Chapter 22: To Spread the Faith, Forge the Path with Force!

Over the course of that one month,

Four Seas Village had completed its transfer of power.

Li Youming, as Temple Priest, stood unquestionably at the very top of the hierarchy, holding sway over every direction Four Seas Village would take.

Zhang Ronggui served as his assistant.

Li Deyang was appointed Village Chief of Four Seas Village, responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the settlement.

Chen Mazi and Liao Jinxian served as Deputy Village Chiefs, assisting Li Deyang.

Li Xiuwu and Li Xiuling each led fifteen Warriors to form two hunting teams, spending their days hunting in the mountains.

The remaining ten Warriors were all assigned to the "Temple Guard," responsible for patrolling and standing watch over the Land God Shrine, as well as the village itself.

A month ago, the village had only twenty-six first-grade mid-tier Warriors.

But over this past month, another fourteen people had received the grace of Lord Zhangyue and become first-grade mid-tier Warriors.

Furthermore, one more first-grade peak Warrior had emerged — Chen Ergou — who became the captain of the "Temple Guard."

As of now —

All of Four Seas Village boasted seven first-grade peak Warriors and forty first-grade mid-tier Warriors.

"Temple Priest, is it time to make our move?"

Li Deyang looked up at Li Youming, who sat in the seat of honor, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Below him sat Chen Mazi and Liao Jinxian.

Across from them sat Zhang Ronggui, Li Xiuwu, Li Xiuling, and Chen Ergou.

"Yes."

"Only two months remain before the deadline of the Divine Decree."

"Lord Zhangyue's Divine Decree is not merely something we must fulfill — we must fulfill it to the very best of our ability."

Li Youming regarded everyone with a grave expression.

"Temple Priest, give the order."

"Whatever you say, we will do!"

Chen Mazi declared, his blood boiling with excitement.

The village was going to expand its population — as Deputy Village Chief, his own standing would naturally rise along with it!

"Since the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty collapsed,"

"Demons and monsters have run rampant across the land, and evil spirits roam unchecked."

"Everyone is struggling just to survive, and the county towns have essentially become self-governing."

"Even individual villages and towns are doing as they please."

Li Youming swept his gaze across the assembled faces:

"Setting aside the wider world — just in the four directions surrounding our Cangmu Town, vast numbers of human folk are suffering under the torment of demons and monsters."

"To spread the faith, we must forge the path with force!"

His voice carried a note of cold, killing intent.

The eyes of everyone present blazed with fervor, their blood running hot.

"Deyang, how many of the new houses I asked you to build are ready?"

Li Youming turned his gaze to Li Deyang.

"One hundred and twenty have already been built. They're simple wooden structures, but they'll keep out the wind and rain."

Li Deyang replied immediately.

This was the fruit of a full month's labor, with the entire village mobilized to work.

It had been made much easier by the sheer number of Warriors they now had — men who could sprint down the mountain carrying hundreds of pounds of timber, dramatically boosting efficiency.

"Keep building."

"What about food supplies?"

Li Youming looked toward Liao Jinxian.

"We still have over four thousand pounds of salted wolf meat left from before, and the hunting teams have brought in a good haul this past month. All told, we now have over seven thousand pounds of cured meat."

"On top of that, we have over sixty thousand pounds of grain in reserve."

Liao Jinxian said in a steady voice.

That stockpile of grain had been bought from the town with silver earned by selling hunted game over the course of the month.

They had even sold two of the wolf carcasses that had shown signs of Demonization.

Li Youming gave a nod.

Housing and food — these were among his tools for attracting outsiders to join Four Seas Village.

In this day and age, having a roof over one's head and enough to eat and wear was the greatest wish most people could dare to hold.

And these two things were also the main reason he had waited a full month before acting.

"Ronggui, Xiuwu, Xiuling — the three of you will come with me out of the village."

"Bring both hunting teams."

He issued the order.

"Yes, Temple Priest!"

The three of them accepted the command at once.

* * *

Within the Divine Domain.

"It's beginning, is it?"

