I am God - Chapter 258

In the City of Fire Protection, thousands upon thousands of citizens gathered before the temple, their expressions solemn, not a single voice raised in clamor.

They waited in anticipation.

Craning their necks, the citizens could vaguely see through the temple’s grand doors the lower half of the statue of the Life Sovereign, the supreme deity, and beside it, half a head shorter, the Blood Progenitor’s sculpture.

The temple attendants stood in a row before the temple, lining the pillars.

“Come forth!”

“Sacred fire.”

One of the attendants waved his hand, and an enormous Fire Spirit arose, spinning, from behind him, rushing toward the altar at the center of the square.

The Fire Spirit ignited the flames, radiating a comforting warmth.

The flames burned blood-red, just like the name Suinhor itself.

Blood and fire.

Cheers immediately erupted from the crowd as thousands of Snake People prostrated themselves, praying toward the flames.

At this moment, King Smerkel emerged from within the temple, clad in the armor of the Proof of Blood Kinship, his blood-red cape billowing in the wind behind him.

This was the symbol of a hero, the evidence of the Divine Blessed.

“King Smerkel!”

“King Smerkel!”

The crowd surged forward in excitement, the soldiers at the foot of the temple barely able to hold back the tide.

His head of white hair and silver beard could not obscure his imposing bearing and valor, and from the eyes and cheers of his subjects below, one could see his prestige and renown.

Only when King Smerkel raised his hand high did the people stop in unison, the clamorous waves instantly stilled.

Before the temple, King Smerkel delivered a divine decree to the subjects of the City of Fire Protection.

“The Divine Being has sent down an oracle.”

“Release all the Avel people.”

Though some among the subjects appeared puzzled, they still knelt upon the ground in compliance.

For this was the will of God, a divine decree read by King Smerkel himself.

No one dared question it.

The will and intent of the Divine were always thus, never needing to explain anything to mortals.

Moreover, a God’s decree held far more threatening power than a king’s. Some might dare to follow a king’s orders in name only, but none in all Suinhor dared disobey the will of God.

Even those merchants greedy enough to deal with demons obediently released these slaves.

Of course.

No one spoke further of the goods and wealth plundered from the City of Avel.

—

On the coast of Sata City.

Sata meant beach, and here one could see a multitude of sailboats and rowers.

High stone platforms piled with barrels and crates, pulleys hoisting planks and cargo.

Under the escort and supervision of the army from the City of Fire Protection, a group of Avel people had also been brought here.

All the Avel slaves were released here, waiting for people to come and take them back to their homeland.

In the distance, one sailboat after another bearing the emblem of the City of Avel approached from afar.

Lying or standing upon the beach, the battered Avel people, seeing those sails, rose one by one from the shore, tears suddenly brimming in their eyes.

They knelt upon the ground and wept, waving toward the distant boats.

“They’ve come.”

“They’ve arrived.”

“Look!” A man covered in scars pointed and shouted toward the distance, beaming at everyone around him as he called out.

“Those are the people here to take us back.” The crowd pressed together, as if only in this way could they feel secure.

“We’re going home.” At these words, nearly everyone shed tears.

Xiuborn stood upon his Ghost Ship, not approaching the shore.

He watched from afar as these Avel people boarded the ships, and spoke.

“I promised you.”

“I would rescue our people, I would reestablish the City of Avel.”

“I have done it.”

He spoke not to the people on the shore, but to the Avel people who had already perished.

Behind him, ghost after ghost appeared, gazing into the distance with him, watching the people board the ships.

These ghosts who had lost their wisdom seemed in this moment to also sink into memories.

One boat after another reached the shore, taking these displaced Avel people back to their homeland.

Xiuborn had exchanged the location of the Sky Temple for the return of his people.

Nearly twenty thousand people were taken back to the City of Avel, many of them former craftsmen, nobles, warriors, even temple attendants, the core of the Avel people.

With Xiuborn reuniting them, the Avel people and kingdom could once again be considered an independent civilization.

Different from the civilization of the Suinhor City-States and the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

For Xiuborn, this was undoubtedly an extremely worthwhile trade.

Before this, he had never imagined he could make a deal with a deity.

It was utterly unimaginable, a story and legend worthy of being recorded in the annals of history.

However, the secret he had spoken was too shocking, and would likely never be known or mentioned in the annals of history or the tales of mortals.

Nor would anyone dare mention it.

He unconsciously touched the leather-bound book in his inner pocket, not the Book of the Witch Spirit, but another ordinary volume.

