67: Chapter 67 Could it be that gods really exist in this world?

Pei Se's knees sank into the mud and couldn't be pulled out.

Her left hand hung by her side, blood still dripping from her fingers, while her right arm lay horizontally across her chest, blocking Huang Zu's claws.

But those claws were too heavy, pressing down on her arm and causing it to bend downward bit by bit.

She could hear her bones cracking, creaking as if something was about to break.

Huang Zu stood right in front of her.

The gruesome wounds on its body were already covered in scabs, and its recovery speed was frighteningly fast.

That was gained from eating the piece of Fourth-Turn late-stage monster flesh.

Huang Zu stood there, towering a head above Pei Se.

Its claws pressed down on her arm, pushing lower and lower inch by inch.

"A mere martial artist who relied on tricks to briefly touch the Fourth-Turn realm, yet you dare to make a move against this seat?"

Huang Zu's eyes were filled with killing intent.

Pei Se gritted her teeth and said nothing.

The lingering effects of the alcohol were still there, but they were already fading, and the surging blood Qi inside her was draining away bit by bit.

She could feel her strength weakening.

The duration of that pot of wine was about to run out.

Huang Zu sensed it too, and its claws pressed down another inch.

Pei Se gritted her teeth, swallowing down that wave of pain.

She pulled her other hand out of the mud, formed it into a fist, and smashed it toward Huang Zu's abdomen.

Huang Zu, struck in the abdomen, didn't budge an inch as it lowered its head to look at Pei Se.

In those golden, vertical pupils, there was only icy killing intent.

Pei Se's hand dropped down, unable to be lifted anymore.

Most of her alcohol-induced boost had receded, dropping her back from Fourth-Turn to the peak of the Third-Turn.

She knelt there, covered in injuries with blood flowing all over the ground.

She was going to die.

She knew she was going to die.

Pei Se's eyes dimmed considerably.

It wasn't fear, but regret.

She hadn't drunk enough wine yet, nor had she returned to the Demon Slayer Association to report on her mission.

She thought of the villagers of Qin Family Village, the children picking up seashells on the beach, the little girl with braided pigtails, the old man who poured wine for her, and the siblings practicing sabre techniques in the temple.

If she died, what would happen to them?

This weasel would probably kill them all.

Not a single one would be left...

Her eyes dimmed once more.

At the very least, she, Pei Se, would die first; she would die ahead of everyone else.

She had lived up to the Demon Slayer Association, lived up to herself, and lived up to the villagers of Qin Family Village.

She had tried her best.

Huang Zu raised its claws, preparing to finish off this martial artist who dared to make a move against it.

Right at that moment, a streak of golden light soared into the sky from the direction of Qin Family Village.

This streak of golden light came precisely from Lord Qinling's temple.

Suddenly, a pillar of golden light burst forth from the depths of the temple hall, shooting straight up into the sky.

Wherever the golden light passed, the clouds were torn apart and the wind was split open.

All sounds between heaven and earth were suppressed, leaving only the roaring of that golden light.

In the courtyards of Qin Family Village, all the villagers of Qin Family Village saw that magnificent golden light.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang knelt on the ground, his turbid eyes reflecting the golden light while his lips trembled, unable to speak a word.

The children stopped crying, their eyes wide open as they looked at the golden light.

The longspear on Qin Mo's shoulder slipped and fell to the ground, but he didn't bother to pick it up.

He simply raised his head and looked at that golden light.

He knew that Lord Qinling was manifesting his divine power!

Qin Yin stood to the side, her eyes lighting up along with it.

"Lord Qinling has come."

She murmured softly.

In the courtyard, the villagers of Qin Family Village all knelt down in prayer.

"Lord Qinling has manifested his divine power!"

"Lord Qinling is here! Lord Qinling is here!"

"With Lord Qinling here, Qin Family Village will be safe!"

...

Huang Zu's claws paused mid-air.

It sensed that aura surging over from the direction of Qin Family Village.

