Chapter 548: God's Chosen
“Divine Domain Descent?” Cang Xu's body and mind trembled.
He sensed this secret was no trivial matter and urgently pressed Zhou Zhang for more.
Cang Xu knew little about the divine domain.
Zhou Zhang explained, “Our Lord's divine domain does not soar high in the heavens but stands upon the earth—it is a divine domain within the mortal world.”
“Any divine domain existing in the mortal world can descend upon any location within the Main Plane.”
“When a divine domain descends, typically only a portion of it covers a segment of the Main World, transforming that area into an inner world, while the divine domain itself becomes the outer world.”
"Throughout this process, the divine domain remains a unified whole. Believers can travel from other parts of the divine domain to the manifested section. Upon leaving the divine domain, they return directly to the Main World."
Cang Xu's mind stirred: “So, through Divine Domain Descent, a church could deploy armies to any location instantly?”
Zhou Zhang shook his head: “Theoretically, yes.”
Cang Xu reflected for a moment before adding, “Yet history records few such instances.”
“Is the cost too great?”
Zhou Zhang nodded slightly. “Divine Domain Descent is a divine spell. It first requires spatial coordinates, a task often undertaken by deeply devout believers.”
"The casting of divine spells always incurs immense expenditure. Ordinary transcendent believers struggle to bear it, and expending a saint level being to transport a gold level army is profoundly unprofitable.”
“Additionally, the act of Divine Domain Descent itself carries inherent risks."
Zhou Zhang said no more.
Cang Xu understood perfectly.
Divine domains were famously easy to defend and difficult to attack. The god resided within them, making them exceptionally secure.
Once descended, a divine domain could teleport anywhere across the Main Plane. Conversely, enemies from the Main Plane could exploit this link to infiltrate the divine domain!
These factors combined made the Divine Domain Descent exceedingly rare.
Cang Xu gazed toward the direction of the Ocean Mother Nest: “Could it be... the Ocean Mother Nest was subjected to the Divine Domain Descent?”
Zhou Zhang replied, “This is classified information, but you now possess the clearance to know.”
Cang Xu opened his mouth to speak but ultimately remained silent.
He hadn't anticipated the Charming Blue Goddess' plan being so grand in scale.
He knew this place had undoubtedly been prepared, but hadn't imagined it involved the high-risk Divine Domain Descent.
Suddenly, Cang Xu understood why the saint beast Snow Pear Octopus resided within the Ocean Mother Nest.
Beyond screening believers, the Snow Pear Octopus' true purpose was likely guardianship.
Guardianship of this section of the Charming Blue Divine Domain.
Saint level beings were high-tier transcendent beings, national-level combat forces. Even the mighty Ice Sculpture Kingdom possessed only three saint beings.
Should any enemy attempt to breach the Charming Blue Divine Domain through this passage, they would inevitably face interception by the saint octopus.
Even if the octopus was outmatched, as a magic beast, its thick hide and tough flesh would undoubtedly buy time.
Just a moment's delay was enough to cancel the Divine Domain Descent, ensuring the Charming Blue Divine Domain remained safe.
“Why cast the Divine Domain Descent Spell here?” Cang Xu questioned inwardly.
“The Charming Blue Goddess needs to recuperate and requires sacrifices.”
“The vast resources, energy, and faith offered in blood sacrifices enter the divine domain when delivered to the Mother Nest.”
“The transportation costs here are minimal!”
“Simultaneously, the divine blessings the Charming Blue Goddess bestows upon her believers incur no transportation costs either, it's convenient and swift.”
"From this perspective, Charming Blue Goddess' condition is indeed concerning. To reduce these losses, they risked everything by invoking the Divine Domain Descent."
Cang Xu quickly thought of the Charming Blue divine statue.
“In that case, the Charming Blue divine statue must have been secretly enhanced with transcendent materials, forging it into a silver level sacred artifact.”
Cang Xu's conjecture had grounds.
Gods were omnipotent.
But it depended on the specific cost.
Cang Xu didn't doubt that the Charming Blue Goddess possessed transcendent abilities.
But elevating an ordinary object to the transcendent level would demand immense sacrifice. Using materials already of transcendent level for forging would undoubtedly be far less costly.
Given Charming Blue Goddess' weakened state, the choice should be obvious.
Of course, Cang Xu couldn't be certain of this answer.
“If I were Charming Blue Goddess, this is what I would choose.”
Cang Xu breathed a slight sigh of relief.
With that understanding, the fishman youngster receiving a silver level divine statue became somewhat easier to accept.
Next, Cang Xu carefully measured his tone before consulting Zhou Zhang about the accumulation of divine favor.
He circled around the topic, asking indirectly, until he finally posed the question: “Under what circumstances does divine favor increase automatically?”
Zhou Zhang answered without suspicion, smiling as she explained, “Of course there are situations where divine favor increases automatically.”
“The sacred sons and daughters of each church receive a fixed amount of divine favor after their daily prayers.”
Cang Xu nodded, continuing to listen.
Zhou Zhang continued, “Beyond the sacred sons and daughters, there are also god's chosen who receive divine favor.”
"Typically, these are descendants of the divine bloodline, even illegitimate offspring. Or they are exceptionally talented individuals whom even the gods themselves wish to recruit."
“The most renowned example is the Handsome Youth Mercenary Corps.”
Cang Xu's expression shifted slightly. He knew of this renowned mercenary group.
