Chapter 30: The Divine Might Manifests Again — A Single Gaze Slays the Demons

"My lord, should we not act?" Li Youtang asked, standing behind Liao Xiu'er, his brow furrowed.

"Are you a match for those demons?" Liao Xiu'er shot back.

Li Youtang shook his head, but immediately said, "Even if we are no match, as Ghost Officers under Lord Zhangyue's command, when we see demons entering the village, it is our duty to slay them and protect the villagers!"

The three other reserve Ghost Soldiers — transformed from deceased Yi-Grade Believers — nodded vigorously in agreement.

They had all been villagers of Four Seas Village in life, and their bond with the village ran deep.

Seeing the demons charging in, they naturally burned with the desire to cut them down.

"Remember," Liao Xiu'er said. "We are Ghost Officers. Our duty is to apprehend souls — to handle the affairs of the underworld for Lord Zhangyue."

"The living and the dead walk separate paths. Resisting demons is not our responsibility."

"Besides, none of us can beat them. What good would throwing ourselves at them do?"

Liao Xiu'er shook her head, and a trace of helplessness crept into her voice at the end.

Of course — she held not a single shred of worry.

Lord Zhangyue was right there within the Divine Domain.

A few demons? The venerable god could wipe them out with a wave of his hand!

A fervent gleam lit up her eyes.

* * *

Inside the Divine Domain, Li Yue gazed at the three demons, his expression utterly indifferent.

"Just twelve more units of Divine Power, and I can advance to Ninth Grade (Upper)…"

"You three demons have arrived at just the right moment."

"Sell your corpses, and my Divine Power will surpass a thousand units."

He murmured softly, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

After all — this was a divine grade advancement, reaching Ninth Grade (Upper)!

For a god, nothing mattered more than raising one's Divine Grade.

With a Divine Grade advancement, his power would undoubtedly surge dramatically.

"As a Ninth Grade (Lower) Ordained Earth God, my strength is equivalent to a peak fourth-grade Yin-Yang Realm Grandmaster of this world."

"Then — what about Ninth Grade (Upper)?"

He looked down upon the three demons that had already charged into the boundaries of Four Seas Village — his Divine Jurisdiction.

Then — he gently raised his hand.

Against demons of merely peak second-grade who had entered his Divine Jurisdiction, he did not even need to expend Divine Power.

The range of his Divine Jurisdiction was the land covered by the Divine Path Rules he commanded!

* * *

"Ha ha ha—!"

"You humans are nothing but two-legged sheep, born to be food for us demons!"

"Lie down and become our meal — that is your destiny!"

"And that demon pretending to be a god — come out and let me eat you!"

The bear demon snarled, its crimson eyes leering down at the humans it could now see, drool dripping from the corners of its mouth.

It had noticed — the humans here were far more plump and succulent than those in the Land of Demons!

"Humans!" the dog demon howled, rearing up on its hind legs, saliva streaming endlessly from its jaws. Its eyes glowed a sickly green as it stared at the villagers of Four Seas Village, barely restraining itself from devouring every last one of them in a single gulp.

And it had noticed — this village was packed with human Warriors!

Chewy, blood-and-qi-enriching human Warriors!

Only the snow-white giant horse remained aloof and disdainful. Though it was a demon, it had never once eaten a human.

After all, the master it had known in its youth had been a human — and that master had treated it with great kindness. After it became a demon, it had sworn never to eat a person.

Its reason for coming here was nothing more than following orders: to slay the demon masquerading as a god in this place.

Of course — it would not eat humans, but neither would it help them. It dared not help them; if it were discovered aiding humans, it would be killed on the spot.

And then, at that very moment —

It suddenly felt a terrifying force of unimaginable magnitude surging in from all directions.

Before this force, its demonic power — which had already reached the peak second-grade — crumbled at the first touch, unable to resist even a fraction of it!

In that instant, it seemed to glimpse a god standing high above the vault of heaven, gazing down upon it with cold, indifferent eyes.

Divine radiance surged like a tide.

Divine might rolled in like waves.

It was frozen in place by the overwhelming force, unable to move a single inch.

And beneath that terrifying power, the demonic energy wreathing its body melted like snow under a blazing sun — more than half of it extinguished in the blink of an eye!

Terror filled its eyes.

A god! There truly was a god here!!

The humans had not been lying — a legendary god truly watched over this place!

It was over. It was finished.

Over a hundred years of cultivation to reach this level, and now it was going to die!

In that moment, countless images flashed through its mind — but the most vivid of all were the memories of its youth, spent alongside its master.

Those had been the most wonderful, most cherished days of its entire life.

* * *

"What is happening?!" the bear demon roared. "I… I can't move!"

"A god — I can see a god looking down at me!"

"It's over!"

"There really is a god here!!"

The bear demon and the dog demon were both frozen solid, like insects trapped in amber, their hearts drowning in boundless terror.

No matter how they had imagined it before, they had never truly believed there would be a real god.

But they could see it now — towering above all, divine might surging without end!

That terrifying power was the absolute bane of every shred of demonic energy within them.

And the god's strength far, far exceeded anything they had imagined!

The next moment —

In a daze, they seemed to see the indifferent eyes of that lofty god fill with rolling thunder.

No sound reached their ears — it felt almost like an illusion.

Yet within their minds, a world-shaking thunderclap rang out!

Their powerful demon souls were instantly reduced to ash beneath that thunderous roar!

Two enormous demon corpses crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom.

* * *

"I… I'm not dead?"

The snow-white giant horse stared in astonishment at the corpses of the bear demon and the dog demon. The god had not slain it?

"You have never eaten a human. Your soul carries no sin — that is rare indeed."

"Submit to this god, and your life shall be spared."

A calm, authoritative voice resonated within its mind.

"This lowly demon is willing to submit to the venerable god!"

The snow-white giant horse did not hesitate for even a moment. Finding that it could move again, it immediately dropped to its knees.

At the same time, demonic energy surged across its massive body, and in an instant it transformed into a young woman clad in a snow-white dress, prostrating herself on the ground.

Demons who reached the second grade could already take human form. But in this world, where humans were weak, most demons disdained to do so.

Whoosh —

A powerful force swept through the air.

The horse demon, now in the form of a young woman, was lifted into the air and set down before the Land God Shrine, still prostrating herself on the ground.

The two enormous demon corpses vanished, drawn by Li Yue into his Divine Domain.

* * *

"We give thanks to Lord Zhangyue for slaying the demons and protecting Four Seas Village!"

Li Youming glanced at the prostrate horse demon, then called out in a booming voice and bowed toward the Land God Shrine.

"We give thanks to Lord Zhangyue for slaying the demons and protecting Four Seas Village!"

One by one, the Warriors of Four Seas Village cried out with excitement and reverence, kneeling before the Land God Shrine.

"We give thanks to Lord Zhangyue for slaying the demons and protecting Four Seas Village!"

All the villagers of Four Seas Village shouted in unison, overcome with excitement and emotion, their faith deeper than ever.

They had witnessed Lord Zhangyue's divine might once more!

Powerful and terrifying demons — yet beneath Lord Zhangyue's divine might, they had been utterly helpless!

With Lord Zhangyue watching over Four Seas Village, they would never again be threatened by demons!

Many villagers immediately ran back to their homes to fetch incense sticks, lighting them and offering reverent bows toward the Land God Shrine.

Wisps of fragrant smoke curled upward, drifting as countless threads of blue haze toward the Land God Shrine, wreathing it in mist and cloud — like a paradise on earth.