Chapter 1094: Loa Divine Spirit

This troll hunting party had evidently completed its objective.

Their mounts carried various game, and in the middle of the group was a five- to six‑meter‑long triceratops bearing a massive wild boar carcass on its back; every troll wore a happy expression, marching while chatting with their kin, filled with laughter and merriment.

Lei En did not alarm the trolls, activated the rainbow‑light cloak to become invisible, and silently followed the hunting party at a steady distance.

He carefully observed the dozen‑plus trolls.

They were similar to trolls outside the Southern Continent: the males had two huge curved tusks protruding from their mouths, while the females lacked tusks, their lower canines having grown into sharp teeth.

Nevertheless, regardless of gender, each troll was strong and agile, its exposed skin painted with black totems; even while marching, they never relaxed vigilance, their sharp gazes constantly scanning the surroundings for hidden dangers in the forest.

Clearly, this group of trolls possessed very high intelligence and had not degenerated like the trolls of the outside world.

The leading troll warrior was a Legendary Low-rank.

The other trolls all had Mid-stage strength, and the group also included a priest who wielded magical abilities, respected by the other trolls and holding a high status.

Their language was rather unfamiliar; Lei En could only understand a few words, about a third similar to the ancient troll tongue he had mastered.

Separated by more than twenty thousand years, the languages were likely already completely different.

Lei En decisively activated the "Translation Dictionary."

At first he could only comprehend a portion, but soon understood more and more; after walking with the hunting party for over two hours, he had mastered the language.

From the trolls' snippets, Lei En learned that the hunting party belonged to a tribe called the "Dark Branch Tribe."

The Dark Branch Tribe and the surrounding dozen or so troll tribes all worshipped the "God of Night" Xilik!

When Lei En heard the words "God of Night," his heart startled.

At first he thought he had misheard.

Later, the trolls mentioned the "God of Night" repeatedly, confirming he had not misheard; these trolls truly worshipped a deity.

From the honorific name one can guess that Xilik's divine office is "Night."

It is a very powerful divine office, yet it belongs to the elf Dark Moon Goddess Eluna; how can there be a God of Night in the Southern Continent?

A divine office need not be held by only one deity.

However, a deity would never allow another god to encroach on its office; that would destabilize its doctrine, hinder follower growth, and eventually weaken its divine power. Once a deity claims an already‑assigned office, the other deity will immediately notice, inevitably sparking a divine war!

Lei En had studied the Dark Moon God Eluna, who is said to be a very benevolent deity.

Yet however benevolent, Eluna would never permit a second God of Night to exist; even with the Ancient Sacred Altar's barrier, she would pay any price to break through.

"What's happening?"

Lei En didn't grasp the situation at first, and followed the hunting party all the way to the destination.

It was a tribe built within the forest; the trolls cleared a clearing on a hillside and constructed buildings from rocks and logs, tiered from top to bottom. The lowest level lay near a river, with a population of two to three thousand, comparable in size to a human small town.

The tribe's architectural style appeared primitive, yet the layout was highly logical.

The outermost perimeter consisted of fences and watchtowers; each platform level served different purposes—ceremonies, livestock raising, habitation, combat training, and so on.

Black totems stood throughout the tribe, depicting a fierce monster that resembled a gigantic bat. Beneath the totems lay piles of skeletal remains, some still dripping with blood, evidently freshly sacrificed. The topmost platform housed a temple built of massive stones, guarded heavily; the trolls dared not approach casually, and a gloomy aura emanated from within.

The hunting party's return sparked cheers, but soon settled back into calm.

Lei En hovered at a kilometer altitude, his gaze scanning the tribe, the ambient sounds picking up the trolls' conversations.

A moment later.

His eyes fixed on the temple, thinking, "Loa Divine Spirit?"

Loa!

That was the word the trolls mentioned most, referring to the god they worshipped. This tribe and the three neighboring troll tribes shared the same lineage; they were a branch of forest trolls, forming the "Dark Branch Tribe."

The Dark Branch Tribe's Loa was called Xilik, whom the trolls reverently called the God of Night.

In the broader forest region, including the Dark Branch Tribe, a dozen other troll tribes likewise worshipped Loa Xilik.

These tribes revolved around "Aweiken."

