If You Revere the Gods, the Gods Will Not Abandon You

At the same time, at the Land of the Divine Remains, at the Lianxi Tribe's headquarters.

Before the statue, Shao Jing and the others' singing had turned low and was nearing its end.

At this time...

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sound of a wooden cane striking the ground came from the side, and an elder of the clan, leaning on a cane and supported by two people, slowly walked over.

Upon arriving at the statue, the elder first respectfully bowed to it while chanting incantations. Then, he focused his mind, looked at Shao Jing and the others, and nodded with a smile.

"Elder, why don't you speak to these people first?" someone supporting him said softly.

The elder nodded, took two steps forward, and solemnly addressed the bound crowd. "You have become slaves of Lianxi, but out of consideration for your past as tribal chiefs and elders, I will give you a chance. My god is merciful and loving. As long as you are willing to believe in my god and offer sincere sacrifices from now on, you can become subjects of Lianxi and will not have to become slaves!"

The group kneeling on the ground, their hands and feet bound, were the upper echelons of the five tribes that had been conquered by the Lianxi Tribe.

Unlike the world where Great Rui lived, in the primitive Land of the Divine Remains, one needed extraordinary martial prowess to become a member of the tribe's upper echelons. Only in this way could one lead one's people to overcome obstacles and carve out a path to survival in the harsh environment.

In the perilous Lin Zhong, martial prowess is one of the guarantees of tribal stability. According to Shao Jing's idea, warriors from other tribes, as long as they believe in their own tribe's Heavenly Gods, can be recruited to strengthen the tribe's power and increase his faction's strength.

Upon hearing Elder Lianxi's words, the bound people reacted immediately. Many who had been expressionless revealed hope, quite a few showed surprise, and some even whispered among themselves.

"Quiet!" the elder said again. Because of his age, his voice was not loud, but those two simple words silenced everyone and brought the surroundings to a complete quiet.

Many of the prisoners still showed awe and were very cautious.

His words carried the weight of a law, making Elder Lianxi appear taller and more imposing. Despite his declining physical strength and advancing age, his dignity remained undiminished.

This feeling was novel even to the elder himself, but he soon realized that this majesty was because he was backed by the Heavenly Gods and represented the Heavenly Gods. All of this was brought about by the Heavenly Gods, and thus, his awe and reverence for the Heavenly Gods immediately deepened.

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from among the prisoners—

"If you worship your Heavenly Gods, can you also wield Divine Ability like them?"

The voice sounded weak, clearly due to injury, but the speaker enunciated each word clearly. Combined with the surrounding silence, it was easy to hear clearly.

The speaker was a young man, physically strong, but pale-faced, looking as if he had suffered a great loss of energy, and covered in blood.

Elder Lianxi frowned slightly, about to speak, but was interrupted by a voice.

"If you respect the Heavenly Gods, they will bestow blessings upon you. If you only desire extraordinary power, you will surely fail to achieve your wish." Shao Jing led the twelve people to their feet and walked over.

Offering captives to the Heavenly Gods and converting them to the faith involves a set of rituals. Now that the rituals have been completed, Shao Jing stood up and looked back, just in time to hear this sentence and see who spoke it.

Shao Jing had some impression of this boy; he was exceptionally brave and fierce in battle, fighting a bloody war with the Lianxi Tribe for a long time until someone with divine power intervened and subdued and defeated him.

This "being possessed by the god" refers to the thirteen people led by Shao Jing. They knelt before the statue for half a month and were eventually enveloped by Divine Fire, undergoing a transformation. The statue now resides in their hearts, and they are essentially mobile statues. Wherever they go, a Domain Derivation, and they can mobilize soil and a little bit of Earthfire.

This skill is nothing special in Great Rui, but in this Land of the Divine Remains, it is a groundbreaking change that is the envy of all.

After that, Shao Jing and the others were bathed in Divine Radiance, and their hearts became more and more peaceful. Their physique improved rapidly, and their physical strength returned to its peak in a short time, or even reached a higher level. For example, Shao Jing himself, in terms of physique alone, had already exceeded the level of the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. However, due to the special nature of the Land of the Divine Remains, he was unable to refine the Seven Souls, so he was stuck at the bottleneck.

With his improved physique and mastery of the Domain of Law, he not only secured his position as clan leader but also doubled his combat power, making him invincible in several campaigns!

Seeing this, several factions within the Lianxi Tribe felt uneasy. Some, Huo Zhu, even tried to kneel before the statue of the god and seek Divine Ability powers, but to no avail.

Finally, it was Shao Jing's words that cleared the confusion; these were the very words he spoke to the blood-soaked youth at that moment.

"Sincere reverence for the Heavenly Gods will bring them blessings. But if one only seeks Divine Ability without proper respect for the Heavenly Gods, it will ultimately be useless. Do not presume to deceive the Heavenly Gods!"

Upon hearing this, the prisoners were all taken aback, each with their own thoughts, and even the boy who had asked the question fell silent.

"These people are all defeated under my Lianxi Tribe, yet they dare to dream of receiving blessings from the Heavenly Gods!"

Far away, Huo Zhu and several of his men sat in the shade, watching the group of prisoners and listening to the boy's words. Immediately, some of them scoffed.

"That's right. Recently, Shao Jing has been pardoning some slaves and taking them as his subordinates. He wants to expand his power and cultivate people loyal to him. His ambitions are not small!"

