HPDBC Chapter 595: The So-Called Faith
Chapter 595: The So-Called Faith
Chapter 595: The So-Called Faith
At this moment, Zhao Changhe had no time to worry about the impact of the Tome of Troubled Times or the blind woman.
He was focused on stabilizing Lady Three’s precarious condition, though it did not appear very optimistic. The Sea Emperor’s confidence was justified. The trident that he had been using was likely some kind of divine weapon, and its damage was extreme. Physical protection alone was not enough.
It was not just her body that had been devastated by the power of the water element. The trident also carried a soul-extinguishing aspect. Lady Three’s soul sea was now incredibly fragile, like a candle flickering in the wind—gone was the carefree spirit of the big sister cradling a little one, replaced instead by a shadow of weakness, barely clinging to life.
The only reason her soul had not been utterly obliterated was that the trident was not actually specialized for soul annihilation. It merely carried a similar property, though obviously inferior to that of Dragon Soul Wood, and the fact that it struck her abdomen rather than chest or head also played a part. It showed that such items were not exactly unique, which was something to keep in mind for the future.
But a divine weapon was still a divine weapon, and it was not something Lady Three could endure at her level. Zhao Changhe could only keep her alive temporarily. He lacked the means to properly heal her, and he required something to aid in her treatment.
He pondered briefly, then raised his head to look at the nearby vortex.
The Sea Emperor had emerged from that vortex, and its powerful suction still lingered. Strangely enough, neither the surrounding seawater nor the stones were being pulled in. It seemed that the vortex only targeted living beings.@@@@
This was a secret realm, or perhaps it should be called the Abyss of the Sea God, because it likely was not a naturally formed secret realm but rather a fragmented space that the Sea Emperor had created with his divine power to escape the collapse of the previous era.
It was different from a typical secret realm, a key characteristic being that energy could pass through, meaning that it was not exactly an isolated space. The Sea Emperor had deliberately left this channel open to absorb the faith of the outside world, and once the channel had been opened, it had never been closed.
From this, one could glimpse how terrifying the Sea Emperor had been at his peak—a being capable of creating entire spaces by sheer force of his will... and yet, he had fallen to a group of “ants” gnawing at him.
Since the Sea Emperor had been able to recover rapidly within this space, perhaps they could use it now.
Zhao Changhe exchanged a glance with Xia Chichi, both confirming the other’s thoughts. Zhao Changhe lifted Lady Three and leaped into the vortex, while Xia Chichi collected the trident and the Soul of Water before following suit.
They descended deep into the ocean, perhaps all the way to the ocean floor.
Zhao Changhe’s usual boasts about diving to the seafloor and throwing punches were just that—boasts. He had not really been to the ocean’s true depths. If he had, he would not have been able to resurface quickly enough to chase after a ship. Diving ten zhang or so was more like it. But here, they truly had gone deep, with the vortex accelerating their descent.
At the bottom, they found themselves in a space made entirely of water.
The blind woman wanted to say that Lady Three’s desperate act was to avenge her parents and had nothing to do with her. But she knew that Zhao Changhe saw the battle with the Sea Emperor and the search for the Heavenly Tome to be one intertwined ordeal, inseparable. Once Lady Three was safe, Zhao Changhe would calm down and realize it really had nothing to do with her. Given his straightforward nature of love and hate, he might even feel a tinge of guilt for his misplaced anger.
With that in mind, the blind woman made her decision. “Strictly speaking, this type of power is not meant for recovery—it’s not even necessarily better than your Rejuvenation Art. It’s the collective force of countless lives, bonded through faith, gathered into oneself. Essentially, it’s a method of enhancing one’s cultivation and power. The Sea Emperor’s soul was weakened, and this aggregation of faith helped him recover. The strongest effect is achieved through absorption or sacrifice—it’s especially effective on followers and members of his kind.”
Zhao Changhe nodded. “I understand the theory... But can it be used to help Lady Three?”
“The Sea God worshipped by the people at sea is not necessarily the Sea Emperor. They revere a god that embodies the power to control the seas. That could be the Sea Emperor, or it could be someone else—such as Lady Three,” said the blind woman. “Do you know why the Sea Emperor’s dying words were ‘the Soul of the Sea is yours’? Because he acknowledged Lady Three as worthy. He had nothing left to say to you, his killer, but he acknowledged her. It was, in a way, the Sea Emperor’s pride—that the Sea God could only be replaced by another Sea God.”
Zhao Changhe had no interest in the Sea Emperor’s pride. “If Lady Three absorbs the Soul of Water, could she take over this faith in the Sea God?”
The blind woman replied, “There would be some effect, but not much. After all, the followers have no specific image of her in their minds—there’s no connection between their faith and her. That’s why the Sea Emperor needed Hai Pinglan to establish temples and spread his image. But she has an advantage—she has another source of faith.”
Zhao Changhe shivered. “The faith in the four idols!”
“Exactly, especially the faith in the Black Tortoise. That faith resonates strongly with her. In the eyes of the people, she is the Black Tortoise, even more so since she recently ascended to the seventh rank on the Ranking of Heaven.”
“But the people have no concrete image of her either.”
“As long as they recognize her masked identity, that’s enough—she can be seen as an incarnation of the god,” explained the blind woman. “If you could perceive her aura, you’d see that the faith within her is quite solid, though limited in quantity. In a certain sense, she IS the Black Tortoise, formed by the people’s belief.”
Because people believed she was the Black Tortoise, she became the Black Tortoise... Pure idealism, yet strangely fitting here.
“So, you need to act on two fronts. First, help her absorb the Soul of Water and take on the faith in the Sea God, whatever amount she can, to compensate for the lack of followers. Second, learn some related techniques to help guide that power within her, and when she awakens, let her learn the rest. This energy will mainly help her soul remain intact, though when it comes to actual healing, I’d still say the Rejuvenation Art is more effective.”
Zhao Changhe was silent for a moment, then bowed respectfully. “Thank you.”
The blind woman paused, caught off guard, and remained silent.
Xia Chichi stared at Zhao Changhe bowing and expressing his gratitude toward an empty space, her face filled with shock. It’s over. Aunt-Master’s life or death is in the hands of fate, and now Changhe has lost his mind. What do we do?