Chapter 433: Salty Cotton Candy

“It's faith!” the fishman youngster realized the answer.

"Among those praying fishmen killed by the saint level sea beast, the unlucky ones were likely those with weaker faith."

"The alchemy puppet I deployed had no issues with its disguise. But even when it pretended to pray, it lacked true faith. The saint level sea beast instantly recognized it and killed it outright."

The gruesome death of the alchemy puppet sent shockwaves through the praying believers. Through the magic projection, the fishman youngster saw many bodies convulse violently in that instant, as if struck by lightning.

After that, the saint level sea beast, the Snow Pear Octopus, killed several more believers before reluctantly halting the slaughter.

In the end, the believers' life force surged significantly on the spot. Some even achieved breakthroughs beyond their current level. Yet the fishman youngster also noticed that a portion of the believers still showed little increase in their life aura.

Though he had witnessed this phenomenon before, the youngster still expressed a hint of astonishment.

Typically, cultivation was a process of accumulation—quantitative change leading to qualitative transformation or building up strength for a breakthrough. Yet this scene defied that rule.

In truth, however, this was merely superficial; the reality did not conflict with the laws of cultivation.

“It's divine power,” the fishman youngster murmured inwardly.

Deities stood at the pinnacle of all life in the world.

Their majestic power knew no bounds.

This was not mere rhetoric, nor exaggerated praise, it was fact.

Divine power represented the highest known form of energy, capable of perfectly replacing magic power, magic energy, elemental forces, electricity, and all other forms of energy. Divine power excelled in every domain—healing, damage, teleportation, creation, and more.

Divine spells were the methods to wield this power, amplifying its effects to their fullest potential.

“The believers performed a blood sacrifice, praying to the Charming Blue Goddess. They receive rewards in return, causing their strength to surge.”

This outcome was entirely expected.

A successful grand ritual often drew the attention of the gods. Divine blessings usually followed. These blessings manifested in various forms: elevating certain beings to transcendent level, bestowing items, the highest being divine artifacts, and even resurrecting the dead.

From what the fishman youngster knew, two classic examples stood out.

One involved an elf king without an heir. He held a grand ritual and conceived on the spot, eventually giving birth to an exceptional successor.

Another occurred when a dwarf tribe plunged into war. Their chieftain performed a ritual, beseeching the gods for peace. His sacrifices were truly immense. The gods intervened, altering the hearts and minds of both warring factions. The two tribes achieved genuine peace, never to fight again. To this day, these two tribes form the most steadfast alliance within the Dwarf Kingdom.

The gods were omnipotent, the difference lay in the cost.

Take creation, for instance: crafting something entirely from scratch versus modifying something existing demanded vastly different sacrifices from the gods.

“These fishmen, nagas, and other believers received divine feedback, achieving a leap in power.”

“But not all believers fared thus, those with wavering faith were slain outright by the saint level sea beast!”

"The saint level sea beast was likely deliberately placed here, primarily to sift the faithful. They also prevent leaks, hasn't the Charming Blue Goddess already fallen into slumber? Her situation is quite precarious."

Suddenly, flashes of insight erupted in the fishman youngster's mind as he connected the scattered clues.

While the fishman youngster pondered, the other Charming Blue believers were teleported away.

The fishman youngster continued his musings: “My teleportation circumstances differ from theirs.”

"The Mermaid Fairy Tale is at work here. Those believers relied on the power of the magic formation outside the Mother Nest."

"The Mermaid Fairy Tale is the main artifact of the Charming Blue Goddess. Undoubtedly, it far surpasses the external magic divine script formation and this saint level sea beast in scale. Therefore, it can also draw divine power here."

Since the Charming Blue believers could achieve rank leaps, it proved divine power was infusing their bodies.

With divine power descending, it was only natural for the Mermaid Fairy Tale to absorb it.

As for evidence, the fishman youngster had obtained it days ago - the Mermaid Fairy Tale had gained a vast amount of pearl bubbles!

"This artifact seems to possess an innate ability to actively absorb external Charming Blue divine power. This instinct intensifies especially when divine power is scarce. Much like a starving person seeking sustenance."

The most direct evidence supporting the fishman youngster's conjecture lay in the previous Two Eyes Island.

At that moment, the bishop of Charming Blue Goddess cast a divine spell to disguise the crucial fishman. However, when the fishman stealthily approached the Deep Sea Monster Fish, the spell was suddenly broken, revealing its true form. It then suffered a direct hit from the Golden Flash's light cannon. This series of unexpected events ultimately made the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps the biggest hidden winner of the battle on Two Eyes Island.

After the battle, survivors reviewing the events offered their own speculations.

“The divine spell was likely broken because the Mermaid Fairy Tale absorbed the divine power sustaining it.”

