Chapter 666: Section 453: Path of Profanity
White Hair Sea Trench.
Outside the Ocean Nest.
A Blood Sacrifice was already prepared.
Zhang Yuwan herded a large group of sea beasts onto the Gold altar. Under the power of the Magic Array, these beasts were bound and suppressed, unable to move.
Zhou Zhang stood at the foot of the Gold altar, shouting and calling out names one after another.
Those Believers whose names were called stepped forward one by one, surrounding the Gold altar in a circle, kneeling down, and began praying in silence.
Ba Qi keenly noticed: these Believers were carefully selected, and racially, they were almost all Naga.
This was different from the previous prayers.
In previous prayers, the Believers around the Gold altar were indiscriminate regarding race and order, scattered casually. They prayed in various languages, some silently departing after finishing their prayers, and soon other Believers occupied the vacated spaces.
They did not compete for position, believing that the proximity to the altar had no relation to the depth of their faith.
The unusual circumstances of this sacrificial ceremony attracted not just Ba Qi but ship ghosts, Sea Snake Ladies, Cang Xu, and others as well.
When Zhou Zhang ceased calling names, a hundred or more people knelt at the foot of the altar.
And other Believers kept their distance from the Gold altar, ensuring a gap of at least two hundred meters between them.
The Blood Sacrifice officially began.
Without anyone else in mind, the host of the Blood Sacrifice was still one of the Charming Blue Sect’s Archbishops, Fishman Zhou Zhang.
As the host, she received the most benefits. However, because she was at the Holy Domain Level and her body was vastly large, the enhancement was not very noticeable.
But there was no doubt, Zhou Zhang suppressed the entire army and was the core of the entire ceremony, the most crucial character, without a parallel!
The Gold Level altar and Magic Array slowly started up, Magic Rune lines and Divine Texts appeared one after the other, emitting surges of breath and radiance.
On the Gold altar, a vast number of sea beasts were dissolved on the spot.
Midway through the Blood Sacrifice, the radiance accumulated by the Gold altar reached its limit, violently bursting with intense spatial fluctuations.
A strange light covered around a hundred meters surrounding the altar, and the kneeling Naga immediately vanished from the spot.
“This is teleportation! Where have they been teleported to?” Ba Qi’s eyes widened, witnessing this situation for the first time.
Ship ghosts and others who saw this scene also wore expressions of shock and doubt.
Observing Believers at the scene, one by one knelt down, loudly praying, while some looked at Ba Qi, ship ghosts, and other captives, revealing smirks.
The only reason they tolerated these Pagans was that they knew what their end would be.
If Ba Qi, ship ghosts, and the others could convert, then they would be one of their own and could be accepted. If not, they would be sacrifices, contributing everything to the god they worshiped.
The Ocean Nest suddenly bustled with activity.
The Holy Domain Level sea beast Snow Pear Octopus stirred up a bloody storm, gleefully feasting upon countless deep sea Magic Beasts.
Those Naga Believers had long earlier retreated into several corners, beginning to pray with all their might amidst fear.
The Fishman youth had sent out Alchemy Puppets early to take advantage of the chaos. While the Naga and Holy Domain sea beasts were not paying attention, Rubber Swallowers captured several Naga Believers quite smoothly.
Subsequently, these Rubber Swallowers quietly returned to the Deep Sea Monster Fish without drawing the attention of the Holy Domain sea beasts.
Bluefin Fishman Alchemist Zhongyong had long been ready, receiving these captives and then activating the Spiked Prison, locking up all the captives.
This Spiked Prison was Zhongyong’s latest Alchemy creation, primarily made from the Spiral Long Horn of Unihorn whales.
Once the Naga captives were thrown into the prison, a multitude of Spiral Spikes immediately protruded from within the cage, piercing into the bodies of the captives.
Due to the severe pain, all the captives were startled awake.
But it was too late for them to struggle.
The force erupted from the spikes, suppressing their Transcendent abilities.