The book’s material was commonplace, but the secrets recorded within were earth-shattering.

It was none other than the Book of Xiuborn.

Xiuborn truly felt the power of these secrets this time, secrets that could move even the Divine.

Xiuborn suddenly felt this book to be exceedingly dangerous, possibly bringing fortune and incomparable returns, but also potentially unimaginable disaster.

In his heart, he secretly made a decision that he must not let anyone else know of this book’s existence.

At this moment, the temple apprentice suddenly appeared on the ship, reporting to Xiuborn.

“Lord Xiuborn, it is time to depart.”

Only then did Xiuborn release his hand pressed against his robe, looking toward the temple apprentice.

By now, one great ship after another had approached near the Ghost Ship.

The temple apprentice saw Xiuborn’s hand, the outline of a book faintly visible beneath his robe.

He opened his mouth as if to ask, but in the end did not dare voice the question.

“Let’s go,” Xiuborn said. “Back home.”

Xiuborn waved his hand, and the Ghost Ship immediately turned about.

—

The City of Avel took back nearly thirty thousand people from the Land of Sunrise and Suinhor, and with the recent continuous return of others, the entire City of Avel began to bustle with life once more.

The original governing system, the original shipbuilding workshops, soon started operating again.

Everything began to return to normal.

The only change was in the Divine Being they worshipped, which had quietly shifted from the Life Sovereign and the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents to the King of Wisdom and the God of Knowledge and Truth.

However, the direct descendants of Avel himself, the royal lineage of the Kings of Avel, had yet to be found.

After much inquiry, they learned that one of the collateral branches of the royal house had been captured by the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, but as for specifically where in the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, there was no way to know.

The temple apprentice brought this news to the temple.

As Xiuborn pondered this, the temple apprentice suddenly asked, “Lord Xiuborn, the next step should be the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, right?”

Xiuborn nodded, but did not speak of the details.

The temple apprentice could not restrain himself, and spoke.

“Lord Xiuborn!”

“Could it be that we will also compromise with the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, like the Suinhor City-State?”

“If not for their betrayal, if not for their backstabbing, how could we have lost so many people? How could we have been reduced to our current state?”

The Avel people and the ancestors of Sata City and Coral City of Suinhor had conflicts, their ancestors having raided them a hundred years ago.

In recent years, as the City of Gold in the Land of Sunrise and the City of Avel became major maritime trading powers, there were naturally many clashes as well.

The two sides were enemies to begin with, so it was not unforgivable for others to come seeking vengeance and defeat them.

The Avel people acknowledged this.

But the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents was completely different, the City of Avel had just offered a heavy tribute to the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, forming an alliance with them in exchange for their promise not to act against the City of Avel.

They accepted the gifts and alliance with Avel on one hand, while colluding with the maritime alliance to strike at the Avel people on the other.

The Avel people viewed the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents as a hundred times, a thousand times more despicable than the maritime alliance.

Xiuborn merely said, “Rescuing our people is the highest priority, everything else can be set aside.”

The temple apprentice, upon hearing these words, grew incredibly excited, looking as if he wished to say more.

Xiuborn added, “Of course, if there is no other way, then we can only make our own choice.”

Xiuborn told the temple apprentice.

“I will go to the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents to find the heir to the royal lineage.”

“You lead the Witch Spirit Priest Corps and soldiers to subdue those Avel people in the wilderness and jungles.”

“This time, we must make them leave the wilderness and truly become part of the City of Avel.”

“No.”

“Part of the Avel City-State.”

“We need them, and the City of Avel needs them.”

Xiuborn’s voice was incomparably serious. “The descendants of Avel have fallen for too long, we cannot go on like this.”

The Avel people in the wilderness and jungles could almost be considered a separate ethnic group from those in the City of Avel.

Although they were all descendants of Avel, the people of the City of Avel already had their own cities, villages, civilization.

They had a large number of craftsmen who could build great ships for seafaring.

But most of the Avel people in the wilderness and jungles could not even use written language, many had even degenerated to a life of raw flesh and blood.

But these people were not few in number.

They were distributed throughout the north, with the northern jungles alone likely having over a hundred thousand people, and even more large tribes along the wilderness and coast further north.

Added together, there should be over two hundred thousand people.

Moreover, each one was a valiant soldier, subduing them would undoubtedly be of immense help.

