Sacred Souls: Genesis
Chapter 365 - Chapter 365 Chapter 354 Battle for Faith (Combined chapter

Chapter 365: Chapter 354: Battle for Faith! (Combined chapter, updates 2 and 3!) Chapter 365: Chapter 354: Battle for Faith! (Combined chapter, updates 2 and 3!) “So that’s how it is?”

Jiang Qiao overheard the conversation between the bubble and the goddess of beauty and roughly understood what the financial system of the Pantheon Alliance looked like.

First of all, no god in this city had the right to issue Divine Power Crystals as currency; these things just ‘appeared out of nowhere’.

Players in the City of Gods would accept quests at a place called the Divine Power Hall, and after completion, Divine Power Crystals would materialize out of thin air and fall into the players’ hands.

Some of the gods that came to this city were here to save their own worlds, while others were here to earn Divine Power Crystals.

However, after the Magic Thief and the Abyss teamed up, the gods were simply unable to oppose the Magic Thief, which is why they entrusted the Holy Spirits to hunt down the Magic Thief on their behalf.

This also resulted in the gods only being able to earn various Holy Spirit Crystals by serving the Holy Spirits.

“Why don’t we replace the Divine Power Crystals in players’ backpacks with fakes, just like with the plunder tokens?”

Hai Lan floated beside Jiang Qiao, gnawing on a Divine Power Crystal, which was equivalent in energy to the main crystal and had about three hundred points.

“There’s no need for that; most players use the Divine Power Crystals they get from raid quests to exchange for equipment, and only a very small portion is used for dealings with gods,” Jiang Qiao said.

Jiang Qiao was now sitting at the edge of a fishing venue established by the Lake God. The Lake God renovated her shop with incredible speed; in less than half a day, her empty fish shop had turned into a medium-sized fishing venue.

The fish swimming inside the venue were specially selected by the Lake God… Magical fish that could be refined into Magic Potions with special effects. The lowest quality available in the game was of a blue tier, followed by a higher-grade purple tier, and the highest tier of the legendary Lake King.

After the fishing venue was completed, Jiang Qiao organized a fishing event in the name of official system authority. As soon as the official announcement of the fishing event was released, the storefront of the Lake God’s shop was swamped in an instant.

The admission ticket for the fishing venue was one Divine Power Crystal per person, and this time with Jiang Qiao’s system-produced invisible walls, it was virtually impossible for players to bug their way in.

And now, the Lake God’s petite figure was standing at the entrance, happily collecting tickets. You didn’t have to look at the expression on her face to gauge her mood; just the pile of little hearts on the ground that was quickly becoming a small mountain was enough to tell… the girl was probably experiencing the happiest moment of her life.

“Besides, Divine Power Crystals are far more useful for bribing these gods than for using them as snacks,” Jiang Qiao pointed out.

“Bribing… It seems to have worked?” Hai Lan glanced at the Lake God who was standing at the entrance with a box full of Divine Power Crystals. Given the joyful expression on the face of the Lake God, Jiang Qiao’s bribe seemed to have been effective.

Hai Lan was using Jiang Qiao’s player status panel, so when looking at the Lake God, it showed the Lake God’s favorability as… worship.

‘Lake God Favorability–Worship

Description: As long as you don’t engage in any excessive actions, this NPC will agree to most of your suggestions and open up quest applications.

Quest Application: You can entrust this NPC to do one action within their capabilities each day! (18X-rated commands may face a ban risk)

Suggested Quests–Free admission to the fishing venue, turn into a fish, create more fish…

‘Worship’ here doesn’t just refer to the Lake God’s feelings towards Jiang Qiao. It could be likened to the state of creatures that have gone mad and lost their reason after being infected by the Abyss. The Lake God was now equivalent to being infected by the Holy Spirits, savoring the pleasure of cooperating with them. The favorability built under this premise wouldn’t diminish simply over time.

And this official fishing event attracted thousands of players to spectate, with even players from the Planar Pirate faction paying a Divine Power Crystal for a ticket to participate.

