At the city gate, Lu Sang, the current leader of the Fusang Tribe, descended with the Divine Guard.
Her gaze, tinged with nervousness, swept over Li Chang’an and the Hell Humans behind him before finally settling on their leader. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Excuse me... you said your name is Li Chang’an?"
To others, Li Chang’an might have been a perfectly ordinary name.
But to the Fusang Tribe, the name Li Chang’an had only ever belonged to one person: Fusang’s original Guardian God, the Martial Ancestor whom the Martial God Man Yu had never forgotten, even on her deathbed.
Of course, even within the Fusang Tribe, only a handful of core leaders knew Li Chang’an’s true name.
Lu Sang herself had only heard fragments from her grandmother, Man Yu. It wasn’t until she became the tribe’s leader that she gained the authority to read the clan’s archives.
—Over four hundred years ago, Li Chang’an, the Ancestor of Martial Arts and the Fusang Tribe’s one and only Guardian God, passed down the Martial Dao and founded the Divine Shadow Guard.
But due to a massive siege by the Celestial Realm, the Guardian God and the tribe were scattered and forced to flee.
Since then, Li Chang’an, the Guardian God, had vanished from the Mortal Realm.
All the surviving members of the Fusang Tribe searched for him in secret. Some, upon hearing news of his whereabouts, even followed his escape route all the way to the vicinity of the Fire Realm...
At that time, the Fusang Tribe was being jointly targeted by other tribes and the gods of the Celestial Realm, and its survival was uncertain from one day to the next.
And yet, the tribe still took enormous risks to search far and wide for any trace of Li Chang’an, a testament to how highly they valued him.
The search lasted for more than a hundred years.
Eventually, many came to believe the Guardian God had died in the gods’ siege and lost the motivation to continue their search, which had become like finding a needle in a haystack.
Only Man Yu never gave up.
Man Yu wandered far and wide. While she was publicly known for spreading the Martial Dao, her more important goal was actually to find some trace of Li Chang’an.
It was for this very reason that the True God from the Celestial Realm found Man Yu’s trail so easily, killing her with a single wave of his hand and reducing her to a bloody pulp.
As Man Yu’s granddaughter, Lu Sang had always been pessimistic about the whereabouts of their legendary Guardian God. She never expected that, so many years after her grandmother’s death, a human claiming to be Li Chang’an would suddenly arrive at Martial God City and ask to see her by name...
At this moment, as she faced Li Chang’an, Lu Sang was clearly being cautious. It would be no exaggeration to say her feelings were incredibly complex.
Li Chang’an nodded. "I am Li Chang’an, your former Guardian God!"
At this answer, it wasn’t just Lu Sang; even the members of the Divine Shadow Guard beside her all exchanged glances of bewilderment.
Lu Sang opened her mouth but said nothing.
Instead, a younger member of the Divine Shadow Guard behind her spoke, her voice clear and crisp. "Do you have any proof? Our Guardian God didn’t look anything like you do now!"
Her words clearly represented the feelings of most people present.
The existence of the Guardian God was no secret within the Fusang Tribe. Although the tribe had been without a Guardian God for centuries, legends about him still circulated among the Fusang and throughout Martial God City.
Hearing this, Li Chang’an smiled. He once again used the Spirit Communication Skill to revert to his original form: a majestic, awe-inspiring black and gold dragon that radiated a chilling aura.
Everyone was clearly taken aback.
The common folk in Martial God City, who had been watching out of curiosity, were so frightened by the sight that their faces turned ashen and they scattered in a panic.
Lu Sang and the members of the Divine Shadow Guard did not retreat.
Their gazes, fixed on Li Chang’an, were filled with excitement and a mix of complex emotions.
Though it was the first time they had laid eyes on him, Li Chang’an was no stranger to them. At the very top of the Temple’s ancestral hall stood a giant statue.
Carved upon it was the very same black dragon that now stood before them.
Of course, his most conspicuous features were not his dense scales or near-perfect proportions, but the two light-purple horns atop his head.
Every detail clearly proclaimed his identity. This was, without a doubt, the very Guardian God whom the great Martial God had so desperately longed to find.
And so, after a moment of stunned silence, every member of the Divine Guard, including their leader Lu Sang, knelt in unison. They spoke with the utmost respect, "Fusang welcomes the return of our Guardian God!"
Following their lead, the surrounding Fusang Clan People, still bewildered by the situation, also began to kneel. In an instant, a vast, dense crowd was kneeling near the city gate.
Behind him, the humans from Hell watched this scene, all looking rather astonished.
Apparently, none of them had ever imagined Li Chang’an held such high status in the outside world. The mere reveal of his true form was enough to make so many humans prostrate themselves in worship.
Li Chang’an waved a hand, signaling that they did not need to kneel, then cut straight to the point. "What is the current status of your war with the Celestial Realm?"
Hearing Li Chang’an ask about the war, Lu Sang, still kneeling, looked up. "Guardian God," she said, "you have been gone for so many years. Please, allow me to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony to announce your return. As for these other matters, perhaps we can discuss them after the ceremony is complete!"
Although human society had advanced, sacrificial rites remained the highest priority for all the major tribes.