Da Zaojun

"Hahaha!"

When the City God emerged from the underworld, Master Bao noticed that a corner of his official robe had been burned off, indicating that he had been in a flustered state for a while.

However, it is normal that no greater losses were suffered, as it was just a stick of incense for justice, and burning incense in a temple is a matter of course.

“I’ve been waiting for the messenger for a long time! I’ve also read that manifesto. It expresses my hatred for demons, but I regret that I am not human and am trapped in a divine position. Otherwise, I would have fought them to the death.”

The City God is not good at fighting, so he suppresses the enemy with his "field" and bestows various blessings and protections. He mainly relies on his City God soldiers and various ghost soldiers and generals.

However, once someone receives his secret decree, they will have the power to "take life and death, and seize power."

In Taichang, although there is a City God, the City God's seal and the official seal are combined to form the Realm Lord's seal, which means that the Realm Lord can appoint the City God and the County Magistrate.

However, Hongzhou Prefecture was not yet the territory of the local ruler, and the power of the City God and the Prefect of Hongzhou was not combined.

The situation was exactly the same as before in Taichang City, with the three parties—the divine path, the human path, and the demonic path—working against each other.

However, now that the demonic path has been purged and the human path has gained Song Wuji, the City God may want to annex it, rule the world with the divine way, and follow the path of divine right of kings, that is, the divine way governs the human way, and politics and religion are integrated, but this is not feasible.

Song Wuji, on the other hand, followed the path of divine right of kings, believing that without the king's authority, religious rites would be difficult to establish. He didn't care about any of the three religions or nine schools of thought; if they didn't listen to him, they were all out of the question. If they thought divine right was greater than human rights, he would simply smash their temples.

The contradiction between the two is almost irreconcilable. Song Wuji came to Hongzhou Prefecture to be the protagonist, not a puppet. Even his own troops and property were embezzled.

Lord of the Human Realm, to tell you the truth, the Weaver Girl who came from heaven, Prince Yuejing who came from the Buddhist realm, as well as the Iron Pillar Palace and True Man Xu Jia, all of these people, whether sincere or not, have all joined my ranks to fight for destiny. How dare you, a mere city god, disobey me?

Those in power are above all else.

To disobey Song Wuji is to disobey the will of Heaven.

As things stand, Song Wuji is still favored by the will of the human realm and valued by the torchbearer.

Master Bao, hearing him demonstrate his embarrassment with laughter, deliberately asked, "Why is the City God laughing? Is my house so funny?"

The city god said, "I am glad that the messenger is willing to come to see me. There is no need for us to fight to the death."

Master Bao, seeing his bluntness, asked, "What do you mean?"

The City God said, "There are 60,000 people in the city and more than 200,000 dead souls. Half of the 60,000 people are my followers, and the more than 200,000 dead souls are all under my control."

"If the messenger does not come to me today, I will surely erupt."

The city god said, "Because I see no hope of survival, we can only fight to the death!"

Master Bao immediately understood why Song Wuji had said to focus on appeasement; if all else failed, he could arrive in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

This guy has such a powerful trump card in his hand. Unless you disregard the lives of these people and turn the world into a ghost town, you can't just launch a direct attack.

"Now that the envoy has arrived, it is clear that he is willing to negotiate. I was once a high-ranking official, and after retiring, I worked for the benefit of my hometown. Later, I was recommended by the people of Hongzhou Prefecture to become the City God. This place is also my hometown, and I really do not want to destroy it."

Master Bao said, "The Lord of the Realm can tolerate you."

"I wonder how Lord Song, who has retraced the path of the Holy King and the Human Emperor, will tolerate me?" "The Lord said that you have rendered meritorious service. Even if you had selfish motives, at least you held out until the very last moment and waited for him to arrive. Sacrificing your blood and food can be considered a last resort."

"You will be granted the position of God of Wealth, but you must relinquish your authority over the underworld."

"This is how the Lord of the Realm has dealt with you."

"The position of the God of Wealth?" The City God pondered for a moment: "How can it be believable?"

Master Bao said, "Believe it or not, it's not just you who will be demoted to the rank of Venerable King; those two will also have to step down from their positions. The Lord of the Realm has other plans for them."

After pondering for a while, the City God felt that he held a powerful weapon in his hands, and that Song Wuji had no reason to lie to him. However, he still said, "I am willing to hand over the City God's Seal, but believers can still worship me. I need time to transfer my authority."

"Then you'll have to wait until the city lord enters before you can talk to him. Right now, you can only agree to hand over power or not; there's no question of considering it."

The city god said, "I am willing to relinquish power, but the handover will take time. I will discuss this matter with the local lord."

Master Bao breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the mission had gone smoothly, and there had been no incident of the mission turning sour.

Thinking of this, Master Bao said, "The Lord of the Realm has mastered the ritual of human rebirth. After taking over Hongzhou Prefecture, he will carry out this ritual. Just now, the City God of the Prefecture said that he wished he could be a human. In fact, he could also give up his divine position, be reborn as a human, and then start cultivating again as a human."

"The ritual of resurrection?"

“It’s no secret,” Master Bao said. “When it’s completed, all the beings in the hungry ghost realm can return to the human realm. The population problem will no longer be an issue. As long as the food supply is sufficient, we can continue to expand and conquer new territories.”

"The dead have come back to life." The City God exclaimed in horror, "Isn't this a provocation against reincarnation?"

"With the Three Realms and Six Paths out of order, it is not difficult to revive as long as one holds the corresponding authority. Neither the Heavenly Court nor the Underworld can supervise it."

The City God immediately understood that the foundation of the City God was gone, and without the authority to kill, everyone could be resurrected. What use was the City God then?
I fear that believers will abandon him in an instant, because believers all hope to be spared sins after death, to be reborn on the right path, and to avoid hell.

But if believers knew that they could be resurrected, the foundation of the City God's position would collapse.

He then realized that Song Wuji's willingness to give him the position of God of Wealth was merely a way of "placement" for him.

If he insists on resisting, the entire city's believers, and even his ghost soldiers and underworld troops, will rebel.

Even the most vengeful spirits cannot attain sainthood; if one can be a human, who would choose to be a ghost?
"Aren't there any restrictions?"

"The Lord of the Realm didn't mention this, but when Jianxin County attacked the demons, the soldiers who died were all resurrected. As long as enough demons are killed, even if they die once, it won't be too much of a loss."

The City God's resolve crumbled instantly. After a while, he thought to himself, "It seems the trend of the human realm is unstoppable. Since it can't be stopped, I'll join it. It's more promising than the demon realm. Those demons are unintelligent, they only eat people, and after eating them, they kill each other. They are extremely cruel and ignorant of etiquette! In the human realm, I can be reborn as a human and start cultivating again. I can give up this position of City God, but I need to exchange resources for a new official position!"

"Please inform the Lord of the Realm that this humble deity is willing to submit and personally offer the Great Seal to welcome the Holy Dao King's Army into the city!"

"This humble god has always been devoted to the human realm, never wavering in his loyalty, and has only been waiting for the day when the human realm is reborn and rises again. Now, he has finally seen it!"

After saying this, two tears fell: "It wasn't for nothing that I persisted!"

(End of this chapter)