Chapter 111: Seizing the Authority of Three Counties Again |
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The Heavenly One Divine Water Drops and the Qi of Metal Essence were different. One was his own spell, moving according to his thoughts.
The other existed between heaven and earth, gathered by external force, and at the Foundation Establishment stage, he could not yet make it move entirely as he wished.
Now that he had recovered his mobility, this slight difference was no longer important.
Chu Xun slammed his palm down, and the cloth bag shattered in response.
Dozens more long swords of metal essence flew and chopped towards the three City Gods.
The walls of the City God Temple flashed with light, becoming like walls of copper and iron.
Spiritual energy was attached to them; even if they wanted to escape, they couldn't.
With his Earth Element spell perfected, although he couldn't gather Earth Essence, it was not something County-level City Gods could compare to.
Otherwise, the long swords containing the Qi of Metal Essence could similarly pierce their bodies and cause damage.
One way was to die slowly, suffering physical and mental torment.
The other was to die quickly, which was more straightforward.
The long swords forged by Chu Xun could naturally be considered divine weapons in the mundane world.
But facing the Merit Jade Tablets, they still appeared fragile.
The sword bodies were easily shattered, and the Qi of Metal Essence sealed within turned into white streaks, striking the several City Gods until their whole bodies emitted smoke.
Chu Xun was determined to annihilate the City Gods of the three counties, so naturally, he would not hold back.
All kinds of methods were unleashed, and even the old bat's wind bone blew out two more blasts of wind and fire.
The Xihuai County City God, who was already heavily injured, was the first to perish.
The other two City Gods only managed to hold on for a moment longer before turning into rolling black smoke under the ravages of over a dozen wisps of Qi of Metal Essence.
Various Underworld magical artifacts scattered all over the ground.
Chu Xun reached out and summoned the three large seals. As soon as he touched them, he saw the names of the many Underworld immortal gods inside.
The Xihuai County City God was named Zhou Qiheng.
He was originally a civil official before the Jing Kingdom was established. When following the army to attack Xihuai County, the enemy general of the previous dynasty used the lives of the commoners as a threat to demand negotiations.
He felt there was deceit, but in order to save the commoners, he pretended to be a Jing Kingdom general and went alone.
As expected, he fell into an ambush and died as a result.
After the founding of the country, Emperor Taizu conferred him the title of Xihuai County City God.
As expected, under Zhou Qiheng's name, other handwriting was covered.
[Qilu]
Chu Xun sequentially checked the City God seals of Hongshan County and Zhanghua County.
He also found different handwriting covered under the City Gods' names, one called [Caine] and the other called [Tubo].
They were all unheard-of names.
Keeping these names in mind, Chu Xun let go of the large seals, allowing them to repair themselves.
A moment later, the large seals were restored to their original state.
With a wave of Chu Xun's hand, they each led their Underworld magical artifacts and flew towards the City God Temples in their respective counties.
In the Xihuai County City God Temple, the divine statues continuously emitted banging sounds and cracked open.
At the location of the City God's golden divine statue, an extremely blurry black shadow faintly appeared.
Naturally, it was the City God who was about to be reborn due to incense.
Hearing the sound of the temple keeper getting up and pushing the door open, Chu Xun didn't delay any longer. His body swayed, and he disappeared from the spot.
The old temple keeper walked over holding a candle. Seeing the mess in the temple, he was immediately horrified.
He ran over in a panic, knelt before the City God's cracked golden body, and kowtowed incessantly.
"Lord City God, please don't blame me, it's the believer who is too greedy!"
"I beg Lord City God to show mercy, take my life in exchange for my parents' and son's good fortune in their next lives."
He thought it was because he prayed every day for the immortal gods of the City God Temple to bless his deceased family members to reincarnate well and live a good life, which annoyed the immortal gods.
Little did he know that this matter had absolutely nothing to do with him.
His forehead quickly bled from kowtowing, yet he still didn't stop, as if he really intended to kowtow himself to death.
