Chapter 646: Section 433: Salty Marshmallow

“It’s faith!” the Fishman youth thought, finding the answer.

“Those unfortunate Fishmen who were praying and got killed by the Holy Domain sea beast must have had weaker faith.”

“My deployed alchemy puppets, their disguise wasn’t a problem. However, even though they pretended to pray, they had no faith, so the Holy Domain sea beast identified them instantly and killed them directly.”

The tragic death of the alchemy puppets left the praying believers utterly shocked. From the magic image, the Fishman youth saw many shivering violently in that instant, as if they had been struck by an electric shock.

Then, after the Holy Domain sea beast Snow Pear Octopus killed a few believers, it had no choice but to stop the killing.

By the end, the life breath of the believers was elevated in the spur of the moment. Some even achieved transcending their current levels. However, the Fishman youth also noticed that there were still some whose life breath did not increase much.

Even though he had seen such a scene once before, the youth still showed a trace of astonishment.

Generally speaking, cultivation is a process of accumulation, emphasizing a quantitative change leading to a qualitative change, or rather, a gradual buildup leading to sudden release. But the scene before him broke that rule.

But in truth, this was just a superficial manifestation; the reality did not conflict with the rules of cultivation.

“It’s Divine Power,” the Fishman youth sighed in his heart.

Gods are the pinnacle of life in the world.

The mighty power of gods is omnipotent.

This isn’t just rhetoric or an exaggeration but a fact.

Divine Power is the highest known energy source that can perfectly replace mana, demon energy, elements, electricity, among other sources. Divine Power is adept in various aspects, including healing, harming, teleportation, and creation.

And Divine Arts are methods of using Divine Power, further enhancing its effects.

“Believers held a Blood Sacrifice, prayed to the Mei Lan god, and they also received feedback from the Divine Power, thus upgrading their strength.”

This situation was quite normal.

A large-scale sacrifice, once successful, might attract the attention of a deity. Usually, there would be a Divine Blessing. There are many ways of Divine Blessing, such as uplifting some lives to an Extraordinary Level, bestowing objects, the highest of which includes Divine Artifacts, and there are many cases of resurrecting the dead.

According to what the Fishman youth knew, he remembered two classic instances.

One was the Elf King who had no descendents to inherit the kingdom, so he held a large-scale sacrifice and became pregnant on the spot, eventually giving birth to an excellent successor.

The other involved a Dwarf tribe caught in civil strife, where the clan leader held a ceremony, praying to the gods for peace. The sacrifice he offered was tremendous, and the gods intervened, changing the hearts and minds of the warring factions. The two tribes truly achieved peace and there were no more wars. To this day, these two tribes have become the most solid alliances within the Dwarf Kingdom.

Gods are omnipotent; the distinction lies in the cost.

To give an example of creation, creating something entirely new versus modifying something based on an existing foundation involves a vastly different cost for the gods.

“These Fishmen, Naga, and other believers received feedback from Divine Power, gaining an upgrade in strength.”

“But not all believers were the same, some with weak faith were directly killed by the Holy Domain sea beast!”

“The Holy Domain sea beast must have been purposefully placed there, mainly to screen the believers. It also serves as a precaution to prevent leaks since the Mei Lan God had already fallen into slumber, a rather precarious situation for It.”

For a moment, the Fishman youth’s mind was brimming with inspiration, connecting various clues.

As the Fishman youth pondered, the Mei Lan believers around him were teleported away.

The Fishman youth continued his thoughts: “The situation I was teleported into is different from theirs.”

“Mermaid’s Fairy Tale is taking effect. While these believers rely on the power of the Array outside the nest.”

“Mermaid’s Fairy Tale is the main artifact of the Mei Lan god, undoubtedly, it holds a higher standard than the outside magic divine text array and this Holy Domain sea beast. So, it can also draw Divine Power here.”

Since the Mei Lan believers could ascend in level, it proved that Divine Power had infused them.

Since Divine Power had descended, it was only natural for Mermaid’s Fairy Tale to absorb it.

Regarding evidence, the Fishman youth had obtained it days ago–the Mermaid’s Fairy Tale had developed a large amount of Pearl Bubble!

“This artifact seems to have the ability to actively absorb external Mei Lan Divine Power. Especially in a state of Divine Power deficiency, this instinct is even stronger. It’s like a hungry person seeking food.”

The most direct evidence for the Fishman youth’s hypothesis came from the previous battle at Twin Eyes Island.

At the time, the Main God’s bishop executed the relevant Divine Arts, disguising a key Fishman. However, when the Fishman stealthily reached above the Deep Sea Monster Fish vessel, the Divine Art was suddenly broken, revealing its true form, and then it got hit by the Golden Shiny’s Light Cannon. This series of accidents ultimately made the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps the biggest winner behind the scenes of the Twin Eyes Island sea battle.

After the battle, the survivors analyzed the situation, each giving their speculations.

“The breaking of the Divine Art, was probably because Mermaid’s Fairy Tale absorbed the Divine Power maintaining the Divine Arts.”

