BXBX NOVEL Chapter 79 - 79: Methods of Acquiring Merit Power
“Everyone present today comes from various regions of the Nine Provinces, some of you are as young as eight. Regardless of whether you are here by luck or intention, it doesn’t matter. Since you’ve come into contact with the God-hidden Cult, you only have one option: to join us.”
Master Feng left the implication of the alternative unspoken: if you don’t join, you’ll die.
Inside a secluded room, ten individuals listened as Master Feng spoke about the origins of God-hidden Cult and the Respected God-hidden.
His narrative was mostly in line with the information provided by the Sky Mechanism Tower, though Master Feng refrained from mentioning any killings.
“Some of you may remain skeptical about the power of God -hidden, dismissing it as merely a fanciful tale; allow me to demonstrate for you.”
Master Feng slapped his chest and shattered his Nascent Soul, startling eight of the individuals present. The Nascent Soul is evolved from a Golden Core. Destroying it does not regress to the Golden Core Stage but instead, drops directly to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Such a drastic demonstration, just to deliver teachings?
The crowd’s prior knowledge about God-hidden Cult was relatively limited, having been brought in by cultists after a series of subtle hints and scrutiny. They were under the impression that joining the God-hidden Cult would gain them a mystical power known as the Power of God-hidden which was said to improve one’s cultivation, ward off heart demons, heal the body, among countless other astonishing benefits.
Yet they had not actually witnessed if these claims were true or false.
Jiang Li and Ji Kongkong remained expressionless.
The destruction of a Nascent Soul was a trivial matter.
The Power of God-hidden from within Master Feng began to flow out, repairing his shattered Nascent Soul. In only a few breaths, it was restored to its former completeness.
The eight people present had never witnessed such a spectacle. Everyone knew that once the Nascent Soul shattered, one could only cure it by purchasing a Revival Return Pill from the Dao Sect at a great cost, but nobody had ever seen it healed by such power!
The Power of God-hidden truly existed!
More than half of the crowd was convinced, although a few remained dubious.
Master Feng paid them no mind and began to recite the “Story of Moksha’s Suffering” that the Sect Hierarch had obtained from his dreams. The scripture was complex and obscure, describing the life of the Respected God-hidden.
For some reason, it reminded Jiang Li of Zhang Konghu. He imagined Zhang
Konghu hearing the scripture and saying, “What the hell is this gibberish?”
More learned than Zhang Konghu, Jiang Li translated the scripture: Respected God-hidden was born in the Immortal Realm, eternally sacred, omniscient, and powerful. In his eyes, both immortals and mortals were ignorant; nowever, mortals were sngnt1Y more so. Among tne InnumeraD1e numans, ne selected a delegate to reveal the secret of God-hidden, hoping that someone would ascend to stand with him, alleviating his boredom, and engaging him in discourse.
Jiang Li’s opinion was that the scripture was still too conservative. As a religious belief, unless it declares that its deity existed before Heavenly Dao, it wouldn’t qualify as a religious belief.
The ‘Story of Moksha’s Suffering’ was similar to the texts of Buddhism and Confucianism. Continually reciting it might deepen the listeners’ faith in the religion, or if used improperly, brainwash them.
Master Feng did not use it to brainwash anyone but instead focused on enhancing their faith. Believers in Respected God-hidden became even more devout; those who were skeptical remained skeptical.
Jiang Li, who didn’t believe a word, was unchanged after hearing it.
Jiang Li used his Divine Sense to observe Ji Kongkong, discovering that Ji
Kongkong had placed a Silent Tribulation around him. Inside the radius of the Silent Tribulation, all sounds disappeared, therefore Ji Kongkong was not affected by the recitation of the ‘Story of Moksha’s Suffering’.
The Silent Tribulation was originally a part of Heavenly Tribulation, specifically used to deal with those with powerful divine abilities such as “Speaking your Fate” or “Manifestation of Thoughts”. Inside the Silent Tribulation, neither speaking nor inner monologues work, and it works together with Thunder Tribulation to ensure that these cultivators take their punishments dutifully.
Jiang Li was impressed by this unique application of Silent Tribulation he hadn’t considered before.
After reciting the scripture, Master Feng led everyone to a grandly decorated bronze hall. Despite numerous lit red candles, the overall ambiance remained dim. The supporting copper columns were engraved with various grotesque creatures that Jiang Li had never seen before. Everything in the hall was disproportionally large, including the entrance, appearing as if they were not meant for humans.
At the end of the hall stood a towering statue of an Immortal made of human bones. With its gender-neutral facial features, solemn closed eyes, and benevolent posturing, it conveyed infinite compassion. However, being made of human bones, it still felt wildly incongruent.
This was a statue of the Respected God-hidden.
Besides Master Feng, Jiang Li, and his group, some cult members and ten struggling, bound individuals were also present.
Jiang Li noted that the cult members were all of the Divinity Transformation Stage and presumably held high ranks. They might be present to supervise the initiation ceremony.
“Earlier was the First Ceremony: the sermon. Now comes the Second Ceremony: the test of sincerity.”
Instead of introducing the cult members standing to the side, Master Feng pointed towards the struggling individuals on the floor.
“Each of you must kill one person; the results will determine whether you pass the Second Ceremony.”
Cheng ZiQi, who had entered with Jiang Li, hesitated before asking, “Do we really have to kill these innocent people? Isn’t this a bit…”
He couldn’t bring himself to complete the phrase “…similar to demonic cultivation.”
The others nodded in agreement. They had never heard about the necessity of killing. What happened to the promised power of Respected God-hidden which encourages followers to tap into the Power of God-hidden?
Master Feng had anticipated this question and explained, “These people are criminals sentenced to death extracted from the Tianyuan Emperor Dynasty’s prison. They’re destined to die; right now, we’re simply assigning them a more valuable death.”
With Master Feng’s confirmation, one man stepped forward, knife in hand, decisively stabbed one of the tied-up individuals.
But nothing happened.
“Does this mean I’ve passed?” asked the man, obviously an experienced killer given his clean and efficient execution, he expressed concern about his result. Master Feng asked, “Don’t you believe in the mighty Respected God -hidden?”
The man put on a superficially sincere expression, answering, “Of course I do.”
Master Feng disappointedly shook his head, killing the man without giving him the chance to explain. “Without true belief in the Respected God-hidden, without devoting yourself to the Respected God-hidden, the Power of God-hidden will not be born.”
Upon initiation, the followers would learn a mantra to conceal the Power of God-hidden. But now, Master Feng didn’t conceal anything, showing the process of obtaining Power of God-hidden to everyone present.
After Master Feng killed the man, a golden force of unknown origin appeared and enveloped him, making him seem like a person overflowing with countless virtues, commanding unconditional respect and worship.
“This is the Power of God-hidden.”
This power arrived abruptly but vanished just as quickly, entering Master Feng’s body and becoming undetectable.
Jiang Li tensed; this was his first time witnessing the process of obtaining the power of virtues..