Chapter 1008: Sacrifice
A bonfire burning.
A group of humans were singing and dancing around the fire, as though they were carrying out a mysterious ritual.
That’s right. Humans! Actual humans!
“How the hell are there humans in the Mental Demon Realm? Did the Abominable Lord plunder a world and then bring them here?”
Fang Yuan was high in the air, marveling at the scene.
Below him, at the end of the blood lands, were more than just humans. There were ridges and furrows, towns and cities.
It looked like an entire human civilization had migrated here, full of a sense of wonder.
“In the Mental Demon Realm’s environment, ordinary humans wouldn’t be able to survive unless they’ve mutated… But the Original Sin Demon Territory belongs to the Abominable Lord, so he can forcibly change the nomological rules and vitality here, making it habitable for humans…”
Fang Yuan looked at the surroundings, feeling puzzled. “But why did he go through all that trouble?”
As he was thinking, the ritual below him continued.
“The omnipresent Abominable Lord!
“Allow us to leave the endless City of Pain far behind through you!
“Allow us to leave the eternal Pit of Misery far behind through you!
“Allow us to offer you a sacrifice of three men consigned to eternal damnation!
“Revered Creator, Eternal Creator, please protect your people. Expel the demons from our cities and villages, and bless us with a good harvest this year!”
…
A group of people pushed the three sacrifices to the stakes while chanting hymns.
Of the three people, one had their eyes stitched shut, while another had their mouth stitched shut with something squirming in his stomach. The last one had their body covered in sulfur. Immediately after being pushed into the flames, they started howling in agony.
Whoosh!
The fierce flames devoured the three sacrifices.
A few Demon Spirits flew into the flames, and suddenly, a strange transformation occurred.
Three Seven Emotions Bugs flew out from the flames, and the faces on their heads belonged to that of the sacrifices. There was even a symbol on each of their foreheads.
“Envy? Gluttony? And lust?”
“So… is the origin of the Seven Emotions Zerg in the Mental Demon Realm?”
Fang Yuan had a sudden revelation. “The Abominable Lord is raising these humans in captivity merely to provide nutrients… But this breed of Seven Emotions Bugs is different compared to that of the previous world. This isn’t too strange considering one is the fusion with Zerg genes, while this one is an original species. In fact, it would be strange if they were the same!
“Aside from these, would the following be wrath, greed, sloth, and pride? As expected of the Original Sin Demon Territory!”
He had to admit the migration of large amounts of humans by the Abominable Lord was a stroke of genius.
After all, while there were noble humans, when it came to degeneration, they were absolutely the fastest. They could be called the best nourishment for the Seven Sins.
As a result, this Demon God had spared no expense to transplant an entire human civilization here.
Chi! Chi!
The three Seven Emotions Bugs flew onto the ridges, opened their mouths, and inhaled.
A swarm of insects instantly flew out before being devoured. The harvest of wheat would be good this year.
“We thank the Lord’s messengers for your blessing!”
The mortals started cheering excitedly, feeling that nothing was wrong at all.
“A regular ritual involving prayer for Demons and creating Demons, huh?”
Fang Yuan shook his head. The Abominable Lord had arranged all the natural disasters and insect plagues long beforehand.
He remained hidden behind the scene. A slight alleviation of the conditions through using a few Demons had garnered him large amounts of favor and faith. It was sad and lamentable.
“Don’t these humans know that they’re drinking poison to quench their thirst? But even if they knew, there wouldn’t be anything they could do. This is the sad plight of the weak…”
Fang Yuan sighed and ignored them, focusing his attention on the ritual sacrifice’s wording.
“City of Pain? Pit of Misery?
“Being included in the ritual magic as part of the important incantation means that it must really exist and is rather important… even if they don’t sound like pleasant places…”
He landed, transformed into an ordinary human, and approached the nearest village.
“Who are you?” A patrolling militia found him immediately.
These militiamen were well-built, armored, and equipped with sharp spears.
“I’m just a passing traveler wanting to rest in this village!” Fang Yuan answered casually, but his voice carried a powerful influence.
“Okay, then follow me!”
This type of emotional influence immediately dazed the militia leader, who had wanted to give a stringent inspection. “Outsider, remember not to cause trouble in Ample Favor Village. You wouldn’t want to bear the consequences. Also, we don’t have any more rooms. There’s only a small wood shack available.”
He was in his forties, sported a full beard, and had scars covering his body, clearly an experienced soldier. He led Fang Yuan into the village.
Hmm, the patrol is strong. Is it a precaution against some sort of invasion?
Fang Yuan headed straight for the center of the village.
Normally, the core of the village would be where the home of the chief and the public office were.
