53: You are the Lord of Mengshan Mountain

"Uh... I really don't seem to know..." After a moment of hesitation, the Earth God followed his inner thoughts and spoke.

The Earth God looked at the wooden sword resting on his shoulder. Although the White-robed Youth before him had a bright and gentle smile, the Earth God didn't doubt for a second that if he didn't follow the youth's words, this wooden sword could slice off his head in an instant!

Gods could also die, and they were even more fragile than Cultivators.

Gods relied on their Yin Spirits and the Power Of Faith from incense to attach themselves to wood or clay sculptures; the first sculpture they attached to was also known as the True Body of a God.

To put it bluntly, the True Body of a God was nothing more than a piece of talking mud or a piece of talking wood.

If the True Body was destroyed, although the god would not die, they would lose all their incense power, and everything would have to start from scratch.

But speaking of starting over, after hundreds of years of Dynasty decrees, within the three kingdoms, every mountain and every region was guarded by a Mountain God or an Earth God. Sometimes, a single mountain even had more than one Mountain God!

Losing all incense power meant the god lost all their strength. A god without power could only watch helplessly as other gods, coveting their position, seized the territory under their jurisdiction.

And they could only become a vassal to another god—a god in name, but a divine servant in reality!

A god whose territory had been seized could no longer directly obtain the Power Of Faith from that region; they could only survive on the pity and charity of the usurper!

The importance of the True Body to a god went without saying. Usually, gods appeared through different clay sculptures or simply spoke through plants and trees, while the True Body of a God was carefully hidden away.

But today, things had gone wrong right here. What Yin Chaoge had forcibly summoned was none other than the Earth God's True Body!

It was also strange; the two youths of the Human Race before him looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Yet they didn't use the Art of Inviting Gods, but the Art of Detaining Gods.

The Art of Inviting Gods centered on the word 'invite.' Ordinary Cultivators mostly used offerings as sacrifices, incense as a guide, and yellow talismans to clear the way.

After the whole process, it still depended on whether the invited god would give them Face.

The Earth God looked at the bun at his feet that he had sucked into white ash; what Gu Wanquan had used just now was the Art of Inviting Gods.

The Art of Detaining Gods was different. The word 'detain' meant to arrest or take into custody. A Cultivator would use great dharma power to directly seize the True Body of a God and forcibly summon them to appear!

Gods with low strength couldn't resist at all. It was essentially saying, "To hell with everything, get your ass over here to your father!"

The Art of Detaining Gods carried a great sense of humiliation for a god. Cultivators who used this technique were usually loathed or even hunted down by gods.

Therefore, those who dared to use the Art of Detaining Gods were usually Great Cultivators with profound cultivation, and furthermore, they were lawless barbarians who ignored all etiquette.

The Earth God glanced at Yin Chaoge. Although he had a handsome appearance, he looked like a simple-minded fool at first glance.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Yin Chaoge stared at the Earth God with killing intent and asked, "Did you just fucking curse me in your heart?"

The Earth God hurriedly shook his head, though he felt a wave of lingering fear. He didn't dare look at this god of slaughter again. He looked simple-minded, but wasn't his intuition a bit too sharp?

The wooden sword on his shoulder patted the Earth God. When he turned his gaze back to the obviously gentle and kind-looking Gu Wanquan, the Earth God's favorable impression of Gu Wanquan instantly soared.

One could tell just by looking that Gu Wanquan was the type of refined gentleman, as gentle as jade.

Even though the other party had already placed a wooden sword against his head, he still spoke very politely.

He was countless times better than the foul-mouthed Yin Chaoge.

The Earth God couldn't help but kindly remind him, "Immortal, please don't say that. This small god is just a wandering god of the wild. Normally, I wouldn't see the Master of Mount Meng. If the Immortal wants to ask for directions, why not let me..."

