Chapter 277: The Birth of a God

Painting with blood?

And it's a portrait of me?

Huh?

No, are you all making this so Lovecraftian?

Following Duan Xiaoling's description, Ren Yidao pondered the situation at the time.

"..."

A group of starving convicts locked together, not fighting each other, but instead using their own blood to doodle on the walls...

Hiss!

I keep getting the feeling I'm reading a Lovecraftian investigation report.

I get it.

This is like starting a dungeon, finding a few lucky D-class investigators to go send... er, to go investigate.

But then again, there's no need to investigate.

Isn't this my Merit Party?

It's my positive-energy, so sunny, so uplifting Merit Assembly Line!

Eh, wait a second.

"But I didn't see any portrait in there just now?"

The walls were a bit dirty, but there shouldn't have been anything strange, right?

"Of course you didn't see it, it's already been wiped off." Duan Xiaoling curled her lip and said with some disgust.

"Uh, wiped off?"

You wasteful child, you just wiped it off?

"Yeah, you don't know, the portrait they drew was just too strange. I felt creeped out, so I made them wipe it off."

Duan Xiaoling didn't think there was anything wrong with what she did.

In her view, that thing shouldn't have been left there!

Through Duan Xiaoling's subsequent explanation, Ren Yidao also understood why she had done that.

She had originally wanted to just leave it alone; after all, it wasn't a big deal. She was just a substitute, and as long as the people didn't all die, it had nothing to do with her.

To put it bluntly, for that little bit of pay, why would you risk your life!

Not to mention, this guy Ren Yidao likely wouldn't even pay her.

But after ignoring it for a few days, a new problem appeared...

They were drawing it more and more realistically!

At first, it could only be considered a casual doodle, having the form but not the spirit.

But as time passed, with the prisoners constantly modifying and adding to it, that portrait became more and more real.

Even though there was only one pigment—fresh blood—they managed to outline a realistic portrait through the varying shades of the blood.

A Ren Yidao depicted in dark red blood.

When serving extra food to the prisoners, Duan Xiaoling could always feel an inexplicable gaze staring at her back.

But when she turned around, she could only see the portrait on the wall staring straight at her.

Controlled by an unclear mix of fear of the unknown and anger at being watched, a shocked and furious Duan Xiaoling ordered the prisoners to destroy the portrait.

It was magical, too; once the portrait was destroyed, that gaze vanished completely.

Watching Duan Xiaoling unnaturally shiver and subconsciously look back, Ren Yidao raised an eyebrow to himself, though he didn't blame her for her rashness.

After thinking in silence for a moment, he asked softly:

"When you made them wipe it off... did they have any other reaction?"

Since it was described so mysteriously, there should have been some resistance when you made them destroy it, right?

But unexpectedly, Duan Xiaoling shook her head, "No."

"They didn't object, it's just that from time to time someone would draw a new one, and I'd have to make them wipe it off again."

With a twitch of her mouth, Duan Xiaoling's face was full of annoyance.

In her view, this was just those prisoners acting against her; they were truly disobedient.

But as the saying goes, as long as they didn't die, it had nothing to do with her.

So, although she was annoyed that they kept disobeying and drawing it over and over, she just made them wipe it off more times.

Not listening, are you? Then wipe it off; I'm not tired anyway.

"What's wrong? Do you think something is wrong?"

Duan Xiaoling noticed Ren Yidao's expression was off at this moment.

He wasn't taking it as lightly as she was; he looked rather serious.

Hmm?

Is this matter really that serious?

"No, it's nothing, just an uncertain line of thought. Maybe I'm just overthinking it." Ren Yidao shook his head, adjusted his expression, and smiled at his Junior Martial Nephew.

"You don't need to worry about this matter, I will handle it myself." Waving his hand at the suspicious Junior Martial Nephew Duan, Ren Yidao didn't intend to say more.

"Ha... alright then, I'm leaving."

"Go on, go on, I'll see you out."

Duan Xiaoling was right; this matter had nothing to do with her, and it wasn't suitable for her to get involved further.

Her Divine Path was different from his, and even different from most predecessors of the Divine Path Sect.

She had to walk her own path now and shouldn't be influenced by others, even if it was just an uncertain line of thought.