Li Yue watched Li Youming lead his people out of Four Seas Village, his expression calm.

As the Ordained Earth God of Four Seas Village, Believers could only generate Incense Faith for him by offering incense within his Divine Jurisdiction.

To put it plainly —

The Divine Domain was the core area blanketed by the Divine Path Rules.

The Underworld Law Domain was the outer fringe area blanketed by the Divine Path Rules.

As for the Divine Jurisdiction, it could only be considered the radiant periphery of the Divine Path Rules.

In other words —

Step outside his Divine Jurisdiction, and the Divine Path Rules ceased to apply.

So incense offered beyond the Divine Jurisdiction would produce no Incense Faith whatsoever.

And if no Incense Faith was produced, how could he receive any?

"Still, this past month has brought me fifty-two units of Divine Power."

A trace of satisfaction curved his lips.

Through the Regional Chat, he had learned that the other Blue Star Feral Gods had nowhere near as many Believers.

He was currently receiving one thousand nine hundred and twenty-two units of Incense Faith every day.

The Blue Star Feral Gods, on the other hand —

Most of them were only gathering six or seven hundred units of Incense Faith per day.

Some were receiving as few as three or four hundred.

"This is precisely why it matters to have slain demons with the full, blazing might of heaven — forging the image of an unrivaled, invincible deity."

"It also reflects the effect of having bestowed a total of forty-seven first-grade Divine Blessing Talismans."

He smiled to himself.

Other Blue Star Feral Gods, even those who had completed Personal Mission III, had at most seven first-grade Divine Blessing Talismans in hand.

The fewer divine blessings bestowed, the lower the Believers' depth of faith would naturally be.

On top of that, if the others wanted to slay demons, they first had to lure the monsters into their Divine Jurisdiction before striking. And since the demons' strength was no weaker than a deity's, a prolonged battle — even if ultimately won — would damage the god's divine image.

Of course —

All of this depended on how each individual played their hand.

Some people were simply born to be gods. For all he knew, a few of them might already be gathering more Incense Faith per day than he was.

"But no matter —"

"Less than four months from now, another Grand Sacrifice will come…"

"A hundredfold amplification on the Offering…"

His eyes shone with anticipation.

He had not passed word of the Offering to Li Youming through any Divine Decree.

After all —

The Offering must not be tainted by even the slightest direct karmic link to the deity.

If he were to relay the matter of the Offering to Li Youming as a Divine Decree, that would create a direct karmic link.

Therefore —

The Offering could only be left to Li Youming's own initiative!

But he felt confident.

Li Youming was proving to be a very capable Temple Priest. Surely, for the second Grand Sacrifice of the year, he would prepare a fine Offering.

Afterward —

He opened the Regional Chat interface and typed in a message once more:

"Looking to buy a batch of spirit rice seeds — any variety accepted. Contact me if you have stock."

Over the past month, he had been posting this message almost every day.

After all —

He had received that Spirit Field Divine Talisman but had yet to use it.

The reason was simple: he had no spirit rice seeds.

He had considered having Li Youming find a way to obtain some.

But spirit rice and spirit rice seeds were different things.

The spirit rice occasionally sold in the county town was not suitable for use as seeds.

Spirit rice was special — within each harvest, only certain exceptional individual grains could serve as seeds.

Those seeds would certainly be sorted out and kept.

They were the lifeblood of the county town's most powerful faction, and there was absolutely no chance of them being sold to outsiders.

In the Regional Chat, he was not the only one seeking spirit rice seeds.

After a month had passed,

A number of Blue Star deities had completed Personal Mission III and slain their demons.

Completing Personal Mission III rewarded one Spirit Field Divine Talisman.

With a Spirit Field Divine Talisman in hand, spirit rice seeds were naturally needed — otherwise, opening a spirit field would be pointless.

He had not held out much hope, posting the message merely out of routine.

To his surprise —

In the blink of an eye, a female deity by the name of "Chu Yue" reached out to him:

"I have a batch of 'White Jade Spirit Rice' seeds — twenty units of Divine Power. Interested?"