The Earth God still wanted to offer a kind reminder, but Gu Wanquan seemed to suddenly remember something and asked, "Right, I just recalled, isn't this Master of Mount Meng a double-headed serpent? And to invite this Master of Mount Meng, one needs to offer a pair of boy and girl sacrifices?"

Hearing Gu Wanquan's words, Yin Chaoge, who had originally thought Gu Wanquan was just wasting time and looking for trouble, had his eyes light up.

Memories that had been buried surfaced in his mind, so he suppressed his urge to interrupt.

In their past life, when their Master brought them back to the sect, they had encountered villagers worshiping a Mountain God using a pair of five-year-old boy and girl sacrifices!

Encountering such a thing as a living sacrifice to a god, the past-life Gu Wanquan, who was overflowing with a sense of justice, had immediately drawn his sword to question the mountain.

Relying on the divine sword in his hand and his greatly increased cultivation, he had directly slain two hundred evil gods of Mount Meng. Among them was a Two-headed King Cobra that had blocked one of his strikes!

It was exactly the same as the Mountain God being worshiped!

When the Earth God heard Gu Wanquan's words, his eyes lit up, and he asked somewhat flatteringly, "Is the Immortal an old acquaintance of the Mountain Master?"

If he was an old acquaintance, and he served these three Immortals well, perhaps they would put in a good word for him before the Mountain Master, and he might even get more incense!

Seeing the Earth God admit it, Gu Wanquan nodded and said something with great interest that made the Earth God's heart tremble: "Oh? So it really is that damned beast?"

Originally, he had only thought about teaching the Master of Mount Meng a lesson for making him lose Face over a Black Steamed Bun!

Now it seemed the plan had changed!

Gu Wanquan patted the Earth God with his wooden sword, then turned and said respectfully to Su Yi, "Master, this god is ignorant of the ways. This Disciple has recently comprehended a new technique and wishes to summon another god!"

Because they were somewhat far away, Su Yi couldn't hear clearly what the two of them were whispering to the summoned god.

He only heard things like "Earth God," "Master of Mount Meng," "eating buns," and so on.

It seemed the god Chaoge had invited was quite a figure; it turned out to be the Master of Mount Meng who loved eating buns.

Being too far away, Su Yi mistook that little old man, who only reached his waist, for the Master of Mount Meng.

Seeing Yin Chaoge pointing at the Earth God and cursing one moment, and Gu Wanquan drawing his wooden sword and threatening the Earth God's shoulder the next.

Su Yi felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, he had lived on someone else's turf for so many years.

Seeing his two disciples acting so disrespectfully for the first time, it felt as if he hadn't taught them well.

But thinking about how such a grand Master of Mount Meng didn't even know the way, Su Yi felt that this bun-loving Master of Mount Meng was somewhat unworthy of his position!

In Su Yi's memory, gods weren't very capable to begin with. At most, they were like electronic signboards—the kind of existence that even a passing dog could kick twice.

Titles like the "True Lord of the Five Virtues Manifested, Protector of the Central Peak and Guardian of the Seas," or the "Celestial Worthy of the Nine Heavens' Response to the Primordial, Universal Transformation by the Sound of Thunder"... the names got longer and more abstract, but when things actually happened, they were all faster at running away than the last.

So, a mere four-character title like "Master of Mount Meng," which was just a descriptive name, sounded like a low-grade, trashy little god.

Hearing Gu Wanquan's request, Su Yi waved his hand, indicating they could do as they pleased.

In any case, he was there to back them up. At worst, he would just activate his "Ordinary Person's Insight" and turn all these gods and dogs into talking mud and wooden stakes!

Su Yi said grandly, "Wanquan, summon a more reliable one this time. Let this Master of Mount Meng learn a thing or two."

The Earth God froze, his mouth feeling dry. It seemed he had run into big trouble today.

He just wanted to explain that he was only a tiny Earth God, not the Master of Mount Meng.

But the Gu Wanquan before him leaned down and patted the Earth God's shoulder, saying gently:

"Master says you are, so from this moment on, you are the Master of Mount Meng!"