Emissary of Wealth
Demigods had confirmed their path to ascension. All that they had left to do was make their preparations.
They required faith and a divine role, but other things like a divine realm were also indispensable. If, by coincidence, one already had a semi-plane, it would take much less effort to build their divine realm.
To a true god, their divine realm was where their true body lay. No matter how much care was put into creating it, it would not be enough. Leylin already had his own plans for his divine realm, but now that he had a semi-plane he could use it to contain the souls of his worshippers.
‘I can make use of it once I’ve modified it slightly. Hm, it’s better to seal all of Akaban’s worshippers’ souls here.’ Leylin had soon determined the uses of the semi-plane. With the standard divine power to alter reality, the semi-plane began to whistle.
Golden divine force rippled the air, pushing out Akaban’s brand and alarming a few powerful souls.
“Who encroaches on the master’s country?” Golden flames blazed, and tens of native souls ascended into the skies, glaring at Leylin, “False god! This is not a place for you!”
“Ooh, valiant spirits?” Leylin knew that the souls of these natives should have been heroes of the Sakartes Empire’s past. There could even be a few past emperors amongst them.
“Akaban has fallen. It’s about time that you, who have been abandoned by the changing eras, enter the trashcan of history…” In Leylin’s eyes, these valiant spirits were zealous worshippers of Akaban. They were useless to him. As his chant sounded, the snarling spirits suddenly froze as the spiritual force that made up their bodies fell apart, beginning to dissipate.
“How gutsy are you, to dare go against a god?” A tremendous aura exploded forth from Leylin, and the few valiant spirits that had managed to hang on disappeared.
Their existences had been supported by Akaban’s divine force. With his fall they were far weaker than before, so how could they do anything in front of Leylin?
After he took care of these last bits of resistance, the rest of the souls all became confused or fell into a deep sleep. They had no power whatsoever to rebel. Something like a hurricane swept through the semi-plane. A large black hole appeared at its heart, and many souls were swept in.
At the end, the tail of the hurricane reached Leylin’s hands. A huge number of souls were piled up into a golden crystal ball, swimming inside like tadpoles.
‘Akaban already made this place suitable for the souls of worshippers. However, it’s still lacking…’ Looking at the desolate semi-plane, Leylin frowned.
‘Divine force— change reality!’
“I command… Let there be light!” It was like magic. The moment he spoke, a dazzling light was formed amidst the chaos, expanding and chasing away all the shadows.
“I command… Let there be water!” The dry ground immediately closed up, as streams appeared and formed lakes and seas.
“With the water must come plantlife!” Tender green sprouts emerged from the barren soil tenaciously, and the greenness that was full of life spread through the area. Soon, they covered the entire semi-plane and formed large plains and forests.
“That should be it for the basics.” The tremendous amount of divine force required to alter the semi-plane was slightly strenuous for Leylin. With a flick of his sleeves, thousands of milky-white souls fell into the plane, turning into bewildered souls.
“You will stay here for now.” Amongst them were natives, pirates, and even a few that looked like devils. After hearing Leylin’s voice, they all knelt down respectfully and began to pray, “Yes, Master! You are the the serpent of the world that devours all, the master of death who guides all souls like us…”
“There is an agreement between a god and his worshippers. As the worshippers give up their faith, I must protect their souls after death…” Leylin muttered to himself. This was the responsibility gods took on. Taking care of it, he’d suddenly felt his connection with his worshippers suddenly grow more firm.
“It’s still fine to place the followers’ souls here for now, but I still have to become a true god as quickly as possible and build my divine realm. That’s the only place souls should return to…”
The use of altars, divine weapons, or even semi-planes to contain souls was something only demigods did, and it was because they had no other options. It was a make-shift strategy that could not protect the souls of followers well.
A semi-plane was slightly better than altars or divine weapons when it came to the rate at which souls disappeared. It was usually so fast that demigods’ hearts ached. On top of that, the life in the souls would be erased slowly.
