Chapter 572: Rooting Out

At this moment, Li Yi was already at the third level of the Five Qi Realm. His strength had seen a massive improvement compared to before. Now, as he reversed his Daoist arts and unleashed the technique of "Dividing the Land into Rivers," he was no longer the same person he once was. Even without the reinforcement of incense power, such a strike was sufficient to tear open the firmament in an instant and swiftly sever everything before him.

The three Guardian Gods of the State before him felt this terrifying aura and were instantly struck with terror.

Yet, amidst their terror, there was also bewilderment.

Because Li Yi's attack had already ended. That streak of golden light had slashed toward the distant Wu Tianji behind them, disappearing into the horizon until the power of the Daoist art was exhausted, dissipating a thousand miles away.

"What happened? What was that just now?" The Western Guardian God was trembling with fear. His face was full of bewilderment; he simply did not understand what Li Yi had done.

"It was a terrifying spell, but it seems we haven't been injured."

The Eastern Guardian God immediately checked his body, but then he grew terrified again: "No, that's not right. We were struck."

Then, he saw with his own eyes a thin golden line appear on his body. At first, he hadn't noticed it, but now, this golden line was growing thicker, and his lower body had completely lost sensation, beginning to slide downward bit by bit, detaching from him.

A vast amount of incense aura permeated the air, but no matter how he tried to gather it, he could not repair this wound.

"Crack!"

Not only that, but a golden line also appeared on the long spear in his hand. Then, the spear snapped in response, and half of it fell from mid-air.

He was not the only one experiencing this.

The precious sword in the hand of the Southern Guardian God, Zhang Wang Jian Gong, also snapped immediately. Then, half of his body began to separate. This process was irreversible; he could only watch helplessly as he was sliced into two sections by something.

"How is this possible?"

Seeing this scene, the Western Guardian God was both shocked and enraged. He roared, wanting to gather the power of incense and leap forward to kill Li Yi and take his life.

But the moment he moved his front foot, his body separated. Half of his body remained in place, then fell powerlessly from the clouds. Before it even reached the ground, the body began to dissipate rapidly, turning into incense aura that vanished in mid-air, and the weapon in his hand snapped instantly.

Forget about killing others; whether he could even save himself was now a question.

If the three great Guardian Gods were like this, what more of the other Incense Gods they had brought?

Under this strike, they were all sliced into two. Although they did not die due to the unique nature of Incense Gods, they lost half their souls and half their incense power, their strength greatly diminished.

"Even after losing the position of Imperial Preceptor, the Daoist Tai Yi still possesses such strength? We are simply no match for him. Our previous assessment of this person was wrong. Flee quickly!"

A Land God from the capital shouted in terror. He was the first to react, turning into a wisp of green smoke without looking back and rushing toward the capital.

He understood that only by returning to the temple in the capital and utilizing the protection of the Son of Heaven's aura could he escape this calamity.

Going anywhere else was a dead end.

"Flee!" A River God, one of the Nine Rivers of the capital, also abandoned half his body and fled immediately.

With one or two people scared out of their wits, the other Incense Gods scattered in a flurry.

They had been gods for a long time; they feared death and did not want to die.

Although Incense Gods were hard to kill, they had not forgotten that this Daoist Tai Yi before them had personally killed a Guardian God. Their assessment was wrong, and they were no match for the opponent; if they didn't leave, their lives would definitely be forfeit.

"Want to leave now? It's too late." Seeing this, Li Yi did not indulge them in the slightest. He had left the capital and led three thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards for the very purpose of destroying temples and cutting down shrines.

The fewer Incense Gods in the world, the better. The common people could no longer afford to offer incense; only by destroying these temples would the incense be concentrated in the hands of a few.

"Call the Wind!"

He unleashed his Daoist art again, once more circulating the fire in his heart. But this time, the fire was different; it was mixed with wood energy. This wood energy made the heart-fire even more violent. In an instant, a sea of fire covered the sky. Moreover, this sea of fire had changed from before—any Incense God touched by the flames would find the fire rushing toward them as if attracted.

This was because the wood energy had imbued the sea of fire with life and spirit, adding even more power to the "Call the Wind" Great Art.

Within the sea of fire, the bodies of the Incense Gods were rapidly melting. Once their souls were extinguished, their bodies could not maintain their original form and turned into wisps of green smoke on the spot, drifting away.

"Ah!"

The scorching of their souls caused cries of pain to echo.

Even the three Guardian Gods could not withstand the scorching of this sea of fire. Their eyes turned red as they fled frantically in all directions, attempting to save their lives. But as they fled, their bodies dissipated, because in this short time, the heart-fire energy had already blown into their souls. This fire burned from the inside out; wanting to extinguish it was simply a delusion.

After Li Yi finished unleashing his Great Art, he ignored these wailing Incense Gods and continued to pilot the golden auspicious cloud, flying toward the distance without looking back.

The Golden Pupil Guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards on the auspicious cloud were all incomparably horrified at this scene.

