In ordinary times, Ji Yuan didn't have a strong intuitive grasp of incense and wish power. Although he knew that the expansion of the Water God Temple was going very well, he lacked a clear concept.
However, at this moment, as the devout followers of the Tianyi Water God Temple in five counties and surrounding areas offered their most sincere prayers.
He finally realized what a vast source of power he now possessed!
Each county had a population of at least hundreds of thousands, and the Water God Temple had expanded to over a dozen counties of varying sizes over the years.
Among them were three second-tier counties, with the rest being third-tier.
Including the surrounding towns and villages, the population was nearly ten million!
While not everyone believed in the Tianyi Water God, even one-tenth of that number would be astonishing.
The immense wish power generated, all converged through the statues in various locations to the divine hall at the summit of Mount Xiaoyuan.
With almost every breath, the golden light and auspicious clouds atop the mountain became brighter and more brilliant.
Ji Yuan could also feel his divine soul bathing in a warm aura, strengthening him constantly even without deliberately absorbing and refining it.
This amount of wish power, described as immense, was a quantity that ordinary deities would struggle to accumulate even after centuries of operation.
Furthermore, the oppressive aura of several powerful beings made the people's prayers incredibly devout, resulting in very pure wish power, devoid of the usual seven emotions and six desires.
"The clash of the mighty beings has, in fact, benefited me greatly."
Ji Yuan smiled helplessly, his eyes filled with emotion.
He then shifted his attention to the distant Fuyuan River. However, the aura of the Great Dao there was muddled, and a destructive power surged, making it impossible for anyone to peer into it.
Several hours later, as the sky gradually brightened, the terrifying power in heaven and earth rapidly receded, and soon returned to normal.
The aura of the powerful beings dissipated completely. The populace, who had been in fear all night, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Many had already reached their breaking point and fainted on the ground.
This anomaly had come and gone as quickly as it arrived. With the divine abilities and means of the mighty beings, several hours were indeed not a long time.
Under normal circumstances, unless there was a vast disparity between the two sides, battles between powerful beings could last for days, or even one to two months.
However, although the battle had ended, the Fuyuan River remained shrouded in the aura of several Great Daos, preventing outsiders from discerning the situation within.
After much deliberation, Ji Yuan abandoned the idea of dispatching a divine power clone to investigate.
At least, from the current situation, the righteous god of Fuyuan River was not in mortal danger, nor had the attacker succeeded.
This was because he did not sense the aura of a deity's demise.
Given Wu Qingyuan's divine position, if anything were to happen to him, the Great Dao of this realm would have already been thrown into chaos.
Not to mention that if he were to perish, the collapse of his divine position would create a disturbance capable of causing ripples for thousands of miles, triggering a cataclysm.
"As expected of a righteous god who became a River God in over a hundred years, a deity comparable to a powerful being."
Ji Yuan couldn't help but sigh with admiration.
Under the siege of several powerful beings of the same cultivation realm, he had remained unharmed and seemingly repelled the attackers.
This demonstrated Wu Qingyuan's strength, and his title as the strongest Water God of Feiyun County was well-deserved.
After gazing into the distance for a long time, Ji Yuan turned and returned to the divine land.
The first thing he did was to distribute nearly half of the wish power he had gained overnight through the Tianyi Water God statues across the land, returning it to the people.
He even went so far as to expend a large amount of incense power, transforming it into immense divine power to cast wide-ranging divine arts, ensuring that the people affected by the aura of the powerful beings would not be in mortal danger.
Afterward, he closed the divine land, leaving only a sliver of an opening to maintain contact with his divine power clone.
As the statues in various locations displayed divine miracles, pure wish power soon converged again. Although not as vast as last night, it was still a considerable amount.
This continued for about one to two hours before gradually diminishing.
However, within that short period, the incense and wish power he had previously consumed was almost replenished.
Ji Yuan sighed and then began to study the basic books in his hand, absorbing all the nourishment possible to solidify his Dao foundation.
Several days passed in a hurry, and Liu Qi finally returned to the Xiaoyuan Mountain Water God Temple with his men.
He was covered in dust, and his aura had weakened considerably, clearly indicating that he had suffered no small injuries.
However, it was understandable. Being affected by the aura of powerful beings at close range, being able to keep his life was already fortunate.
"You've worked hard."
Ji Yuan's divine power clone couldn't help but offer words of comfort.
Hearing this, Liu Qi repeatedly shook his head, his eyes devoid of any resentment.
He then proceeded to recount the information he had gathered during these past few days, detailing every bit of it.
After the battle ended that day, the righteous god of Fuyuan River returned to his water mansion. The defensive formations he activated were not deactivated and only returned to normal early this morning.
At the same time, the righteous god of Fuyuan River revealed his true form and patrolled the entire great river from beginning to end, without concealing his aura in the slightest.
This action was likely intended to convey to all parties that he was unharmed, to deter any ill-intentioned entities from harboring any thoughts.
"It's also possible that he's doing this deliberately."
Ji Yuan muttered inwardly, guessing that the other party might be facing some trouble and had to act this way to dissuade certain individuals.
A moment later, he looked at Liu Qi before him and nodded slowly, "You've done very well."
Before his words had even faded, the void behind him distorted, and over a dozen jade bottles slowly flew out.
These jade bottles landed before Liu Qi, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance.
"Go and rest."
Ji Yuan left behind a sentence, and then this divine power clone merged into the divine statue in the divine hall.
Liu Qi put away the jade bottles, his eyes filled with joy. After a respectful bow, he quietly withdrew from the divine hall.
In the divine land, Ji Yuan slowly closed the book in his hand and then murmured, "There are still over ten years..."
Less than half of the thirty-year period remained, yet his true cultivation realm was still in the early stage of the third realm.
Although he was not far from the middle stage, he was not yet able to break through immediately.
And after that, there were the late stage and peak realms, which would require even more time.
In addition, attempting to break through to the Core Formation stage would also consume a considerable amount of time.
Unknowingly, a sense of urgency began to creep into Ji Yuan's heart. If he could not successfully form a Golden Core within ten years, many unforeseen circumstances might arise.
As his cultivation realm steadily increased, he could already sense certain premonitions about himself from the depths of the unknown.