If what Ren Yidao was thinking was correct, he himself was not sure what kind of impact this matter would have now.

"Wait until there are tangible benefits, then let her come to get a share." Personally seeing Duan Xiaoling out of the cell, Ren Yidao watched her walk away, thinking to himself.

"At that time, it will count as her dividend!"

Ren Yidao was not only a master at painting big pictures, but also a master at cutting cakes.

When there were benefits, he was truly willing to share them.

Of course, only with his own people.

After sending Duan Xiaoling away, Ren Yidao returned to the Merit Party.

This time, he was no longer observing from his previous perspective, but began to observe from another perspective.

He sat cross-legged at the highest point of the entire space, his lowered eyes glowing slightly, and his hair began to turn from black to white.

A huge eight-tailed white fox appeared silently by his side, silently lowering its head and lying down beside him.

And unlike its quiet appearance, its half-squinted eyes hid a lively intelligence, scanning everywhere in the space.

But just before it could get up to any mischief, its body was forcibly taken over.

No, using the word "forcibly" was very wrong, because for Ren Yidao, this was just a basic application of a Dao God.

When Ren Yidao opened his eyes again, everything before him was already different; many subtle lines had appeared in the space.

One end of those lines originated from the tops of mortals' heads, then extended three feet upward, and finally merged into the void and disappeared.

That was Incense, and also weak Merit, or rather, Faith Power.

This was the perspective of a god.

Ren Yidao was re-observing this space with the vision of a god.

Strictly speaking, Ren Yidao did not actually need to deliberately borrow the vision of a Dao God to see this scene.

Because he was once the god who sat high on the altar and was worshipped by people.

But when Ren Yidao stepped into the Earth Realm, he had already personally severed the shackles that mortals had forcibly imposed upon him.

Self-slashing with a blade, slashing out the Dao God, slashing away the shackles of the past, and slashing out a brilliant new life.

This certainly allowed him to escape from that fate of being destined to be trapped, but it also had some harmless disadvantages.

For example, some of the authority he once possessed was divided to his own divine body—the Baihu Daoshen.

When helping Li Lingling get rid of the Blood Star Fate, Ren Yidao helped her dump that fate onto the Yinglong Dao God all at once.

That was not a risky gamble, but because he already had experience when he divided his authority, and he had ten parts of certainty in his heart.

To put it bluntly, for Ren Yidao, a Dao God was a useful big basket; anything messy could be stuffed inside.

Dao God, everyone who uses it says it's good!

"Hmm, just as I thought, it really is like this."

Ren Yidao squinted his eyes and scanned the area, and after watching the line of faith branch out halfway, he obtained two certain answers.

First, he had been intercepted halfway by someone.

The Merit Power that should have been directed straight to him had been quietly siphoned off by someone else.

And he himself had completely ignored this point because there was no big difference in the amount credited.

Tsk, he had actually been backstabbed.

Looking at this group of energetic people, who looked like everyone had faith, everyone had power, and everyone was working their lives away, Ren Yidao couldn't help but have a strange feeling in his heart.

"Perhaps, this can also be considered a kind of cuckolding?"

As for the second discovery...

He smacked his lips and muttered with a toothache:

"Is this for real? These guys actually created a god..."

Yes, creating a god.

Or rather, a semi-finished False God whose own state was unstable.

That thief who stole Ren Yidao's Faith Power was not hiding elsewhere, but was right here in this space.

Even, right on that wall.

Although the portrait had been wiped away, the spirit that was worshipped had always existed there.

Calling it a semi-finished product was because it did not yet have a particularly clear self-consciousness; it only knew how to absorb Faith Power incessantly, but did not know how to utilize it.

At most, it relied on instinct to unconsciously digest a portion of it to strengthen itself, while the majority dissipated into the space to feed back to the praying mortals.

No, that wasn't right either.

If it had been active from the beginning, it couldn't still be in its current state; it should have already given birth to a complete consciousness.

Therefore, it was passive.

It didn't even actively go to absorb it, but passively accepted it, becoming a heartless machine for converting and feeding back faith.

And the ones who made it come into being and fall to this point were this group of guys...

