In the "Divine Domain."
Li Yue glanced at the ten Ghost Messengers.
Now that he had plenty of divine power, he naturally wanted to improve the Ghost Messengers' overall strength.
After all—
If the Ghost Messengers were too weak, they wouldn't be much use at capturing souls.
Whoosh—
He flicked a finger.
Ten Second-Order Yin Soldier Artifacts, Soul-Binding Chains, flew out of the "Divine Domain" and landed in the hands of the ten Ghost Messengers.
After all, forging a Second-Order Yin Soldier Artifact cost him only five units of divine power. For him now, that was nothing.
In an instant—
The yin energy around the ten Candidate Ghost Messengers surged. Their strength rose from the middle of the First Order to the lower level of the Second Order, and they all became Grade D Ghost Messengers.
"Thank you for your blessing, Lord Zhangyue!"
The ten Ghost Messengers spoke with utmost reverence.
They were excited, too.
Their increased strength was one reason.
More importantly, Lord Zhangyue had bestowed his Divine Grace on them, which meant he approved of their work!
They were naturally thrilled and excited to earn the approval of the Lord Zhangyue they devoutly worshipped.
Liao Chengping, in particular, was especially excited.
At last—
At last, he was no longer a Candidate Ghost Messenger!
"I've spent another one hundred and sixty units of divine power."
Li Yue murmured.
He had forged these Yin Soldier Artifacts over the past two days and hadn't sold them.
Then—
He continued forging Yin Soldier Artifacts.
Soul-Binding Chains weren't the only kind of Yin Soldier Artifact. There were also Yin Soldier War Halberds, Ghost-Slaying Swords, Soul-Extracting Whips, and more.
It was just that most Ghost Messengers used Soul-Binding Chains, while Yin Soldiers used Yin Soldier War Halberds.
So those were the two kinds of Yin Soldier Artifacts he forged most often.
Only occasionally did he make a few Ghost-Slaying Swords, Soul-Extracting Whips, and other such artifacts.
Another ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Li Yue set aside the Soul-Binding Chain he had just forged.
A faint smile played on his face as he opened the "Personal Quest" panel.
[Personal Quest—Seven] now showed as completed.
"Five thousand Believers. That really wasn't easy."
"I've been a Deity for more than five months, and only now have I gained over five thousand Believers."
He sighed.
Though it hadn't been easy, he felt that—
The other Blue Star Deities would find this quest even harder to complete.
After all, he was a Principal Ninth Rank Orthodox Land God, while the other Blue Star Deities were only Subordinate Ninth Rank Orthodox Land Gods.
Temple Keepers appointed by a Subordinate Ninth Rank Orthodox Land God could reach the middle of the Second Order at most. At best, like Li Youming, they might advance on their own to the upper level of the Second Order.
But a Temple Keeper at the upper level of the Second Order couldn't sweep away the Third-Order Demonic Creatures within a town's bounds on their own.
Unless the Deity was willing to spend lavishly, using the Deity Invocation Art and performing Divine Techniques every time.
"Still, even using the Deity Invocation Art and performing Divine Techniques is profitable..."
"After all, the corpses of Third-Order Demonic Creatures are worth quite a bit."
"Looking at it that way,"
"this quest probably won't hold the Blue Star Deities back for long, either."
He smiled faintly.
With a thought,
he claimed the reward for [Personal Quest—Seven].
A Spirit Field Divine Talisman, a Mountain Leveling Divine Talisman, and a Spirit Temple Divine Talisman appeared out of thin air before him.
He also gained eighty units of divine power.
That brought his total divine power straight to 4,008 units!
"I'm one step closer to my goal of fifteen thousand."
"Now I just have to wait for the Grand Sacrifice in a little over half a month..."
His expression was calm.
Then—
He looked at the eighth quest that had appeared.
[Personal Quest—Eight]
[Quest Description]: More and more of the Human Race believe in you, and the Incense Wish Power you gain each day continues to grow. Advance to become a Principal Ninth Rank Orthodox Land God. Only with greater strength can you protect the Believers who worship you.
