Chapter 1457: Gods Under the Snowy Night

The destruction caused by Yin Yi Yi Lu Na's "Earth Power · Earth Energy Cannon" hard-leveled the mountain hill that the cultists used to hold the divine descent ritual. The Ancient God power of the Balanced Chosen One even destroyed the divine descent ritual altar that originally had indestructible characteristics.

But after

Since that area was actually quite far from this clearing, Xia De had not yet been significantly affected.

"Up to this point, there is only one thing I don't understand." He shifted his gaze and asked the Guardian again:

"I know that when that Evil God descends into the material world, it is usually to transform flesh and blood into stone. So, here is the question: the traces of cultists discovered locally since the beginning of this year prove that the Evil God's descent into Randall Valley was a preparation that had been underway for a long time. So, why did the deity choose this specific moment?"

Perhaps demons might be interested in the Chosen One, but Xia De knew that deities were likely not interested in the Chosen One. Every time a deity came to the material world, there was surely a reason of their own; for instance, the 【Lord of the Blood Banquet】 in Tobesk was for a joyous feast, and the God of Vampirism in Mid-Hill Fort was to recover the "Red Butterfly Blood Wine" that had been brewing for a long time.

"The filthy black mud flowing from the source of the Twisted Earth can also petrify flesh and blood. And this is not supernatural power; it is more like a strange natural phenomenon."

The Guardian's reply was quite brief:

"If that Evil God can touch the power of the Twisted Earth, perhaps by tomorrow morning, the entire western region of the Old Continent will become tonight's Randall Valley."

Xia De nodded to show he understood, then looked up toward the west with the Guardian.

Under that beam of solid celestial light, a terrifying and enormous shadow had already revealed its hideous face in the dark night. The great terror that mortals could not describe with words was merely an illusion caused by the slight fluctuations of power after the Evil God's descent. But to Xia De, this was even more the truth about that Evil God, perceived by his own high perception.

The wind and snow brought the melody of a hymn sung by thousands of hoarse voices, and within that hymn, there was a strange accompaniment of stones striking each other. When the snowflakes hit his face, there was actually a slight stinging sensation; upon touching the gray snowflakes in the wind, he discovered they were clearly tiny snowflake-shaped stones and sand mixed into the snow.

The pressure from the deity effectively made the high-ranking Ringed Shushi from the Zhengshen Sect and other organizations at the edge of the clearing almost unable to breathe. Amidst the dense petrified forest, on the land flowing with black mud and filth, the trees moved automatically to both sides, and neat black stone slabs were laid upon the soft mud and snow.

It was as if the forest itself had taken the initiative to open a straight path leading to the clearing by the river, and after five minutes of almost being unable to breathe, following a heavy footstep sound coming from the dark distance—from the hill that had been leveled by Yin Yi Yi Lu Na—everyone knew that "He" had truly arrived.

Each footstep felt as if it were directly pulling at people's hearts. Not to be looked at, not to be heard, not to be thought of, not to be imagined—except for Xia De, no one could observe the specific appearance of that figure in the darkness at this moment, only feeling that their bodies could no longer move after realizing the fact that "the deity is walking here."

The somewhat weak Yin Yi Yi Lu Na wanted to do something, but was pulled back by the sorceress beside her: "Miss Beiyasi, don't be anxious; this situation has already been anticipated."

As they spoke, time seemed to be frozen once again; from the western sky, another beam of pure white celestial light descended from the heavens, landing in the direction of the Randall Valley urban area.

Xia De, who had rested well thanks to the time Yin Yi Yi Lu Na had bought, squinted his eyes in surprise and looked toward the direction of that celestial light, then heard the deafening, resonant sound of a hymn coming directly into his ears from the direction of the city.

"The God of Sun and Earth, the Old Man with the Lantern... This time, the church really has made preparations."

Starting from the night of the divine descent in Tobesk in the summer of 1853, the epic of the Chosen One had reached its fifth chapter. And the Zhengshen Sect, which occupied the main faith of this era, finally, on this night, was about to reveal its own appearance.

Xia De was not nervous; instead, he felt this was how it should be. This was not Mid-Hill Fort; this time, the church had known about the Evil God's descent in advance, so they must have been prepared.

And facing the fact that the Zhengshen Sect was about to arrive, although Xia De's emotions were complex, he accepted this fact.

Judging from the location and direction, the site of the divine descent ritual was undoubtedly the church in the city.

It was just that only after confirming that the Evil God had indeed appeared in the material world did the believers in the city finally make up their minds to launch the ritual. Therefore, although Yin Yi Yi Lu Na had bought precious time, the arrival of that deity with the authority of "Sun and Earth" would likely still be a few minutes later than the Evil God.

