Chapter 17: Believers Surge in Numbers — Four Villages Become One
Staring at Li Youming, who looked no older than thirty, Zhang Ronggui's heart was filled with shock.
By rights, Li Youming was two years older than him.
Yet standing side by side, the two men looked a full generation apart.
Truly, the grace of the divine is as vast as the sea!
He marveled inwardly, yet kept his expression solemn and composed, bowing respectfully to Li Youming:
"Temple Priest, sir — I am Zhang Ronggui, Village Chief of Zhang Family Village. I lead the villagers of Zhang Family Village to pay our respects to Lord Zhangyue. Our Zhang Family Village wishes to merge into Four Seas Village!"
"Same goes for our Liao Family Village!" the middle-aged-looking Liao Jinzhi quickly added.
"Ha ha —"
"Welcome, Zhang Family Village and Liao Family Village! From this day forward, you are all villagers of Four Seas Village, and generation after generation shall receive the protection of Lord Zhangyue!"
Li Youming let out a hearty laugh and declared.
He was genuinely moved.
These four villages had coexisted in this region for over a hundred years.
Who could have imagined that today, he — Li Youming — would be the one to unite all four into one?
"Generation after generation shall receive the protection of Lord Zhangyue!"
Zhang Ronggui, Liao Jinzhi, and the great crowd of villagers from both villages all broke into wide, joyful smiles.
With a god watching over them, they would never again have to fear being devoured by demons in this dangerous world!
Rumble —
A great tide of villagers made their way toward the Land God Shrine.
Upon arriving near the shrine, every villager — including those already of Four Seas Village — produced sticks of incense, lit them, and knelt in reverent worship.
"All villagers of Four Seas Village give thanks to Lord Zhangyue for slaying the wolf demon and protecting us!"
Li Youming called out loudly, kowtowing with deep reverence.
"We give thanks to Lord Zhangyue for slaying the wolf demon and protecting us!"
Li Deyang, Li Xiuwu, Chen Mazi, Chen Ergou, Zhang Ronggui, Liao Jinzhi, and every last villager cried out together.
The voices rose in a mighty wave, carrying a solemn and reverent weight that drifted far into the distance.
Inside the Divine Domain.
Li Yue gazed at the dense crowd of villagers kneeling outside the Land God Shrine.
A faint smile curved the corner of his lips.
He could feel it —
In just this single day, a great many new Believers had come to him.
And the faith grade of many existing Believers was rising as well!
Slaying the wolf demon — that was the most powerful divine miracle of all.
It was a deed that benefited every villager.
And for many, it had avenged a blood debt long owed.
"A god who truly exists. A god who slays demons for his villagers. A god who bestows blessings upon his Believers."
"Who wouldn't want to worship such a god?"
"Especially in a world crawling with demons and evil spirits."
He chuckled softly.
He opened the [Believer Status] panel and took a look.
[Believer Status]
[Daily Incense Faith]: 1,694 units
[Dao-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 100,000 units of Incense Faith per day"
[Heaven-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 10,000 units of Incense Faith per day"
[Saint-Grade Believers]: 0 — "Provides 1,000 units of Incense Faith per day"
[Jia-Grade Believers]: 4 — "Provides 100 units of Incense Faith per day"
[Yi-Grade Believers]: 62 — "Provides 10 units of Incense Faith per day"
[Bing-Grade Believers]: 665 — "Provides 1 unit of Incense Faith per day"
[Ding-Grade Believers]: 91 — "Provides 1 unit of Incense Faith every 10 days"
"Eight hundred and twenty-two Believers now."
"The daily Incense Faith income has risen dramatically."
"At this rate, I can condense roughly three units of Divine Power every two days."
Li Yue nodded in satisfaction.
He also noticed that, beyond Li Youming, Li Deyang, and Li Xiuwu, a fourth Jia-Grade Believer had appeared.
"Li Xiuling?"
"That young man only received his blessing later — yet he's already become a Jia-Grade Believer this quickly."
Li Yue raised an eyebrow.
He had read through Li Xiuling's life record in the Earth God Registry.
Nothing remarkable at all.
Born in the village, never once left it. His parents farmed the land. He had two younger brothers and a younger sister, and as the eldest child, he naturally worked the fields alongside his parents.
