Feral Gods Rise: My Offerings Return a Hundredfold

"Interesting."

"A cultivation method that steals the righteous aura of the human race's scholars to form a protective righteous aura shielding a demon's soul."

Li Yue raised an eyebrow slightly.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a remarkably subtle technique among demon creatures.

The demons he had slain before — including the tiger demon that had just died — had all seemed rather ordinary.

Even that tiger demon —

It hadn't even had a single ghost thrall, clearly unaware of how to condense one.

But this spider demoness was far too weak in cultivation.

Although the divine thunderous might contained in his single glance — enough to annihilate a demon's soul — was only around the lower fourth-grade level,

it was still not something the spider demoness could block with a single technique.

"Ahhh…!"

"You killed me… the lords of Five Immortals Cave will not let you go…!!"

The spider demoness shrieked again, glaring at Li Yue with eyes full of venomous hatred.

She was furious!

Furious at that wretched tiger demon for inviting her here to deal with such a terrifying existence!

She also resented the deity before her for showing not the slightest regard for her background as a demon of Five Immortals Cave!

And she was filled with regret!

Regret for why she had momentarily coveted the tiger demon's brute strength and agreed to come here with it.

If she hadn't come —

She could have continued blending in among the humans, occasionally feasting on a scholar and his entire clan, with a few human maidens on the side. How comfortable that would have been!

The next moment.

The righteous aura was extinguished beneath rolling thunder, and the spider demoness's demon soul was annihilated along with it.

Two enormous demon corpses plummeted from midair, but vanished in the blink of an eye — Li Yue had already collected them into his Divine Domain.

"Third-grade demon corpses…"

"They should fetch quite a bit of Divine Power…"

A trace of satisfaction curled at the corner of Li Yue's mouth.

Of course —

Most importantly, [Personal Mission V] had been completed.

These two demons had truly been obliging, delivering themselves right to his door.

He stepped forward and was back inside his Divine Domain in an instant.

Looking at the two demon corpses, he opened the [Divine Store] and sold them off directly.

True —

Demon corpses could also be fed to Believers.

Demon flesh and blood was a tremendous supplement for blood and qi.

But these man-eating demons carried an extremely heavy aura of blood and slaughter, and consuming too much demon flesh could easily corrupt one's character, making a person cruel and savage.

This was especially true when the gap in cultivation between the demon and the consumer was too great.

So he would not bestow the demons he had personally slain upon his Believers.

As for demons that Believers hunted themselves — that was none of his concern.

If they could hunt it, they had earned the right to consume it.

"Not bad —"

"The lower third-grade tiger demon's corpse alone sold for forty-five units of Divine Power."

"The upper third-grade spider demoness's corpse sold for ninety-two units."

Li Yue was quite pleased.

With this influx of one hundred and thirty-seven units of Divine Power, he was finally no longer a Ninth Grade (Upper) Ordained Earth God capable of casting only a single Ninth Grade (Upper) divine art.

He opened the [Personal Mission] interface and claimed the rewards for [Personal Mission V].

Instantly —

Ten first-grade Divine Blessing Talismans and two second-grade Divine Blessing Talismans materialized before him out of thin air.

And within him, sixty more units of Divine Power appeared.

At this point —

His total Divine Power had reached two hundred and sixty-eight units.

This finally gave him a greatly heightened sense of security.

After all —

Although the spider demoness had said the strongest demons within Xuan County were only at the peak fourth-grade,

what if some fifth-grade demon happened to pass through?

He still needed to keep some Divine Power in reserve for emergencies — enough to cast at least three Ninth Grade (Upper) divine arts.

Three Ninth Grade (Upper) divine arts unleashed in succession —

Even a peak fifth-grade demon, if not killed outright, would surely be gravely wounded and forced to flee.

"That tiger demon was the third-grade demon of the Land of Demons."

"Now that the third-grade demon and the peak second-grade demons of the Land of Demons are all dead,"

"the large number of humans trapped there should all be brought into Four Seas Village, swelling the village's population and greatly increasing the number of Believers…"

He murmured softly to himself.

