Chapter 55
Chapter 55
The amount of shock Jiang Xiu felt wasn't small. After some thought, he realized it wasn't a strange matter. Since he was able to awaken the Divine race's bloodline in his body, it shows that humans were descendants of the Divine race. It was normal that an item belonging to the gods was left behind. He felt that it was strange for it to exist after so many years.
He turned the mask over; its back was bumpy and uneven, seeming without any pattern to it. From this, he could infer that this wasn't a mask but rather a fragment of a bronze statue.
His slender finger ran past it, making it emit a bit of energy. Jiang Xiu's index finger trembled a little as his expression turned solemn due to that. He muttered to himself, "Divine Faith."
If he hadn't guessed it wrong, this fragment belonged to a God's Sculpture.
"This form…"
Jiang Xiu had seen several Divine races. Each one of them had their own characteristics. Though he hadn't seen all of them, he knew countless. He had even learned about Divine races whose lineage had ended by referring to ancient books. Still, he had never seen one that was similar to the current form of the bronze statue.
There was one fraudulent thing about this bronze statue, which was that it wasn't possible to record the Divine race's real features on it. The believers would usually make a sculpture with a remarkable resemblance, keeping the actual face of the God obscure. Whether to mystify it or to avert blasphemy, no matter the reason, it wasn't possible to view it clearly. On top of this, it seemed like this was a crude piece of work. It was also quite tricky to identify it as the bronze statue had corroded along with the passage of time. It was also possible that the specific trait to the Divine race was on the torso or some other part.
"Such a weak Divine Faith…"
"Maybe a dead lineage?"
If the Divine Faith were still prosperous, the amount of power wouldn't be this less. This power wasn't even enough to send a sound transmission, but this gave hope to Jiang Xiu.
Even if a mosquito was small, it was still meat.
He picked up the cell phone and called Tang Zhenshan again. The Old Father had already slept, so A'Dong was the one who picked it up. Noticing that the call was from Jiang Xiu, he immediately woke the Old Father up. Although it was hard on the Old Father, he didn't dare to make any mishaps when it comes to Jiang Xiu.
He had instructed that no matter when or where, if only Mr. Jiang called, the call must be attended to immediately.
"God's sculpture?"
This bronze statue mask indeed possessed divine faith energy. Since Tang Zhenshan had placed it above the shrine as an object of worship, Jiang Xiu surmised that he'd have information about this mask or else he wouldn't have worshiped it.
"Oh, right! God's sculpture!"
Only now did Tang Zhenshan remember the shrine inside the tea room of his villa. He had learned that after setting up a God's sculpture, it's easier to enter the Zen state.
He had thought about it well when he had decorated it but forgot about this matter since he never went to live there.
"Is there something wrong with that God's sculpture?"
"Where did this mask come from? Are there more sculptures?"
"It's best if it's the complete sculpture."
This God's sculpture was a damaged product, so the power it possessed was too weak. If it were a complete sculpture, it'd contain a significant amount of energy, which can help him promote his strength a little.
"There aren't any more of it. As for its history…" Tang Zhenshan muttered to himself before saying, "Mr. Jiang, have you ever heard this phrase? It's called - Gather, Dao Soldiers; For the Immortal Gods shall open the Gate."
"I haven't heard of it before."
Jiang Xiu's knowledge and experience were very superficial in the previous timeline, he had no understanding of the supernatural and even believed that there weren't any such things like ghost and gods in the world as he had never encountered these matters.
A young woman in a pink nurse uniform placed a cushion behind Tang Zhenshan so he could lean on the bed. The Old Father arranged his thoughts and explained, "Several hundred years ago, a colossal disaster had descended in Dongzhou district which is to the south of Jiang City. An epidemic caused devastation after the calamity. The people starved and were left with no ways to make a living. During such a time of despair, a strange evil cult had suddenly popped out of nowhere, known as the Heavenly Dao Religion. Their slogan was this - Gather, Dao Soldiers; For the Immortal Gods shall open the Gate."
"If someone believed in them, they were entitled to assume the position of a Dao Soldier. They said that they'll request the Immortal Gods to open the Space-Time Gate and take them away to the World of Immortals, where they could become Immortal Gods. The people in despair felt like they had finally seen hope. It was a very terrible situation. The evil cult developed at an insane speed. Then they vanished for some reason, the same way they made a sudden appearance. Actually, it was even faster, it seemed like they had all disappeared in a night."
Jiang Xiu asked, "This mask is from the God's sculpture that Heavenly Dao Religion worshipped?"
