Guardian Deity!

The outer perimeter of the Greystone Mountains is characterized by jagged rocks and towering ancient trees.

Lin Mo's figure moved like a ghost, swiftly traversing the rugged mountains and dense forests.

Two identical mirror images of him materialized on his left and right, silently guarding his path forward.

With a slight thought, the black sword at his waist emitted a faint glow.

Dozens of phantom images of various shapes emerged from the sword.

These were the various monsters and undead beast kings that had been absorbed previously.

They let out a silent roar, transformed into streaks of light, and rushed into the forest ahead.

A highly efficient and ruthless battle to clear the map has begun.

[Defeat Rockback Boar (lv24), Soul Absorption, All Attributes +10]

[Slay the Shadow Sable (Elite Lv28), absorb its soul, all attributes +50]

[Sword Steel effect triggered...]

The cold prompts and the subtle, warm currents of his senses pulsed steadily within his consciousness.

All attributes are steadily increasing, and the defensive enhancement brought by [Sword Steel] is also accumulating with each silent strike.

After a period of relentless killing and running, Lin Mo soon arrived at a relatively open valley.

In the valley, the sounds of fierce fighting and roars broke the silence of the mountains and forests.

A caravan of about twenty people is being besieged by more than a dozen swift and ghostly shadow cat demons.

These cat demons are generally level 20 or above.

Its claws carry a paralyzing toxin and it excels at launching sneak attacks using the terrain's shadows.

The caravan's guards were of average strength, with the highest level being no more than eighteen or nineteen.

The formation had been broken into pieces, and the goods were scattered all over the ground.

"Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have taken this shortcut!"

A burly man with a full beard, who seemed to be the leader, wielded a nicked machete and barely managed to parry the attack of a cat demon.

A bloody gash appeared on his arm, and the numbness spread rapidly, causing him to freeze in his tracks.

Just as the cat demons saw their chance, their eyes flashed with bloodlust, and they all pounced on the burly man.

Just then, a ghostly blue afterimage appeared, moving even faster than before, cutting between the cat demon and the burly man!

The afterimage's true form was a giant mantis-like undead covered in a dark blue carapace.

Its forelimbs' sharp claws swung and clashed in the air, instantly transforming into an impenetrable net of death.

Hiss hiss hiss hiss—!

The sickening sound of cutting rang out in rapid succession.

The few Dark Cat Demons that pounced on them didn't even have time to scream before they were dismembered by the Blade Net in just two or three breaths.

The mangled corpse, mixed with fragments of internal organs, rolled down the hillside.

This sudden turn of events abruptly halted the remaining cat demons' offensive.

The caravan members were stunned, and the burly man who had escaped death was frozen in place.

Staring wide-eyed at the unbelievable scene before him.

Followed by.

rustling...

From the shadows of the surrounding woods, one after another, ghostly figures exuding a chilling aura of death appeared.

Wind Wolf, Rockback Boar, Shadow Sable, Tree Spirit...

Undead creatures of various shapes and sizes silently emerged.

Like a tide, it instantly engulfed the remaining Dark Cat Demons.

There was no fierce confrontation, no room for screams.

Wherever the undead army passed, it left behind only the corpses of cat demons that quickly lost their life.

Its cleanliness and efficiency were chilling.

"It's...it's him!"

A young guard pointed tremblingly to the hillside to the side.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing.

Not far away, on a steep hillside, a figure appeared out of nowhere.

The man, dressed in an inconspicuous black cloak, stood there quietly.

The shadow of the hood covered most of his face, leaving only his sharply defined jawline visible.

He surveyed the valley indifferently, his gaze calm and unwavering.

Yet it instilled a chill and a sense of insignificance in all who met its gaze.

too weak.

This was Lin Mo's only judgment after sensing the aura of the caravan below.

Their highest level is less than 20, and their soul quality is low; the attribute points gained from slaughtering them are barely enough to fill a tooth gap.

Moreover, his primary goal right now is not attribute value, but to hunt down higher-level beast kings to level up quickly.

Once he made up his mind, he didn't linger.

The dark shadow on the hillside flickered slightly and disappeared silently, as if it had never been there.

In the valley below.

The caravan members, who had narrowly escaped death, stood there for a long time before recovering from the immense shock and bewilderment.

"That...that was just now..."

"It was that sir who saved us!"

"He...he just left like that?"

"Those ghostly monsters...were they summoned by him too? Who exactly is he...?"

The relief of surviving the ordeal was quickly replaced by an indescribable sense of awe.

They couldn't understand the man's identity or motives.

But that overwhelming strength, and that nonchalant attitude of leaving without a trace, were deeply imprinted in their hearts.

Pfft!

The burly leader was the first to kneel heavily in the direction where the dark figure disappeared.

His forehead hit the gravel ground with a dull thud.

"Thank you, divine being, for saving my life!!"

This kneeling was like opening a floodgate.

The remaining survivors, regardless of the severity of their injuries, all knelt down as well.

Tears streaming down his face, he kept bowing in the direction of the deserted hillside.

"Gods help us! Gods help us!"

"Thank you for saving us!"

……

They attributed the incomprehensible power to the gods.

They viewed the unexpected rescue as a miracle.

Soon after, the caravan arrived at Mingbei City.

They embellished and spread their bizarre experiences.

The story spread rapidly through taverns, marketplaces, and mercenary guilds.

Each retelling adds new details and imagination.

"Have you heard? A god has descended upon the Graystone Mountains! He hunts monsters and protects travelers!"

"More than that! It's said that this god is clad in black robes, with eyes like lightning, and can mow down level 20 or 30 monsters like cutting grass!"

"It must be the guardian deity of Mingbei City! Think about it, the city lord just rectified the city and purged the nobles, and the deity immediately began to cleanse the city of demonic scourges outside. There must be a connection between these two things!"

"That makes sense! Even the gods are on the city lord's side, which means the city lord is doing the right thing! It's for the good of us ordinary people!"

……

The rumors intensified, and when the caravan members sketched a rough portrait of the black-robed deity from memory, the entire city of Mingbei was in an uproar!

"It's him! It's him! It's him! The black-robed man who killed Qian Wanguan with a single sword strike a few days ago at the city lord's mansion!"

"No wonder the city lord suddenly became so assertive; it turns out he has divine support behind him!"

"I understand! He's here to reorganize the city first, then to clear out the areas outside! He's determined to restore peace to the northern part of the city!"

"Guardian deity! This is the guardian deity of our Mingbei City!"

……

The public automatically conjured up a logically consistent legend in their minds.

Inside the city lord's mansion, Otem looked at the petitions requesting the erection of a statue of the "Guardian Deity".

My blockhead almost crashed.

It recalled that not long ago, it and its boss were secretly causing trouble in a tavern room, while it was being humiliated in the street by a hero...

How long has it been?

He, a deserter from the Demon King's army, became the city lord.

And the eldest brother actually became a guardian deity revered by thousands?

"……but,"

Ottwood's wooden lips seemed to twitch slightly: "This doesn't seem so bad?"