That aura rushed out from the temple of Qin Family Village, pressing straight toward this side.

Huang Zu's pupils violently constricted.

It had seen this aura before.

In the ancestral hall of Zhou Family Village, that avatar torn apart by it had possessed this exact aura.

But the avatar back then only had the cultivation of the Third-Turn.

Yet the aura pressing over right now was so formidable and mighty!

Huang Zu could sense that this aura was even stronger than its own!

How could this be possible?

Where on earth did Qin Family Village get a Fourth-Turn powerhouse even stronger than it?

Could it be that Lord Qinling mentioned by that constable?

The deity of Qin Family Village?

Huang Zu only felt that it was somewhat absurd.

Could there truly be deities in this world after all?

But hadn't it already used a secret art to divine the future?

The tortoise shell clearly stated that Qin Family Village didn't have any existence stronger than it!

What made Huang Zu even more aggrieved was that it couldn't even settle accounts with the tortoise shell, because the tortoise shell had already been blasted into powder by that unknown purple lightning from somewhere.

Pei Se knelt in the muddy ground, raising her head to look at that streak of golden light.

She too sensed that aura surging from the direction of Qin Family Village.

Could this truly be Lord Qinling, the deity spoken of by the villagers of Qin Family Village?

The golden light arrived before her in an instant, and the surging divine power directly slammed into Huang Zu.

Huang Zu was sent flying sideways by this divine power, smashing into the muddy ground ten zhang away and carving out a deep trench.

It sprawled there as a mouthful of black blood gushed out from its mouth, its golden vertical pupils filled with sheer horror.

With just this single collision, it sensed that the opponent was definitely not someone who had just ascended to the Fourth-Turn realm, but with extreme probability was already an existence at the mid-stage Fourth-Turn!

How could this happen?

Damned divination!

Damned tortoise shell!

How dare it trick me!

Pei Se closed her eyes.

The golden light was too dazzling, so bright that she couldn't open her eyes.

It wasn't until the golden light dimmed slightly that she opened her eyes.

She saw a golden figure standing before her, blocking her way.

Within the faint outline of the golden light, the figure stood upright and ethereal, yet exuded a magnificent aura transcending the mortal world.

It made Pei Se feel an urge to fall to her knees and worship.

So this was Lord Qinling spoken of by the villagers of Qin Family Village!

Watching this golden figure standing before her, Pei Se felt herself enveloped by a sense of security.

Suddenly, she felt her face burning slightly, somewhat resembling the flush from drinking alcohol.

What surprised Pei Se even more was that Lord Qinling's aura was actually even stronger and more vigorous than Huang Zu's.

Merely a single collision had caused Huang Zu to vomit blood.

"You are Lord Qinling?"

Huang Zu wiped the fresh blood from the corner of its mouth with its hand, its pupils looking at the golden figure filled with deep apprehension.

Qin Ling had no intention of answering Huang Zu.

With his gaze concentrated, he simply raised his right hand.

His five fingers slowly curled and clenched into a fist.

As his fist closed, surging divine power of the mid-stage Fourth-Turn realm burst forth from within his body.

This divine power coursed along his arm, rushing all the way to his right palm.

Then his five fingers suddenly spread open.

"Hum—!"

A streak of golden light burst forth from his palm!

An extremely condensed pillar of golden light soared into the sky; around the edges of the light pillar, seven baleful markings coiled and hovered like seven swimming dragons.

This pillar of light gradually converged and condensed.

And finally transformed into a sword shimmering with golden light!

The light sword, which was only six zhang long when used previously at the peak of the Third-Turn, now exceeded ten zhang, hovering in front of him and spinning quietly.

The seven baleful markings coiled around the sword body, and their sharpness far surpassed before.

A divine technique fully driven by the divine power of the mid-stage Fourth-Turn realm—

The Seven-Kill Demon-Slaying Sword!

Qin Ling had nothing more to say and directly hurled a Seven-Kill Demon-Slaying Sword at Huang Zu!