The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 319 Annihilation (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The statue, carried by the eerie wind, flew low, skimming the ground as it glided forward.

The speed wasn't extremely fast, but it emitted faint, eerie breaths, stirring up a dim, hazy atmosphere that made it difficult to detect.

After a while, they arrived at one side of the palace. Soldiers guarded each gate of the palace, and scouts patrolled everywhere.

The statue's eyes darted around strangely, and a hint of resentment appeared on its wooden face, displaying both human cruelty and beastly ferocity.

He watched as a patrol of sentries passed by silently, reaching the foot of the palace wall, then sprang up and leaped toward the wall.

The Western Xia palace was far smaller than the Song Dynasty palace; not only was it much smaller, but the walls were also not as high, so even martial arts masters could easily climb them.

The statue leaped into the wall, and without knowing how it distinguished its location, it continued to ride the yin wind and head straight for the main hall.

The main hall was where Zhao Ti lived. He had just finished his cultivation and left the secret room.

Instead of resting immediately, he went to the study on the side of the hall, brewed a small pot of tea, and sat behind the desk to drink it while reading the military and political reports that had been delivered in the afternoon.

The Xiping Military Commander sent a message from Persia that a large number of monks had emerged from Europe, their origins unknown, to provide relief for the disaster caused by the fall of the Buddhist kingdom and to appease the people.

However, at the same time, it used magic and force to destroy all other remaining sects, abolish all other sects, and exclusively honor Buddhism.

Furthermore, he employed the power of martial arts and Buddhist teachings, and through the power of scripture and salvation, he re-established the kingdom and renamed the continent of Europa as West Niuhe.

"Xi Niu Hezhou?" Zhao Ti frowned upon seeing this.

Originally, there were many countries in Europe, but they were intimidated by the monks' magic and converted by Buddhist scriptures, eventually becoming one large country and several small countries.

The large country is called Baoguang Kingdom, while the other smaller countries have different names, numbering about a dozen.

Besides Europe, many people in wide-sleeved robes appeared west of Kunlun, claiming to be subordinates of the Biyou Palace of the Jie Sect, and were trying to integrate the European continent.

Although these people in wide-sleeved robes also possessed magical abilities and were quite skilled in martial arts, they lacked the monks' capacity for salvation. As a result, chaos ensued, and people were filled with fear.

Zhao Ti put down the report and pondered, feeling that something was increasingly amiss.

What exactly happened that caused so many Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and deities to fall in Buddhism, and then Shambhala to descend to the mortal world and participate in the establishment and abolition of secular kingdoms?

Shambhala is the ideal Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, who is an incarnation of Amitabha Buddha. So where is Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss?
And how could Biyou Palace be located in the Kunlun Mountains? Where did the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect go? Why is there no information about them at all?

If a major calamity occurred after the Investiture of the Gods, causing damage to both Taoism and Buddhism, it seems rather odd. However, it's not something else; rather, the timeline doesn't quite match up.

Moreover, there is another anomaly: neither the tales passed down nor the folk legends mention the Investiture of the Gods at all, and there is not a single rumor about it.

The gods and Buddhas are all represented, and they have been worshipped and venerated since ancient times. The history of King Wu's conquest of King Zhou is also mentioned, so it seems that nothing is wrong. However, there is not a single story about the Investiture of the Gods that has been passed down.

Zhao Ti recalled that there were legends of the nine-tailed fox during the Tang and Song dynasties, and the prototype of the Investiture of the Gods story existed from the Song to the Yuan dynasties. By the Ming dynasty, it had become very widespread and was published as a book.

But at this moment, none of these are there; there is nothing at all.

Where exactly did things go wrong? How could this happen? Even in the world of gods and ghosts, this shouldn't be the case.

Zhao Ti fell into deep thought. Just then, the door to the study slowly opened, and a gust of cold wind swirled in.

As the wind reached him, his heart skipped a beat, and his expression turned slightly cold. He shouted, "What kind of wandering ghost dares to cause trouble in the royal palace!"

The wind suddenly rushed towards him, he snorted, opened his mouth and blew out a burst of true energy.

This is the essence of the inner force of the Twelve-Story Xuanji Platform, extremely refined.

As the breath blew up the yin wind, the yin wind paused and seemed about to disperse, while a low, sharp sound, unlike human voices, came from outside the door.

Then, a shadow flashed, and something entered the room. Zhao Ti squinted at it and was taken aback.

It was a statue of a deity. He recognized the statue; after taking over Xingzhou, he had seen the pantheon of the Great Witchcraft Sect, and this statue was the insect ancestor worshipped by the sect.

The insect ancestor has a human face and an insect body, with ten legs. The two upper legs resemble hands, the eight lower legs resemble legs, and there is also a pair of thin wings on its back. Because of its many legs, it symbolizes the ability to grab gold and silver and to bring wealth. It is mostly believed by merchants.

Did the statue become a deity after being worshipped for many years and receiving incense offerings?

