I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

"Hey bro, it's you!"

Old Tian recognized Zhong Jiu at a glance and immediately showed a warm smile.

Chung Gau was his great benefactor!

If it weren't for Zhong Jiu's act of bravery and driving away the evil Mo Huolie, he would have been in a terrible situation long ago, and he wouldn't be enjoying his current success.

"Grandpa, you look much better than before!"

Zhong Jiu greeted him with a smile.

Old Tian doesn't just look healthy; he looks twenty years younger!

He used to be down on his luck, his face was full of wrinkles, and his legs were weak, making him stagger when he walked. But now, he is energetic, radiant, and spends his days taking care of all the big and small things at the City God Temple, busy with everything, without feeling tired at all!

This is all thanks to the Charity Office!

After the establishment of the Rewards and Virtues Office, it selected virtuous people from among the residents of Guiling City and rewarded them. Old Tiantou had done good deeds and accumulated virtues throughout his life, so he was naturally on the list!

Although he was destined to serve in the City God's Palace after his death and become a priest, his treatment during his lifetime also increased accordingly. The Rewards and Benevolence Department not only extended his lifespan but also bestowed upon him abundant blessings, making his body healthy and strong, which led to such a great change!

Other pilgrims, seeing this, were all amazed and incredibly envious!

"It's all thanks to the City God's great kindness!"

Old Tian was both happy and sighing.

Logically speaking, divine blessings are a great blessing, and anyone would be secretly happy. However, Old Tian had his own little dilemma. He was supposed to become a god in the City God's Mansion after he died. Now that he was healthy, he felt that he could live for several more years. Wouldn't this delay his time to become a god?

Only he could have such a happy trouble, leaving the worshippers around him both amused and exasperated!

"Young man, you are very knowledgeable. Do you know which deity is enshrined in this hall?"

Old Tian pointed to the statue of the god in the center of the hall and asked curiously.

He knew in his heart that Zhong Jiu was definitely not an ordinary person!

It was Chung Kau who asked him to set up an altar and perform a ritual to invite the meritorious official, which opened the prelude to the divine manifestation. How could someone who could come up with such an idea be simple?

"This is Zhuyin, which can be considered a guardian beast of the underworld."

Zhong Jiu hesitated for a moment, then spoke the truth.

Actually, he didn't know much about Zhuyin; it was all just some niche legends he'd heard in his previous life. As for whether Zhuyin was truly a guardian beast, he couldn't be sure.

"So it's a guardian beast! No wonder it receives the City God's attention and enjoys incense offerings! This old man must offer the first incense!"

Old Tian suddenly realized what was going on, and his eyes lit up with eagerness. He quickly stepped forward and respectfully offered incense to Zhuyin.

Zhong Jiu shook his head helplessly, muttering to himself, "I said guardian beasts, not divine beasts..."

To be honest, Zhuyin is a real ferocious beast, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the auspicious and beautiful divine beast!

However, explaining such things was too troublesome, and Zhong Jiu was too lazy to bother. If Old Tian wanted to think that way, then so be it. In any case, it was all about worshipping the gods, and the intention was what mattered!

With Old Tian taking the lead, the other worshippers also knelt down on the prayer cushions and prayed devoutly. Then they offered incense in turn. The entire Zhuyin Hall was filled with the smoke of incense and a solemn atmosphere!

The rich, mellow power of incense rose gently, but before it reached mid-air, it was completely swallowed up by the statue of the Candle God with a human head and a dragon body, leaving not even a trace of its essence.

"Hey, there's definitely something fishy going on!"

Zhong Jiu raised an eyebrow, a knowing glint in his eyes.

Other deities, when receiving incense offerings, will at least leave some trace of their grace. But this statue of the Candle Yin God is like a ferocious beast that has been starving for eight hundred years. It devours the incense offerings as soon as they begin to rise, showing no courtesy whatsoever.

A glint of light flashed in his eyes, his divine gaze piercing straight through the clay shell of the statue, revealing the scene inside.

Good heavens, it was a swirling cloud of blue mist, and deep within the mist, there was a faint but real pulse of life!

"Could it be that the true Candle Shadow is being conceived within this statue?"

Zhong Jiu's heart skipped a beat, followed by a surge of elation.

This Zhuyin Palace is no ordinary temple; it is clearly the birthplace of Zhuyin!

Nourished by the offerings of incense from the human world, it slowly grows and matures. When it has enough nourishment, it will break free from its physical form!