Ren Yidao looked at the prisoners, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"Truly impressive!"

It wasn't that they were impressive, but rather he was sighing at the magic of nature.

Regarding the feat of the Merit Party employees creating a god, it was also very simple to explain.

To sum it up, it was just one sentence:

Life will find its own way.

When despair reached its peak, they would seek hope themselves.

Even if this hope was ethereal.

According to Duan Xiaoling's account, she actually had an idea in her heart.

It was just a small period of seclusion, three days at the shortest and a week at the longest; this amount of time certainly wouldn't starve a group of cultivators to death, even if they were original cultivators.

Not to mention, she had also left them three days' worth of food and water; at most, they would just be hungry for two days, which was not a big deal at all.

However, the same story, when viewed from the perspective of the prisoners, was completely different.

They had no idea when Duan Xiaoling would return!

They weren't even sure if she would return at all!

An endless wait.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, they would eat all three days' worth of food on the very first day.

In the days that followed, all that would be left for them was hunger...

Endless waiting, endless hunger; either one of these two points could destroy a person's spirit.

But fortunately, it was only six days; it wasn't short, but it definitely couldn't be considered long.

If the prisoners' minds were still sound, then this amount of time naturally wouldn't be a problem; they would just endure it and it would pass.

But the problem lay in the fact that their minds had already been thoroughly destroyed and reconstructed by Ren Yidao... uh, twice?

Hmm, it could also be three times; this little detail isn't important!

In short!

What is important is that, as they were now, they could no longer be treated as normal people.

And despair is like a plague; in a confined space, it spreads rapidly, infecting everyone.

Logically speaking, once things had developed to that point, there were no other possibilities.

If the spread of despair could not be contained, collapse would arrive quickly, followed by death.

However, before the collective collapse arrived, under some mysterious guidance, a flash of inspiration struck one of the individuals among them, and they used their own blood to draw a portrait and began to pray to "that lord."

Hope, like a prairie fire, expanded rapidly using despair as fuel.

Soon, it was no longer just one, but all the prisoners who were praying to Ren Yidao.

It was just that their imagination of Ren Yidao was not objective; they only remembered the terrifying and cruel side, and did not remember other points.

Such a mistaken perception led to the Faith Power being unable to be correctly directed to the intended subject.

Coupled with the purity of their hearts, the extreme purity of the Faith Power, and the fact that they were in the Divine Path Sect, a special place filled with the aura of the Divine Path.

And when all these coincidences converged, it was no longer a coincidence.

In the world, people call this—fate.

Thus, the gears of fate began to turn.

In this dark corner unknown to anyone, a brand-new deity was born.

It had a face similar to Ren Yidao's, but it was more tyrannical and terrifying, with a body constructed from blood.

But at the same time, it was also merciful, bestowing rewards upon its devout Believers.

In the end, the newborn deity obtained faith, and the desperate prisoners obtained nourishment, surviving the most difficult of times.

As for the rest of the story, there is nothing much to say.

Although the portrait was destroyed time and time again, the formless deity survived, and the god and the people have complemented each other until now.

If Ren Yidao hadn't rushed back in time to discover it, perhaps after some more time, this deity would have completely perfected itself and become an independent deity.

And what would happen after that is hard to say.

"... Truly amazing."

Having figured out the cause and effect, Ren Yidao sighed from the bottom of his heart:

"Wow, that's something!"

This product, which was completely beyond his expectations, was enough to be called a miracle.

It is no exaggeration to say that although the birth of this deity was an accident, the entire process had significant research value for the Divine Path Sect.

"However, before that... there is something I need to make clear to it."

Ren Yidao leaped down from the high place and walked in front of the wall that looked empty but was actually a humanoid void in his eyes, and raised his hand to knock gently.

"Hello? Are you there?"

He smiled with his eyes narrowed, his fingertips grazing lightly across the wall, and spoke in a friendly manner:

"Little one, before we talk about business, I would like to ask you a small question first."

He said:

"Do you know..."

"What happens to those who dare to steal my Incense?"

Thinking about it, I've been a bit reckless with eating lately.

Not happy, eat, become happy, weight increases, not happy, eat...

A perfect cycle...

Hiss, no, I have to restrain myself.