Shanmen Temple

  Just as Lin Xu had left the crash site, a gaunt black figure suddenly emerged from the silent depths of the forest in less than ten minutes.

  As he did so, the mysterious visitor with a short stature bent down to carefully examine the faint marks left on the ground. His meticulous appearance seemed as if he could explore the ultimate mystery of the origin of the universe from the remaining large pit on the ground. However, the giant stone that originally stood here and Lin Xuan's body that fell from the sky had all turned into golden light particles not long ago, and then transformed into the golden body and equipment of a newly promoted deity, so there would be no obvious traces left on the ground for investigation.

  After a long investigation in front of the big pit, this mysterious visitor stood up with great disappointment and looked around at the surrounding grass and trees, as if he was unwilling to give up.

  At this time, only a few rustling sounds were heard from the nearby bushes, and a large black shadow emerged from the dense bushes with difficulty, panting and saying:

  "Hey, Doctor Bei, how come you're drinking halfway and then ran out? Is there something urgent going on or can't you handle the wine? Hahaha..."

  At the sound, the thin black shadow previously known as Beidafu let out a few cold laughs. After a moment, in the darkness where one's hand couldn't be seen, Beidafu's voice, hoarse and dry like fingernails scratching on a blackboard, rang out, saying coldly:

  "Oh, never mind, I guess I was just being paranoid!"

  Upon hearing this, the big black shadow opposite him immediately covered his forehead with his hand and said helplessly:

  "Goodness! Who in the world doesn't know that you're born with a suspicious mind?! Let's hurry back, or else if Mr. Huo comes out to offer a toast and can't find you, what will we do then?"

  Not unexpectedly, a burst of hoarse and unpleasant laughter passed, and the lean black figure later called Beidaifu nodded and said:

  "Alas, it's indeed so... let's just go together."

  The two black shadows, one fat and one thin, were about to leave the place when the shadow known as Beidaifu felt a stumble under his feet. The tip of his copper-plated boot seemed to have hit something hard, resulting in a crisp metallic collision sound.

  Suddenly discovering an unexpected situation, the normally cautious and suspicious Dr. Bei immediately bent down, picked up a piece of silver-white metal submerged in the weeds and fallen leaves.

  If Lin Xu were here at this moment, he would probably be able to recognize that the metal fragment with a distorted shape like a dough twist was from the shell of the crashed Airbus.

  "What a strange thing is this?"

  With the demon's night vision ability far surpassing that of humans, the dark surroundings did not hinder Dr. Bei from carefully examining the object in his hand. Unfortunately, despite his self-proclaimed vast knowledge, he was still unable to discern what this silver-white metal, as light as wood and yet extremely hard, was or where it came from. It seemed like gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin, but none of them matched.

  After frowning and thinking for a moment, Dr. Bei turned his head to the side and said to the stout figure who was panting heavily beside him:

  "Jia, little brother, I'll be troubling you tomorrow. Please inform the various cave-dwelling demon kings in the mountains that if they discover any strange or unusual objects within the next few days, they should send them directly to my cave."

  A night without moonlight was a blur, in the darkness it was impossible to see the true face of the big black shadow. It laughed loudly and raised its hand, slapping Dr. Bei's back so hard that he almost spat out blood.

  Then, all I heard was this big guy saying in a completely careless tone:

  "Alright, whatever you say. Today's drinking session is the top priority, let's head back early, don't make Lord Heshan wait anxiously, with his short temper and explosive personality, he'll blow up like a firework, aren't you afraid?"

  "Ding Dong! Hoo-ah---Kill!"

  Through the screening of the trees ahead, there came a low, ominous growl and snarl of beasts, followed by a series of sharp metallic clashing sounds and waves of shouting.

  It was pitch dark and Lin Xu was unfamiliar with the local environment, having just arrived. He wandered around in the mountains for half a night but still couldn't find the right place.

  As Lin Xu approached the dense forest that blocked his view, the sky was near dawn, and with a touch of white in the east, the situation on the battlefield not far away was clearly visible.

  The number of people involved in this brawl was not large, and there were probably less than a hundred in total. For this reason, Lin Xu subconsciously defined this armed conflict as a group fight rather than a battle. Only those small countries with a few people who are arrogant and want to raise the value of their ancestors would habitually call a few hundred people's armed conflict a "battle", and a fight with less than 10,000 people is called a "war". If it were in ancient China, during times of drought when villagers fought over water or had clan feuds, the scale of the conflict was much larger than this so-called "war".

  As soon as he arrived at the battlefield of mutual slaughter, Lin Xu did not take action, but instead used his curious gaze to scrutinize the appearance of both sides' combatants. When he saw clearly, he was suddenly shocked and lost color.

  One side of the warring parties has a human-like appearance, which is not worth mentioning. In contrast, the other camp has a truly distinctive and unique appearance.

  Just one glance from Lin Xu and it's clear that they're all freaks with fur and horns, their appearance is similar to those southwestern opera performers who wear grotesque masks, these guys don't need makeup to achieve the same effect.

  "You bunch of good-for-nothings who were born from eggs in the mud, how dare you cause trouble right in front of the Mountain God Temple? You are truly lawless and reckless."

