Enshrinement as a God

Sword.

It was all swords.

Even with his eyes open, even with his eyes closed, even with his ears open, even with his ears closed.

Even if he blocked his five senses, he could feel the presence of the sword.

"Aack!"

Agong screamed and opened his eyes.

As Agong, drenched in sweat, barely came to his senses, a terrible pain as if a needle were piercing his head rushed in.

"Ouch..."

"Are you awake?"

The place where Agong had opened his eyes was Master Gongsun's room in the tavern.

Master Gongsun had carried Agong, who had fainted and collapsed outside the tavern, to his own bedroom.

"Yes..."

Agong groaned, still holding his throbbing head.

He didn't know what had been done to him, but when he recalled the Taoist Lingbao's final appearance, goosebumps rose all over his body, and a cold sweat ran down his spine, making him shudder.

"Tsk, tsk..."

Master Gongsun clicked his tongue softly at the sight of Agong, who had become a mess again not long after returning from a great hardship.

Although he had somehow formed a relationship with a martial artist, Master Gongsun could not understand the thoughts of the martial artists who pushed a child so harshly.

If Agong had been a child from an ordinary family, he would have lived, enjoying the pleasures that could be enjoyed at this age, playing with his peers and studying.

This place was too harsh a place for a mere boy to live, risking his life.

"How long have I been here?"

"It's been quite a while since I found you and you were unconscious for about half a day."

"Then have you seen a young lady in the tavern by any chance?"

"You mean Miss Xi? It seems she will be leaving the tavern soon, but she hasn't left yet."

Agong stood up with a tired expression.

Since she had achieved her goal, it was clear that Xi Xichang would also soon return to the Qingcheng Sect.

It was clear that Xi Xichang had not been able to leave because he had not yet given her the glowing stone that would show her the way.

If so, Agong still had time to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Agong."

"Yes, master."

"Is it fun to learn martial arts?"

"That's..."

Agong, at Master Gongsun's sudden question, fell into thought for a moment.

Although he had felt a sense of accomplishment while practicing martial arts, it was also that much painful and extremely difficult.

"From now on, the life of a martial artist may be much more arduous and dangerous than now."

"I'm not a martial artist."

"You can say that for now... but if you don't like this kind of life or want to run away, there is also a way to choose the life of a scholar."

"Like you, master?"

"I... am not a scholar either."

Master Gongsun made a sad expression.

"My original surname is not Gongsun."

"What?"

"I am originally from the Jiang family in Zhuoyuan, near the Wei River, from a family of scholars."

Although there was no one in the Hermit's Valley who did not have a story, it was the first time he had heard that Master Gongsun was using a pseudonym.

"It's already been twenty years since I turned my back on my family and lived a wandering life, falling into forbidden books and miscellaneous books while preparing for the state examination."

"That's..."

"If you need a place to stay after leaving this place, go to the Jiang family in Zhuoyuan and say that you are a child of Jiang Su."

"Jiang Su... is that your name, master?"

As Master Gongsun nodded, Agong shook his head in reverse.

"I can't do that! How dare I pretend to be your child, master."

"Since I have committed the sin of being unfilial to my parents as a child, it also means that my disciple should play the role of a grandson."

"You can just go back."

"Since I am already a sinner, it is clear that I will only cause trouble if I go back to my family. Besides, I already have a goal to which I will devote my life, so I can't do that."

Agong lowered his head.

This was because he had felt a longing for his family in Master Gongsun's words.

"Jiang Ziya."

"What?"

"It's the name I thought I would give to my son if I had one."

As Agong hesitated, not knowing what to answer, Master Gongsun smiled and gestured.

"Miss Xi has been waiting for a long time. Please go. And since your body is not in good condition yet, you must not overdo it."

"Yes."

Agong thanked Master Gongsun and left the room.

Thinking of Master Gongsun's proposal, his already confused head seemed to become even more stuffy.

Agong, for now, pushed aside his complicated thoughts and tried to pull himself together.

Agong, who had left Master Gongsun's room and gone down to the first floor of the tavern, found Xi Xichang sitting on one side of the tavern.

"Miss Xi."

"Young hero."

Xi Xichang's eyes moved for a moment at the sight of Agong's pale complexion, but the voice that came out of her mouth was as cold as ice.

"I heard you were sick."

"That's..."

"But it's a relief that you seem to be okay."

