In the dark and deep underground palace, the humming sound of magic operation suddenly broke the silence in the air.
Stable magic power was injected into the crystal, and the magic crystal lamps embedded in the wall lit up one by one, illuminating the vast hall.
The floor of the hall was covered with glimmering runes and magic lines, and countless pillars that looked like a mixture of flesh and plants stood on both sides of the hall. The surface of the pillars was uneven, and the gaps of the pillars seemed to be flowing with dark red glimmering blood. Vines or blood vessels like 'biomass ropes' grew out from the top and roots of the pillars, snaking into the runic matrix on the roof and the floor. On the wall behind the pillars, rows of transparent crystal ball-like containers were neatly embedded on the dark red wall.
Inside those crystal balls, creepy biological tissues were floating. They were soaked in the thin, reddish biomass solution, wriggling, expanding, and shrinking subconsciously like the eggs of devils in their sleep.
And at the end of the hall, there was a huge crack. It was not a wall, but the opening of some kind of underground rift valley. Outside the crack, there was a vast space shrouded in dim red light.
A series of footsteps came from afar, and a tall and thin figure in a black robe walked into the hall.
He walked unhurriedly past the slightly trembling "pillars." His eyes swept across the surface of each pillar as he patiently and meticulously checked the status of these "embryo containers." A hoarse voice came from under the hood.
"Good, very good … You guys are growing so fast … I didn't waste the biomass I prepared for you guys …"
A cold female voice suddenly came from not far away, interrupting the black-robed man's mutterings. "Khiton, you're getting more disgusting when you're with these embryos."
The black-robed man did not even turn his head. "Bertilla, have you forgotten the courtesy of knocking on the door?"
With the sound of roots moving on the stone floor, the half-human, half-tree Bertilla in a green priest's robe walked out of the shadow of the hall entrance. She glanced at Khiton not far away. "What a pity, this disgusting hall of yours has no door at all."
The black-robed man turned around and took off his hood, revealing his pale and shriveled face. He looked at Beltyra coldly and said, "You didn't say that the first batch of Abomination embryos were disgusting when you cultivated them."
"What's disgusting is your aesthetic when you're decorating the hall, not these embryos." Bertilla frowned as she looked at the neatly arranged 'pillars' and the crystal containers inlaid on both sides of the wall. "Can't you design these biomass sacs and artificial eggshells in a less disgusting way? Or at least wrap them in something … Your place is like a rancid slaughterhouse, not an advanced laboratory. "
"It's a pity that you can't understand the beauty of flesh and blood, but I'm willing to understand," Khiton said sarcastically. "If you stay in the Abyss of Flesh and Blood for a few more days, I'm sure you'll understand the beauty of these most primitive biological tissues —"
Bertilla directly interrupted Khiton's slightly neurotic speech. "Enough, I'm not interested to know what twisted and bizarre knowledge the 'gods' gave you when they whispered in your head. I'm just here to understand the growth of the abominations. The hierarch needs to confirm if the abominations in these embryos have been successfully activated, and to confirm the effect of the pseudo-god's body on them."
Khiton grinned, and an ugly smile appeared on his gloomy face. "Of course, as you can see, this place is full of vitality. The abominations in human genetic factors have been passed down for hundreds of years, and are still exuberant in every human body. As long as they undergo the appropriate mutation, everyone will be an abomination. We should thank our compatriots in the wasteland for providing timely and effective data, and all the embryos are developing in the expected direction."
Bertilla nodded and walked slowly to a 'pillar'. She reached out her hand to feel the slight tremor and temperature in the depths of the 'pillar'. These seemingly motionless pillars were alive. She could feel the hidden regular pulse under the rough skin, just like the beating of a heart, stable and powerful.
… Is this the future of mortals? So unbearable …
For a moment, Bertilla had this fleeting question in her mind. But the next second, she refreshed the brain tissue and the corresponding hormones. This superficial question could not have come from her, it was most likely the remnant thoughts of an assimilated devourer trying to affect her judgment. It was not the first time something like this had happened.
She did not care about it.
"Very well, the Grand Hierarch will be pleased." Bertilla nodded slightly. "Ensure that these special 'initial' abominations become mature as soon as possible. This is an order from the Grand Hierarch."
Khiton stared coldly at Bertilla from behind. He was a little angry, angry at the woman's arrogant attitude, angry that she was so arrogant in front of him in the name of the Grand Hierarch. But he could not do anything about it.
Bertilla was the most senior Hierarch of the Cult of All Things Finality. This seemingly human woman had used a forbidden spell to extend her life by seven centuries by devouring and absorbing other life forms. She was still a hierarch in name, but in fact, her status was between the hierarch and the Grand Hierarch.
She was the only one who could walk through the corridor in the deepest part of the underground palace unscathed, and stay in the grand patriarch's secret chamber for a long time. The murmurs of the vicious gods did not drive her crazy, and looking at the flesh of the gods did not pollute her soul. This incredible ability made her position in the Church unshakable.