Only twenty-three years old, yet he already looked like a man in his mid-thirties.
But from the moment he became a Yi-Grade Believer and received the divine blessing, his fate had already begun to change.
Now that he had risen to Jia-Grade Believer, he stood at the very forefront.
Li Yue took out the Earth God Registry and reviewed the records of all Yi-Grade Believers.
Among them, six had committed no small amount of wrongdoing.
These were Believers he would not consider blessing for the time being — not unless they devoted themselves to sincere worship for over ten years and accumulated genuine good deeds.
"Setting aside the ten Yi-Grade Believers who have already received blessings,"
"there are forty-six Yi-Grade Believers eligible to receive a blessing."
"Of those, thirty-three are elderly or middle-aged women and above. The remaining thirteen are middle-aged men and young people."
Li Yue's gaze was calm and measured.
He raised his hand with a gentle wave.
One after another, first-grade Divine Blessing Talismans materialized beside him, radiating brilliant white light.
Eighteen in total.
While the divine might of the wolf demon's slaying still loomed large in the villagers' hearts, bestowing these talismans now would deepen their faith considerably.
Slaying the wolf demon was divine might as fearsome as a prison.
Bestowing the talismans was divine grace as vast as the sea!
And moreover —
Four Seas Village needed to expand outward.
More Warriors were needed to carry out that task effectively.
At present, across all of Four Seas Village —
Including the two newly merged villages, the total number of Warriors stood at only nineteen.
Three of them were elderly men whose blood and qi had already waned — no longer fit for battle.
But that hardly mattered.
The moment any of them received a first-grade Divine Blessing Talisman, their blood and qi would be instantly renewed, and they would feel ten years younger!
Whoosh —
With a single thought, all eighteen first-grade Divine Blessing Talismans shot out of the Divine Domain in an instant.
Zhang Ronggui was deeply devout.
From the moment the divine miracle appeared and the wolf demon was slain, his heart had been filled with unwavering faith in Lord Zhangyue.
When he was still a child, three of his older brothers and one older sister had all been devoured by the wolf demon.
He had harbored a bone-deep hatred for it ever since.
Yet over the years, even Martial Masters from the county town had ventured up the mountain — only to die at the wolf demon's claws.
Now he was old, and the wolf demon had still been there.
Long ago he had given up any thought of revenge, and his fear of the wolf demon had become absolute.
So when he first heard that Li Youming intended to enter the mountain and slay the demon, his immediate reaction was disbelief.
In his mind, the wolf demon was simply too powerful.
Utterly invincible!
But now —
The wolf demon was dead.
Slain by a god!
That terror he had harbored for the wolf demon instantly transformed into devout, wholehearted faith in Lord Zhangyue!
"Thank you, Lord Zhangyue, for slaying the wolf demon and avenging my kin…"
He was overwhelmed with gratitude.
But just then —
He saw streaks of white radiance flying out from the Earth God statue.
One streak of white light shot directly into his body.
He "saw" it.
It was a Divine Blessing Talisman, blazing with brilliant white light.
The talisman shattered and dissolved, transforming into a surging torrent of blood and qi that flooded through his body.
In an instant.
He completed his third Blood Transformation, then his fourth.
His once-aged body was renewed in the blink of an eye, becoming strong and vigorous once more.
The gray-white hair that had covered his head was now mostly black again. His sagging skin tightened. Strength surged through every inch of him!
"I… what is this…"
He stared at his own hands in disbelief.
This terrifying power, far beyond anything he had ever known — was this truly him?
The peak of the first grade?!
He looked around.
He could see that more than a dozen others in the crowd also had blood and qi surging through them — clearly, they too had just completed multiple Blood Transformations.
"This is the divine blessing?"
"I… I actually received the blessing of the great god?"
He murmured to himself, then prostrated himself before the Earth God statue with boundless reverence, tears streaming freely down his weathered face:
"Zhang Ronggui gives thanks for Lord Zhangyue's gracious gift! For the rest of my life, I am willing to dedicate myself entirely to my god!"
In that moment.
It was as though a light had appeared within him.
As though he had finally found the meaning of his life.