Southern Border Mountain God in Peril, Fortune-Steadying Magic Treasure Tarnished

The speaker had a beard and a dignified face. As soon as he appeared, he exuded a faint aura of power, and his entire body radiated a faint blue light.

Azure Divine Radiance, Sixth-Rank Deity.

Qiu Yan was no stranger to this person. The other party called himself Bai Shi and said that he was a god under the command of Min Yuan. Min Yuan was Qiu Yan's other identity, and the two were of one mind.

This Bai Shi is actually Bai Wenpan from the City God Divine Office of Yuan Ning Road. Back then, he was stripped of his Divine Rank by Lü Liang because of Qiu Yan. In the end, he followed the Divine Spirit Body and was given the position of mountain god of Lixiu Mountain, enjoying the incense offerings of the Sixth Grade, and becoming a local Subordinate Deity.

This Subordinate Deity should have been located on the southern frontier, appeared on the northern Grasslands, which was undoubtedly sudden and unexpected. Moreover, judging from his appearance just now, he was clearly hiding in that Lingxiu Fairy, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

However, Qiu Yan had already sensed the changes that were about to occur.

The Divine Spirit Body traverses the Fleshly Body Way and resides in another Continent. The physical body remaining in Donghua cannot directly perceive the incense offerings belonging to the Divine Spirit Body. At most, it uses the Soul Aperture as a transit point to transmit the gathered People's Wishes through the soul. The incense offerings contain the thoughts of the believers and also contain information from the Subordinate Deity, which the Divine Spirit Body can capture, analyze, and thus understand.

In reality, although the Divine Spirit Body is far away and the incense offerings in the East Flower Continent have been somewhat shaken, Qiu Yan has always been fully aware of what is happening within the scope of the Domain of Law and the Divine Office. However, since the Divine Spirit Body has not yet returned, there are some things he cannot intervene in.

That's how things are. Even if there are many things to do right now, you have to do them one by one. Doing them all at once only makes things more chaotic. Besides, if the Divine Spirit Body doesn't come, even if the other bodies are capable of doing it, they can't interfere. It's not just about entanglements of Karma; they also have to expose their connections, which would truly make them the target of everyone's criticism.

On the other hand, Qiu Yan, facing his divine Subordinate Deity in flesh and Fleshly Body, could not display the proper demeanor, nor could he say certain things. Instead, he had to feign confusion and ask, "Where do you come from, sir?"

Bai Shi wasn't angry. He calmly replied, "I once served in the City God Underworld Office Yuan Ning Road. When Lord Min Yuan came, he mentioned you, sir, so I took note of you. That's how I came to recognize you, sir. However, I didn't show myself at the time, so it's normal that you don't remember me."

Back then, the Divine Spirit Body emerged from the mountains, powerless and without any strength worthy of others' attention. However, because of its Heaven-Born Deity status, it was entrusted with an important task by Yin Xiao'e. This was suspected of being a usurpation of power, so Bai Shi, as one of the parties involved, naturally had to take action. The flesh-and- Fleshly Body, which was closely related to the Divine Spirit Body, naturally became the focus of surveillance.

However, since the Divine Spirit Body and the Fleshly Body have little connection, Bai Shi gave up. In this process, as the mastermind behind the scenes, he naturally wouldn't personally participate. Therefore, in theory, Qiu Yan's Fleshly Body had never seen his god. Moreover, gods are changeable and can change their form depending on their Divine Office, talismans, Incense Thoughts. If Qiu Yan showed familiarity upon meeting him, it would arouse suspicion.

However, Bai Shi, being a deity, showed considerable respect to Qiu Yan, even deliberately lowering his stance, which puzzled the Lingxiu Fairy beside him.

This Bai Shi was her fortuitous opportunity. Without his guidance, which helped her overcome several dangers and turn misfortune into fortune in various ruins, she would never have achieved her current level of cultivation. During their interactions, Lingxiu Fairy had already noticed Bai Shi's personality, knowing that he was quite arrogant and conceited. Even when facing experts, he showed no respect in his words, at most telling her to be a little more careful.

At present, Bai Shi showed a certain respect for Qiu Yan, a court official and a powerful cultivator, which naturally aroused suspicion.

"Could it be because of the Primordial Spirit that Elder Bai mentioned?"

Lingxiu Fairy was unaware that while Bai Shi's attitude was partly due to his Divine Spirit Body, it was more a reflection of his Fleshly Body.

With his Divine Eyes, he could see the rainbow of Fortune straight into the sky above Qiu Yan's head. It was blessed and favored by two Dragon Qi, and there were also Human Path writings manifesting and surrounding it. Moreover, many People's Prestige gathering around it, which was no less than that of an ordinary third or fourth-rank deity, and its foundation of believers was much more solid than that of his Bai Shi believers.

It is possible to accept it. Even if Qiu Yan suddenly dies, based on the two classic texts, he can still be deified by People's Wishes, and his Divine Grade will definitely be above that of Bai Shi, and he will not be Subordinate Deity.

Under such circumstances, how could Bai Shi take it lightly?

His current situation is dire. His superior is nowhere to be found. If it weren't for the Virtual Talisman still being there, Bai Shi would have thought that his Divine Spirit Body had vanished into thin air. There has also been a change in the Nine Spirits Mountain Range. He escaped by borrowing a woman from a sect on the mountain. Along the way, the woman's cultivation level has been getting higher and higher, but he has not seen any hope of escaping.