While Wen Na was happily running around in her role as the proprietress without increasing prices, Jiang Qiao was talking with the Mother above the Lake God’s shop… in his capacity as the Holy Spirit Game Planner.

“I’m starting to suspect that you Holy Spirits also have a hive consciousness,” the Matriarch said, looking at the Holy Spirit players who had gathered at the edge of the fishing pond below. She had seen Jiang Qiao send out a notice, and the next second, the previously quiet fishing shop was suddenly overrun by a throng of Holy Spirits!

It all looked as though Jiang Qiao’s consciousness was connected to the millions of Holy Spirits, and that’s why so many of them could be gathered all at once.

“This is not what we’re supposed to be discussing, former… leader of the Black Tide Island.”

Jiang Qiao listened to the cheering of the players outside as they caught a rare-quality marlin… Although the players were now engaged in everyday activities as a celebration, there was no denying that Biland Island was facing a tremendous threat.

Before long, Black Tide Island would descend upon the world of Biland Island, and when that happened… The battlefield would not just be Black Tide Island’s various relics anymore, the flames of war would also spread to Biland Island’s strongholds, and even to… the Inner World.

The Magic Thieves on Black Tide Island were far stronger than those on Biland Island, and even more troublesome was that all sorts of lord-level dragons on Black Tide Island were under the command of the Magic Thieves!

The Abyss Temple guild’s longed-for monster siege battle might unfold very soon.

“Chaos cannot be killed, it can only be assimilated by another chaos,” the Matriarch gave Jiang Qiao some bad news, “So this time, either Black Tide Island will devour Biland Island, or Black Tide Island will be devoured by Biland Island. The ‘devouring’ here does not mean complete consumption, but to become a part of the island, and the Magic Thieves on the island will all submit to the hive consciousness of the other party’s island.”

The Matriarch informed Jiang Qiao of another piece of bad news… that was, if they lost the upcoming monster siege battle, the NPCs in the strongholds of Biland Island would likely be influenced by the consciousness of Black Tide Island.

“So how do we determine who will devour whom?” This was what Jiang Qiao cared most about, what the victory condition of this battle was.

“Island Master,” the Matriarch once again mentioned a term familiar to Jiang Qiao. “The Island Master is the embodiment of the consciousness of Black Tide Island. I infer from the words of the Holy Spirits that Biland Island has not yet gained self-awareness, so the Island Master of Biland Island… is likely just an ordinary lord-level dragon.”

“In the end, we still need to take down the final boss, huh…” Listening to the Matriarch’s explanation, Jiang Qiao roughly understood what the standard for victory in the battle was.

That is, if the Flame Ash Dragon, the Apocalypse Dragon, the Rock Mist Dragon–these three Island Masters on Biland Island–had their mother crystals consumed by Denghis Xisi, or the other two Island Masters of Black Tide Island, then all would be lost.

“So please return my kin to me,” the Matriarch stated her real request. “The one sealed in the Breeder’s prison is my sister, and she hasn’t done anything wrong… With her power, I can restrain Denghis Xisi’s control over Black Tide Island and keep Black Tide Island away from Biland Island!”

“On the other hand… if I capture your sister and another Island Master to feed to the Flame Ash Dragon, then I could control Black Tide Island, right?”

As Jiang Qiao uttered these dangerous words, Wenna consciously stepped in front of the Matriarch.

The Matriarch didn’t speak; she plunged her hand into her chest again, and the next second, she pulled out a crystal that emitted a very dim light from within herself.

Jiang Qiao immediately recognized that this was a complete Divine Fragment! However… there was no Divine Power at all within this Divine Fragment.

“Black Tide Island has wandered the star chart for so many years, devouring not just one Divine Fragment of the Devouring God,” the Matriarch pushed the completely dimmed Divine Fragment in front of Jiang Qiao and said, “It’s just that some powers… have been thoroughly exhausted.”

