Chapter 653: Section 440: Convert to a New Belief
The Fishman youth had never anticipated meeting Cang Xu under such circumstances.
“This is really troublesome,” the Fishman youth said with a grave expression on his face.
He found it difficult to save himself, and now Cang Xu had become a captive of Zhou Zhang, a Priest of the Holy Domain Level. Thus, the Fishman youth had to save not only himself but also Cang Xu.
“What should I do now?” the Fishman youth once again felt acutely aware of his own lack of strength.
He was only of the Silver Level. And before him, even fighters and Undead Mages of the Golden Level had been easily captured by Zhou Zhang.
The majesty of the Holy Domain was too difficult for the Golden Level to withstand, far surpassing the difficulty for a Silver Level to slay a Golden Level!
Apart from Zhou Zhang, there were also other Golden Level enemies, at least five. There were even more of the Silver and Black Iron Levels.
If the Fishman youth were to confront them directly, he would have to face an entire underwater army!
Seeing the fate of the Undead Mages, he was glad he hadn’t taken the risk earlier.
Even though his Blood Core had absorbed the bloodline of the Undead, enabling him to transform into an Undead, it was still incredibly dangerous for him to act alone.
When he turned into a ghost and passed through the walls of the Ocean Nest to the outside world, it would be his moment of complete destruction. Or, like Cang Xu and the others, he would suffer a dismal capture.
From these captives, the Fishman youth deeply sensed the strength of Zhou Zhang, even though he hadn’t witnessed the earlier battle.
Zhou Zhang had captured Ba Qi, the Sea Snake Lady, the Gum Man, and the ship ghosts led by the Undead Mages alive. Such achievements were terrifying.
It was well known that killing and capturing alive were entirely different in terms of difficulty.
Especially since the time it took for Zhou Zhang, from leaving the altar to returning, was very short. In such a brief period, she had captured so many strong opponents. The thought of such combat power was deeply frightening.
The captives had all been escorted beneath the altar.
One of the captors who handled Ba Qi, a Golden Level Octopus named Zhang Yuwan, cursed and then viciously kicked the back of Ba Qi’s knees.
Ba Qi’s combat abilities had been completely sealed.
Zhou Zhang then cast Divine Arts on him, allowing him to breathe freely underwater and withstand the enormous water pressure, but he had no power to resist.
Being kicked so harshly, Ba Qi dropped to his knees.
It goes without saying, this battle was undoubtedly the most suffocating for Ba Qi.
He possessed the bloodline of bad weather, practiced the Pressure Fighting Energy technique, and mastered the Magic-like Qi Elementalization.
Especially the latter ability, it made him virtually invulnerable to fatal weaknesses of human structures.
But his Qi Elementalization had been countered by the Concurrent Deception Skill, preventing him from realizing he had been attacked. He even mistook his consumption of Healing Potions for reality when they had been taken by the enemy.
The powerful Qi Elementalization ability had not been utilized at all.
It could be said that he was completely restrained by Zhou Zhang, not being able to utilize any of his strength.
But a victory was a victory, and a defeat was a defeat. Ba Qi looked disgruntled but acknowledged the fact. He knelt down on both knees, very quietly, without any struggle.
Subsequently, the Sea Snake Lady was also forced to kneel beside Ba Qi.
Perhaps the gesture of kneeling was too abrupt, and the Sea Snake Lady couldn’t help spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood. Her expression was extremely desolated, her gaze very dim, devoid of its usual brightness.
The current situation was indeed too much of a blow for her!
The Sea Snake Lady had thought of the ship ghosts and others, but she never imagined she would encounter a being like Zhou Zhang.
Just when she was close to success, it all fell apart. Not only was the forcefully contracted Golden Level sea snake utterly destroyed, but she herself became a prisoner.
The fall from grace was all too great.
The Gum Man followed next, forced to kneel down as well.
His condition was also not good. He had exhausted himself previously to subdue the Golden Level sea snake and had taken several powerful potions.
Now, he was completely limp, with no strength to resist. He couldn’t even maintain his kneeling posture and soon collapsed completely onto the ground.
But even in such a state, he did not forget to care for his beloved.
The Gum Man used his chin to crawl slowly towards the Sea Snake Lady.
“No, don’t be afraid. At least we’re still alive,” the Gum Man said with difficulty, trying to console her.
But the Sea Snake Lady seemed not to hear, her expression blank.
Seeing his beloved like this, the Gum Man was extremely heartbroken.
The ship ghost then also knelt down, aligning with Ba Qi and the others.
The Little Prince was crying woefully, becoming the Undead Mage nestled close to him.
Ku Feng had lost an arm. This happened on the way, when the effect of the Concurrent Deception Skill wore off, he realized the situation and struggled fiercely.
Ku Feng’s expression was like iron. His combat abilities were at the peak of the Silver Level, yet his opponent was the Golden Level Zhang Yuwan. Barely escaping with his life was the consequence of Zhang Yuwan’s decision to show mercy.
Cang Xu, however, did not suffer much damage.
