Chapter 105: The Secret of Xiongzhai's Strength True

Palm shadows, giant axes, burly arms...

Li Changshou had always known that the Great Desolation was vast and full of extraordinary people, and that he was just an ordinary human Qi refiner.

But he never imagined he could be so utterly mistaken!

Beside the statue, a burly man was exhaling a wave of earthy yellow light from his wide-open mouth.

This light condensed into the arm of a giant holding a large axe, effortlessly shattering the palm shadow Li Changshou had unleashed.

In that instant...

Li Changshou's understanding of Xiongzhai completely collapsed.

Although he had initially noticed that Xiongzhai was somewhat unusual, he was busy stabilizing his cultivation after ascending at the time. After observing for a while, he quietly left.

Later, Xiongzhai began their plan to promote the Sea God Cult for profit, expanding it to its current scale.

During this process, Li Changshou occasionally kept an eye on the people of Xiongzhai.

Yet, these individuals, who seemed strong but simple-minded, had no flaws he could detect—they were just greedy for small gains.

Sometimes, seeing their honest and straightforward appearances, he even felt that some lives were inherently pure, simple, and kind...

Who would have thought?

Absolutely unthinkable!

He had been deceived by these seemingly naive people for so many years!

Li Changshou admitted that he sometimes hid himself quite deeply,

But compared to the people of Xiongzhai, he felt utterly inferior and immediately conceded defeat!

The South Sea Sea God Cult might as well be renamed the Unfathomable God Cult!

These men, women, and elders of Xiongzhai had actually conspired to put on such a grand performance; even the strange fish that carried him back then might have been deliberately caught by them...

In that moment, two massive words filled Li Changshou's heart:

Scheming.

But Li Changshou did not panic. Though internally shocked, it did not affect his judgment of the situation.

He controlled the paper effigy to retreat swiftly, at an incredibly fast speed; however, the giant arm, after splitting the palm shadow, swung the large axe back at him.

The scene was indescribably bizarre...

A muscular man exhaling earthy yellow light from his mouth, which formed a giant axe and an arm, moving like a living thing as it chased Li Changshou to hack at him.

The strike appeared slow, but Li Changshou detected a faint and profound Dao rhythm within it.

It seemed slow but was actually fast, seemed light but was actually heavy!

This was completely different from the Dao Fa and Shen Tong he knew!

Li Changshou could not gauge the power contained within, but he dared not underestimate the force of this axe.

He maneuvered quickly in the air, barely dodging the blow;

Yet, the hillside behind him silently cracked open with a fissure hundreds of zhang long...

Suddenly, his immortal sense detected another burst of light from the side!

In a flash, Li Changshou shot straight upward, as an arrow grazed past his feet at tremendous speed—its power was enough to pierce through his paper effigy, even protected by immortal force, in one hit!

Looking down, he saw another burly man undergoing a strange change;

This one did not perform the axe or arm trick; instead, his originally thick arms shrank to the size of an ordinary person's...

But these arms now glowed like translucent glass.

Then, the man made a motion as if drawing and shooting a bow with his hands, and the light on his arms formed a longbow and arrow.

Li Changshou darted into the clouds and began weaving left and right, barely evading another arrow...

This arrow pierced through a white cloud above, exploding in the high sky.

Li Changshou continued flying upward, reaching the height where the arrow had detonated, and the threat from below vanished.

Glancing down...

A group of black-clad, tower-like men were waving their weapons at Li Changshou's paper effigy, posturing aggressively and making "oooh oooh" sounds, as if mocking and jeering.

Over the years of developing the Sea God Cult, the men and women of Xiongzhai had traveled far and wide, becoming quite worldly.

They were no longer the simple, tower-like folk of Xiongzhai.

In the past, they would see a Qi refiner flying and think it was a divine immortal, kneeling to pray for blessings.

Now, they had driven the incarnation of their own Sea God high into the sky, afraid to descend, and were laughing and cursing below:

"Come down! You coward!"

"Playing tricks like a ghost!

If you've got the guts, come down and arm-wrestle, test your strength!"

