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

In the eyes of the Taoist priests of Wuyin Temple, the people of Yingtan City had long become their private property.

Now that they see their "tools" trying to trespass on other people's territory, they can no longer tolerate it and directly kill them!

Seeing Zhong Jiu's face grow increasingly gloomy, the Taoists were terrified and kowtowed even more fiercely, until their foreheads bled.

"City God! This has nothing to do with us! It was all instigated by the seniors of the Lesser Yuan Realm; we were just following orders!"

"Yes, yes! If we had known that gods truly existed, we wouldn't have dared to do such a blasphemous thing even if we had a hundred lives!"

"We are willing to submit to the City God's Palace. From now on, we will follow your lead without question. If you command us to go east, we would never dare to go west!"

A group of shameless people tried to absolve themselves of all responsibility, and kept implying that the mastermind was Guanzhu and that they had nothing to do with it.

Upon hearing this, the abbot nearly fainted. He forced himself to speak, his body taut with effort, and protested, "I...I was only acting under orders! I initially felt this method of achieving divinity through incense offerings was inappropriate and resisted it. It was only because the seniors of the Lesser Yuan Realm repeatedly pressured me that I had no choice but to do it!"

When faced with such a life-or-death situation, everyone is only concerned with their own survival and desperately tries to distance themselves from the situation.

"I'm reporting this! The abbot is lying!"

An old Taoist priest suddenly stepped forward and betrayed the abbot without hesitation, saying, "When he first saw the method of becoming a god through incense offerings, he was overjoyed and even said he would become the number one wild god in the world and dominate the world!"

"From the very beginning, he pretended to save the city and stole incense offerings to build a temple, to later smearing the City God and harming believers, it was all orchestrated by the Abbot! We were all deceived by him!"

Betrayed by his own people, the abbot trembled with rage. Pointing his finger at the old Taoist priest, he roared in a hoarse voice, "Wu Kongzi! Have you gone mad? How dare you slander me like this!"

Wu Kongzi sneered, his tone icy and chilling: "Hmph, it was you who dragged us into this fire pit for your own selfish desires, and now you want to deceive the City God?"

He turned and kowtowed deeply to Zhong Jiu, saying, "If Your Majesty can spare my life, I am willing to reveal all of the Abbot's secrets without holding anything back!"

He was willing to pay any price to survive.

"Kirigakure! I've always treated you well, how could you be so heartless!"

The abbot gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with resentment and malice.

"Have you treated me well?"

Wu Kongzi scoffed, not even glancing at him. "You're already burdened by karma; you won't live much longer. Rather than lingering on, you'd better die cleanly! If you've truly treated me well, then end it all yourself and give me a way out!"

These words were like a sharp knife, piercing the abbot's heart.

Already at his limit, he choked on this breath and spat out a mouthful of golden primordial blood. His body went limp and he collapsed, clearly not going to live much longer.

Zhong Jiu coldly watched this ugly spectacle of human nature unfold before him, and the chill in his heart grew stronger.

These so-called cultivators, in order to survive, can even throw away their camaraderie and betray each other; they are utterly despicable.

He pointed at the abbot, his tone icy cold: "This man is guilty of heinous crimes and deserves to die. Whether he was forced or did it voluntarily, it doesn't change the fact that he has committed numerous evils."

The abbot gave two bitter laughs and then fell completely silent.

Even if Zhong Jiu didn't kill him, his life force was completely destroyed, and he wouldn't live much longer. At this moment, his heart was filled with hatred—hatred for Zhong Jiu, and even more hatred for these fellow disciples who betrayed him to save their own lives!

"The City God is wise!"

Wu Kongzi immediately bowed his head and submitted, his face full of fawning smiles, looking like a lackey.

"I ask you, what is the Lesser Dimensional Realm?"

Zhong Jiu's gaze swept over the group of Taoists, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"I know! I know!"

Wu Kongzi answered first, afraid that someone else would steal the credit. He paused, quickly organized his thoughts, and said respectfully, "Reporting to the City God, in earlier years, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was scarce. After cultivators reached the Illusion God Realm, they could no longer break through and could only watch their lifespan run out. Helpless, the major sects of the cultivation world joined forces to create a small world rich in spiritual energy, which was named the Little Yuan Realm."

"That small world is not large, nor is it independent. It is built upon the larger world we are in now, so it is not stable."

"Therefore, the major sects established a rule that any cultivator who enters the Lesser Yuan Realm is forbidden from leaving for life; while cultivators from the outside world are only qualified to enter the Lesser Yuan Realm if they break through to the Illusion God Realm."