It was a troll city ruled by the "Black Tooth Tribe," the strongest of Xilik's followers, and the Loa Divine Spirit dwelt within Aweiken's massive temple.

Lei En looked into the distance.

That was the direction of Aweiken; the trolls knelt toward it when they prayed.

As expected, Aweiken was the site of the Ancient Sacred Altar.

He did not head to Aweiken immediately; his gaze fell again on the tribe's temple, which, besides hundreds of troll guards, also housed a dozen priests. Troll priests were not merely spellcasters; they possessed formidable melee strength as well.

The priests belonged to the tribe's ruling class, upholding the followers' faith in Loa.

At the same time, the priests also possessed knowledge inaccessible to ordinary trolls.

Such as Ancient Sacred Runes!

Lei En saw Ancient Sacred script on the temple walls, likely a variant evolved from the Ancient Sacred Runes.

"This is what I want."

Lei En was overjoyed; he had gone to great lengths to enter the Southern Continent precisely to study the knowledge of Ancient Sacred Runes and decipher the Ancient Sacred Altar.

He scanned the troll tribe again, confirming that the mightiest chieftain was merely a Legendary High-rank warrior, so he hesitated no longer and resolved to act at once.

However, to be safe, he first needed to disguise himself.

Lei En shed his mithril light armor, his body beginning to transform: a pair of tusks a dozen centimeters long protruded from his mouth, his snout elongated, his ears grew larger and longer than an elf's, the tips sweeping backward toward his skull; his skin turned teal, his back slightly hunched, his arms lengthened to reach his knees, his pupils shifting from black to green—he instantly became a forest troll.

He reached into the void, retrieved a set of warrior hide armor from a tribe's room, and donned it.

Finally he took out several ingots of refined gold and iron, melting them into a crude single‑handed axe.

It was one of the troll warrior's most commonly used weapons.

Lei En's gaze locked onto a priest in the tribe, an elderly troll with grey‑white hair, one tusk broken halfway, a face riddled with wrinkles, cloudy eyes, yet a remarkably strong body; the Soul Eye marked him as a Legendary Mid-rank priest.

No priest in the entire tribe was stronger; combining melee and spellcasting, his overall power might even surpass the chieftain's.

At this moment, the old priest sat in a house not far from the temple, copying text onto a beast hide.

"It's you, then."

Lei En made a mind leap, appearing behind the troll priest.

The opponent reacted extremely fast, leapt up without turning his head, drew a sharp dagger from his waist and thrust it at the enemy behind him.

However, Lei En's speed was even faster.

Boom!

The back of the single‑handed axe struck the priest's head; a layer of black protection appeared, instantly pierced like paper, and the priest was knocked unconscious on the spot.

A portal opened beside them, a mental field bound the priest's body, and he entered the portal and vanished.

From start to finish it took less than a second.

The troll guard outside the gate didn't notice at all; the priest had been taken away.

In the forest dozens of li from the tribe, the troll priest let out a painful moan, gradually waking, recalling the moment before he fainted, and suddenly jolted awake, finding all his witchcraft had failed and his body was very weak.

Immediately, he saw an unfamiliar forest troll, but from its appearance and leather armor judged that the other was also a member of the Dark Branch Tribe.

"Did you ambush me?" the old priest asked warily.

"Ha Zula priest!"

Lei En suddenly shouted the troll's name; the old priest's complexion changed, his voice contained a power he could not resist, he instinctively looked into the other's eyes, only feeling that the other's eyes held supreme power, and he must obey this great being's command.

Ha Zula's gaze dimmed briefly, then cleared, and he replied, "Yes."

Nine‑Ring Brainwashing Technique!

Lei En exhaled a sigh of relief; this mind spell from the soul‑eating monster's main brain originally had only eight rings, and although he had long since advanced to nine rings, he had hardly ever used it.

The brainwashing technique works like Mind Control Technique, with weaker control and easier resistance, but its advantage is that the controlled target can retain its own thoughts.

If one needs to torture an enemy, brainwashing is undoubtedly more useful than Mind Control Technique.

The Soul Eye glanced at Ha Zula priest.

The troll was indeed in a controlled state, not pretending, so Lei En felt at ease and asked, "Ha Zula priest, do you recognize these runes?"