At the same time, in the Mingxiu Prefecture City God Temple, a voice like muffled thunder carried a bit of fury.
"The Songliu Water God is too rampant, actually daring to seize the authority of three counties in a row!"
The Civil Judge, Martial Judge, and many other Underworld immortal gods appeared one after another.
Looking at the large seal floating beside the City God's golden body, at this moment, thirty percent of it had turned gray.
The entire Mingxiu Prefecture had jurisdiction over three cities and ten counties.
Excluding Fenggu City, Linyuan City, and Luzhou City, out of the ten counties, four had already had their authority seized by the evil cult wild god.
Since Emperor Taizu conferred the City Gods of the world, this was the first time such a thing had happened.
Originally, the Prefecture City God thought that instructing the subordinate counties to work together and jointly kill the Songliu Water God if they encountered him was a proper arrangement.
Even with the boundary weakening, combining the strength of three counties should have been foolproof.
Who could have thought that the obscure evil cult wild god could actually defeat the City Gods of three counties simultaneously!
The Prefecture City God was furious and immediately ordered the Civil and Martial Judges to go to the three cities, lead the City Gods of each city and county, and head to the three counties to investigate.
If they encountered the Songliu Water God, there was no need to report; they should just annihilate him on the spot.
A large number of Underworld immortal gods mobilized, heading towards Hongshan County, Zhanghua County, and Xihuai County like locusts.
However, at this moment, Chu Xun had already returned to the Zhangnan County City God Temple.
He spoke the names he saw in the large seals and asked the Zhangnan County City God about them.
Every time a name was spoken, the Zhangnan County City God's body would tremble slightly.
If Chu Xun hadn't been paying attention constantly, it would have been hard to notice.
The Zhangnan County City God said, "Qilu is an ancient immortal god of vegetation, in charge of the mountains and forests of this region. It's just that times have changed, commoners gathered here, the mountains and forests were cut down, and a county town was built."
"The name of Qilu was gradually forgotten."
The other two, [Caine] and [Tubo], were the same.
[Caine] was the ancient immortal god of rainbows. When different halos and colors appeared in the sky, they were under his jurisdiction.
He was once an object of worship and offering by ancient ancestors, but as people gradually became enlightened, or perhaps saw them too often.
This ancient immortal god, [Caine], also gradually had no one worshipping him anymore.
[Tubo] was the immortal god in charge of long-distance migration. In ancient times, the ancient ancestors' physical fitness and range of activities were far inferior to now.
If they wanted a safe migration route and to defend against wild beasts on the journey, they would worship [Tubo].
However, now the official roads were unobstructed, wild beasts were driven into the mountains and forests, and when commoners trekked long distances, they were more worried about roaming bandits.
Therefore, the incense for [Tubo] was also gradually cut off.
Having clarified the origins of these ancient immortal gods, Chu Xun looked at the Zhangnan County City God again and asked, "Then what is your relationship with Xuan Yu?"
After several years of incense offerings, the Zhangnan County City God had mostly recovered.
His face gradually became clear, allowing people to clearly see his puzzled expression.
"I am the Zhangnan County City God Liang Simiao, and I have no connection with Xuan Yu," he answered.
Chu Xun didn't see any traces of lying on his face. It seemed the Zhangnan County City God really was Liang Simiao, and not the ancient immortal god who stole the merit.
But how could Chu Xun believe it.
If the Zhangnan County City God wasn't lying, there was one possibility.
Although those ancient immortal gods stole human merit and enjoyed others' incense to continue existing, their past memories were also erased as a result.
After all, the biggest flaw in being an imposter is letting it slip yourself.
If you don't have the memory of being an imposter and truly believe from the bottom of your heart that you are that person, then there is no possibility of letting it slip.
"Sure enough, one ring linked to another, cautious and meticulous," Chu Xun thought to himself.
Without asking any more questions, Chu Xun left the Zhangnan County City God Temple and returned to Pinecone Village.
After returning home and closing the door, he silently looked at his own information.
