Journey to the West: From Fish-Chasing Boy to the Boundless Heavenly Venerable of the Golden Palace

[Menlanggong received a small amount of fruit as an offering, and gained 2 experience points!]

[Gatekeeper's level has been increased to lv10!]

[Awakening the Supernatural Power of the Demon-Subduing Whip Technique!]

[Menlang Gong has met the requirements for advancing to a higher level of clergy; please check for yourself.]

……

As evening fell, Li Yue, who was inhaling incense, was suddenly greeted with a series of notification sounds, which made him smile slightly.

That's enough!

About a month ago, Qianqian suddenly noticed someone lurking suspiciously outside Li Yue's courtyard, seemingly plotting against the believers who had been blessed. After investigating, she discovered that they were actually people sent by the county magistrate.

It seems that the government has taken notice of the God Worshipping Cult. Since they have sent people to investigate, they are likely preparing to take action against the cult.

That makes sense, after all, the scale of the God Worshipping Cult was already quite large, so how could the government not react?

This reminded Li Yue that it was time to get through to the official channels. Without the protection of a powerful backer, the God Worship Cult would have difficulty developing smoothly and might even be in danger of being destroyed.

After some thought, Li Yue took Qianqian directly to the county town.

It's the same old routine: first, Qianqian threatens Magistrate Chen Shouzhou, and then Li Yue appears in time to save him, thus gaining Chen Shouzhou's favor.

The next morning, Li Yue went directly to their door to persuade them.

Under duress and inducement, the cooperation was reached, and it went even more smoothly than he had expected.

With the protection of Magistrate Chen Shouzhou, the development of the God Worshiping Cult in Hedong County was no longer hindered. As the God Worshiping Cult grew stronger, in addition to incense offerings, believers also gained more and more experience from their offerings.

Compared to the Five Gods, Menlang Gong, as an eighth-rank miscellaneous god, requires less experience to level up and reached level ten first!

Half an hour later, after absorbing the incense offerings, Li Yue let out a soft sigh before taking a closer look.

[Subduing Demon Whip Technique: Powerful and fierce, like a golden dragon soaring in the sky or thunderbolts crashing down, it is specifically designed to destroy evil spirits and heretics!]

At level ten, he awakened another supernatural ability, or more accurately, a whip-based martial art.

Whips are divided into soft whips and hard whips, and this set of Demon-Subduing Whip Techniques is a hard whip.

Compared to swords, spears, and halberds, this weapon is used by relatively fewer people, but throughout history, there have been many famous generals who used the hard whip, such as Huang Gai, Huyan Zhuo, and Yuchi Gong.

Even in the world of Journey to the West, there is a hard whip. The weapon used by the little alligator dragon of the Blackwater River is a bamboo-jointed steel whip.

The text describes a bamboo-jointed steel whip that, when used, whips up a raging wind.

"whip."

Li Yue then went into the courtyard and raised his hand to summon the door-fixing ruler.

Although it is called a "ruler", in terms of its appearance, it is actually just a slightly longer door bolt.

It would be just right to use it as a steel whip.

No wonder he awakened a whip technique.

After awakening his supernatural powers, he not only mastered the entire Demon-Subduing Whip Technique, but also all the techniques of the hard whip, including chopping, sweeping, flicking, entangling, pointing, intercepting, drawing, and parrying.

Taking a deep breath, Li Yue gripped the door ruler and immediately began to use it.

At first, the movements were slow, but they became faster and faster until the whip shadows were as heavy as mountains, covering Li Yue's entire body within a ten-foot radius, impenetrable to water.

"Impressive martial arts skills!"

Under the eaves, Qianqian cheered, her voice excited and joyful.

Normally, when Li Yue makes a move, it's mostly because he relies on divine power, and he can beat those wandering ghosts and spirits into running away with their heads in their hands with a single blow. This is the first time I've seen Li Yue practice martial arts, and I never expected that his martial arts skills are so superb.

But that makes sense, a dignified god, how could his martial arts be lacking?

"It is indeed a good martial art."

After performing the Demon-Subduing Whip Technique once, Li Yue stopped and sat down on a stone bench, panting heavily.

This body is too weak; it seems I need to exercise a little more regularly.

However, if the soul leaves the body and a golden body replaces the physical body, then there is no problem.

