Chapter 21

Isn't that so!

Although not obvious, those familiar with Xun Yi could see the resemblance between him and the capital city god from his brows and eyes.

"What's going on?" Xun Tan's heart was stirred by a wave of shock. Suddenly, she noticed that the gaze of the Martial King of Zhao Ling seemed to be looking at her, and she instinctively lowered her head to avoid the probing.

Her secret technique, inherited from the Flower Goddess, was undetectable by ordinary deities. Back in the foreign continent, she had even evaded the probing of a deity of the Fifth Heaven. She didn't expect to fail here.

"Cloud Tea Concealment?" The Snake King recognized Xun Tan's technique: "By the smell, she and this boy are both from the Xun family, right?" Thinking of Duke Maode, the Snake King didn't expose Xun Tan and spoke kindly to Xun Yi: "The city god of Bayang County wishes to initiate a divine decision to determine the归属 of Chulus. What do you say?" Although he spoke kindly, the aura of a superior naturally emanated from the Martial King of Zhao Ling.

Xun Yi recalled Bai Fu's prior warning and changed his attitude.

In daily conversation, it didn't matter, but in such a formal setting, he needed to use the ancient Zhao official language.

"The city god marks the territory, only through divine decision. Brother Bayang, if you have the intention, I dare not refuse." Xun Yi respectfully said: "However, I am a mere mortal, and I fear that Brother might regret it in the future. I hope we can establish a proof." After saying this, he bowed to the Martial King of Zhao Ling, asking him to be a witness.

Xun Yi made every effort to imitate the ancient Zhao etiquette, racking his brain to recall the manners taught in class, with the divine etiquette measured and appropriate.

The surrounding city gods looked at each other, secretly pondering: ordinary virtuous people who accumulate ten thousand merits and are reborn as city gods start from scratch. But now, this boy seems to have a good understanding of Zhao etiquette, which doesn't seem like a rebirth of a virtuous person. Could this city god be appointed by the Heavenly Realm?

There are three types of city gods: one is sent by the Heavenly Realm, one is appointed by a human king and deified after death, and one is reincarnated through the underworld as a virtuous person.

If deified after death, they would retain their appearance from life. But with Xun Yi's youthful face, which king would appoint a teenager as a city god?

After reincarnation through the underworld, the virtuous person forgets their past and starts anew like a blank sheet of paper, and there would be no such demeanor as Xun Yi's.

"Only those appointed by the Heavenly Realm would understand these things from the beginning!"

As for the idea of a temporary city god, even the city god of Bayang County was hesitant: no matter how foolish Duke Cao was, he wouldn't risk the taboo of a city god and completely pass on his divine seal to a mortal, right? If not a mortal, then this duel might have some complications.

Who would have thought that Long Ge would intervene and directly give Xun Yi the complete city god seal? Even if a new city god takes office, if Xun Yi refuses to return the seal, the归属 of the city god would still be in question!

"What do you say about the words of the city god of Longchuan County?" The Martial King of Zhao Ling turned to ask, and the city god of Bayang County nodded: "Good."

With the nod of the two city gods, a golden scroll appeared before the Martial King of Zhao Ling. It recorded the content, time, and location of the divine decision, followed by the seals of the two deities.

"By the witness of the capital city god of the Great Zhou! As long as the Great Zhou stands, this document will always be valid!" The Martial King of Zhao Ling stamped it and said: "The time and content are determined by you." As he spoke, a series of tokens appeared before Xun Yi.

Each token described a method of divine decision.

A single line of heaven for a one-on-one battle, an attack and defense war with divine armies, a thousand cups of wine to determine the winner, and a chess game to decide the outcome, among others.

Because there are many types of deities, the methods of divine decisions are varied and peculiar.

"Alcohol deities usually compete in drinking and brewing, music deities in musical skills." Xun Tan said beside him: "Brother, choose the Three Talents Decision."

The Three Talents Decision means a three-person battle, with one person winning a martial contest.

"Where do we get the third person?" Xun Yi muttered, but Xun Tan was confident, so he had to place his hopes on her. He reached out and grabbed the token that read "Three Talents Decision."

"Three Talents Decision?" The Martial King of Zhao Ling took the token from Xun Yi's hand, and the method of the duel appeared on the blank space of the document.

Suddenly, the city god of Bayang County remembered something and said: "Your Highness, I have a request."

"One side sets the time, the other sets the method, this is the rule. What do you want to do?" The Martial King of Zhao Ling was displeased, and his divine power fluctuated, suppressing the other city gods who all felt his anger.

Xun Yi instinctively took a step back, but suddenly all the pressure disappeared. The city god of Bayang County hurriedly said: "I have no intention of opposing, I only wish to invite the Chulus demons to witness, to facilitate future unification."