It turned out to be the case.

Zhong Jiu nodded slightly, understanding in his heart.

No wonder these cultivators were so easily defeated; it turns out that the powerful ones were all locked up in that small space, hiding away.

How powerful are the cultivators in the Lesser Yuan Realm?

Zhong Jiu asked again, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"Well... I don't know about that."

Wu Kongzi hesitated for a moment, then, seeing Zhong Jiu's gaze, hurriedly added, "The Little Yuan Realm was established a thousand years ago. Ninety-nine percent of the earliest cultivators who entered are already dead. If anyone could still be alive today, they would probably have become a great supernatural being by now!"

Zhong Jiu nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

Wu Kongzi dared not conceal anything, and like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, he told everything he knew about the Little Yuan Realm.

This small Yuan Realm was built by all the cultivators together, so its foundation is unstable and its internal resources are extremely scarce. It simply cannot support cultivators to refine pills and weapons, and the living conditions are extremely harsh.

In the struggle for limited resources, it was common for the cultivators to kill each other, and many died in the infighting.

Later, as the spiritual energy in the outside world became increasingly scarce, fewer and fewer cultivators were able to break through to the Illusion God Realm.

Especially in the last two or three hundred years, it has reached a dead end, with no one able to break through to the Illusion God Realm anymore, and the cultivation world has completely severed its connection with the Lesser Yuan Realm.

It wasn't until recently, with the strange resurgence of the yin energy, a surge in yin energy, and a dramatic change in the world, that the spiritual energy became abundant again.

Some cultivators who had been stuck at the Human Dao Golden Core realm for many years successfully broke through to the Illusion God realm with the help of this favorable wind, and thus re-established contact with the Lesser Yuan Realm.

The abbot is a typical example of this.

After he informed the Little Yuan Realm of the current situation in the outside world, the cultivators there were overjoyed and immediately decided to return to the outside world soon.

They even devised this method of becoming gods through incense offerings, intending to take advantage of the chaos to cultivate believers, establish their own divine positions, and create a new era of their own!

"How wishful thinking! Too bad these fools have no idea that a true god has already descended upon this world!"

Zhong Jiu's lips curled into a cold sneer, his eyes filled with disdain for these wild geniuses.

In terms of stance, he and these guys are natural enemies, the kind who will fight to the death!

To be fair, the reason these people dared to come up with such a daring and absurd idea as "becoming a god through incense offerings" was because they were confident that "no god was in charge."

It seems there is no underworld or netherworld in this world; gods are just mythical creatures to them.

If they had known that the true god was right under their noses, they wouldn't have dared to do such a blatant act of defying the world!

"When are those scoundrels from the Lesser Dimensional Realm planning to come out and cause trouble?"

Zhong Jiu narrowed his eyes, mentally planning to make arrangements in advance.

These guys have been cooped up in this tiny, cramped space for thousands of years; they've probably all gone mad by now.

In these chaotic times, if they were to unleash their full potential, who knows what heinous things they might do that would incur the wrath of both heaven and man.

"This...this humble Taoist really doesn't know!" The old Taoist was so frightened that he trembled and shook his head like a rattle drum.

Zhong Jiu turned to look at the abbot, hoping to pry some information out of him.

When he looked down, well, the poor guy was completely dead. His soul was dissipating like smoke, completely scattered, and he couldn't even find his way to reincarnation!

"Your Majesty! I've truly revealed everything; I haven't hidden a single word!"

Seeing this, the old Taoist priest quickly kowtowed repeatedly, drawing blood from his forehead. He fawned like a lapdog, pleading, "Please, sir, have mercy and spare my life! From now on, I'll be your lackey, ready to go through fire and water for you at your command!"

The other Taoists followed suit, kneeling down in unison, their kowtows echoing in the air, a veritable swarm of kowtowing worms.

"Please, City God, spare our lives! We'll never dare to do it again!"

"Heaven cherishes life, and you are so magnanimous, please spare us!"

"We are willing to risk our lives for you, to go through fire and water without hesitation!"

……

Zhong Jiu looked down at the group of drama queens, his eyes as cold as ice: "You can go down and tell the abbot your nonsense, and see if he'll accept a bunch of trash like you."

Zhong Jiu's heart had long since hardened to the point of being an iron block, and he never intended to let go of this group of wicked beasts from beginning to end.

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved it. Several streaks of dark yin energy flashed by, and the group of kowtowing insects didn't even have time to scream before they turned into ashes.

Next, it's time to go to Zhongnan City to settle accounts.