Chapter 111: Divine Selection
"It looks like you two have noticed the difference. The previous map didn't appear to have any issues, but none of the major bodies of water on the island were presented on that map, and that's because those bodies of water aren't marked out on the maps being publicly sold. In contrast, I've marked out all of the major bodies of water that we've passed by on the way here on this updated map," Han Li explained with a smile.
Everyone turned back to give the map a closer look upon hearing this.
Sure enough, just as Han Li proclaimed, the previous map provided by Wyrm 8 was quite detailed, but there were very few bodies of water marked out on it, and even the ones that were marked out were only small rivers and lakes.
Everyone's attention had been drawn to the cities prior to this, so no one had noticed this.
"During these past few days, I made sure to gather some information on the island's geographic environment from all of the cities that we visited. In particular, I tracked down all of the old maps that I could, and I was finally able to find some information related to these major bodies of water," Han Li said.
He then extended a finger forward once again, and a series of large rivers appeared on certain parts of the map depicted on the light screen.
Everyone's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this.
"Due to the short timeframe, this is all of the information that I was able to gather on the major bodies of water. Now that it's all laid out in front of you, I'm sure you've also noticed that all of the Red Moon Cities that we've passed through and some other large cities have all been situated next to large bodies of water. This is something that we've personally seen these past few days, so we can verify this to be true," Han Li explained.
Everyone thought back to the cities that they had visited during the past few days, and sure enough, they had all been in close proximity to a large river or lake, as was the case with the Red Moon City that they were currently in.
"Surely that doesn't mean anything though. There are many advantages to building cities near large bodies of water, and that's certainly not something that's unique to the Red Moon Cities on this island," Wyrm 13 countered.
"That's true, but through an enchantment that I cast on the shopkeeper of a bookshop in this city, I found out from him that all images depicting the major bodies of water on the island are strictly prohibited on all books being sold on the island, and this order was issued by Gong Shuhong himself. It's clear that he's trying to hide something," Han Li said.
Wyrm 13 had no counterargument to this.
"I don't know why Gong Shuhong is doing this, but looking at all of the major bodies of water that have already been marked out on the map, they converge at this point," Han Li continued as he pointed at a city on the map.
That city was none other than the Red Moon City of the Kun province.
"This is all just speculation. Can you be certain that that's where Gong Shuhong is?" Wyrm 25 asked in a skeptical voice.
"Of course I can't be certain, but wouldn't it be much better to take a look there first instead of continuing on a completely aimless search? At the very least, we'll have slightly better chances there," Han Li replied.
Wyrm 25 opened his mouth as if he wanted to rebuke Han Li, but he was unable to find the words to do so.
"That makes a lot of sense to me! If you hadn't discovered, we would've still been completely in the dark," Wyrm 9 said in an elated voice.
After joining forces with all of the other guild members, he had always felt outmatched by Wyrm 8, and he was very pleased to have finally scored a victory of sorts over Wyrm 8 and his group.
"I fully agree with Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15's proposal. If we really go and search through all of the Red Moon Cities one by one, Gong Shuhong would've most likely already been tipped off long before we get to him, and he'll go into hiding somewhere else where we can't find him. We really do have to thank Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15 for making this discovery" Wyrm 16 said.
"You're far too kind, fellow daoists. I only happened to stumble upon this discovery by chance," Han Li said with a modest smile.
After a moment of contemplation, Wyrm 8 declared, "Fellow Daoist Wyrm 15's theory is very sound. Let's go to the Kun province."
……
One night, several days later.
Two streaks of light flashed through the night sky above a vast plain, then descended onto the outskirts of a forest down below.
The two streaks of light faded to reveal a pair of flying arks, and Han Li's group flew down in their animal masks.
"Up ahead is the Red Moon City of the Kun province. It looks like there's a pilgrimage going on in that city as well," Wyrm 8 said as he pointed up ahead.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the direction that Wyrm 8 was pointing in, and he saw a massive, brightly lit city standing in the night close to 10 kilometers away.
The city was illuminated by crimson lights that had also stained the clouds in the night sky up above the same color, presenting a rather peculiar sight to behold.
This city was also enshrouded under a blue light barrier, but under the influence of the crimson lights, the blue light barrier was leaning toward a shade of dark red.
"This is an enormous city. It looks like there really is a chance that this is where Gong Shuhong is hiding," Wyrm 9 mused as he inspected the city before him.
"Let's not delay any further. Just like in the past, let's all refrain from using our spiritual sense as much as possible after entering the city," Wyrm 8 said.
Wyrm 9 naturally chose to ignore those orders, while everyone else nodded silently in response.
Moments later, everyone had adopted disguises using their masks and donned black cloaks that allowed them to blend into the night.
After that, they approached Red Moon City in silence.
At this moment, the city's four gates were wide open, and the main roads leading to the plaza at the center of the city were lined with red lanterns that illuminated the entire city to be as bright as day.