Now that he has encountered Qiu Yan, with whom he has some connection, he certainly won't let him go easily. He subtly inquires about the whereabouts of the Divine Spirit Body, not because he is certain that Qiu Yan knows, but simply to test the waters.

However, the situation on the Divine Spirit Body side has not yet fully unfolded, Qiu Yan will not reveal much. Nevertheless, he is also somewhat curious about the combination of Lingxiu Fairy and Bai Shi.

Bai Shi is Sixth Grade Divine Rank, with combat power equivalent to the second level of the Third Realm of cultivators, while Lingxiu Fairy is at the peak of the Third Realm, with combat power already surpassing Bai Shi's. There must be some story behind this, but now is not the right time to inquire.

"Since you are so kind as to extend an invitation, I will gladly accept."

After Qiu Yan extended the invitation, Bai Shi readily accepted. His situation was somewhat dangerous. Although he had left the southwestern mountain region, his unauthorized departure had left the Domain of Law Mountains in a state of disarray, severely shaking the foundation of his Divine Path. Moreover, his Divine Office were linked, making it easy for him to be discovered. In fact, over the past six months, Bai Shi had been discovered countless times by the mountain gods along the way. If it weren't for Lingxiu Fairy, he would have been captured long ago.

In this situation, seeking refuge with the imperial court would undoubtedly be an ideal choice. Of course, he still harbored some suspicion and did not completely trust Qiu Yan, but these subtle details need not be elaborated upon.

Bai Shi, having received the promise, transformed into light and returned to one of Lingxiu Fairy's jade pendants. Meanwhile, Qiu An stepped forward, and a cloud of black mist flew out from his bundle, carrying a ginseng root on top of it.

It was Ginseng Baby who rode the Trial Beast, and the two objects flew out and reached Qiu Yan's hand. The Trial Beast's smoke immediately enveloped the gourd.

"What are you? You lowly creature! How dare you provoke me, Grandpa Gourd!" After the tremors and shaking, the gourd had been quiet for a while, but now it seemed to have regained its spirit and started howling. However, it was suppressed by the Order Lightning and could not move an inch.

In the blink of an eye, the Trial Beast coiled around it, while the Ginseng Baby toddled over and sat on the gourd, looking adorable. The Lingxiu Fairy opposite her made her eyes light up, but with her temperament, she managed to keep her composure.

Seeing that the situation was beyond saving, the gourd showed signs of anxiety and spoke again, this time addressing Qiu Yan—

"Boy! I see you're an official of the imperial court, how can you be so ignorant? I am High-Tier Magical Treasure Fortune, capable of suppressing the fortune of a sect, passed down through generations, my status is extremely noble! Even if you captured me, you should treat me well, but you, first you took away my Lunar True Essence that I had nurtured for hundreds of years, and now you let this snot-nosed brat insult me, you are far too disrespectful to me!"

"Oh? High-Tier Magical Treasure? That's quite rare. I, Qiu, have never actually obtained one before. In that case, it certainly has great research value." Qiu Yan glanced down at the gourd, a strange glint in his eyes.

During the previous battle, he couldn't attend to anything else, but now that things have calmed down, he can finally spare the energy to pay attention to other matters.

This gourd behaved like an ordinary person, which had already caught Qiu Yan's attention. However, exploring the mysteries of High-Tier Magical Treasure was not something that could be done overnight, so there was no need to rush. Thus, upon Qiu Yan the gourd's words, "If you don't release me, the Burial Bone Dao will not let this go, and there's also the old man you sealed away..." Qiu Yan let it be enveloped by the Trial Beast and become the Ginseng Baby's second mount, and then ignored it.

His gaze shifted and landed on Ran Lian and the others, who immediately felt a chill run down their spines.

Although Ran Lian, Shi Jin, and the others did not understand the situation, they roughly realized that Qiu Yan had probably finished his business on the Grasslands.

Indeed, from the very beginning, Qiu Yan had been inquiring about the Tulang Tribe, his purpose clearly stated therein. Now that the alliance of cultivators led by Ding Chunzi had been defeated, the fate of the Tulang Tribe was sealed.

This tribe had long since split apart, and now all the able-bodied men had been sacrificed, leaving only the upper echelons. From now on, the name Tu Lang will be erased from the Grasslands.

But then the problem arose...

"If the compiler returns to the Central Plains, what are your plans for us?"

Before Ran Lian could sort out her thoughts, her vague questions were asked by Fu Yong.

"We would appreciate it if you could provide a plan, sir, to help stabilize morale among the troops."

This man, who came from a merchant family, was quite different in spirit and energy. Not only was he much stronger, but his eyes were also gleaming with a sharp light, giving people a sense of shrewdness and competence. His actions and demeanor also had a ruthless air about them.

This temperament, brought about by two months of marching and victories, transformed him completely. In the last half month, he put forward many suggestions and achieved some results, no longer having the mindset of a businessman.

After he asked his question, everyone else also focused their attention. This was because everyone had gained a lot of insights from the raindrops earlier, and their State of Mind were in Chaos, which allowed them to quickly recover from the shock of watching the battle.

"Is there even a question? He must have gone back with the compiler to receive the emperor's reward. We've accomplished such a great feat on the Grasslands, surely the emperor of the Central Plains would reward us?" Shi Jin walked over and shouted. Compared to two months ago, this mixed-race youth had grown a head taller, his muscles taut, like a leopard, full of explosive power.

But Fu Yong shook his head and said, "There will definitely be a reward, but we cannot receive it along with the compiler, otherwise a good thing will turn into a disaster!" (To be continued...)

P. S.: Thanks to "Wan Xia Xia La" for the donation!