The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

The next day.

Li Yi lifted the lid of the vegetable jar, fed Zhang Lingbao a few sips of water, and then settled into the west room to diligently study characters.

Suddenly, a cloud of steam rushed into the west room through the window, gathered into a water snake, glanced at the two of them indifferently, and then spilled all over the table, soaking two sheets of Xuan paper.

Little Qing, don't you know the God is busy?

Li Yi was filled with resentment, but Zhang Junyi said solemnly, "It seems the River God has summoned us; we should not delay."

Before long, the two arrived at the riverbank, and with a shout, Xiaoqing emerged from the water, revealing her snake head.

He followed them ashore, looked down at them coldly, and rebuked them:

"You, the Fengshen Division has built the shrine to the deity, but I haven't seen you offer incense."

"And you, after capturing Zhang Lingbao, instead of reporting back to Qishan or returning home to reassure your parents, you spend all your time loitering in Li Family Village, being all lovey-dovey with that boy. Do you have any important business to attend to?"

Zhang Junyi's pretty face flushed red, and she said timidly, "I will return to the mountain to report as soon as I have recovered from my injuries."

Li Yi wanted to refute, but knew he was in the wrong.

Xiaoqing handed over the task to him in front of everyone, then turned around and became a hands-off manager. She never gathered the villagers to offer incense in the seven or eight days that day, which was indeed wrong of her.

Ultimately, Li Yi, preoccupied with his "divine status," didn't take Xiao Qing seriously at all. Furthermore, he had recently become engrossed in learning to read and write, so he forgot about her.

Speaking of which, the Investiture of the Gods also has the wonderful function of sharing incense offerings. Previously, we were so focused on bestowing titles upon the River God that we completely forgot about this!

Li Yi was immediately filled with regret, and replied, "Don't worry, River God, I'll gather the villagers as soon as I get back and we'll offer incense every day!"

Seeing his expression, Xiaoqing assumed he had repented, so she withdrew her sternness and said calmly:

"The incense burns every day, but the villagers aren't sincere, so the food is really bad."

Li Yi understood. "The villagers have witnessed your majesty, but they have not yet experienced your kindness. After I return from my cultivation, I will guide the villagers to make wishes with the immortal. Having received your grace, their incense offerings will naturally become more sincere."

Xiaoqing hummed in agreement, seemingly quite satisfied with his arrangement, and then with a splash, she dispersed into the river.

Zhang Junyi saw this and was incredibly envious.

Xiaoqing's "Water Dragon Swim" is far superior to water escape techniques. This is merely the most basic patrol method for a local deity. If it were to fully display its power, it would be no weaker than a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Otherwise, a mere River God wouldn't have alarmed Liao Qingming, a Foundation Establishment expert.

The two men, having received orders to return to the village, immediately found the village head, Li Shuan, and probed:

"Uncle Shuan, are the villagers still offering incense every day?"

Li Shuan nodded repeatedly, "It's up and running!"

Li Yi just shook his head. "The incense has been offered, but the villagers only have reverence and awe, not faith and willingness. How can the River God receive offerings from them?"

Li Shuan frowned, "What does Yi-ge'er mean?"

"Simple," Li Yi said with a smile. "Please ask Uncle Shuan to tell everyone to pick someone brave enough to make a wish in front of the shrine in public."

"Make a wish?"

"Don't be unrealistic."

"I understand."

Li Shuan went out of his house and called over several strong young men. They beat drums and gongs in the village, and in less than half an hour, most of the villagers gathered in front of the shrine.

The shrine built by the Fengshen Division is located in a brick and tile house on a high ground in the center of the village.

The shrine is nine feet high and three feet wide, and inside stands a lifelike green snake.

Li Yi and Zhang Junyi mingled in the crowd, while Li Shuan, holding the hand of a thin man, stood before the incense table and loudly proclaimed:

"The Li Family Village is blessed by the River God, a joyous occasion that many can only envy! The River God is certified by the Martial Heavenly Official, his actions are accurate, and he can manifest his power!"

"The River God enjoys our incense offerings, so he will naturally protect us. There is no need to panic. You can make a sincere wish. As long as you have good intentions, the River God will definitely see it."

