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As Wei Yuan spoke, he noticed the old Earth God's body slowly becoming transparent. The white mist that surrounded him began to drift away and vanish into the air.
Watching the Earth God disappear like smoke, Wei Yuan let out a long sigh.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed a faint glow coming from the statue on the altar inside the main hall. He walked over to take a closer look, and saw the glow coming from a square-shaped mark on the statue.
He held up the seal in his hand and compared it—the pattern matched exactly.
It seemed like swallowing the seal would allow him to inherit this land.
Looking at the seal in his hand, Wei Yuan gritted his teeth and threw his head back, swallowing it in one gulp.
To his surprise, the seal wasn't hard or painful to swallow at all. It was soft—felt more like candy going down!
The moment it entered his stomach, a voice suddenly echoed in his head:
[Divine Position Acquired: Earth God]
[Gained the power to gather incense energy. (Note: incense offerings can strengthen divine abilities)]
Before he could even process what was happening, his vision began to expand rapidly.
He looked down and saw—his own body.
Wei Yuan froze for a moment. That's when he realized—he was in a transparent, spirit-like state.
A glowing orb of light hovered where his heart should be.
"Wait... did I just have an out-of-body experience?"
"So how do I get back in?"
Just as he had the thought, his soul sank back down into his body like it had a mind of its own, merging perfectly.
Wei Yuan moved his body around. Everything felt normal.
Then, he tried thinking the words "out-of-body" again in his mind—and his spirit popped right back out.
This was way too wild.
His vision kept expanding. Soon, he floated high above the roof, giving him the sensation of flying.
From up there, he could sense every part of the land around him. It felt like he could see the entire hill this Earth Temple was built on.
[So this must be the boundary of the land controlled by this temple.]
[But if I want to move around while in this form, how do I do that?]
Just as the thought came to mind, Wei Yuan realized he could move freely—though only within the temple's area of influence. He couldn't go beyond it.
[So the out-of-body form is restricted by the area under my control...]Wei Yuan thought to himself.
[That's the downside of being an Earth God. Sure, it feels like you've got authority over a region, but it's really just a fancier kind of prison.]
He started recalling what the old Earth God had told him.
If he wanted to improve his powers as Earth God, he had two options:First, gather more incense offerings.Second, strengthen his soul.
But honestly, both sounded super difficult right now.
He looked around at the broken-down ruins of the village.
This whole area he now "ruled" over didn't even seem to have a single living soul.
How was he supposed to get offerings if there weren't even any people around?
It was obvious—getting worshippers wasn't happening anytime soon.
Which meant his only hope was strengthening his soul.
Good thing the old Earth God had left him a clue before disappearing. He could head to Caixu Town to find the old Earth God's descendant—Li Degui—and ask to become his apprentice. Maybe then he could find a way to improve his soul power.
With that thought, Wei Yuan returned to his body without delay.
Seeing the wrecked surroundings, he figured it was best to stay put for now and rest up a bit.
He didn't know anything about the outside world yet, and running out blindly could be really dangerous.
Better to get a grip on the current situation first.
Besides, as the Earth God of this land, he did have a bit of protection here.
Soon, Wei Yuan got moving. He scouted around for something he could use as a weapon.
The best he could find was a sharp butcher's knife.
He held the shining blade in his hand—it gave him at least a bit of peace of mind.
Next, he found a couple of relatively intact stoves among the ruins, set up some iron pots he scavenged, and got to cooking.
Since this was the countryside, every household had stored vegetables and fruits lying around.
He cooked up some rice, then stewed some preserved meat with fresh greens, and just before nightfall, had himself a hearty meal.
After eating and drinking his fill, the sky was already getting dark.
Wei Yuan didn't think too much—he set up a simple tent inside the Earth Temple and, surrounded by the sounds of frogs and crickets, drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Wei Yuan woke up early. The sky was just beginning to brighten.
He stretched and got up, feeling a lot better. While his body still needed some rest, he was clearly recovering.
After eating a quick meal, he headed outside the village and started digging a big pit.
He had collected the villagers' bloodstained clothes and buried them all there.
For one, he felt he owed them for the food he had been living off of these past few days.
And two, this whole area was now his responsibility—cleaning things up was part of the job.
"....."