Badge in Azure

Before Cuisi could make up his mind, he heard Saleen saying, “Nailisi, if you are really that bored, get the four of them to come give me a hand.”

Saleen himself also knew that Nailisi was a person who had to be occupied, so he rarely allowed Nailisi to be out of his sight for a long time. The moment Nailisi left for an extended duration, she would always create trouble for Saleen.

Upon hearing Saleen’s call, Nailisi immediately dismissed the notion of plotting against Sika, she went to look for Saleen. The demon who was flung out of the camp compound had also gotten back on his feet, and had returned to the camp in extreme embarrassment. His injuries were not serious. Given the strength of a demon’s body, he would recover in no time. He, however, had grown really fearful of Sika.

When any kind of intelligent life was defeated in the aspect of their forte, a mental scar would definitely be left behind. Aiwa was no exception. Sika’s punch made him feel totally helpless.

Nailisi had sent him to test Sika because of his tremendous strength. If Nailisi did it herself, she would also be able to subdue Aiwa using her own strength. She just would not be as swift and decisive as Sika.

This meant that Sika’s strength had already exceeded that of Nailisi’s strength of the dragon. Sooner or later, Sika would become a human even more ferocious than a real dragon.

In the middle of the Purgatory Desert, black sand stretched for thousands of miles into the horizon. Under the blazing sun, heat waves could be seen vibrating above the ground, causing the scenery to be blurry. A black sand dune gave off a humming sound as it moved with the wind. An immovable sand dune had a height of over one mile, and a radius of more than ten miles. This black sand dune remained still, displaying a sharp contrast against the surrounding dunes.

A temple stood atop the sand dune. This temple had a black hue, almost blending in with the desert. The pillars on the frontal of the temple had been destroyed, but it was not due to the effects of time. An intense battle had obviously taken place there, some unknown weapon had fractured the two colossal rock pillars.

This black rock material was not made from steel rocks, instead, it was like a carved magic nucleus which had been magnified countless times. It looked crystal clear.

Under the pillar, stood a man and a woman. The over eighty degree temperature of the Purgatory Desert did not affect these two people at all, there was not even a single bead of sweat on their faces.

If one did not pay attention to the heavy vicissitudes in their eyes, they would think that these people were only in their early twenties. They had the black hair of Qin people and the blue eyes of Cloudflow people. Both people were clad in a linen long robe, with a silk belt secured around their waists, as they stood barefoot on the ground.

The man wore a crown with thorns, while the woman’s hair was tied up using a dark green metal wire, hanging behind her. If it were ten-thousand years ago, everyone on the Myers mainland would have recognized them based on their appearance. They were the goddess’ envoys.

The envoys of the Goddess’ of Myers were different from the envoys of the Holy See. The Holy See’s envoys enjoyed a high rank and powerful status, while the Goddess of Nature’s envoys were mostly people who had pure faith and enjoyed helping others. The activities they were most involved in were helping impoverished people, giving alms, treatment, and dispelling disasters.

The man looked up at the blinding sun, then said to the woman beside him, “Jessica, it has been about thirteen-thousand and eight-hundred years, when will we be able to leave?”

“Why do we need to leave?” The woman called Jessica asked, “Gauf, the goddess is no longer around, there is nothing for us to defend. If I wanted to leave, I would have left.”

“That creature has been resurrected, and it has escaped. Aren’t you worried for the goddess’ people? Gauf spoke nonchalantly, he did not seem very anxious either.

“If you want to pursue it, then go ahead, but the Goddess’ people? This world has been invaded by gods from the other planes, do you know how many people have given up their religion? If you were to leave now, you might not even see a believer anymore.”

“Your words are too harsh. The goddess has fallen, you cannot expect those normal humans to carry on holding onto their faiths. We shouldn’t give up hope.”

“But if we leave, we will age very quickly and die.” Jessica also looked up at the sun. In the center of the sun, within the fiery flames, there was a black spot.

“The elements on the Myers mainland are on the verge of eruption. I think the humans will regain their powers before long, what’s there to be worried about?”

“If we carry on living like this, there is no meaning either.” Gauf’s tone was filled with desolation.

Jessica said dejectedly, “You said that you will accompany me forever. It’s only been about ten-thousand years and you are sick of it already?”

“I am not sick of it, but when I realized that the Dark Sky Devil had been resurrected, I suddenly felt like I was dead. Jessica, the normal human beings aren’t the only ones who lost their faiths. Do you miss the goddess?”

Jessica fell silent. She knew that she still loved nature, but she no longer missed the goddess. The greenery, mountains, and rivers in the temple were hers now, they no longer belonged to her religion.

“The goddess has said that someone might find their way here to inherit her faith,” Jessica explained.

Gauf stared at her, but did not expose her. He also felt nostalgic towards life. Once he left the temple, he would begin to age like any other human, just how much longer could he live? one-hundred years, or two-hundred years? Many years of waiting in the desert would lead people to hallucinate that they were already part of the desert, causing them to feel like they did not have a mind of their own.

