When Zhang Lisheng saw that the surrounding cavalries had formed a scouting formation, he sat on the soil platform and looked around before saying in a low voice, "Let's go."
In the twinkling of an eye, the entire scout troop escorted the four monster-like soil creatures, like a giant beast that stretched for thousands of meters from its head to its tail, galloping towards the highland under the cover of the night.
In the Hardstone Plateau, the highest altitude shown on the satellite map that Zhang Lisheng obtained from the Shrimp World No. 2's Earth garrison general was 4,800 meters. However, due to the fact that it was flat on all sides and gradually rising, the average altitude of the peculiar terrain with a high rise in the center was only about 3,200 meters.
Even so, the harsh climate and natural environment unique to the plateau were enough to make it impossible for ordinary creatures to survive.
The Wizard Li scouts escorted their god and ran on the slope for the whole night. The surrounding vegetation had gradually become sparse, and the entire stretch of tall and straight green had long disappeared. There were only clusters of low trees and lichens dotted on the endless desert.
At dawn, the huge stars that were unique to the plateau slowly receded in the sky. A red sun faintly revealed a bright red outline on the barren horizon in the distance. In this rising sun, an abandoned barbarian tribe camp entered Zhang Lisheng's sight.
At this time, it had been less than a day since the scouts raided the barbarian tribe. After the supports were cut down, the animal skin tents scattered on the ground were still emitting wisps of green smoke. However, a group of hungry wolves had already gathered among the corpses on the ground and were gorging themselves.
Not far away, there were many greedy little beasts such as badgers and wild jackals scurrying around the camp, waiting to taste the leftovers of the wolves after they had eaten their fill.
"Is this the camp of the captured barbarians?" Zhang Lisheng stood up on the soil platform and pointed to the front as he asked.
The morning wind blew on the young man's body, causing his mud robe to flutter loudly. The sun slowly rose behind him, emitting an infinite brilliance that shone on his body, exuding an indescribable majesty. Before the Wizard Li scout column could even approach the abandoned camp, hundreds of hungry wolves had already howled and fled madly.
"It's here, Great God!" The leader of the scouts, who had taken out his spear and intended to kill the wolves, showed a surprised expression when he saw the most greedy and cruel pack hunters of the Hardstone Plateau running away in a flurry, but he replied respectfully.
As they spoke, the scouts of the tribe had already rushed into the barbarians' abandoned camp. They looked at the crude terracotta bowls on the ground.
Half of the meat had already turned into charcoal, and the other half was dry and hard.
Zhang Lisheng could not help but mutter to himself, "What a terrible living environment …" Then, he leaped off the soil platform.
Stepping on the wreckage and rubble without any scruples, he walked around the camp and came to an ancient statue that was more than three meters high and wrapped in fine animal skin and cloth in the middle of the camp. He reached out to caress this puppet that was similar to the mummies on Earth and flicked his finger on its hard shell before asking, "Is this the ancestor idol that's known as the statue of the northern border barbarians?"
The ancestor idol was the symbol of the ancestor worship of the northern border barbarian tribe. The conditions for its appearance were very harsh. Only when the most powerful warrior leader of the tribe had heroically sacrificed himself to defeat the strong enemy in the battle that concerned the survival of the tribe and had his corpse intact would he fulfill the basic requirements of becoming an idol.
After the battle, the tribal elders would personally soak the hero's corpse in the blood of the barbarian warriors who had died with him. After it had dried naturally, they would wrap it layer by layer with the animal skin that was cut from the leather armor of the deceased and set it up in the center of the tribe for the tribesmen to worship.
Due to the reason that there was no antiseptic treatment, most of the corpses would turn into dry bones in a very short time under the wind and the sun. The animal skin, on the other hand, would naturally loosen. The remaining corpses would be dedicated to nature according to the simple natural cycle of the Hardstone Plateau people. In other words, they would be washed with clean water after being taken out of the tribe and thrown in the wild to be eaten by beasts and insects.
If the corpse of the hero could remain intact for many years and gradually become as hard as a rock under the worship of the tribesmen, then it would be considered as successfully becoming an ancestor idol. Its soul would slowly recover with the passage of time and gradually possess the unpredictable spellcasting power that the gods had given to the tribal elders.
Looking at the strange human statue not far away that he did not push down due to the inexplicable reverence in his heart, the chief scout leaped down from his mount and walked up to the young man in a few steps. Lowering his head, he answered respectfully, "Your Majesty, this is the ancestor idol of the Geguda tribe."
"Is there only one?" Zhang Lisheng retracted his hands and stretched them out in front of his chest before asking again.
"Your Majesty, when we attacked the Geguda tribe, there were only less than 200 barbarians in the camp. This kind of small Hardstone Plateau tribe that might perish naturally due to a natural disaster can only keep one ancestor idol at most," the chief scout explained.
