Chapter 387
Chapter 387
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 387
Chapter Title: The Advantage Lies with Me
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The Bai Village, which had originally resembled a paradise isolated from the world, was now gripped by an atmosphere of extreme tension.
"It's a wolf pack! Wolves from the mountains are attacking!"
"Call out the men from every household, grab your weapons, and head to the village entrance!"
"Quickly, send someone to contact the temple priest. Tell everyone not to worry! With the temple priest here, and the Land God providing protection, a mere wolf pack can't do anything to us!"
As Lu Yang cautiously extended his divine sense for a discreet observation, he was shocked to see over a dozen massive wolves, each the size of a calf, surrounding the entire village. Their scarlet eyes gleamed as they howled and snarled, causing the elderly, women, and children in the village to pale in panic.
The hearts of the people wavered.
"So that's how it is. The foundation of the incense fire lies in the hearts of the people, which is why the Land God Temple is shaking. If I don't manifest a miracle, the incense fire will dissipate."
Ordinary mortals were exceedingly pragmatic.
If you were useful, they would believe in you. If you were useless, they would naturally seek out someone useful instead. With hearts wavering, the incense fire divine realm would naturally become unstable.
After figuring out the situation, Lu Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good thing it's not someone plotting against me."
Once he calmed his emotions, Lu Yang felt a touch of helplessness. It wasn't his fault for being overly cautious; he had simply been burned too many times. Just then, a voice suddenly rang out:
"Land God, Earth Lord, protect our homes and bring peace with your divine powers."
The voice pierced straight into the Land God Temple, causing the incense fire directed toward the Bai Village Land God to surge wildly, as if it were about to swarm outward.
Lu Yang looked out.
In front of the land temple stood an old Daoist priest, around fifty or sixty years old, holding three sticks of incense and reverently placing them into the censer.
But the Bai Village Land God was currently unconscious. Without his permission, how could someone else mobilize this incense fire?
"The temple priest."
Lu Yang quickly identified the old Daoist from the Bai Village Land God's memories. The so-called temple priest was a low-level cultivator in the divine path system.
"They don't gather incense fire for themselves but attach themselves to an incense fire god, using the 'Invocation' method to borrow the god's magical powers and divine abilities. Their strength depends entirely on the incense fire god they serve. If it were a temple priest of a city god, under 'Invocation,' they might even rival a late Foundation Establishment great cultivator?"
With this thought, Lu Yang immediately summoned Ancestor Master Tingyou.
Ancestor Master Tingyou understood instantly and sent down a strand of incense fire divine power, which replaced the Bai Village Land God's incense fire and empowered the old Daoist outside.
"Hm?"
In the next moment, the old Daoist, who had been chanting incantations, faltered. A flicker of confusion appeared in his eyes, but he quickly regained his calm composure.
The safety of the village was paramount; everything else was secondary.
"Thank you, Land God!"
With those words, the old Daoist puffed out his chest. Empowered by the incense fire divine power, he strode boldly toward the village outskirts to fend off the wolf pack.
"Though this isn't deliberately aimed at me, it's clearly detrimental to Bai Village."
Lu Yang pondered inwardly, then lifted his gaze toward a small mountain peak about a thousand li from Bai Village. Two figures stood there unmistakably.
Though they had attempted to conceal themselves, their methods were crude.
"This might actually be an opportunity. I can observe the techniques of these White Lotus Cult divine path cultivators and avoid capsizing in a gutter later."
As Lu Yang thought this, he began making arrangements.
Long Yue at late Foundation Establishment, the Heaven Mending Peak Master at mid Foundation Establishment, Ancestor Master Tingyou, Dragon Girl Sui Ling, and over ten loose cultivator demon cultivators at early Foundation Establishment.
The Ten Thousand Spirits Banner—send out all the Foundation Establishment banner spirits!
If the enemy proved too strong and he couldn't prevail, he would immediately retreat, have Ancestor Master Tingyou carry him away, and leave the other banner spirits to cover the rear!
On the mountain peak Lu Yang had been watching earlier.
Two Daoists sat cross-legged, a censer before them wafting smoke that they continuously inhaled through their noses and mouths. Their faces gradually flushed with a rosy hue.