Agong, who had become accustomed to the friendly relationship between the two, who had been like friends, felt bewildered at Xi Xichang's suddenly cold voice.

"I'm thinking of going back to the main building, but the fog outside the tavern is thick, so I think I'll need your help, young hero."

"Um, what my master said..."

"Do you have anything more to say to me?"

The wooden box in one of Xi Xichang's hands came into Agong's eyes. The blackened book would be in the wooden box.

Seeing her cherish the book, which he couldn't even read what it was originally, so preciously, Agong was at a loss for words.

How could he clear up the misunderstanding now, and to clear up the misunderstanding, he would have to expose his master as a liar, the likes of which there was no other in the world. It was truly a checkmate.

And in the depths of his heart, he was admitting to himself that his relationship with Xi Xichang could no longer continue.

In the end, one of the two would be the object of resentment, and no matter how much they bickered and fought like enemies, he did not want to make his master the object.

"This..."

Agong handed over a larger stone, the same as the one he had given to Liu Yezhi, to Xi Xichang.

In the end, as he gave up on explaining and thought that this was the last, his heart ached a little for no reason.

He thought that his chest was stuffy because of the strange thing the Taoist Lingbao had done to him.

"Please be sure to tell Senior Sword Immortal to hurry."

"Yes, miss."

As Xi Xichang cupped her fists, Agong followed her in a clumsy posture.

Although it was clearly a fleeting moment, Agong felt that that time was too long and slow.

Xi Xichang lightly bit her lower lip and turned her back without hesitation and left the tavern.

Agong, for a moment, felt the urge to follow Xi Xichang, but he could not take a single step, looking at the entrance of the tavern where Xi Xichang had disappeared.

* * *

Swoosh!

With the sound of an arrow cutting through the air, the short scream of a beast was heard.

Agong skillfully tied up the dead beast and slung it over his shoulder.

He now had the appearance of a hunter who hunted the beasts of the Hermit's Valley quite well.

"Haa..."

A month had passed since Xi Xichang had left.

And he had heard from the returned Old Ancestor Hongjun that the Taoist Lingbao had also left the Hermit's Valley.

As the two left, Agong could not control his troubled heart.

Moreover, his martial arts training had also become a mess, without even knowing the reason.

Although there was no problem with the training of the Nine Gates True Scripture, strangely, when he practiced the Heavenly Demon Hand and the Nine Palaces Divine Steps, his movements would get tangled, and he would often display the wrong moves.

Cook Li could not offer a solution, and Tongtian, far from helping with Agong's worries, got angry like fire, saying that he lacked passion in practicing the Heavenly Demon Hand.

In the end, the Heavenly Demon Hand was also a mess, and a disaster occurred where he was forced to learn other moves of the Tongtian Cult Master's Manifest Demon True Art.

The depressed Agong skillfully skinned the fur of the caught beast and then lit a fire.

As his mood became bad, he felt hungry.

Crackle, crackle!

As the flame rose and the caught meat was cooked, a delicious smell that stimulated the stomach soon wafted out.

"Huh?"

As if the smell of the cooking meat had called another beast, the sound of something rustling was heard around the fire.

Agong once again drew the string of Tonglin.

"Wait!"

"Ah!"

What had jumped out of the forest was not a beast of the Hermit's Valley, but a girl.

Agong, before releasing the arrow on the bowstring, was startled to see the girl and hurriedly reeled in Tonglin.

"Who are you?"

The smiling girl was wearing clothes of a style he had never seen before, which clung to her body.

Agong realized that it was similar to the clothes worn by the people of the Non-Duality Gate.

"Hello?"

The girl awkwardly raised her hand and greeted Agong.

For Agong, who had not seen a beauty like Xi Xichang until now, the girl in front of him had an outstanding beauty that surpassed not only Xi Xichang but also Miss Mu.

Her silver hair shone even in the fog of the Hermit's Valley, her skin was like white jade, and her eyes shone like jade.

Her features were small but clear, and her lips were plump and red, as if a pomegranate had been moved there.

She was a beautiful girl to the extent that even Agong, who did not yet know about women, felt his breath stop.

Agong, calming his racing heart, did not let his guard down.

Although it was not often, Agong, who had visited Sorin's place with Master Gongsun from time to time, had never seen a girl of his age here.

In the Hermit's Valley, where strange things and strange beasts appeared a lot, there was no law that a demon wearing human skin would not appear.

