Transformation II

"Someone's coming." Ran Xin Yue's voice suddenly came from behind.

Zhang Rongfang opened his eyes and stood up. With a light step, his body shot out like a falcon, leaping off the cliff.

As he fell through the cliff face, he would occasionally plunge his arm into the rock face to slow down.

At the bottom of the cliff, the Heavenly Maiden stood quietly with her back against the mountain wall, as if admiring the moon, or as if waiting for him.

"You must be careful. The Thousand Sect Alliance's lifting of restrictions on Worship God means the former Ten Thousand Sects Covenant among all religions will become invalid."

Zhang Rongfang frowned.

He was well-versed in Daoist Scripture, but he was not clear about the closed history before the Great Ling. Very few records of those times have survived.

But now is not the time to ask questions.

With a light step, he swiftly plunged into the dark forest on one side.

In the forest, a large group of brown leather-armored axemen, masked and hunched over, moved about.

Judging by the number, there were no fewer than a hundred people! The two leading the group, one tall and one short, exuded an aura and their blood flow was quite terrifying in the Dark Light Vision. It was clear at a glance that they were at least Super Grade experts at the Internal Method level.

"They've finally arrived! Looks like we're going to have a big haul this time!" one of the tall men laughed.

He pointed at Zhang Rongfang. "Men, surround him and kill him!!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a gray shadow flashed past him.

The man's smile froze, and he maintained the gesture with his fingers, making a gurgling sound.

His head fell off his neck.

Large swathes of Silver Thread burst forth, rushing towards Zhang Rongfang as he pulled his hand away.

Unfortunately, they came up empty-handed.

The dozen or so axemen behind him roared in anger, showing no fear, and raised their weapons to slash at Zhang Rongfang in front of them.

But their weapons seemed to strike at phantoms, all missing their mark.

A gray shadow swept past them. Blood splattered everywhere.

Using the ground as leverage, Zhang Rongfang leaped up, stepped sideways onto a tree trunk, and bounced down, pouncing once more on the remaining axemen.

Half a minute later.

The forest was a bloody mess, with corpses strewn everywhere.

Zhang Rongfang shook the blood off his hands and turned back the way he came.

This is the fifth wave in recent days.

Among these people, some were Martial Cultivator practitioners led by the Worship God.

There were also powerful regional leaders who came under false identities, like Daoist Qingxiao, trying to gain merit along the way.

Others are simply small factions looking to take advantage of the situation by capturing people and making a quick buck, planning to send them to larger factions to claim rewards.

Of course, they could also be brain-dead cannon fodder sent by someone to test the waters.

After all, in this era, many people are illiterate, and being skilled in martial arts does not equate to having a high IQ.

A little bit of enticement combined with an unequal information gap can send someone to their death.

After killing the last person, Zhang Rongfang glanced around to make sure there were no survivors before turning and leaving.

Before long, he returned to the bottom of the cliff where the Heavenly Maiden stood.

"What is this 'Ten Thousand Sects Covenant' that you just mentioned?"

He keenly sensed that this thing was very likely to have a significant impact on the current situation.

The Heavenly Maiden seemed to be lost in thought, but when she heard the question, she glanced at him again.

"Just received news that someone from the Thousand Sect Alliance has broken the Ten Thousand Sects Covenant and lifted the restrictions on the Worship God under his command."

"What restrictions?"

"The world is about to descend into chaos again," the Heavenly Maiden murmured, bowing her head.

"You haven't answered my question yet," Zhang Rongfang said again.

"I had a feeling something was off before. Now I think about it, people always change, but these things are always the same. They're just being constrained." The Heavenly Maiden looked hazy and dazed, lost in thought again.

"Are you alright?" Zhang Rongfang was a little speechless. "Could you tell me what this 'Ten Thousand Sects Covenant' is?"

"The Ten Thousand Sects Covenant, oh my..." The Heavenly Maiden slowly came to her senses. "That was... a covenant."

"Just from the name, I can tell it's an agreement. Can you just finish it in one go?" Zhang Rongfang said helplessly.

This is how they behave when they have an attack in the Extreme Realm.

Di Jiang represents division, Heavenly Maiden represents forgetfulness.

I haven't seen the rest yet, but they're likely to have significant problems.

"That was... an agreement." The Heavenly Maiden's eyes were hazy, she straightened her chest, and then seemed lost in thought.

Zhang Rongfang felt an urge to hit someone.

He immediately turned around and used the momentum to leap up the cliff.

Before long, they climbed to the top of the cliff, which was over a hundred meters high. They found Ran Xin Yue, who was meditating and practicing her Civilian Skill, and simply repeated the question they had just asked.

"The Ten Thousand Sects Covenant," Ran Xin Yue heard the question, "Is a special agreement established by all the Gods and Buddhas forces before the Great Ling was established, in order to restrain each other from wantonly hunting and devouring mortals."

She quickly explained.

"Wanjiao" refers to all religious sects at that time. Of course, there were also those that did not participate, but they were all wiped out.

The pastoral covenant, on the other hand, refers to the agreements that must be followed when shepherding believers as ordinary people.

"What are the specific details?" Zhang Rongfang turned solemn.

Ran Xin Yue looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Are you sure you'll believe what I'm saying? After all, I'm a wanted fugitive from the Great Dao Sect."

"I have my own judgment," Zhang Rongfang said.

"Alright." Ran Xin Yue nodded. "The terms of the agreement are very simple, that is..."

"Restrict all Worship God from consuming the brains of mortals to strengthen their own sect's overall Spirit Thread."

This is also the origin of the saying that once Worship God, their power becomes fixed and unchanging.