[Divine Office 3752/30000, Unconferred loose god, obtained divine abilities, Golden Millet Dream, Hide Form and Conceal Shadow, Observe Qi and Know Opportunities (The pseudo-orthodox god position can cast divine abilities five times a year), remaining hours that can be hidden per year, 4379 (After conferment, can obtain orthodox god divine abilities, can lodge soul to substitute death)]
As expected, destroying the City Gods of three counties in a row brought the number of times divine abilities could be cast per year to as many as five.
Chu Xun stretched out his hand, and a spark danced on his fingertips.
But unlike the extremely small flame of the initial Fire Making Spell, this spark carried an extremely high temperature.
And following Chu Xun's will, it transformed into various shapes.
With a thought, the furnace in the courtyard suddenly burned fiercely.
The temperature was so high it almost melted the bricks and stones.
In the next second, following his thought, the temperature dropped instantly.
[Five Elements Spells 2/5,
Water Element, Can control the lakes and marshes of heaven and earth to a great extent within a thousand zhang
Earth Element, Can control the earth of heaven and earth to a great extent within a thousand zhang
Metallurgy Spell 5885/30000, Can slightly change the shape of metal
Spring Wood Spell 13943/30000, Brings a large amount of help to plant growth
Fire Element Spell 19837/100000, Limited control over the fire of heaven and earth within a thousand zhang
Thousands of Great Daos do not depart from the Five Elements.
When the Five Elements Spells are cultivated to perfection, the Five Elements Dao Method is achieved]
Over these years, the Metallurgy Spell progressed every day by relying on forging iron, without much change.
The previous Wood Bud Spell, however, had advanced to the Spring Wood Spell because he frequently helped with the fields of various households in the village.
Only the Fire Control Spell, after advancing once a few years ago, actually broke through again today by relying on killing the City Gods of three counties, reaching the final level of the Fire Element Spell.
He only needed to wait for the numbers behind it to be sufficient, and the Fire Element Spell would be perfected.
The Five Elements Dao Method required the Five Elements Spells to be cultivated to perfection first before they could merge with the Dao.
If looking at it at a normal speed, it was obviously impossible to succeed before completing the task of protecting the flood dragon's Dao.
But if he used the Underworld immortal gods as a stepping stone, the speed would be greatly accelerated.
"I can't make a move again in the near future. These incense gods must have already prepared to attack me en masse."
Chu Xun was very cautious. Seizing the authority of incense gods was not the most necessary thing to do.
The real focus was still protecting the flood dragon's Dao.
Completing this task would allow him to advance to the Golden Core realm.
As his cultivation improved, the power of various spells would naturally increase as well.
At that time, no matter how big the world was, Chu Xun could go anywhere.
He had already reaped a lot of benefits today; it was time to keep a low profile for a while.
For a period of time after that, Chu Xun lived in seclusion and almost completely cut off contact with the City God Temple.
As expected, City Gods from various places frequently came to the Songliu Water God Temple or the Zhangnan County City God Temple to investigate the situation.
As fellow Underworld immortal gods, even if their authority was seized, they couldn't kill their "colleagues" again.
They could only search back and forth, but where could they find him.
Seeing Civil and Martial Judges whose auras were several times stronger than County City Gods near the Songliu Water God Temple, Chu Xun knew that these figures definitely came from the command of a higher-ranking Prefecture City God.
Fortunately, Chu Xun had even hidden his cultivation, so even if they were close at hand, they couldn't detect him.
Thus a year passed, until the divine office was exposed.
The Civil and Martial Judges under the Prefecture City God came together, followed by the Underworld immortal gods of three cities and six counties.
When they arrived at the City God Temple and sensed that the Songliu Water God's aura was underground, they used all kinds of methods, digging three feet into the ground to find him.
However, Chu Xun used the Earth Element spell to go dozens of zhang deep underground.
By the time these City Gods dug open the ground, he had already moved to another place.
The Civil and Martial Judges who came from afar from Mingxiu Prefecture were furious.