[Quest Objective]: Advance to Principal Ninth Rank Divine Rank
[Quest Reward]: Twenty First-Order Blessing Talismans, five Second-Order Blessing Talismans, one Third-Order Blessing Talisman, and one hundred and fifty units of divine power
"Hmm?"
"Advance to Principal Ninth Rank Divine Rank?"
Li Yue was taken aback.
After all, he had already become a Principal Ninth Rank Deity long ago.
Then he saw—
The newly refreshed [Personal Quest—Eight] immediately showed as completed.
"That works, too?"
Li Yue was momentarily stunned.
[Personal Quest—Eight] was practically a quest made just to hand him a reward.
He was delighted.
After all, who wouldn't like a quest whose reward they could claim without doing anything?
And the reward was pretty good, too.
There was even a Third-Order Blessing Talisman!
A Third-Order Blessing Talisman meant that, among the Believers in Four Seas Village, someone besides Li Youming could become a Third-Order Martial Artist.
In terms of strength—
They wouldn't be weaker than Zhao Jiuyuan, who was still kneeling before the Land God Temple after coming from the county seat.
Seeing this quest also reminded him once again that the quests for all the Blue Star Deities were probably much the same.
Aside from differences in place names, there likely weren't any differences at all!
If the "Personal Quests" were tailor-made for each person, he wouldn't have gotten this quest to advance to Principal Ninth Rank Divine Rank.
He didn't hesitate.
He claimed the quest reward at once.
In an instant, twenty First-Order Blessing Talismans, five Second-Order Blessing Talismans, and one Third-Order Blessing Talisman appeared before him.
One hundred and fifty units of divine power also appeared inside him out of thin air.
That brought his total divine power to a staggering 4,158 units.
"This Spirit Temple Divine Talisman..."
Li Yue looked at the Spirit Temple Divine Talisman. It was one he had been looking forward to for some time.
It affected the appearance of his Land God Temple, so he cared a great deal about it.
[Name]: Spirit Temple Divine Talisman [Rank]: First-Order Divine Talisman [Effect]: After use, the Land God Temple can be renovated into a "Land Spirit Temple"; the "Land Spirit Temple" possesses the effects of [Efficacious], [Martial Prohibition], and [Divine Might]
"Efficacious, Martial Prohibition, Divine Might."
"Efficacious... It can make the prayers of sincere Believers come true, at least some of the time. The Deity doesn't need to pay attention, nor does it consume divine power. It's simply an effect of the 'Land Spirit Temple.'"
Li Yue was amazed.
That single effect alone made the Land Spirit Temple incredibly precious!
After all, a Land Spirit Temple that often granted Believers' prayers would undoubtedly cause their faith to grow steadily stronger!
Its effects might not be very noticeable in the short term.
But given time,
the more wishes it granted,
the more devout the Believers would surely become.
"And Martial Prohibition..."
"It prohibits Martial Artists' true energy and Demonic Creatures' demonic energy within a ten-zhang radius of the Land God Temple."
"Only Qi Refiners of the Temple Keeper system are unaffected."
"As for Divine Might..."
"The Land Spirit Temple possesses an innate Divine Might that makes people afraid to look directly at it."
Li Yue was pleased.
The effects of the Land Spirit Temple exceeded his expectations.
He looked outside the Land God Temple.
It was early morning, and many Believers had already come to offer incense and make wishes.
As the Temple Keeper, Li Youming knelt at the very front, leading the many Believers in their bows.
Zhao Jiuyuan knelt off to one side, too, his face devout.
Li Yue was rather surprised.
The man had been kneeling for ten days, and he had actually come to believe in him. He had even become a Grade B Believer.
His faith was more devout than that of quite a few villagers in Four Seas Village. It truly caught Li Yue off guard.
But he didn't mind.
He had no shortage of Grade B Believers.
Whoosh—
With a thought, he immediately flicked the Spirit Temple Divine Talisman in his hand out of the "Divine Domain."
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