"Are you going to eat that alone?"

The girl was looking at the meat that Agong was cooking with hungry eyes.

"First, reveal who you are."

"I am Daji. Now I can eat too, right?"

The girl, who had revealed herself as Daji, before Agong's guard was down, quickly ran over, took a seat, and began to tear at the piece of meat with determination.

"Ah, it's delicious! My father would never let me eat it."

At the sight of her stuffing the meat into her small mouth until her cheeks were about to burst, Agong felt that it was absurd and felt his guard go down.

Moreover, since she was about to eat all the meat if he left her like this, Agong also reeled in Tonglin and took a seat.

"Do you live here?"

"You're Agong, right?"

"You know me?"

As the surprised Agong asked, the girl, as if even the meat on Agong's mouth was a waste, stole it with her finger and ate it.

"My father often talked about you. He said a new boy had come to the tavern... he said you were my age, so I was so curious, and I'm so happy to meet you like this!"

"You keep saying 'father, father'. Who is your father?"

Daji, while eating the meat combatively, did not let her guard down about her surroundings.

And then, as if afraid that someone would hear, she whispered in a small voice.

"Star-Lord... the person called the Holy King is my father."

"Holy King..."

Agong recalled the man who had visited the tavern with Miss Mu and Sorin in the past.

Although he had gone back quickly, he was not a person who seemed to have a good personality.

"If that person is your father... then you are a person of the Non-Duality Gate."

"But unlike them, I was born here."

"Born here?"

"Yes. That's why my father said I was special."

Although Agong didn't know it well, he thought that since the people of the Non-Duality Gate were all from the western regions, he had said that.

Daji, after eating the meat deliciously, stretched as if she were satisfied.

"Ah! That was a good meal."

Daji, as if her mood had improved, twisted her body and then pinched Agong's cheek.

"From now on, you're my subordinate."

"Why am I?"

"Since you offered me food, you are naturally my subordinate. You can feel honored that you are my first subordinate."

"So why should I feel honored by you, who even stole the meat I caught?"

"My father said I was born to rule the world. So it's an honor for you to serve me."

"Haha! Your appearance is quite a braggart... but thanks to you, my depression has disappeared a little."

"Why are you depressed?"

"I don't know... is it because of my master? Or because of Miss Xi...?"

"Miss Xi?"

"There was a misunderstanding with a young lady who visited the tavern a while ago. That's why my heart is not at ease."

"Hmph! Good for you."

"Huh?"

The look in Daji's eyes, which showed displeasure, was a little scary.

"Forget that girl from today. You just have to think about how to serve me."

She was a truly selfish girl.

Agong let Daji's chattering go in one ear and out the other.

In any case, since he had had such an unexpected meeting when he was not in a good mood, it seemed that his mood had changed a little.

"Wait!"

Agong, feeling the sign of something approaching, hurriedly grabbed Tonglin and stood in front of Daji.

He had been so relaxed that he had not even noticed that the beasts of the Hermit's Valley had gathered around him.

'It's a mistake.'

The fact that he had noticed so late was also largely due to the fact that his martial arts skills, which he was not confident in, had dropped sharply.

Agong's face turned fierce because he had to protect Daji, who was behind him, and get out of this place.

"Grrr!"

About a dozen beasts in the form of wild dogs broke through the fog and revealed themselves.

"Can you do something like martial arts?"

"Martial arts?"

As far as Agong knew, there was no one among the people of the Non-Duality Gate who used martial arts.

As Agong covered her, Daji looked at Agong's back with a strange expression.

"Are you protecting me now?"

"Don't leave my side."

As Agong grabbed Tonglin, the beasts showed their sharp teeth as if they would rush at Agong and Daji at any moment.

"Are those things bothering you?"

"What are you doing!"

Daji pushed Agong away with her hand and then, with her head held high, she spat out a single word firmly.

"Get lost."

Whine! Whine!

At Daji's single word, the hungry beasts lowered their heads and began to scatter here and there.

Agong, witnessing the unbelievable sight, slowly looked around.

Really, all those beasts had tucked their tails and run away at Daji's single word.

"How..."

Daji, as if it were nothing, showed a bewitching smile.

"I was born here. My father said that I was destined to rule all the creatures of the world."

Agong, looking at Daji's smile, could not erase the thought that she was ominously beautiful.

(End of Chapter)