134: Chapter 134 The City God of the Sea

The deity-inviting processions from the five villages surged into the courtyard of the temple, instantly packing the originally spacious courtyard to the brim.

The people of Zhao Family Village knelt on the east side, the people of Hewan Village knelt on the west side, the people of Lishan Village knelt on the south side, and the people of Pengqiao Village and Meijia Village knelt on the north side.

There was no scrambling or shoving, and even the children were pressed down onto their parents' knees, kneeling obediently.

No one spoke, save for the fluttering sound of the wind blowing across the banners.

Clerk Liu stood on the steps of the main hall in a stiff official robe, looking at the dense crowd kneeling in the courtyard.

Besides the five villages, ordinary people from Guanhai County City and other villages also surged in, voluntarily kneeling in worship.

He took a deep breath, turned around, and stepped over the threshold of the main hall.

The one-zhang-two-foot-tall rosewood divine statue sat upright on the altar shrine.

Clerk Liu stopped in front of the offering table, drew out three incense sticks from beside the censer, lit them with the candle flame, and inserted them into the censer.

He stepped back two paces, knelt on the cattail mat, and kowtowed as he said,

"Lord Qinling is above. As Clerk of Guanhai County, I lead the commoners of the five villages—Zhao Family Village, Hewan Village, Lishan Village, Pengqiao Village, and Meijia Village—to respectfully invite Lord Qinling to move His carriage to the five villages."

"The commoners of the five villages are willing to enshrine Lord Qinling from generation to generation, and beg Lord Qinling to bless the five villages with favorable weather, peace and health for the people, and immunity from evil spirits."

"From now on, the incense of Guanhai County shall only be offered to the Divine Lord alone."

Behind him, the people kneeling in the main hall shouted along.

The commoners kneeling on the east, west, south, and north sides all shouted along.

The sound surged out from the main hall of the temple, poured into the courtyard, into the alleys, onto every street, and into every corner of the county city.

Facing the deity invitation from the five villages, Qin Ling naturally agreed without hesitation.

With a light tap of his finger, the center of the rosewood divine statue's brows lit up with golden light.

The light surged out from the main hall, poured into the courtyard, and fell upon the kneeling commoners.

The golden light fell upon Clerk Liu, who was kneeling on the cattail mat with his forehead still pressed against the stone bricks.

The golden light penetrated through the gaps in his eyelids, dyeing his pupils gold.

"Lord Qinling has consented!"

Clerk Liu shouted.

All the commoners inside the temple cheered.

Looking at this scene of thousands of commoners inviting the deity, Qin Ling also felt a myriad of emotions.

But soon he returned to the altar shrine and sat cross-legged, because system prompts popped up one after another.

[Jurisdiction Update: Zhao Family Village has been incorporated into the jurisdiction.]

[Jurisdiction Update: Hewan Village has been incorporated into the jurisdiction.]

[Jurisdiction Update: Lishan Village has been incorporated into the jurisdiction.]

[Jurisdiction Update: Pengqiao Village has been incorporated into the jurisdiction.]

[Jurisdiction Update: Meijia Village has been incorporated into the jurisdiction.]

Five prompts, five villages—the last five villages in Guanhai County that had not enshrined him.

Under Clerk Liu's presiding, the deity invitation was simultaneously completed in the same temple and before the same divine statue.

Qin Ling's jurisdiction, which originally started from Qin Family Village, had now finally expanded to every inch of land in the entire Guanhai County.

Soon, messages continuously appeared in his mind.

[Jurisdiction Update: The entire territory of Guanhai County has been incorporated into the jurisdiction.]

[Host has completed the achievement Guardian of a Region and unlocked the divine position: Guanhai City God.]

[Under the blessing of the divine position, the recovery speed of the host's divine power within Guanhai County is increased by 50%.]

[Unlocked title: Xiansheng Guanhai City God.]

Looking at the continuously popping up message prompts, a smile played at the corners of Qin Ling's mouth.

Finally, he was finally no longer just a wild god!

He had been coveting a divine position for a long time. As a divine spirit, how could he possibly not want a divine position?

Guanhai City God—it really sounded quite nice!

More importantly, this divine position also had a practical effect, allowing his divine power recovery speed to accelerate within Guanhai County City.

But Qin Ling knew there was still an important matter.

That was after incorporating the entire Guanhai County into his jurisdiction, he could finally continue to improve his cultivation!

Although previously, in order to slay the Five-Turn Evil Tree, he had used up almost all of his incense points.

But after slaying the Evil Tree, he had obtained another reward of 10,000 incense points.

Coupled with the incense points collected recently, his incense points had now reached 16,420.

He immediately pulled out 15,000 incense points to improve his cultivation.

As the 15,000 incense points vanished, his cultivation also reached——

[Xiansheng Realm 45%]

Seeing this minuscule 5% improvement, Qin Ling blinked.

15,000 incense points only improved his cultivation by 5%?

That being said, to elevate his cultivation to [Xiansheng Realm 100%], would he still need 165,000 incense points?

Qin Ling drew in a sharp breath.

It seemed that as his cultivation improved, the subsequent incense points required would be an utterly terrifying figure!

Qin Ling had just become the Guanhai City God, incorporating Guanhai County City and all the villages into his jurisdiction.

He had just begun to feel that his incense points were becoming a bit abundant, only to find out that these incense points of his were simply not enough!

At this moment, Qin Ling inevitably held a grudge against that Five-Turn Evil Tree once again.

If it weren't for this Evil Tree obscuring the entire Guanhai County and killing so many commoners,

he could have protected more commoners of Guanhai County and obtained even more incense points!

The deity-inviting processions of the five villages cautiously lifted the statue of Lord Qinling, whose deity invitation was complete, and prepared to leave.

Village Chief Zhao walked at the very front holding the elm divine statue invited from Qin Family Village, wrapped tightly in red cloth.

His steps were very slow, and every step was planted firmly, as if he was afraid of jolting Lord Qinling in his arms.

Following behind were the commoners of Zhaojiagou, carrying shoulder poles, holding baskets, and cradling children, with smiles hanging at the corners of their mouths.

The deity-inviting processions of the other four villages also held their respective divine statues, preparing to leave the temple through the temple gates.

The temple was still packed densely with commoners, some from the county city and others from other villages, lively and extraordinary.

No one noticed that there was a person in black robes within the crowd.

He stood in the crowd, no different from those onlookers.

The hood of the black robe was pulled down very low, covering more than half of his face and revealing only a chin.

He passed through the processions holding the divine statues, passed through the commoners, and stood at the entrance of the temple.

His gaze looked inward, falling upon that one-zhang-two-foot-tall statue of Lord Qinling deep within the main hall.

A speck of golden light pulsed between the brows of the divine statue, looking like a solidified star amidst the candle flames and incense smoke throughout the hall.

He looked at that speck of golden light, yet curled his lip.

This black-robed person was precisely Lin Duwu, who had negotiated terms with the saintess of the Cangsheng Cult.

Upon arriving in Guanhai County and inquiring that Lord Qinling was the deity of Qin Family Village, he originally intended to head straight to Qin Family Village.

But halfway there, he heard that Guanhai County City was about to hold a five-village deity invitation ceremony, the one being invited was precisely Lord Qinling, and more than half of the commoners of Guanhai County would head to the county city.

Upon hearing this news, Lin Duwu came directly to the county city. With such a grand deity invitation ceremony, that God-pretending Lord Qinling must undoubtedly be here.

Thus he arrived in Guanhai County, and at this moment came before the temple.

Lin Duwu looked at the statue of Lord Qinling, his eyes filled with disdain.