As for the warriors and artisans around them, they simply stood there watching, unable to follow.
"Tap, tap..."
Wen Jing walked half a circle around the altar as before, and the rain began to subside.
Then, suddenly, a 'pop' sound was heard, and a bridge made of rainbows went from transparent to clear, appearing between the two altars.
The soldiers and craftsmen present all turned their heads toward the Rainbow Bridge.
"Cracking--!"
The crane-headed priest opposite them let out a call that was difficult to decipher.
This call signaled as if the warriors and craftsmen who were waiting for Wen Jing's orders sensed something and all headed towards the Rainbow Bridge.
Wen Jing, still standing by the altar, keenly sensed that his connection with the chess pieces was rapidly weakening.
Her mind raced, and she suddenly realized she had encountered a trap question.
By imitating the sacrificial rituals of the other side, she was essentially 'converting' to their beliefs. Not only would her subjugated followers be taken to the other side, but if she continued the ritual, she herself would be considered a follower of the priest according to the rules.
"Stop."
Wen Jing immediately issued the command via the Mental Link.
The wolf-headed men she had first subdued paused, showing hesitation.
The more wolf-headed men and craftsmen they subdued seemed not to hear them and continued walking towards the other side.
Wen Jing immediately stopped what he was doing, Frost Vein Silk spread out, using the rain curtain to condense an ice wall to block everyone's path.
However, the rules of this world are clearly superior to supernatural power. The ice wall was blocked by space and could not spread to the rainbow bridge outside the altar. Moreover, it melted rapidly under the erosion of more rain.
At the same time, seemingly because she stopped during the ritual, the rainfall, which had been gradually decreasing, suddenly surged, becoming even heavier than before.
The sky looked like it had a hole in it, and the fine rain turned the surrounding world white.
Wen Jing flashed to the Rainbow Bridge, only to find that the spatial barrier was ineffective against the opponent's pieces, and only blocked her.
At this moment, several wolf-headed men and craftsmen swarmed in.
Wen Jing's eyes turned cold, and several slashes came down, resulting in several heads falling.
The blood-red color had barely appeared when it was washed away by the rain.
But the scent of death was brief enough to deter those who surged forward.
Wen Jing reconstructed an ice wall and brought the four fresh heads to the altar.
If these subordinates are destined to betray her, then she'll sacrifice them all to get through this ordeal; if necessary, she can always start over.
However, just as she was holding the head and about to place it into the altar...
"Boom!"
A thunderous roar suddenly struck, instantly turning the head Wen Jing had brought into dust.
The lightning spread across the Zerg, but was resisted by her [ Beginner Lightning Immunity ] property.
If this flood and torrential rain came from some mysterious deity, then that deity has clearly refused the sacrifice!
Under such divine might, the ice walls and deterrents left behind were no longer effective, and even the most loyal wolf-headed men stopped persisting and began to climb toward the Rainbow Bridge.
Wen Jing's heart sank.
Sacrifices are prohibited, and imitating sacrificial rites is tantamount to conversion; both feasible paths have been blocked.
Having explored several ancient ruins, she had long understood that she couldn't break through them with brute force as Ancient Wilderness; instead, she had to follow and utilize the rules within them.
Wait, relics of civilization...
Their minds worked quickly, Wen Jing suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
The next moment, she returned to the edge of the altar and began to dance around it.
However, this time, Wen Jing was not imitating the sacrificial team on the other side.
She was performing the common dance that took place within the blue fire altar when she first entered the Ancient Wilderness.
With Wen Jing's memory, he can naturally perfectly replicate it.
One step, two steps...
The alien insects silently and resolutely began a sacrificial dance that did not belong to this world.
Gradually, a strange power spread around the altar.
All the eyes of the living creatures present turned in this direction.
This dance seems to possess a strange, magical power.
Whether it was the warriors and craftsmen still trying to cross the Rainbow Bridge, or the priests on the opposite altar, they all stared intently at Wen Jing dancing by the altar, not even closing their eyes as raindrops fell.
The priests approached one by one across the rainbow bridge.
Even when Wen Jing killed the believers who wanted to convert to them, they didn't react at all.
However, at this moment, his dark pupils dilated, revealing an unprecedented look of fear.
As Wen Jing finished her final dance step along the altar...
"Boom!"
A small cluster of blue flames rose from the altar and remained burning despite the torrential rain.
[Master ' Sacrifice - Summon Flint Fire ', Skill Points +10]
[Master ' Sacrifice - Summon Flint Fire ', Skill Points +40]
Chapter 147
It really works!