Although these two hundred thousand people were scattered and difficult to find and conquer, as long as they subdued some of the large tribes, they could at least recruit tens of thousands of soldiers, rapidly strengthening the City of Avel.

The temple apprentice, hearing Xiuborn say this, immediately changed his expression.

He knew this was preparation for war.

Before, they definitely could not have been a match for the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, but now it was different.

They possessed the power of the Witch Spirits, they could use this power to find and subdue the Avel people in the wilderness and jungles.

They had a third-rank Witch Spirit, and the power of the Door of Truth.

Even if it was difficult to defeat the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, they could at least inflict a grievous wound upon them, make them pay a price, and forcibly rescue their people.

At the very least.

So it seemed in their eyes——

—

Mountain of Life’s Origin.

On the hillside outside Fort Pence, a group of canine beasts grazed on the ferns by the river under the herding of a child.

The child’s face bore several scars, and his body also had marks of whip lashes.

The child cautiously herded the canine beasts, and after they had eaten and drunk their fill, he counted their number again and drove them back.

Returning from grazing, he was surprised to find several people in unusual dress upon the hillside.

They all held a book in their hands, looking like scholars.

These people were none other than Xiuborn and the others who had hurried over from the City of Avel in search of collateral descendants of the Avel royal lineage.

The child lowered his head, not daring to look at these people.

Xiuborn directly stepped forward to stop him, bowed to him, and said.

“Prince Sidi?”

The youth did not speak, head lowered as he continued to herd the canine beasts.

Xiuborn continued, “Your Highness, you should have seen me when you were young.”

“I am Xiuborn, the chief temple attendant.”

Only then did the youth raise his head, carefully scrutinizing Xiuborn, finally recognizing him.

“Lord Xiuborn?”

Xiuborn was also completely certain he had not found the wrong person.

The descendant of the noble Avel royal house, humiliated like this.

Xiuborn’s heart burned with extraordinary anger, but he knew now was not the time to dwell on this, so he asked about the previous question again.

“Your Highness.”

“Where are your father and mother?”

Compared to this child, his father would surely be more suitable to become a king.

The youth immediately knelt upon the ground, weeping as he spoke, “Father was killed, Mother was taken away.”

“To protect me, Father used divine techniques to scar my face, but he himself… he himself…”

The child sobbed uncontrollably, he had thought he would remain here for the rest of his life, never imagining someone would come to save him.

He likely also never imagined that with the Avel royal house’s main lineage dying on the ships, and the other branches basically perishing in the war and its aftermath, he had become the foremost heir to the throne.

Although Xiuborn had long suspected the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents would exterminate the Avel royal lineage root and branch, when he truly learned of it, he still could not conceal his agitated emotions.

“Is there really not even a shred of kingly bearing?”

The beast-herding plains were completely different from Suinhor.

On the beast-herding plains, there had only ever been the weak being meat for the strong, only the cold and ruthless plundering everything.

How could the King of Ten Thousand Serpents show any warmth to others?

In the past, when the beast-herding tribes broke through the defenses of an enemy tribe or city, the beast-herders would kill all the adult males, leaving only the children and women.

Only after the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents was established did they begin to keep these people.

Sending them into the mines and workshops, making them labor until death.

But for any threatening elements, they would mercilessly slaughter them.

As things stood, it was already quite fortunate, Xiuborn and the others had ultimately found the surviving heir to the throne, an Avel royal descendant ascending the throne could quickly unite all Avel people.

Xiuborn lowered his body, looking at Sidi.

“Prince Sidi, we’ve come to take you back.”

“Do not fear, we have arranged everything for you, no one will trouble you again.”

Sidi asked, “Lord Xiuborn, can you save my mother?”

Xiuborn said in a resolute voice, “I will save our people and bring them back to our homeland.”

He looked into Sidi’s eyes. “If she is still alive, I will definitely bring her back to you.”

With those words, Xiuborn handed Sidi over to the temple attendants beside him.

The temple attendants, seeing Xiuborn’s actions, felt something was amiss.

“Lord Xiuborn.”

“Did we not come on this journey to find His Highness? Could there be another mission?”

Xiuborn answered, “Your mission is already complete, all that remains is to take Prince Sidi back to the City of Avel.”

“As for me.”

“I have another task.”

Having said that, Xiuborn flew toward Fort Pence.

It must be said, this mighty fortress was indeed extremely majestic.

Especially as it was backed by the Mountain of Life’s Origin, the mountain and the city joined together, giving one an incomparable sense of shock.