The test results were excellent, prompting the Fishman youth to praise Zhongyong multiple times.
Zhongyong was also very pleased, “If you are satisfied, that is the best outcome.”
Zhongyong was satisfied.
These days, he had been cloistered within the Deep Sea Monster Fish, receiving a vast workload, but he enjoyed every bit of it, tirelessly indulged.
Because he encountered many brilliantly conceived Alchemy Diagrams that were so unique they earned his praise. And there were vast amounts of Alchemy Material for him to craft.
Wasn’t this the kind of happy life he aspired to?
The youth began to interrogate these Naga Believers.
When he was left alone, he used the Blood Core, absorbing all these Naga Believers, transforming them into his own accumulation of Bloodline.
From the interrogation, the Fishman youth learned of Zhou Zhang’s intentions.
“She indeed wants to proselytize.”
“So this teleportation did not bring these captives up, but teleported them into the Ocean Nest.”
“The current goal is to let Ba Qi, ship ghosts, and others have a good look, to let them feel fear and pressure, and to convert to the Charming Blue Sect in despair.”
“That is fine, Zhongyong also needs more time to craft more powerful items to capture Ba Qi, ship ghosts, and the others.”
The Spiked Prison that Zhongyong hastily produced was mostly at the Black Iron Level, with only one at the Silver Level.
According to his ability, he was not yet able to craft at the Gold Level.
When the Naga Believers were teleported again and appeared around the Gold altar, the awaiting deep sea army erupted with noisy cheers.
Ba Qi, shocked by this scene, spoke once again,
“These people have been teleported back!”
“Wait, not all of them have safely returned; there’s a small reduction in their numbers.”
“Uh?!”
Ba Qi almost thought he had seen wrong, and he was surprised to discover that the life breath of the returning Believers had all generally risen. He remembered very clearly that, before the teleportation, some of the Believers were just low-level Transcendents, but now their life hierarchy had directly ascended by one level.
Those Transcendents who had not received an upgrade, their life breath had also thickened a lot more than before.
On the altar, Zhou Zhang scanned the Naga Believers’ conditions and then cast his gaze toward Ba Qi and the others.
The unsightly, doubtful expressions on the faces of Ba Qi and the others caused the corners of Zhou Zhang’s mouth to slightly tilt upward.
Zhang Yuwan, Drunken Flower Arm, and other Golden Level were also quite interested, observing the expressions of Ba Qi and the other captives.
The returning Believers merged into the crowd.
Cheers rose high again, and the tide of people surged, leaving Believers eagerly stepping forward to greet them, loudly acclaiming the name of the divine, praising their lord, and all reaching out their hands to touch the hands, shoulders, legs, and feet of the Naga Believers, etc. As if touching the bodies of these Believers, they too could be graced by the glory of the divine.
And the Naga Believers who had undergone the strict test of faith, each one of them had a composed face, filled with glory and loftiness. The desperate praying and shivering in the Ocean Nest they had shown before had already been forgotten by them.
For them, although being teleported to the Nest posed a threat to life, when compared to the gains, it was very much worth it.
Their strength had been greatly improved, their prestige had seen a massive increase, and their status had risen more than just a layer.
Ba Qi, Sea Snake Lady, Ship Ghost, Cang Xu, and others watched the crowd celebrating, and the shock on their faces gradually faded, replaced by a gloomy and solemn atmosphere.
Even the Fishman youth in the Deep Sea Monster Fish, seeing this scene through a Magic Image, couldn’t help but sincerely exclaim, “So many kinds of intelligent beings gathered together, celebrating the same event. At this moment, racial barriers seem to not exist anymore. This is faith!”
Ship Ghost silently retreated back to the temporary shanty he was staying in, with a surge of waves churning in his heart: “This place likely still contains an Ocean Nest!”
Compared to Ba Qi’s fighter status, Ship Ghost as a Golden Level Mage, during these days of being captive, had always been observing.