They knew the True Person Tai Yi was strong, but they had never expected him to be this absurd. With a flick of a finger, he severed the bodies of these Incense Gods; with one breath of fire, he could cause the gods of the sky to perish. Those Land Gods and River Gods of the capital were one thing, but even the three Guardian Gods who had existed since the founding of the state were not a match for a single blow, fleeing in defeat without even having the chance to strike back.

But those three Guardian Gods did not flee very far.

Soon, everyone saw those Guardian Gods turn into ashes in mid-air. It was unknown if they had left behind a wisp of incense divine sense in advance. If not, then the Guardian Gods would become history from this day on. If they had left a divine sense, they could still recover using the power of incense.

Yet, even if they recovered, so what? They would eventually be liquidated.

Li Yi's gaze flickered slightly at this moment.

He looked at a divine statue standing outside the capital.

It was a stone statue. Although it had endured countless years of wind and rain, it remained well-preserved because craftsmen from every dynasty had repaired it. That divine statue was in the likeness of the Southern Guardian God, Zhang Wang Jian Gong. At this moment, incense aura was gathering around the statue, and a wisp of divine sense was reviving from the incense, gradually showing signs of condensing into a human form.

"It seems these Guardian Gods were prepared. Fearing they were no match for me, they left a backup plan long ago." Li Yi understood that although they had been killed, with the help of the incense of the masses, it wouldn't take long for them to recover.

Although they would not return to their peak, not being dead was still very annoying.

"Flower Girl." Li Yi suddenly looked at the Golden Pupil Guard: "You had an imperial decree just now, right? Revoke the positions of the four great Guardian Gods, as well as the positions of the Land Gods and River Gods of the capital, and then destroy their temples. I want to see if they can still revive and work after that."

"The True Person has given an order; how dare I disobey." Flower Girl immediately took out pen and ink and wrote rapidly on a blank imperial decree.

"Which Embroidered Uniform Guard will do this?" Li Yi glanced over.

"Embroidered Uniform Guard Company Commander, Zhang Guang, requests the mission." An Embroidered Uniform Guard wearing a flying-fish robe responded immediately.

Li Yi glanced at him, reached out, and grabbed the written decree through the air, then tossed it to the guard: "After this matter is handled well, your merit will be significant. Go."

Having said that, he used an auspicious cloud to lift him up and sent him directly into the capital.

Soon.

This Embroidered Uniform Guard Company Commander held the decree and immediately began to act in the capital.

Before long, the decree spread throughout the capital, and other Embroidered Uniform Guards cooperated with this Company Commander to destroy the divine statues and temples.

"True Person Tai Yi, do you really intend to kill us all?" The Southern Guardian God, Zhang Wang Jian Gong, saw his incense body emerge from the divine statue. He was incomparably terrified and roared at the golden auspicious cloud flying away in the distance.

But cracks began to appear continuously on his face.

Because once the decree was issued, he was no longer a Guardian God. Having lost his official position, the power of incense belief dissipated, and this wisp of divine sense was destined never to recover, only to vanish into smoke.

But Li Yi had already traveled far away and couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the fate of these Guardian Gods. Since he had already embarked on the path of destroying temples and cutting down shrines, whoever stood in his way would have to die; there was no possibility of mercy.

"True Person Tai Yi, I was wrong, spare my life." In the capital, a Land God shouted miserably, attempting to beg for mercy.

But the Embroidered Uniform Guards had already mobilized. They directly smashed the Land Temple and then told the nearby villagers that the Land God had committed many evils and that worship was forbidden from now on.

With these methods employed, the retreat of the Incense Gods was truly cut off.

They could only watch helplessly as their bodies dissipated and their temples were destroyed, and then their souls ceased to exist between heaven and earth, completely vanishing into smoke.

The weakness of the Incense Gods was now fully exposed.

Li Yi had also learned how to deal with Incense Gods. Facing powerful Incense Gods, he would simply issue an imperial decree without a word, first stripping them of their divine positions and scattering their incense, then using the "Call the Wind" Great Art to burn their souls.

However, this move was only useful against the official gods appointed by the imperial court; it was of little use against those Incense Gods not appointed by the court.

Soon.

Li Yi arrived at his first stop.

It was a city.

This city was named Shangcheng, because the people in the city mostly made a living by crafting divine statues, so many temples were built nearby, and even on the nearby mountains, there were piles of various divine statues.

He lowered the auspicious cloud and let the three thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards land.

"I give you one hour. Destroy the divine statues inside and outside this city and kill the Incense Gods. If you are no match for them, I will strike myself," Li Yi said: "Once the time is up, assemble on the spot."

"Yes, my lord." Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Yang Ling was full of excitement at this moment.

Following such a powerful Daoist, why worry about not being able to achieve great things?

Soon.

The three thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards scattered like fierce tigers. Their spirit mediums were already opened, and their eyes could perceive ghosts and gods; which divine statue received incense and which did not could be seen at a glance.

Ordinary spirits were no match for the Embroidered Spring Sabers in the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Moreover, with the True Person Tai Yi holding the line, they were not afraid of encountering powerful enemies at all. ===== CHAPTER 573 =====