Chapter 71: The Gods Want You Dead

During the time Li Boyang was recovering from his injuries, time did not pause for even a single moment.

Due to the total annihilation of the Guirong Clan, the entire Guifang State mobilized in an emergency.

As a hegemon of the south, it was not as if the Guifang State had never encountered forces that dared to resist it.

However, a situation like this—where the Guirong Clan was completely wiped out and even the Houtian Clan was forcibly expelled—had only occurred once since the founding of the Guifang State.

That time, the Guifang State mobilized its entire strength, casting the living beings of an entire nation into the Soul-Prison Cauldron to forcibly refine a ghost god brimming with resentment.

The name of that ghost god was "Tufang," and the nation that was struck from the records was known as the "Tufang State."

"You should know what kind of fate awaits you for coming back this time, right?"

Standing upon the tall and wide altar, the current High Priest of the Guifang State asked this.

And kneeling at his feet was none other than the sole survivor of the Guirong Clan, the deputy to the Shepherd Chief—You Zhong.

At this very moment, You Zhong was no longer the handsome youth he once was.

More than half of his body had been charred black by lightning strikes...

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

If one had not seen it with their own eyes, it would be truly hard to believe that this face, resembling that of an evil ghost, was once that youth.

Not only that, but You Zhong’s hands and feet were not his original ones, but rather lifelike wooden prosthetic limbs.

From the skeletal joints to the finger knuckles, they were so exquisite and perfect that they did not seem like products of this era at all.

"I know, I have already prepared myself."

Slowly lifting his head, a cruel and angry sneer appeared on You Zhong’s disfigured face.

"High Priest, the prestige of the Guirong Clan shall be reforged with 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 High Priest nodded with satisfaction.

"Since that is the case, then jump into this blood pool!"

"I will use the blood of ten thousand people to reshape your body, allowing you to become an agent capable of bearing the majesty of the gods."

As if in response to the High Priest’s words, the executioners who had been waiting for a long time immediately raised their blades and struck.

Crack!

As one head after another rolled off the altar, a near-tangible resentment surged into the sky.

Directly beneath the altar, in that massive pit of ten thousand,

corpses almost filled the entire pit, and the scarlet blood flowed in a bizarre manner.

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

"For the glory of the Tunchao Clan!"

Without the slightest hesitation, You Zhong pierced his own crown with his prosthetic limb.

Squish!

As blood and brain matter flowed out from his seven orifices,

You Zhong stood up in a bizarre fashion and then threw himself into the blood pool below without hesitation.

Rumble...

In an instant, storm and lightning flickered within the blood pool.

A mantra-seal, similar to those but even more sinister than the twelve known to Li Boyang, was taking shape.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

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

The young priest holding the skull scepter watched all of this in silence, yet emotional fluctuations that should not have been there appeared in his eyes.

The young priest and You Zhong were partners who had been selected as "priest candidates" at the same time.

It was just that the young priest had ultimately passed the layers of trials and gained the right to hold the skull scepter.

While You Zhong was eliminated and eventually joined the Guirong Clan, which was established with the purpose of guarding the glory of the priests.

"Are you wavering again?"

Accompanied by a long, drawn-out sigh, a priest with an aged face walked out from behind the young priest.

"Xuanhui, you are destined to receive my mantle and become the priest who wields poison curses and medicine..."

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

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

"I just feel... that You Zhong should not have died so meaninglessly."

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

"And he even endured my shamanic curse modification, possessing limbs more perfect than flesh and blood..."

"No matter what, keeping him to reforge the Guirong Clan would have been better than the option of a 'blood sacrifice'..."

Listening to the rebellion faintly revealed in Xuanhui’s words, the old priest did not answer for a long time.

After all, if Xuanhui could see it, how could the old and cunning priests not see it?

As the smartest and wisest group of this era, the priests were, most of the time, unable to act according to their own will.

Because some things could be done, but could not be said.

"You Zhong should not have returned, and you should not have saved him."

After a brief silence, the old priest sighed again.

"If he hadn't returned, if you hadn't saved him, we could have turned a blind eye and pretended he had died in battle."

"But he just had to return, and he just had to find you, a priest..."

"Even if the High Priest and the State Lord wanted to play dumb, they can no longer do so."

Once these words were spoken, Xuanhui was stunned.

He never imagined that this cause and effect would circle back to himself.

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

"It is the gods, the gods want him to die!?"

With his pupils shaking violently, Xuanhui opened his mouth wide, his eyes full of realization and shock.

"Because he witnessed the defeat of the gods, even if he survived, he must die!"

When he looked toward the blood pool again, the light in Xuanhui’s eyes was no longer there.

"Once I leave the ancestral temple, I will not admit to such words."

With eyes full of gratification, the old priest reached out and patted Xuanhui’s head.

"However, I am glad you have finally become sensible and have finally learned the first lesson of becoming a true priest."

"I had been hesitating about how to teach you this lesson, but You Zhong saved me a lot of effort in this regard."

Without waiting for Xuanhui to speak, the old priest continued with renewed vigor.

"To outsiders, we are the beings closest to the Five Directional Gods, the mouthpieces of the gods."

"The State Lord views us as symbols of 'wisdom,' and the people need us to guide the direction of their progress..."

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

"The gods are not invincible, and the gods are certainly not omniscient or omnipotent."

Patting Xuanhui on the shoulder, the old priest used his own way to teach his apprentice the most crucial lesson of a priestly career.

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

"But this is the one thing that must not be known by the common people, not even by one who was once infinitely close to the 'priest' group."

"The most important duty of a priest has never been to guide the path of the people, but to maintain the majesty of the gods."

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(End of chapter)