"However, this was ultimately a miscalculation; none of those who submitted received the blessings of the Heavenly Gods!"

"That's for sure. The Heavenly Gods are the rulers of Lianxi. Outsiders don't have our bloodline; their lineage is impure. How could they possibly receive divine gifts?"

"That makes sense, but I've heard that Shao Jing is currently trying to promote a marriage alliance, to unite the noble bloodline of my Lianxi Tribe with those slave tribes. That's utterly absurd!"

"We must be wary of Shao Jing and not let him succeed, lest our bloodline be tarnished!"

The group discussed amongst themselves, their faces filled with resentment.

However, as their leader, Huo Zhu did not interrupt, but simply observed the scene in front of the statue, seemingly enjoying it.

When Shao Jing was weakened from praying to the gods, this group of people once tried to stage a coup and support Huo Zhu to become the clan leader. However, due to the blessing of the Heavenly Gods, they failed to succeed. After that, Huo Zhu became much more low-key.

Sudden!

One of the prisoners stood up; he was an older man, but physically strong.

As soon as he stood up, he roared hoarsely, "Your Heavenly Gods may bestow Divine Ability, but they are ultimately no match for other Heavenly Gods. Do you really think that with these, you can fight against the Heavenly Gods? My Devouring Martial Tribe has Heavenly Gods on his throne. He has only temporarily left, which has given you an opportunity. When the Heavenly Gods returns, he will surely come back to kill us! At that time, you can imagine what will happen to your Lianxi Tribe!"

He seemed to have been holding back for a long time, and now, persuaded by Shao Jing and others to submit to Lianxi and believe in the new god, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and burst out.

"Our Devouring Martial Heavenly God's strength is among the best of all the gods. Back then... ah!"

Halfway through his sentence, the man suddenly screamed in agony, and the earth beneath his feet churned up as if it had turned into a giant mouth, swallowing his still relatively strong body whole.

The man sank into the ground, struggling desperately, but how could he break free? Then the soil rolled, and the open "mouth" slowly closed. The thick soil squeezed hard, crushing the bones with a crisp "crackling" sound, which made everyone around turn pale and feel a chill run down their spines.

"Huh? Who made the move?" Shao Jing's expression changed upon seeing this. This method of attack was clearly Divine Ability power of the Empress, which should only be known to him and the other twelve, yet none of them had made a move.

Just then, a voice came from behind—

"These people are already prisoners, yet they still don't understand the gravity of their situation."

Shao Jing looked in the direction of the sound and saw Huo Zhu slowly walking towards him.

Huo Zhu's eyes flashed, and he raised one hand, his palm radiating waves. Domain Derivation beneath his feet, and he was clearly activating Divine Ability power!

"Huo Zhu! You..."

Behind Huo Zhu, his many subordinates wore expressions of mixed surprise and delight.

"When did the Huo Zhu learn the God-Serving Method?"

"That's great! Now Shao Jing can't have all the credit!"

"No wonder his demeanor has changed recently!"

They had clearly only just discovered this themselves.

Ignoring everything around him, Huo Zhu walked up to the prisoner, coldly smiled, and clenched his five fingers, manipulating the soil to close and crush the old man trapped inside. The scene was gruesome.

Then, he narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing in them, and said to the prisoners, "My Lianxi Tribe is blessed by the Heavenly Gods, and our bloodline is noble. You lowly people, you want to worship the gods? You want to join my tribe? What a joke! You're courting death! Give up on that idea now!"

Having said this, Huo Zhu ignored the prisoners, who were filled with shock and anger, and glanced at Shao Jing: "Shao Jing, you are the chief of Lianxi clan. You should be strengthening our tribe instead of gathering useless people and defiling our bloodline! My current devout worship of the gods and the God-Serving Method are a warning! Don't think you can really control everything!" With that, he turned and left.

Shao Jing watched the man's retreating figure, his brows furrowing, knowing that the situation was getting out of control.

"I never expected that the Huo Zhu would also receive Heavenly Gods favor. I wonder when this happened. He's been biding his time until now, probably because he was prepared for this. Now that he's mastered the God-Serving Method, his status will rise rapidly..."

Among the many prisoners, the first boy to speak up clenched his fists as he looked at Huo Zhu and Shao Jing, then slowly raised his head and looked at the statue covered in flames.

Just then...

Boom!

The entire encampment suddenly shook, followed by a howling wind and dark clouds spreading across the horizon. Then, a tremendous sound echoed through the air—

"How dare you! You even touch my servant!"

The sound was deafening, like thunder!

An unrest immediately arose among the prisoners, and cheers were heard.

"It's Heavenly Gods! Our Devouring Martial Tribe's Heavenly Gods has arrived!"

As the shouts rang out, the statue in the center of the Lianxi Tribe's encampment trembled slightly, flames shot into the sky, and a Divine Sense flew out from it, radiating outwards.

The next moment, the base shook again, and three beams of light shot out from underground, heading straight for the dark cloud.

Arriving in an instant, its light soared into the clouds!

The next moment, a thunderous voice boomed from within the dark clouds, shaking the earth like lightning, but tinged with panic.

"Feng Zhongzi? Elder Shi? What are you two doing here, and why did you attack me?"

ps:

Thanks to "Very Xuan", "Volcano 1889", and "The Price of Love~First Kiss" for their monthly votes!