True Body of the Earth God

The Land God, whose appearance had changed dramatically, seized the moment when the Tiger Demon let its guard down and pressed his advantage.

He swung his giant staff down at the Tiger Demon's head.

His movements lacked any form or technique, but he made up for it with his height and strength.

Every gesture sent waves of fierce wind sweeping out, beating the Tiger Demon into a desperate, helpless retreat.

The Tiger Demon had released the Chang Ghosts because it had realized it couldn't defeat the Land God. Who could have guessed that every last one of them would be swept away by a token without so much as making a splash?

It had been caught off guard and struck. Once it fell behind, its position only grew worse.

Fortunately, it was itself extraordinarily strange, with strong sinews and sturdy bones, and it had unusual arts at its disposal. Several times, the Land God directed mud ropes—formed from the earth, which flowed like liquid—to bind the Tiger Demon.

Each time, a flash of black light passed over its body, and it slipped free.

It even stamped its feet and lashed its tail, sending ripples surging out to scatter the Land God's spells.

From time to time, black light shot from its eyes toward the Land God. This was an Art of Enslaving Gods recorded in the second volume of the Divine Script.

Any god struck by the black light would be controlled and lose their freedom.

Ling Qing had no idea how strong the Tiger Demon was. After casting several spells and realizing he hadn't even managed to knock out a single hair,

he wisely stopped and retreated far away, ready to run at a moment's notice.

Staying where he was would only put himself in greater danger and distract the Land God.

If the Tiger Demon caught him, he'd only cause the Land God more trouble.

The god and demon didn't fight for long. The Tiger Demon had already been outmatched, and its momentary lapse had cost it the initiative.

Though it could escape the Land God's spells, it couldn't dodge the giant staff coming down on it.

After the Land God's giant staff had struck it on the head several times, the Tiger Demon finally couldn't withstand the weight empowered by all the land beneath Locust Tree Village.

Its head remained intact, but the blows had rattled its brains, and it had long since passed out.

Now it could no longer use its arts to escape the Land God's control. After it was bound by mud ropes imbued with the same weight of the earth,

BANG!

The Land God raised the giant staff in his hands and brought it crashing down on the Tiger Demon's head. The shockwave-like force turned its unprotected brains to mush, which spurted from its seven orifices.

Then the Land God reached out, grasped a token that had suddenly appeared, and swept it over the Tiger Demon's head.

At once, a phantom Tiger Demon rose from its body, then was drawn into the token.

ROAR!

It was the Tiger Demon's soul. Though it struggled and roared in defiance, it was of no use.

The Land God shook the token in his hand again. Tiger souls flew from the bodies of the vicious tigers Ling Qing had killed earlier, and he drew them into the token as well.

"Grandpa..."

Ling Qing was just about to go over and congratulate the Land God

when he suddenly saw the Land God's body shudder. His tall frame turned ashen, then crumbled into flying dust that scattered in the breeze.

"Grandpa!"

Ling Qing was shocked. He hurried over, calling out again and again.

"Sir... don't... panic." A voice, weak beyond measure, came from beneath the dust.

After a while, the Land God emerged, back to his original form and half-transparent all over, staggering as he walked.

"Yuanshi, pacify the land; proclaim it to all spirits..."

"Wait, wait!"

Just as Ling Qing was about to recite the Incantation of Land God Pacification again, the Land God—gasping heavily like a man utterly exhausted—leapt up and stopped him.

Ling Qing jumped in fright. The incantation naturally died on his lips.

"Sir, wait."

Seeing that, the Land God let out a long breath and said slowly, "Sir, please wait.

"This old man truly can't bear that divine incantation a second time."

Once the Land God had caught his breath and steadied his illusory spirit body, Ling Qing learned what had happened.

It turned out that after the Land God absorbed the incense Ling Qing had offered and was roused by the Incantation of Land God Pacification,

the power of Heaven and Earth had filled him with the sense that he could control everything within the reach of his divine office.

When he tried, following the ancient methods of the Divine Script he had just begun to understand, to gather all his power into himself,

things went just as he had hoped. Where the power gathered, his divine body transformed into the gigantic True Body of the Earth God Ling Qing had seen earlier.

At the same time, he understood that the True Body of the Earth God could draw upon all the land beneath Locust Tree Village.

This divine body was the embodiment of the entire land, endowed with all the strength that the land could bear.

It was like Guangchengzi, who wielded the Seal of Heaven-Turning, forged from half of Buzhou Mountain, to smash people. He, too, had wielded the land itself to strike his foe.

Or rather, he himself was a replica of the Seal of Heaven-Turning, and every blow carried the earth's immense weight.

If he hadn't only just acquired this art and been unable to master it at once, that first strike might have crushed the Tiger Demon to dust.

Though he hadn't been able to bring his full power to bear, he could still wrestle with the Tiger Demon—and even gain the upper hand.

One had to remember that the Land God was an underworld deity. Normally, he relied entirely on spells and divine power to manifest his wonders. How could he possibly have any ability to fight hand to hand?

But the price he paid in return was enormous.

His cultivation was insufficient, and he couldn't keep his true body stable.

As a result, afterward, not only were the incense Ling Qing had offered and the power of Heaven and Earth borrowed through the incantation spent, but his own divine power and the incense he had accumulated over many years were also completely depleted.

That was why he couldn't maintain his divine body after the battle and had become half-transparent, like a ghost.

Seeing Ling Qing about to recite the incantation again, he had hurriedly stopped him.

If it happened again, he couldn't guarantee that his divine body wouldn't collapse and his soul scatter.

"Grandpa, though it's still early in the night, we've fought a fierce battle and are both utterly exhausted. Why don't we rest for now and clean up tomorrow morning?"

After Ling Qing apologized for his recklessness, he surveyed the wreckage around them, then turned to the Land God and spoke.

"We have no choice but to do that." The Land God nodded, not an ounce of strength left in his body.

After all, even if he wanted to clean up, he had no strength left.

Ling Qing still had a little strength, but he had no way to haul the tigers out of the pitfall either.

As for spells, both those recorded in the Spellbook and the Natural Force within him had been all but exhausted.

Only a few everyday tricks remained, but they wouldn't help with this.

After saying goodbye to the Land God and watching him disappear into the temple, Ling Qing leaned against the great locust tree.

Then he opened his mind, recovering his Natural Force as he sank into nature's silence and fell into a deep sleep.

"Chirp, chirp! Tweet, tweet!"

As the sky turned pale as a fish's belly, Ling Qing awoke to birdsong coming from far away.

The birds were in a forest far off. After all, the corpse of a Tiger Demon lay here.

Though it was dead, the baleful aura it gave off still drove away the birds, beasts, fish, and insects around it. None dared approach.

"Good morning, sir!"

By the time Ling Qing had finished his morning exercises and gone through the Five Animal Frolics, the Land God was already standing behind him, watching quietly.

"Good morning, Grandpa! What's this?"

Ling Qing turned around and found that the Land God looked slightly different from before.

Though his incomplete recovery of divine power left him looking somewhat illusory, his frame was sturdier than it had been before yesterday.

His stooped back was a little straighter, and the wrinkles on his face had softened. He looked much "younger," and the staff in his hand was thicker, too.

His appearance was closer to that of the True Body of the Earth God from the previous day.

A god's appearance rarely changed. When it did, it always meant that the god's divine office had changed.