a certain extent.
Yet it was now being scattered over first-rank Spirit Rice Plants.
His heart ached.
This was equivalent to a third-rank Origin Essence Realm Great Martial Master!
He drew several deep breaths.
"Lord Zhao, what is wrong?"
Chen Ergou looked at Zhao Jiuyuan in confusion.
He was the commander of the Temple Guard, responsible for the safety of the Land God Temple and the village.
There was Temple Keeper Li and Zhang Ronggui at the Land God Temple, so he felt the village's safety needed him more.
Therefore—
Every day, he stood guard at the village entrance.
The moment Zhao Jiuyuan arrived at the entrance, Chen Ergou immediately noticed the extraordinary aura about him.
After speaking with him—
He discovered that Zhao Jiuyuan had come from the county seat specifically to worship Lord Zhangyue.
This made him immensely proud.
Just look!
With Lord Zhangyue protecting Four Seas Village, even important people from the county seat had heard of him!
And an important person from the county seat had even come specifically to worship Lord Zhangyue!
Thus, without hesitation, he immediately brought Zhao Jiuyuan to meet Temple Keeper Li first.
"Nothing."
Only after taking several deep breaths did Zhao Jiuyuan continue following Chen Ergou toward the Land God Temple.
As he walked, he could not help looking back several times at the Spirit Rice Essence scattered across the Spirit Field, his heart aching so badly he could scarcely breathe.
But soon—
He was once again stunned by the vast crowd of villagers kneeling before the Land God Temple.
There had to be at least three or four thousand people, right?
Three or four thousand people knelt on the ground, lighting the pure incense in their hands. Great volumes of smoke billowed upward, enveloping the Land God Temple.
He wanted to clearly see the Orthodox Land God's Divine Statue inside the temple.
But the smoke swirled through the air, making it impossible for him to see the Land God's Divine Statue clearly.
Yet even though he could not see it clearly—
He still sensed a terrifying majesty from within!
The longer he stared, the more profound that majesty became, forcing him to lower his head at once, not daring to look directly at the Land God's Divine Statue again.
"Could it truly be a Deity?"
"That majesty feels different from that of peerless Demonic Creatures."
He murmured inwardly, hope shining in his eyes.
And just then—
He suddenly saw streams of white light and three pale-blue rays fly from the Land God's Divine Statue, flashing into the bodies of kneeling villagers.
No—
Those three pale-blue rays landed upon the three first-rank Apex Martial Artists kneeling at the very front.
He was a third-rank Origin Essence Realm Great Martial Master, so naturally, he could recognize first-rank Apex Martial Artists at a glance.
And he saw—
After those three pale-blue rays surged into their bodies—
The blood and qi of the three first-rank Apex Martial Artists instantly soared. In the blink of an eye, they broke through into second-rank True Qi Realm Martial Artists, and with another breath, they advanced again into mid-level second-rank True Qi Realm Martial Artists!
Zhao Jiuyuan's eyes widened.
He rubbed them fiercely, yet his eyes remained filled with utter disbelief.
"How... how is that possible!"
"They were clearly first-rank Apex Body Refining Realm Martial Artists just now!"
"How did they become mid-level second-rank True Qi Realm Martial Artists in the blink of an eye after being enveloped by that pale-blue light?!"
He was so shocked that he had reached the Apex, his eyeballs nearly bulging from their sockets.
In this world—
How could there be something so unimaginable!
He had been born with a crimson heart and possessed exceptional talent. His Martial Path cultivation was already considered extremely fast, yet it had still taken him seven or eight years to advance from first-rank Apex to mid-level second-rank!
Yet now—
Right before his eyes—
Others had gone from first-rank Apex to mid-level second-rank in the blink of an eye!!
"What is there to make such a fuss about?"
"Lord Zhangyue takes pity on us and often grants Divine Grace, allowing ordinary people of Four Seas Village to become first-rank Martial Artists and second-rank Martial Masters."
Chen Ergou glanced at Zhao Jiuyuan beside him, who was stunned beyond measure and crying out in shock.
He felt even prouder, filled with a powerful sense of superiority. He looked at Zhao Jiuyuan as though looking at a country bumpkin.
So what if he had come from the county seat?
He still was not as knowledgeable as Chen Ergou!
"Th-this... is Divine Grace?"
Zhao Jiuyuan stammered.
He looked again at the villagers who had just been struck by the white radiance.
To his shock, he discovered—
They had just been ordinary people, yet now they had completed more than one blood-and-qi Metamorphosis and become mid-level first-rank Martial Artists. Two of them had even directly become first-rank Apex Martial Artists!
Such a scene struck him far too deeply.
To become a Martial Artist, one could not lack either resources or comprehension.
Yet in Four Seas Village—
One could become a Martial Artist in one step, effortlessly, and even become a second-rank Martial Master!
Soon—
He saw another wave of white radiance and pale-blue light descend.
Yet this time, the radiance did not enter the villagers' bodies. Instead, it fell before a middle-aged man at the very front who appeared to be only in his thirties.
The white radiance and pale-blue light faded, revealing twenty sets of exquisitely crafted first-rank armor and five sets of second-rank armor covered in intricate inscriptions.
"The most... most exceptional first-rank armor, and second-rank armor..."
Zhao Jiuyuan stared blankly, feeling numb.
Was this the legendary Four Seas Village protected by an Orthodox God?
Now—
He truly began to believe that Four Seas Village's Lord Zhangyue was not some peerless Demonic Creature in disguise, but a genuine Deity!
Not long afterward.
Li Youming, who had already put away the first-rank and second-rank armor, walked over with a faint smile.
"I am Li Youming, the Temple Keeper of Four Seas Village. May I ask how to address you?"
Zhao Jiuyuan looked at the powerful expert before him, the man who had single-handedly slain the six third-rank Demonic Creatures of Cangmu Town, and gave a deep salute.
"Zhao Jiuyuan of the Zhao Clan of Xuan County. By order of the County Magistrate, I have come to thank Lord Li for wiping out the Demonic Creatures of Cangmu Town!"
Li Youming shook his head, still smiling.
"I merely acted according to Lord Zhangyue's Divine Oracle. It is all because Lord Zhangyue pities the people of the Human Race and could not bear to see us become blood food for Demonic Creatures."
Zhao Jiuyuan glanced at the Land God's Divine Statue in the smoke-shrouded Land God Temple, gritted his teeth, and said:
"May I ask, Lord Li, whether Zhao may personally seek an audience with Lord Zhangyue?"
Li Youming heard this.
The smile on his face immediately vanished, and a trace of coldness entered his eyes.
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