Cultivators Are So Weak in This World

Chapter 553 - 520 Devotion 2

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

One loud explosion after another kept breaking out in the mist, transforming into rippling currents of air spreading in all directions.

Both the Stone God and Zhang Rongfang, at this moment, had five-meter-tall bodies. Without any other reference points, from a distance, they looked like two normal-sized people playing a game of hide-and-seek.

Zhang Rongfang continuously dodged and then attacked, concentrating on the Stone God’s head, heart, and limbs, aiming at vital spots.

But it was completely useless.

No matter how powerful his strikes were, they couldn’t harm the Stone God.

At most, they just made its skin turn a bit black, and even that blackening quickly healed on its own.

He couldn’t break through its defense! If he was not careful and got caught by the black ripples emitted by the Stone God, his body would become paralyzed and unable to move, at least paralyzed for a second.

At this level of speed in exchanges, a second was enough for Zhang Rongfang to be critically hit by the Stone God three times.

Fortunately, as he gradually grasped the opponent’s movement patterns, dodging became easier for him.

Apart from being unable to injure the Stone God, everything else was slowly coming under control.

After trying all the possible methods at his disposal, Zhang Rongfang leaped back, dodging the Stone God’s straight punch, and gently landed on the ground.

He frowned at the creature, starting to feel the pain of not having demon weapons when confronting a Spirit General, just like those at the Extreme Realm.

Completely unable to inflict any damage! How could he possibly fight like this?

"Forget it." He took a deep breath. "I humbly request the three of you to lend a hand."

At the same time, three invisible force fields erupted from behind him, spreading like ripples.

Buzz.....

The mysterious fog around them quickly faded and dispersed.

Even the Stone God, who was charging rapidly at them, faded swiftly, becoming blurred, and vanished.

Zhang Rongfang felt dizzy, and the surroundings returned to the quiet white scenery of the village.

He had been forcibly pulled out from the mystical fog.

’Leaving here is your best choice. If the Stone God dares to attack you, there must be marks elsewhere, unafraid of falling into the abyss of oblivion,’ said White Scale. She had also contributed just now.

Zhang Rongfang looked at the village around him, and the villagers had been basically purged.

The members of the Human Immortal Temple who came along, plus the two young children just rescued, were the only living beings standing at the moment.

’The three deities can’t help you for long. Their true bodies are not here, and this is the Stone God’s sacrificial site; they can’t fight this creature,’ White Scale continued.

’Will I be pulled into the mystical fog again?’ Zhang Rongfang asked in a deep voice.

’Their power cannot block it for long. If you stay here, danger may strike at any moment,’ White Scale answered.

Zhang Rongfang glanced around, quickly making a decision.

"Retreat!" he shouted in a low voice.

All members of the Human Immortal Temple quickly stood and gathered around.

"Take those two children," Zhang Rongfang instructed, noticing Tongtong and her sister kneeling beside their parents’ corpses.

Before they could act, the two children’s parents had their vital spots hit by the villagers.

Perhaps he could use the bloodline transformation to save them, but Zhang Rongfang chose to hold back.

He didn’t want to rashly create another bloodline, and most likely, the parents had seen the true form of the Stone God. Abstaining from killing them was already a great mercy on his part.

"Let’s go!" After gathering everyone, he took one last look at the village, then turned and led the departure.

Until he truly found out how to harm gods and Buddhas, he estimated he wouldn’t return for a while.

’Can only gods and Buddhas harm each other?’ Zhang Rongfang suddenly remembered what Senior Emperor Jiang had told him.

Only now did he truly appreciate it.

*

*

*

Wushan Prefecture.

"Come... say ’Uncle, Uncle,’" Zhang Rongfang gently poked his nephew’s chubby little face with his hand.

The baby’s face in the cradle was wrinkled, but much better than in the days after birth.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Zhang Huanqing waved his tiny hands, his shining black eyes fixed on Zhang Rongfang, letting out joyful laughter.