The gods obviously would not stand seeing their wealth dissipating. However, all methods to contain worshippers’ souls had this flaw, except of course for divine realms.
However, becoming a true god was still extremely tedious for demigods. Leylin couldn’t forget about the middle god Helm, whose role was to be the protector. His church prioritised attacks on false gods, and unfortunately he definitely viewed Leylin as such.
Thankfully, his main territories were in Debanks Island, and there was a proven problem with the natives’ faith. He hadn’t gathered attention yet. However, with his rise right now the secret couldn’t be kept much longer.
“No, there already are gods who’ve noted my existence…” Leylin looked towards the harbour, seeing a numerous fleet. The howling sea breeze and terrifying ocean sprays smacked on the gleaming, splendid surfaces of these large warships.
At the top of the warship was a large, bright gold coin bending in the winds. This was the Gold Ship, belonging to Gold Priest Xena under the Goddess of Wealth. Leylin had seen it before at Port Venus’ harbour, and it was now approaching the seas of Debanks Island.
“Priestess! Based on the directions of our god, we will reach the continent soon!” At the bow of the Gold Ship, Leylin saw a familiar Bishop Xena. She was dressed in a white deer skin coat, looking lost in thought.
“I understand. You may leave…” Xena waved her arms and sent the captain away, her mind like the great waves on the surface of the ocean.
‘A Giant Serpent Church is rising amongst the native islands. I must know everything about it!’ This was a divine command Lady Waukeen had given her. Only a decree from the goddess could get this gold priest to abandon Port Venus, where gold seemed to flow like a river, and instead risk immense danger to enter the native sea regions.
‘Show goodwill, but also observe carefully!’ Xena thought over the goddess’ words, looking slightly hesitant. The goddess’ hints that the native empire had something to do with Port Venus thrilled her.
‘Though I don’t know why, I’m certain that the only one capable of doing this is the legendary young master of the Faulen Family!’ Xena had an instinct that was unique to women.
“There are ships ahead. Be on alert!” At this moment, the sailor at the observatory tower yelled at the top of his voice.
“Enemy ships? The canoes of the natives?” Having had several experiences with them, Xena found it hilarious as she gazed at the waters, but then could no longer laugh.
Tens of huge warships leaped out through the horizons, under the lead of an even larger pirate ship that was modified with magic as they surrounded them. On the warships were numerous elite soldiers and sailors.
When had the natives obtained such giant warships? Xena was puzzled, but after seeing the blood-red skull and dagger flag at the top of the giant ship, she gasped.
‘The Scarlet Tigers that are famous in the outer seas! It’s actually them? Is this their base?’ Xena had a very strong impression of these famous pirates. Some special channels had informed her that the Daughter of the Dragon was actually a legendary sorcerer, and the fear she had for them rose.
What shocked her more was that the Scarlet Tigers definitely had connections with the Faulen Family!
“If they’re showing their flag, does that mean they’re fearless now?” Xena forced a laugh and sent down the order, “Show our banner. We come bearing goodwill!”
After the signal was put up, the fleet at the other side quickly gave a response. They lined up at the two sides of the church’s ships, as if they were guards.
“They want us to maintain our speed and follow them!” The sailors quickly understood the meaning of the other side’s banner.
“Do as they wish!” Xena took a deep breath and calmed the anger within her, making a logical choice.
“They were scared so easily. I was even going to plunder the Goddess of Wealth’s ship…” On the pirate ship that headed the rest, Ronald disdainfully pursed his lips and put down the copper binoculars in his hands.
“Bring them to Port Pado. All members and attendants must be checked carefully. Be vigilant! We are now the navy of the empire, don’t get up to any tricks or I’ll cut you into pieces!”
“Understood, head!” The other pirates chuckled and giggled as they answered. It was evidently difficult for them to change their attitudes.
Those native sailors, however, were now much more respectful. They would be the backbone of the imperial navy in the future. Ronald sighed with relief, now filled with hope!