"Audacious Songliu Water God, won't you come up and accept your death, do you only know how to hide!"
"Despicable wild god, unpresentable!"
How could Chu Xun fall for their goading; they could say whatever they wanted.
He just waited for the time the divine office was exposed to pass, then quickly returned to Pinecone Village, never to be found again.
Passing this year with false alarms gave Chu Xun a deep understanding of his own methods and safety.
In a head-on confrontation, he probably wasn't a match for the Prefecture City God.
Relying only on the metal essence magical artifacts and Essence of Ren Water, unless he could instantly kill all the Underworld immortal gods.
Otherwise, once suppressed by the City God's large seal, he would be extremely passive.
Moreover, the Prefecture City God's methods were definitely much more formidable than a County City God's.
One careless move, and he would face the risk of his soul scattering and never being reincarnated.
To Chu Xun, such a risk was unacceptable.
Without absolute certainty, he wouldn't make a move easily.
Anyway, as long as he didn't die, the Underworld couldn't take back the authority of the four County City Gods; they should be the ones who were anxious.
Thus, year after year passed.
By the twenty-fourth year of Chongming.
Liaoyuan City had held firm for over five years.
In these five years, the Wu Kingdom and the King of the Southwest, Ma Huaian, launched multiple attacks in succession, all of which were thwarted before Liaoyuan City.
The Marquis of Yongan, Liao Shouyi, relying on the divine weapons that descended from heaven years ago, guarded the southwest of the Jing Kingdom firmly like a god of war.
In these few years, the imperial court didn't send a single soldier to reinforce Liaoyuan City.
There was only the Emperor's imperial edict, conferring Liao Shouyi the title of Duke of Wei and Grand Marshal of the Southwest Military Forces.
And promising that if he could take back the Southwest, he would be bestowed the title of King of Equal Rank, and rewarded with thirty percent of the mountains and forests in the Southwest as his fief.
Even Qiaohua, far away in Pinecone Village, was bestowed a First-Rank Mandate.
From Mingxiu Prefecture to Fenggu City, and then to Zhangnan County, officials of all levels came to visit and congratulate.
Shitou's house was bustling with activity all the time.
Qiaohua was both happy and unhappy.
She was happy because her man was so successful and brought supreme glory.
She was unhappy because it was always hard to see him.
Even when she wanted to go to Liaoyuan City to visit, she was dissuaded.
They said the journey was treacherous, roaming bandits were rampant, and she was already a sixty-year-old person; if anything happened on the way, they wouldn't be able to explain it to the Duke of Wei.
At first, Qiaohua thought these officials had good intentions, until she complained a few words in front of Chu Xun.
Chu Xun said, "If you two go and the family reunites, some people will start to feel uneasy."
"There is already one Ma Huaian in the Southwest; there cannot be a second one."
Qiaohua and her son Liao Licheng quickly understood.
This was treating them as hostages?
Chu Xun didn't say this without reason.
Emperor Chongming was heavily paranoid, especially now that he was older, it was said to be even more severe.
Every day in the imperial palace, he could only be alone. Even the Director of Ceremonial and Seal-Holding Eunuch Zhang Li, who had accompanied him for most of his life, could only stand outside the door and was not allowed to enter.
It was rumored that the Crown Prince, due to urgent military affairs, broke into the palace overnight, and was stripped of his Crown Prince title on charges of treason and confined.
If any guards or maids dared to enter, they would die without a burial place.
Now Liao Shouyi's fame was growing, and the commoners of the world all regarded him as the God of War of the Jing Kingdom.
His prestige in the army was at its zenith.
Especially after the old marshal Hong Zexu passed away a few years ago, the spiritual pillar of the Jing Kingdom army shifted to him.
Under such circumstances, it was simply impossible for Qiaohua and her son to go to Liaoyuan City to reunite.
If they really went, they would probably encounter "roaming bandits" halfway and disappear without a trace from then on.
[End of Chapter]
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