77: Chapter 77 The Green Snake Appears to Slay Evil Spirits
Xu Qing wanted to say that he wasn't plagiarizing.
He was merely borrowing the style of the green flood dragon ring.
As for why he would refine such a redundant, mediocre Spiritual Artifact when he already had the green flood dragon ring...
Firstly, the thrifty Green Snake didn't want to waste Materials.
There was also another purpose.
The automatic manifestation mechanism of the green snake statue.
That's right, the Green Snake Goddess currently managed two main services.
The most popular service was for fish harvests; Xu Qing had already cleared this section of the West River, so there were naturally no issues there.
The other service was protection from illness and disaster.
But having to personally manifest every time was a hassle, so Xu Qing refined this Spiritual Artifact.
Xu Qing arrived before his green snake statue.
It was currently night, so there were no pilgrims; it didn't matter if he revealed himself.
His divine statue was becoming increasingly lifelike, giving Xu Qing the illusion that he was looking into a mirror.
Particularly the scale embedded in the forehead of the green snake statue; it was like a gemstone, radiating spirituality.
It felt as if it might fly out of the green snake statue and return to his own body at any moment.
To use a slightly less apt metaphor...
It was like a leashed Husky seeing its owner, desperately trying to pounce forward but being held back by the rope.
“Power Of Faith is truly peculiar,”
Xu Qing couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Then, he turned his gaze toward the tail of his green snake statue.
The green snake statue was a one-to-one recreation refined by Xu Qing himself.
Naturally, a jade ring was carved onto the tail, symbolizing the green flood dragon ring he wore on his own tail.
Xu Qing spat out a mouthful of Green Fire, burning it onto the tail of the green snake statue.
Although the divine statue was miraculous, its physical form was ultimately just a Magical Artifact he had refined from ironstone; the carved green flood dragon ring was easily melted away, returning to a smooth tail shape.
Xu Qing tossed out the Green Snake Ring.
Driven by Demonic Qi, the Green Snake Ring autonomously slipped onto the tail of the green snake statue.
It was a perfect fit.
Now, as long as a believer offered a sufficiently pious prayer, the green snake statue would autonomously activate the Green Snake Ring to Heal them.
Quite convenient.
He, the West River God, would no longer need to constantly monitor his believers and manifest himself.
After all, for a West River God to constantly pay attention to every believer's prayer would be quite beneath his dignity.
Thinking this, Xu Qing prepared to leave the green snake statue.
The spiritual light on the scale atop the green snake statue's head became even more vivid, as if it were telling him not to leave.
Vaguely, it felt like a Husky from his past life scratching at the apartment door before he left for work, not wanting its owner to go.
“Hmm...”
Xu Qing looked at the scale on the head of the green snake statue.
He hadn't expected the Power Of Faith to make his scale so spiritual.
It might come in handy in the future.
Xu Qing thought to himself and then left the green snake statue.
The next day.
The Green Snake Goddess Temple continued to enjoy constant incense offerings.
Even without incense, people would offer their harvested fish as tributes.
Although Xu Qing didn't particularly like eating fish,
Silly Snake loved it.
So Xu Qing gave all the offerings to Silly Snake to eat.
Silly Snake was extremely happy; as expected of the Green Snake, he could get so much food without even leaving the house.
Just like back then, when he could get Frogs to eat without going out.
It still didn't understand why Xu Qing never caught Frogs yet always had a steady supply of them to eat.
Whatever, thinking too much made its head hurt; time to eat fish.
Silly Snake slithered in front of the green snake statue and ate all the fish.
Literally 'insanely eating your offerings'.
“The evil spirits in this section of the West River have been mostly purged.”
“To purge more evil spirits, I'll have to go to the upstream or downstream parts of the West River.”
Xu Qing connected with this small stretch of the West River and attempted to use Detection on the upstream and downstream directions.
Perhaps because Xu Qing wasn't 'downstream' enough, his probe in that direction wasn't very clear.
However, in the upstream direction of the West River, he detected a rather thick Demonic Qi.
Perhaps once the upstream evil spirits were cleared, he would have enough Dao Cultivation and evolution points.
Not only could he achieve another Breakthrough, but he could also evolve once more.
“Evolution...”
The more Xu Qing thought about it, the more excited he became.
The Resurrection Green Snake race had granted him countless benefits.
Terrifying vitality and the Resurrection skill had saved him more times than he could count.
But the Resurrection Green Snake also had very obvious flaws.
Its defense was low; Xu Qing's Hard Scales skill was still only at LV2.
Its attack power was low; despite Xu Qing having many offensive skills, Wind Blade, Demonic Fire, Lightning Strike, and Plant Control were all skills he had accumulated himself.
He didn't have a single offensive skill unique to the Resurrection Green Snake race.
The Resurrection Green Snake race, without a doubt,
Had put all its points into survival.
Because the body was too precious, everything went into life-preservation.
“Forget it, I'm a Resurrection Green Snake too; no need to mock my own race like this.”
Xu Qing stopped his internal complaining and turned his snake eyes toward the upstream of the West River.
How could Xu Qing pass up such a great opportunity to manifest his divinity before the people?
Since the River God Temple was established, Xu Qing hadn't truly revealed himself yet.
Now was the perfect chance.
Xu Qing coordinated with Xu Linger in advance and then specifically activated Auspicious Beast LV2, causing a layer of Auspicious Light to manifest on his body.
...
Around the River God Temple.
Some people were building houses, some were plowing fields, and some were fishing on the West River.
It was a scene of burgeoning prosperity, having escaped the influence of war.
“Hiss hiss hiss!”
An ethereal and mysterious snake's cry echoed from the River God Temple.
The surrounding people had long since regarded snakes as auspicious; this cry caused everyone, whether working or resting, to turn their gazes.
They looked toward the River God Temple.
A green snake over ten meters long, draped in golden Auspicious Light, soared into the sky.
The green snake's body was slender with scales like jade; its eyes were black with a hint of green, and the corners of its eyes featured two dark scales like eyeshadow.
A green jade ring radiating spiritual light was adorned on its tail.
“The Green Snake Goddess has manifested!”
“It's the manifestation of the Green Snake Goddess!”
“Green Snake Goddess, please bless me with a bountiful harvest this year!”
“Green Snake Goddess, please protect me from illness and disaster!”
“Green Snake Goddess, please help me regain my virility!”
“Green Snake Goddess... Brother, does the Goddess even cover that!?”
The green snake flew high into the sky, its golden body flickering in and out of the clouds as it headed northwest toward the upstream of the West River.
It was the perfect image of an Auspicious Beast.
“The Green Snake Goddess is flying upstream!”
“The Green Snake Goddess must have restored her Divine Power and is going upstream to purge the evil spirits!”
As the golden light vanished into the clouds, people began to discuss fervently.
“The Green Snake Goddess is the West River God; the entire West River is under her jurisdiction.”
“Those evil spirits disturbed the Goddess; now that her Divine Power is restored, she is surely going to slay the evil!”
Expectation filled the people's hearts.
Currently, they could only fish in this section of the West River near the River God Temple; if they went too far, there would be evil spirits.
As more people fished, the catch naturally dwindled.
With winter approaching, they would surely freeze to death without enough food.
If the Green Snake Goddess cleared the upstream evil spirits, they could catch more fish there, and their chances of survival would increase.
One person silently prayed toward the River God Temple.
The person next to them was momentarily stunned, then followed suit.
Soon, everyone was doing the same.
It wasn't necessarily deep faith, but if you manifest and help me survive, I will believe in you.
The faith of ordinary people was just that simple and practical.