Chapter 470: Chapter 469: The River God That Swept Across the World
“Bear Clan uncle, run quick, the demons are coming!” cried several Deer Clan girls, who had run out from the dungeon in panic. They saw Li Er calmly watering a broken tree, and rushed toward, frantic with worry.
Li Er chuckled: “The World Tree will protect us.”
The Deer Clan girls tried to drag Li Er away, but he was as heavy as iron and wouldn’t budge. They had to abandon him and rush back to the city to prepare to resist the impending Monster Wave.
Kilometers away, a dense crowd of demons charged toward the city. Slimes, goblins, skeleton monsters, two-headed wolves… all were mindless, low-level demons.
The intelligent demons had no reason to leave the dungeon to attack the three races (human, fairy, beast). The old Demon King’s orders were for them to battle the three races in the dungeon, not to leave and strike.
On the city walls, Beast Tribe soldiers stood waiting in stern formation. The Adventurers’ Guild was calling adventurers to resist the Monster Wave. Several Deer Clan girls were gripping their weapons nervously, their magic prepared and ready to unleash at any moment.
Based on previous experience, at least one-third of the participating adventurers would die in the Monster Wave.
“I wonder how the uncle is faring.”
“He wouldn’t let us drag him away. He’s obsessed with his sapling!”
Despite their words, they were still worried about the safety of the Bear Tribe uncle as they looked towards Li Er’s position from the city walls.
“When the Monster Wave comes, the uncle might be the first one…”
They fell silent, understanding what their companion meant.
“Look, what’s that?!”
They shouted in surprise. From Li Er’s location, a beam of light shot up into the sky, and a towering green tree that seemed to reach the heavens appeared before everyone’s eyes.
The tree was so tall that its top was invisible to them.
The World Tree.
The name flashed in everyone’s mind. Just recently, they had laughed at Li Er’s tale of him watering the tree, but now seeing this gargantuan tree, they were reminded of the “World Tree” Li Er had spoken of.
The World Tree had nine thick branches, each topped with a globule of light, mysterious as if it contained a world within itself.
The branches of the World Tree swayed, and a small cyclone generated from one of the globules of light started rolling between the leaves, turning into a full-blown hurricane.
The other globules also showed their power one after another. Light, darkness, fire, water, metal… elements intertwined, rushing towards the Monster Wave with the hurricane.
The once terrifying Monster Wave in front of the formidable power of the World Tree looked pathetically weak as paper, torn apart at the merest touch.
The Monster Wave was annihilated, and peace returned.
If it weren’t for the World Tree still standing there, the beastmen would think the Monster Wave was a collective hallucination.
“River God… Primordial… the first tree, could it be that what the uncle said was true?” Faced with the miracle before their eyes, the Deer Clan girls were forced to believe it.
Seeing several Deer Clan girls looking at him with faces full of admiration, Li Er, who had transformed into a World Tree, fell into deep doubt.
The Human Emperor once told him that he would definitely be worshipped by the beast tribe if he did as the Human Emperor did. Perhaps they would even venerate him.
Now his persona was up and running, and the World Tree was also standing tall, but he couldn’t get out.
He himself was the World Tree. If he wanted to reveal himself, he would have to dispel the World Tree form, and that would blow his cover.
“I shouldn’t have been tricked by the Human Emperor, should I?” After transforming into the World Tree, Li Er couldn’t even move.
A World Tree running around on legs, how ridiculous would that be?
…
As the biggest miracle manifested by the River God, the appearance of the World Tree made everyone aware of the River God’s existance.
None of the factions would ignore the World Tree, which could completely wipe out the Monster Wave.
The humans, beastmen, and fairies… the number of people who believed in the River God gradually increased among the three races. Some even spontaneously built churches by the rivers to pray to the River God for blessings.
Compared to the seven deities, the River God was clearly more reliable.
If you believe in the seven deities, what profession or skills you receive depends on luck. If you believe in the River God, you can learn an art called cultivation.
Although cultivation is slow, it offers greater freedom. Whether you achieve something depends on your aptitude, not luck. Moreover, cultivation can extend one’s life.
In the Eira World, even if they became level five adventurers, they only lived up to hundred years.
Cultivation was different. The minimum life expectancy is a hundred and thirty years with no upper limit. Who wouldn’t want to cultivate?
Only a minority could become adventurers. Many were commoners toiling in the fields. They lacked the talent of adventurers and could not go into the dungeon.
Cultivation did not need talent. Following the guidance of the River God, becoming a Qi Cultivator was not difficult.
Many common people chose to cultivate.
Cultivation also required a certain state of mind. Those who were impulsive and eager for quick success were not suited for cultivation.
This made a number of adventurers wishing to make a name in the dungeon cool down.
Those adventurers who battled in the dungeon always carried a water bottle filled with river water during fights.
Drinking the river water could clear one’s mind, restore energy and heal injuries, making it far better than magic potions with a cooldown period.
Before the manifestation of the River God, people relied on the healing skills of priests for treatment.
It wasn’t philanthropic work for the priests. Their fees were high, and very few people could afford it. For instance, the mother of the black cat girl, if she had had enough money to invite the priest to heal at the beginning, wouldn’t have ended up on her deathbed.
After the appearance of the River God, people chose to drink river water for healing.
The Church was gnashing its teeth in anger at the River God but had no way to counter. They knew that the River God might indeed be a deity of the Primordial Chaotic River as the rumours suggested, existing before the God of Light.
Even within the Church, a faction devoted to the River God was formed in secret.
After all, the Church worshipped “God”, not specifically the seven deities. As long as it was a deity, the Church could believe in it.
The Church had not realised the loophole in its doctrine before, because they believed “God” referred to the seven deities, so they didn’t emphasise it explicitly.
Now they noticed the loophole. When a new deity appeared, the Church’s position turned awkward.
The Red-robed Archbishop prayed to the seven deities several times, hoping for revelation.
Unfortunately, it was useless; the seven deities were still unconscious.
…
“By what means do you cure diseases by drinking river water?” The gourd was amazed, finding Jiang Li’s methods incredibly magical.
If there were a Jiang Li Sect or Great Vehicle Sect, he would like to offer three sticks of incense.
“It’s the ‘Taiyi Universal Healing Water Technique’. I learned it by chance in the Taoist Scripture Library.”
“With such magical abilities, why don’t you help the cultivators in Jiuzhou realise their wishes?”
Jiang Li shook his head slightly: “Wishes should be realised by oneself. If I help them realise their wishes, it would make them develop a habit of gaining without labour. Once that happens, they are ruined.”
“What I want to do is lower the cultivation difficulty and give everyone an equal opportunity for cultivation. This is why I encouraged the Ling Medicine Sect to develop simple elixir formulas and reduce the price of elixirs, so that even ordinary cultivators could afford them, preventing instances where those injured couldn’t afford treatment.”
“Then there’s the cultivation manual I wrote, aiming to instruct children on how to cultivate in a simple and easy-to-understand way.”
“There are many more examples. What I provided to Jiuzhou’s cultivators was opportunity, not results.”
“This time, as the interim River God, once the seven deities are found, the River God’s position will end.”
