Chapter 1067: Divine Palace Council

Chapter 1067: Chapter 1067: Divine Palace Council

Jiang Yingying began the "Long Eared God Praying Scripture," sacrificing her primal Essence and Qi to exchange for divine power, stopping only when her power reached the standard of a Senior Disciple.

As she had previously mentioned, among the three, she was the weakest in strength. If she encountered powerful fake gods and their disciples in the future, she was not certain she could escape unscathed. Rather than be stingy with the loss of Essence and Qi and possibly face her demise, it was better to exchange for more divine power for self-preservation... After all, perishing in the cultivation world meant the end of everything. If she could acquire significant merit for slaying a deity and leave alive, she could exchange for numerous spiritual resources from Guan Ling, perhaps even advancing into the Divine Bridge Realm, at which point her regressed cultivation and the lifespan she expended could be restored.

Shen Mo quite agreed with her reasoning and did not stop her from sacrificing herself. According to the flow of her primal Essence and Qi, she would likely drop a Minor Realm upon returning to the Immortal Realm, but the substantial divine power could activate stronger divine runes, greatly enhancing the chance of leaving this world alive.

After Chen and Jiang completed the offering ceremony, Shen Mo did not immediately take them away from the God Realm. Instead, he spent three days reprocessing their robe armor and weapons, using a large amount of divine power to repeatedly cleanse them, and engraved multiple divine runes with different effects.

Afterward, he reopened the God Realm, and the three of them successively returned to the wooden house.

When Chen Mengze and Jiang Yingying stepped out of the wooden house, only then did Wang Tie and others realize that Shen Mo had held an offering ceremony for them, causing the entire Wang Village to erupt in excitement.

Several days ago, they were devoid of any divine power, yet now the richness of divine force on their bodies was comparable to that of a Senior Disciple... It’s known that Wang Tie worked hard for most of his life merely reaching the standard of an Elite Disciple, while the Long Eared God’s realm underling has only five Senior Disciples in total.

"Our god favors us, our god favors us..." Wang Tie trembled as he praised the Long Eared God.

Guo Yun, Wang Qiuyue, and other ordinary disciples gazed at them filled with excitement, envy, and awe, with no hint of suspicion or wariness.

The more powerful disciples under the Long Eared God, the better it was for all worshipers hiding in the wild forest, especially for those in Wang Village who could also benefit; the envy was inevitable, being so favored by the Long Eared God, obtaining such immense divine power right after the offering ceremony, in terms of strength and status, it was akin to ascending to heaven in one leap!

Wang Village was bustling for several days until the annual Divine Birthday Celebration approached, finally calming down and beginning to pack belongings, dismantling houses and other buildings.

It turns out that Wang Village, along with thirteen other villages, would all relocate to Swallow Village, the area with the largest population and scale.

These villages of Long Eared God worshipers scattered throughout the wild forest were originally to prevent being completely wiped out by Ear Wisdom God’s disciples. During the stay of Shen Mo and the other two in the God Realm, Qian Gui, the Elder of Swallow Village, sent people with news stating that the Catastrophe of Godfall had begun, all deities would cease conflict and jointly face the invading outer zone evil demons, at least for the next few decades, there was no need to constantly guard against the Ear Wisdom God’s disciples’ purges.

Now, to better resist the outer zone evil demons, all Long Eared God disciples and worshipers need to gather in one place, hence the village relocation event.

Upon learning of this, Shen Mo felt no ripple in his heart.

After all, he had already stolen the authority of the Long Eared God, these thousands of people, whatever they did, couldn’t change their fate. He originally planned to gather all worshipers post-celebration to select and nurture promising talents, now this saved him much trouble.

...

With days passing swiftly, the divine birthday of the Long Eared God arrived.

Over the course of more than a month, the thirteen villages successively migrated to Swallow Village, over a thousand men and women of all ages began to log and quarry stone, constructing settlements and buildings as planned beforehand, a scene bustling with activity.

Wang Village was the last to arrive, others rested briefly before joining the construction teams.

Meanwhile, Shen Mo, Chen Mengze, and Jiang Yingying, together with Village Chief Wang Tie, followed a disciple of Swallow Village towards the Long Eared God divine palace located at the village center.

It was called a divine palace, but was essentially a spacious and bright great house built with gray stones and forest timber, and in the main hall, the statue of the Long Eared God was enshrined. Though it couldn’t compare to the Longevity Hall of the Red Flame Sect, it had a uniquely sacred and solemn atmosphere!

When Shen Mo and his companions entered the divine palace, it was already filled with people.

Under the deity’s statue stood six individuals, led by a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties, his divine power was exceedingly rich and thick, his vitality seemed exhausted, yet he still appeared vigorous compared to the elderly Village Chief Wang Tie.

This person was the most powerful and highest status Elder under the Long Eared God, Qian Gui, who was also the village chief of Swallow Village. Unlike other disciples of the Long Eared God who resembled wild villagers, he looked more like a wealthy merchant; his robe, pants, and boots made of special material, embroidered with complex divine runes using golden threads, appeared exceptionally luxurious.

Qian Gui held in his hands a pearl the size of a baby’s fist, emitting a luminous glow, with divine runes faintly visible within. It was presumably the Wind God Pearl, the legacy of the Long Eared God’s faction, passed down for tens of thousands of years!

Beneath him stood three men and two women, all appearing quite old; the youngest seemed over fifty, the elders more aged than Wang Tie, but their bodies were filled with dense divine power, second only to Elder Qian Gui. Without Wang Tie’s introduction, Shen Mo knew these five were the only five Senior Disciples under the Long Eared God.

The rest in the palace were either village chiefs or elite disciples, totaling forty-three people.

People like Guo Yun and Wang Qiuyue, who were neither village chiefs nor elite disciples, were not qualified to attend a council in this divine palace at this time.

"Uncle Wang, are these three the ones you mentioned before, the fortunate ones favored by our god?"

As soon as Elder Qian Gui noticed the immense divine power emanating from Shen Mo and the others upon entering, his pupils constricted sharply, but he did not address them directly. Instead, he turned his head and spoke to Wang Tie, "As far as I know, they were not originally villagers of Wang Village; they are outsiders who entered the wild forest just over half a year ago."

"Reporting to Elder, Shen Xianzhi and his ancestors were high-ranking officers of the Tiger Cavalry in Ji Country. Sixty years ago, the Tiger Cavalry was drawn into power struggles within Ji Country’s upper echelons..."

Wang Tie quivered as he recounted the background meticulously concocted by Shen Mo and the others.

Sixty-three years ago, Ji Country, separated from Qing Country by the Thorn Mountain Range, was embroiled in several "rebellions" due to rivalries for the throne. The Tiger Cavalry was caught in the turmoil; as the internal strife settled, nearly all high-ranking officials and their kin were purged, encountering fleeing soldiers and their families from Ji Country to Qing Country deep within the Thorn Mountain Range’s Ma’s Village.

When Shen Mo and the other two entered Wang Village, they claimed to be descendants of Tiger Cavalry generals hidden within Thorn Mountain. Seeing their military attire and distinguished bearing, Wang Tie and the others did not grow suspicious!