Although the golden body has not yet been fully formed, its thickness is already nearly an inch. In terms of strength alone, it is no weaker than an ordinary demon in the transformation stage.

After catching his breath, Li Yue recalled the whip technique he had just used and couldn't help but nod again.

Although Journey to the West is a mythological world, martial arts are equally important.

Whether gods or demons, almost everyone has a handy weapon; Sun Wukong even caused chaos in the Dragon Palace because of it. When two sides clash, unless there's a significant difference in their cultivation levels, they usually first test their martial arts skills, only resorting to their special supernatural powers as a last resort. It's as if winning solely through supernatural powers is an unfair victory.

With the activation of the Yin Si Lu, Li Yue gradually mastered some supernatural abilities, but his martial arts skills remained rudimentary. Now, with this Demon-Subduing Whip technique, he has a greater guarantee of survival in this world.

As for whether martial arts skills count as supernatural powers, of course they do.

Little did they know that among the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Techniques, there was one called "Sword Technique".

"I wonder which righteous gods I can advance to."

After Menlanggong reached level ten, he had met the requirements for advancing to the righteous god realm. Li Yue felt a surge of excitement and began to check.

[Hundred Household Star Lord: Rank 5; Incarnates as a star, illuminating all people, possessing the ability to pray for blessings and ward off disasters; Requires all three divine positions—Gatekeeper, Radiant Child, and Timekeeper Ghost—to reach level 10.]

[Southern Route Garrison Commander: Rank 6; Garrisoning the southernmost reaches of the four directions, inspecting all comings and goings of gods, Buddhas, ghosts, and monsters; those without credentials are not permitted passage; Must serve for twenty years.]

[Night Patrol: Rank 6; Night curfew, no going out without reason, patrolling at night to guard a peaceful area; limited to ghost cultivators, with at least three hundred years of cultivation.]

[The Spirit Lord of the Town: A seventh-rank official; he is sensitive to the needs of the people and observes their lives. He commands all ghosts and manipulates all things; a temple and statue must be erected for him, and he must hold any one of the following positions—Gatekeeper, Soul-Catching Messenger, or Spirit-Gathering Maiden—at least ten ranks.]

……

There are a total of six divine positions that Menlang Gong can be promoted to, of which Li Yue prefers four.

Although these four divine positions are all righteous gods, they differ in rank, function, and divine power. Aside from these, Li Yue's primary consideration is the conditions for promotion.

If you can't meet the promotion requirements, all your efforts will be in vain.

First is the Night Patrol, similar to a Night Wanderer, but limited to ghost cultivators, and requiring three hundred years of cultivation. Li Yue abandoned his original physical body, so he could also cultivate the ghost path, which is what he had previously thought of as the Corpse-Dissolving Immortal.

As for cultivation methods, Chechi Kingdom is teeming with ghosts and monsters; with a little effort, one should be able to find one.

However, he is now using incense to condense a golden body, which is clearly a departure from the path of ghosts. It would be unnecessary to make him switch to the path of ghosts.

Such a night-wandering spirit can be ruled out for now.

Then there are the Southern Route Garrison Commander and the Hundred-Household Star Lord, one with a twenty-year term and the other with the task of training three miscellaneous gods to level ten, both of which take a considerable amount of time.

It's worth considering, but not right now.

"The Duke of Yiling?"

In comparison, only the conditions set by Duke Yiling are the easiest to meet at present.

Li Yue couldn't help but frown slightly. Among these four divine positions, he was actually ranked last, namely, the Duke of Yiling.

Yi Ling Gong is only a seventh-rank deity, the lowest rank among the righteous gods. Although they are all righteous gods, the higher the rank, the stronger the corresponding supernatural powers.

Furthermore, compared to the Southern Route Garrison Commander and the Night Patrol, the Lord of the City Spirit is no longer a pure martial god, but rather has some functions similar to the City God and the Earth God.

In this way, they will inevitably be weaker in terms of military strength.

"Fine, this will do!"

Although I have some reservations, it's still acceptable.

Instead of always looking at the grass on the other side, it's better to focus on the present. The meat you can eat is the most delicious!

"Build a temple?"

Looking at Duke Ling's request, Li Yue smiled slightly, as it coincided with his next plan.