Chapter 804: Divine Discourse

Moving the incoming divine fire into the source holy fire and then taking a new divine fire is a standard procedure; the Shenmiaos everywhere rotate this dozens of times a year, so naturally, it is impossible to hold a grand Sacrifice every time. However, since this is being held in the Shenghuodi after all, it would be inappropriate to perform no Sacrifice at all and just shove it in like common fire. It has gradually turned into a short process where one priest and eight young divine officials carry out the matter according to custom.

Here, in a Shendian, the external ritual was hastily completed, and it was time for the eight young divine officials to carry the divine fire into the Sheng Huo Tan and introduce it into the holy fire. At this moment, a young Apprentice Divine Official, a child only ten or so years old, ran out and said hurriedly, "Wait a moment, the process of introducing the divine fire must be delayed."

Everyone was startled, and immediately felt somewhat displeased. The leading priest was also from within the Sheng Huo Tan; he was not high-ranking among the priests and was still quite young, but he was a proper priest nonetheless. He darkened his face and said, "Why? What happened? Could it be that an accident occurred over at the Sheng Huo Tan?"

If an accident had occurred, then no one could say anything; on the contrary, they would have to go and help, even if it meant risking their lives.

Who would have thought that the Apprentice Divine Official would shake his head and say, "No, it's just that there is a more pressing matter over at the Sheng Huo Tan."

The priest was annoyed upon hearing this and said, "What pressing matter? Is my returning the divine fire not pressing? If it were truly a very pressing, major event, it should have been prepared for days in advance; how could it be 'temporary'?"

The Apprentice Divine Official shook his head, lowered his voice, and said, "Actually, a big shot has arrived." He used his hand to gesture a hat shape above his head and said, "A very big one."

The priest was shocked and said, "The Chief Priest?"

The Apprentice Divine Official looked upward, clearly implying: even bigger. Their Fire Spirit race's Eye Beads are very large, and this expression was very obvious.

The young priest was immediately struck dumb. He knew this meant a big shot from the Elder Council had arrived, perhaps the Chief Priest himself. With such a big shot ahead of him, what could he say?

However, he found it strange. Since it was that kind of big shot, wanting to enter the Shenghuodi should be like entering their own home; they could enter grandly and have everyone come to welcome them. Why did today feel so sneaky?

"Hui... must take the holy fire onto the ship." In front of the roaring holy fire, an old man with red beard and red hair said in a deep voice. The reflection of the holy fire danced in the depths of his eyes, making his Eye Beads look like two round red gemstones. "This time, it concerns the survival of our race. If we can do it, we will cast off the fate of being merely a lower-tier Hundred Races and ascend in one leap."

"But... but..." Beside him was a Fire Spirit tribesman with equally bright red hair, yet he was much younger. His clothes were not necessarily luxurious, but they were exquisite and elegant, possessing a rather holy air. He was also the current public host of the Sheng Huo Tan, the Son of Fire, also known as the Fire Spirit Saint Son.

"But the Hundred Races agreement says this is a human ship, and no god may board. Those powerful gods are all doing so; how can our small race go against it?"

The old man looked deeply at the young man and said, "It is precisely because our god is not like those existences that we can do this."

He paused and said, "There are only the two of us here, and I also came up from your position, so we can speak plainly. Our god is different from other gods. For other gods, the priests completely obey the god's edicts, but here... we can make the decisions."

The young man's eyes were dazed for a moment, and he said, "Elder... everyone knows about this kind of thing, right? I even thought it was just me..."

The old man said indifferently, "You thought it was because you were not pious enough that you served for many years and never received a response from the god? No, it is not just one person like this; we are like this generation after generation. We can obtain the god's power, but we will never obtain the god's revelations. The god will not express his thoughts or even... existence in any form. Therefore..."

Therefore, after a long time, everyone begins to doubt whether there is a god at all.

Doubting whether this cluster of roaring fire before their eyes, which brought light and power to the race, is truly a god.

If one is relatively simple when young, one would mostly only doubt oneself, feeling that perhaps one lacks the aptitude to serve the god and thus receives no response. But later on, especially after entering the Elder Hall and exchanging words with predecessors, realizing that everyone is like this, one should doubt more essential things.

This Son of Fire was the type who knew how to question, and he was very bold. He was silent for a moment and said, "Do you think that it's not just our god, but that actually all gods do not respond, and everyone knows this, but they all pretend there is a god..."

Before he could finish, the old man said word for word, "Absolutely not! Other gods truly exist. I have not only seen the miracles of other gods, but I have also seen the projection of a True God descend! That is the great power belonging solely to gods; it cannot be faked. There are gods in this world, and gods rule our world. It is just that our god is not like that."

