Chapter 147: Let Me Teach You How to Do Things: The Proper Use of a Divine Artifact.

Chapter 147: Let Me Teach You How to Do Things: The Proper Use of a Divine Artifact.

"What do you want to do? How dare you! Are you rebelling?!"

"Guards, seize these troublemakers—"

The words came to an abrupt halt.

The nobles were horrified to find that even the guards under their command had flames of vengeance burning in their eyes.

"No, don't, d-don't follow those troublemakers in rebelling against your betters. I'll pay you! I'll pay! One hundred taels each... no, no! Two hundred taels! Two hundred taels still not enough? I say don't be too greedy..."

A mountain of flesh retreated while bellowing.

The commoners and guards, their eyes blazing red, surrounded him, cornering him.

He shielded his face with one hand while weakly raising three malformed fingers with the other: "Then how about three hundred? Three hundred taels, enough for you to live it up... Isn't that what you want—money? I'll give it to you, alright?"

He saw that the faces of these people wore terrifying expressions.

A mix of smiles and sobs.

The first enraged commoner raised his fist, trembling, and slammed it into the mountain of flesh with all his might.

"Aaaahhhhh—!"

The mountain of flesh let out a piercing scream.

But the roar that tore from the striking commoner's throat was a hundred times more anguished: "Father, Mother, Ah Hua—aaah—aaaah!"

The mountain of flesh was scared to death.

"Ahhh, don't kill me! I'll give you all my money! Isn't that what you're after? Money! Ahhh!"

The second, the third...

The avengers closed in, their blows laced with blood and tears raining down.

The mountain of flesh was pounded like a pestle.

One place after another ignited, setting the sky ablaze.

When apathetic ants began to resist and attack in swarms, even the high priests of the great temples felt a chill run down their spines.

The junior priests under their command also had weird expressions on their faces.

"You too want to rebel?"

The junior priests hung their heads.

They occupied the lowest rung of the Divine Court, never having sold their life spans, with little chance of obtaining the Longevity Elixir. Looking at each other, they still seemed like humans.

But the high priests in their peripheral vision...

Mountain after mountain, each taking up half the temple. Unknowingly, when they passed the pillars, the pus and festering flesh scraped against the carved columns, leaving behind revolting streaks.

And the suffering of the people outside was impossible to ignore.

'Is this what the Divine Court calls mercy and great love?'

Even if they dared not rebel, indignation welled up in the junior priests' hearts. A massive conflict choked their chests, stabbing at their human conscience.

But the high priests were unlike mortal nobles; they were High-Level Cultivators.

Going against a high priest was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

The junior priests had no choice but to obey the high priests' orders, steeling themselves to step out of the temple and face the enraged crowd.

"Everyone, calm down. Please don't barge in."

Their voices were weak. They closed their eyes, circulated their spiritual energy to protect their bodies, and braced for punches and kicks.

Yet...

The people didn't lay a hand on them. Like fish in water avoiding rocks, they detoured around the junior priests and charged toward the temple steps—on the contrary, it was as if they were shielding them.

When the junior priests opened their eyes in a daze, moisture seeped unbidden from beneath their eyelids.

They looked up at the warriors rushing toward the mountains of flesh.

"No... you... you can't fight them... don't throw your lives away for nothing."

Their lips trembled and turned pale; their bodies felt as heavy as poured iron.

"Boom!"

How could commoners stand against a high priest?

A wave of filthy energy swept through, and the warriors at the front fell like cut wheat.

The junior priests choked out sobs: "Stop... stop... you come back!"

But not a single person retreated.

Vengeful flames burned in every pair of eyes, yet their expressions were clear-headed, not blinded by rage.

They threw themselves forward without hesitation.

The junior priests' eyes trembled: "Knowing you will surely die, why are you..."

The people laughed: "Even in death, we'll bite off a piece of his flesh, so he knows that even an ant has teeth!"

The junior priests sobbed, covering their faces as they collapsed to the ground.

"But... it's meaningless..."

This was a completely unequal battle.

Before a High-Level Cultivator, no matter how many commoners there were, they were nothing but cannon fodder.

That mountain of flesh, treading through pools of blood, spoke with a voice of righteousness: "You have been deluded by the Evil Path, your minds unhinged, you deserve to die!"

The junior priest trembled more violently.

Suddenly, something snapped inside him, and with a roar, he charged forward, throwing out spiritual energy to save a person about to be crushed under the mountain of flesh.

The mountain of flesh fixed a cold stare on the junior priest: "Well, well—you're an agent of the Evil Path too!"

"I-I'm no a-agent of anything!" The junior priest's voice shook uncontrollably, hoarse and cracked, breaking frequently. "I'm just a person! I'm a human being!"

"Boom!"

The young priest exploded into a mist of blood.

"I... even if I die, I have no regrets!"

One by one, the High Priests left the temple and moved to suppress the great tide of worldly rebellion.

They had thought that killing a few would intimidate these spineless rioters, but instead, the sacrifice of their own only stirred the people into even fiercer resistance.

The High Priests felt a chill in their hearts: "Have they gone mad? Are they all mad?"

One after another, the people showed no fear of pain, no fear of death—they seemed just like... just like... those on the Evil Path!

Their eyes grew brighter, their expressions more resolute.

Faced with such enemies, the High Priests instinctively cowered in fear.

"Since you're determined to die, then die!"

The High Priests began a massacre, but they had already betrayed their bluster and inner weakness.

"Wait, wait—what is that?"

Wisps, threads—

Like mist, like flowing fire.

They emerged from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, slowly gathering in the air—specks of light that gradually coalesced into a blazing red sea.

A single glance shook the soul.

That was, that was...