Although this was enough to stop the descending Evil God before things reached an irreversible point, but...

"The cultists did not anticipate that the Chosen One could unleash such a strike. But it is still not enough; in the few minutes before that Zhengshen Sect deity arrives, what are we to do?"

The Guardian asked; he was still very calm, or rather, the hundreds of souls that constituted him were still very calm. For him, under normal circumstances, there should be no such thing as an emotional breakdown.

"Isn't there still me?"

Xia De pointed at himself, then suddenly asked:

"Speaking of which, since you have memories existing since the early Sixth Era, then have you 'ever been in close contact with those Zhengshen Sect deities who descended into the material world?"

The Guardian, who had originally looked like Mr. Lasers, changed his appearance and became an elderly woman with silver hair whom Xia De had never seen before:

"In the year 828, in the northeastern part of the Old Continent, I had the honor of seeing the God of War and Peace, the Merciful Father of Peace, with my own eyes."

"What happened that time? Are the Zhengshen Sect deities easy to get along with?" Xia De asked again.

"The Evil God—the Lord of Nightmares—descended into the material world through the near-death dreams of countless people who froze to death during the winter of that year on the Old Continent. The Merciful Father responded to the call of mortals and arrived there, repelling the Evil God who attempted to reverse the mortal world into a dream. As for the Zhengshen Sect deities... I am sorry, I dare not presume to discuss the deities, but the Zhengshen Sect deities all love to help humans."

"I see..."

Xia De nodded and prepared to stand up; he took a deep breath in the increasingly thin red mist, and those red mists seemed to be sucked into his nasal cavity.

After absorbing the twisted power from the "Mad Guardian," his body experienced some strange reactions that had not yet ended, but the positive effect was that, after a short rest, he had now fully recovered to his own peak state:

"Return this to you; after all, this was originally your thing."

The fragment of the Earth Heart obtained from the Mithril Cube slid in front of the Guardian, serving as the "artifact containing the power of an Ancient God" in the Chosen One's ritual. As for the other condition for holding the ritual, which was "understanding the earth," the Guardian had already satisfied that long ago.

"Also, help me save a seat; I will definitely attend the banquet later."

Xia De said to the Guardian while standing up, and while the latter nodded in confusion, he turned to look at the pitch-black road that had spontaneously appeared in the forest, at the terrifying figure that had hesitated for a moment after the signs of the Zhengshen Sect deity's descent appeared, and then continued to walk toward this clearing.

The world was petrifying as He walked; everything turned into stone because of His appearance. Even if a deity just existed and did nothing, they would spontaneously influence the rules of the material world.

The red mist dissipated, and the red butterfly illusion still shrouded Xia De. Unfortunately, the people in the dense petrified forest could no longer focus on the true appearance of the God-Caller.

As Xia De stood up, the red butterflies fluttered away with him as the center, allowing the witches who were worried about him to barely project their vision over with the help of the power of the "Witch Council" under the pressure of the deity, and then clearly see Xia De walking toward that path.

"What is Xia De going to do?"

Xilisi could not make a sound, only seeing Luweiya watching Xia De with an indescribable look.

At this moment, all the people who had been in the air just now had been forced to the ground, and the witches gathered together to resist the power of the deity. And the edge of the clearing where they were

was exactly the direction from which the Evil God was walking.

So, accompanied by the red butterflies, Xia De left the table and walked toward the forest. The witches watched with complex expressions as the cold wind, snow, and stones left the first crack on his cheek; as golden sequins fluttered backward with the wind, brilliant golden cracks spread from the first crack on his cheek until the cracks covered his entire body.

The golden embers dragged backward with the wind from his hair tips and hem, and the golden light spots even made the red butterflies fluttering around almost turn into gold.

The wind and snow drifted, the red butterflies flew alongside, like the sun rising in the night of the forest, and also like the legendary deity walking out of ancient myths.

Only the witches in front could look up at Xia De, feeling the power that mortals could not touch. "There are no believers here; please allow us to bid you farewell."

Luweiya suddenly said, and so the witches scattered in the forest prepared themselves.

Those gorgeous figures lowered their heads, lifted their skirts, and as the golden figure gradually approached, illuminating their forms, they bowed with the highest etiquette. And Xia De did not speak; on the journey where surging power filled his entire soul, he brushed past them.

The last one was Luweiya. Only she looked up, her purple eyes fixed on Xia De's eyes, and after revealing a smile, she lowered her head and lifted her skirt to bow:

"We are all waiting for you here."

Xia De nodded to her and continued to walk forward, leaving them behind. He whispered in his heart:

"Are you ready?"