The approaching presence was unwelcome, the first thought that flashed through the mind of the grim-faced giant.
Who was this approaching? This was the second thought that surfaced in his mind.
What power was this?
Was it the power of "words become law"?
With a mere command to sit, his body seemed to lose its own will, an irresistible force pressing him down. He was forced to sit on the divine platform, as if to be transformed back into a wooden carving or a clay statue, stripped of his autonomy.
"You, it's you! Thank you for saving my life!"
Liu Zimin recovered from the suffocating sense of powerlessness. His spiritual power reappeared, and he was in the realm of "Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown."
This was the proper cultivation with a lineage. While the Xishan Daoist Academy might not be considered a great sect in the world, in the area around Ying Tian, it was at the forefront of the cultivator circles.
Among the young disciples, those with superior talent possessing the cultivation of "Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown" was not surprising. For those with superior talent in the renowned sects of the world, they might have already achieved the realm of Earth Immortals at this age.
If not for the twelve-year fixed cycle in cultivation, perhaps the "Yellow Court Realm" and "Innate Realm" would have emerged in endless succession.
The Shen family father and daughter also stood at the entrance of the hall, watching the unfolding events with bewilderment.
"As a scholar of the Southern Kingdom Directorate, I have visited seventy to eighty temples in Ying Tian Prefecture, and this Tianxu Temple is no exception. But this main hall... I never knew there was a main hall here...!"
"Since ancient times, what deity has been worshipped here?"
Shen Xun did not understand. Although this temple was small, its incense offerings had always been abundant. This was because it worshipped a general who had died here during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. However, a new main hall had appeared here, and judging by its layout, this seemed to be the true main hall.
The incense offerings to deities could be subtly replaced. Such matters were more or less known from urban legends, folk tales of gods and ghosts, or from the accounts of passing cultivators. There were not a few lonely spirits and wild ghosts with such abilities, but they did not dare to enter any temple to consume incense offerings.
Moreover, they had their own preferences. If the incense smoke drifted straight, they could not consume it. If the incense smoke drifted crookedly, only then could it enter their mouths.
Therefore, some temples would also worship incense boys. The function of these boy deities was to suppress the wind. Without wind, the incense smoke would drift straight, and no lonely spirits or wild ghosts could benefit from it.
However, something even more incomprehensible occurred for Shen Xun.
He saw Ji Xiang slightly open his mouth.
In an instant.
All the drifting, golden incense smoke in the hall surged towards Ji Xiang like flowing clouds and misty radiance, being inhaled completely through his nose and mouth, leaving not a trace behind like a wind sweeping away fallen clouds.
On the high platform, the grim-faced deity was stunned.
The incense...
Was being eaten!
This was not because he was absent from his post, but rather, in front of his very eyes, he was forced to sit down and could no longer stand, and then his incense offerings were completely consumed.
At this moment, it was as if a vibration came from the void, reminding him and making him recall past events.
In the past, he too had consumed the incense offerings of other deities in this manner!
Those who consumed the incense of others would eventually be consumed themselves?
He was a god, a folk deity worshipped by thousands of households. Although his temple had been destroyed in past turmoil, and his existence had transformed from a deity of the past into a lonely spirit and wild ghost, yet... after turmoil, there would inevitably be reconstruction. The alternation of prosperity and decline was a natural cycle of the world.
Even if the reconstructed temples worshipped deities other than himself.
But as long as he still existed within the temple, he could use these grand incense offerings to reconstruct his divine body.
Just a little bit would suffice.
There was no need to block the path of the later deity.
However, such borrowing of incense offerings would naturally arouse the suspicion of the temple's incense worshippers.
In the past, there were also some reclusive cultivators, or Daoists from the martial world, or itinerant monks from Buddhism. During the time he was recovering his strength, they discovered his origins and existence. They would set up altars, use talismans and water, or employ Buddhist vows, attempting to expel, shatter, or convert him.
No matter what he said about his origins, these cultivators did not believe him.
But, this was his temple, after all.
Could it be that after hundreds of years, not only had his temple disappeared, but he was also not allowed to consume even a portion of the incense offerings of the later deity?
Thus, those people died, aided by all sorts of incredible divine powers, and also because their own cultivation was insufficient.
Subsequently, he was free from all worries.