The river flowed past below Fort Pence, the people of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents diverting the river into the city to become water channels.

The water channels split into several clearly planned courses.

Some water channels became drinking water for the city residents, others carried wastewater in another direction.

The city’s buildings overlapped in layers, long since no longer matching the appellation of savage in the mouths of the city-state people, for mortals to create such a city could already be called great.

Since Avel, Pence, and Alcina had led the Snake People to walk three different paths, scattering to every corner of Ruhe Beast Island.

In the thousands of years since, each civilization had continuously developed, creating their own miracles.

But it must be said, the descendants of Avel had fallen far behind. Only in the last hundred years had they caught up, yet just as they rapidly rose, they suffered such an immense setback.

Xiuborn walked in this city.

He passed by the palace of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, gazing from afar toward the Temple of Ten Thousand Serpents.

In the end, he told himself, “In the future, we will definitely surpass them. Surpass everyone.”

The sky gradually darkened, and Xiuborn also slowly walked toward the royal palace of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

He walked upon the avenue, his figure gradually distorting, finally becoming completely transparent and incorporeal.

In this way, Xiuborn intruded into the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, passing before the eyes of guard after guard, both overt and covert.

He even evaded the mental fluctuations sweeping from the watchtowers.

Just as he had previously done when entering the City of Fire Protection.

Finally, he arrived at the most central area of the royal palace, where a barrier formation stood.

But they likely never imagined that in this world there existed such strange entities as the Witch Spirits who could shift between the immaterial and material, Xiuborn directly ignored the barrier, walking over it.

He thus brazenly entered the bedchamber of the King of Ten Thousand Serpents.

Outside the empty and tranquil bedchamber stood several soldiers, a pair of patrolling guards had just departed when they saw a shadow slowly ascending the steps.

That shadow began as merely a shadow, gradually growing distinct as it moved.

Finally taking the form of an adult Snake Person.

However, before these soldiers at the door could make a sound, they died amid horrified gazes.

“Who goes there?”

“Someone has intruded.”

Within the bedchamber, a second-rank Ability bearer who guarded the King of Ten Thousand Serpents at all times immediately sensed something amiss.

But Xiuborn had already passed through the tightly shut grand doors, entering inside.

Xiuborn’s gaze met the other party’s, and that second-rank Ability bearer felt unable to move.

Xiuborn waved his hand.

One ghost after another rushed into the bodies of everyone within the bedchamber, and they all collapsed to the ground.

Upon the bed, the aged King of Ten Thousand Serpents leaned against the headboard, a blanket covering his body.

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents was just as the rumors said, on the verge of death.

The previous Avel war had been his preparation for the next generation’s King of Ten Thousand Serpents before his death.

“Who are you?”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents stared at Xiuborn who had entered from outside, his calm manner as if he currently faced not an intruder, but a subject come to have an audience with him.

Xiuborn’s way of speaking to the King of Ten Thousand Serpents was also completely different from how he had spoken to King Smerkel before.

Although he said rescuing people was the priority and nothing else mattered.

His heart was still filled with hatred and anger toward the King of Ten Thousand Serpents, merely restraining it in front of others.

“Founder of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.”

“Compared to King Smerkel, your bearing falls far short.”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents laughed, “I am a beast-herder, he is a planter.”

“I am accustomed to meat, not the grain rolls of city-dwellers.”

As the King of Ten Thousand Serpents spoke, he sized up Xiuborn, finally guessing part of his identity from his clothing and form.

“You are an Avel person?”

Xiuborn approached step by step. “I am Xiuborn.”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents suddenly recalled something, after all he had heard others mention this name recently.

“Xiuborn?”

“Oh, I remember now.”

“That lucky survivor who miraculously became a third-rank Ability bearer, killed the elder of the City of Gold some time ago, and somehow even convinced King Smerkel to release all the Avel people, that temple attendant?”

“It seems you have come to assassinate me?”

Although the King of Ten Thousand Serpents did not know how the other party could intrude into his bedchamber so silently with no disturbance outside.

But at this point, with the other already standing before him, dwelling on this question was meaningless.

Xiuborn reached out his hand, a semi-transparent sword condensing in his palm.

“I have come to deliver a declaration of war to you.”

“King of Ten Thousand Serpents.”

Xiuborn’s voice turned incomparably cold, he spoke to the King of Ten Thousand Serpents in a resolute tone.

“You may choose to surrender, swear to God to release all Avel people, and apologize for your betrayal of the alliance, then you may live.”