Li Shuan turned his gaze to the man beside him, "Li Ertu, you'll set an example for everyone today—you're the first villager fortunate enough to receive the River God's blessing, and everyone's envious!"

Li Ertu nodded hesitantly. His face was sallow, his cheeks sunken, and his arms were thin. Upon hearing this, he silently stood before the incense table, lit three sticks of incense, and respectfully said:

"Lord River God, my father was injured a few days ago and is unable to travel to the mountains. I am also suffering from lung disease and can hardly support our family. I beg you, Lord River God, to grant me a fresh fish so that my father can recover!"

After saying this, he inserted three incense sticks into the incense burner.

Li Shuan said happily, "Let's go, grab our baskets, and head to the river to take a look!"

It's stupid to ignore a good show.

Everyone present, regardless of age or gender, headed towards the bottom of the waterfall.

Along the way, they met many men who ran through the mountains. After a few words, they joined the group and followed behind Li Ertu, waiting to see the river god appear.

The group hurried upstream, and as they approached the waterfall, they had to make a detour downhill. Suddenly, a shout rang out from the crowd:

"Look, something's swimming up!"

Li Ertu glanced at it and his eyes widened immediately. He hurriedly ran towards the waterfall. Before he got there, he saw an orange-yellow carp splashing out of the water and landing on the yellow earth, shaking incessantly.

"My goodness! What a huge carp!"

Overjoyed, Li Ertu lunged at the carp, but couldn't catch it completely and was nearly thrown into the river.

Li Erhu picked up the net and called to his two friends to catch the big carp.

He gripped the net bag, gave it a strong slingback, and exclaimed excitedly, "It must weigh at least fifty pounds!"

"It looks like there's more than that!"

"Such a huge carp! It must be a miracle from the river god! A miracle from the river god!"

People knelt down on the riverbank, chanting "Holy River God!" In the darkness, a large amount of incense smoke surged towards the heart of the Qingchi River. At the same time, the Investiture of the Gods within Li Yi's body suddenly shone brightly, with a few golden lights entering it.

It's true that sincerity brings results!

The incense offerings for the Investiture of the Gods were not received in the past few days, otherwise Li Yi would not have remained indifferent.

Seeing the Investiture of the Gods being offered incense and prayers, Li Yi's heart immediately stirred with excitement.

The villagers who make sincere offerings will receive the blessings of the gods.

The villagers are blessed by the gods and enjoy the incense offerings; it's a two-way exchange.

No wonder the Wu Dynasty was so keen on absorbing deities. Wherever there were deities, it meant that the people's livelihood was stable, the court was stable, and local officials could govern with great ease.

Conversely, if a deity wreaks havoc on a region, it is not an ordinary calamity.

Divine calamity is worse than natural disaster.

Li Yi seemed lost in thought, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Having received the incense offerings from the Investiture of the Gods within him, he felt it was time to properly comprehend it. So he quietly left the crowd, and upon arriving home, he unfolded the Investiture of the Gods and began to carefully study it.

At this moment, the divine radiance of the Investiture of the Gods had long since been concealed, but some golden threads appeared at one end of the scroll, which had never been seen before.

Li Yi looked again and found that there was also a faint golden aura emanating from the outside of Tongziliao and spreading to various parts of his body, like a clay ox sinking into the sea, and he could no longer see any trace of it.

"The golden body of a deity generally has two meanings."

The most obvious one refers to the statue of a deity, like the bronze snake in the Xiaoqing shrine.

On a deeper level, it likely refers to the authority of the deity; the more "hard" the golden statue, the harder it is to breach its authority, perhaps also representing divine power.

"If you think about it this way, the changes in the Investiture of the Gods represent changes in its powers and responsibilities."

The golden aura emanating from Tongziliao (a point on the forehead) is a tempering process for my physical body?

Just then, Li Yi felt a slight pain around his eyes, which made him cover his eyes and rub them to relieve the pain.

By noon, the pain had finally subsided; Li Yi opened his eyes and saw that he felt no discomfort, but rather a sense of freshness, to the point that he had the illusion that the surrounding scenery had changed.

"It seems promising, but there aren't enough worshippers, so we probably won't see any results in the short term..."

Li Yi rubbed his eyes and heard a noise outside. Knowing that Zhang Junyi had returned to report, he quickly went out to greet him.