NOVPUBYujiang City.
The old capital of the Wu State, filled with divine temples.
Groups of Cultivators passed by the front of each divine temple.
Deities patrolled the surroundings without interruption.
The Three Divine Emperors led the majority of the forces in an attack on the toughest targets, the Jin and Yan states, thus draining most of the military strength.
The defense in the rear was, naturally, more strict than it had ever been before.
Even the air that lingered among the divine temples was filled with a solemn scent.
Despite the many Incense Fire Dao Cultivators bustling about, and a considerable number of mortals streaming into the divine temples, the atmosphere remained eerily quiet and still.
It was at this moment,
In one of the outer temples, which far exceeded the others in grandeur, a voice trying hard to suppress its elation suddenly exclaimed,
"The Lord of Dreams has returned!"
"The Divine Venerable of the Yin God has taken his place!"
This voice seemed to be a signal.
Dozens of Cultivators from the Yin God Lineage rapidly flew in from all directions, landing in front of the divine temple.
Looking towards the interior of the temple, each and every one’s eyes brimmed with excitement and agitation.
Nearly two hundred years had passed!
Since the fall of the Yin God, not only was the temple of the Yin God ousted from its once central role,
But also, the Cultivators who worshipped the Dream Master had lost the protection and blessings of the deity, causing their Cultivation speed to plummet and making advancement in their realm nearly impossible. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
They could only barely cling to life with some spirit items and Spirit Plants accumulated in the earlier years.
Those lower-tier Cultivators who saw the bad turn in events could still manage to extricate themselves in time and switch to other temples, thanks to their modest Cultivation Bases.
But for those of the second, third, and fourth tiers, who were completely bound to the Dream Master, no Divine Venerable would want them.
They had no choice but to guard the temple tenaciously and search for the missing Cultivation Methods of the Yin God Lineage, hoping to welcome back the Yin God.
More than a hundred years ago, in a distant small state called Chen State, they once glimpsed hope.
But in the end, it slipped through their fingers...
They had already renounced hope, with most of the Cultivators inside the temple dying either in the wars initiated by the Three Divine Emperors or of natural causes due to their concluded Lifespan.
Only they remained, eking out an existence by guarding the temple.
What they didn’t expect was that, decades ago, the Divine Statue of the Yin God began to show a sliver of change.
This reignited their hope.
In those hard-pressed years, another group died due to the end of their Lifespan.
The Yin God Lineage was now left with merely these last few hands.
And today, the Yin God had finally returned!
The souls of the Cultivators still echoed with the voice of the Yin God they had just heard.
However, upon reaching the front of the temple, despite their utmost excitement, they respectfully stopped outside.
They only looked towards the temple with longing eyes.
The door of the divine temple suddenly swung open!
"Come in, all of you!"
A frail and infirm voice rang out.
Granted permission by the being within, the Cultivators looked at one another and then, without a moment’s delay, hurriedly entered the temple.
The temple was enormous, reaching hundreds of feet high, and yet it was gloomy and dim with not a single ray of daylight shining through.
Inside the expansive temple, there stood only a colossal Divine Statue that nearly reached the ceiling of the temple and a small, frail, and old figure in a long robe beneath the statue.
That person was the sole remaining Fourth Tier Perfection Cultivator of the Yin God Lineage, as well as the great elder of the Yin God Temple.
The Divine Statue was a solemn red, holding a dignified posture, replete with a mysterious Divinity beyond the mundane.
The decrepit great elder, even smaller than half the height of the statue’s toe,
lay prostrate in front of the Divine Statue, reverent and solemn.
The Cultivators didn’t dare to look any more than necessary, fearful of offending the newly returned Divine Venerable.
Their hearts filled with a long-lost tension, they no sooner entered than they dropped to their knees, just like the figure under the statue, prostrating themselves completely.
They spoke in unison, their voices respectful,
"We welcome the Divine Venerable’s return!"
However, what puzzled them was the absence of the Divine Venerable’s voice in their ears.
"What’s going on?"
Confusion arose in their minds.
At first, they hardly dared to make a sound, but nearly two hundred years of tribulation had already drained what little patience they had.
Finally, someone mustered the courage to look up.
To their astonishment, they saw that the Divine Statue’s features were plain and unextraordinary, the kind that would go unnoticed in a crowd.
"Is this... really what the Divine Venerable looks like?"
The Cultivators of the Yin God Lineage couldn’t help but feel curious.
Since the fall of the Yin God, for reasons unknown, tens of thousands of their Cultivators somehow completely forgot what the Yin God looked like.
Everything related to the Yin God, the Cultivation Methods, voice, and mannerisms... seemed to have been erased by some entity.
Aside from the name of the Dream Master, these Cultivators of the Yin God Lineage had no distinction from the other Incense Fire Dao Cultivators.
"But… something about the Divine Venerable seems not quite right..."
Some Cultivators looked up at the statue, voicing their hesitation.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
The great elder prostrated under the statue, hearing the blasphemous speculations from the Cultivators behind him, he immediately stood up and scolded angrily.
"No, great elder, please look for yourself..."
A Cultivator argued.
"Insolent fools, if you offend the Divine Venerable, you all might..."
The great elder scolded angrily, yet he also couldn’t help raising his head out of curiosity.
And then, he witnessed something bizarre.
On the face of the Yin God Divine Statue, one side was serene as still water, while the other twisted in anger, fear, despair...
"What... what is happening?!"
The great elder’s face was full of astonishment.
And while he was bewildered,
the expression on the Divine Statue quickly transitioned entirely to calmness.
The features became gentle and tranquil, the eyes carrying a divine light that flickered opened and closed,
As if in the process of perceiving and absorbing...
Despite not understanding what had happened, the great elder instantly reacted, once again prostrating himself on the ground:
