Oh, so you pick on the weak and fear the strong!

The greatest difference between the Seventh Rank and the Ninth Rank was how they wielded power.

The Ninth Rank was qi gathering, the Eighth Rank qi nurturing, and the Seventh Rank qi condensation.

Since Lin Feng worked with the wind, what he condensed was wind.

Wind shaped into all manner of forms.

And since he was more familiar with swords, Lin Feng borrowed the wind's power to briefly lift himself into the air, like a sword-riding cultivator in a fantasy tale, maximizing his mobility.

Countless blades formed a rain of swords that fell upon the banyan Blood God.

Fountains of blood erupted from the banyan tree.

The sacrifices attached to it also let out soul-rending screams.

The critical strikes from [Mountain God's Wrath] were nothing like a game, where huge numbers appeared above an enemy's head.

Here, a critical strike meant the deep wound left by a sudden sword slash, a sword wound that would not heal, ceaseless bleeding, and faint blood-red flames burning over its body!

There was also the damage inflicted by dragon-tiger qi.

The Blood God suffered terribly!

Under attack, it fought back.

The great tree was not about to yield.

Its roots lashed out furiously, shattering the ground and sending clods of earth flying. Each strike was perilous, yet none hit their target.

Beneath the ground, roots burst through the earth like frenzied pythons, lashing toward Lin Feng.

As Lin Feng flew, [Sword Heart Clarity] always warned him at just the right moment to evade an attack.

The poisonous blood drifting toward him was repelled by the wind around him.

Lin Feng remained spotless.

Trees always had different strengths and weaknesses from animals. Even after becoming a Blood God, this banyan tree was unsuited to mobile combat.

Not to mention that Lin Feng had already severed its aerial roots and its supposed feet!

With the Western Hunan Mountains supporting him, Lin Feng's mana would never run dry!

And Lin Feng never got greedy with his strikes!

He would rather miss a strike than take one strike too many.

Under Lin Feng's relentless blades, the sacrifices on the Blood Banyan Tree all wore expressions of agony.

The other Blood Gods that had followed the great banyan tree, parasitized along the way, charged at Lin Feng. He picked them off one by one!

[Precise Vision].

The advantage of these passive abilities was that, as his strength increased, Lin Feng could clearly identify the great banyan tree's fatal weakness. It lay inside, where the divine statue had been digested and absorbed. That place seemed to be its heart.

It was also where its bark was thickest.

Lin Feng shaved away its outer layers, searching for a chance to kill it!

If the first-stage Blood God formed from the Grand Elder's corpse had been at the pinnacle of the Ninth Rank...

Then the banyan tree should have been around the Seventh Rank.

Perhaps the pinnacle of the Eighth Rank.

Either way, it was not suited to growing legs and dueling people with supernatural arts.

It should have existed as an object of worship in the first place.

It could defend, but it could not attack.

The low prayers that made one's skin crawl and left one restless, the horrific ritual that offered human lives as sacrifices—the people on the banyan Blood God finally stopped performing it!

They opened their eyes in unison and howled in agony!

The Blood God had not devoured the Mountain God's most fundamental divine power.

The Mountain God had given that power to Lin Feng.

It had no way to control the surrounding mountain forests.

All it had was the great tree and those Sacrificial Corpses.

The Sacrificial Corpses' howls burst forth. Lin Feng's vision went black, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood!

The energy in his chest surged violently!

The mountain villagers being used as feed were instantly drained dry. The Thousand-Household Commander's skin rapidly melted, and his aura climbed higher and higher!

Power poured into him through the banyan tree's aerial roots, seemingly intent on forcefully maturing him into a powerful fighter!

Lin Feng's [Sword Heart Clarity], which had quieted somewhat, suddenly blared a warning. His vision darkened, but he opened his mouth and spat out a sword of blood!

His internal organs were damaged!

The Western Hunan Mountains generously bestowed boundless vitality upon him, soothing the searing pain along his lung meridian.

