In the Shrine of Lone Cloud City.
Today was the date for a once-a-year great ceremony that presented offerings to the gods. The faithful believers in the city all came to the Shrine to give their offerings and worship.
Out of all the god statues, there was one with an imposing stature, exuding prestige and majesty.
This was the God Sovereign which the Shrine believed in - Godking Dustless!
He was a Godking whose strength awed the myriad of worlds a thousand years ago, a Godking that governed all the gods in the galaxy!
"Begin the ceremony. All of you, kneel in worship!" The Shrine Master personally conducted the offering ceremony. He glanced at the believers here as he announced.
The first step of the ceremony was to worship Godking Dustless!
The Shrine Master smiled. He was very satisfied with the devout believers who respectively knelt on the ground in worship.
However, all of a sudden, he saw a young man roughly about seventeen years of age from the corners of his eyes.
Everyone was kneeling, but the young man was the only one standing.
"Quickly kneel in worship!" the Shrine Master spoke in an imposing voice.
However, it was like the young man didn't hear it. His distracted gaze was currently staring at the statue of Godking Dustless.
His name was Xia Qingchen. But more precisely, his name should be Godking Dustless...
Three days ago, the remnant soul of Godking Dustless, who had already died for a thousand years, possessed the body of Xia Qingchen who had just died.
Godking Dustless was reborn with a new identity!
Now, with a completely new appearance, he was standing before his statue.
Because of the multitude of emotions he was feeling now, he became lost in his thoughts.
"Qingchen, don't be in a daze. Quickly kneel!" Beside him, his father Xia Yuan tugged on the corner of his shirt as he urged.
Xia Qingchen cast a glance around the Shrine and shook his head lightly as he spoke, "It's better for me not to kneel or something would happen."
(Something would happen? What could happen?) Xia Yuan had a baffled look on his face.
"Young man, if you continue to show disrespect to all the god statues here, you and your family will never be allowed to enter the Shine again in the future!" the Shrine Master spoke unhappily.
Xia Yuan anxiously stood up. "Chen`er, what are you thinking?"
(Ai!)
Xia Qingchen felt helpless in his heart. He sighed in a low voice. "Alright then, all of you better don't regret."
He went on his knees onto the praying mat before him.
At the instant his knees came in contact with the ground, the entire Shrine trembled intensely.
Several of the 'seven-seven' forty-nine god statues placed around Godking Dustless's statue all imploded from within.
For the less severe cases, the statues shattered from the waist up. And for the more severe cases, the statues completely crumbled apart!
Such a huge phenomenon caused the believers to be so frightened that they madly ran out of the Shrine, pushing against each other, causing huge chaos.
Even the Shrine Master was so scared that his countenance turned pale. The Shrine was trembling while so many god statues exploded at the same time. This was a bizarre and unprecedented incident!
Luckily, everything returned to calmness after the statues exploded. There were no other phenomena.
The believers all felt panic in their hearts along with a lingering fear. Terror could be seen on their faces.
Only Xia Qingchen had a look of calmness on his face. He sighed in a low voice, "I've already said that I cannot kneel."
Although his divine body had already been destroyed, his soul was still Godking Dustless. How could a tiny Shrine be able to endure the impact of him kneeling?
Seeing that the Shrine didn't explode, it was already considered a very light consequence.
"Hey young man, come over." At this moment, an old man in grey robes stared at Xia Qingchen, his face ashen.
His name was Elder Tie and he was one of the elders of the Shrine. His daily responsibility was to safeguard Godking Dustless's statue.
He blamed the earlier phenomenon that occurred in the Shrine onto Xia Qingchen who refused to kneel in time to worship.
Xia Qingchen inclined his head, his expression was calm as he asked, "Do you have a problem?"
From his expression, there was no respect that an ordinary person would express when facing an elder of the Shrine.
Elder Tie berated in a strict tone, "Do you know that you have offended Godking Dustless earlier?"
Xia Qingchen felt this particular question extremely ridiculous. (Did I offend myself? Why didn't I know about it?)
"How did I offend him?"
"You refused to kneel in worship. It means that you are committing a sin!" Elder Tie coldly spoke.
Xia Qingchen laughed. "Godking Dustless isn't fond of all the convoluted and overelaborate details. Actually, it's fine whether one kneels or not before his statue."
He had never forced any believers to kneel. It was enough as long as they had sincerity in their hearts.
"What nonsense! How much is your understanding of Godking Dustless? How dare you question the truth…" Elder Tie berated.
Xia Qingchen calmly replied, "My understanding of him should be pretty in-depth."
In this world, was there anyone who knew him better than himself?
He glanced at the believers who were still in a state of fright. Xia Qingchen then spoke, "Forget it, let me guide you guys a little."
Guide us?
Elder Tie thought that he had heard wrongly.
"Firstly, I...cough cough. I mean Godking Dustless hates livestock in his sacrificial items. Just offering simple fruits would do!" Staring at the roasted pig and lamb on the table, Xia Qingchen involuntarily shook his head.
Back then, when he had roamed the world freely and returned to his Shrine, he would only eat the fruits offered. He wouldn't taste the other offerings at all.
"Secondly, throw the dog leash in the statue's palm away." It was unbearable that after a thousand years, the believers actually thought that the dog leash was his magic treasure!