The name of a god is born in the process of being passed down, and is sculpted into a statue. It is worshipped and offered sacrifices for thousands of years. The thoughts and reverence of people's hearts may eventually give birth to this god in the incense of faith.

No one knows exactly what abilities this god possesses or how powerful it is, but it's better if it doesn't have its own consciousness. Once it develops consciousness and intelligence, it will inevitably be terrifying.

Before the great changes in the world, there was no spiritual energy to touch it, and Taoist arts and divine methods, including incense offerings, deities, ghosts and monsters, did not appear in the world.

Now that the world has changed and is nourished by spiritual energy, everything that meets the conditions has appeared, with demons and monsters bewitching the world and gods and ghosts roaming freely.

Zhao Ti looked at this insect ancestor deity. Although it could move like a living creature, its expression was still somewhat blank and not flexible enough. Its mouth did not speak like a human, but rather sounded like the chirping of insects and birds, which was quite sharp.

Although the statue could move at this moment, it did not seem to have any intelligence. It seemed to have found the location of the palace by instinct.

Zhao Ti was not afraid. Xingzhou had long ago issued a strict order to destroy all the statues of the Great Witch Cult. This must have been secretly hidden in someone's home and worshipped all along.

The fact that this deity came here must mean that the worshipper prayed and prayed daily, harbored ill will towards the Song Dynasty, recounted the troubles in the city, and made some evil vow, which caused the deity to develop a fierce desire for revenge and find the location of the palace.

Judging from the coating on the statue, it is probably several hundred years old. Although the Western Xia Dynasty was only established for a little over a hundred years, the existence of the Great Witch Cult was much earlier, and it had been circulating in the Qingtang River Bend for many years.

The statue uttered syllables of unknown meaning, its eyes flashing crimson, its hands raised, and it rode the wind, lunging towards Zhao Ti.

Seeing the statue floating slightly, seemingly off the ground, Zhao Ti couldn't help but wonder if it was flying or possessed some other ability. If it could fly, then it was quite powerful.

It doesn't look like it, though. It seems to glide, but that cold wind is no good. If you wear it, your bones will become weak and your muscles will become soft. It might even penetrate your body and dissipate your yang energy.

He then circulated his internal energy, unleashing a burst of icy true energy that enveloped the statue in a white haze.

The statue stumbled and was instantly covered in frost, but it continued forward with a terrifying sound.

Wooden and clay sculptures are not afraid of freezing. Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes. At this moment, he only had three kinds of internal energy in his body: the Illusionary Yin Scripture, the Frost God Palm, and the Eternal Youth and Longevity Technique. The rest were all mixed into magic power and could no longer be extracted.

In addition, there is a protective aura that arises after entering the twelfth level of the realm. This protective aura is different from internal energy and true qi. It is mostly for protection and its effectiveness in active attacks is minimal, making it unsuitable for direct release.

The statue had already lunged close, a chilling wind swept through, and its hands reached for Zhao Ti. These hands were unlike human hands; they resembled the tarsi of an insect, curved and sharp, covered with numerous barbs that could hook and cut. If they touched a human body, they would surely slash and break it. Zhao Ti raised an eyebrow, his body swaying as he dodged to the side. Then, he channeled his inner energy into his arms and reached out to grab the statue.

This idol is sinister and malevolent; its body is not made of flesh and blood, and it may not be afraid of normal harm.

However, Zhao Ti covered his arms with his inner energy, preventing the yin wind from entering. As for the statue, it was not made of flesh and blood, so he was not afraid of normal damage. He would just smash it and destroy it.

Zhao Ti moved with lightning speed, grabbing the statue's shoulder in an instant. He felt the heat against his skin, a stark contrast to the eerie wind.

Could this be the power of incense? The thought flashed through his mind. He tried to pry it open, but he couldn't budge it. It was clearly a wooden carving, but it was as hard as metal.

The statue let out a sharp cry and turned around. Its body was not so agile. Seeing this, Zhao Ti exerted force again and used the Eternal Youth and Longevity Technique.

He can only use three types of internal energy. The Frost True Qi is used to injure people with its effects, but it is not very fierce or powerful. Although the Everlasting Spring Skill is powerful, he does not cultivate much internal energy. The Illusionary Yin Scripture is his main cultivation method, and most of it can be used to seal the seed of the Burning Lamp Ancient Buddha's inheritance.

At this moment, he used the Everlasting Spring Skill and felt his hand go limp as he grabbed into the statue's body. However, he felt that the inside was getting hotter and hotter, as if there were layers of forces protecting and blocking it.

He let out a soft whistle, instantly transforming it into illusory Yin energy. The coolness immediately assaulted his palm, piercing through the fiery power of the statue, and with a "crack," he broke off one of the statue's arms.

"Nothing special!" Zhao Ti felt much more at ease. What did it matter if they were gods? It all came down to whose methods were superior and whose fists were stronger.