Wen Jing was delighted as she meticulously completed the movements; her limbs were now much more agile than before.
At the Blue Flame Altar, she used Gravity Silk to forcefully twist and perform some movements that the insect body couldn't make.
But now, not only can humans do these things, Wen Jing can also do things that humans can't.
After the blue flame was born, it burned tenaciously in the torrential rain.
Wen Jing persevered and danced around the altar again.
At her call, the flames began to expand from the initial sparks, unaffected by even the heaviest rain.
"Boom!"
As she completed her third lap, flames that had grown to the size of her head floated directly up from the altar.
Like a small sun rising in this world.
Warmth emanated from the flames, and the rain on the altar island began to lessen as the sun evaporated it.
"Waaah..."
As soon as the flame was born, the craftsmen and warriors who were about to ascend the Rainbow Bridge stopped in their tracks, staring in awe, completely captivated.
Now, as the flames spread, they spontaneously moved closer to this side.
As the blue sun rose, they had all gathered and knelt around the altar in worship.
Wen Jing sensed that the previously faint connection with the other chess pieces had suddenly increased.
If 'loyalty' could be quantified, she would have had a passing level of loyalty of about 60 to 70 when she first conquered the wolf-headed people, 50 loyalty when she later gathered those who were opportunistic, and only 20 loyalty when the artisans could run away at any time.
Whether Wen Jing will decrease in the future is unknown, but for now, all the pieces can be said to have reached the level of 100% loyalty.
"Li li li!"
The priests on the other side were in a hurry. The crane-headed man at the head of the group had an even longer neck. If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't step onto the rainbow bridge, he would have looked like he wanted to rush over and extinguish her and the flames.
Only pieces driven by professional instincts have shown such 'human-like' behavior, which shows how desperate they really are.
Wen Jing, and considering the skill listed on the panel as ' Summon Flint Fire ', Wen Jing had a sudden realization.
As the first Skill Points she discovered in the Ancient Wilderness, she certainly wouldn't forget her experience at the Blue Flame Altar.
Human religious culture has always been accompanied by nature worship.
The more powerless humanity is towards nature, the more prevalent religion becomes; the more humanity controls and transforms nature, the fewer religious beliefs there are.
The priests in this palace, whether it's the deer-headed priest who sacrificed himself in the first palace, or the crane-headed priest performing the shamanistic ritual opposite them, are currently all engaging in a passive form of prayer.
When disaster strikes, it is a sign of divine wrath and punishment, requiring sacrifices or prayers.
Faced with the threat of nature, all we can do is helplessly beg for forgiveness.
The flint that Wen Jing is now summoning essentially represents a different attitude.
Human beings conquer nature, transform the environment, and overcome disasters.
Huaxia Civilization initially worshipped deities, but as time progressed, ancestor worship evolved.
The worship of humanity that once triumphed over nature is, in other words, the worship of humanity itself.
Ancestor worship was the most mainstream practice in Huaxia Civilization. Other religions that flourished later only came onto the historical stage because they could be used as tools for governance.
The blue flames rose higher and higher, the torrential rain was completely dispelled, and the world vanished amidst the screams of the opposing priests in despair.
Wen Jing and the newly returned legion went back to the chessboard.
However, her gaze paused immediately after sweeping over the pieces on the board.
Wen Jing had memorized the position and status of every piece on the entire chessboard perfectly.
At this moment, the positions of the pieces did not move, but not only the 'forces' in front, but also some pieces that were some distance away and originally facing other directions, all turned towards her.
Moreover, the priest pieces she had just defeated did not submit to her like the craftsmen and warriors; instead, they all disappeared.
"Because of the summoning of Flint?"
Wen Jing looked at the remaining two priesthoods in the arena.
Based on what had happened, she realized that the highest-ranking members of the palace chess game were actually the priests.
If we compare the game of chess to a class struggle or a power struggle, the priest represents not just a religion, but an ideology.
Craftsmen establish themselves through their skills, and their influence is limited to their own group. Warriors, on the other hand, can coerce craftsmen with their force. Priests are the fewest in number, but their influence can spread to others and affect the entire chessboard.
Wen Jing's decisive action was not merely about breaking through a barrier; it established a new ideology.
The hostility she attracted was completely different from that of her becoming a new force.
This immediately led to a situation where the whole world was against them.
As expected, as Wen Jing led his legion forward, the legions that had previously been clearly testing each other on both sides immediately joined forces.
"Da da da..."
Two tiger-headed chess pieces, each leading more than twenty of their own pieces, collided with Wen Jing's team on the same square.