Of course, this was after he regained consciousness and decided to stop resisting.
Cang Xu was the weakest among them. In this situation, being the weakest sometimes offered a slightly better circumstance than those with stronger abilities.
Cang Xu looked up and observed Zhou Zhang who had ascended the altar, surrounded by a huge underwater army, feeling extremely unwilling to accept this.
The Undead Mages wanted to be the opportunistic ‘yellow bird,’ but the true ‘yellow bird’ turned out to be Zhou Zhang and his group, who acted last.
This was a true massive defeat!
“Damn it! Now, as a captive, the enemy’s strength is too overwhelming, and there is absolutely no hope of escape.”
“Do I really have to die here this time?”
Cang Xu felt very unwilling, especially since he knew about the existence of the Blood Core.
But at the same time, he was also persuading himself to remain calm, “Since these Fishmen didn’t kill me directly on the battlefield but have captured everyone and carefully used Divine Arts to allow us to temporarily survive underwater. Then, even if they really want to kill us, it won’t be right now.”
Qing Xin was also brought to Cang Xu’s side eventually.
She voluntarily knelt on the ground.
The demeanor of this Wind Element Mage was numb.
On the Ghost Ship, her situation had already been difficult.
After this battle, she ended up as a mere prisoner.
For Qing Xin, there wasn’t just a worst living environment, but always one more terrible!
Fin Spirit was not spared either, becoming one of the kneeling captives.
However, among all the captives, her situation might be the best.
Because she had connections with the Da Ji Tribe. The Da Ji Tribe, which had retreated, had already converged with Zhou Zhang and his group. This gave Fin Spirit some hope.
Since Zhou Zhang had accepted the Da Ji Tribe, perhaps there was also a possibility of accepting her, a Fishman who had always considered the tribe’s wellbeing, even becoming an Undead Mage secretly protecting the insufficient—special Fishman?
Beyond Qi Ren, Ship Ghost, and others kneeling in the front row, all the accompanying members of the crew from the Softie and the bold pirate group were also taken in one swoop.
They just didn’t have the privilege to kneel beneath the altar.
The Da Ji Tribe’s Fishmen were not treated as captives.
Qi Ren, Qi Shu, and Qiao Miao were looking around.
The huge Magic Array that extended up the mountain walls left them astonished. The Golden Level Beast Bones altar sent chills down their spine.
Seeing their enemies reduced to captives filled them with a satisfying and exciting vengeance.
Clan Leader Qiao Miao whispered to the Priest Qi Ren, “Ms. Fin Spirit has also been taken as a captive, should we report this to Zhou Zhang?”
Qi Ren’s expression was grave as he slightly shook his head, “Now is not the right time. Let’s endure a little longer. For the time being, they shouldn’t face any immediate threat to their lives. I’m more worried that we aren’t in a position to plead for an Undead Mage with Zhou Zhang. Didn’t you see how the others are looking at us?”
The massive underwater army surrounding the altar looked at the Undead Mages with thick disgust, hatred, fear, and murderous intent.
Compared to Human Race’s Qi Ren, the Sea Snake Lady, and others, the Undead Mages were clearly less favored.
Zhou Zhang had already ascended the altar, overlooking everyone below.
Her gaze briefly swept over others and then settled on Qi Ren and the other captives.
Zhou Zhang used the Universal Language, initiating the conversation, “I am Zhou Zhang, serving wholeheartedly the Goddess Mei Lan. As one of the Archbishop of the Charming Blue Sect, it must be divine will and the arrangement of fate that you have fallen into my hands.”
“Now, you have a choice.”
“Convert to our Goddess Mei Lan, and you can secure a chance to continue living, even gain freedom.”
“However, if you persist in your former Faith, then complete annihilation is your only outcome.”
As the Holy Domain Level Archbishop of the Charming Blue Sect, spreading the Goddess’s faith had always been his primary duty.
Hearing her words, the captives almost all showed shocked expressions.
“Mei Lan God?”
“Wasn’t she already annihilated?”
“No, as long as there is one Believer, a deity never dies, at most, they are only in slumber.”
“So this is why the Holy Domain Priest didn’t directly eradicate us…”
After the shock, the captives fell into silence.
Convert?
For them, this was a significant and difficult decision.
In this world, almost everyone held their own beliefs. Many devout Believers would rather die than convert. For these Believers, death was not something to fear. Sticking to their faith, even in death, they might be appreciated by the deity and thus be led to the Divine Country, enjoying an eternally blissful life in Heaven.
Zhou Zhang, using life and death as leverage, might seem forceful, but in reality, it was a negligible threat to those with deep faith.
Conversion was so difficult, and it also meant that spreading the faith was challenging.
Normally, the more powerful the deity, the easier it was to spread their faith. But clearly, the Mei Lan God was not a strong deity, and her situation was precarious. After the divine battle, she had been in slumber.
If there was enough time, Zhou Zhang might have used a gentler, more secure method to spread the faith. But now, she had to preside over a Blood Sacrifice and simply did not have the time or patience. Hence, she resorted to forcing with life and death, hardline proselytizing.