The statue let out a sharp cry and finally turned around, its other hand whistling cold wind as it slashed towards Zhao Ti.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside, the commotion alerting the palace guards. Tong Guan was the first to enter the room, exclaiming in surprise, "Your Highness, what is this...?"

Zhao Ti said calmly, "A statue of a shaman has come back to life after being influenced by incense and faith."

"So it's a cult of evil gods!" Tong Guan said. "Your Highness, send your humble servant to deal with it!"

Zhao Ti moved like a flash of light, appearing on the other side behind the statue. He raised his arm and grabbed it with lightning speed, snapping off the other arm of the statue with a "crack".

The statue, having lost both arms, felt no pain. It leaped about, and its eight legs attacked Zhao Ti together.

Tong Guan stepped forward and flicked his wrists, sending out more than a dozen colorful needles that all struck the statue's body.

Then he pulled hard, trying to yank the statue down from mid-air, but the statue was strong and the colorful threads were tough. The threads did not break and actually pulled him up.

Tong Guan was shocked and dropped the flying needles, landing directly on the ground. Seeing that Zhao Ti had already returned to his desk, he hurriedly shouted, "Release the arrows! Release the arrows!"

The soldiers immediately raised their crossbows, and bolts rained down on the statue.

A layer of incense-red color appeared on the outside of the statue, and the steel arrows could not penetrate it, falling to the ground one after another.

Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes behind the desk: "Keep shooting!"

At this time, more and more soldiers gathered, and crossbow bolts kept flying. Even though the statue was powerful, it did not know how to dodge and was hit hard by these arrows and forced into a corner.

With a muffled "thud," whether it was due to the statue's exhaustion or because the arrow struck a weak point, a steel arrow finally pierced the statue.

As the first arrow pierced the statue, the statue shuddered violently. A series of crisp "bang bang bang" sounds, like raindrops, followed by a succession of arrows that pierced the statue.

The statue was originally made of wood, and the outside was painted with gold lacquer and colored clay. No matter how hard the material was, it could not withstand this kind of damage continuously without special protection.

With a loud "boom," the statue of the insect ancestor shattered into pieces and flew away a few breaths later.

Under the lamplight, a dim, yellowish halo emerged from the broken wood and hurriedly drifted away towards the door.

Tong Guan hurriedly said, "Shoot that light..."

The soldiers fired arrows again, but the dim light seemed to have no force; the arrows either slid past or pierced through the light, hitting the other side.

Seeing this, Tong Guan didn't use flying needles. Instead, he waved his palms and struck the ball of light. It turned out to be the Water Cold Palm from the Sunflower Manual.

At this moment, his martial arts skills were superb and his internal strength was profound. His palm strike even produced the sound of surging water, and the ball of light was immediately swept aside.

However, the ball of light didn't seem to suffer any real damage. Although it was knocked aside, it continued to fly towards the door.

Tong Guan glared and struck out with two more palms, the same as before.

Just as the ball of light was about to escape through the door, Zhao Ti suddenly said, "Everyone, get out of the way."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly moved aside. Zhao Ti took a deep breath, circulated his magic power, and visualized in his mind that a faint blue light was flashing around his body. Then, the phantom of the Treasure Elephant King appeared in front of him.

Look at this elephant king deity, over ten feet tall, imposing and extraordinary, gleaming with golden light, holding a long axe and a short hammer on his four arms, his face solemn and dignified.

He stood in the void, seemingly wanting to turn around. Zhao Ti once again activated his magic power and shouted "Go!" Bao Xiang Wang's eyes shone brightly, and he instantly rushed towards the dim yellow light in front of him.

The ball of light seemed dazed and confused, just like the previous statue. It had no self-awareness and acted entirely on instinct, and at this moment it did not know how to dodge.

King Baoxiang rushed to the ball of light, raised his long axe, and slashed down hard, hitting the ball of light squarely in the body.

Without any violent commotion, the ball of light was simply shattered into countless sparks, like incense sticks, which scattered in the surrounding void, only to be extinguished in an instant and vanish without a trace.

The King of the Elephant did not stop after shattering the ball of light. Instead, he looked at the crowd, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers before finally settling on Tong Guan.

Seeing that he seemed to have ill intentions, Tong Guan trembled in fright and backed away.

Zhao Ti shouted, "Come back!" Then he withdrew his magic power, and the King of Treasure Elephants suddenly disappeared from the spot.

Tong Guan wiped the cold sweat from his brow: "Your Highness, Your Highness's magical power is boundless, earth-shattering, and awe-inspiring. This humble servant is utterly in awe..."

Zhao Ti looked at the place where the dim yellow light had disappeared. The light should be the power of faith and incense that the statue had accumulated over the years. Now that it had been shattered by the Treasure Elephant King and the incense had been extinguished, it should have been completely destroyed.

"Pack your things and go back," he said after a moment's thought.

The soldiers agreed. Zhao Ti walked out with his hands behind his back, thinking to himself that he should teach these soldiers some special martial arts so that they could deal with ghosts and monsters.

But which one should I teach?

(End of this chapter)