Routine!

  Sure enough, it's all a trick!

  Xun Xie wasn't about to fall for this set of tricks. However, the being before him was an Earth God, in the same category as shinigami, and he was dying. Xun Xie couldn't provoke it, and he couldn't hide.

  Better to listen for now, delay things, drag his feet. Maybe this old land god would die before finishing his speech... right.

  "The Landlord just asks, but I'm still a child, so there's not much I can do."

  Xun Xie deployed his own set of tricks. Hehe, still just a big baby.

  "Don't worry, what the little God asks you to do is absolutely within your power."

  The landman's grin was creepy and disgusting. His words made Xun Xie feel slightly relieved but still vigilant - he wasn't lying, was he? Lower his guard then ask for 'just' a mountain?

  As long as it wasn't too difficult, as long as it wasn't too much, Xun Xie could accept it.

  "I have a junior brother named Hu Piao, who lives in Blue Grain Town, more than twelve miles away. You can help me with a word for him," the land master said.

  Xun Xie was puzzled. "I heard the old man say that the land is so powerful that he can 'entrust people' with dreams. Why don't you entrust Hu Piao with your own dreams?"

  "A dream?"

  Land God shook his head. "That's a rumor. There is a difference between life and death - Yin and Yang are separated. Land God is the God of yin, and the God of yin can only communicate with the God of yin, or with those who have cultivated the Spirit of yin.

  In other words, mortals can't see or hear the voice of the earth god. Only those 'masters of refining gods' can talk to the earth god directly - very few situations other than this occur, each rare and exceptional."

  Hu Piao was obviously not a master of refining gods.

  Land God stared at Xun Xie and sighed: "Now, you should know how special you are, you can be called a strange person. In the past, the little gods have only seen it in the classics. There is a type of people in the world who can see Earth Gods, but you are the first this little god has met."

  Xun Xie seemed to understand, but he tried to digest the words before asking, "What do you want me to say to Hu Piao?"

  "You just need to tell Hu Piao, 'The complete true visualization scripture lies in the valley of a thousand shadows south of Black River Fort, at the dried fountain and beneath three red clover tiles,'" Land God said word by word.

  "The complete true visualization scripture lies in the valley of a thousand shadows south of Black River Fort, at the dried fountain and beneath three red clover tiles?" Xun Xie repeated, unknowingly.

  He thought to himself, seems this scripture is important.

  "Yes, remember, the complete true visualization scripture lies in the valley of a thousand shadows south of Black River Fort, at the dried fountain and beneath three red clover tiles." Land God was afraid Xun Xie wouldn't remember, so he repeated it word by word. After repeating it for 33 minutes, he finally stopped.

  "The scripture cannot be touched as it's been cursed by a great evil, even the teacher eventually fell by its hands. So tell him not to touch it, there is a talisman there that can send him to the ancestral lands. He must go and bring back masters to solve it. Teacher and all the disciples of our lineage of the Five Tigers Celestial Gate have been searching for it for several millennia until he finally found it in a lost secret realm. Unfortunately, he met an untimely end on the way back and missed the last step. Once my junior retrieves it, he can fulfill the teacher's last wish. It has also become my final wish. Remember the curse is very powerful, even if the years have weakened it, so you must urge him not to touch it or get too close - just fetch the talisman and go."

  The Earth God sighed several times thinking of his teacher and past, before once again urging Xun Xie.

  Xun Xie nodded as if he'd been taught. This was nothing specific like the location which wasn't hard either, thus it was easy to remember.

  "Then please."

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  The land master handed over the seal again.

  Xun Xie took it in his hand. The seal was full of mucus, which was disgusting. He wiped it with his sleeve, looked left and right, and turned to the bottom.

  On the seal were written three words he couldn't read: Right of land!

  Then, he looked up at Earth God and asked after clarifying the meaning, "How to use this seal?"

  "It's very simple. You can find a piece of unowned land, stamp it on the ground, and that piece of land is yours," Land God said.

  "That's it?" Xun Xie was speechless for a while. He dared to say this was very casual.

  Are all gods so casual?

  Seeing Xun Xie's contempt, Lord Earth laughed, "It's simple to say, but it's not that simple. After all, Land God is a yin god, and if you want to strengthen yourself, you can't do without the incense offerings of mortals. Land, build ancestral halls and temples, and accept the worship of thousands of people. But think about it carefully, those good places where the incense flourishes, will it be your turn?"

  Xun Xie thought about it too.

  Would a pretty girl be single?

  Probably not.

  "Besides, you haven't cultivated into a Yin God. If you want to harness the power of the seal, you have to swallow it," Earth God added.

  "What?"