Because their strength wasn't inherently incapable of growth, but rather that they were no longer being rewarded by their superiors.

"Absorbing brain marrow!?" Zhang Rongfang's pupils shrank, and he instantly recalled the scene that he would inevitably experience when Worship God —letting the Silver Thread pierce his forehead and merge into his brain marrow.

"Yes. Actually, the reason I joined the Reverse Time Society is because I know the truth," Ran Xin Yue said softly.

"All Gods and Buddhas live by absorbing brain marrow. The only difference is that the great religions absorb each person's brain marrow in an extremely secretive way, and the amount taken from each person is very small. They also help stimulate regeneration, so many people don't even realize it before it ends."

"The smaller the sect, the more obviously they consume brain marrow. This is also why believers in many small sects become increasingly fanatical the longer they have been practicing."

Because if too much brain marrow is absorbed, it won't regenerate in time, and the brain will become empty.

Zhang Rongfang looked stunned and was speechless for a moment.

"Are you surprised?" Ran Xin Yue laughed. "Actually, there's no need to be surprised. In that chaotic era, believers were the foundation of Worship God Gods and Buddhas, so everyone fought against each other and exterminated every believer of the other side."

"The Covenant of Ten Thousand Religions initially restrained the worship of gods, spirits, spirits, and spirit generals, preventing them from completely draining mortals to death in one fell swoop. After all, such a destructive act would seriously damage the foundation of gods and Buddhas."

"Later, the covenant was revised again because the higher-ups discovered that as long as the Worship God were allowed to freely consume mortals, an uncontrollable situation would inevitably arise."

So they simply forbade even inhaling. All abilities related to Worship God were directly sealed off and rendered unusable.

Thus, the people were able to recuperate and thrive, and the population grew rapidly. Furthermore, after the Great Ling was established, it continuously conquered territory from outside, bringing more and more people under its control. This led to the current situation.

"The Ten Thousand Sects Covenant," Zhang Rongfang repeated the name. "So, Worship God and absorbing a large amount of brain marrow at once can enhance one's strength?"

"No, but one can rapidly strengthen the Gods and Buddhas worshipped by the sect by absorbing their brain marrow, and then receive rewards and promotions, which will improve one's strength."

Simply Worship God and absorbing their brain marrow only provides temporary self-healing abilities.

In addition, the number of Worship God is also limited, and it requires a lot of brainpower every moment. Therefore, the number of Worship God that each sect can afford to support is fixed.

Moreover, the higher the level of Worship God, the more brain marrow is needed. This is equivalent to their sustenance,"Ran Xin Yue replied.

She seemed a little strange.

"You didn't know these things?"

"Nobody told me," Zhang Rongfang shook his head.

"If you know nothing, why did you fall out with the Great Dao Sect?" Ran Xin Yue opened her eyes wide, somewhat unable to understand.

It is precisely because of this cruel reality that the Rebel Alliance has been able to exist.

"I just don't want to Worship God," Zhang Rongfang replied after a moment of silence. "Something has gotten into my head, and I feel unsafe."

Ran Xin Yue was speechless.

That's quite a delicate reason. "When the Shepherding Covenant was established, the fear was that each side would recklessly and retaliate by hunting down mortals in the other's parishes, ultimately leading to a situation where no one would have anything to eat. But now, if this covenant is broken, the Spirit Flight Teaching will inevitably have to step in to suppress the violators. And if they can't suppress them..."

Suddenly her expression changed, as if she had thought of something.

"No! The Great Dao Sect was forcibly cut off from the Spirit Flight Teaching's ability to sense the lower levels by some method used by Sect Grand Master Yue Dewen. At this time, Spirit Flight Heaven probably has no way of knowing that Mu Yue has been destroyed!"

"In other words, if this was planned from the beginning..." In an instant, Ran Xin Yue felt a chill in her heart.

Zhang Rongfang also understood the meaning behind it.

"You mean..." His expression also became shaken.

"Do you think that, given Yue Dewen's cunning, he wouldn't know that the Thousand Sect Alliance was driven to desperation and would do something like this? He isolated Spirit Flight Heaven's senses, yet he himself remained unmoved, creating such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for others. This is clearly a plan to wait for the isolation period to pass so that all the Gods and Buddhas Sect could maximize their own strength and then challenge the Spirit Flight Teaching together." Ran Xin Yue instantly understood everything.

"What a cruel heart! What a vicious scheme!!" Her heart turned ice-cold.

Zhang Rongfang understood, but his expression remained stern, and he did not move.

"To use the lives of countless people as the price for changing the state religion, as the stepping stones to his own ascent to the top—I don't believe Master Yue would do such a thing! This could never have been his true intention!"

"What is he incapable of?" Ran Xin Yue gritted her teeth. "He's a good teacher to you, but why do you think Jade Words Palace Master dislikes him in front of others?"

"Master Yue is not such a cruel person." Zhang Rongfang was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"If not, I can't think of any other trump card he has that would dare to challenge the Spirit Flight Teaching and change the world!" Ran Xin Yue replied in a deep voice. "Now it seems that isolating the Spirit Flight Teaching is probably due to a lot of forces secretly cooperating with Yue Dewen."

"I don't believe any of this," Zhang Rongfang voice.

He didn't consider himself a kind person, and he would never hesitate to kill.

But he was asked to sacrifice countless strangers' lives just for his own ambition to rise Further Progress.

He can't do it.

Because it's too heavy.

Whether it succeeds or fails, such a scheme will inevitably incur countless hatreds.

In changing the fate of others, one's own fate will inevitably be permanently altered.