"See how much he likes you," Zhang Rongyu said, gently rocking the cradle, smiling beside him.

"After all, you’re his real uncle, so naturally there’s an extra sense of closeness," his brother-in-law Suda Heqi said, removing his official robe and changing into casual clothing in the household.

"Speaking of, Rongfang’s strength is at a high level now too. In the future, when Huanqing grows up, we can certainly ask him to teach martial arts hand in hand, laying the foundation early on."

"I have no problem with that. It’s just up to sister, after all, practicing martial arts is tough," Zhang Rongfang replied with a smile.

"I certainly want to, but I’m guessing we won’t need to worry about Huanqing in the future," Zhang Rongyu said. "He was born with an extremely excellent aptitude, and his future path..."

For some reason, Zhang Rongyu didn’t continue, just looking at her child, became a bit dazed for a moment.

"The child is still so young, why rush? Take it slow," said the brother-in-law, patting her shoulder.

"Yes, sister, don’t rush. No matter what, both my brother-in-law and I are here. Even if he doesn’t amount to much in the future, as his uncle, I can at least provide him with some security," Zhang Rongfang sincerely said.

Zhang Rongyu smiled, but said nothing more.

In fact, she had already received the news that her son had been confirmed to undergo comprehensive training under the Seven Gentlemen of Confucianism.

From the moment he was born, his future path was practically decided. He was destined to become one of the Seven Gentlemen of the Confucian Sect’s seven branches.

Whether this path was right or wrong, she wasn’t sure...

"Sister? What’s wrong?" Zhang Rongfang noticed her unusual expression and quickly asked.

"It’s nothing... I was just wondering what Huanqing would be like in the future," Zhang Rongyu said with a smile. "Alright, let’s not talk about this. Rongfang, are you still in touch with Li Zhen? Do you meet up often? Xiaozhen is a good girl, highly skilled in martial arts, with exceptional talent. You should seize the opportunity."

"Li Zhen...?" Zhang Rongfang was speechless; he had almost completely forgotten about the person.

"You, you need to be more proactive. Don’t just bury your head in training martial arts. If a young man doesn’t take the initiative, he’ll miss out on all the good ones!" Zhang Rongyu admonished.

"I think Meisha isn’t bad either," said his brother-in-law, stroking his chin. "If she and Rongfang could be together... wouldn’t it be even better to keep it in the family?"

"Meisha is a good kid too, but it all depends on their fate." Zhang Rongyu smiled. She was pretty worried about her brother’s marriage.

"I’m still young, no rush, no rush..." Zhang Rongfang wasn’t considering such matters at all.

After truly encountering the Stone God, he gained a clearer understanding of the level of gods and deities. Without demonic weapons, normal people couldn’t even scratch the surface of a Spirit General, let alone more powerful gods.

His martial prowess was already way beyond the limits of ordinary martial artists, but even he couldn’t do anything against the Stone God.

No wonder organizations like the Anti-Chronos Society and the Confucianism of the past relied on slaughtering followers to weaken gods, and step by step, eradicate religions from the outside in.

Watching his sister happily playing with her nephew, Zhang Rongfang suppressed his earlier worries.

’It seems I can’t rush. Take it slow... take it slow. If I spend a year not coming out, continuing to stack attributes, I refuse to believe I won’t develop the special talents needed to deal with gods!’

As time goes on, he’s sure he will find other ways to deal with gods.

*

*

*

Great Capital · Underground Celestial Treasure Palace.

All the Spirit Generals of the entire Grand Teaching Alliance were seated in a circle within the central shrine.

The four walls were hung with bronze lotus whale oil lamps, and at the top of the dome was embedded a Luminous Pearl the size of a human head.

The yellow light and blue light cast an eerie atmosphere over the entire shrine.

"The situation is clear now. All dissenters have been removed, and those remaining have agreed to join."

Daoist Qingyi of the Zhenyi Sect spoke.

"And the White Ten Sect?" Cosimo asked solemnly.

