"Now that Tiankai has rushed to the front line, more and more messages are trying to rope me in."
Qi Yuan took a glance. Many divine sons and daughters had sent him messages, inviting him to collaborate.
After all, Pillar Tiankai was on the front lines, and it probably wouldn't be long before he conscripted these godchildren.
The mortality rate on the front line was notoriously high.
Even divine sons and daughters stood a high chance of dying in battle.
Thus, at this moment, many of them set aside past grudges and banded together for warmth, pooling their efforts to boost their strength.
Qi Yuan, however, didn't care about any of that.
To him, the game was naturally of utmost importance.
As for fighting a war... or whatever?
He simply wanted to say that he was a huge lover of peace.
...
Sky Federation.
A look of deep worry hung on Expert Liu's face. The string of figures flashing on his computer screen left him dizzy and at a loss.
"Public restrooms have indeed effectively prevented the mei from killing, but during this period... the number of mei has exploded. Disasters and accidents keep happening... The daily death toll is still rising," Expert Liu said in a heavy voice.
Everyone present wore grim expressions.
They had originally believed that receiving help from the Vampire Emperor would reduce the number of people slain by the mei.
It truly had reduced those specific killings by a great deal, yet the number of people the mei targeted had multiplied.
Combined with other disasters and freak accidents, the daily death toll... was still climbing.
"Could it be that even a god whose words become reality cannot save us?" An expert's composure broke completely.
In the past, he had been the most staunch atheist.
When he learned of the Vampire Emperor's existence, he had hoped with all his heart that this entity was a true god.
A god could deliver mankind.
When the public restrooms appeared and the mei stopped their slaughter, he had been ecstatic.
Yet why was the death toll still increasing?
"Could it be... even a god cannot save us?"
The gathered experts fell silent.
They were masters of their respective fields, the pinnacle of human intellect.
Yet they were also human—frail, mortal humans.
They possessed no transcendent powers, ordinary through and through.
"Humanity built impenetrable fortresses and weapons with a range of tens of thousands of li, yet we cannot protect ourselves or decide our own destiny. How tragic is that?" someone lamented in grief.
At this moment in the Sky Federation, ordinary citizens were still immersed in joy.
The public restrooms had genuinely spared them from the mei's persecution.
They believed that life held hope, and that the future was bright.
However, they had no access to official intelligence channels or data, and the authorities deliberately downplayed the news.
They had no idea that the Sky Federation was currently like a powder keg, with explosions going off everywhere and vast numbers of humans dying daily.
"I want to... see that Vampire Emperor and find out if He has any way... to save us."
"Perhaps something is wrong with this land. If we leave... could that solve the problem?"
"A mysterious figure has appeared in various parts of the federation recently, suspected to be the Vampire Emperor. Here is his dossier."
One expert spoke up and projected data onto the large screen.
Regarding Qi Yuan, there were no photographic records.
Modern technology—smartphones, surveillance cameras, and the like—could not capture his form.
The dossier consisted mostly of eyewitness accounts.
The rest of the experts felt uneasy.
When facing a god, there was always reverence, mingled with the terror of the unknown.
"Judging by the descriptions, the Vampire Emperor... is strikingly handsome, kind-hearted, loathes evil, and behaves somewhat eccentrically," Expert Liu remarked.
Truth be told, even he found the descriptions astonishing and downright bizarre.
In his mind, if a god existed, they should be high and aloof, secret and unfathomable, mysterious and magnificent.
Yet the accounts of Qi Yuan were a little too down-to-earth.
He ate braised pork rice, ate pork trotter rice, and even paid with cash.
"We shouldn't speculate blindly about a god. What if this is merely his way of playing among mortals?"
"I really want to meet the god in person and ask him... what the solution is."
Many experts harbored such thoughts.
They wanted to meet Qi Yuan and ask about the mei, about the deaths.
Yet how could they ever hope to secure an audience with a god?
Just then, a calm voice suddenly echoed across the hall.
"Oh my, you're all here."
A man clad in a blood-red robe appeared, seated lazily in one of the conference chairs.
The moment everyone saw him, their expressions stiffened, instantly replaced by awe.
"Are you... the Vampire Emperor?" Expert Liu swallowed hard.
"You could say that." Qi Yuan smiled. "No need for pleasantries. I came here to save you."
Hearing this, the experts rejoiced, but far more prominent was the wariness across their faces.
A god said he came to save them?
What was his motive?
Or had everything prior been an act, and now he was showing his true fangs?
Was there a conspiracy?
Naturally, other suspicions cropped up in everyone's minds.
"By the way, as for saving you, whether you believe me or not doesn't matter." Qi Yuan continued to smile.
He was playing a game; pushing the plot forward was all that counted.
Whether the NPCs trusted him was irrelevant.
As long as they cooperated to advance progress, that was enough.