A Ninth Rank blood sword was vastly different from a Seventh Rank blood sword.

With a single hit, the Thousand-Household Commander of [Five-Organs Incense] was blasted to pieces by the blood sword! Before the fragrance within him could sweep over, Lin Feng summoned a gust and blew it away!

Green blood splashed onto the banyan tree, burning with a sizzling hiss.

Several more streams of sword qi drilled into the great tree's chest in succession, finally pulverizing its heart.

Several elderly faces flew out of the Mountain God's statue.

Lin Feng steadied his breathing and watched the elderly faces. He had initially thought they would reclaim the mountain god authority.

But after appearing, they merely glanced at Lin Feng, and their agonized expressions finally relaxed.

They turned into motes of light and vanished.

With its heart destroyed, the great banyan tree seemed to have died as well.

Its aerial roots withered, and the Sacrificial Corpses hanging from them fell.

The strange sound of prayers vanished too.

Lin Feng stood where he was and let out a relieved breath.

The practice of stringing people up on a tree reminded Lin Feng of the ancient Shamans' rituals he had read about in books.

It was one school of thought.

They treated humans as livestock and sacrificed them to spirits and gods.

Shamans consisted of Female Shamans and Male Shamans.

They were similar to other shamans, yet not quite the same.

They were specialists who mediated between humans and gods in remote antiquity, a role originally filled by monarchs and royalty.

The great affairs of a state lay in sacrifice and war.

They revered the most primitive forms of sacrifice.

They personified their ancestors and, on certain days, killed captives and slaves to please them. They believed their ancestors were not only guardian deities, but also resentful spirits.

If the ancestors were displeased, they would harm their descendants.

After the end of the Han dynasty, the rising Celestial Masters' Way rejected blood offerings as an evil practice of the six heavens' old qi.

When Zhang Daoling swept through mountains and tore down temples, it was the foundations of these Blood-Offering Gods that he destroyed.

Lin Feng smacked his lips as realization dawned.

Blood Gods?

Could these Blood Gods be the legendary Blood-Offering Gods?

The Great Ming still had Blood-Offering Gods?

Something this backward still existed?

Oh, the Great Ming still practiced the human sacrifice system?

Never mind, then.

That really was backward.

He had eliminated the enormous Blood God pursuing him, though he still had no idea why it had traveled so far.

With no need to sit and recover his energy, he summoned wind to blow around him and examined the dead mountain villagers and the remaining bodies of the Embroidered Uniform Guard members. He found nothing on them.

There were no clues.

He waited there for quite a while without seeing any of the Blood God's companions arrive. Instead, he was greeted by "black clouds looming over the city."

As they gazed at the thunderclouds overhead, the surrounding animals began to grow uneasy.

Lin Feng sent them away.

It really was true that different levels of strength revealed different worlds. Before, Lin Feng had been unable to see what was inside those clouds. Now he could see clearly.

Wings, human hands, and heavenly soldiers flickering in and out of sight.

There was also an enormous eye that sent a chill through him.

Fortunately, that enormous eye appeared for only an instant before Lin Feng could no longer see it.

Even that brief glimpse left Lin Feng's eyes red and streaming with tears.

[Sword Heart Clarity] had given no warning. The eye bore him no malice; he had been caught in the collateral damage.

Lin Feng closed his eyes and tilted his head to listen, discovering that this rainfall was definitely not a natural occurrence.

Soon, a rumbling downpour began. Lin Feng walked into the forest and quietly waited for the Toothless Old Lady's invitation.

He waited and waited, but it never came.

He kept waiting, but still nothing came.

After a while, Lin Feng caught on.

Hah, a bunch of sneaky bastards. You really do pick on the weak.

When I was Ninth Rank, you chased right on my heels, hell-bent on getting me.

Now that I'm Seventh Rank and have something to rely on, you won't come anymore, huh?

Oh, you really are something!