Chapter 497 - 299: Witch Palace Language Side Story: The Maiden and the Divine Being

"Don’t worry," Young Master Ye Niu said with a faint smile. "Things aren’t so bad that we can’t even complain a little."

He glanced at the large procession and instructed, "Alright, it’s about time. Leave the rest to me. You should go back and rest for a few days. Stay off the battlefield."

"Okay."

In the end, Witch Palace Language returned to her clan.

Thanks to her mother’s intervention, she had passed her coming-of-age ceremony.

Now, she had to participate in the sacrificial rites for the Divine Beings and undergo the god-invoking ceremony.

Only by completing the ceremony and receiving the mark of the Divine Beings would she truly qualify as a candidate for the position of Divine Envoy.

Countless people coveted the position of Divine Envoy.

As a daughter of the clan with prodigious talent, she had finally earned this qualification.

’We’re here. The ritual altar is just inside.’

Witch Palace Language stopped before an old, mottled wooden pavilion.

She looked at the two statues of deities by the entrance, finding them grim and eerie.

She entered the wooden pavilion along with the other disciples of the Witch Race. It was dim inside, lit only by a few candles personally bestowed by the Great Nether Divine Venerable. The faint candlelight was insufficient for illumination, seeming more like a procedural formality for the ritual.

There were about ten people in the room. A single glance told her they were all young men and women around her own age, kneeling on the floor with their heads bowed. At the front, a Priest wearing a black mask sat on the floor. He held a stone in his left hand and a jet-black scepter in his right, the latter of which was carved with all sorts of strange symbols in mottled, dried blood.

"The ritual will now begin."

The masked Priest spoke in a cold voice and rose to his feet.

The first youth timidly extended his hand. The Priest placed the stone in his palm, told him to clench it tightly, and asked, "What is your name? Are you married? Have you ever engaged in intercourse?"

The youth stated his name, then immediately shook his head, indicating that he was still a virgin.

The Priest nodded, but then his brow suddenly furrowed.

"Hm?"

He raised his scepter and swiped it across the youth’s arm. A flash of light revealed the skin beneath, upon which was a stark, blackish-purple Demon Pattern.

The moment Witch Palace Language saw that thin, blackish-purple line, she knew he was a dead man.

She was all too familiar with this situation. It was a boon from another Divine Being, and once accepted, it could not be altered.

The Divine Beings did not permit their followers to serve two masters.

But some people did try to slip through, hoping to obtain the power of two Divine Beings.

After all, the power of two Divine Beings signified supreme talent. The strength one could obtain would be greater, and one’s Cultivation speed would be more than ten times that of an ordinary person.

"You have been defiled by other Divine Beings and have abandoned the gods of the Witch Race," the Priest said, his voice cold.

The youth’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. His skin was on the darker side, and he had originally planned to use a Secret Technique to get by. He never imagined that the Priest’s gaze would be as sharp as lightning, seeing through his disguise at a glance even in the dim room.

"No! That’s not it... It’s a birthmark, a birthmark... I’ve had it since I was in the womb! I don’t believe in any other Divine Beings, I swear... Lord Priest, please, you have to believe me!"

The youth lifted his head, his dark-complexioned face now deathly pale with fright. He babbled incoherently, his body trembling as if he’d been electrocuted.

The Priest watched him with cold indifference.

A dot of blood appeared on the youth’s chest and rapidly expanded into a scarlet stain. The light in his eyes faded. After letting out a few meaningless gurgles, he toppled to the ground like a log and died.

The Priest glanced at two disciples kneeling in the front row. Unable to ignore his gaze, they rose fearfully to their feet, carried the youth’s corpse away, and disposed of it somewhere out of sight.

The Priest called up another youth.

This youth was slightly chubby and wore expensive-looking clothes. A pendant made from the bone of some giant beast hung around his neck, suggesting he came from a distinguished family.

"I am Zhu Rong of the Yingzhao Tribe," he said, trembling all over.

The Priest glanced at the boy’s wrist, handed him the stone, and asked the routine questions: "Are you married? Have you ever engaged in intercourse?"

The youth’s legs were shaking uncontrollably, and he involuntarily fell to his knees before the Daoist. "N-No... I haven’t," he stammered.

BUZZ—

The stone emitted a piercing hum, causing everyone present to jolt and straighten their backs involuntarily.

The chubby youth, who had collapsed to the ground, was terrified out of his wits. ’A Young Master like him, born into such a prominent family... even though he wasn’t married, he had plenty of slaves at home. How could he possibly still be a virgin?’

This fact, once a great source of boasting among the other young masters of the tribes, had now become the very blade that would end his life.

He dropped to his knees with a THUD and cried out, "I’m the second son of the Yingzhao Tribe! I don’t even know how I ended up here! My clansmen said I could receive a blessing just by coming to the Divine Temple. How was I supposed to know there were so many conditions? My family is acquainted with a Priest from the Divine Temple of the Witch Race. Could you perhaps—"

But his pleas were cut short by a brief scream. Blood stained the back of his shirt. He collapsed, twitched twice, and then lay still.

Yet no one present felt any sympathy for him.

Blasphemy against the Divine Beings was a crime punishable by death.

’This guy must have treated the ritual like a game,’ she thought. ’He probably bragged to others about how easily he could get into the Divine Temple, then showed up without bothering to learn the details.’

Soon, it was Witch Palace Language’s turn.

Like the disciples before her, she had to answer the three questions.

The young woman gripped the stone, showed the Priest her wrist, and then answered softly, "My name is Witch Palace Language. I am not married. As for intercourse..."

The Priest grunted in acknowledgment and observed her for a moment.

Then, he silently began the ritual.

During the process, an eerie green light began to glow in Witch Palace Language’s Demon Eyes.

Through them, she saw a black shadow covering the Priest’s face.