Chapter 71: When the Gods Demand Your Death

While Li Li Boyang was recovering from his injuries, time did not pause for even an instant.

Due to the complete annihilation of the Ghost Rong Clan, the entire Ghost Fang Kingdom mobilized in emergency.

As a dominant power in the south, the Ghost Fang Kingdom had encountered forces daring to resist it before.

However, a situation where the Ghost Rong Clan was utterly wiped out and even the Howling Sky Clan was forcibly expelled had occurred only once since the kingdom's founding.

That time, the Ghost Fang Kingdom deployed its entire force, casting the living beings of an entire nation into the Prison Soul Cauldron to forcibly refine a ghost god saturated with resentment.

That ghost god was named "Tu Fang," and the erased nation was known as the "Tu Fang Kingdom."

"You should know what fate awaits you upon your return, correct?"

Standing atop the tall and broad altar, the current Grand Priest of the Ghost Fang Kingdom asked thus.

Kneeling at his feet was none other than the sole survivor of the Ghost Rong Clan, Mu Zheng's deputy—Deep and Heavy.

At this moment, Deep and Heavy no longer resembled that handsome youth of old.

More than half his body had been struck by lightning, turning pitch black...

Half his face had been burned to the point of disfigurement...

Had one not seen it with their own eyes, it would be hard to believe this demon-like visage belonged to that former youth.

Moreover, Deep and Heavy's limbs were not original but exquisitely crafted wooden prosthetics.

From bone joints to finger knuckles, they were so refined and perfect they hardly seemed products of this era.

"I know; I am already prepared."

Slowly raising his head, Deep and Heavy's disfigured face revealed an expression of anger and a cruel, grim smile.

"Grand Priest, the prestige of the Ghost Rong Clan shall be reforged in blood and fire!"

"And I am willing to become that 'first drop of blood,' to become the 'ritual vessel' for the Five Directional Gods to reshape the human world!"

Hearing this, the Grand Priest nodded with considerable satisfaction.

"In that case, leap into this blood pool!"

"I shall use the blood of ten thousand to reshape your body, making you an agent capable of bearing the majesty of the gods."

As if responding to the Grand Priest's words, the axe-wielding executioners who had long waited to one side immediately raised their blades and struck.

Crack!

As human heads rolled down the altar one by one, resentment nearly materialized shot straight up into the sky.

Directly beneath the altar, within that massive pit of ten thousand.

Corpses nearly filled the entire pit flat, while scarlet blood flowed in a bizarre manner.

A terrifying sacrificial ritual quietly unfolded as wild and ancient power descended upon this world.

"For the glory of the Tun Chao Clan!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Deep and Heavy pierced his own skull with his prosthetic limb.

Squelch!

As blood flowed from his seven orifices along with his brain matter,

Deep and Heavy strangely rose to his feet and then, without hesitation, threw himself into the blood pool below.

Boom-rumble...

In an instant, stormy Lei Ting flashed within the blood pool.

A Prophetic Talisman, similar yet far more sinister than the twelve talismans Li Li Boyang knew, was taking shape.

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Behind the altar, within the temple of the Five Directional Gods.

The young priest holding the skull scepter silently watched all this, yet emotions he ought not to possess surfaced in his eyes.

The young priest and Deep and Heavy were companions selected simultaneously as "priest candidates."

It was just that the young priest ultimately passed through layer upon layer of trials, earning the right to wield the skull scepter.

Deep and Heavy, however, was eliminated and eventually joined the Ghost Rong Clan, established with the purpose of guarding the priests' glory.

"You are wavering again?"

Accompanied by a long, drawn-out sigh, an elderly priest emerged from behind the young priest.

"Xuan Hui, you are destined to inherit my mantle and preside over poison curses and healing as a priest..."

"If you so frequently shake your faith in the gods, sooner or later you will follow in You Xiao's footsteps."

Turning his head to look at his teacher, Xuan Hui lowered his head with a bitter smile.

"I merely feel... Deep and Heavy should not have died so meaninglessly."

"He is the most outstanding warrior I have ever seen, a fierce general capable of facing alien gods without dying."

"Moreover, he endured my witch-curse modification, possessing limbs even more perfect than flesh and blood..."

"In any case, keeping him to reforge the Ghost Rong Clan is a better option than 'blood sacrifice'..."

Hearing the hint of rebellion in Xuan Hui's words, the old priest remained silent for a long time.

After all, if even Xuan Hui could see it, how could the priests, old and cunning as they were, fail to notice?

As the smartest and most wise group of this era, the priests were, in most instances, acting against their own will.

Because there were things that could be done, but could not be spoken.

"Deep and Heavy should not have returned, and you should not have saved him."

After a brief silence, the old priest let out another long sigh.

"Had he not returned, had you not saved him, we could have turned a blind eye and pretended he died in battle."

"But he insisted on returning, and furthermore, he found you, a priest..."

"The Grand Priest and the Lord of the State can no longer pretend to be ignorant, even if they wished to."

At these words, Xuan Hui was instantly stunned.

He never expected in any way that this karma, after winding around, would circle back to himself.

Fortunately, Xuan Hui was not truly a fool; he quickly realized where the real problem lay.

"It is the Gods! The Gods want him dead!?"

Xuan Hui, his pupils trembling violently, gaped with eyes full of sudden realization and shock.

"Because he witnessed the Gods' defeat, even if he survived, he must die!"

Looking once more at the Blood Pool, Xuan Hui's gaze no longer held the spirit it had before.

"Once we leave the Ancestral Temple's God Hall, I will not acknowledge such words."

With eyes full of gratification, the Old Priest reached out and patted Xuan Hui's head, saying.

"But I am glad you have finally become sensible and finally learned the first lesson of becoming a true Priest."

"I had been hesitating on how to teach you this lesson, but Deep and Heavy saved me much effort on this point."

Before Xuan Hui could speak, the Old Priest continued, speaking with renewed vigor.

"To outsiders, we are the ones closest to the Five Directional Gods, the mouthpieces of the Deities."

"The Lord of the State views us as symbols of 'Wisdom'; the people need us to guide their direction forward..."

"But we too have our own troubles, our own sorrows."

"The Gods are not invincible; the Gods are certainly not omniscient and omnipotent."

Patting Xuan Hui's shoulder, the Old Priest taught his apprentice the most crucial lesson of a Priest's career in his own way.

"I know this point, you know it, and even the Lord of the State is clear on it."

"But this point must never be known by the common people, even if he once infinitely approached the group called 'Priests'."

"The most important duty of a Priest has never been to guide the people's path forward, but to uphold the Deities' majesty."

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(End of Chapter)