Not only did he want to take the incense offerings of the later deity, but he also wanted the very existence of the later deity to become his puppet.
There was nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to feel sad about.
His past had already died with the deaths of those people from the past. In the turmoil of hundreds of years, how many times had Ying Tian Prefecture been reduced to ruins and rebuilt? He was merely lucky to have not completely become a lonely spirit and wild ghost in this great upheaval. Fortunately, people still built temples and offered incense, and even if the object of worship was not himself, it brought him a glimmer of hope.
Therefore, incense offerings were extremely important.
They must not be obtained by outsiders. As long as one controlled the incense offerings, the divine body formed by the later deity could be replaced by him, and he could change many identities, continuously surviving in the world.
His divine power would no longer weaken but would gradually strengthen.
When his strength increased, this true hall, unless he wished to manifest it, no outsider could ever enter.
And now.
The cultivator before him.
Dared to eat his incense offerings!
"You are courting death!"
He shouted loudly, but his buttocks felt as if they were glued down. No matter how he struggled, he could not stand up. Fighting while squatting was too undignified. Feeling that his arms were no longer restrained, his two hands instantly became large and long!
His arms snaked out, pressing down.
They were then broken and vanished into wisps of incense smoke.
Ji Xiang said, "I have no interest in eating the arms of the incense god. All I need is your divine statue, and the one in the side hall. As for you..."
"General Zuo Shou."
"You are a concentrated essence of wandering souls from ancient times, your voice like a fierce tiger and striking stones, yet the heavens and earth do not receive you. Your experiences are indeed rich, for many wandering souls have merged with you, and those fragmented memories have become a part of you."
"Among the folk deities, you are one of the Eight Directions deities, born from the mutual resonance of human hearts."
"You are a deity born from wishes, and you are quite adept at using them."
"However, you have committed many evil deeds, killed many people. It is likely that this is the time for you to die."
On the divine platform, the grim-faced giant revealed a look of shock.
Apart from Prince Lu and the others, it had been a long time since anyone had spoken his true name.
His arm was broken in an instant. General Zuo Shou looked at Ji Xiang's calm and composed face, as if he were feeling comfortable after a hearty meal, and a great fear suddenly arose in his heart.
Destroying incense offerings and consuming the incense offerings of others were not actions of the same level.
Destroying incense offerings was easy. Destroying the temple, the statue, the soul, and everything would vanish. Even the wishes would have nowhere to attach themselves. Consuming incense offerings, however, meant that the object of worship had undergone an instant change.
Many thoughts arose, and he attacked the living.
He even committed evil deeds against a demon king.
A terrifying oppressive aura suddenly rose in his heart.
Once demonic thoughts arose, he was no longer a righteous god.
He dared to face a demon king without bowing!
This oppressive aura suddenly caused his own incense offerings to begin to overflow, which greatly terrified General Zuo Shou.
But there should be nothing to fear!
"I don't know what strange magic you used!"
"You black-robed demonic Daoist!"
"But I am a deity at the Earth Immortal level!"
"Even if I sit here, you cannot kill me..."
Ji Xiang's voice reached his ears.
"Evil gods who steal folk temples and receive the incense offerings of all people."
"Shall be executed." m..oΓg
Ji Xiang slightly opened his mouth, exhaling a breath, which was the Purple Gold Dan Sword.
The light turned.
The Dan Sword circled the divine head once, like a fleeting shadow, happening in a flash, arriving in an instant!
General Zuo Shou's head was separated from his divine body and flew to the base of the divine platform. A wisp of incense smoke had been severed, and it could no longer reassemble!
Along with it, on the divine statue, a deep sword mark appeared at the neck!
With the divine head falling, Ji Xiang pointed his finger, and a wave of primal energy immediately enveloped the divine head. He then beckoned to the young girl Shen, saying,
"Take this divine head to play with. Use it as a target for your Golden Light Spell."
The young girl, having just entered the path of cultivation, was very curious about everything. Due to her early enlightenment, she was not particularly afraid of life and death. Especially since General Zuo Shou's head had not yet died and still retained consciousness, showing a fearful expression, unlike the stiff and numb faces of the deceased.
Shen Yixiu suddenly felt a pang of sadness and said to General Zuo Shou, "You are truly pitiful."
General Zuo Shou blinked. His head was being pressed by primal energy, and he could not exert any spiritual power. He found it unbelievable that he, a divine general equivalent to an Earth Immortal, had been killed in an instant.