He supposed it could only be blamed on the fact that he was invincible back then and it was very rare for him to use the Heaven Punishing Sword.
This led to a misunderstanding that the dog leash he had been using on his dogs was his magic treasure instead!
"Lastly, those statues that exploded are the gods who had betrayed Godking Dustless. What are your intentions by placing their statues here and worshipping them alongside Godking Dustless?"
What he couldn't stand the most was the fact that out of the forty-nine god statues here, there were nineteen gods that had once betrayed him.
And the Shrine actually worshiped them alongside him!
Elder Tie and the others were completely astonished when they heard this.
They weren't startled by the fact that Xia Qingchen knew so many things. Rather, it was how he could keep a straight face when speaking nonsense.
"Audacious! Because of your disrespect, you caused the Godking to manifest his anger. And yet now, you are still unrepentant and even dare to continue your presumptuous comments of the Godking!" Elder Tie berated after regaining his senses.
He decided to severely punish this young man who showed completely no respect to the Godking Dustless.
"Wait a minute!" However, the Shrine Master suddenly turned his gaze that was filled with traces of bewilderment over. He stared at Xia Qingchen for a long time and asked, "You feel that Godking Dustless's magic treasure isn't a dog leash? In that case, what would it be?"
He had once read through an ancient book and the records in it said that Godking Dustless wielded a divine sword that was named the 'Heaven Punishing Sword'. With it, He could even kill an ancient devil god with a single slash.
Hence, he had always been suspecting whether Godking Dustless's magic treasure was really a dog leash or not.
"The Heaven Punishing Sword," Xia Qingchen calmly replied.
Upon hearing that, the Shrine Master's eyes narrowed. This young man before him actually knew about the Heaven Punishing Sword?
After muttering irresolutely to himself for a long time, he flicked his sleeves. "Do what he says. Take away the cooked livestock and remove the dog leash. Also, quickly sweep away the shattered pieces of the god statues!"
In any case, it was harmless if he listened.
With the order from the Shrine Master, the initiates here began to move.
When everything was cleared up, the believers at the scene were all stunned.
"Quickly look, the Godking statue's head!" All of a sudden, someone exclaimed in shock.
Everyone inclined their heads; all of them were badly startled.
They saw that at the head of the statue, a five-colored halo that resembled a ring was shimmering in and out of existence.
The entire statue was also no longer as dark as gloomy as before. It became dazzlingly bright.
"Miracle! A true miracle!"
Including the Shrine Master, everyone knelt agitatedly as they prostrated themselves in worship.
Only Xia Qingchen silently turned to leave.
"Young man, hold it there." The Shrine Master abruptly got to his feet and hurriedly chased after Xia Qingchen. "This Shrine Master sincerely invites you to join the Shrine."
This young man had an incomparable understanding of Godking Dustless. This naturally caused the Shrine Master to feel extremely interested in him.
Upon hearing this, many believers revealed looks of jealousy.
Once one joined the Shrine, this indicated that the person would enjoy endless glory and wealth. That person would also be respected by believers and have a very high status.
"I appreciate your good intentions, but my ambitions lie in the martial path. Many thanks," said Xia Qingchen decisively.
Leaving aside the fact of how ridiculous it would be for him to worship his own statue, just the blood debt that had lasted a few thousand years was already sufficient to ensure that he would develop himself in the martial path to reach the peak he had once reached.
The Shrine Master was startled. He then sighed. "So your ambitions already lie in the martial path, what a pity."
But who would have expected that Elder Tie actually sneered now in a strange manner. "Hmph, a mediocre person who fainted in the midst of an examination due to fright actually dares to say that his ambition lies in the martial path?"
The Shrine Master had a look of shock on his face. He re-evaluated Xia Qingchen. "You are that Xia Qingchen?"
Several days ago, the martial pavilion had summoned all the outstanding youngsters in the city to head over there to deepen their learning of the martial path.
A young man named Xia Qingchen had fainted on the scene due to fright. From then on, Xia Qingchen became the butt of the joke in the entire city.
"Shrine Master. Do you have something else you want to guide me on?" Xia Qingchen had a calm expression on his face when he said this.
More accurately, Xia Qingchen didn't simply faint three days ago; he had a sudden death. And it was because of this that Godking Dustless managed to possess Xia Qingchen's body and achieved a rebirth.
The Shrine Master felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, Xia Qingchen rejected his invitation. If not, if he recruited someone who was the joke of the entire city into the Shrine, the reputation of the Shrine would definitely be affected negatively.
"Since you are not willing to join the Shrine, I will give you a divine scroll instead. You can exchange it for a shrine artifact any time you want to." He didn't try to change Xia Qingchen's mind. Instead, he went with the flow and gave him a divine scroll as compensation.
Through the years, the Shrine had collected many types of valuable medicines, martial skills, and weapons. These items were never sold to the outside.
One would only have a chance to exchange these items with divine scrolls.
Xia Qingchen accepted the scroll and silently left.
Upon hearing the faint voices of discussion that rejoiced in the calamities and misfortune of others behind his back, he shook his head lightly.
No matter how one looked at it, if Godking Dustless didn't join the Shrine that worshipped him, the ones that lost out were clearly the Shrine and its believers.
As for his decision? Mere mortals didn't have the qualification to criticize the martial path of the God Sovereign!