The Son of Fire was as if struck by a heavy blow and said, "Ah, are we the only anomalies?"

The old man said in a low voice, "Who knows? It is the Hundred Races, but in fact, no one can clearly say how many races there are. The gods of those Heavenly Nine Races and Upper Eighteen Races have no problems; each has records of incarnations in the Shenjie, and they even launched divine wars against each other, eventually establishing a joint covenant to rule the world, which is the Divine Law that we all abide by. This absolutely cannot be faked. But for small races like us, although everyone claims to have a god and everyone has faith, whether they believe in a True God or are like us, or even worse... who would know? After all, the number of gods is also limited. Some races might just be doing it for self-preservation. Because according to the Divine Law, races and individuals that do not believe in gods are not protected and will be annexed or plundered at will; therefore, the Hundred Races today all say their race has a god. In my opinion..."

He shook his head: "Some gods that strictly require receiving believers only from their own race and are completely exclusionary... are somewhat suspicious, aren't they?" He shook his head again and said, "We are speaking in private; we must never say this to outsiders. Saying this will cause war."

He added very seriously, "But our god is not like some fraudulent things! Our god is a true god; this is a principle I only understood later. You speak of power—did we not receive the gift of power from the god? You speak of Spirit—are we not united under the holy fire, of one mind and moving forward courageously? And this deity is actually more generous than those Lesser Gods or even Middle Gods, yet never demands anything, and is even more benevolent than those harsh, cruel, and capricious deities. Is this not the deity we rely on and believe in? What are you doubting or vainly seeking?"

Upon hearing this, the Son of Fire felt he had broken into a sweat, but also felt very relieved, as if a burden had been lifted. He said, "Yes."

The old man waved his hand and said, "Keep this understanding to yourself; do not tell outsiders. Hmm, so, we must find a way to take the holy fire onto the ship. That agreement reached by the various races, saying that only humans board and gods do not—I don't think it was humans who abandoned the gods, but the gods who abandoned humans."

His voice lowered. Although this place was as secret as it could be, he still had to speak in a low voice, because this might count as blasphemy. If he did not have those previous realizations and was truly and sincerely believing in a True God, he would never have said such things.

"The world is going to be destroyed. The gods cannot save all the people, but they themselves should not be destroyed, so they are not following the survivors to escape. They look down on the millions of people on that ship; any follower of a slightly higher-ranking god is more numerous than that, let alone so many divine factions. I think they have abandoned our Lingjie and are going to a new world. I don't know if they have already found a target or are confident they can find one slowly, but in any case, those who board the ship are both survivors and the god-forsaken."

He looked directly at the fire and said affirmatively, "But we are different... our god will not abandon us. When our Fire Spirit race has only one tribesman left, the Taixiong god will also have one spark left. We follow the god, and the god follows us; we will never be parted."

The young divine official was trembling all over from his words and said, "Yes, the ship is full of the god-forsaken. No matter how powerful they were in the past, without Divine Protection, they are far from what they used to be. And we have Divine Favor; our strength might even be greater. By then, even if we are few in number, we can become the top powerhouses. When we board the ship, we are a weak, lower-tier race, but when we disembark, that might not be the case. Perhaps we will become the only divine race!"

He was excited for a moment, then said, "But how do we bring it up? For a small race like ours, the luggage we can bring is limited, and the holy fire must be brought in completely. If we split off a spark, it would just be the divine fire of another Shenmiao, and it would lose its divinity after a period of time."

The old man said, "Yes, so we must seal... seal the holy fire together with a portion of the Shenghuodi... and then refine and compress it, shrinking it to the smallest size. If we can shrink it to the size of a fruit, that would be best; at the very least, it must be shrunk to a size that a box can hold. For this, we are willing to pay all our strength and all our remaining time."

The Son of Fire knew that this was only a possibility. Whether it could be done, and whether it could be done within the allotted time, could only depend on fate, and the risks were surely great. But at this moment, he could only do his best, and he said, "What do you need me to do?"

The old man said, "You are not needed for now. When the spark is refined, you will be the one to take it onto the ship and lead the tribesmen to continue the fight. For these days, you are responsible for guarding the entrance. No one is allowed to enter here, and not a whisper of news is allowed to leak out. Whoever leaks the news is a traitor who deserves to die."

The Son of Fire agreed and added, "There are a few people waiting outside; they are from the outer city Shenmiao to exchange for divine fire. Should I have them go back?"

The old man said, "Let this batch in. It would be strange to have them go back for no reason, and besides, a little more divine fire means a little more strength. Stop the divine fire exchange after this. Go and call them in."