He took out a beast hide bearing several ancient holy runes and displayed it before the other.

"Divine Runes!"

Ha Zula's eyes lit up, and he replied, "Recognize! These are ancient divine runes; the great divine race taught these runes to the troll ancestors. Mastering divine runes lets one master witchcraft! Every priest must study divine runes; the more runes mastered, the stronger the witchcraft."

The troll priest's answer was within Lei En's expectations.

Ancient holy runes surely have their own name among trolls, but he didn't expect trolls to regard the ancient holy as the divine race.

"How many divine runes do you know?" Lei En asked again.

"One hundred and fifty," Ha Zula answered honestly, pointing to the beast hide, "The runes I master differ from those on this."

Lei En remarked, "So few?"

Ha Zula explained, "I am only a high‑rank priest; mastering one hundred and fifty divine runes is already rare. If you wish to know more, you must seek the powerful 'Loa priests', who serve the great Loa and reside in Loa Temples, where they can access vast numbers of divine runes. Each Loa priest masters at least a thousand runes."

Lei En nodded.

He had previously eavesdropped on tribal talks and knew that troll strength classifications differ completely from those of the intelligent races outside, lacking the titles of Legend and Saint Rank, being relatively vague.

Troll strength advancement also comes from Soul Transformation.

The first through third Soul Transformations belong to ordinary warriors or priests, but the number of Soul Transformations is not the standard; the sole standard for measuring strength is combat record!

As long as one can defeat many opponents and earn a reputation in the tribe, one can obtain an "Elite" title.

Such as elite warrior, elite hunter.

Even with only one Soul Transformation, if one can defeat other elite‑level opponents, one qualifies as elite, but not every troll is elite; even with three Soul Transformations one may still be an ordinary warrior, and elites are less than one in ten.

After the fourth Soul Transformation, trolls reach Legend and are promoted to "High‑Tier".

Within High‑Tier there are no elites, but there are "Lords".

Lords are fewer, generally tribal chiefs or spiritual leaders, holding extremely high power status among trolls.

Ha Zula is a high‑tier priest, yet has not reached the level of priest‑lord.

Above High‑Tier is "Loa", equivalent to Saint Rank strongmen, called Loa warriors or Loa priests.

These strongest trolls usually serve beside the Loa, as servants of the gods.

In the Southern Continent, Loa rule everything!

Lei En thought, a Loa priest masters at least a thousand ancient holy runes, and he had collected over fifty thousand ancient holy runes, possibly more in the future. Ordinary priests can only master relatively shallow ancient holy runes, with many duplicates; to decipher runes, one cannot avoid Loa priests.

Brainwashing Technique is hard to control Saint Rank strongmen.

Under the gaze of Loa deities, targeting their important followers is extremely dangerous.

As expected, those Loa control the ancient holy altars, but it is unknown whether Loa can, like Elder Sorim, know how to use the altar's power?

How strong are the Loa really?

Are they as powerful as Ai Lun E Si's deities?

Lei En looked at Ha Zula and still asked, "What is Loa?"

Ha Zula's eyes flickered; the question shocked him greatly, not something a normal troll would ask. His face struggled for a few seconds, then he whispered, "Loa is Loa, the greatest existence in the world; they are gods who protect trolls and all creatures of the forest."

This answer did not satisfy Lei En; it was equivalent to saying nothing.

Ha Zula's level was insufficient; further questions would yield no answer, so Lei En changed the question: "How many Loa are there in the Gumanra Empire?"

The Gumanra Empire in troll language is the great empire that rules the Southern Continent, and can also refer to the continent itself.

Just now he casually copied a book from Ha Zula's collection; inside was a crude history recording that over the past twenty‑thousand years the Gumanra Empire split and unified four times, gave rise to seven different troll dynasties, and dozens of troll emperors!

However, the last unification of the Gumanra Empire was very distant; for more than five thousand years the continent has remained in a state of fragmentation.

The cause lies in those Loa deities.

"I don't know how many Loa there are," Ha Zula shook his head, hesitated, then replied, "Perhaps there are thirty Loa, maybe more, but the strongest Loa are always only eighteen, each possessing its own Loa Temple!"

Lei En immediately understood; there are eighteen ancient holy altars on the Southern Continent!

(End of Chapter)