At this moment, not only was Li Changshou a bit stunned, but the sea of mortal followers below were also bewildered...

The Xiongzhai village chief, disguised as a black bear spirit, reacted quickly.

His eyes darted around, and he immediately shouted:

"The Sea God has manifested!

It is the Sea God manifesting divine power against the divine messenger! Thanks be to the Sea God for protection!

The might of the Sea God is inviolable!"

Instantly, the surrounding followers erupted in loud chants, their voices like roaring waves;

The crowd bowed again to the statue, many with fervent gazes, creating a spectacular scene...

Can this even work?

Li Changshou felt a mix of amusement and exasperation in his heart. He had come with his paper effigy to tell these followers that no Sea God existed;

But today, after making thorough plans and slaying two groups of attacking great demons to protect the followers here...

In the end, he was the one being chased and hacked by his own cult's divine messengers!

What an absurd situation?

It's the biggest joke in the Great Desolation!

He was probably the most disrespected "incense god" in history...

Originally, Li Changshou had only seen the Sea God Cult as a future hidden danger that could bring karmic burdens, so he wanted to resolve it quickly.

But now, it seemed he might have just been used by the people of Xiongzhai.

These tower-like folks had hearts as cunning as could be!

High in the sky, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in Li Changshou's eyes as he gripped two porcelain bottles in his hand...

But he soon realized that acting on this would only invite unnecessary karmic burdens.

Moreover, these Xiongzhai folks might have some terrifying backing.

He had to figure out their origins first.

A small detail caught Li Changshou's attention: the burly man who had exhaled the arm and axe was now sitting exhausted beside the statue;

And the one whose arms had thinned was hanging his arms limply, unable to lift them...

Could it be bloodline power?

How could humans have such bloodline power?

A sudden insight struck Li Changshou's mind as he looked at the group of posturing tower-like figures below, recalling some ancient records.

After Pangu created the heavens and earth, his primordial spirit transformed into the Sanqing, and his corpse gave birth to a race.

The Wu Clan gradually developed in ancient times, protected by merits and inheriting a bit of Pangu's remaining divine power. The twelve ancestral witches could summon winds and rains, controlling the ancient rules of power, with great witches and war witches emerging endlessly.

After the Dragon-Phoenix War, the Wu became the strongest among the hundred clans;

They grew arrogant and oppressed the other races.

The hundred clans refused to submit and united under the great powers of the Golden Crow Clan born from the Sun Star—Donghuang Taiyi and Di Jun—as their leaders, calling themselves the Sacred Clan and waging continuous wars with the Wu Clan.

Later, the Sacred Clan was known as the Yao Clan, with Donghuang and Di Jun proclaiming themselves Yao Emperors and establishing the Heavenly Court of the Yao Clan at the peak of Buzhou Mountain...

The three great Wu-Yao wars depleted the fortunes of both clans, paving the way for the rise of humanity.

Due to the irreconcilable grudge of near extermination between humanity and the Yao Clan, during the long years before the third Wu-Yao decisive battle, the Wu Clan intermarried with humanity, giving rise to the "Wu people" lineage.

After the fall of the Wu and Yao, the Wu Clan was sealed in the Northern Continent of Beijulu, and the Yao Clan retreated to the borders of the great continents. The Wu people, with the momentum of humanity and the abilities of half-Wu, once held considerable power.

But during the rise of humanity in the late ancient era, the more ferocious Wu tribes were gradually suppressed;

The most famous event was the battle for destiny between Xuanyuan Huangdi and Chiyou.

Since then, the Wu people have vanished from sight.

Could it be...

Li Changshou gazed at the lively, tower-like people below, suspecting this in his heart.

Were these truly a surviving lineage of the ancient Wu people?

Because they lived in a remote corner of the South Sea, they escaped the calamity of the Wu people and survived to this day?

Tsk, the more he looked, the more plausible it seemed...

Li Changshou put away the porcelain bottles, furrowing his brow as he watched the situation below.

Things were getting more complicated.

