Chapter 69 Blasphemy 18. By the Divine Lord Xiang, your brother Mingxin, from…

"This wild god is incredibly powerful!"

Outside the burned-down building, Mingyin, dressed in a white robe, was holding Chenchou, who was cradling a small statue of the Spring Mountain God. He looked utterly terrified and cried out in shock.

"My new temple!" Even Chunshan Gong had lost his gentle composure; cracks appeared on the small statue, oozing sticky liquid.

He never imagined that he would be defeated twice by a minor wild god whom he looked down upon. He was slapped to the ground and unable to get up after just one test. It was a disgrace!

Thinking of this, He couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Xu Ming again.

If He hadn't killed Him back then, even if He had fallen into demonhood, He would have been one of the most powerful demons in the world. How could He have ended up being oppressed by this Shen Xiangjun?

"Alright, isn't it already clear that He has some methods? Why lose your composure like this?" Only Mingyin, or rather, a divine consciousness of Xutian Venerable, remained relatively calm. "Don't forget, this is just a temporary test. Success is good, failure is fine too, it won't affect our purpose."

"We only want to know two things: first, whether His aura, divine power, and magic are unique; and second, what His strength is. Although we were defeated this time, we can already determine these two things, so what is there to worry about?"

Shen Chou raised his eyes: "So what should we do next? Will Shen Xiangjun attack us if she sees us like this?"

“No,” Xu Ming said calmly. “His good sworn brother is still heavily pregnant, and it’s not so easy to deal with him. He won’t let him go unpunished. Besides, even if he really attacks, what is there to be afraid of? With just 'Mingyin’s' abilities and the two of you, it’s indeed not enough to kill him, but escaping is not difficult.”

“If He were to act in this way, going beyond the scope of testing and fighting, and truly want to fight us to the death, then it would no longer be a matter for Yu County or Xiling. Would He dare to offend Shenzhao?”

"As for what happens next..."

“Let’s wait another seven days,” he said. “At the latest, in seven days, my little statue will be able to kill that Heavenly Goddess in Xiling. After that, I will order someone to bring her to Yu County.”

"No matter how strong a wild god is, how can he be stronger than a true god who has been appointed by Heaven and Earth and enjoys the worship of a nation? My physical body is weak and I cannot use divine light, but even if I only summon a small statue of a god, killing him would be enough."

"And now?" Chunshan asked, his face contorted with rage.

“Show weakness to the enemy,” Xu Ming said, “and keep them calm first.”

Chu Shenxiang was unaware of Xu Ming and the other two's scheme, and indeed had no intention of rushing to the county government office and immediately killing them.

One of the reasons was that Shen Mingxin's belly was growing larger and larger, already oozing blood, and looked like it was about to tear apart.

Secondly, he was ultimately just a wisp of divine consciousness. Although he could connect with his physical body, he couldn't maintain that connection for long. He could sense that Lord Chunshan and the national teacher of Shenzhao Kingdom were no match for him, but killing them wouldn't be easy either.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, when he attacked Lord Chunshan and destroyed the Chunshan Temple in the north of the city with lightning, something seemed off. There was a sense that his divine aura was suppressed and rejected by heaven and earth, as if opposing Lord Chunshan was opposing this world.

The strangeness of this situation made Chu Shenxiang feel uneasy.

In fact, he had not originally planned to make such a high-profile move. However, as soon as he entered the city in his white cat form, he heard two things while expanding his divine sense to search for Shen Mingxin.

First, the national teacher of Shenzhao Kingdom had arrived ahead of schedule; second, the national teacher visited Chunshan Gong in Yu County, which seemed to indicate that he was quite friendly towards him.

"You've already offended Lord Chunshan. Now that the National Preceptor of Shenzhao Kingdom has arrived, he won't let you off the hook, you wicked god who worships evil spirits!" Renxing said upon seeing this.

“I observe the demeanor of all beings in the city, and none are my match,” Chu Shenxiang said, glancing at it.

