The City God Temple is divided into a main hall and side halls. In front is a statue of the City God, and in the back are statues of the main officials.
This place is naturally the realm of the living; to truly enter the City God Temple, one must enter the realm of the intermediate state (the underworld).
The so-called intermediate state is the place where a person's soul resides after death, before it leaves the body and enters the cycle of reincarnation. It is a place that is half yin and half yang, and it is also the true location of the City God Temple.
Jiang Liu has not reached the realm of refining Qi into spirit, so his primordial spirit cannot leave his body. If he wants to enter the intermediate realm, he can only do so through a special location, such as this City God Temple.
A barrier resembling ripples of water appeared before him, and Jiang Liu swung inside. The main hall had been transformed into the appearance of a county magistrate's office, with two screen walls shaped like the Chinese character "八" (eight), opening outwards.
As the saying goes: The Eight Characters Office is open to the public, but if you have reason but no money, don't come in!
This is true in the world of the living, and it is equally true in the world of the dead!
Jiang Liu sneered, showing no fear of the place where the Yin God resided.
Why wasn't he afraid? Because he possessed the Yangzhou Cauldron. With the cauldron in hand, he was protected by the dragon energy of the ancient Yangzhou region.
As the saying goes: He who controls the Nine Tripods controls the world!
This is not a joke.
Jiang Liu obtained the Yangzhou Cauldron. Although he could not rule the world, he was essentially half the king of Yangzhou, able to use the earth's dragon vein energy to defend against enemies. No one but an emperor could control the earth's dragon vein energy; Jiang Liu, by borrowing the Nine Cauldrons, was indeed half the king of Yangzhou.
Appearing in the intermediate realm, Jiang Liu looked around. The sky was gray and chaotic. It was his first time entering the intermediate realm, so he was naturally curious. Just then, a giant man about three meters tall strode out of the City God Temple. He wore a gauze hat and a wide, bright red robe, exuding a majestic aura.
The giant was carrying a lamp, but it was quite peculiar; the flame was only the size of a bean and served no purpose whatsoever. Moreover, it was daytime, so there was no need for any light.
Upon seeing Jiang Liu, the giant's face twisted, and he roared fiercely, "Hey!! Who dares to trespass into the City God Temple? You'd better die!"
Chapter 131 You've Got into Trouble
The giant roared fiercely, sounding almost hoarse from the strain. Jiang Liu smiled faintly and asked, "Which underworld deity are you? Where is the City God?"
"Trespassing in the underworld is an unforgivable crime. I patrol Huaiyin City daily; surrender now and you may be spared!"
After saying that, he conjured an iron chain and came to bind Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu chuckled and threw a punch at the iron chain. The chain trembled and crumbled into scattered yin energy. Seeing his supernatural power broken, Riyouxun flew into a rage. His already ferocious appearance became even more hideous as he roared: "You dare to retaliate??? You're courting death!"
Before he finished speaking, the lamp in his hand was instantly raised high. He took a deep breath and blew it towards Jiang Liu, the tiny flame he held. Jiang Liu, curious, waited for him to cast the spell, not attacking, but first witnessing the power of the Yin Judicial artifact. Suddenly, the lamp in his hand blazed brightly! For some reason, Jiang Liu immediately sensed an extremely violent aura within the expanding flame, like a large amount of gasoline suddenly ignited, a fierce and overwhelming attack!
"Is this the power of the Yin Judgment Instrument? Truly extraordinary!"
Jiang Liu frowned and blocked the "Yangzhou Cauldron". The incoming fire was immediately absorbed by the cauldron!
As a subordinate of the City God, the daily patrolman is only slightly stronger than the Earth God and his supernatural powers are all due to his position. If he lost his divine duty as the daily patrolman, he would be no stronger than an ordinary ghost soldier.
The lamp in his hand has a remarkable history; it is called the Karmic Lamp.
Karmic retribution, as the name suggests, is karma and retribution!
The City God Temple serves more than just the function of maintaining the balance between Yin and Yang. Before entering reincarnation, the deceased are judged here. It oversees the lives of the living and the dead, rewards good and punishes evil, and governs life, death, fortune, and misfortune. It also has the function of protecting the city. The day and night patrols are similar to the police in the previous life, maintaining the stability of the underworld and punishing any evil spirits they see committing crimes.
By shining this karmic lamp upon the enemy, one can immediately trigger the karmic retribution on their body, causing immense damage.
There is a saying: "It's not that retribution won't come, it's just that the time hasn't arrived yet." But often, the evil deeds we commit will not be punished immediately, and may even be delayed until the next life. When the lamp of karma shines on us, it will trigger the evil deeds in us, just like detonating a time bomb in our bodies.
Having absorbed the attack of the Karma Lamp, Jiang Liu felt the small cauldron in his hand suddenly light up, and an even stronger beam of light reflected off the lamp. Then, the small lamp and the sun-traveling object instantly vanished like snow meeting the sun, melting into a wisp of smoke and evaporating completely!