The unyielding will of the dead had returned!

"ROAR—!"

That crimson sea burned across the sky, a furious dragon roaring, like the Dharma Form of countless people, standing firm between heaven and earth.

"ROAR—!!!"

The High Priest, who had been slaughtering on all sides, was terrified, his legs trembling as he stumbled backward.

The furious crimson dragon swooped down, howling, like half the heavens crashing down upon the High Priest!

The High Priest's eyes bulged, overwhelmed with shock.

He slowly lowered his head, but found himself unharmed.

"This..."

The next instant, an overwhelming wave of weakness washed over him, and the High Priest's legs gave out as he collapsed to the ground.

The people stared intently at him.

The furious dragon had burned away all that never belonged to him.

Layer after layer of flesh and blood debris fluttered, like dark golden butterflies, peeling off from the mountain of flesh and drifting away with the wind.

Born from heaven and earth, returning to heaven and earth.

Having lost everything stolen from the people, the High Priest was left with only a body completely drained by wine and lust.

The people crowded around him.

The High Priest's screams were like those of a pig being slaughtered.

The news reached a higher temple.

"Despicable commoners! So ignorant! So cruel! So savage! How dare they use evil arts to harm the loyal and the righteous!"

"Commander, it was our men who started the massacre, which provoked..."

"So what? How dare the commoners rebel! They must pay dearly!"

"Commander... Commander..." Another, slightly smaller, mountain of flesh trembled as he spoke. "Look outside."

Through the fallen temple's stained glass windows, that red tide had already surged in.

The ten-thousand jade steps of the Sacred Mountain.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit's vision had long since blurred.

It moved a beat too slowly, channeling spiritual energy to strike down the swords and spells that came at it.

Sometimes it blocked them, sometimes not.

Too much blood had been lost, and its body alternated between heat and cold.

Li Xueke, with sleeves rolled up, had somehow come to its side, taking a few cuts for it now and then, yelping in pain.

He struggled to protect the Paper Effigy Boy and the Little Golden Crow in his arms.

"I'm crazy! Totally crazy!" Li Xueke screamed. "Why am I here? Why am I here?!"

The Foxtail Grass Spirit: "Yeah, you good-for-nothing, just get out of here quickly."

Li Xueke exploded with rage.

Suddenly, shouts of battle came from behind.

Li Xueke: "...Can't leave now!"

The two staggered and turned around, both stunned.

"Wait, what is that?"

Ahead, teams of cultivators rebelling against the Divine Court rode their swords as the vanguard; behind them, people surged like a surging tide, and in the air circled a blazing, furious dragon—unstoppable and irresistible.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit and Li Xueke trembled, their pupils dilated in shock.

It said in awe: "That dragon... it's just like the people! Like their spirit and will!"

Li Xueke was speechless. "You're so uncool... I feel like that light looks a bit familiar?"

Qiu Qianyue's eyes filled with horror.

"No, that's impossible... What have you done!"

Wish power, her wish power!

The wish power that countless ignorant beings had continuously provided her for thousands of years—which even the Daoist Sect's overturning of the verdict and Helan Yunyi's rebellion could not diminish—suddenly severed!

How could this be? How could it possibly be?!

A terrifying emptiness struck her. Qiu Qianyue reeled, dizzy, her trembling eyes fixed on Fu Yu, the murderous intent and hatred in her gaze almost tangible.

Jun Bu Du cast a faint glance.

His aura spread out, enveloping Fu Yu in an airtight shield, not allowing a trace of malice to seep through.

Qiu Qianyue's breath hitched, and she instinctively stepped back.

Fu Yu had always been flamboyant by nature, and with Jun Bu Du by her side, she became even more arrogant and reckless.

She cackled, "If you don't listen to good advice, you'll suffer the consequences. Those 'hollow grand principles'—want me to teach them to you again?"

Qiu Qianyue's eye muscles twitched. She steadied herself and said, "You must have used your dream art to confuse my followers." She gave a cold smirk. "You can fool them for a while, but can you fool them forever?"

Fu Yu: "Tsk. Keep deceiving yourself."

Qiu Qianyue was about to sneer when she suddenly shuddered again.

A dense, prickling pain spread through her body, like ten thousand ants gnawing at her bones.

She abruptly realized—the wish power was backfiring on her very self!

"Impossible... impossible!" Her pupils nearly shrank to needles. "Those vile commoners—short-sighted, ignorant, apathetic, hopeless! How could they resist the Divine Court? How could they resist me?!"

Fu Yu smiled and spread her hands. "It is what it is. Believe it or not."

"Absolutely impossible!" Qiu Qianyue gritted her teeth. "As if I don't know human nature! They're selfish, they're cowards who fear death, they are..."

Fu Yu interrupted: "Yes, people fear death. But those who are so afraid of death can always throw away their lives for their families." She laughed. "You don't understand us ants."

Qiu Qianyue said through clenched teeth, "So you used such a method to incite the ignorant rabble?"

Her gaze flickered violently as she pondered a solution.

Fu Yu seemed able to read her mind, said coolly: "No solution. Because you really did kill someone's entire family."

Qiu Qianyue's gaze trembled.

She pressed her lips together, flipped her palms and inverted the Heavenly Sin Eye, turning her gaze upon the world.

"You must be lying—another stalling tactic! How could such ants storm my Divine Mountain?!"

The next moment, Qiu Qianyue's trembling eyes widened in realization.

"A divine artifact... it's you! You gave a divine artifact to those base people!"

Fu Yu smiled. "Yes, the divine artifact World Wish Candle. Let me teach you the proper use of this artifact, and let you see for yourself what it means—the wishes of millions rivaling the gods!"