Humanity glanced at him and said, "You're powerful, but if you beat the young one, the old one will come. Behind the National Preceptor of Shenzhao Kingdom is Xu Mingtian, a righteous god appointed by Heaven and Earth. No matter how powerful you are, can you defeat Him?"

"What do you intend to do?" Chu Shenxiang asked.

"Pretend to be... oh no, I mean, show off in front of people," Humanity coughed dryly, "You need to show off in front of people and spread your fame. Increasing divine power requires incense offerings, and the incense offerings of a family or a village are always limited. You don't want to get involved with too many, but you should at least have a few counties or a prefecture, so that, combined with the Qi Refining and Essence Transformation method you've been working on, you can increase your divine power more. Even if you still can't defeat Venerable Xu Ming, you can at least save your life."

"This is Beizhu after all, not Shenzhao."

Chu Shenxiang remained silent, while the white cat focused solely on hurrying on its way to Shen Mingxin.

The humanistic voice said, "I know you feel that it doesn't matter whether you live or die, but you have already affected karma by helping Shen Mingxin and Yuejia Village. If you die later, what do you think will happen to them?"

Chu Shenxiang remained silent, but her subsequent actions clearly indicated her choice.

First the hands, then the feet, and then the body.

For the first time in two hundred years, he stepped out of that stone statue and appeared before the people.

Supporting his nearly hundred-foot-tall Dharma image, he swept his gaze over the flames burning the small building and the lightning destroying the temple, before speeding away into the distance.

Yu County, Yu River, Wangqiu Mountain.

Ten thousand miles of mountains, vast wilderness.

There was no difference after all.

It's not that difficult.

Seeing the county deathly silent, and knowing that Mingyin had not made a move since the Divine Illumination Sword was destroyed, Chu Shenxiang did not delay any longer. She raised her hand slightly and swept away the spring branches that were scattered all over the sky by Lord Chunshan, as if sweeping away dust.

Chunshan Gong seemed to give in and did not struggle.

Finally, he sent out a gentle breeze that enveloped Shen Mingxin, who was clutching her stomach and on the verge of fainting from the pain.

The next moment, the towering Dharma image and the wispy breeze both vanished from the spot.

The people of the county town knelt in fear for a long time until the horse snorted, at which point they looked up, crying and laughing, having survived a calamity.

"Let him be smug for a while longer!"

Mr. Chunshan sneered.

...

Although Chu Shenxiang had left the stone statue, in theory, as long as he didn't care about incense offerings, he could go anywhere in the vast world. But when it came to actually leaving, he didn't know where to go for a while. So, a wisp of his divine consciousness, carrying a gentle breeze, drifted around and eventually returned to Wangqiu Mountain.

Looking towards the autumn mountains and the Shenxiang Temple, the morning sun is already high, climbing over the distant mountain peaks, casting a warm orange glow across the land.

Inside the hall, Chu Shenxiang, having already stepped out of the stone statue using her divine sense, had no intention of returning immediately.

He stepped out of the shrine, his height and build becoming that of an ordinary person, and raised his hand to catch the returning breeze.

As the breeze subsided, Shen Mingxin revealed himself, landing on the ground. He was still dressed in red, with handsome features and a beautiful face. However, the added burden on his abdomen caused him pain and a strange sensation, forcing him to bend slightly, making him appear somewhat disheveled and weak.

In fact, this was the first time he and Shen Mingxin had met in a real sense, when they were both in their true forms and both were fully conscious.

Chu Shenxiang didn't know what to say.

The temple fell silent for a moment.

A god and a man stood facing each other. The god was tall and had his head slightly bowed, while the man was thin and had his face down.

No one spoke first.

From Chu Shenxiang's perspective, all he could see was Shen Mingxin's tightly clenched hand gripping his clothes, and half of his trembling spine. He couldn't see his face, but he could smell the scent of fear emanating from him.

He was afraid of him.