Moments later, both Daoists opened their eyes.
One of them formed hand seals, and a long sword flew out from behind him with a crisp ringing sound. Billowing incense fire transformed into sharp sword qi that scattered in all directions.
"Senior Brother Lin, such impressive divine abilities!"
The other Daoist couldn't help but show envy. "I've practiced this 'Evil-Breaking Righteous Sword Art' for years and still haven't even entered the入门."
Lin Sheng smiled at the words, a hint of pride hidden in his expression, but on the surface, he remained mild and refined. "I've only achieved minor success because I'm a few years older than you, Junior Brother Wang. As long as you put in the effort and diligently cultivate the White Lotus Teachings, you'll catch up to me in no time."
"I thank Senior Brother for your auspicious words."
Wang Anping's face lit up with excitement.
He then took out a copper bell he carried with him, pouring all his incense fire divine power into it before shaking it vigorously.
This treasure was called the "Beast-Summoning Bell."
As the name implied, it could command the wild beasts of the mountains. Empowered by incense fire divine power, the wolf pack currently besieging Bai Village had been drawn by it.
"Senior Brother, why go to such lengths?"
Wang Anping activated the treasure while asking curiously, "With our cultivation levels, we're no inferior to that Bai Village Land God. Surely he wouldn't dare refuse us?"
"If he submits, it'll be even more troublesome!"
Lin Sheng shook his head with a cold laugh. "What we want isn't just one Land God. We want Bai Village itself—we want the incense fire of this entire village."
"If he submits, how can we spread our teachings?"
Wang Anping still didn't quite understand. "In that case, why not just kill him outright? Then we can preach freely—who would dare stop us?"
"No one would dare stop us, of course."
Lin Sheng's voice was calm. "But if the Land God dies and we immediately start preaching, do you think these crafty villagers won't figure it out? Even if they believe, it won't be true faith!"
"Incense fire gained this way is tainted with too many stray thoughts—it's not pure enough."
"So the best method is like what Senior Brother is doing: first stir up some demons and monsters to attack the village, kill a few people, and shake the Land God's incense fire foundation."
"Over time, with enough deaths, no one will believe in that Land God anymore. We just need to patiently wait until the village is pushed to the brink of despair, then step in to save the villagers from dire straits. Naturally, we'll win their hearts and turn this Bai Village in the Taiyue Mountains into a base for our White Lotus Cult."
Turning the tide when it's already crashing down—don't ask why it's crashing.
But in the next second, the confident smile on Lin Sheng's face froze. In the distance, the battle between the people of Bai Village and the wolves suddenly took a turn.
It was that old Daoist empowered by Lu Yang's incense fire divine power.
He now resembled a heavenly deity descended to earth, charging into the wolf pack single-handedly. With a double-fisted strike, he effortlessly smashed two giant wolves to death.
"It's that Land God's temple priest."
"Hmph, he finally made his move."
Lin Sheng's expression turned icy. "No matter. We'll act from the shadows, seal his land temple so he has no divine power to borrow. The result will be the same!"
He and his junior brother were both elites of the White Lotus Cult's younger generation.
Blessed by the Divine Lord at such a young age, though temple priests, they were in no way inferior to a Land God. They could even challenge a county city god.
A mere Bai Village.
Could it possibly produce a few county city gods?
The advantage lies with us!
"Boom!"
With that, he mounted his flying sword, pouring billowing incense fire divine power into it. In an instant, it transformed into a heaven-shaking sword rainbow that streaked toward Bai Village.
The two Daoists concealed themselves with divine power, invisible to mortals. With a flash, they arrived before the land temple, brutally smashing through the entrance and diving inside, their voices booming like thunder:
"Bai Village Land God! We are... we are..."
Their voices cut off abruptly.
For what they saw before them was not the pitiful, helpless Land God they had imagined, but a dense, endless horde of terrifying figures stretching as far as the eye could see.
All of them now turned to stare straight at the intruders.
In that moment, Lin Sheng and Wang Anping felt a bone-chilling dread spread from their hearts to their limbs and straight to the tops of their skulls, making their teeth chatter.
In the end, they could only barely squeeze out a single sound from their throats:
"Ah?"
(End of chapter)