Chapter 61: Chapter 56: Flexible Faith
The Sea Demon fell before I even had to try.
Luh Yao was very satisfied.
He wished every battle was a dump truck attack. If he could just run everything over, why bother with complicated tactics?
His math teacher back in school used to say, "Simple is beautiful."
Although Luh Yao wasn’t good at math, he had always remembered those words and took them to heart.
Luh Yao observed the situation.
The little people on the island had been completely cowed by the Blood Knight under his control. Most of them were frozen in place, their will to fight gone, having given up all resistance.
The villain’s role was played. It was time for the Hero to enter the stage.
He calculated the distance. With its current health, the Blood Knight could walk all the way back along the seabed. Even losing health every second, it could still keep going for more than forty minutes—more than enough time to get back to the castle.
Speaking of which, an Apostle could walk along the seabed without eating or drinking, like a humanoid submarine. It was unlike a galley, which had to make frequent stops for supplies and to avoid storms, wasting a great deal of time.
In terms of travel efficiency, it was actually faster for the Blood Knight to just walk along the seabed.
Just as Luh Yao was about to recall the Blood Knight and send Isabel to save the island and spread the love and peace of Yao God, members of the East Sea Clan stopped the Blood Knight.
The one in the lead was a 25-year-old woman named Hemira, the [Clan Leader].
"Please wait. You are an Apostle of a God, right?"
Hemira said, "Now that the Prayer God has abandoned the East Sea Clan, what do you intend to do with us?"
Luh Yao frowned.
’This isn’t how the story is supposed to go.’
He hesitated for a moment, but still decided to withdraw.
The Blood Knight’s persona was that of a brutish villain, a homicidal maniac who cut down anyone on sight and wouldn’t even spare a passing rabbit.
Having the good-natured Isabel take in the East Sea Clan was the script Luh Yao had already written.
"The God you follow is so powerful. The East Sea Clan wishes to follow your lead, to worship a new God, and to offer our Faith and loyalty. Your will, and that of your God, will be our mission."
Hemira’s pledge of allegiance was incredibly direct.
Luh Yao was stunned.
’This is wrong, all wrong.’
’Weren’t they acting like zealots just a moment ago?’
The fierce battle at sea, where the East Sea Clan had suicidally tried to sink ships and sacrificed their own people to slow down the Blood Knight, was still fresh in his mind.
They had also wept and wailed in terror when their Divine Prayer Totem collapsed.
When the Sea Monster Kraken was killed, the little people were in utter disbelief, their Faith shattered.
And yet, just a few minutes later, the [Clan Leader] Hemira calmly declared that the East Sea Clan was willing to serve a new God, offering their loyalty and Faith.
The change was just too fast.
As if she knew her actions would be met with suspicion, Hemira candidly began to explain.
"Lord Apostle, the East Sea Clan originally lived in the forests on the mainland. In the previous Era, our ancestors were all Believers of the Forest God."
"After the Forest God fell, our ancestors fled to the sea to escape being hunted by Corrupters and Molting Monsters."
"It was then that the Prayer God appeared and took us in. For that, we have always been profoundly grateful."
"Whatever the Prayer God asked of us, we faithfully carried out Its will."
"The Prayer God had us breed with the Sea Monster Kraken to give birth to Sea Monsters. The women of our clan have done this, generation after generation."
"Over the long years, the East Sea Clan learned to live at sea, and we continued to birth Sea Monsters for the Prayer God, offering these Sea Monsters to the God as Sacrificial Offerings via the Totem."
"Because birthing them was what the God required, our clan needed more women, not men. It wasn’t until the Sea Demon fell into a slumber that we began capturing men from the outside to take its place..."
Through Hemira’s description, Luh Yao finally understood the origin of the East Sea Clan.
The reason they could give birth to Sea Monsters was because the Prayer God had required them to mate with the Sea Monster Kraken. Of the offspring, the females would retain human characteristics, while the males would become Sea Monsters. That was the origin.
The Sea Monsters were the Mixed Blood of humans and Sea Demons.
After generations of their bloodlines intermingling, the East Sea Clan came to possess a partial Sea Demon bloodline.
For the offshoot East River Tribe, their bloodline was continuously diluted, making it harder and harder to give birth to Sea Monsters.
And the path for delivering the Sea Monsters to the Prayer God was the very Totem he had just destroyed.