Heaton thought maliciously. Perhaps the secret of how Bertila resisted the invasion of Divine Will in the depths of the underground palace was that she had already been twisted into a monster. Perhaps she was a monster from the beginning. Her soul and flesh had already rotted and mutated. It was just that this monster just happened to be twisted into the appearance of a human.
Bertilla had her back to Khiton and said without looking back. "Hierarch Khiton, I don't mind you looking at me with disrespectful eyes, but you've been looking at me for too long."
Khiton just snorted coldly in response.
Bertilla did not care. She just turned around and said slowly, "I don't know if you've heard the news. The Ansu have begun to repair the barrier, and Gwen Cecil … has gone to the south personally."
"I heard that Gwen Cecil actually found a road in the Gloom Mountains and drove directly into the Black Forest," Khiton said casually. "But our sentries did not bring back more news."
"Several sentries died in an accident, and the rest of the sentries did not dare to come closer." Bertilla looked into Khiton's eyes. "One of the sentries sent back an almost hysterical report. He called Cecil's people lunatics and demons. Don't you think it's interesting?"
"… Interesting, because this title has always been given to us by outsiders." Khiton raised his eyebrows. "It seems that the sentinel has lost his mind. What has happened to him? "
"Cecil's people are using powerful magical devices to expand their territory. They even used those devices to bombard the wasteland. And that unlucky sentinel … he and a few other sentinels happened to be nearby." Bertilla shook her head. "Now the key problem is, it seems that Cecil's people are not developing as we expected. They have become an uncontrollable factor …"
"Uncontrollable …"
Khiton muttered softly, and then let out a contemptuous laugh.
He came to the nearest pillar and waved his hand to activate the biomass shell of the pillar.
"They're just a bunch of mortals who can only fight with the help of magical props. How can the power of the Abomination be resisted by a few explosive props?!"
The dark red biomass wriggled violently and instantly retracted toward the roof and the ground like frightened vines. After the creepy 'shell' retreated, the scene inside the pillar appeared before Bertilla.
A mutated humanoid creature floated quietly in the translucent tubular container. Its height was almost twice that of a human. It had dark skin and thick, bulging joints. Countless crystal-like structures covered the surface of its limbs. Tiny energy sparks constantly flowed between the crystal clusters, showing that this giant not only had a strong body, but also had extraordinary magic power.
Khiton looked up at the hideous mutant giant with a smile on his face. "Nothing is more powerful than the great evolution. Don't you think so, Hierarch Bertilla?"
Bertilla quietly looked at the Abomination in the tubular container. Her face was calm. "Keep your fanaticism in check. No one knows the great evolution better than I do. You better close the biomass capsule before this mutant awakens and goes out of control. You should know that activating the first batch of Abominations has cost a lot of good corpses."
After saying that, the hierarch ignored Khiton and walked to the end of the hall.
She came to the huge rift at the end of the hall and looked at the vast space outside the rift.
The wide underground rift stretched across her vision. Huge cableways, bridges, and natural stone beams connected the cliffs on both sides of the rift. On those dizzying bridges, countless zombie-like figures were staggering forward under the supervision of the church's supervisors wearing heavy protective gear.
At the bottom of the rift was the 'River of Blood', which was filled with crimson light. Countless thick chains crisscrossed above the River of Blood, holding an indescribable mass of flesh and blood in place. In the steaming heat of the River of Blood, the mass of flesh and blood was beating like a heart. Each beat was stronger and more powerful than the last.
This was the Abyss of Flesh and Blood.
The entire underground palace was built at the top of the Abyss of Flesh and Blood.
Those zombie-like figures were slaves, victims caught from all over the place. Most of them were poor people, and a small number of them were weak wandering warriors and mercenaries.
In this era, it was not difficult to secretly capture some civilians from the nobles' territories as slaves. Especially in times of famine and war, the disappearance of some poor people would not attract anyone's attention.
But now the situation had changed slightly. The Cecil Duchy had risen at an astonishing speed. They had built a complex and strict surveillance system. Even the disappearance of a civilian would attract security personnel. The increasing number of magical surveillance devices in the Cecil Duchy made it extremely dangerous to cast spells without permission. Recently, it had become almost impossible to capture people from the south.
But the slaves caught from outside the south could still satisfy the needs of the Abyss of Flesh and Blood. The civil war in Ansu had not only brought enough flesh and blood, but also enough slaves.
Bertilla looked at the slaves who were staggering forward in the passage. Then, her gaze passed over the doomed victims and fell on the mass of flesh and blood that was chained to the bottom of the rift.
Under the nourishment of a large number of human biomass and the combination of a large number of 'abominations', the mass of flesh and blood had matured day by day.
The time for the 'pseudo-god's body' to awaken was just around the corner.
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