The experts' hearts seized, feeling as though they were being seen right through.
"All you need to do is cooperate with me."
"What I want is simple: you... must believe in me."
"As for how I'll save you... I can't be bothered to explain."
"Oh, and by the way, I'm far more terrifying than the mei. If I felt like it, I could flatten the Sky Federation with a flick of my finger."
Qi Yuan's voice was very calm, yet carried an indisputable authority.
It was only because Qi Yuan was lawful good that he was even willing to reason with NPCs.
Had he been a bit more shameless, he could have unleashed the Great Oblivion Heart Scripture directly, compelling the living beings of this world to believe in him without ever asking for their consent.
"Very well," Expert Liu agreed in a deep voice.
He knew that in the presence of a god, he held no right to speak, nor any leverage to bargain.
After all, a creature like a god was, to them, unknown and terrifying.
"All right, bye for now. I've got important business to attend to.
"Oh, right. The god you revere goes by the name of Origin Celestial Venerable."
With that, Qi Yuan's figure vanished.
The reason he wanted the inhabitants of the Sky Federation to revere him was, first, to gather faith, and second, to coalesce a plane spirit from that faith.
The Sky Federation did not possess a plane spirit.
Qi Yuan would use faith to condense one, and subsequently transfer its misfortune and the Curse of Sinking onto himself.
Only then could he shelter this Abandoned Land.
This was his method.
Of course, for Abandoned Lands that already had plane spirits, there was no need for such trouble.
Swallowing the plane spirit directly would transfer the misfortune and Curse of Sinking onto him.
After departing the conference room, Qi Yuan's silhouette appeared in numerous places.
At times, before a pond.
His voice carried a strange magnetism: "Grass carp, crucian carp, snapping turtles, paramecia... you must believe in me."
At other times, before a mountain.
"Tigers, sparrows, paulownia trees... you must believe in me."
Across the Sky Federation, Qi Yuan's figure manifested everywhere.
Wherever there were living beings, he harvested their faith.
"Stones, gold elements, protons, cations... you must believe in me?"
Finally, Qi Yuan tested the waters and asked.
This time, however, he did not get the answer he wanted.
"These... can't believe in me after all."
...
"Detected... in the Shu Star Domain, what appears to be the descent of a True God powerhouse."
Inside a sealed palace, a voice rang out.
Within the palace lay many massive cocoons of varied colors.
At the sound of the voice, three cocoons shattered, and powerful auras unfurled into the hall.
Three True Gods stepped forth from within.
All of them radiated the aura of the Divine Oracle realm.
"A job came in?" The red-haired man leading them wore a flippant expression, clad in sleek, form-fitting armor.
"Looks like we're in for another tidy profit," the burly woman said, greed glinting in her eyes.
The last one was cloaked in black robes, completely enveloped in darkness, disinclined to speak.
"Same old rules: whoever contributes more gets a bigger share of the resources," the red-haired man said, his eyes bright with anticipation.
"I just hope... this one is carrying plenty of resources." The burly woman licked her thick lips.
They hailed from Heavenly King Mountain, belonging to a mysterious alliance.
In the outside world, acting as robber cultivators was difficult, and cultivation resources were always tight.
In the Abandoned Lands, however, they could take on missions to hunt and harvest True Gods who had wandered into this place by mistake.
Once those True Gods were slain, their legacies belonged to them.
On top of that, they would receive rewards from the mysterious organization.
This was far better than being an ordinary robber cultivator.
"I hope he's a wealthier god, preferably... with a deeper background," the burly woman said nonchalantly.
That way, their harvest would be even richer.
"Aren't you worried... he might carry so many treasures that he can unleash power beyond his cultivation realm?" the red-haired man asked coolly.
"This is an Abandoned Land... Even if he's a God Lord, so what?" The burly woman patted the sleek silver garment she wore. "I have the water-fire silver garment to isolate the calamities. What does he have?
"The longer he stays in the Abandoned Lands, the deeper his karmic entanglement becomes, and the closer he draws to death."
These specialized garments were crafted by the mysterious organization.
They only manifested on their bodies during missions.
Once a mission ended, they were reclaimed.
These garments effectively shielded them from deep entanglements with the Abandoned Lands, shutting out karmic misfortune.
"Unless pushed to the brink, we shouldn't rely on that method. Otherwise, we won't get the organization's rewards," the red-haired man noted calmly.
That method was indeed foolproof: letting the Abandoned Land's misfortune and curses take down the enemy.
However, doing so meant their mission wouldn't count as completed.
Their objective was to harvest—to hunt down the True God who strayed here—not to let the calamity powers of the Abandoned Land do the killing.
After all, the latter would only yield the True God's personal legacy.
"Relax. Joining forces, could we possibly be no match for him?" the burly woman said.