There were thousands of people making their way along the official roads outside the city gates, and they were rushing quickly toward the city. They had all traveled to Red Moon City to attend the pilgrimage, but all of them were a little late due to one reason or another.
Han Li and the others split up into two groups, then joined the crowd to enter the city through the gates.
Han Li, Wyrm 9, and Wyrm 16 entered the city through the southern gate, then followed the flow of the crowd toward the center of the city.
The atmosphere in the city was quite solemn, and everyone was very quiet as they traveled toward the center of the city in silence with their arms crossed over their chests.
Only after getting close to the center of the city could one hear the sound of some type of strange chanting, and Han Li's trio felt as if they were hearing the sound of constantly crashing waves, reverberating in a special rhythm.
At this moment, there were already millions of people packed onto the giant plaza at the center of the city and the nearby main roads. As a result, Han Li's trio was unable to progress any further upon reaching only halfway up the southern main road.
Thus, they were forced to squeeze through the crowd toward the plaza at the center of the city like a trio of slipper eels, much to the chagrin of many of the people around them.
However, due to the fact that the majority of the people here were mortals, and they were all busy chanting prayers, no altercation ensued from their actions. Thus, they were able to slowly squeeze their way onto the plaza, and even though they still weren't at the center of the plaza, they weren't all that far away.
Han Li was quite a tall man, so all he had to do was raise his head slightly to see all the way to the center of the plaza, where a huge statue that was over 1,000 feet tall was situated.
It was unclear whether it was due to the material of the statue or the lanterns around it, but the entire statue was of a crimson color, presenting a rather unnerving sight to behold.
Hovering in the air in front of the statue's chest were seven blue-robed figures, each of whom had the image of a crimson crescent moon embroidered onto the chest of their robes.
Under the illumination of the lanterns and with the statue behind them serving as a backdrop, these figures were made to appear like deities, and they were all giving off a peculiar aura.
However, none of them were actually all that remarkable when it came to their cultivation base. The white-haired elderly man at the center of the group was a late-Grand Ascension cultivator, but aside from him, everyone else was only at the Body Integration Stage.
However, for all of the people down below, the most powerful of whom were only Core Formation cultivators, they were no different from lofty deities.
Just like all of the millions of worshippers gathered down below, these seven people were also chanting the same prayers with extremely reverent expressions.
While Han Li was sizing up the seven blue-robed cultivators, Wyrm 16's voice suddenly rang out in his mind. "Should we take them down?"
He turned to find that Wyrm 9 was also looking back at him with a rather hesitant expression.
Right at this moment, the moon reached its highest point in the night sky, and the sound of prayers in the surrounding area gradually subsided.
The white-haired elderly man in the sky slowly turned around, sweeping his gaze across the plaza like a ruler looking down upon his people.
"It is only thanks to the infinite benevolence of the holy lord that we are all able to stand here today. Those among you who are most devout to the holy lord will be chosen for higher honors. The divine selection is about to begin, it's time to dedicate your prayers to the holy lord and pray for selection."
As soon as his voice trailed off, a wave of thunderous cheers instantly rang out from the crowd, but the cheering quickly subsided, and everyone looked up with hopeful expressions with their hands clasped tightly in front of them in prayer.
In order to blend in, Han Li's trio did the same thing.
Right at this moment, the plaza suddenly shuddered slightly as if some type of ancient array had been activated, and a very peculiar aura rose up in the surrounding area.
Han Li lowered his head slightly as he peered through the gaps in the crowd to inspect the ground with blue light flashing in his eyes.
As a result, he discovered that a series of complex patterns that were invisible to the naked eye had suddenly lit up, and they were intertwined with one another as they extended in all directions.
Immediately thereafter, hundreds of pillars of crimson light suddenly rose up into the heavens from all over the plaza, encompassing one Red Moon City resident after another.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the pillars of crimson light, and he was rather taken aback by what he saw.
Not only were the people encompassed within the pillars of light not panicked in the slightest, they were nothing short of ecstatic, and some of them were even weeping uncontrollably from joy.
If there were any friends or family next to them, then all of those loved ones would also be overjoyed, and even those who were unfamiliar with the ones encompassed within the pillars of light were looking at them with admiration and envy in their eyes.
Han Li turned to Wyrm 9 and Wyrm 16 with a perplexed expression to find that they were just as puzzled as he was.
After all, nothing like this had ever happened in any of the previous Red Moon Cities that they had visited.
All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to Han Li, and he transmitted his voice to Wyrm 9 and Wyrm 16, raising the question: "Could it be that these are the people chosen by the so-called holy lord?"
After a brief moment of contemplation, Wyrm 9 replied, "That's probably it. If we follow these people, perhaps we'll be able to find out more information about Gong Shuhong. The only problem is that we don't know where these people are going to be taken."
Han Li smiled as he replied, "There's an easy solution to that problem. There are people of all demographics being teleported away, so it seems like the selection process is completely random, but that's actually not the case."
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