Thinking of this, Zhong Jiu couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

This is a candle shadow!

These ancient mythical beasts were born through the offerings of incense, and their ferocity was naturally diminished. Once fully formed, they would not only refrain from causing harm to the world, but would also become a great help.

"If this Candle Shadow could fully grow, who in this world could rival it?"

Thinking of the various legends about Zhuyin, Zhong Jiu's eyes were full of anticipation.

He didn't linger and left the City God Temple quietly.

Even without his special instructions, as long as the worshippers knew that the Candle Shadow Hall was a divine object that had descended from the heavens, they would definitely flock there to offer incense, so there was no shortage of incense offerings.

The only thing that intrigued him was how much incense this candle spirit needed to absorb before it could truly be born.

As night fell, the Day-Wandering God hurriedly returned, and as soon as he entered, he loudly reported, "Master, the situation in Zhongnan City and Yingtan City has been investigated!"

Zhong Jiu was leaning back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed. Upon hearing this, he flicked his finger lightly and casually said, "Oh? Tell me about it."

"Yes! The cultivator who saved the two cities came from a reclusive sect called Wuyin Temple!"

The wandering deity swallowed hard and spoke rapidly, "The old Taoist priests in the temple seemed to have been prepared in advance, setting up a large formation outside the city. As soon as those ferocious ghost soldiers arrived, they ran straight into the line of fire, suffering a crushing defeat. They were routed and retreated in a panic! It is said that of the two ghost generals leading the group, one was beheaded on the spot, and the other was so frightened that he fled overnight!"

"The Hidden Mist Temple?"

Zhong Jiu raised an eyebrow, showing some interest.

Hidden sects have always kept to themselves, but now they are suddenly getting involved in human warfare. Could it be that they have come to a realization and want to come out to save the common people?

"In that case, the Misty Hidden Temple has actually done a good deed."

Zhong Jiu sighed.

In fact, the human world is not without the power to resist; it's just that too many sects are only concerned with self-preservation and are unwilling to take action.

"It's a good thing, but I always feel that there's something wrong with those old Taoist priests."

The wandering god scratched his head, looking puzzled, and said, "I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong, but I just feel like they have ulterior motives and are up to no good. After saving two cities, they didn't go back to the mountain at all. Instead, they stayed in the area and mobilized the local people to carry out large-scale construction, building Taoist temples!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Jiu didn't feel there was anything wrong with it.

The fact that Wuyin Temple was able to set up a large formation in advance shows that this was premeditated; they certainly wouldn't do good deeds for no reason.

Having saved so many people, it's fair to reap some benefits locally and build a Taoist temple to collect incense offerings.

Even he himself gained a lot of faith points by protecting the people.

There is a natural order to reap what you sow.

Zhong Jiu thought things were that simple, but a few days later he realized something was wrong. His faith value not only didn't increase, but it kept dropping!

He paid special attention for a few days and found that his faith value was like a roller coaster, fluctuating up and down, but overall it was on a continuous downward trend.

Something's not right!

Zhong Jiu's face darkened, and he fell into deep thought.

Since activating the faith system, he has never done anything to wrong the people. On the contrary, he has managed the City God's Mansion in an orderly manner, and the lives of the people of Guiling City have become more and more stable.

If I haven't done anything wrong, why is my faith value dropping inexplicably?

"Night Wanderer!"

Zhong Jiu ordered in a deep voice, "Investigate immediately and get to the bottom of this!"

The Night Wanderer accepted the order and transformed into a black shadow, disappearing into the night.

Zhong Jiu frowned, casually took out his phone, and opened an online forum. He was so angry at what he saw that he almost laughed out loud.

The internet is full of posts smearing the underworld, with increasingly sensational titles:

"Don't be silly! The underworld doesn't protect humans at all!"

"Exposing the true face of the gods: they're all vampires who suck human lifeblood!"

"I am a native of Guiling City, and I expose the dark truth of the underworld!"

At first glance, it was a scene of smog and pollution, an eyesore.

Chung Kau randomly clicked on a few posts, which were full of fabricated accusations, made up in a seemingly plausible way.

However, these posts did not last long and were quickly deleted by the authorities, which is obviously due to the efforts of relevant departments to control the situation.

But not long after, another batch of smear posts appeared, with the same old clichés in a different guise.

Anyone with eyes can see that someone is deliberately stirring up trouble behind the scenes, with the goal of smearing him as the City God and ruining the reputation of the underworld!