A vast subterranean space, lined with over a dozen celestial statues of the Heavenly Temple, the one slightly to the left among them is incredibly familiar to Ye Zhen.
The central statue on display is the Sun and Moon Ancestor of the Heavenly Temple Sun and Moon Sky. Further down towards the right, Ye Zhen recognizes another statue with ease.
Back then on the True Profound Continent, Ye Zhen had knelt countless times before the Sun and Moon Divine Monarch’s Divine Statue. He doesn’t recognize the other dozen or so statues, but he’s certain all these statues worshipped here belong to the lineage of the Heavenly Temple Sun and Moon Sky.
At this very moment, over fifty thousand devoted worshippers are kneeling there sincerely, reciting the prayer scripture of the Heavenly Temple Sun and Moon Sky.
Hundreds of Heavenly Temple disciples are slowly beating various drums, bells, and gongs... the sounds merging, resonating deeply into the hearts, making those border people even more devout, their expressions more focused.
Yet, while it looks effortless, each beat from these hundreds of Heavenly Temple disciples seems incredibly trying, their foreheads covered in a sheen of sweat.
"Sun and Moon’s divine might, unparalleled in the world... may Ancestor’s grace, Sun and Moon’s divine might deliver disciples from the sea of suffering, free from illness and disaster, blessed with unparalleled fortune..."
Chanting incessantly in a deep hum.
Ordinarily, such repetition would be extremely noisy, with over fifty thousand people chanting and others constantly joining in, yet the sound carries a strange rhythm, remarkably pleasant, instilling an innate urge to chant along.
This astonishes Ye Zhen. His mind now tenacious as iron, yet it’s still influenced?
It shows the Heavenly Temple’s mastery in manipulating people’s emotions.
What further surprises Ye Zhen is the intangible, formless Wish Power of all living beings.
As these people chant the prayer scripture of the Heavenly Temple several times, golden lotuses, unseen by the naked eye, converge in the air of the grand hall.
These golden lotuses, formed from the devout thoughts during their chanting, materialize into Wish Power Golden Lotuses unseen by ordinary eyes.
Only martial artists like Ye Zhen, who comprehend or possess Wish Power within, can perceive these Wish Power Golden Lotuses.
The instant these golden lotuses emerge, the dozen or so statues emit an inexplicable drawing force, pulling those unseen Wish Power Golden Lotuses towards them.
Subsequently, according to the varying strength of that mysterious drawing force from each statue, the Wish Power Golden Lotuses are torn into differing sizes, then absorbed into each statue.
As these Wish Power Golden Lotuses’ force sinks in, the aura of those statues becomes more profound and enigmatic.
Among them, the Sun and Moon Ancestor’s statue receives the largest portion of all living beings’ Wish Power, followed by the two statues beside the Sun and Moon Ancestor, including the Sun and Moon Divine Monarch, absorbing a smaller half.
The remaining smaller half is distributed among the other dozen statues, though not entirely absorbed.
A thin trace of all living beings’ Wish Power, finer than strands of hair, remains after the golden lotuses are divided among many statues.
This trace, finer than strands of hair, is again divided into hundreds of minute portions of varying sizes, entering the bodies of numerous bald-headed martial artists meditating beneath various statues.
The largest share is obtained by three Heavenly Temple Great Divine Masters emanating Dao Realm aura, while the other hundred plus portions are shared by hundreds of Heavenly Temple Divine Masters.
Though the Wish Power received is negligible, these Heavenly Temple Great Divine Masters and Divine Masters display faces of enjoyment and ecstasy.
Moreover, with every chant of the prayer scripture by thousands of devotees, a Wish Power Golden Lotus is formed.
Judging by Ye Zhen’s senses, one Wish Power Golden Lotus contains approximately one-tenth the power of a drop of Wish Power he holds.
In other words, every ten Wish Power Golden Lotuses equals one drop of all living beings’ Wish Power Ye Zhen harvested in the Yizhi Sand Sea.
Currently, Ye Zhen can collect at most three to five drops of Wish Power daily, whereas in this temple’s prayer gathering, just half a quarter-hour yields over fifty Wish Power Golden Lotuses, equivalent to five drops of Wish Power.
Know that in Yizhi Sand Sea, Ye Zhen relied on countless fanatic followers to amass a sea of Wish Power.
Yet these border people, evidently not fanatic worshippers, contribute Wish Power like devoted fanatics within this special ritual.
This scene utterly astounds Ye Zhen.
If this speed of Wish Power collection were revealed, it would surely shock the top beings of the realm.
And Ye Zhen is sure there are more such subterranean temples beyond this one.
If this continues, just how vast will the Heavenly Temple’s Wish Power collection grow?
Throughout one evening, even more staggering, maintained for three hours, just how massive can the Wish Power collection become?
Although many share the yield, the accumulation over time is substantial.
What surprises Ye Zhen is, within just an hour, the scripture chanting ceremony concludes.
At the moment of conclusion, the disciples beating those musical instruments are drenched in sweat, nearly exhausted!
