The believers in the courtyard had been filled with unease and apprehension, but at these words, delight lit up their faces. They fell to their knees and loudly chanted the names of the Four Emperors:
"World-Saving Yuan Emperor Wonderful and Supreme God, World-Saving Primordial God, World-Saving Profound Yang God, World-Saving Universal Salvation God..."
On the wall behind the Cult Master hung four meticulous paintings, all drawn by his own hand. The one at the top depicted a handsome man in a blue robe, his bearing like an immortal's. The other three were in a row below him. In the center was a radiant young woman in a pale yellow dress, light shining out from her in every direction. To her left stood an Emperor in a bright yellow robe, wreathed in strands of dark yellow energy. To her right was a woman as cool and distant as the moon, holding an ancient zither. She seemed aloof, yet not unapproachable.
When the believers had finished chanting the names of the Four Emperors, the middle-aged scholar-looking Cult Master raised his right hand and slowly pressed it down.
The courtyard fell silent at once. Not a sound could be heard, a testament to the strictness of the cult's rules and the reverence in which its gods were held.
Cult Master He Yun gave a light cough. "The Four Emperors are about to descend and dispel the Demonic Tide. Now is the time to show your devotion. Are you merely paying lip service, or are you truly sincere? The gods can tell the difference."
"The Demonic Tide may be easy to dispel, but suffering is hard to banish, and in the end, no one can escape death. Will your souls return to the Nine Abysses and sink there for eternity, or will you serve