However, Fang Yuan only saw a small black sacrificial altar.
The sacrificial altar stood in the center of the public square and appeared to be carved entirely from obsidian.
All kinds of strange and twisted bodies were on it, invoking an evil and demonic charm.
The stone surface was incredibly smooth and covered with a layer of grease. Many people must have rubbed against it over time.
“Actually worshiping an evil god in broad daylight…”
Looking at it, Fang Yuan could not help but be dumbfounded.
This type of sacrificial altar and its blood sacrifice requirements were explicitly prohibited and severely cracked down against in any normal Divine Dao world.
However, in the Original Sin Demon Territory, it was magnificent and presentable.
“Link, why did you carelessly bring an outsider into the village?”
An old man with a head full of white hair was hurrying toward them. He looked like a kind neighborhood grandfather, but he had been the one leading the ritual previously.
“I…” Link froze, finding it difficult to answer.
“Allow me to explain. I’m a traveler from faraway lands and want to go to the legendary Pit of Misery and City of Pain!”
“What?”
“Are you out of your mind? You want to go to that kind of place?”
Link and the village chief were utterly astonished. “The Pit of Misery is a place that only the souls of the dead can go to. If a living person wants to go there, they’d have to pass through the Toxic Marsh, Infernal Grounds, and then eventually lose their life in the Death Undergrounds… As for the City of Pain, it is even harder to get to. Although it lies in the depths of the Pit of Misery, it will never appear in this world unless the Pit of Misery is full of the souls of the dead! ”
“Oh? Really?”
Fang Yuan’s eyes brightened. He asked a few more questions and then snapped his fingers.
Link and the village chief were briefly dazed before life filled their eyes once again. “Are you Lin Meng? You wish to go to Vast Sea City?”
“Yes. I didn’t think I would chance upon the village’s sacrifice!” Fang Yuan’s face appeared to be full of fear.
“It was their utmost honor to become sacrifices!” the village head said matter-of-factly with a regretful tone. “Our village is weak. Legend has it that the powerful cities sacrifice tens of thousands of prisoners after capturing cities. They could even draw an incarnation of the Lord into the world…”
Fang Yuan could see that the village chief was full of admiration when he said those words. There was not a hint of pain, regret, or empathy that a normal person would have.
Even the onlookers were accustomed to it.
It was like their morals had been completely distorted.
No… not distorted. It is because of the influence of custom…
The situation was akin to a newborn child being told that the color white was black. After the child grew up, they would naturally take white as black.
From Fang Yuan’s perspective, this was the situation with the people in these cities.
“I wonder if the legend of the Pit of Misery came about this way?”
Fang Yuan suddenly found his direction.
However, in the Abominable Lord’s territory, he stuck with his role and set off as a traveler the next day.
…
“Toxic Marsh, Infernal Grounds, Death Undergrounds…”
He hurried toward the center of the Original Sin Demon Territory, passing through one human settlement after another, before eventually arriving at a barren land.
At the end of the barren land, he could feel the intense aura of toxins and flames.
“These three isolated areas and the many monsters within are only obstacles to ordinary humans!”
The Toxic Marsh was brimming with poisonous gas, the Infernal Grounds had fires reaching up to the sky, and the most terrifying Death Underground was full of an omnipresent nomological rules of death.
These three layers of protection were claimed to be impenetrable.
However, they were not much to Fang Yuan. Not long afterward, he arrived at the edge of the Pit of Misery.
No!
This was no longer a pit, but an abyss! An abyss that reached beyond sight! Full of the air of pain and desolation.
At the bottom of the abyss was a layer of light blue fluorescence. It was a sea of souls, yet it only occupied a barely noticeable point.
“The City of Pain is the lair of the Abominable Lord… He must have set special nomological rules for his lair, which echoed throughout the entire God Nation. Besides him, these rules can’t be broken unless the entire God Nation is demolished…”
This was obviously impossible. Fang Yuan had sensed the size of the Pit of Misery, and making the City of Pain appear naturally by filling the Pit of Misery was almost impossible as well.
It was just as described in the legends.
The Abominable Lord had set a restriction on his lair, the City of Pain. Besides him and forcibly breaking through, the last option was to fill the Pit of Misery with souls!
“Is a massacre due? But it seems like the number of humans in the Original Sin Demon Territory isn’t enough!”
Fang Yuan laughed coldly and jumped down suddenly.
Since he could not infiltrate through normal means, he was planning to unravel the nomological rules of this place.
This was not a forceful attack, nor did he fulfill the requirements. Instead, he was trying to solve the restriction from the ground up. Although it would be incredibly tough, with his familiarity with the Abominable Lord’s Great Dao, it was possible!