"They didn’t want to get involved in this mess and returned to the West," Qingyi replied.

"Had I known earlier that you were planning something this big, I would have fled overseas immediately as well!" the original master screeched in displeasure.

"You can leave now too," said Moguduya of the Celestial Lock Teaching coldly.

"Heh, are you provoking me?" the original master glared coldly at the other. Now that he had joined the alliance, he knew that if he dared to leave, everyone present would jointly devour him.

"I said from the beginning that the Western Sect consists of unclean individuals. Taking them in only brings trouble. It weakens our power rather than strengthening it," Sheng Tianyi of the Black Ten Sect frowned.

"The mere Black Ten dares to speak so recklessly!?" The original master raised his eyebrows and was about to stand up.

"Enough!" Yue Dewen suddenly interrupted.

He was just sitting cross-legged under the statue of the Celestial Venerable, and when he spoke with his eyes closed, an enormous intangible pressure radiated from him as the center.

Everyone felt a chill run through them.

Ever since Yue Dewen successfully became the National Master and accumulated great momentum, his influence had grown stronger.

A Grandmaster can harness the momentum to significantly enhance their strength. Many could do this.

But to manifest momentum as concretely as Yue Dewen, they had seen it for the first time.

Even the Imperial Tutor back then gathered nationwide momentum, but not as exaggeratedly as Yue Dewen.

It hadn’t been long, yet everyone felt that Yue Dewen’s current strength in terms of his will’s intensity surpassed them by a level. Coupled with his status as the world’s premier martial artist, whether in preemptive measures or will-power domains or Absolute Defense, he surpassed everyone present.

At this point, they could no longer estimate how powerful Yue Dewen really was.

"Haven’t you all noticed?" Yue Dewen retracted his oppressive aura, speaking calmly.

"Noticed what?" The others remained silent, while only the original master spoke up again.

"The Thousand Teachings Alliance initiated chaos, collecting as much brain tissue as possible to strengthen the gods behind them. Why wasn’t this suppressed from the start?" Yue Dewen said softly.

"The Spirit Flying Church can’t be that weak; Snow Rainbow Pavilion has army leaders and Fierce Generals, they should show some reaction.

But in reality, despite having various reasons, the end result was truly no reaction...." Qingyi said softly. "They are deliberately indulging...."

"Snow Rainbow Pavilion is inactive, three of the four Guardians are visible, one is hidden, and there are the Spirit Flying Church’s saints and others. So many strong ones, yet not a trace of them. They intend to reap us...." Cosimo sighed.

Aside from the original master, everyone basically understood this.

The Spirit Flying Church is deliberately allowing other sect gods to consume brain tissue. Their intentions are now quite apparent...

"If we raise the Thousand Teachings Alliance to filter out impurities and harvest brain tissue, then the Spirit Flying Church’s intent is likely the same as ours...."

Cosimo continued.

He didn’t say the following words.

The Spirit Flying Church is also waiting for them to become ripe enough for harvesting.

"It seems everyone understands. The intentions of the Spirit Flying Church were something I anticipated early on." Yue Dewen slowly opened his mouth.

"There will ultimately be a battle between the Grand Teaching Alliance and them, and that time will not be far off...."

He opened his eyes, which at that moment contained faintly rotating silver vortices, seemingly non-human.

"Everyone knows why we are gathered here, the convergence of heaven and earth, correct?"

"If not for this, why would we set aside past grievances and gather here completely?" Moguduya said solemnly.

"What nonsense convergence of heaven and earth, it’s just the Spirit Flying Church’s periodic harvesting of grains! We’re already the third batch."

The others fell silent upon hearing this.

For the Spirit Flying Church, maintaining the vast Celestial God and Earth Mother factions requires far too many resources.

And externally, different god sects are essentially crops they allow to grow unchecked, waiting for them to grow fat, then harvesting in one fell swoop.

However, here, the so-called crops being reaped are actually all the gods outside of the Spirit Flying Church.