"With the prayers concluded, Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum will now preach the Way!" With an announcement from the presiding disciple, the most highly cultivated Dao Realm peak Grand Master solemnly rises to the air.
As a golden lotus gradually rises beneath him, supporting him, faint divine soul waves spread, and this Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum begins expounding the so-called Way.
What surprises Ye Zhen is, shortly after the commencement, the Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum unexpectedly begins emitting golden lotuses from his mouth.
The scene of spraying golden lotuses causes the border people to gaze upon the Grand Master almost as a divine being, a multitude bowing promptly in reverence.
But even more astonishing was the moment when the golden lotus emitted from the mouth of the Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum floated out and gently landed on the heads of hundreds of border people, slowly sinking into their bodies.
Then, various strange scenes began to appear one after another.
An old man with blind eyes, upon the golden lotus merging into his body, suddenly had a faint light appear in his eyes. The previously dead white vanished in a short time, and his pupils regained their spirit.
A border person covered in festering sores saw his years-long affliction heal instantly the moment the golden lotus merged into his body.
For a moment, the strange sights continued.
There were those with regenerated limbs, some whose white hair turned black, and even more than a dozen middle-aged border people whose auras surged once the bottleneck they had struggled to break through was suddenly shattered.
This scene made the border people regard it as a divine miracle, and amidst their shock, they each bowed and expressed their gratitude profusely toward the Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum and the Sun and Moon Ancestor, proclaiming the Ancestor’s divine manifestation.
This method was not particularly sophisticated. Ye Zhen felt a faint and subtle aura of All Living Beings’ Will Power within the golden lotus.
It was merely the Heavenly Temple’s ingenious application of All Living Beings’ Will Power.
But this was not the most important part. The most important was that Ye Zhen discovered that many of the border people now looked at the Sun and Moon Ancestor with a different gaze.
This transformation was something others might not notice, but Ye Zhen, who had experienced it countless times, could clearly tell.
Fanatics!
These border people, shocked by various divine miracles, were transitioning to the level of fanatics.
Some border people were already fanatics of the Heavenly Temple, and if this continued for a while longer, most of the border people here would likely transform into fanatics.
Fanatics are beneficial for a sect.
But for others, it’s almost disastrous.
Because in the eyes of fanatics, there is only doctrine, only sect, no right or wrong, and they are absolutely obedient.
In other words, it won’t take long—maybe one or two months, perhaps half a year or a year—and the border people here will all become fanatics of the Heavenly Temple.
These border people are inherently fierce and not weak in cultivation after years of being close to battle, boasting strong combat power, and can easily become the bravest warriors with some organization!
At least twenty thousand warriors could be transformed here, not to mention the two major dock castles at Blood River Fortress, such small dock castles number at least two hundred, if not three hundred.
If the Heavenly Temple turns them all into fanatics, then they could summon several million warriors instantly when the time comes!
The kind that wouldn’t fear death!
For a fleeting moment, Ye Zhen felt a sense of eerie dread.
The Heavenly Temple’s secret fanatic transformation, what are they planning?
If you know, the Great Zhou allows the Heavenly Temple to preach, but only in ordinary areas.
The military and war zones do not allow teachings from the Heavenly Temple.
Could the so-called grass fright and snake awakening of Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long be referring to the Heavenly Temple?
After another hour, the so-called expansive teaching ceremony finally concluded.
"You must return and devoutly serve the gods of the Sun and Moon Ancestor day and night, recite the Prayer Scripture a thousand times daily, and may you receive the Ancestor’s protection, avoiding disasters and gaining unrivaled blessings. Today’s expansive teaching ends here, next term, I will return to preach the Great Dao."
As the golden lotus beneath the Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum dispersed, the border people awoke as if from a dream, devoutly saluting various divine statues before gradually leaving.
Once the border people left, Ye Zhen hid within the Mirage Dragon Pearl, once again attaching himself to the shoe sole of a border person, quietly being taken away.
Ye Zhen sensed that this underground hall was heavily restricted, with so many masters and divine statues, and having experienced the summoning spirit power of the Temple’s statues, Ye Zhen didn’t want to be trapped here alive, seizing the opportunity to leave.
However, before leaving, a silent avatar spawned by the Little Demon rooted itself in the cracks of the hall’s bricks.
The Temple’s actions here were indeed against regulations.
But even if Ye Zhen could see, even if he told Ren Venerate Emperor Ji Long, it would just be empty words without evidence.
So he left behind an avatar of the Little Demon, hoping to gather evidence.
After a short while, when Ye Zhen was led out of the Subterranean Temple by the border people, the fifty thousand border people also gradually all left the Subterranean Temple.
But then, the Grand Master of Bitter Chrysanthemum flicked his sleeves, rendering Ye Zhen utterly dumbfounded as he saw through the Little Demon avatar, his expression turning extremely gloomy, "Oh, come on, this is overly cautious!"
It was then that a Talisman Light descended from the sky, landing in the clouds where Ye Zhen was hiding.
The Talisman Communication was sent by Liuu Feng, the content not extensive, just a location and a very short sentence.
"Sir, we have discovered fragments of the standard armor of the missing patrol team."

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