Rolling thunder echoed throughout the entire Azure Wood Town.
All the residents of Azure Wood Town were stunned.
Many couldn't even believe their ears.
What did they just hear?
Someone came to slay the River Lord of the Obedient Ridge River?
By the divine decree of the land God?
The temple priest from Four Seas Village?
Where in the world were there any true gods!
If there really were true gods—
Would demons still run rampant, and evil spirits haunt every corner?
No one believed it.
"It's over!"
"This is going to enrage the River Lord!"
"If the River Lord is angered, devouring a hundred people won't be enough to calm his fury!"
"That temple priest from Four Seas Village is truly damned! Why did he have to provoke the River Lord!"
"If he wants to slay demons, can't he go somewhere else?"
"Five years ago, someone also came to slay the River Lord—what happened? Not only was he eaten, but he also enraged the River Lord, who then took hundreds of people, including my son!"
"Sinful, sinful! I only pray the River Lord doesn't become angry! This has nothing to do with us in Azure Wood Town!"
"Please, River Lord, don't be angry!"
"Please, River Lord, calm your anger!"
A large number of Azure Wood Town residents knelt on the ground with pale faces, repeatedly kowtowing in the direction of the Obedient Ridge River.
They were deeply terrified and shaken.
The River Lord was unimaginably terrifying.
No one could possibly slay the River Lord!
The human race was far too weak.
They couldn't compare to demons at all.
Moreover, if the River Lord became enraged, he would devour many people!
They feared their wives, children, and relatives would be among them.
Originally—
The River Lord only consumed three people per month.
With so many people in the town, the chance of being chosen was small.
But if the River Lord was angered, he would take hundreds in one go—anyone's loved ones could be taken!
The entire town—
Fell into panic from Li Youming's cold shout.
Even the Wei family, the most powerful family in town, trembled with fear.
Let alone the others?
… …
Li Youming stood quietly by the Obedient Ridge River, atop a willow tree.
He glanced at the town behind him, now in a state of panic and fear, and sighed in his heart.
This was the current state of the human race.
The human race was in decline, while the demons were strong.
Someone came to slay demons, yet the whole town was afraid and even blamed him.
"I don't blame them either."
"The demon of the Obedient Ridge River has been entrenched here for decades and has long built up deep-rooted authority in the hearts of the Azure Wood Town people."
"Again and again, people came to slay it."
"And again and again, they were eaten instead."
"Each time he's angered by a demon slayer, he slaughters townspeople at will."
"How tragic!"
"How can our human race be this tragic!"
A surge of anger rose in his heart.
Anger at the demons who treated humans as blood food.
But that anger quickly gave way to gratitude for the Venerable God.
If not for the Venerable God descending to protect Four Seas Village...
Four Seas Village would still be the blood food of the Thousand Wolf Mountain wolf demons.
Who could even talk about slaying demons then?
Whoosh—
The Obedient Ridge River suddenly surged violently.
A massive vortex formed on the river's surface.
The river wasn't small—forty to fifty meters wide—and now the vortex swallowed half of it, with billowing black mist rising up.
A thick, oppressive demonic aura filled the air.
A giant snake, thicker than a water tank, burst out from the vortex!
Its body was pitch-black, slightly coiled, like a mountain of flesh suspended in the air above the river.
Scales gleamed with a cold light, as if carved from metal—looking indestructible at a glance.
Cold, vertical pupils were filled with cruelty and bloodlust, glaring down at Li Youming:
"True God?"
"This Lord, the River Lord of the Obedient Ridge River, stands far above that land God behind you."
"Let that so-called True God come and pay respects to This Lord immediately!"
"If This Lord is in a good mood, I may spare your life."
Its voice was low and hoarse, and even just hearing it sent a chill through the heart.
And above its head, faint protrusions gave the impression that horns were about to grow.
If horns grew—
It could transform from snake to dragon.
In Azure Wood Town—
The forty-year-old shaman woman saw the giant snake rise and hover over the river and immediately knelt, shouting:
"The River Lord has manifested!"
"Our human race has offended the River Lord—we deserve death!"
"Why aren't you all apologizing and begging the River Lord to calm his anger!"
She screamed at the townspeople emerging from their homes and kneeling again.
Immediately—
A large number of townspeople kowtowed repeatedly, pale and terrified, begging the River Lord to calm his anger.
A smug expression crossed the shaman woman's face.
In Azure Wood Town, she was the most powerful human!
She was the local emperor.
If she disliked someone, she offered them to the River Lord the following month.
No one in town didn't fear her.
Even the mighty Wei family knelt at her feet.
To think she'd once been a lowly brothel slave more than twenty years ago—now she was the ruler of the town.
With the River Lord backing her, she feared no one!
"Dare to challenge the River Lord?"
"I'll watch as the River Lord swallows you in a single bite!"
She sneered at the figure on the willow tree.
Humans should submit to the River Lord and become blood food!
Resist?
Any who resisted should be eaten!
"Presumptuous!"
"Insignificant demon, how dare you speak to the True God with disrespect?"
"I, Li Youming, walk the earth on behalf of the Venerable God, and today I will slay you here!"
Li Youming shouted angrily.
He pinched a hand seal, and the surging 'Qi' in his body suddenly roared to life!
It was Qi that far exceeded the quality and quantity of a middle-stage second-rank cultivator!
Boom—!
A massive golden blade, nearly three meters long, appeared in midair, glowing with divine light as it slashed toward the giant black snake!
The blade tore through the air, emitting a sharp whistle!
"Hmm?!"
The giant snake's cold pupils changed.
It roared and exhaled a massive wave of icy mist.
Wherever the mist passed, the air froze, forming shards of ice that fell like rain.
It was a demon with ice attributes!
But the golden blade seemed to cut through anything—the cold mist couldn't freeze it, and it was sliced apart by the blade!
Pfft—!
The golden blade slammed into the snake's body. Its scales, which looked indestructible, were pierced easily—cold snake blood sprayed!
The strike nearly sliced the giant snake in two!
"Roar—!"
The snake let out an agonized roar.
Its cold eyes glared ferociously at Li Youming, and its massive body suddenly dove toward the river!
It was afraid!
This human had strange abilities and had injured it with a single blow.
His power was actually at the middle stage of Rank 3—one full level above its own!
But in the water, it reigned supreme—even a Rank 3 would die if they followed it there!
The river was its domain!
"Trying to flee?"
Li Youming's eyes were cold as he waved his sleeve.
Surging Qi burst forth from him and condensed into a cloud above the river!
The spell he previously acquired was the Small Cloud Mist Body Protection Technique.
But after receiving the Venerable God's blessing, it had evolved into the Small Cloud Mist Art!
Vastly more versatile!
Bang—!
The black snake crashed into the cloud—but it was like hitting a mountain, unable to pass through the rolling mist to enter the river.
Shock and fury filled its cold eyes.
What was this?!
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