"Wow, so powerful? It truly lives up to its reputation as a treasure of human merit!" Jiang Liu had thought there would be a big commotion, but he never expected that a Yin God would be evaporated in an instant.
This is entirely the fault of the day patroller, who brought it upon himself by attacking Jiang Liu with the karmic lamp, only to be punished by karma and reduced to ashes by karmic fire.
Looking at the four large characters "Huaiyin City God" on the plaque, Jiang Liu felt a surge of anger. Regardless of whether this Huaiyin City God was related to the White Bone Cave corpse demon, that evil Taoist Qingming was the one who brought it here. If it weren't for Jiang Liu obtaining the "Escape One" and his Ninth Uncle's Maoshan talisman, he'd be buried a mountain of weeds by now. He even destroyed his sect's Qianlong Temple for the sake of the spiritual vein. If he didn't kill this fiend, he would be unworthy of being a son!
"Hmph, although you're about to be stripped of your City God title, I still hope to personally..."
I'll drag you down from your pedestal, otherwise I won't be able to quell the fury in my heart!
He took a deep breath, pushed open the gate of the City God Temple, and shouted, "City God of Huaiyin, you have committed a crime, come out and face your death!"
Before the words were finished, a thunderous voice boomed from the City God Temple: "Who dares to offend my underworld!"
A person dressed in official robes suddenly appeared in the main hall, with a dignified face and an aura of righteousness.
Then more than a dozen Yin spirits appeared, including civil and military judges, Gan Liu General, Fan Xie General, Niu Ma General, and so on.
"Without holding any official position in the mortal world, and not a primordial spirit of an earth immortal, you have dared to trespass into the underworld in your true form. Why don't you surrender and be captured!"
"Sir, should we arrest or kill?"
"Qi cultivator, don't make a grave mistake, surrender!"
"Huh, why isn't the Day Patrol here?" Night Patrol looked around but couldn't find his old partner, the Day Patrol.
The city god looked at Jiang Liu, and a myriad of unpleasant feelings welled up in his heart.
Jiang Liu snorted coldly and pointed at the City God, saying, "City God of Huaiyin, you have committed a crime. I have been ordered by Li Jian, the Grand General of the Jiangnan Army, to arrest you! The military order is here; put on your shackles!"
As he spoke, he fired a command arrow.
With a "whoosh," the command arrow pierced the plaque in the main hall. A crisp sound rang out, and a crack appeared on the plaque. The crack then spread rapidly, covering the entire plaque, before scattering with a "crash" into countless fingernail-sized fragments!
"What?"
"They actually broke through the City God's foundation..."
"Whose order is this from a general in the mortal realm? This is utter nonsense!"
All the Yin spirits stared wide-eyed at Jiang Liu in shock.
The City God remained expressionless and said in a deep voice, "I am the City God of Huaiyin, a deity of Heaven and a god of the underworld. A mere mortal general cannot punish me. Even the emperor of the mortal realm can only strip me of my divine office... And you, having trespassed into the underworld, I will kill you!"
I'm going to kill you! (Gritting his teeth)
In an instant, Jiang Liu felt an extremely cold "kill" word invade his soul.
This was the City God's divine power; his words carried on, determining life and death, and the reincarnation of ghosts. The word "kill" was extremely pleasant to the ear, like a pure and flawless jade chime being gently tapped by a golden pestle, but to Jiang Liu, it caused him to frown.
Instantly, I felt my body stiffen, and then, it felt as if my body and even my soul were about to tear apart!
The City God of Huaiyin coldly stared at Jiang Liu, raised his hand and pointed again, saying, "Your evil deeds are beyond measure, I sentence you to be reborn as an animal!"
A haphazard interpretation of reincarnation will inevitably create karma. But he can't care about that now!
Jiang Liu raised his eyelids to meet the City God's gaze and sneered, "Looks like you can't kill me!"
The City God's lips twitched, and he shouted hoarsely, "Everyone, join forces and kill him!"
In an instant, some people looked at each other in confusion, while others picked up their magical weapons and attacked without thinking.
The civil and military judges held vermilion brushes and wrote the character "斩" (cut) in the air. The brushstrokes instantly transformed into a dark blue longsword, which slashed down at Jiang Liu's neck.
Then another shackle and lock flew over and bound Jiang Liu with a "crack".
Ox-Head and Horse-Face, wielding weapons, charged forward.
It was a critical moment, extremely dangerous.
Chapter 132 Slaying the City God
Facing the dark blue longsword slashing towards him, Jiang Liu pinched it between two fingers, instantly feeling as if he had subdued a dragon, about to sever his fingers and release it. In that instant, a wisp of earth dragon energy emanated from the "Yangzhou Cauldron" in his hand, and the violently pulsating dark blue longsword immediately stopped.