To have the Chulus demons watch, so that the winner can more easily subdue these wild demons by showcasing their strength.

"Agreed." Xun Yi smiled calmly.

Seeing that neither objected, the Martial King of Zhao Ling said to the child beside him: "Fetch the demon-summoning banner."

The child went to the back and brought a black banner, hanging it at the palace gate, and shouted: "Where are the Chulus demons?" The black banner shot out golden light, and soon a cold wind blew, and a group of mountain spirits and demons gathered at the Zhou main dragon palace.

"This demon-summoning banner is a standard divine artifact made by the Heavenly Court. Every deity of the Third Heaven and above has one to manage their affiliated demons." Xun Tan explained to Xun Yi: "The city god of Longchuan County should have one too, you can look for it when you return."

Xun Yi thought for a moment, his gaze on the Chulus demons. Tree spirits, wolf demons, foxes, goats, and other spirits surrounded the two radiant deities.

Chulus is at the border of Bayang County and Longchuan County, where the convergence of spiritual veins has produced a large number of mountain demons. Because the归属 is undetermined, both city gods have left their people to guard it.

The mountain god of Longchuan County manages the Chulus mountains, and the forest god of Bayang County manages all the forests in the mountain foothills.

The two led the demons to the palace and paid respects to the city gods.

Then the two deities exchanged glances, both coldly snorted, and came to Xun Yi and the city god of Bayang County.

"Today we will determine the归属 of Chulus, all the spirits in the mountains may watch." The Martial King of Zhao Ling spoke formally, addressing the two main characters: "Prepare to enter the arena."

The Martial King of Zhao Ling threw a treasure pearl from his sleeve, which shone brightly and landed at the entrance of the Zhou main dragon palace. A world slowly rose, with magnificent mountains and rivers, the sun and moon rising and setting, the five elements complete, and even living beings residing within.

"Your Highness's divine power is growing stronger." A city god clapped in admiration: "This small world gathers yin and yang, and the five elements, showing promise of advancement."

The deities of the Ninth Heaven are most skilled in creation. The Fourth Heaven creates a small world, the Sixth Heaven creates a medium world, and the Eighth Heaven creates a large world. This dragon pearl is a small world created by the Martial King of Zhao Ling himself.

"The time ratio is one to a thousand." The Martial King of Zhao Ling activated the pearl, and everyone present was drawn into the pearl world.

As soon as he entered the pearl, Xun Yi felt uncomfortable; the spiritual energy here was so scarce!

City gods instinctively absorb earth qi, but they found that the earth qi here was less than one percent of the outside world.

Xun Tan was also brought in by the Martial King of Zhao Ling, knowing her cover was blown, she appeared in her true form and looked around: "This small world has scarce spiritual energy, it seems to have been recently created?"

Xun Tan appeared out of thin air, startling everyone. Upon closer inspection, she was a Third Heaven spirit cultivator, and no one failed to realize she was Xun Yi's companion.

"So, there are others hiding?" The city god of Bayang County scanned his three representatives and relaxed. With three powerful people on his side, as long as Bai Fu won one match, they could win.

He laughed and said: "Three matches to determine the winner, Brother, you can choose the location first."

This small world has vast mountains and rivers, all of which can serve as the arena.

Xun Yi pondered, drew a golden circle, and said: "A valley where yin qi gathers, Bai Fu, you take the first match." The golden circle flew to the ground, enclosing a ten-mile divine valley. As long as they stayed within this circle, it was the arena. Moreover, the gathering yin qi would benefit Bai Fu, a ghost cultivator.

Bai Fu agreed and stepped forward, smiling at the city god of Bayang County: "How many times have I faced you, sir? I hope you don't lose this time."

"Humph!" The city god of Bayang County, with a cold face, ordered a black-robed person to step down.

Choosing the location and representative first, the other side could then select from their own to counter Bai Fu's ghost cultivation.

However, Bai Fu, a Third Heaven spirit ghost, had defeated all of Bayang County's people in previous years, never losing a single match.

"As long as Miss and I win two matches, it doesn't matter if we are one person short." Standing at the bottom of the valley, a wave of yin qi gathered, enhancing Bai Fu's power. He said to the other person in the valley: "You must be a recent helper of the city god of Bayang County? Retreat quickly, or you will risk your life, and I will incur unnecessary karma."

"Would you still be so arrogant if you saw my true form?" The black-robed person removed his robe, revealing his true appearance.

The city gods sat in the clouds, and the Martial King of Zhao Ling ordered the food deity to gather cloud qi to make dishes. Just as the table was set, everyone saw the true appearance of the black-robed person and their faces changed.

Xun Yi's civil and military judges exclaimed: "A descendant of the Heavenly Emperor? Young Master, quickly make Bai Fu admit defeat, he can't win this one!"