As the most intimate envoys to the goddess, they had the right to live here and maintain eternal life. If they left, then the last memories of the goddess would also disappear.

If the goddess did not collapse, they would never care about death. Death was only a transition point, the soul and the physical body would return to nature and await a new beginning. Since the goddess had fallen, the envoys’ only difference from other humans was that they possessed immense powers. Nevertheless, they would still undergo complete obliteration.

“Jessica, if I leave, what will you do?”

“I will wait for you to return,” Jessica answered firmly.

“What if I die outside?” Gauf asked.

Jessica slanted her body to caress Gauf’s face, then said gently, “Then I will die as well.”

“In that case, let’s leave together. I don’t want to continue this, let us return to nature.”

“How is it different from being here? The temple also has the sceneries you love.”

“But there are no believers here. I am going out to preach, to make everyone remember that the goddess was the one who protected this mainland.” Gauf’s voice was filled with slight agitation, as he spoke with a certain degree of fury.

“If we go out, we will be noticed by the gods. A powerful god is paying attention to this plane.”

“He won’t be able to come here. Even if we kill his believers, he can do nothing about it. Since the goddess has fallen, it will not be considered a holy war if we take action. Since it’s not a holy war, he wouldn’t be able to transcend the planar rules.”

“How long have you been contemplating about this?”

“About six-hundred years, but I only planned on leaving the day the Dark Sky Devil escaped.”

Jessica shrugged her shoulders, then said, “There is no difference. Since you have made up your mind, I cannot possibly leave you to die alone. Give me a moment.” Finishing her sentence, Jessica turned and entered the temple.

The space within the temple was unusually huge, totally unlike what was seen from the outside. It was just like the world in that metal pillar Saleen saw in the hell of god’s punishment. In this place, there were mountains, rivers, stars, a sun, and a moon. There were no animals though, the green forest seemed void of life.

On a peak far into the distance, a colossal white temple sat hidden in the clouds. This was the main temple of the Goddess of Myers, a world which was developed.

Jessica stood beside a river, then she bent down and took out a wooden box from her ring. She opened the wooden box, revealing an egg inside. The shell of this egg was filled with fine and tiny magic patterns pale red in color.

Jessica used her finger to slash her wrist, causing blood to gush out. All her blood spilled onto the egg, and this thumb-sized egg absorbed all the blood.

The wound on Jessica’s wrist was quickly sealed. Once again, she slashed it, allowing blood to seep into the egg.

She repeated this process thrice. The egg then shook in her hand, and with a crack, it opened. Jessica was relieved. She waited patiently for the creature in the egg to emerge.

Cha…

A creature smaller than a four-legged snake crawled out of the shell with much difficulty, falling into Jessica’s palm, it was quivering. This little creature lifted its head and looked into Jessica’s eyes. This was no ordinary creature, it possessed intelligence the moment it was hatched.

“Eat up first.” Seeing that the creature neither lacked arms nor legs, Jessica finally had peace of mind. The little thing turned about and prostrated atop the shell, chewing at it. Very soon, it had devoured the shell. After consuming the shell, this tiny thing seemed to have gotten much stronger, it could stand on Jessica’s palm steadily while swaying its tiny tail. Six scales, each the size of a sand particle, grew out of its back.

Jessica’s face turned pale, as the blood she had released contained the essence of her body. If it was not for the past ten-thousand years of accumulation, this creature would not even be able to break through the shell. Seeing that the incubation process was completed, Jessica imprinted the Ring of Gifts, which was on her hand, onto the creature’s forehead. Twenty-four holy prose emitted a flash, as they permeated the creature’s brain.

This tiny creature seemed to be frightened. It leaped backwards, almost jumping out of Jessica’s palm. Following the disappearance of the holy prose, it quietened down, before lowering its head once more. Then it began licking Jessica’s finger.

Jessica placed her hand into the river, and this little fellow was washed a great distance away by the water. It screamed shrilly, as if it was begging Jessica to save its life. Following the thrashing of its limbs, the creature suddenly realized that it could control the current very easily, it did not drown.

“Go, go and create more life. Protect the temple, don’t let anyone take the seeds of the divine trees,” Jessica told this newly hatched creature.

Chi…

This little creature screamed sharply, but Jessica did not have any nostalgia for it. She simply turned and left the riverbank, making her way towards the exit of the temple.

Under the pillar at the exterior of the temple, Gauf waited patiently. Seeing that Jessica had come out, he took one step towards Jessica and grabbed her hand, raising it up, then he noticed the scars which had yet to disappear.

“Have you hatched it?”

“Don’t worry, I only released half of the blood of essence, this temple has to be protected by someone.”

“Half of the blood of essence, are you insane? This will cause your powers to be reduced!”

“Leaving with you is already an insane idea.” Jessica laughed plainly. Then, she grabbed hold of Gauf’s hand and dragged him out of the corridor.

“Let’s go, we can still catch up to the Dark Sky Devil.”