This was nothing new, and Chu Shenxiang didn't care. However, now was not a good time to let him be afraid all the time.

Her belly was still slowly swelling, and it had become a perfectly round watermelon. If this wasn't addressed soon, it might burst Shen Mingxin completely.

In fact, Chu Shenxiang had considered having the Divine Illumination Kingdom's Grand Preceptor and the others, the instigators, deal with the belly, but ultimately decided against it. There wasn't a single honest person there; if they were truly willing to risk it, they wouldn't hesitate to harm Shen Mingxin right under their noses. Besides, the belly didn't possess any evil aura, so it shouldn't cause any trouble.

However, we shouldn't delay any longer.

Chu Shenxiang stared at Shen Mingxin indifferently for a moment, then opened her mouth, about to skip over those unimportant things and talk about this strange belly, when she saw Shen Mingxin suddenly loosen her grip on the hem of her clothes, step back, bend her knees, and kneel down on the ground with a thud.

Chu Shenxiang frowned slightly, and with a gentle breeze, she was about to help Shen Mingxin up.

However, before the breeze could even touch him, Shen Mingxin's voice rang out: "Shenxiangjun above, your brother Mingxin confesses his three sins."

A gentle breeze paused.

“Sin number one, disrespect for God,” Shen Mingxin’s crimson lips moved slightly, making her voice seem to tremble slightly, but even as it trembled, there was still a tenacity supporting it, preventing it from dissipating or collapsing. “For many years I doubted your divine power, and I was arrogant and conceited, not knowing how to respect God. This is a sin.”

"Sin Two: Not worshipping the gods. If you have formed a sworn brotherhood, you should make offerings. If you are not sincere and your mind is not focused, and you have not worshipped for many years, relying only on kinship, this is also a sin. Sin Three: Blasphemy against the gods and delusional thinking are still sins."

“These three sins are extremely heinous, I beg you… to punish me.”

A gentle breeze wafted through the hall.

On the prayer mat, a figure in red robes trailed behind, the hem still stained with blood, falling onto the cold floor tiles like red plum blossoms blooming in a cluster.

Shen Mingxin knelt on it, her skin as white as snow among plum blossoms.

"The third crime is blasphemy," Chu Shenxiang said, her voice low and cold, devoid of emotion, "What makes you say that?"

Shen Mingxin's back stiffened, and her eyelashes suddenly trembled.

Once he realized that he was not dreaming, but had truly seen the miraculous spirit Shen Xiangjun and had been saved from danger by her, he was filled with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, and his dazed state intensified.

That unusual, beautiful dream, the White Cat Fairy, and that thing I vaguely discovered...

If Shen Xiangjun is truly not a stubborn rock, but a real god, then how could he continue to deceive himself about his past actions? The god in the dream, the white cat immortal, and those people in his hazy memories are all very easy to talk to, so... where is the real Shen Xiangjun?

Shen Ming thought he would take a gamble.

“Mingxin…” His lips trembled slightly as he slowly spoke, “Since Mingxin was fourteen and first became aware of human affairs, she has often had beautiful dreams, in which she often sees your face. At first, Mingxin was also troubled, fearful and worried, and secretly sought medical advice, but to no avail, so she could only let it go.”

"This fact is not due to any deliberate intention, but rather to another reason."

He raised his head, his phoenix eyes were dark and clear, reflecting the ethereal and handsome features of the deity, both near and far.

"Twelve years ago, Mingxin was eight years old, still a young child. Because he was weak as a child, although he had a godfather, he had never been to the temple to pay respects to his godfather. At that time, after the seven calamities and eight tribulations, his family felt that everything was fine. Mingxin was also curious about his godfather, so he asked his family to take him along. That night, they went up Wangqiu Mountain..."

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Author's Note: [Pigeon] I've been a little busy these past few days and haven't been able to save up enough chapters for extra updates, but whatever I have, I will. At the latest, after the 20th, I'll deliver!