"Yes."
"This God's sculpture doesn't belong to me but rather a strange person who lived in Jiang City before. Mr. Jiang also knows him, it's that Lin Zhenbei. This man is a fanatic, he wished to become a Dao Soldier."
"Martial Arts levels included three realms, Outer Strength, Inner Strength, and Supreme. After reaching the peak, the Supreme stage, it was followed by smashing the void and ascending. Lin Zhenbei's beliefs conformed with the creed of the Heavenly Dao Religion. In case that stage was achieved, the Immortal God would open the Gate to the World of Immortals and take them away."
Jiang Xiu was sure that those so-called three Martial Arts realms were the three realms before the Qi Refining stages on the Immortal Martial Continent and that the Dao Soldier stage was the same as the Foundation Establishment stage of Immortality Cultivation, which was the stage to establish the foundation for an Immortal Body. As for things like smashing the void and ascending, it wasn't possible to achieve that at such a level.
As for 'For the Immortal Gods shall open the Gate,' it was a dubious matter.
Tang Zhenshan continued, "The reason Lin Zhenbei has returned this time is to take revenge on me in passing, his true goal is to become a Dao Soldier."
"Mr. Jiang, do you think that it really exists… the Heavenly Dao Religion?"
Jiang Xiu replied, "When this Deity was a child, an old man once told this Deity that Immortal Gods lived inside the mountains. Everyone would believe such a thing in their childhood, but as they grow up, they would no longer believe it anymore."
"After some time, a Heavenly Dao Religion event will be held in Dongzhou to fight over the position of Dao Soldier."
Jiang Xiu was astonished, "Didn't you say that the Heavenly Dao Religion had disappeared?"
"It had indeed disappeared in those days, but someone is using the Heavenly Dao Religion's name to act now. It isn't known whether it's the same Heavenly Dao Religion from before as many years have passed and there are no written records about it."
"Only, the attraction of the Dao Soldier stage hasn't diminished even a bit."
Jiang Xiu thought about it. In case a martial artist reached the peak of the Supreme stage, he'd sense that there was an even higher stage. Therefore, he'd naturally believe the other things like smashing the void and ascending to become an Immortal.
"Mr. Jiang…"
"Lin Zhenbei was intimidated by Mr. Jiang and so didn't dare to act. But just in case this Dao Soldier thing turns out to be true, and he luckily becomes a Dao Soldier then it'll bring us huge trouble."
"Hahaha…"
Jiang Xiu laughed loudly when he heard those words.
This laugh made Tang Zhenshan feel goosebumps. He could sense the contempt Jiang Xiu held but didn't know what it was directed towards.
"It seems like fun."
If Earth indeed had remnants of the Divine race, it can be considered as a source to obtain power.
Tang Zhenshan was exalted, "Alright, I'll leave everything to Mr. Jiang."
He couldn't sleep in peace until Lin Zhenbei dies.
Jiang Xiu ended the call and then turned the mask in his hand around. A smile rose up on his face. He wanted to test whether this Heavenly Dao Religion's God still existed. Before, he thought that he'd fallen, but now, he still held some doubts. It was possible that God was still alive. The reason was simple, it was because the legend of the Dao Soldier was still disseminating. If the God had fallen, it'd be difficult for the myth to have prospered.
He placed the mask down and opened the drawer that was filled with incense sticks. He took one of them out, used a lighter to light it and then mumbled a few words.
Smoke spiraled up from the incense slowly. It was completely normal in the beginning, but along with the spell, that smoke gathered together and didn't disperse.
"Looks like they're still alive!"
Jiang Xiu had just used a spell to communicate with the God.
That smoke kept rising and assembled into a human-like shape in a speed visible to the naked eyes. A smile perked up on Jiang Xiu's face subconsciously when he saw this; his gaze turned sharper and colder.
It finally formed a vivid and lifelike image of a white-bearded old man.
"Which believer is it? Acting with such sincerity!"
The voice was boundless and seemed to appear from the horizons.
A light flashed by and that image became even more distinct. Although it was condensed from smoke, the ancient clothing, features, as well as the expression on the face were completely clear.
However, what greeted him were Jiang Xiu's ice-cold eyes filled with ridicule.
His expression morphed suddenly, "Who are you?"
He had a bad feeling from Jiang Xiu's expression and also felt a very dangerous aura. This made him feel very frightened.
In the next instant, Jiang Xiu acted.
The old man turned pale with fright.