The Trial of Faith

"By the Four Gods of Order! Look, what is that?"

"Souls! Those are the souls of the Children of Lava warriors! Souls actually existed? Gods above! The God of Lava was truly guiding the souls of His people!"

"Were those really souls? But weren't those white Soul Lights too small? Our bodies were clearly so powerful!"

"Why did that matter? Just watch! What came next might be a miracle we would never witness in our lifetimes!"

"."

The Soul Lights were not visible to Kangqiao alone; even the surrounding Extraordinary Races could see them.

When Kangqiao's divine body sent down Divine Fire, the flames wrapped around the Dinosaur People's corpses and swiftly turned them intangible, like a swirling vortex of fire.

And within that intangible state, light that truly belonged to the souls gathered—or rather, was ignited.

Witnessing this scene, not only were the Four Races of Order dumbfounded, but even the newly joined Black Water Populace erupted in shocked confusion.

"We were all wrong, perhaps all of us were wrong! To return to a god's embrace, one had to be personally guided by that god!"

A Serpent Priest muttered to himself, looking incomparably excited.

He looked as though he had discovered untouched fertile land within his faith.

Yet no matter what these people thought, what was happening continued.

Amid countless eager and awestruck gazes, the clusters of soul flames drew close to Kangqiao's divine body.

All the peoples of every race saw it.

When Kangqiao stretched out his flaming hand and touched the thousands of points of light, they swelled one after another with a booming burst, transforming into enormous fireballs nearly ten meters in diameter.

These great fireballs floated in the sky, their blazing flames linking together one after another, spreading endlessly like candle flames.

At that moment, the temperature throughout the near sea abruptly rose.

Watching the expanding flames, all five races were utterly stunned.

Even the other Giant Beasts beside Kangqiao stared at him with bewildered expressions.

What was that Lava Flame fellow doing now? What were those fireballs?

And what were those images of Children of Lava that had suddenly appeared within them?

Like they had discovered a new continent, the Giant Beasts stood frozen in astonishment, silently watching.

They had never seen souls before, nor did they even possess such a concept.

Yet as they watched the fireballs floating across the sky, all the Giant Beasts suddenly seemed to understand something.

Though they still lacked a clear understanding of souls, at that moment they almost grasped that vague concept of the soul's domain.

"That's right, the elders were right! The souls of the Children of Lava truly existed after death, and as long as they received Father God's favor, they could surely ascend into Father God's Divine Kingdom!"

"Look! Didn't the shadow manifested in that Divine Fire look like Kuchi?"

"Yes, that was Kuchi. And look over there, wasn't that Yan Ze?"

"."

The Dinosaur People cheered, their eyes already brimming with tears as they gazed into the sky.

Those were tears of excitement, joy at knowing their fallen companions could enter the Divine Kingdom, heartfelt blessings for their kin, and the most devout prayers to their great Father God.

Barton, standing at the forefront of his people, had long since gone rigid.

As he watched the thousands of fireballs suspended in the sky and the familiar or unfamiliar figures within them, his once-calm heart surged like roaring waves.

Before he realized it, Barton's eyes too had filled with tears.

Yet the tears did not fall, instead trembling steadfastly in his eye sockets.

"So it was all real. It's just a pity that there were still far too many of our people whose bodies we could not find. I have failed them."

Barton felt guilty over the small measure of irreverence in his heart.

He felt guilty toward his faith, but even more so toward those deceased kin whose bodies had never been recovered.

The thousands of flames in the sky illuminated more than half the coastline and raised the surrounding temperature by an unknown amount.

But in the end, the heat was only that of ordinary flames, not enough to drive away the peoples of the five races.

Besides, they were eagerly waiting to see what miracle would come next. Why would they be willing to leave?

They merely moved a little farther away and continued watching.

At this moment, Kangqiao was naturally watching the changes in the fireballs as well.

The changes that followed were rather strange.

After the fireballs stabilized, the figures manifested within the flames all began to suffer.

The severe cases wore twisted expressions and their bodies warped continuously, while the milder ones merely trembled, their faces pained but not yet distorted.

The flames within the fireballs continued to rise, but then, as the first fireball suddenly exploded, the reaction seemed to trigger a chain reaction.

Boom!

Boom!!

Boom!!!

"."

Like fireworks, clusters of fireballs exploded and scattered, blooming with their final beauty before vanishing completely.

Though the fireballs that completely turned to nothing in this manner were not many, there were nearly three hundred of them.

And more followed, though the pace had already slowed!

Seeing the suffering souls within the fireballs and the fireballs exploding one after another—

the Dinosaur People had long since widened their eyes in disbelief.

The other four races were likewise dumbfounded.

"I knew it. How could entering a god's Divine Kingdom be so easy? Though the God of Lava personally guided these people, without question, they had to undergo the final trial of the soul and faith!"

"The gods are merciful, but they are also majestic! The gods must not be profaned!"

A Shark People priest spoke with blazing eyes.

His words were heard by the surrounding members of his race and were naturally soon accepted by everyone.

"Just as expected, those souls that vanished completely must have been faithless souls! Heh, how pitiful. They could not even faithfully believe in their own Father God. It seemed the Children of Lava who called themselves the continent's bravest and most devout were only so-so after all."

A young Serpent Priest standing beside the Dinosaur People spoke in a mocking tone as he looked toward a Dinosaur People priest nearby.

The Dinosaur People priest's face turned livid as he whirled around and glared fiercely at the Serpent Priest.

"My people's devotion to Father God is beyond doubt! Those wandering souls that lost their chance merely could not endure the trial of Father God's Divine Fire! Priest Nick, please watch your mouth!"

The Serpent Priest was disdainful, but he did not continue provoking the other party. This was a sacred moment when the God of Lava was guiding the souls of His people. If chaos broke out now, even the Serpent Priest's chief priest would not be able to save him.

Seeing the Serpent Priest's silent yet disdainful gaze, the young Dinosaur People priest immediately felt resentment rise in his heart.

He turned to look at the other priests beside him. Their expressions were clearly not much better.

Yet in that exchange of glances, the priests suddenly and tacitly came to the same decision: they would begin rectifying their people's faith.