  The shouting from below sounded like some sort of dialect at first, but Lin Xu, as an outsider, somehow understood it without any barriers, perhaps thanks to the cram-school education of his predecessor, Huo Shan, or maybe it was just a divine instinct.

  The mountain temple mentioned in the mutual abuse was also seen by Lin Xu at this time. The mountain temple is not far from here, and under the cover of the woods behind the battlefield, the flying eaves and red walls are exposed.

  This majestic temple complex stands on a small hill, with the background of a towering white mountain peak behind it, like a giant pillar that holds up the sky. Under the contrast of the surrounding gentle hills and endless mountains, the mountainous terrain of this main peak appears even more steep and magnificent.

  "It's about to start, where is the guy? Am I supposed to fight with bare hands?"

  It has to be said that even just standing by and watching the commotion requires a cost, just as Lin Xu was painstakingly pondering the origins of these group fighters, an arrow suddenly flew past his eyes from who-knows-where. Fortunately, Lin Xu's reaction was quick enough, and he leaned back in time, avoiding it with a perfect dodging motion. If not, it's likely that from now on, his nose would have two more nostrils to help him breathe.

  When Lin Xu realized that being a bystander also had risks and he urgently needed a weapon to defend himself, he started searching his body with his head down.

  In people's usual impression, the mountain gods are all dressed as generals. In any case, those who are qualified to wear a suit of armor would not be so poor that they don't even have a decent sword in their hands, as armor is much more expensive than weapons.

  As expected, Lin Xu's guess was not wrong at all. When he made a move in his mind, the armor on his body seemed to sense his thoughts and immediately emitted a small amount of golden light particles. These light particles danced lightly and gathered together, and within the blink of an eye, a majestic but obviously infringing on someone else's intellectual property rights qinglong偃yue knife appeared in Lin Xu's palm.

  An old saying goes: "With a sharp tool in hand, the desire to kill arises naturally."

  Now Lin Xu had a weapon in his hand that was quite intimidating, and his courage also increased greatly. After simmering his emotions for a moment, he loudly asked:

  "Halt! I am the God of Huo Mountain. Which evil creature dares to be so presumptuous in front of the mountain god temple?"

  Perhaps it was due to the instinct of the gods that at the moment when Lin Xu shouted, his entire body emitted a dazzling golden light.

  The brilliance of this light is comparable to a dazzling tens of thousands of watts bulb. Whoever dares to gaze directly at Lin Xu's radiant and majestic appearance at this moment will probably end up with tears streaming down their face, of course, these hot tears are brought out by the intense light.

  "What a great honor! The mountain god has returned. Congratulations, Master! We pay our respects to you."

  Under the intense light, the Yin soldiers belonging to the Mountain God's side couldn't see Lin Xuan's appearance suspended in mid-air either. However, they dared to call themselves the Mountain God of Huo, and looking at that person's showy and arrogant appearance, it was estimated that he wouldn't be some small fry pretending to be him. Immediately, the Yin soldiers from the Temple of Huo Mountain God knelt down and kowtowed in Lin Xuan's direction, shouting "Wan Fu" repeatedly.

  "The wind is blowing strongly! It's no good! Run quickly!"

  On the battlefield, it is a comprehensive strength competition. Apart from the number of people, equipment and strategy, the factors that determine the outcome of a battle are the morale of soldiers.

  One side's good news is naturally the other side's bad luck. Lin Xu's unexpected declaration of sovereignty shocked this group of obviously inexperienced turtle monsters, they were all discouraged from fighting, shouting and fleeing in all directions.

  The yin soldiers belonging to the Mountain God Temple also couldn't be bothered to chase and kill those scattered enemies at this time. All eyes in the scene were focused on Lin Xu's body. Since this stranger claimed to be Huo Shan Shen, for the personnel of the Mountain God Temple, this was undoubtedly a top priority, and other things had to take a back seat in comparison.

  Compared to those gullible little soldiers, the two deputy generals Wang Liang and Zhang Xin, who were in charge of leading the team, had a more cautious attitude towards this new mountain god.

  In the initial negotiations between the two sides, the two deputy generals tactfully suggested that they would like to see Lin Xu's identity certificate. Who can't speak empty words with a red mouth and white teeth? It's not convincing just by talking. As the old saying goes, private documents rely on certificates, and official documents rely on seals. Since Mountain God wants to take office, you should have some legal procedures in hand!

  Regarding this matter, Lin Xu, who was still in the dark, humbly asked for advice from the two deputy generals. Only then did he suddenly realize and take off a palm-sized, gold-rimmed jade pendant from his waistband, which was truly a magnificent ornament.

  It wasn't until then that Lin Xu knew that this exquisitely shaped decorative item was formally called the "Jade Quanjin", which served as a universal identity proof for all heavenly gods and earthly spirits.

  In short, regardless of their position, all the gods have one thing in common: a tiger-striped bronze button seal. The mountain god, whether he is dispatching troops or exchanging documents with his superiors and subordinates, cannot do without this ancient bronze seal, which is also a unique ritual object that proves the identity of the mountain god.