The cultivation methods of clergymen differed from those of fighters and magicians. They dedicated their faith, absorbing descending divine power through prayer to achieve advancement. As divine power infused and accumulated within them, both body and soul underwent transformation. Ultimately, they would take on the form of the deity they worship. This facilitated the infusion, storage, and utilization of divine power. Upon death, they were more readily transformed by the deity into holy spirits, recruited into the divine domain.

Thus, the believers' sudden advancement was, at its core, divine assistance.

"It's like converting battle qi. With a skilled practitioner, the conversion process can be completed swiftly."

“Attempting it alone, however, is an arduous journey.”

For clergymen, this conversion was far more straightforward than for fighters transforming their own battle qi.

Fighters who absorbed another's battle qi had to first fully digest and purge the foreign qi. But the divine energy within the clergyman, being a higher level energy source, could be perfectly converted into lower level energy. It directly transformed into the clergyman's battle qi or magic power, etc., without any confusion or rejection from foreign energy types.

Understanding this, the fishman youngster once again fell into deep worry.

He had originally used the alchemy puppet to test the effectiveness of his Deceptive Disguise spell. If it worked, he could disguise himself and infiltrate the fishmen army. This would be nothing short of an escape route.

“The crucial question now is: can the Deceptive Disguise spell mimic faith?”

The fishman youngster harbored deep doubts.

The recent failure of the alchemy puppet wasn't entirely definitive. When designing the disguise, the fishman youngster hadn't incorporated the aspect of faith.

"Theoretically, faith can be faked too. But the problem is, how do you design that?"

The fishman youngster was deeply troubled.

He could use the Deceptive Disguise Formation to alter the perceived appearance of target objects, but faith involved the intangible, ethereal realm of the mind.

He had no idea how to proceed!

Soon, the fishman youngster realized: “The Deceptive Disguise Formation we use comes from the War Merchant. It simply doesn't possess the capability to disguise faith.”

The core material for the Deceptive Disguise spell and Deceptive Disguise Formation was the Pearl Bubble.

This god level material originated from the divine artifact, Mermaid Fairy Tale.

Divine artifacts were meant for deities; other transcendent beings could scarcely unleash their full power.

War Merchant's ability to wield pearl bubbles already demonstrated his legendary level magician prowess.

“Truthfully, even if I could mimic his divine faith, it would be far too risky.”

Using the Deceptive Disguise spell to trick the Charming Blue Goddess?

That would be dumber than showing off in front of a master.

Legend had it that the Charming Blue Goddess was in deep slumber, but what if that was not true? What if she had already awakened? What if she was drawn by the blood sacrifice and turned her attention here? What if she was roused by the aura of a divine artifact?

When dealing with a deity's presence, the fishman youngster had to be cautious.

“Looks like I need to find a more reliable way out of this mess,” the fishman youngster sighed, utterly disheartened.

Lady Sea Snake, however, was freed from her long-standing gloom.

“Finally, they're here.” She cast a spell to observe the sea surface from afar.

The Heroism Pirates was sailing toward her.

The death of her gold level sea serpent familiar had caused her immense trouble.

This was a world of the strong, where status depended on power.

While Wei Ying had sacrificed the sea serpent and walked away, Lady Sea Snake had to personally deal with her predicament.

She seethed with hatred toward Wei Ying but ultimately had no recourse.

Thus, Lady Sea Snake could only maintain a façade, pretending her sea serpent pet still existed, while secretly detaching from her pirate crew. She discreetly contacted reliable contacts, aiming to capture another gold level sea serpent to actively fill this gap in combat strength.

As for why she sought only one gold level pet, and specifically a sea serpent, that was determined by her unique method of taming and the characteristics of her bloodline.

The silver level was her absolute limit.

Her spirit could only sustain one gold level pet, or multiple silver level ones.

Clearly, however, a single gold level creature was a far superior choice to multiple silver level ones.

On the one hand, this represented a qualitative leap in combat power!

On the other hand, Lady Sea Snake herself is a pirate leader. The ocean battlefield was vast and boundless, offering unobstructed visibility. Escape was easy, and small-scale combat scenarios were the most common. Possessing one gold level pet was far more suitable for this kind of battlefield than several silver level snakes.

“Lord Ba Qi has finally arrived,” Ruan Tang Ren sighed inwardly.

He certainly didn't want the Heroism Pirates to show up so soon.

“Have some,” Ruan Tang Ren nudged closer, offering her a piece of cotton candy, “I made this especially for you.”

His eyes held undisguised admiration as he looked at her.

Lady Sea Snake glanced at the white fluff and shook her head, “I don't like sweets.”

“I know, I know,” Ruan Tang Ren replied, “This is specially made for you, it's a salty cotton candy.”

The Sea Serpent Girl sighed inwardly, reluctantly taking it. She tasted it, it was indeed salty, and surprisingly good.

But her focus was elsewhere entirely: “Lord Ba Qi has arrived. Let's disembark and greet him.”