Every time a ritual was held, a Magic Array would be revealed.
Ship Ghost would come to watch every time, carefully observing the Magic Runes, Divine Texts, and specific Array Maps.
“The ancestors once assigned us a task, to fully gather information about the Charming Blue God.”
“The Charming Blue God may have fallen into slumber, but she can transform the Nest and still rely on it for transit, ensuring her safety on one hand, and on the other, deepening faith and accumulating Divine Power!”
“Ship Ghost, sir.” At this time, Fin Spirit’s voice came from outside the shanty.
Ship Ghost called Fin Spirit in.
Fin Spirit then informed Ship Ghost of all the intelligence gathered during this time.
Ship Ghost confirmed the suspicions in his own heart, and a great feeling of despair arose from the depths of his soul.
“Call our people together, I have something to tell them.” Ship Ghost instructed Fin Spirit, who then set out to carry out the order.
Although they were all captives, the intensity of their supervision had drastically decreased over time. Now, Ship Ghost, Cang Xu, and others could move freely within a small area.
Even if they gathered together, they would not be organized. It was like the treatment of prisoners in a jail.
On one hand, Zhou Zhang of the Holy Domain Level had strong power, and on the other hand, Ship Ghost and the others were all wearing Magic Ban shackles, finding it hard to display their Transcendent abilities.
Soon, including Qing Xin, the Undead Mages had all gathered in Ship Ghost’s crude shanty.
Fin Spirit sighed: “Who would’ve thought we would be reunited under these circumstances.”
Little Prince let out a cold snort: “It’s all your fault!”
Ship Ghost said: “You all saw today’s ritual, this is not a simple Blood Sacrifice. There should be an Ocean Nest hidden here…”
Ship Ghost shared his own conjecture.
Little Prince was stunned.
Over the past few days, he had been increasingly indulging in wishful thinking. He even considered performing a bit, feigning a deep faith to buy time until reinforcements from the Undead Faction found them.
Ship Ghost and the others had no such thoughts.
They hadn’t sent out a distress signal, and even if they had, it was hard to say if anyone would receive it. It was Ship Ghost’s luck in the Nether River!
Ku Feng suddenly realized, “I get it now. No wonder Zhou Zhang told us to convert. Regardless of whether the conversion is successful, she wins. The Ocean Nest has been transformed by the divine, it’s very difficult for us to deceive on matters of faith.”
Fin Spirit’s face showed worry: “So now, we can only hope that the conversion is successful.”
Although she had been a Fishman in life, she did not worship the Charming Blue God.
In fact, if she had been a devout Believer, she wouldn’t have lingered after death as a soul, instead of being immediately guided away by the divine.
Ship Ghost shook his head: “Faith is not as simple as just words.”
“You all should have seen that those groups of Naga Believers were carefully selected, their degree of faith was at least Devout Level.”
“We have to become successful converts in such a short time, and also at least become devout Believers in order to survive this fatal crisis.”
“However, the real trouble is, even if we were to convert out of fear of death, the depth of our faith would not be much.”
This statement plunged the Undead Mages into silence.
Cang Xu asked, “So what should we do?”
“There’s only one way,” Ship Ghost’s voice rose in everyone’s minds, “that is to use the means of Desecration Priest to disguise ourselves.”
“Desecration Priest?”
“I remember this is content from the high-level Soul Vein legacy.”
Little Prince and Fin Spirit responded one after the other.
They both mastered this secret means of communication, while Cang Xu was exposed to it for the first time, only able to listen, not speak.
The next moment, Ship Ghost replied: “Given the emergency, it’s acceptable to slightly breach principles.”
“To increase our chances of survival, I plan to impart some content of the Desecration Priest to you!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Cang Xu received a large amount of Spell knowledge.
This knowledge appeared directly in his mind, as if out of thin air.
“The legacy of the Desecration Priest!”
“Concerning the creation of False Memory!”