Jiang Liu then shook his palm, and with a crisp "crack", not only the magical power he had conjured, but even the vermilion brush in the judge's hand that had been used to unleash the power cracked and broke in two.
Just as the shackles and chains were about to touch Jiang Liu's neck, they snapped with a crisp "crack"!
The judge who had broken his vermilion pen stepped back and said to the City God, whose expression was uncertain, "My lord, hesitation will only lead to trouble. The Tang Dynasty already knows that we are colluding with the Ghost King. If we resign now, we will only lose some cultivation, but if a great Confucian scholar comes with us, it will be very difficult for us to escape!"
"How can I give up so easily after plotting for sixty years?" The City God gritted his teeth and said with a ferocious expression, "The Ghost King is really useless. He was defeated in just a few days. If he could have held out for a year or two, I would definitely have taken that treasure!"
The judge rolled his eyes and said, “The will of Heaven is unpredictable! We have assisted you, sir, in retrieving the treasure three times, but we have come up empty-handed each time. Clearly, the treasure left by the God of War is not meant for us! My lord, as long as we live, we can always make a comeback. Going overseas and becoming a ghost cultivator will be just as enjoyable as it is for us. It’s a hundred times better than being a Yin God.”
"Hmph, without our identities as Yin Gods, even if we go overseas, we'll only be at the mercy of that Ghost King. Only by obtaining the supreme treasure of the God of War can we contend with him! What a pity..."
The City God was furious, his expression constantly changing, clearly showing his inner turmoil. His brows furrowed deeply, and after making up his mind, he said, "Enough, let's prepare to leave!"
The judge breathed a sigh of relief and said, "My lord, everything is ready. We're just waiting for the brothers who have been out searching for treasures to return."
Jiang Liu dealt with all the Yin spirits, then stomped his feet on the ground with a loud "boom," causing several cracks to appear in the bluestone floor. Even the City God Hall shook three times, showing signs of collapse.
"Who exactly are you?" the City God roared, and a large seal in his hand slammed down towards Jiang Liu.
In an instant, the large seal flew into the air, then grew to the size of a millstone, and crushed down with the force of Mount Tai. This was the City God's Seal, embodying the wishes of the entire city's people, and was the supreme treasure used to suppress Huaiyin City.
The City God had already decided to resign and leave, so he naturally didn't care about this treasure. In an instant, he unleashed all his willpower and faith. This attack was the combined attack of everyone in Huaiyin City, and it was three points stronger than Li Jian's "Blood of Mountains and Rivers," which was condensed from the blood and qi of the entire army, because it carried the faith of the people.
"boom!"
Jiang Liu threw a punch, but retreated again and again, his chest heaving with blood, as if he was about to vomit a mouthful of blood.
"What a powerful attack!" Jiang Liu and the City God exclaimed to each other at the same time.
At this moment, a crack appeared on the seal, and the entire City God Temple collapsed with a crash in this attack.
"Looks like we can't leave without killing you!"
With a wave of his hand, the City God placed the large seal in his palm, thinking to himself, "Such powerful methods! Even the power of a city can't do anything about it?"
Jiang Liu felt a slight sweetness in his throat, swallowed a mouthful of blood, and looked at the small cauldron in his palm. The merit power inside had been mostly consumed in that collision.
Suppressing his injuries, Jiang
Liu laughed loudly, "Looks like you're trying to escape! But I don't think you'll be able to escape, hahaha... Judging by the time, your divine office will soon be stripped away! Without this official robe and the seal in your hand, what will you have left to be so arrogant about?"
The City God sneered, "Until the Emperor's decree arrives, I am the City God of Huaiyin City, and I can use the power of the people's will to kill you!"
As he spoke, he once again raised the great seal in his hand. His eyes also emitted two beams of divine light, burning towards the crowd like two laser beams.
Jiang Liu narrowed his eyes and immediately felt a burning sensation on his skin. In an instant, a bronze mirror appeared in his hand, shimmering with a bluish light. In the mirror, flowers rained down, golden clouds shimmered, and wind, clouds, water, and fire shifted and changed endlessly.
A blinding white light burst forth from the mirror, shooting straight at the City God like a searchlight. This was a celestial artifact, normally only forged by Earth Immortals, and it instantly shattered his divine power. Not only were the two blazing beams of light abruptly cut off, but the great seal was also frozen in mid-air.
However, when the white light shone on him, it was blocked by his official robes and could not penetrate.
Just as the two were fighting, the judge quietly appeared behind Jiang Liu, took a small arrow shrouded in black mist, and shot it out.
Jiang Liu sneered, and a sword light slashed towards the arrow, not only cutting it in half but also severing the judge's head.
The sword light turned and was about to fly back when a golden light flashed across the judge's neck, and his head actually grew back.