Thousand Year Fire

It was too late to stop the ritual.

As the priest of the Second Rank Sequence of the Children of the Forest chanted religious hymns.

A giant tree shadow appeared on the floor of the hall.

The priest of the Children of the Forest grew taller and stronger. Standing on the altar-like pattern on the ground, she transformed into a small giant.

She was originally shorter than an average adult human male.

But now she was over 5 meters tall. Fortunately, the hall's height was sufficient, otherwise she would have broken through the ceiling.

Faced with such a tall giant, the Black Wolf and the Old Witch couldn't help but retreat for a moment.

The priestess searched the hall and found a broom in a corner. The broom was like a toothpick in her hand, and she easily broke it.

Then she held the head of the broken broom. The broom head spontaneously combusted, emitting white smoke.

The priestess waved the simple ritual tool made from the broom, letting the white smoke envelop the hall. Her eyes glowed with an eerie blue-green light.

The white smoke combined with the flames, creating a dreamlike illusion.

It was as if a heretic god had descended.

One had to admit, the priest's skills were full of mystery and perfect for setting the mood.

The priestess muttered in human language, "Great Ancient Ancient Soul, I offer you the flesh and blood of an enemy. Please take away these humans' Hani."

She grabbed a stunned young man beside her with her left hand. The young man was powerless to resist and was caught by the small giant. Then she crushed his chest.

Blood splattered on the ground.

The tree shadow on the ground became frenzied, as if the branches and leaves of a tree were being blown by a strong wind.

The tree shadow danced wildly.

After accepting the sacrifice, the white smoke seemed to possess some devilish power, making all the human knights and knight attendants present feel drowsy.

In contrast, the Treant Persons were full of energy. After absorbing the white smoke, they were like they had taken stimulants, and their combat power increased.

The Treant Persons gradually turned the tide.

The knights had to fight the Treant Persons while also guarding against the suddenly appearing priestess giant.

Yveta was not affected by the white smoke. However, the small giant transformed from the priestess looked down like a deity in a temple upon the humans and Treant Persons fighting in the hall.

This made Yveta decide to observe the situation first.

Besides, although he had magic power now, the daily spell usage limit for his devilish items had been exhausted.

He could only hope that the Hearthstone Witch and the human army here could suppress the Treant Persons.

Yveta looked at the Old Witch. "Why did she suddenly get so tall? What is that white smoke?"

The Hearthstone Great Witch was quickly reading a forbidden book, looking for an explanation for the current situation. "Your Majesty, she just sacrificed her own blood and an enemy's flesh to the Ancient Tree Soul. The Treant Persons superstitiously believe that their blood and flesh can appease the Ancient Tree's wrath and earn its blessings. Before humans entered the Ambrose Plain, the Children of the Forest lived in the forest. At that time, they seemed unable to distinguish between gods and humans."

"During that period, any powerful exotic beasts or strange beings were worshipped as gods by the Children of the Forest."

"A powerful tree, an exceptionally strong bear, or even just a strange natural phenomenon. These would all be treated as deities by them. The forest itself was a heretic god worshipped by all the Children of the Forest."

"The Children of the Forest once called the ancient forest they lived in -- the Great Redwood Tree God."

Yveta thought that redwood trees were indeed a very ancient species.

But among the sparse trees on the Ambrose Plain, such redwood trees were rarely seen.

So, was the original Ambrose Plain covered in a sea of redwood trees, and because humans arrived, not only did the trees disappear, but even the types of trees changed?

The Old Witch continued, "But the arrival of humans also brought the faith of the True God. Humans collectively referred to the false 'gods' in these barbaric and primitive religious beliefs as Ancient Souls."

The Old Witch paused as she saw something further in the book. "During the past wars between the Children of the Forest and humans, the Children of the Forest gradually accepted the human definition of gods."

"Influenced by humans, and having lost in cultural influence to human civilization, their traditions had some gaps. So later, they also began to use the name [Ancient Soul] to refer to their gods."

"However, the [Great Redwood Tree God] is said to be special. The Children of the Forest insisted that the tree god was a real deity. This book records that a Fourth Rank witch once ventured into the Children of the Forest's tree god worship ritual. She died shortly after returning, but before she died, she told the humans at the time, 'Don't worry about the Great Redwood Tree God.'"

"In short, this Great Redwood Tree God remains full of mystery even now."

"Why did a high-ranking Fourth Rank witch suddenly die, and yet, before her death, she told everyone not to worry about the Great Redwood Tree God? No one could explain it at the time."

The Old Witch looked up at the small giant transformed from the priestess, who was currently fighting a Formal Knight. "The sacrifice of the Treant Person priest should be directed at the Ancient Tree."

"The white mist she sprayed should be a spell to steal energy."

"The Treant Persons superstitiously believe that humans have three souls, one of which is the soul of energy [Hani]. They believe that the ancient tree mist summoned by the priest can steal human souls. But in reality, it's just a spell to absorb human energy, nothing special."

The Old Witch said, "These Children of the Forest are too superstitious."

Yveta frowned. He noticed that the knights in the hall were falling into a disadvantage.

The physical fitness of the Children of the Forest themselves far surpassed that of ordinary humans.

Under the white mist of the priestess, they were actually suppressing the human knights.

Yveta said, "Hearthstone Witch, didn't you say that knights are the strongest profession on the battlefield? Why are they being suppressed by enemies who don't have a numerical advantage!"

"Do you have any way to deal with the white mist?"

"Or deal with that priest."

The Hearthstone Witch shook her head. "There's no way to kill that Priestess, nor can we deal with the white mist. This white mist isn't real fog; it's soul mist. I haven't researched the soul domain yet. This book only states the correct response when encountering a formal Priest who has sacrificed their flesh and blood—which is to retreat."

Retreat?

Yveta raised an eyebrow, displeased with the author of this book—a human ancestor—for the first time.

They had promised knowledge that would grant humanity eternal victory.

Seeing Yveta's displeasure, the Old Witch said, "Your Majesty, the Priest profession doesn't belong to the normal human system."

"These Priests appear to possess power far beyond their enemies, but in reality, they are merely burning their life force and inviting Ancient Souls into their own souls."

"That's why the book says the best method is to retreat. We have no need to entangle ourselves with someone who is narrowing their own path, even though the result of consuming life force is becoming exceptionally powerful."

"One more thing, the phenomenon of Ambrose's Sacred Mountain Wasteland does not suppress the Priests' strength."

The Old Witch turned her head and looked at the giant, the avatar of the Priestess, who was suppressing three human Knights and seven Knight Attendants, slaughtering them with great ferocity. "In Ambrose, it's the Thousand Year Fire that suppresses the Priests' power."

"But it seems this Priest's power hasn't decreased much at all."

"Is the Thousand Year Fire truly about to be extinguished?"