Ten o'clock at night, the temple hall.
The daytime bustle had long since dissipated, and the last batch of believers had been politely escorted out of the hall half an hour ago. Now, the heavy doors were closed from the inside, isolating the entire hall from the outside world.
A few attendants in plain robes were busy with the final cleaning—their movements were very light. Aside from the occasional sound of footsteps and the rustle of fabric, the entire hall was so quiet it was almost solemn.
A steady set of footsteps echoed from behind the archway leading to the side corridor. The attendants stopped what they were doing and bowed toward that direction.
Five figures wearing deep blue divine robes filed out from the side corridor. Leading them was an elderly man with graying hair and a beard; a golden holy light crystal was embedded in the divine emblem on his chest, while the emblems of the four behind him were silver. They walked to the center of the hall and came to a halt as the leading elder scanned the surroundings.
“That is all for tonight. You may all withdraw.”
His voice was not loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet hall.
The attendants bowed again, gathered their tools, and filed out into the side corridor. The last servant to leave glanced back at the five priests standing before the divine statue before gently closing the side door.
The heavy wooden door let out a low thud as it shut, the sound echoing beneath the high dome before gradually fading away. Only these five remained in the hall.
The five priests looked at each other in silence, the expressions on their faces carrying a shared gravity. The leading elder took the first step, walking toward the largest statue of the God of Light behind the altar, with the other four following closely behind.
They stopped about three paces in front of the statue and knelt in unison. Their foreheads touched the ground, and their palms were pressed flat against the cold stone floor, their posture reverent to the extreme.
The elder’s lips moved silently as if he were chanting some scripture, while the other four remained motionless in their prostrate positions.
After several breaths, the space in front of the statue began to distort.
First, a tiny ripple appeared, like a pebble being tossed into a calm pool of water. Then, the ripples expanded rapidly, the air emitting a low vibration, and the candle flames on the altar were pressed down simultaneously by an invisible current of air.
A rift tore open from the void, its edges glowing with a dark red light that formed a sinister contrast with the soft, milky-white holy light in the temple.
The rift expanded quickly, stabilizing within a few breaths into a passage wide enough for a single person. The interior of the passage was pitch black, with only that ring of dark red light at the edge flickering slightly.
The five priests rose in sequence. The leading elder straightened the hem of his robe and was the first to step into the passage. The moment his figure vanished into the darkness, the dark red glow flickered gently. The other four filed in after him, each moving quickly as if performing a task they had repeated countless times.
The hall fell back into silence. The candle flames slowly straightened up again, and the face of the divine statue remained compassionate and serene in the flickering light and shadow.
No one noticed that just before the fifth priest stepped into the passage, an almost invisible thread of faint golden light had quietly attached itself to the hem of his robe.
...
The other end of the passage was a pocket of carved-out space.
It was roughly the size of half a football field. The walls were not made of stone or earth, but a translucent gray membrane that resembled the internal lining of some biological organism. This membrane pulsed gently every few breaths, causing a subtle tremor to ripple through the entire space.
Li Yuan sensed an anomaly as soon as he crossed the threshold—the flow of time inside this pocket was inconsistent with the outside world. It was approximately ten percent slower. Although the difference wasn't huge, the ability to artificially create a time-dilated space meant the creator’s cultivation was at least at the Soul Transformation stage or higher, and they were likely using some kind of special treasure.
The spiritual energy content in the air was several times higher than outside, but even so, the density here only barely reached the level of the most remote and barren lands on the Kyushu Continent.
The furnishings inside the pocket were simple. Near the left wall sat a low table and a few chairs, with several parchment scrolls and a dip pen scattered across the table. On the right were several wooden crates with their lids half-open, revealing rows of bottles and jars inside. At the very back, directly opposite the entrance, stood a statue of the God of Light identical to the one outside, though much smaller, only slightly taller than a man. The surface of the statue emitted a faint white glow, and a dark red crystal was embedded in its chest.
Beneath the statue was a bed made entirely of transparent crystal. A thin white cushion was spread across its surface, and a young girl lay upon it. Her hands were folded over her chest, her breathing was steady, and her complexion appeared normal; she looked as though she had simply fallen into a deep sleep.
A figure in a white robe stood beside the crystal bed. His back was to the entrance of the passage as he looked down at the girl. Hearing the movement behind him, he slowly turned around.
It was the High Priest.
He appeared to be around fifty years old, with salt-and-pepper hair and several deep wrinkles etched into his face. However, his posture was very straight, and the light in his dark brown eyes was unsettling—it was like a hunger that had been suppressed for a very long time.
The five priests stepped forward and stopped about five paces from the High Priest, bowing in unison.
The leading elder straightened up and began to report, “The progress of the vow power collection ordered by the Lord Envoy has exceeded ninety percent of the target. Believer donations this month have increased by more than twenty percent compared to last month. With the news of next week’s festival being released, the number of pilgrims from other regions is estimated to reach a new record high—by then, the collected vow power will be sufficient to complete all the quotas set by the Lord Envoy for this year.”
A satisfied expression appeared on the High Priest’s face after hearing this. He nodded slightly and gestured for the elder to step aside, then turned toward the statue behind him, pressed his palms together, and bowed deeply.
He held this prostrate position for several breaths before slowly straightening up and turning to face the five priests.
“You have all worked hard,” the High Priest said, his voice not loud but carrying a condescending tone of praise. “Once the festival concludes successfully, the Lord Envoy will descend in person. At that time, what you seek—longevity, power, and the desires of your hearts—the Lord Envoy will not be stingy in granting them.”
The five priests knelt almost simultaneously.
“Your subordinates swear eternal loyalty to the Lord Envoy, unto death!” The elder’s voice trembled slightly with excitement. “To be able to serve the Lord Envoy is the honor of our lives.”
The other four echoed him in unison, the facial muscles of each man twitching from extreme excitement. The wrinkles at the corners of their eyes and mouths bunched together, weaving into a look of almost greedy piety.
The High Priest looked down at the five kneeling men, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening.
Li Yuan stood in a corner of the spatial pocket, leaning against the translucent gray membrane with one arm crossed over his chest and the fingers of his other hand lightly touching his chin.
He could see through the physical condition of the five priests at a glance—there were traces of their bodies being reinforced by mana, but it was only at a level slightly stronger than an average person... As for spiritual roots, spiritual energy, or Divine Sense, they had none. They were following the path of magic from this world entirely.
The problem lay with the High Priest.
From the moment he stepped into this pocket, Li Yuan had caught a scent that was all too familiar—the aura of blood fiend energy.
Though it was extremely thin, anyone who had dealt with evil cultivators would never mistake it. This blood fiend energy swirled around the High Priest, entering and exiting his body with every breath, already integrated into his meridians.
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