Sui Xiong froze for a moment when he heard this, then recalled Qiao Xiu's background.
Around a hundred years old, born among the northern barbarians, formerly the chieftain of the "Ice Bear" Tribe, and a believer in the Goddess of the Northern Snowfields and Blizzards—the famous evil goddess commonly known as the "Empress of the North." This goddess was immensely powerful. Though merely a god of intermediate divine power, she had clashed with gods of greater divine power more than once without falling behind. She was generally believed to possess might comparable to that of a god of greater divine power. Though she brought more disasters than blessings in ordinary times, relying on her overwhelming strength and vicious intimidation, her faith was extremely firmly rooted in the northern lands, even surpassing that of Elder Bear Shepherd, the barbarians' guardian god.
Most members of the Ice Bear Tribe believed in Elder Bear Shepherd, the barbarians' guardian god. But Qiao Xiu was different. As a strong man, he could not approve of that old god, who had clearly received the support of the benevolent gods and the barbarians, yet still fell into the disadvantage when fighting the evil gods of the Frigid Alliance led by the Empress of the North. So he chose to follow the strong and became a believer of the Empress of the North.
In fact, he was not merely a believer, but a cleric—a spirit shaman.
Shamans were a type of cleric unique to regions with relatively underdeveloped civilizations. Unlike priests, who communicated directly with gods through prayer to gain divine power and spells, shamans first communicated with "spirits," then contacted the gods through those spirits. Spirits were generally elevated from a tribe's ancestors, or transformed from some powerful creature living near the tribe. They retained only their