"No... impossible."
"I was killed?"
Shen Yixiu nodded. General Zuo Shou's expression changed from astonishment to rage!
"I was killed?!"
"I... am truly pitiful!"
Liu Zimin's mouth widened as he watched the young girl Shen stroke the divine general's head, showing a slight fear. "Little lady, this fellow is not pitiful at all! He almost killed me just now!"
"I don't know him at all! This kind of god, no... he's a wandering soul, right? The senior just said so! He's not a god at all!"
"I am a god!"
General Zuo Shou, already filled with rage, heard this and almost exploded with fury. However, without a body, only a head controlled by the surrounding primal energy, he could not move at all.
"When I was a god, your ancestors were not yet born! I have seen Ying Tian Prefecture broken three times and rebuilt three times! How old are you! You damned fellow, unaffected by wishes, why, why did you escape the influence! If I had killed you just now, then I would have..."
Young girl Shen suddenly interjected, "You are truly pitiful."
"You are a gathering of wandering souls, aren't you? What you see are the memories of wandering souls."
"You are a god, but who are you, really? And why do you kill people as a god?"
General Zuo Shou angrily said, "Are you, this little girl, mocking my current state!"
"When I protected people as a deity, your ancestors were nowhere to be found!"
"I don't need the pity of mortals! When the people I protected died, the new people forgot me. I merely used incense offerings to restore my existence, and they shouted for my execution. "
"Mortals have no memory, and mortals are the most ignorant of good and evil. If someone is slightly kinder to them, they call it good and consider it deserved. If someone is unkind to them, they consider it evil and want to exterminate them."
"There is no need to pity me, because you are not worthy. There are so many deities like me in this world! I have heard of foolish commoners who, after falling ill at home due to offerings in a temple, set fire to the temple; I have also seen scoundrels who, after seeking divine manifestations in a temple, instead restrained the deities and used them for their own purposes!"
"I am now working for others, and since it involves wicked deeds, this outcome was expected. I just didn't expect it to come so suddenly!"
Young girl Shen said, "But you still protected some people, so you were also a good person once."
"Killing is wrong."
General Zuo Shou stopped speaking, only laughing in anger, then closed his eyes to await death. Young girl Shen began to chant the Golden Light Spell, her faint golden light being only at the rudimentary beginner level. Moreover, she needed the talismans on her body to cast it, and its power was very weak, perhaps not even enough to kill ordinary small frogs that had been tainted with a little demonic energy.
This debate seemed to have no conclusion.
Liu Zimin shook his head repeatedly from the side.
"Who cares about your past? Why should anyone know your past experiences? I only know that I was almost killed, and you are not a good person now, and that's enough."
General Zuo Shou's head saw wisps of white smoke.
White smoke emerged from Ji Xiang's body.
Then, he and the divine position... no, it should be said, his soul and the "folk deity identity" he had cultivated over hundreds of years were completely separated.
He was shocked, confused, and finally fell into complete terror.
Not only him, but Liu Zimin was also dumbfounded. Only the Shen father and daughter could not understand.
"What is this being done?"
"This, this is the shaping of form and spirit? How is this possible for a cultivator?!"
Liu Zimin's eyes widened.
Ji Xiang was now using the Heaven-Piercing Bright Smoke to extract the folk deity identity from the divine statue, condensing it into a divine position.
At this time, Ji Xiang did not know that the divine positions created by the various immortals in the Changbai Mountain region, with the help of a heavenly palace in the Inner Mountain River, were actually very similar to these temporary divine positions created by the Heaven-Piercing Bright Smoke.
With the divine position in hand, the next step was to shape the form and spirit using incense offerings.
And General Zuo Shou had already become a lonely spirit and wild ghost. His head soon began to vanish into nothingness, like black and white smoke. And his eyes, until the moment of disappearance, were still looking at the newly appeared "god."
It was another self.
Shaped by incense offerings, its form and spirit given by this black-robed cultivator, its appearance exactly the same as his own, only without that malevolent heart.
And the power emanating from Ji Xiang finally made him remember, before his death, what existence he was related to.
"Demon... is shaping deities..."
"This kind of thing..."
"How is it possible..."
His soul dissipated and vanished, leaving only the incredible lingering sound.