Chapter 295
The response from the other side made even Zhou Qi fall silent.
He had said that just as a formality, mainly to express the earlier point— that the God of Commerce Church and Flame Dragon Fortress were not enemies.
As for asking them to join the God of Commerce Church, that thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Yet, he hadn’t expected the other party to agree so readily?
Qin Jianping’s teammates also looked at him with a dazed expression. “Captain, did you… did you say something wrong just now?”
Qin Jianping was at a loss for words.
The fear he felt when facing the black-masked figure was something he had never experienced before, to the point that he…
Simply couldn’t refuse the request!
He looked at another teammate who had also been injured, and saw the same sense of relief on his face.
Clearly, he too had almost responded the same way!
An awkward atmosphere spread in the air. Just then, a clear and gentle young voice rang out.
“It’s getting late, and you’re injured. Why don’t you stay here for the night and leave tomorrow?” The silver-masked figure spoke.
Although he had just used healing magic to treat them, the backlash injuries were difficult to heal quickly, and they still needed time to recover.
“We can’t even get in!” a female teammate said indignantly.
“As long as you let go of your hostility toward the God of Commerce Church, you will be able to enter.”
The silver-masked figure spoke softly, “The goal of the God of Commerce Church is to follow the will of the God of Commerce and provide water, food, and shelter for the poor and weak, making barren lands prosper.”
“We established Flame Dragon Home here to shelter all those abandoned by Flame Dragon Fortress, offering them a place to stay. We never intended to fight with Flame Dragon Fortress.”
Qin Jianping and the others exchanged glances.
They had received a mission saying there was a new cult causing trouble near Flame Dragon Fortress, and they were sent to eliminate the cult leader to put out the flame.
If this religion was truly as the silver-masked figure described, then… it didn’t sound so evil?
But…
“Why should we believe you?”
“As long as you put aside your prejudices and enter the God of Commerce Church, truly understand its principles and goals, you’ll know that everything I’ve said is the truth.”
A look of hesitation appeared on Qin Jianping’s face.
He was indeed curious about the power of the God of Commerce Church, whether it was the force that had repelled them earlier or the method of healing backlash injuries—
Yes, he still remembered how he had turned into a giant scorpion due to the backlash.
Backlash was uncontrollable. There was a chance to revert to human form in the early stages of backlash, but once they reached their level, it became increasingly difficult to return to human form and regain their sanity.
The fortress had been studying ways to control backlash, but with little success.
And today, he had encountered someone who had mastered this method…
If he had agreed earlier out of fear, now, Qin Jianping had a reason he couldn’t ignore.
After some thought, he finally gritted his teeth and said, “Alright, we’ll stay tonight, but please don’t go back on your word.”
“Don’t worry. You can leave anytime you wish, no one will stop you.”
Tang Yu’an sent a message in the 21st shop channel to notify Old Mo and Gan Lin.
“Wait here, someone will come to assist you.”
After speaking, Tang Yu’an took Zhou Qi’s hand, and the Shadow Umbrella immediately floated over to cover them, hiding their figures.
“Are they gone?”
Qin Jianping’s teammates looked at the teammate who had the ability to teleport. “Lin Song, did you see how they left?”
Lin Song shook his head, confused.
Seeing this, his teammates gave up, then asked, “Captain, are we really staying tonight?”
Qin Jianping explained his thoughts to them.
“I see now.” The others sighed in relief. “We thought you were betraying us.”
Qin Jianping rolled his eyes.
Then, with the help of his teammates, he stood up and prepared to go inside. But then he heard his teammates saying they couldn’t get in.
Since they had experienced backlash after being teleported here, Qin Jianping was unaware of this detail.
He thought for a moment and said, “Didn’t those two masked people say? Let go of the hostility, and you can get in.”
Then, he cautiously took a few steps forward—he wasn’t sent back out nor controlled to return.
The teammates looked at each other and then also tried to move forward.
This time, Lin Song succeeded.
Upon seeing this, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi stopped observing and turned toward the RV that was driving toward them.
“Brother Qi, are you really okay?”
Once inside the RV, ensuring no one could see them, Tang Yu’an reached to lift Zhou Qi’s mask.
Beneath the mask, Zhou Qi’s skin had a metallic sheen.
Tang Yu’an froze for a moment and quickly reached out to touch his cheek.
It was hard and cold, like metal.
“Brother Qi?”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Zhou Qi pulled his hand away.
His palm was also hard, but his fingers were flexible, and he looked almost like a robot.
“It’s because I haven’t fully absorbed the power of the metal-element spirit insect yet, so that’s why this happened. It’ll be fine after a while.”
Tang Yu’an quickly pulled him into the RV and used the teleportation array to go to the alternate dimension house.
“Do you want to go to the Giant Wood Forest to cultivate?”
“It’s fine, I can stay in the yard,” Zhou Qi said, reaching out to pat Tang Yu’an on the head. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
He then sat down on the spot and began to refine the gold-element spirit insect he had trapped in the palm of his hand.
His other hand was still holding a fire-element spirit insect, which was slightly weaker than the metal-element one.
However, Zhou Qi had already consumed a fire spirit insect before, and since fire restrains metal, it completely suppressed the metal-element insect.
Seeing Zhou Qi close his eyes, Tang Yu’an didn’t disturb him.
Around him, he arranged fire-element crystals—these were exchanged from Shan Feng, and they were enormous, each one equivalent to several hundred of the smaller ones.