During the long years of the Wu-Yao wars, batches of creatures in the world met tragic ends, with countless lonely souls wandering and eventually dissipating;

The ancestral witch Houtu, out of compassion, sacrificed herself to transform into the six paths of reincarnation;

Thus, most creatures today owe a karmic debt to the great virtuous Houtu, and some remnants of the Wu Clan even serve in the underworld.

These Xiongzhai folks could unleash such Shen Tong, meaning their Wu Clan bloodline proportion was undoubtedly high...

Li Changshou's thoughts raced, and he quickly devised a way to deal with these "bear goods."

Hallucinogens and arrays could easily achieve the desired effect.

But his first plan to dismantle the Sea God Cult was now useless.

Unless he ruthlessly wiped out Xiongzhai, these bear-like people would continue performing miracles in front of others, and the Sea God Cult would still grow rapidly...

Just then, Li Changshou suddenly sensed a large mass of dark clouds approaching from the northwest sea.

Within them were six great demons, their monstrous aura covering the sky.

As arrogant as ever!

Clearly, someone was not giving up and wanted to destroy the Sea God Cult during this gathering of followers...

Li Changshou felt a bit helpless. Although their goals aligned, he could not let the mortal followers be harmed for no reason.

Here's an idea—with these people from Xiongzhai...

Li Changshou controlled the paper effigy to dive downward, dodging an arrow before speeding toward the northwest.

He secretly cast the Wind Whisper Spell, mimicking the voice of the "black bear spirit" village chief, and roared in the ears of the Xiongzhai people:

"Chase!

Don't let him get away!"

In an instant, over a hundred burly men dashed forward at full speed, not slow at all.

"Why did I just speak?"

The Xiongzhai village chief was stunned, then quickly shouted, stopping most of his clansmen.

But the fastest twenty or so had already circled around the dense crowd of followers and were sprinting northwest, yelling "ao ao" wildly...

Their running speed was even a tad faster than an ordinary unascended Qi refiner flying on clouds.

The Wu are adept at running, masters of the earth.

Li Changshou secretly observed these suspected Wu people while preparing to poison the six great demons.

He wanted to see just how capable these Xiongzhai divine messengers were and if they could surprise him further.

However...

His immortal sense detected another dark cloud in the south, leaving him speechless.

'What's going on today? A single Sea God Cult gathering has drawn so many forces?'

From the southern sea, a dark cloud rapidly approached Anshui City;

It was not the Yao Clan; atop the cloud stood ranks of immortal flood dragon soldiers, likely elite troops from the South Sea Dragon Palace.

Li Changshou thought for a moment and decided not to interfere, continuing to lead the twenty-plus Xiongzhai people toward the great demons still a thousand li away...

Yet, these Xiongzhai men's endurance was not strong.

They had only chased Li Changshou for a few dozen li before panting heavily, their speed gradually slowing.

In the end, dealing with the demons would have to be done by Li Changshou himself.

Later, he could deliberately let one great demon through to test these Wu people's combat strength?

But Li Changshou quickly dismissed the idea; he had no need for such redundant tests...

Anshui City was already about to erupt into battle!

That dark cloud from the South Sea had arrived above Anshui City.

Ranks of immortal flood dragon soldiers hovered overhead, exuding a murderous aura, leaving the mortals below stunned once more.

The front rank of soldiers parted, and two figures stepped forward.

Li Changshou's immortal sense swept over, and his mind tensed, nearly causing him to fall from the clouds!

Ao Yi!

Oh no, this guy recognizes my statue!

In that moment, Li Changshou suddenly wanted to give up thinking, go with the flow, burn the paper effigy, and never return to the South Sea.

Was this his place of misfortune?

Yet, events unfolded in ways even more unexpected than he anticipated...

The central figure of the scene was not Ao Yi, but the tall, thin, somewhat frail stranger beside him...

Ao Mou glanced below, sensing no significant aura fluctuations, only a few human Qi refiners in the Huashen realm.

He snorted coldly, wanting to show off in front of his second brother Ao Yi, and said indifferently:

"You dare call yourselves the South Sea Sea God Cult?

You there, go smash that statue for this prince!"

"Yes!"

Several immortal flood dragon soldier commanders acknowledged the order, unaware of what they were about to face.