[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-340":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269986,4431,"Chapter 340: Rare Species","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-340",340,"\u003Cp>“Will they come?” Li En cast his bait, worried no fish would bite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They will. Because the bait you offered is too tempting.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victoria sighed; she regretted turning her shop into a contact point—it was too full of trivial matters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other hand, she sensed the priestly power of the Lord of Drama and Delight upon her body, and felt profound satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t because the power itself was strong—in fact, it was fragile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the power of a good deity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It subtly eroded the Mirror Maiden’s power, now reduced to a mere ornament. It seemed to be the very opportunity for Victoria to finally break free from the underground dark elf deity society.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t merely a transcendence of the supernatural—it was a “career switch” only a deity could enable—but more importantly, it was a shift in social perception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many might not understand, but in many eyes, the priest’s identity took precedence over race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Put plainly: a dark elf walking anywhere would draw wary or hostile glances; in some places, merely revealing her dark skin beneath her cloak could invite attack. Even more cruel: even if you died, no one would think it wrong—even if later discovered to be a case of mistaken killing, listeners would merely “express mild surprise.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Often, when a murder or theft occurred in a small town or village, the unlucky passerby bound and burned in the square was just such a victim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if you were a priest of a good deity—even the weakest one—upon seeing your holy symbol, they would prioritize your priestly identity over your race.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Priests are the earthly representatives of deities; their words and deeds are naturally tied in outsiders’ eyes to the deity’s reputation and alignment. That is what makes this profession unique. But this also seems to imply that the deity now possesses all the attributes of the priest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To most people, divine authority had long surpassed royal authority—and even surpassed racial self-identity and innate alignment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I had this priestly identity, I could travel freely, couldn’t I?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This, perhaps, was Victoria’s true reason for helping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just the title of a good deity’s priest was something she had never dared to dream of. Becoming a priest of one deity didn’t mean you couldn’t become a priest of another—but what reason would a second deity have to break the unspoken rules of the religious world and forcibly take you away?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, even I was tempted. Even I came.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another who stepped forward voluntarily, however, had not acquired priestly status—her identity was simply too extraordinary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you here for? You’re already a goddess. Can you even switch allegiances?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En looked at Arachne, utterly baffled. The “fish” he expected were still hesitating, yet this one from outside the pond had leapt in on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She even proposed helping build our church—do you even know what you’re saying? Aren’t you already a high-ranking member of the Mirror Maiden’s church?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My sister is a high-ranking member of the church. I am not. Moreover, my sister and I have come to pledge allegiance to the Lord of Drama and Delight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pledge allegiance to us? Li En burst out laughing in disbelief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do you think I’m stupid? You’re a dark elf, and we’re a good deity’s church.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Detect Evil,” Li En bluntly cast the spell to dispel her delusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the result was bright red, he doubted they could even remain friends—he guessed she’d be at most a faint red, which he could tolerate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy shit. Rare species.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a faint glow emanated from her—and Li En froze. It was truly a pale silver light of goodness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am a dark elf, but no one hates the dark elf society more than I do,” Arachne said without resistance; the aura of goodness radiating from her was nothing short of a disgrace to dark elves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En was stunned. This was a super-rare specimen—a noble dark elf of the good alignment. How the hell have you survived this long?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Arachne, how have you survived? Haven’t you ever sacrificed innocents? Haven’t you ever taken part in hunts?” The most astonished—and most impolite—question came from Victoria, herself a noble dark elf.\u003C\u002Fp>",698,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","4fbba4390200fbdfd3fc2a8460e79281fb013fd3c9e88b27b98befce4759c4e0","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-341","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-339",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]