When he was speaking, the soil that was mixed with dried blood under Zhang Lisheng's feet began to surge. Along with the beautiful water that condensed in the air, it turned into dark red soil that continued to rise and slowly flowed into the barbarian tribe's ancestor idol's head that was wrapped in animal skin.
As the red soil that was filled with divine power continued to pour in, the idol's body began to emit a faint yellow and blue brilliance. The stone-like head began to shake stiffly and in the midst of the dust that was stirred up, a vague yet crazy and violent voice faintly resonated, "Light, light, life, wind, life …"
That voice was initially inaudible, but as time went by, it became clearer and louder, drifting in the deserted barbarian camp that was overflowing with corpses, causing even the bravest Wizard Li warriors to feel a chill in their hearts. They felt as if the sun that had risen high above their heads had suddenly lost all of its warmth.
Only Zhang Lisheng had a joyful yet nervous expression on his face as he replied, "Yes, life. I can give you a body full of vitality again as long as you can offer me devout faith."
First, it was the head, then the neck, followed by the chest, and finally the limbs. As though it did not hear what the young man said, the barbarian idol shook its body desperately and continued to shout loudly, "Life, light, wind, life …"
"Big guy, there's no benefit in pretending to be a fool in front of me," If Zhang Lisheng had not crossed the final barrier and become a real god, he would have no choice but to stop casting spells at this time. However, when he looked at the 'idol' whose joints were becoming more and more flexible, his expression turned grave as he growled in a low voice, "What the god gave you can be taken away as well!"
When the Wizard Li god was enraged, there was no clamor, but the yellow and blue brilliance that had invaded the barbarian idol's body slowly dissipated. Its body that had become soft and lively became stiff again.
"No, no, no …" In an instant, a pair of hollow eyes and extremely distorted facial features appeared on the 'idol's' face that was wrapped in gray cloth strips. Desperately, he shouted inexplicably, "Darkness! Darkness! I'll never, never go back …" Then, he tilted his body and waved his palm at Zhang Lisheng.
A ferocious gleam flashed across Zhang Lisheng's eyes. Without warning, a giant aqua blue palm appeared behind Zhang Lisheng and gently pinched the barbarian idol's waving arm, turning it into gray flesh.
After that, the young man said in a sarcastic tone, "You rely on the power of faith to maintain your soul, so you should be able to see how powerful I am more clearly than anyone else. However, you'd rather choose to seek your own destruction than succumb to my feet or become a stone statue again.
Unfortunately, I'm not as kind as you think, so you must choose between offering your devotion or continuing to become a statue forever. Now, tell me your answer! "
The face of the barbarian idol that appeared on the gray and tattered cloth revealed a struggling expression. He had been sacrificed a thousand years ago. At that time, Geguda was still a large tribe with more than 10,000 tribesmen, and they had more than 50 idols. After he died in battle for the tribe, he relied on the devout belief he had in the ancestral spirits of his ancestors and successfully avoided the calamity of corruption, obtaining a cruel eternal life.
After that, by absorbing the faith of the tribesmen, his dissipated soul was recondensed but he had lost a lot of memories. The only thing left in his consciousness was the imprint of protecting the tribe.
Even though he was worshipped by thousands of barbarians, as the barbarian idol, he was like a prisoner locked in a dark cage without a trace of light and sound. What was even more miserable was that he could not see, could not speak, and had completely lost all of his senses.
Only when the tribal elders summoned him would he be able to hear a slight sound and transmit his power to the summoner by instinct.
After living like this for thousands of years, no matter how brave and fearless a warrior was who was willing to sacrifice himself, he would still change. If it was not for the fact that he had lost a lot of human desires after becoming the barbarian idol, he would have long been tortured to the point of madness.
For this reason, when the Wizard Li God extended his life force by manipulating the 'soil' and 'water' to radiate new vitality in his corpse that had long been petrified into stone, allowing him to regain his senses and ability to move after thousands of years, even though his consciousness was still muddled and he could smell a disgusting rancid stench, he could only feel a faint light when he opened his eyes.
It was enough to make him happy from the bottom of his heart and be willing to pay any price for it.
However, when Zhang Lisheng asked him to contribute his faith, a kind of taboo in the dark made him produce an extremely heavy resistance from the depths of his soul.
In the end, in a dilemma, the 'idol' chose to wave his palm at the existence in front of him that was a combination of yellow, red, and blue radiance that was even more brilliant than the sun in the reflection of his soul to seek salvation from destruction.
However, to his surprise, the Wizard Li God did not shatter him because of his offense. Instead, he cruelly placed two choices of surrendering or falling into the endless darkness in front of him.
For this reason, when his body gradually became stiff again, the light in his eyes slowly disappeared, and the sound of the wind in his ears faded away again, an inexplicable fear washed away the taboo engraved in the depths of the barbarian idol's soul.
"No, no, no, wind, light, no, I don't, dark, dark, light, no …" He stretched out his remaining arm in extreme pain and despair as he shouted vaguely and kneeled in front of Zhang Lisheng.
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