The method of cultivation for Divine Officers differs from fighters and mages. They devote their faith, through prayer, absorbing the descending Divine Power, thereby gaining enhancement. With Divine Power infused, stored over days, the bodies and souls of Divine Officers transform, eventually taking the form of the God of their faith. This makes the infusion, storage, and utilization of Divine Power easier, and after their death, they are more likely to be transformed by the gods into Holy Spirits, recruited into their Divine Country.

Thus, the ascent in levels of the believers was essentially with the help of the gods.

“It’s like converting Fighting Energy. It only requires an expert of the corresponding level to complete the conversion of Fighting Energy quickly.”

“If reliant on oneself, it’s incredibly lengthy.”

Divine Officers switching their own fighting energy was far more convenient than fighters.

Fighters receiving fighting energy from other powerful beings needed to completely digest and eradicate the foreign energy. However, divine officers had divine power inside their bodies, a high-grade energy that could be perfectly converted to lower energies. It directly changed into the divine officer’s fighting energy or mana without any issues of foreign energy rejection.

Having realized this, the Fishman youth sank back into his worries.

He had initially used an Alchemy Puppet to test the effectiveness of the Deception and Disguise Skill. If it worked, he could also disguise himself and infiltrate the Fishman army. This was nothing short of an escape strategy.

“The key now is, can the Deception and Disguise Skill fabricate faith?”

The Fishman youth was very skeptical.

The failure of the Alchemy Puppet wasn’t complete because, in designing the disguise, the Fishman youth hadn’t included the aspect of faith.

“In theory, faith could also be disguised. But how do I design that?”

The Fishman youth was greatly troubled.

He could change the appearance and perception of an item using the Deception Array, but when it came to faith, that was a matter of the intangible and spiritual.

He didn’t know how to proceed!

Soon, the Fishman youth figured it out, “The Deception Array we use comes from the War Merchant and doesn’t have the function to disguise faith at all.”

The core material used in Deception and Disguise Skill and Deception Array was Pearl Bubble.

This divine-level material originated from the Divine Artifact, Mermaid’s Fairy Tale.

And since Divine Artifacts were meant for divine beings, other than them, transcendent beings could hardly utilize their full power.

The War Merchant being able to utilize Pearl Bubble already demonstrated his capabilities as a Legendary Mage.

“Actually, even if I could disguise as their divine faith, it would be too risky.”

Using Deception and Disguise Skill to deceive Mei Lan God?

That would be more foolish than showing a fine craftsman how to forge.

Legend has it that Mei Lan God had fallen into slumber, but what if that wasn’t true, and she had awakened? What if she was drawn by the Blood Sacrifice, and turned her attention to it? What if the Divine Artifact’s aura had awoken her?

Dealing with the existence of a god, the Fishman youth had to be cautious.

“It seems I need to find another more reliable method to escape,” sighed the Fishman youth in despair.

The Sea Snake Lady, however, had freed herself from her long-term distress.

“Finally, they’ve come.” The Sea Snake Lady used a spell to observe the sea from a distance.

The Ba Qi Pirate Group’s fleet was approaching her.

The death of her Golden Level Magic Pet, the sea snake, had caused her immense trouble.

This was a world where power sustained status.

The Sea Snake Lady had to handle her predicament personally after the sacrificial Shadow of the Sea Snake had casually walked away.

She was itching with hatred towards Shadow of the Sea Snake but ultimately couldn’t do much.

The Sea Snake Lady could only disguise herself, pretending her sea snake Magic Pet was still alive, while secretly stepping away from her pirate group and discreetly contacting trustworthy hands, intending to capture another Golden Level sea snake to fill the gap in her combat power urgently.

As for why capture only one Golden Level, specifically a sea snake, it was determined by the Sea Snake Lady’s method of subjugation and her bloodline traits.

The Silver Level was the upper limit for the Sea Snake Lady.

Her spiritual power was only enough for one Golden Level or several Silver Levels.

But clearly, having one Golden Level was a better choice than multiple Silver Levels.

On one hand, it was a qualitative change in combat power!

On the other hand, the Sea Snake Lady herself was the pirate leader; the ocean battlefield was vast and boundless, easy for escapes, and small-scale combat scenarios were most common. Having one Golden Level was more suitable for this type of battlefield than several Silver Levels.

“Lord Ba Qi has finally come,” Gum Man sighed.

He wasn’t hoping the Ba Qi Pirate Group would come so soon.

“Have a piece, this is specially made by me,” Gum Man shuffled to the Sea Snake Lady’s side and handed her a piece of cotton candy.

The affection in Gum Man’s eyes was undisguised as he looked at the Sea Snake Lady.

The Sea Snake Lady glanced at the white cotton candy and directly shook her head, “I don’t like sweets.”

“I know, I know,” said Gum Man, “This is specially developed for you, it’s salty cotton candy.”

The Sea Snake Lady sighed in her heart, reluctantly took it, and tasted it. Indeed, it was salty and quite delicious.

But her focus was not on this at the moment, “Lord Ba Qi has arrived, let’s disembark and meet him.”