"Just as I thought—"
"Deities should reveal their divine power from time to time."
"Only when they reveal their divine power from time to time will their Believers grow more devout."
A smile spread across Li Yue's face.
Originally—
He had only five Grade B Believers.
But now, in an instant, he had gained eleven more Grade B Believers!
And even after subtracting the eleven who had advanced to Grade B, the number of Grade C Believers had risen from sixty-five to seventy-nine!
That was despite the fact that the villagers who had witnessed it were only a small fraction of Li Family Village.
Once the news spread,
and people saw how completely Li Youming had changed,
he believed—
most of the villagers in all of Li Family Village would become more devout!
A Deity had manifested!
And a Deity who had manifested so unmistakably was bound to shake the villagers to their core and greatly strengthen their faith.
"With my Subordinate Ninth Rank Divine Rank,"
"the Temple Keeper I've ennobled should reach the middle stage of the second rank."
"Originally, Li Youming had only undergone two Metamorphoses of his blood and qi. Even in his youth, he could only be considered a middle-stage first-rank Martial Artist in the Body Refining Realm."
"Now, in one leap, he's surpassed the upper stage and the peak of the first rank, as well as the lower stage of the second, and reached the middle stage of the second rank."
Li Yue's expression was calm.
If he were still an unranked Wild God,
a Temple Keeper ennobled with a single portion of divine power could reach, at most, the upper stage of the first rank.
"With Li Youming now at the middle stage of the second rank, next year's Offerings should be more precious..."
he murmured.
To him,
the Grand Sacrifice held twice a year was of immense importance.
And the Offerings at the Grand Sacrifice were the most important part!
Hundredfold Amplification!
Even a first-rank item could be amplified into a fourth-rank item.
What if he could get his hands on a second-rank item?
Although Offerings at the Grand Sacrifice couldn't be tainted by even a trace of direct Causality with a Deity,
a Temple Keeper might be ennobled by a Deity, but the items he obtained had no direct Causality with that Deity.
So—
items obtained by the Temple Keeper could also be used as Offerings at the Grand Sacrifice!
Li Yue opened "Personal Quest."
[Personal Quest—One] showed as completed, with the reward ready to claim.
He claimed the reward at once.
In an instant—
two portions of divine power appeared inside him from nowhere.
Two gleaming first-rank Blessing Talismans appeared before him, hovering silently.
"Blessing Talismans."
"Who should I give them to?"
His gaze turned toward the Land God Temple's entrance.
Outside the Land God Temple,
Li Youming felt the changes in his body, his face full of disbelief.
Was this really him?
He held out his hands and looked at them. Were these still his hands?
At that moment, he felt ten times better than he had even in his youth!
And inside him—
a kind of qi had taken shape.
It wasn't True Qi, the energy born when a Martial Artist cultivated to the second-rank True Qi Realm.
This qi gave him an ethereal, unreal feeling.
Not only that,
he also felt that he had mastered five arts!
One was called the Lesser Golden Blade Art. By channeling the qi within him, he could unleash a strike equal to one from a middle-stage second-rank Martial Artist.
One was the Lesser Cloud and Mist Protection Technique, which could gather clouds and mist into a defense capable of withstanding a full-power strike from a middle-stage second-rank Martial Artist.
One was the Underground Divine Travel Art, which allowed him to travel ten li underground in a single use.
One was the Disease-Dispelling Talisman Water Art, which let him draw a talisman and dissolve it into water to treat simple illnesses.
As for the last one—
it was called the Deity Invocation Art!
It could summon a Deity's power to slay demons and monsters, drive out evil, and cut down ghosts!
"Li Youming thanks Lord Zhangyue for this gracious gift!"
"Li Youming will do everything in his power to walk the Mortal Realm on Lord Zhangyue's behalf!"
He spoke with excitement, his voice trembling.
He'd thought becoming Lord Zhangyue's Temple Keeper simply meant becoming a Temple Keeper.
