However, in this regard, Li Qingshan had guessed wrong.
As the constables and yamen runners of Linfu County, along with a group of able-bodied refugees, arrived and were escorted back by Li Buwei and others to transport the supplies, Ji Yuan, holding Li Qingshan, headed in another direction.
Several hours later, at the border with the rebel forces, he successfully intercepted another group that had seized the supplies. However, this group was led by only a few cultivators in the late second realm. Without much effort, he killed more than half of the cultivators belonging to the rebel side on the spot and suppressed fifty to sixty soldiers with twelve stone tablets.
At the cost of expending divine power, Ji Yuan planted one or two restrictions on the captured cultivators and soldiers, ordering them to transport the supplies to Linfu County. At the same time, he used incense offerings and vow power to condense a clone, leaving it behind to supervise. If anyone dared to have other thoughts, the planted restrictions would be activated, and they would be directly annihilated.
After completing all this, he then carried Li Qingshan back to the water god temple of Xiaoyuan Mountain.
As soon as Ji Yuan returned to the main hall, he opened the recently created divine land and stepped into it with the captive. This divine land had been created by him a few months ago. Benefiting from his various deeds in Linfu County, it had indeed accumulated a considerable amount of incense offerings and vow power. Coupled with the foundation previously accumulated by the former River God, who was now the Stove God, a space of three zhang was barely opened.
Throwing Li Qingshan to the ground, Ji Yuan’s eyes flashed with divine light. Without any apparent action, a mighty divine aura emanated from him. A large amount of incense offerings and vow power surged from the void in all directions of the divine land, and in the blink of an eye, it engulfed the panicked Li Qingshan.
"No! What exactly do you want to do!" Li Qingshan couldn't help but exclaim. He could feel a dense stream of incense offerings and vow power pouring into his body. In just over ten breaths, his magic power began to dissolve and was then transformed into divine power. He discovered with horror that his immortal dao foundation was being shaken and was transforming towards the divine dao.
This situation naturally caused Li Qingshan to be greatly alarmed. Worldly cultivators, if they had any choice, would never wish to tread the path of the divine dao. If this were the ancient era, it would naturally be a supreme great dao, with deities governing all things. But in the current era, the divine dao had long since declined. No matter how powerful one was, they could only be confined to one place. If they left too far, not only would their cultivation plummet, but their golden body would also gradually crumble. Not to mention the various restrictions from the unseen realms.
Was the divine dao weak? Look at Ji Yuan. Even a hundred li away from Xiaoyuan Mountain, he could still easily suppress Li Qingshan of the same realm. But why was it said to be in decline? Because the limitations of heaven and earth were too numerous. Ancient deities could roam freely across the land, not only without any decline in cultivation but also able to perceive the laws of different mountains and rivers. However, current deities could not, and they were more reliant on the incense offerings and vow power of mortals, as well as imperial decrees, to exist in a place for a long time.
If Ji Yuan had not meticulously calculated and obtained the origin of the Linfu River, he would not have been able to ascend to the third realm solely by relying on incense offerings and vow power. Unless the small river under Xiaoyuan Mountain was, over the long years, developed by him to the scale of the Linfu River, there would be hope for advancement. However, without the imperial decree, this process would undoubtedly be extremely difficult, requiring countless rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, as well as favorable timing, geographical advantages, and various opportunities.
Li Qingshan, as a cultivator in the third realm, naturally knew all of this. That is why, upon discovering that his immortal dao foundation was transforming towards the divine dao amidst the dense incense offerings and vow power, he became so flustered and panicked. He did not want to become a deity confined to a place, bound by various restrictions of heaven and earth!
However, no matter how much he shouted, or even pleaded, Ji Yuan showed no intention of stopping. He even continuously formed hand seals, performing a divine technique that had been passed down for a long time. As a sect with a history of nearly a thousand years, the Nine Xuan Sect’s library naturally contained many divine dao cultivation methods, divine abilities, and various wondrous divine techniques. With Ji Yuan's current achievements, all but the most precious parts could be freely perused and practiced.
Since condensing his divine dao clone, he had indeed put in considerable effort, finding many divine abilities and divine techniques from the library. The one he was currently using was a divine technique created thousands of years ago. It could use incense offerings and vow power, along with the power of a region, to transform a cultivator's magic power and foundation, making them a local mountain or river deity. The most crucial aspect of this divine technique was that as long as one could not resist the imprinting of the core runes, their foundation could be forcibly transformed. In other words, Li Qingshan, whose magic power and soul were sealed, would ultimately be forcibly deified!
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. During this time, Li Qingshan endured unimaginable pain. Just like when Ji Yuan became a god back then, his flesh and skin all dissolved, and even his bones were shattered. Finally, Li Qingshan's immortal dao foundation was completely transformed, and he was forcibly deified, thus condensing a divine spark and becoming the mountain god of Xiaoyuan Mountain.
However, under Ji Yuan's methods, the origin and soul of this newly appointed mountain god were in his control, and with a single thought, he could control the deity's life and death. Furthermore, because he achieved godhood first and forcibly deified Li Qingshan, his own position was directly above the latter. This meant that this former third-realm cultivator had now become Ji Yuan's subordinate deity, and influenced by the dao principles, he would be unable to harbor any thoughts of betrayal in this lifetime.
The only pity was that this method was difficult to replicate. Even if he ascended to a level beyond the Golden Core realm, he would at most have three or four subordinate deities. Otherwise, he wouldn't mind capturing a few demonic cultivators and turning them into his subordinate deities to increase Xiaoyuan Mountain's strength. Although there were many limitations, having another third-realm existence to assist him naturally reduced his pressure considerably.
After some thought, Ji Yuan retracted most of the incense offerings and vow power, leaving only enough for the other party to recover their divine power. Although there was a slight drop in realm due to the transformation of his foundation, Li Qingshan still retained the strength of the early third realm. The incense offerings and vow power left by Ji Yuan were just enough for him to refine and replenish his divine power.
"This subordinate god greets the superior god!" Li Qingshan bowed, exuding reverence from the inside out.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan nodded slightly, then turned and walked out of the divine land, telling him to recover his divine power there properly. As for the intelligence regarding the rebels and the Rebirth Tower, he had already obtained all of it from the other party's sea of consciousness during the half-month of forced deification.