A dark red star orbited alone in the universe, and a divine nation circled around it.
The Sacrifice Divine Nation.
A tall shadow clad in a red robe was meditating, with a fierce face like that of a dragon, and four massive horns bending downwards, adorned with knife-shaped ornaments.
Tomorrow would be a good day; The God of Sacrifice felt it would be an exceptionally grand and magnificent sermon.
According to the reports of the followers, the generous funds they had invested in the Grey World had yielded substantial returns in publicity.
The Transformation Category magic advertisements, headlines on newspapers, were all about the doctrine of The God of Sacrifice—even the lowliest beggars would receive free newspapers and three days' worth of food handouts.
Under this barrage of propaganda, the sermon in the Grey World would inevitably be packed to the rafters, a sea of humanity!
At this time, The God of Sacrifice reflected on the past in his own Divine Nation, actively preparing for his sermon.
He would not disappoint those lives who came carrying hearts full of expectation!
Sermons were one of the most common ways for deities to recruit followers, fundamentally seeking those who shared their own values. These individuals either walked with the deities or were willing to become their underlings and henchmen.
Lives with similar values gathered together to worship the one who proposed these values: this formed the relationship between religion, deities, and followers.
In other worlds, and in long-standing eras, those methods of preaching and proselytization had become outdated, relics of the past.
Those overly grandiose and nebulous methods of propagation failed to attract many followers.
Each deity would summarize their past actions to develop a unique method of proselytization, yet even so, sermons still remained one of the most widely used and recognized methods for recruiting followers in the current era.
The gods usually focused on the world they originated from, considering these worlds to be their base; thus, they always used low-level units like missionaries to spread the faith, hoping to expand their stronghold.
But the various intricate doctrines and religious rules always posed barriers that impeded most lives—the gods, whether they were positive deities of legends past or the current era's neutral and negative ones, always displayed a striking similarity and consistency when it came to setting rules.
Everyone thought that if they were their followers, then they must conform to their likes and dislikes; those who did not comply with the strict dogma could not be assimilated.
However, as time evolved, and since the gods' sensitivity to time wasn't as keen as that of mortals, they suddenly discovered—after not too long a passage of time—that their worldview had expanded.
Not only were there new versions updated, but new races and professions appeared, as did new worlds.
The very first gods emerged in this world all of a sudden, bringing with them the vast and immense starry night, and those countless brilliant and splendid supreme authorities.
They shattered the worldviews of many gods, informing these lesser gods of the heavens that their methods were simply terrible, then established an entirely new rule—
"We think you're being a bit extreme."
"Evil Gods don't need to sneak around like those feeble-minded cultists, holding peculiar secret meetings in the shadows, then crafting clandestine rules and, by the way, smearing fresh blood on their faces for such performance art."
"The past epoch has long ended, positive Divine Power has become a legend of a bygone ancient era that even the Gods struggle to pursue; those positive beliefs and values can't be utilized in this era. Therefore, if we hope to move forward and develop, we must focus our efforts on significant deeds, expand the world's interactions, and those senseless, secretive rules of small cliques must be utterly abolished!"
"Your churches can certainly be decorated bright and beautiful; by all means, go ahead and freely preach your doctrines and the roots of your faith. Diminish your desires and madness in exchange for letting the people gain more benefits. After such attempts, you will find that the people will certainly respond to your actions!"
"The value of life is different; the form and even the origins of life in each world are distinct."
"Different origins predetermine different values. Such varied values lead to diverse desires and worth. If some Deities can't find the values they seek in their own worlds, they are perfectly entitled to pioneer anew in others!"
"Finding finite chaos within limited order, propelling the world to move forward in entanglement, is the ultimate law of the universe."
Thus, under the proclamation of the Gods, this world rapidly evolved towards an unknown future. Once the shackles of rules named upon the mortals were broken, they would either lead themselves to extinction or develop to a point that would astound the Gods.
During this process, an unceasing number of mortals emerged as brave warriors attempting godslaying; after all, a Deity's power is not unattainable. For third-tier Deities, they were initially just beings of a planet or a bubble world, their Divine Power finite and within the realm of being 'killable'.
Nevertheless, the true death of a Deity is to fall into time and become a wax figure, not destroyed physically. The death of a god is a different concept from that of worldly beings. And even if they die, there might be worldly mortals who reminisce about the Deity, performing 'donning armor to ascend as a god,' thereby recreating the likeness of that Deity.
So, for mortals, what they slay is merely the local church, tearing down their grand temples, destroying the temporary vessels used by Deities when descending. Yet, for mortals, this has already fulfilled their aim of dismantling part of the divine, and even now, some worlds still refuse the entry of Gods and continue to possess the power to cast them into the torrent of time.
But these worlds are merely minor troubles.
Sooner or later, they will be conquered by the Gods because the aggressive warlike evangelism has gradually faded from history's stage, giving way to the increasing popularity of lectures - a form of preaching where Deities descend personally to recruit followers.
The invasion by force can rule only for a moment.
The invasion by thought can rule for all eternity.
Compared to the Bishops' bombastic, nonsensical prattle, the mortals have greater faith in the Gods who descend in person. Even if obtaining power from the Gods comes at a steep price, that power is indeed acquired and held in their hands.
By contrast, the Bishops, known for taking money without performing services, are despised by the people.
"According to the news from the churches of the Grey World, in the week prior, no less than tens of millions of leaflets were distributed. Whether humans, Minotaurs, the Blood Clan, Dwarfs, Trolls, Dog-headed People... In short, there isn't an area here that hasn't been covered with propaganda."
The God of Sacrifice thought that by taking advantage of this offline lecture, everyone in this world would also understand the beauty and value of sacrifice, such as how sacrificing two low-star monsters could summon an eight-star behemoth...
Even "fictional" fantasy creatures could be brought into existence! Of course, this creation requires the sacrificial entity to undergo a fusion of flesh or soul to synthesize the being.
This is a power that attracts all beings.
Apart from oneself, who else can temporarily create such fictional beings?