Now he realized—
being a Temple Keeper and walking the Mortal Realm on Lord Zhangyue's behalf wasn't just an empty promise!
His strength was ten times greater than before!
This was power no weaker than that of a middle-stage second-rank Martial Master in the True Qi Realm!
A Martial Master in the True Qi Realm!
Even in the county seat, such a person held no low position.
And he, Li Youming, had gone from an old and frail middle-stage first-rank Martial Artist in the Body Refining Realm to a middle-stage second-rank Martial Master in the True Qi Realm—all in a single instant!
By now—
more and more villagers were arriving from every direction.
As they listened to the others recounting the events with animated gestures and stared at Li Youming's astonishing transformation, their jaws dropped and they hurriedly knelt.
Lord Zhangyue had actually manifested!
He was the Land God of their Li Family Village!
Many brought incense, quickly lit it, and respectfully offered it to Lord Zhangyue.
"Lord Zhangyue! Please keep my son safe and well in the county seat! Your faithful servant will offer you incense every day!"
"Lord Zhangyue! Please bless my whole family with good health, free of illness and pain..."
"Lord Zhangyue... I want to get rich! Please bless me so I can find money on the road..."
"Lord Zhangyue! I'm thirty-two and still haven't found a wife. Please bless me with a beautiful, kind-hearted bride...!"
The villagers began praying with all their hearts.
In the past, many of them had only gone through the motions when they came to worship the Lord of the Land.
Few had prayed with genuine devotion.
After all, no one had ever seen the Lord of the Land truly manifest.
But now things were different.
The Lord of the Land had truly manifested!
Who wouldn't want a Deity's protection?
"The qi around Uncle Youming..."
Village Chief Li Deyang's pupils shrank as he stared at Li Youming in shock.
Everyone else was astonished by the dramatic change in Li Deyang's condition, but as a middle-stage first-rank Martial Artist in the Body Refining Realm who had undergone two Metamorphoses of his blood and qi,
he could sense how terrifying the qi around Li Youming had become!
"It feels..."
"It feels just like those powerful Martial Masters in the county seat!"
"Could it be that after Uncle Youming became Lord Zhangyue's Temple Keeper, Lord Zhangyue raised his strength by a whole level?"
"Is this the might of a Deity?"
Li Deyang's heart surged like a stormy sea, and he was filled with envy.
So—
devout faith in a Deity could bring such an earth-shaking boon!
"What nonsense about the Martial Path being the only way."
"Could even the hardest cultivation of the Martial Path turn you into a second-rank Martial Master in an instant?"
"Devoutly believing in Lord Zhangyue is the only way!!"
Li Deyang immediately bowed down with utmost devotion.
He wanted to improve so badly!
"Hm?"
"How did two Grade A Believers appear all at once?"
Inside the Divine Domain, a trace of surprise appeared on Li Yue's face.
A Grade A Believer—
was worth ten Grade B Believers and could provide him with one hundred portions of Incense Wish Power every day.
In just ten days, the Incense Wish Power from one Grade A Believer would be enough to condense into a portion of divine power.
Any Grade A Believer was undoubtedly one of a Deity's most precious assets.
But becoming a Grade A Believer was no easy feat.
Being devout wasn't enough.
You also had to deeply identify with the Deity, even hold profound reverence for them from the bottom of your heart, and believe in them with all your might!
"One of the two Grade A Believers is Li Youming. That's what I expected."
"After all, he became the Temple Keeper and his strength rose straight to the middle stage of the second rank. It's only natural that his faith would transform."
"But the other one is Village Chief Li Deyang..."
"I remember that he was only a Grade D Believer before..."
"He skipped over Grade C and Grade B to become a Grade A Believer in one go?"
"Interesting..."
"What he's asking for is..."
Li Yue looked toward Village Chief Li Deyang, kneeling on the ground.
The Land God Register opened by itself beside him, displaying Li Deyang's life story.
At the same time, he heard Li Deyang's devout prayer.
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