Then, he returned to the small house and used the teleportation array to go to the Thousand Layer Forest. Though only a day had passed in the main plane, three or four days had passed here.
As soon as Tang Yu’an stepped out of the house, he saw two giants standing guard outside, their faces full of worry.
“Shan Feng, Sasa, I’m back!”
“Little cutie, where did you go? I thought you left!” Sasa said.
“We went back home to handle something,” Tang Yu’an said vaguely. “Do you want some chocolate?”
“Chocolate? What’s that?”
“A delicious food!”
After unlocking chocolate at Lv28, Tang Yu’an could choose the size and sweetness.
After Sasa expressed interest in trying it, he picked a sweeter white chocolate for her.
This sweet treat instantly won the heart of the female giant!
Tang Yu’an happily exchanged it for an ultra-large crystal and got permission to continue collecting the leaves from the thousand-layer trees.
Although his parents hadn’t reached a conclusion yet, the leaves themselves were great materials, and it would be foolish not to gather them.
Furthermore, the wind spirit energy in the Thousand Layer Forest was very rich.
Cultivating here was more effective than in the Giant Wood Forest.
So, he and Zhou Qi stayed in the alternate dimension for another two months. Once the 21st shop had gained enough popularity, they returned to the RV.
Only six days had passed in the main plane.
Tang Yu’an confirmed that Old Mo and Gan Lin had completed their tasks, and then he began a series of upgrades.
The magical furniture needed for the branch store upgrades was taken directly from the warehouse and placed in the Flame Dragon Settlement, boosting its level to Lv3 in one go.
Next, he activated the guardian shield and the all-weather functions, then turned on the night lodging function and added all the believers in Flame Dragon Settlement to the list…
When the guardian shield was deployed, everyone felt it.
Old Mo and Gan Lin, who were sitting in the square distributing supplies and collecting Flame Stones, along with Qin Jianping and the others who were standing nearby watching, all looked up at the sky.
A coolness that none of them had ever felt since birth swept over their bodies.
Even though it was currently the fire dragon’s dormant period, the temperature around Flame Dragon Fortress was much higher than elsewhere, constantly staying around 40°C.
But now…
Tang Yu’an opened his light brain and checked.
After the guardian shield was deployed, the temperature had dropped to 30°C, a direct reduction of 10°C!
Though 30°C was still warm, it was considerably cooler compared to the outside temperature, and for those who had lived in this area for a long time, it felt like a refreshing change.
“It seems that high temperatures are also a destructive natural disaster,” Tang Yu’an nodded with satisfaction. “Now that the guardian shield is up, we can proceed with the next steps!”
He and Zhou Qi flew towards the altar where Old Mo and the others were. The scene on the altar had already become chaotic, with everyone discussing the sudden drop in temperature.
Old Mo naturally knew this was the effect of the guardian shield, and he couldn’t help but marvel.
At the same time, he was thinking about how to make everyone associate this with divine miracles…
But soon, he stopped thinking, because—
In full view of everyone, the two hooded figures, one with a silver mask and the other with a black mask, suddenly appeared above the altar.
“Congratulations, you have passed the test of the God of Commerce.”
The gentle and clear voice of the young man echoed in everyone’s ears. “The guardian shield has been activated. From now on, you must abide by the teachings of the faith and steadfastly implement the doctrine to build your new homeland here.”
“Thank you for the divine blessing! We will surely follow the teachings and doctrine, building a prosperous and powerful Flame Dragon Settlement!” Old Mo raised his arm and shouted, then knelt before the two messengers.
The believers quickly followed suit and began to chant.
Only Qin Jianping and the others wore complex expressions.
To be honest, this scene looked just like an evil cult ritual, but the longer they stayed here, the more they realized that the God of Commerce Church was completely different from what they had imagined!
Every believer living here, except for children and pregnant women, had to work for their food and water.
And the evil-looking priests and holy sons they had initially imagined were also personally distributing supplies to each believer every day.
From the believers’ familiarity with the process, it was clear this wasn’t just for show.
They were still unsure about the purpose behind the God of Commerce Church collecting so many Flame Stones, and where the Flame Stones from the trades had gone…
And now, they had witnessed a new power—the guardian shield!
As they were still shocked and confused, the silver-masked figure raised his hand again, signaling for everyone to stop their chanting, then turned to Old Mo and said, “Lead the way. It’s time to fulfill your promise.”
The priest, who had shown no emotion in front of the crowd, visibly became excited.
“Alright, yes!”
Old Mo stood up and respectfully said, “Silverlight Messenger, Black Moon Messenger, this way please.”
Since Old Mo and the two messengers didn’t stop them, the believers, along with Qin Jianping and the others, curiously followed behind, wanting to see what they were up to.
After some trekking, they finally arrived at a hillside.
At the bottom of the hillside was a lake that had been dry for at least ten years, leaving behind a massive pit. The creatures that once lived there had mostly perished, covered by yellow sand.
“Silverlight Messenger, this is the place!”
The hooded figure with the silver mask gave a slight nod, then, under the gaze of everyone, flew into the air.
He raised his hand and gently waved toward the dried-up lake.
Suddenly, an enormous water sphere appeared out of thin air beneath his feet, and with a loud crash, it dropped into the lake, filling half of the massive pit!
On the hillside, jaws dropped in astonishment.