‘Divine Fragment devoid of Divine Power

Description: Each Divine Fragment is a microcosm of a world. The Divine Power originally contained within this Divine Fragment has completely disappeared, the rules of its world have also vanished, but it seems there’s a way to restore it?’

“Are you sure this is your bargaining chip for negotiation? Not… something to enrage me?” Jiang Qiao could see the scenes within the Divine Fragment through its surface.

Sealed inside the fragment was a city where time had stopped, just like the royal city of Queen Mei, the residents inside had all become living corpses. Because the time rules had vanished, the residents lived the same life over and over, day after day, like robots.

“An overly perfect world rule would cause these residents… to perish even faster. Right now, they are still alive.” The Matriarch suddenly slightly opened her narrowed eyes, revealing her golden vertical pupils, which were unlike those of humans. “When I acquired self-consciousness and intelligence, this Divine Fragment had already been completely digested by Black Tide Island, but you, as the agent of the Devouring God, still have the possibility of restoring it.”

“Restore…”

Jiang Qiao suddenly thought of something, when the Lake God excitedly pushed open the door and walked in.

“From now on, I’ll work for you! President!” When the Lake God called out to Jiang Qiao, she had already switched to a nickname that came with free milk but no extra charge… President.

Jiang Qiao did not respond to the Lake God but forcibly took her hand and pressed it against the Divine Fragment that had lost its Divine Power.

“Wha…what are you doing…” The Lake God realized what was happening a moment later, and with the posture of a collapsing duck, she slumped powerlessly onto the ground.

The very next second, inside the Divine Fragment, the city that appeared lifeless… the originally dried-up lakes and rivers suddenly gave birth to new waters, but the inhabitants of the city remained in a zombie-like state.

When the Lake God let go of her hand, the water in the lakes and rivers quickly dried up… and then vanished without a trace.

“Simply fixing the world’s rules isn’t enough, if you want those residents to regain their personalities, you must… send Holy Spirits to live among them and communicate with them.” The mother figure informed Jiang Qiao about a little-known fact she had learned by accident.

“I think I understand what to do now.”

Jiang Qiao looked at the Divine Fragment that had lost its Divine Power, deleted its original name, and replaced it with a new one.

[Foundation Stone of the City] .

“Do you… have any interest in abandoning Biland Island to become the Island Master of Biland Island?” Jiang Qiao thought of a plethora of upcoming version update blueprints while turning his gaze towards the mother figure.

It was impossible for the mother figure to regain control of Biland Island, and in the upcoming war, Biland Island was bound to swallow up Biland Island!

“My children live on Biland Island, even if they now obey an outsider invader, I… will not abandon them,” the mother figure said, declining Jiang Qiao’s proposal.

“What’s so good about living on that damned Biland Island? In a few days, I’ll take you to see Biland Island… The living conditions there are incomparably better than this gloomy place,” Jiang Qiao said.

“I won’t…”

“Just move your children over too, right? There’s a saying, ‘Home is wherever you’re with family’!”

Jiang Qiao continued to spin tales, as the mother figure pursed her lips, seemingly brewing a retort to Jiang Qiao’s persuasion.

But before she could find the words to counter, the mother figure suddenly looked up, and Wenna tensed all over, for she felt a presence that once gave her peace but now felt like a nightmare to her!

That was the aura of the Island Master of Biland Island!

“He’s here,” the mother figure furrowed her brows, fear and anger intertwining in her voice.

“Denghis Xisi…?”

Jiang Qiao’s gaze shifted to the current channel’s messages in the City of the Gods, where there were no players spamming news of Denghis Xisi’s arrival in the City of the Gods.

It seemed Denghis Xisi must have infiltrated secretly or perhaps someone in the Alliance of the Gods had betrayed them.

“He has come here alone, mother figure, I will go catch him right now,” Wenna perceived Denghis Xisi as a lone figure in the City of the Gods and immediately harbored the intent to kill.

Taking over the position of Island Master of Biland Island could be simple or difficult; simple in that whoever devoured the previous Island Master could become the new one, but difficult because Biland Island would occasionally act capriciously and appoint one or two Island Masters.

