Wu Ming opened his heavenly eye, a thread of mysterious light piercing through the netherworld. In an instant, it crossed the barrier between the living and the dead, revealing a spiritual land hidden beneath the City God Temple.
Any deity, as long as it receives worship, can establish a spiritual land in the mortal world, distinct from the underworld.
This spiritual land can not only accommodate ghost soldiers and generals but also preserve wandering souls. If properly managed, it can expand continuously, producing various spiritual treasures, essentially forming an embryonic blessed land.
Of course, only ancient deities can transform a spiritual land from the netherworld into a true blessed land.
Even blessed lands, however, are subject to calamities.
Take, for example, the sacred site of Mount Tai and the former residence of the Prefectural King, which were originally palaces of the Eastern Peak Emperor. They inevitably faced disasters, devolving into spiritual lands, even shattered, with parts falling into the underworld, forming the desolate Valley of No Return.
At this moment, a golden-red spiritual land appeared before Wu Ming’s vision.
As his gaze fell upon it, golden-red divine energy even formed talisman chains, automatically resisting observation.
“A divine restriction?”
Seeing this, Wu Ming’s lips curled into a cold smile: “If you had used restrictions from Daoism, Legalism, or even Confucianism, breaking them might have been troublesome, inevitably alerting the original master. But a divine restriction?”
After all, he had once been the Eastern Peak Emperor. As a deity of the land and the foremost among gods, to observe a mere City God’s spiritual land, how could it dare resist?
With a slight thought, a divine incantation surfaced. He softly recited it, generating a mysterious and profound force that skillfully bypassed the restrictions, allowing his vision to penetrate directly into the spiritual land.
Even the original divine restriction remained completely undamaged, not alerting Wang Zhong, the original master.
“Ah… this spiritual land is deteriorating rapidly…”
Soon, Wu Ming was astonished by the scene before him.
In his eyes, this golden-red City God’s spiritual land, although still radiating auspicious energy and golden-red light externally, was actually losing golden-red essence at its edges without mercy.
Moreover, with this change, the spiritual land’s range was continuously shrinking.
On the vast land, ghost soldiers and generals lay sleeping, half-buried in the soil.
Only at the center of the land did an expansive palace, radiating golden-red light, barely maintain its existence.
Even so, some of the edge ghost soldiers were directly perishing.
“The fate of a human-path deity without faith power is indeed tragic…”
Although he had suspected this, witnessing the scene still stirred Wu Ming’s emotions.
This scene indicated that Wang Zhong had already begun using his stored resources to maintain the operation of the spiritual land.
However, this was like a person with no income, spending daily, eventually exhausting his reserves.
“Ordinary deities generally wouldn’t do this unless…”
Wu Ming’s gaze instantly pierced through the palace, revealing extensive buildings glowing with golden light, majestic and imposing, exuding an aura of authority.
Within each palace, ghost deities lay sleeping—these were the divine officials commissioned by the City God.
In the central main hall, layers of golden light formed a seal, so dense it was almost tangible, undoubtedly Wang Zhong’s dwelling.
This was the greatest secret of every deity. Even with Wu Ming’s abilities, he couldn’t probe inside without alerting the other party.
However, this was already sufficient. Wu Ming pushed his heavenly eye to its limit, instantly seeing a vague figure seated within the hall through the golden light.
This figure had a dignified appearance, wore official robes, and resembled the original City God statue by seventy to eighty percent.
Of course, the most crucial detail was that his eyes were tightly shut, and golden-red light continuously transformed around his body, mingled with black qi.
Reaching this limit, Wu Ming withdrew his power, feeling a slight dizziness, knowing it was due to excessive consumption. He stopped observing and slowly walked away.
“This Wang Zhong… it seems he suffered severe injuries in the previous Longmen Gathering!”
On the way, he thought with schadenfreude.
The City God was a golden-ordained deity. Now, even his divine light was barely maintained, a great tragedy indeed. If things continued like this, he might fall from his divine position!
And that black qi was calamity! Disaster!
It indicated that even if he survived this crisis, he would still face attacks from enemies.
These enemies naturally included Ao Nu and Wu Ming himself, both being Wang Zhong’s “external demonic calamities”!
“According to my previous classification, the original Wang Zhong in Chufeng County was a fourth-level divine expert. But now, unable to maintain his rank, he probably only has the strength of level three…”
“Such a severely wounded state, should I act to eliminate the future threat? Or team up with Hebo?”
His thoughts raced.
Although the City God was severely wounded, his resources were still substantial.
Based on his estimation, Wu Ming guessed that Wang Zhong had a higher possibility of suppressing his injuries and re-establishing his divine position in the end.
Previously, with the government pressing step by step, Wang Zhong chose to defend and recuperate, hence the ease of his current situation.
Once this person recovered and took charge again, there might still be a chance for survival!
“No more opportunities can be given!”
Wu Ming clenched his fist fiercely.