  Xun Xie stared incredulously at the mucus-covered seal. Swallow it?!

  Earth God nodded. "This seal can make your soul leave your body. If you gather enough incense power, you can call wind and rain, traverse realms, and obtain all kinds of magical powers. In this way, you could entrust people with dreams, but such magical power is rare after all and not common for all earth gods. My magical powers have all faded with my believers, so unfortunately after passing on my position you will not inherit the supernatural powers."

  Xun Xie's heart burned with indignation. So it was this useless god couldn't even entrust dreams to believers, yet powers like calling wind and rain were possible!

  It wasn’t that it was impossible, it was that he was incompetent!

  How worthless!

  "Young Xun, you must bring the words to him."

  The land master repeatedly warned, oblivious to the child's contempt, and offered a temptation: "My junior brother Hu Piao is a martial arts master. You can learn from him as a teacher and learn a skill. One day you will become a master of refining gods, plus the identity of a land god - hehe, at least a minor hero. After you deliver the words you'll even greatly benefit from it."

  Hearing this, Xun Xie finally relaxed completely. This earth God was indeed dying and should have no power to harm him. Otherwise, wouldn't a dignified God just curse him into obedience? Why be so humble?

  Unable to even entrust dreams - how shabby and incompetent, though Xun Xie kept these thoughts to himself.

  "Be sure to bring the words to..."

  As he spoke, Earth God's body became increasingly transparent, finally dissolving into particles of light.

  Death is wonderful.

  Xun Xie wasn't ungrateful. He sighed and bowed deeply where Earth God had stood.

  When he raised his head, he caught a glimpse of a faint glow from the hall. Stretching to look, he saw a small square stamp on the ground, composed entirely of light.

  Stepping forward, he compared it to his seal. The stamp matched perfectly, though surprisingly it seemed the stamp had come first.

  So, this was the "occupation of land with the seal" the Landlord mentioned.

  "I inherited the position of the land god, so this valley should be mine too, right?"

  Xun Xie had become a god in a hurry, understanding nothing, only able to guess.

  Looking at the seal, he muttered, "Just swallow it in your stomach?"

  "This thing, eat it in your stomach..."

  He hesitated again and again, afraid of accidentally killing himself by swallowing it. Plus, it was disgusting.

  But the glowing stamps on the ground, full of magic, made his heart itch with temptation.

  Try it...?

  It was the power of a god after all - even if weak at first, it's still a certified deity!

  After hesitating, Xun Xie ran to the well. He drew up half a bucket of water and meticulously cleaned the seal - thirty-six thorough scrubbings, then cleaned it with dirt and another thirty-six washes, then a third cycle. Finally, trying desperately not to think about the mucus, he solemnly placed it in his mouth.

  The seal wasn't large, fitting in his mouth like a spring roll. At this critical moment, Xun Xie couldn't bring himself to swallow. Who knew what would happen if such a hard object entered his stomach? Besides, the Land God himself said one must be a yin god to be a God of the land - unlike him, just a mortal.

  Gollum!

  Suddenly, Xun Xie dry heaved. He hadn't even tried to swallow, yet the nasty thing had slipped down his throat.

  Panicked, he bent over trying to vomit, but nothing came up from his empty stomach. A chill spread from his gut throughout his entire body.

  Boom!

  Xun Xie felt top-heavy, floating upward - and then he saw a figure below.

  It was him!

  Stunned, he examined his new form - transparent and enveloped in gentle light. At its center, visible in his body's belly below, was the seal.

  "Could it be that my soul is out of my body?"

  The realization hit him. His mind moved, wanting to return to his body, and immediately he sank down and merged with it. He tested his limbs - everything felt normal. Silently, he thought "out of body."

  Instantly, his transparent soul left again.

  "This... it's amazing!" Xun Xie kept rising, passing straight through the roof into the air. Only then did he see the huge circle of light encompassing the entire valley.

  And at its center - the Temple of the Earth. Or more precisely, the seal in the main hall.

  "It's really circled a piece of land..."

  Xun Xie marveled. So this was how it worked - the earth God seals the land and controls a world.

  The question was - how to control it?

  He looked around, wanting to explore beyond the valley. But as soon as he tried, his form rushed forward and bounced off the barrier of light.

  Unhurt, he reached out to touch the barrier again, feeling its resistance.

  "It seems that I can only stay within the aperture."

  Xun Xie contemplated this limitation. Earth God was a yin god, likely able to leave the aperture at will. But not him.

  He hadn't become a yin god - he'd only achieved this out-of-body state through the magic of land god canonization.

  Enclosing the land was the main thing, but it also drew the land as a prison for himself.