It seemed that Denghis Xisi had been designated by the Black Tide Island, while the Matriarch had been abandoned by it.

“Stay calm,” the Matriarch said as she gently grasped Wenna’s wrist, who was one of the few who had broken free from the consciousness of Black Tide Island to follow her offspring. The Matriarch didn’t want to lose another one of her children.

“He seems to be here… to turn the tables? Where is he?”

Jiang Qiao realized that Denghis Xisi’s visit might not be for a siege but rather to stir up trouble within the Alliance of Gods.

But Jiang Qiao was unable to sense Denghis Xisi’s presence and could only seek help from the Matriarch and the Magic Thief.

“Where.” The Matriarch stretched out her hand towards the core council hall of the City of Gods and reminded Jiang Qiao, “The gods don’t regard you as allies. In their eyes, you’re more like wolves without chains, capable of biting them at any moment, yet they have no choice but to use you to hunt their prey.”

“That’s quite the compliment, thank you. I’ll go and scout out the situation,” said Jiang Qiao.

…

In the council hall of the other gods, Denghis Xisi stood alone in front of a group of deities whose names he could not recall.

“The pressure of employing the descendant of the Devouring God must be… immense? After all, in their eyes, you are just a dish on the plate,” Denghis Xisi scanned the gods present.

Unlike his mild and polite demeanor when conversing with the plane pirates, there was a mocking tone in his voice when he addressed the gods.

“But the holy spirits still killed you, Denghis Xisi… Traitor!” War God Urd recognized that Denghis Xisi was indeed the leader of the Magic Thieves on Biland Island.

“After killing me, did the chaos troubling your world disappear? Was the crystal disease of your world purified? I fear… not.” Denghis Xisi’s gaze swept over everyone present and said, “Only chaos itself can cure the Crystal Plague… I can heal the Crystal Plague spreading in your world, and I can also make Biland Island leave your world, but all this is on one condition, one… very simple condition.”

“Help me exterminate the holy spirits,” Denghis Xisi whispered, “The Devouring God is your greatest enemy, not the chaos, not the Magic Thieves, all of which you can deal with yourselves. Only the holy spirits are the real threat to your eternal divine right.”

“Traitor, do you think you have the right to make us believe you?” War God Urd said to Denghis Xisi with a murderous tone.

“There aren’t many gods I’m willing to believe in in this life, but I still have my faith,” Denghis Xisi walked up to an ancient statue in the council hall.

This statue was that of the God of Justice, the rare sole deity mentioned by Aphrodite in the star chart, the god who presides over the laws of justice and order, one without physical form, yet existing everywhere in the world.

“I, Denghis Xisi, the past leader of Biland Island, the guide of Black Tide Island, offer my being to order as a vow… As long as the gods are willing to join hands with me to completely eradicate the holy spirits, I will dedicate my life to purifying the Crystal Plague. If I break this oath, I’m willing to accept the judgment of order.”

Denghis Xisi’s series of pledges, which seemed somewhat childish to outsiders, elicited a response from the God of Justice. A beam of light emerged and shone around, and under the gaze of the gods, Denghis Xisi extended his hand and plunged it into his own chest, tearing out what remained of his already battered soul.

All souls of the Magic Thieves should have been sealed in the breeding chamber of the Abyss of Black Tide Island, yet Denghis Xisi was willing to gamble.

After his soul had been slain by wolf knights and axe-wielding men, only half remained, and he threw this half into the beam of light.

The beam of light inscribed the half-soul with a chain-like scripture before returning it to Denghis Xisi’s body.

“I have another half of my soul in the hands of the Devouring God, carrying the memories of my youth,” Denghis Xisi said as he sat on the ground, looking at the stunned gods.

“I must rescue my disciples from the hands of the Devouring God. You may regard this as an excuse, but in the end… Even if you refuse to believe me, don’t your superiors also choose not to believe?”

Denghis Xisi said, pointing to the statue of the God of Justice behind him.