As he sensed the Divine Power within him, he suddenly noticed twenty units of Divine Power appear out of nowhere,

bringing his total to two hundred and eighty-eight units.

"Five pounds of Black-Striped Bee Spirit Honey sold already?"

"Some Blue Star deity bought it?"

Li Yue's eyes flickered, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Then —

He turned his gaze beyond the Divine Domain, toward the dwelling beside the Land God Shrine.

Li Youming's aura had grown considerably stronger — he had evidently advanced on his own to the upper second-grade!

"To go and gather those humans from the Land of Demons, upper second-grade strength is still a little lacking…"

"So be it."

"Let your strength rise by one full major realm."

Li Yue's expression remained calm.

He extended his right hand.

Instantly, one hundred units of Divine Power surged forth and condensed in his palm, forming a "Strengthen Temple Priest" divine talisman.

Condensing this talisman required exactly one hundred units of Divine Power.

However, since Li Youming had already advanced to the upper second-grade, any excess Divine Power would return to him after Li Youming's breakthrough.

Whoosh —

The "Strengthen Temple Priest" talisman flashed with radiance and shot out of the Divine Domain in an instant, landing upon Li Youming.

"I've finally advanced to the upper second-grade."

"With my cultivation rising, I can better carry out Lord Zhangyue's Divine Decree."

Li Youming opened his eyes, his mood excellent.

A breakthrough in cultivation called for a great celebratory drink!

With his current strength, he felt that even if he faced the wolf demons of Thousand Wolf Mountain again, he should be able to hold his own.

After all —

He did not cultivate the martial path, but rather the "Qi Refiner" method passed down by the deity. His combat power surpassed martial practitioners of the same grade by a full notch.

Against demons with no real Inheritance, he held an equally significant advantage.

But just then —

He saw a streak of deep blue radiance pierce through the wooden wall of the dwelling, carrying a dense divine might, and flash into his body.

"Lord Zhangyue's blessing!"

His heart surged with wild joy.

Finally —

He, Li Youming, had finally received Lord Zhangyue's blessing once more!

Boom —!

In that moment.

He felt as though a great furnace had appeared within him.

Torrential waves of heat billowed from the furnace, and countless surging currents transformed into streams of qi that poured into his elixir field's sea of qi.

The elixir field's sea of qi — which had only just expanded upon advancing to the upper second-grade — swelled once more —!

In the blink of an eye, he had advanced to the peak second-grade!

And it did not stop there.

The qi within him spun wildly, suddenly forming a vortex inside his body.

As the vortex churned, the blood and qi throughout his body flooded into the elixir field's sea of qi several times faster than before, converting into qi!

And the qi, refined through the spinning, grew purer and more concentrated than ever.

Li Youming understood.

He had advanced to the third grade!

He could scarcely believe it.

He had advanced to the third grade just like that?

The wolf demons of Thousand Wolf Mountain — the ones that had once sent four villages trembling in terror — had only been at the peak second-grade.

He felt that —

Right now, with a single Minor Golden Blade Art, he could slay those wolf demons that had once seemed utterly beyond him!

"Third grade…"

"In the martial path, the third grade is called the Primal Gang Realm — where gang qi can be projected outward to melt gold and sever iron. Practitioners are called Grandmasters."

"Within the county seat, a third-grade Grandmaster is already the most formidable level there is."

"To think that I, Li Youming, would one day become a third-grade Grandmaster!"

"Thank you, Lord Zhangyue!"

"I, Li Youming, will dedicate myself body and soul to Lord Zhangyue, until my dying breath!"

His heart was overwhelmed with excitement.

And the "Strengthen Temple Priest" talisman within him continued to radiate light, pouring out vast quantities of qi!

His cultivation, having just broken through to the third grade, stabilized in an instant — and then advanced further to the mid third-grade!

A small fragment of the "Strengthen Temple Priest" talisman remained, but it could no longer increase Li Youming's cultivation any further.

That final fragment flashed and departed from Li Youming's body, returning to Li Yue within the Divine Domain, transforming into ten units of Divine Power.