To eradicate enemies completely was not only influenced by his past life but also by the bloody lesson of the Eastern Peak Emperor!
Such divine enemies, once they made a comeback, would become extremely troublesome.
“Ao Nu probably has his own plans. As a mere little mage, attacking the City God’s spiritual land… would be somewhat…”
Wu Ming calculated the strength comparison between both sides, frowning again.
No matter how low Wang Zhong had fallen, he still had at least level three strength, possibly even peak level three!
Observing earlier wasn’t an issue, but launching a direct attack would undoubtedly alert him, prompting him to summon a group of subordinates for backup. Given the favorable terrain and support, Wu Ming himself was only a peak second-tier mage. Even factoring in all his techniques, his offensive capability barely reached third-tier. The gap in strength was far too vast. If he went there, he would most likely be effortlessly overpowered.
“Last time, I still had a large amount of merit unused. Originally, I wanted to engage in dimensional trade, but now… maybe I should exchange for a couple of powerful items and directly eliminate Wang Zhong…”
In the ghost world, Wu Ming had gained significantly and could now be considered wealthy.
His countless merits were by no means mere ornaments. The main deity’s exchange system was comprehensive—while most of the Celestial Merits List remained incomplete, the Grand Merits List had compensated significantly.
At the very least, items like the “Zhushen Stab” or “Mianxian Diagram”—disposable treasures—could, according to the Eastern Peak Emperor’s knowledge, not only severely wound a golden-ordained deity but also cause significant damage.
Wang Zhong, a severely wounded and sleeping deity, would definitely not withstand it.
With a dual-pronged approach, absolute elimination was guaranteed.
“Who knows, I might even gain a legitimate golden ordination? Who should I appoint as the new City God?”
Wu Ming rubbed his chin: “But the heavenly principles of this world are far stricter than in the ghost world. I probably won’t be able to make such decisions…”
He vaguely sensed that the essence of this Zhou dynasty world must be the most profound among all the worlds he had traversed!
Whether it was the legends of human immortals and earthly immortals or the Hebo and Chenghuang within a single commandery, they all gave him this feeling.
Strict world rules meant that exceeding them would inevitably lead to backlash!
At the very least, wanton actions like those in the ghost world would be basically impossible.
However, at this moment, something unexpected happened to Wu Ming.
The mechanical voice of the main deity suddenly resounded in his ears without any warning.
[Ding! Esteemed Reincarnator Number Gengshen 69, Main Deity’s Acolyte! Your mission will commence in three days at midnight. Please prepare accordingly!]
Following this, an indescribable silence ensued.
…
[Ding! You are affected by a special item and will undergo a mandatory judgment! If you fail the judgment, the mission will commence immediately!]
[Judgment in progress… Your authority surpasses the other party! You will receive detailed information about this mission, and the mission will still commence in three days at midnight!]
[This mission is a special combat mission! Scenario size: Large! Number of Reincarnators: Two!]
[Mission difficulty: Unknown!]
[Note: This mission is a real mission, and Reincarnators will truly descend into this world!]
[Note: This mission is an authority holder’s battle to the death, and the winner will automatically strip the opponent’s authority!]
A vast screen of light descended, and Wu Ming’s expression suddenly darkened: “So it’s finally come? A battle to the death between authority holders!”
Ever since he obtained Yu Shaojun’s authority in the Star World, he had known this day would come.
Even, he had felt somewhat relieved.
“A special item’s influence? Mandatory judgment?”
Wu Ming looked at the text on the screen, coldly laughing: “Very well! If it weren’t for my recent mission’s great gains, raising my authority to the peak of an Acolyte, I might have been tricked this time…”
If ordinary Reincarnators were like blind fish groping through the fog, oblivious to the truth, then those who held authority had already glimpsed fragments of the “reality” within the Main God’s Temple!
Moreover, the strange assistance brought by the authority they opened was also insidious and hard to guard against.
Such a situation, where one was tricked at the very beginning, would likely leave ordinary Reincarnators helpless.
“Come to think of it, ordinary Reincarnators are directly pulled into missions, right? Do they even receive advance notice?”
“Therefore, this opponent must also have the privilege of knowing the mission details in advance, just like me!”
Wu Ming’s face was cold as he carefully examined the mission prompt, not missing a single word.
This opponent must also be a multiple authority holder, but the initial authority suppression still favored Wu Ming, indicating that the opponent was likely aware of this fact.
“A battle to the death! Indeed, it’s an unrelenting battle to the death!”
A heavy feeling suddenly pressed on Wu Ming’s heart.
Higher authority did not necessarily mean superior strength.
After all, someone like Yu Shaojun, relying on a single privilege, had accumulated through several reincarnation worlds, managing to thrive and even rival Wu Ming’s current strength!
Although Wu Ming had acquired so many authorities, he had not experienced many worlds, so his accumulation was still minimal.
If the opponent was a strong figure like Yu Shaojun, his cultivation was certainly above Wu Ming’s!
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