"There was a time we would have fought for the Prayer God to the last person."
Hemira continued, "But the God has not answered us for many years. Even the great Sea Monster Kraken has been abandoned by the God. This means that the lord Prayer God has forsaken the East Sea Clan."
"As a member of the East Sea Clan, I feel immense pain and loss. But as the leader here, I must bear the responsibility of ensuring my people’s survival."
"Lord Apostle, I again sincerely and wholeheartedly ask that you accept all 1,678 of us in the East Sea Clan. We are willing to offer everything to you and your God to gain the Lord God’s protection and guidance."
Clan Leader Hemira knelt on the ground, her posture utterly subservient.
Seeing this, the surrounding members of the East Sea Clan all followed suit, kneeling in supplication.
However, the Blood Knight’s ferocious persona had to be maintained.
So, Luh Yao had the Blood Knight turn and walk away.
Meanwhile, he glanced aside. Having received her orders, Isabel had already turned back from the forest and was now speeding toward the island in a galley.
Soon after, Isabel landed on the island and began the process of taking in the people of the East Sea Clan.
...
Clan Leader Hemira immediately knelt and swore an oath, "From this day forward, the East Sea Clan will fight for the Faith of Yao God!"
Luh Yao saw the population and Faith counters in the upper-right corner of his screen increase by over 1,600 points each.
Population: 15,073 Faith: 5,588
Conquest in the tribal era was refreshingly straightforward.
’You are strong, so your Faith must be the right one. We will follow you.’
’If you abandon us, we’ll have no choice but to find a new God for shelter.’
Clan Leader Hemira then spoke again, "Lord Apostle, the Prayer God hid a Secret Treasure on this island. It’s a key, which was kept beneath the Totem and guarded by the Sea Monster Kraken."
"Now, we wish to retrieve the key and offer it to Yao God."
With that, she commanded a Sea Monster to dive underwater. A short while later, the Sea Monster resurfaced and spat a golden leaf onto the ground.
Isabel picked up the golden leaf and examined it for a moment.
She looked out from the screen. "My Lord, this is a Teleportation Gate Key. It can open a gate to another space. It contains unbelievable power."
Hearing this, Luh Yao quickly ordered the Blood Knight—who had been standing aside, silently playing the part of an aloof master—to stand guard.
To be safe, he then had Isabel evacuate the nearby humans of the East Sea Clan.
Next, Luh Yao dragged his mouse and clicked on the key. The key immediately flew to the top-left corner of the screen, turning into a golden key icon.
A prompt appeared on the screen.
[Pioneer who comes after, do you wish to enter here?]
[Here lie the roots of the Silvanus Tree, where I have left my most precious legacy... and my deepest regret.]
[If you possess enough courage and Wisdom, then come. Come and obtain my most secret power.]
[Yes] [No]
Luh Yao paused.
’More stuff from the Forest God?’
’Last time it was the [Golden Field]. Don’t tell me the Forest God has more than one Main God Space?’
After some thought, Luh Yao clicked [Yes].
The golden leaf unfolded into a shimmering golden gate.
Luh Yao used the key icon in the top-left corner to touch the gate of light, opening a black fissure within it.
Then, Luh Yao selected the Blood Knight and sent him in to scout ahead.
The moment the Blood Knight stepped inside, the black fissure vanished and the gate of light sealed shut.
Luh Yao clicked on the gate, and the screen instantly changed.
Inside the golden leaf was a dim, gray world. It resembled a desolate wasteland of barren hills, filled with withered, twisted dead trees. The ground was covered in stone burial mounds that lacked any tombstones.
A line of text slowly materialized on the screen.
[First Floor of the Black Abyss]
Suddenly, one of the mounds began to shake, and a gray, humanoid monster clawed its way out.
The text above its head read: [Ghoul LV40].
After the first one, more Ghouls emerged from the ground as if they had caught a scent. They swarmed toward the Blood Knight, Necied, from all directions.
Luh Yao’s eyes lit up as he watched.
’So this is a high-level grinding spot!’
’No wonder the Forest God said His power was hidden here... who knows, maybe these monsters will even drop some gear!’
Luh Yao pulled out his phone, quickly ordered a takeout box of shredded pork with green peppers over rice, and got ready to watch the Blood Knight slay monsters as dinner entertainment.
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