The red-haired man nodded. "We need to hurry. If someone else completes the mission first, won't our efforts be wasted?"
"Hmph! Last time, I nearly killed that pretty boy, but someone from Water Star Palace actually rescued him. Infuriating!" At the mention of this, the burly woman grew furious.
The organization didn't assign missions exclusively to the three of them.
Moreover, different factions had different ways of fulfilling their objectives.
Heavenly King Mountain typically hunted down interlopers to seize their legacies and claim the organization's rewards.
Water Star Palace, on the other hand, sought to persuade interlopers to leave.
Of course, being persuaded to leave... didn't mean you were out of the woods just because you exited an Abandoned Land.
"There are quite a few planar worlds in the Shu Star Domain. We'll split up. If you encounter that True God, don't act rashly or alert him. Contact the others, and we'll strike together," the red-haired man instructed.
The black-robed man nodded, his voice hoarse. "Understood."
...
Sky Federation.
Following the federation's decrees, all citizens began offering their faith to Origin Celestial Venerable.
Everything proceeded step by step according to plan.
When it came to revering Origin Celestial Venerable, the public... was naturally resistant at first.
After all, who wanted a god hanging over their heads?
However, once word spread that Origin Celestial Venerable was the very entity who had handed down the divine oracle of using public restrooms to ward off the mei, and that he claimed he could bring stability to the Sky Federation, more and more people chose to believe in him.
After all, if the god was useful, what harm was there in offering a bit of faith?
At this time, inside an underground conference room.
Expert Liu listened to the discussions around him, his brow furrowed.
"This so-called god might just be posturing. Our weapons... are capable of leveling mountains. Could it be... we really can't kill him?" an old man spoke up.
With today's advanced technology, flesh and blood stood no chance against humanity's modern weaponry.
Another person chimed in, "He possesses a special teleportation ability, making his location difficult to pin down. Furthermore... he may command other capabilities. The success rate of ambushing and killing him is less than ten percent."
Evidently, they were discussing deicide!
After all, whether revering Origin Celestial Venerable would bring good or ill was something they couldn't be sure of.
What if Origin Celestial Venerable harbored sinister motives?
"What, do you honestly want to test the depth of a god? Who will test him? How will you test him? Can we bear the consequences?" an irascible old man snapped.
The room fell into an immediate hush, no one daring to speak further.
Indeed, how many reckless gambles could the world afford?
If they failed, who would bear the fallout?
The ruling elite?
Wouldn't it be them?
Meanwhile, on an exceptionally deserted street, a gust of wind swept by, sending a plastic bag tumbling along the pavement.
An old man in a Daoist robe stood there, looking thoroughly languid.
He watched the young man before him with an indolent expression.
"Fellow Daoist, do you know that a great disaster looms over your head?"
As the old man looked at Qi Yuan, Qi Yuan looked right back at him. "Oh? How so?"
"You probably don't know that this is an Abandoned Land." The old man spoke airily, as if expecting to see shock, horror, and panic in Qi Yuan's eyes.
Yet he saw none of it.
"Oh, I know." Qi Yuan shrugged, thinking it had been some massive revelation.
The old man froze for a moment, then came to a realization.
The True God before him was likely a rogue cultivator who had stumbled onto his path without guidance, entirely ignorant of the terrors of the Abandoned Lands.
"An Abandoned Land can be considered a dead zone. Even legendary Dao Gods who linger here for too long will find themselves plagued by calamity, ultimately meeting an ominous end.
"If you remain here harvesting faith, Fellow Daoist, I fear... your fate will be miserable.
"To survive, there is only one way."
"Oh? How do I survive?" Qi Yuan asked curiously.
"Join our Water Star Palace," the old man replied. "As long as you pledge allegiance to Water Star Palace for one hundred million years, the calamities upon you will be purged, and your life will be spared."
"I think I'll pass," Qi Yuan declined.
The old man wasn't surprised by this answer.
"As expected, until disaster strikes one's own body, even a god feels neither pain nor regret. But... once the calamity takes hold, not even Water Star Palace will be able to save you.
"You may think I'm making sensational claims to alarm a god, but this is reality."
As the old man spoke, a strand of information drifted out and was received by Qi Yuan.
This information was all-encompassing, mostly detailing the horrific ends of many True Gods who had wandered into this place by mistake.
"Do you... believe me now?"
"You're fortunate to have run into me. If you had encountered the cultivators of Heavenly King Mountain... chances are they wouldn't give you any chance to live at all, but would slay you on the spot. Only our Water Star Palace is compassionate enough to grant every cultivator a chance."
The old man spoke calmly, with a touch of haughtiness.
Generally speaking, when faced with death versus surviving by pledging allegiance for a hundred million years, a True God would choose the latter.
After all, life was the dearest and most precious thing.
A hundred million years was gone in the snap of a finger.
Chapter 604