The mercenary group was small, consisting of only five members, all beautiful youths.
They displayed extraordinary valor during the Demon War, their outstanding performance lasting from the war's beginning to its end. In the final decisive battle, the five youths played a crucial role.
"Each of the five either descended from divine bloodlines or possessed extraordinary talents. All five bore varying degrees of divine favor. After daily prayers, their divine favor would naturally increase."
Zhou Zhang gave another example: “Have you heard of Qi Ci Lang?”
This time, Cang Xu shook his head, unfamiliar with the name.
Zhou Zhang explained, “He's from the Sheng Ming Empire, a gold level fighter possessing the Beloved bloodline.”
“Bearers of this bloodline often receive divine favor and affection.”
“With deep connections, Qi Ci Lang has participated in numerous major divine ceremonies, receiving blessings from various gods on multiple occasions.”
“Among these, the seven strongest blessings were all Immortality Blessings.”
“Seven distinct conditions must be met to break the blessing and inflict fatal harm upon him.”
"Thus, Qi Ci Lang is nicknamed ‘Seven Lives’ or ‘Beloved Child of Seven Gods.’ Some rank him among the strongest gold level fighters in the Main Plane."
“Though this ranking ultimately failed to become official, Qi Ci Lang is widely acknowledged as the most formidable gold level fighter in the Main Plane.”
"Qi Ci Lang possesses not just one type of divine favor. Moreover, his divine favor undoubtedly grows daily through prayer."
Cang Xu sighed softly: “I see.”
He relaxed considerably.
He had previously thought his own commander's situation was unique, but it turned out he was simply ignorant, similar cases were actually quite common.
Cang Xu genuinely hadn't heard of Qi Ci Lang.
The reason was because he had been a mere iron level, was wanted by authorities, forced to flee his homeland and escape to other continents.
His level was too low; Qi Ci Lang was as distant to him as the stars. Despite the other party being a major figure, Cang Xu remained unaware.
Much like how many citizens of the Sheng Ming Empire couldn't clearly identify the specific titles of the three saints of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.
However, as Cang Xu's strength grew and the caliber of people he encountered rose dramatically, his understanding of figures like Qi Ci Lang, renowned for their charismatic lifestyles, gradually deepened.
Seeing Cang Xu sigh softly, Zhou Zhang mistook his expression for despondency and offered consolation: “For every gain, there is a loss!”
“Don't just focus on the increase in divine favor, they all paid a price.”
“I won't elaborate on the others, but you know about the Handsome Youth Mercenary Corps.”
“Think carefully, what became of those five peerlessly brilliant youths after the war?”
Zhou Zhang stopped there, leaving the matter unsaid.
Cang Xu’s expression turned solemn.
His thoughts drifted to the sacred sons and daughters.
“Such beings are the most divine power-aligned transcendents within a church.”
"They are often meticulously cultivated by the church, their faith deepened by every possible means. When the critical moment arrives, the sacred son or daughter becomes the vessel for the divine descent."
“Many sacred sons and daughters become crippled after the divine descent.”
“In truth, once the deity descends, they usually perish on the battlefield...”
Reflecting on this, Cang Xu gained deeper insight into why their own commander was so favored.
“It's still because of that god level bloodline, isn't it?”
“But the commander's bloodline concentration isn't high, gold level is the limit.”
“Perhaps that's it...”
A thought struck Cang Xu, prompting him to ask Zhou Zhang: “Lord, does our church have any sacred sons or daughters?”
Zhou Zhang gave Cang Xu a deep look: “That's a secret known only to the church's highest echelons. You're not qualified to know yet.”
Though Cang Xu received no direct answer, his suspicions only deepened.
“The Charming Blue Goddess is weak now, and the Charming Blue Church's situation isn't good either.”
“Perhaps they no longer have a sacred son or daughter!”
The Charming Blue Church had suffered a severe blow. Even a saint level powerhouse like Zhou Zhang, a kingdom-level combatant, could only secretly hold large-scale rituals deep beneath the ocean.
“Picking the best out of the available choices, though the commander's bloodline was diluted, it still earned favor.”
Deep Sea Monster Fish.
Splash, splash, splash...
The surrounding seawater swirled ceaselessly as the fishman youngster submerged deeper and deeper.
The next moment, he opened his eyes.
A puzzled expression crossed the fishman youngster's face: “What just happened?”
“Did I dream of that great whirlpool?”
His memory of that massive great whirlpool was vivid, for it was the divine manifestation he had glimpsed through the Spiritual Navigation divine spell.
After sending off Cang Xu, the fishman youngster, unable to perform blasphemous prayers, had diligently trained on his own.
Reaching his limit, he had fallen into a deep sleep.
Yet in his dream, he seemed to find himself within the great ocean vortex.
“Was it just a dream?”
The fishman youngster sensed it was more than that.
He had dreamed before, but the sensation he'd just experienced was distinctly different from a dream.
“My divine favor...”
“Increased by another 1000?”
After checking, the fishman youngster found no sudden changes in his body or soul, yet his divine favor had surged significantly.
“I... I didn't pray at all. Why did my divine favor increase?”
The fishman youngster was utterly perplexed.
Then, when he scanned his Bloodcore, he was utterly stunned, jolting upright in bed.
“What's going on?”
“The concentration of Surging Wave fishman bloodline has risen to 27%!”