“If you refuse…”

He pointed his sword at the King of Ten Thousand Serpents. “I will kill you here, and your corpse will be my declaration of war to all beast-herders.”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents burst out laughing, laughing so hard his body could not support itself, falling into a fit of coughing.

“Hahahaha—”

“Cough—cough—”

Finally, the King of Ten Thousand Serpents stopped coughing.

He looked at Xiuborn, not a hint of concession or compromise in his manner.

“Die?”

“Am I not already on the verge of death?”

“I will soon receive God’s summons and go to His domain.”

“Why should I surrender to the conquered for a few more days of life?”

“As for war…”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents proclaimed loudly, “Beast-herders have never feared war.”

“War and blood only make us stronger and more fearless.”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents descended from the bed, directly facing Xiuborn.

“Surrender? Apologize?”

“In all my life I have never known how to surrender, let alone apologize?”

“Utterly ridiculous.”

“I am about to die, I used you Avel people as a sacrificial offering for the next generation’s King of Ten Thousand Serpents to ascend the throne, this is the necessary sacrifice for anyone who wishes to become king.”

“If you kill me, let my blood ignite the bloodline of the next generation’s King of Ten Thousand Serpents.”

“Let him know.”

“Until the day life ends, war shall never cease.”

“Beast-herders live in this world to devour and consume others, using the blood and flesh of others to survive.”

The voice emerging from the King of Ten Thousand Serpents’ hoarse throat was exceptionally chilling and incomparably cruel.

“In this world there is only death, no surrender.”

“The weak are meat for the strong, what use is an apology.”

At this point, there was nothing more to discuss.

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents did not fear death, and Xiuborn’s disgust for the King of Ten Thousand Serpents had also reached its peak.

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents would rather die than yield, and Xiuborn was determined to rescue the Avel people, war was inevitable.

If Xiuborn retreated, he would not find such an opportunity again.

He might as well kill the King of Ten Thousand Serpents here and eliminate this troublesome enemy.

Xiuborn no longer restrained the anger in his heart, his eyes even turned blood-red as he stared fixedly at the King of Ten Thousand Serpents.

“Die?”

“It won’t be that easy.”

“I will make you realize that in this world, even death is God’s blessing!”

Xiuborn raised the sword high in his hand, a beam of colorful light suddenly descended from the sky.

That iridescent light fell from the heavens, striking the bedchamber, piercing through the King of Ten Thousand Serpents’ body.

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents’ body gradually stiffened, turning into a stone statue.

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents suddenly sensed something amiss, he looked at Xiuborn.

“What have you done to me?”

Xiuborn let out a great laugh, retorting.

“Do you not disdain death?”

“Do you not wish to go to God’s domain?”

Xiuborn’s face contorted, his features twisting together.

In this moment he recalled that night the City of Avel suffered a massacre, the raging inferno rising from the ships, countless people facing death wailing in despair.

“I will leave you in the mortal realm, make you into a ghost eternally wandering the earth, never to be free.”

“Let you suffer endless torment.”

The King of Ten Thousand Serpents’ expression changed, he suddenly looked to the sky, reaching out his hand.

He seemed to want to call upon his God to save this believer about to fall into the abyss of eternal nightmare.

But before he could utter a sound, he had completely turned to stone, frozen in this posture.

Immediately after, a dazed ghost emerged from the statue.

Xiuborn had killed the King of Ten Thousand Serpents, fulfilling his promise to the Contract Ghosts, completing their vengeance for them.

Xiuborn looked at the King of Ten Thousand Serpents’ ghost, placing his hand before him.

“Ghost of the King of Ten Thousand Serpents.”

“Come to my ship, become a lonely spirit forever wandering the great sea.”

Xiuborn’s Book of the Witch Spirit opened, his body emitting ray after ray of silver light.

An immense Ghost Ship fell from the void, crashing into the palace of the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents.

Vast waves surged as the sailboat sailed across the earth.

Taking away the King of Ten Thousand Serpents.

His actions also alerted everyone in the city.

Sounding the bell for this war between the descendants of Avel and the descendants of Pence.

This was exactly what Xiuborn wanted.

Since war was unavoidable, then crush the Royal Court of Ten Thousand Serpents, strike them hard.

Rescue all Avel people through upright means.

Use the blood of the King of Ten Thousand Serpents, the blood of the beast-herding tribes, to pay tribute to all the Avel people who had died.

Use their blood to bear witness to Avel’s rise.