Sages, Gods, Ancient Gods

Dusk.

The sunset was like a bloody sea stretching on the horizon.

Liu Ping was startled by the sudden sound of footsteps and opened his eyes.

He saw the team leader hurriedly climbing the city wall, his rugged breathing almost making him stutter "Sorry to disturb you."

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"It's crucial, we need to find the original location of the church" the team leader replied.

"The church?"

"Yes."

...

Liu Ping never expected that his first task would be to help everyone find the church's original site.

The team leader was a sturdy man with a square face and a stubbled beard.

He held a cigarette and opened a floating light screen "I remember that the church in Dark Mist Town has changed locations several times, but there is no information on where it was last established."

One of his subordinates said, "Such a remote outpost has never been a priority for anyone, it hasn't been documented in a long time."

"This is a mistake in the company's work arrangements" the team leader said.

"In places where there's no profit, we are always full of oversights" another person lamented.

"So we must perform exceptionally well, do you all understand?" the team leader said.

"Yes."

Everyone responded, then they all looked towards Liu Ping.

— Liu Ping naturally knew what to do.

"Please follow me."

He led the entire combat team through the ruins and finally arrived at the church's location.

"It's right here" Liu Ping said.

"Good, Jason, it's your turn" the team leader said.

A tall, thin man stepped forward, knelt on the ground, and softly recited, "Lord of Agony, I am your faithful servant. I call upon your will to descend in this world of death and darkness."

After waiting for a few seconds.

The statue remained motionless, and nothing unusual happened.

"Something's wrong."

Jason stood up, and walked around the statue a few times, and his expression suddenly changed.

"What's wrong, Jason?" the team leader asked.

"There's no divine guidance from this statue, it has been abandoned" Jason said.

"Impossible. If the goddess no longer cared for Dark Mist Town, we would have received news long ago—wait a moment, let me check" the team leader quickly typed on the light screen.

Liu Ping quietly watched from the side.

A line of burning small text appeared before him:

[Don't worry, when you drew power from the statue, this sequence promptly erected many barriers, the Goddess of Agony did not see your true form.]

Liu Ping immediately felt relieved.

The team leader worked for a while, as if he had received some information, and announced loudly "Activate the transmitter, we'll summon another statue."

He stood up and announced to everyone:

"The gods have not abandoned Dark Mist Town, the statue here has been desecrated by monsters, which is why it lost its guiding power."

Everyone around breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, since there are no issues, let's get to work. It will be dark in half an hour. If anyone slacks off, I'll leave them to guard the city wall alone" the team leader shouted.

The crowd dispersed, forming several small teams to check equipment, distribute supplies, and confirm roles.

They worked quickly and efficiently to prepare for battle.

Liu Ping squatted in the temporary command room, staying with a painter.

His job was to point out the locations of the buildings in the town to the painter.

Liu Ping was somewhat puzzled.

— Why care about the original layout of a town that has already become ruins?

The painter noticed his confusion and explained:

"Every outpost is chosen by the goddess, and the buildings and functions within are designated personally by the goddess, mortals cannot change them."

"Why is it so strict?" Liu Ping asked.

"Only buildings guided by the gods can withstand the 'spread of death' and firmly occupy the land, preventing everything around them from being consumed by eternal night " the painter said without looking up.

Liu Ping pondered for a moment and gradually understood.

Indeed.

This place was already eternal night, the realm of death.

Perhaps only beings like gods could understand how to establish a living outpost in the realm of death.

"All valuable things should have their uses designated by the goddess " the team leader said devoutly.

"Then we should have recorded this earlier " Liu Ping said.

The devout look on the team leader's face immediately disappeared, and he shrugged, saying, "Dark Mist Town is just an outpost for the first act of the cultivation world... It has long been abandoned and has no value…"

Next, the painter inquired in detail about the monsters that liked to appear in the darkness.

Liu Ping recounted them one by one from memory.

The painter quickly sketched those monsters.

Whenever he finished a piece of artwork, the monster would immediately come to life and then return to the painting.

When the Scorpion Woman appeared, everyone felt it was fine, each busy with their own tasks.

"Combat power 130, that's not bad here " the team leader said lazily while looking at the screen.

Then, Liu Ping described the monster that appeared in the falling sky.

—It was called the Crawling Lord of Nightmares, an existence of unfathomable power!

The painter quickly drew the monster.

When that monster leaped out from the canvas and stood in the center of the ruins, everyone stopped their work and looked at it.

"Combat power... damn, can't calculate in detail, can only rate it as A-level," the team leader said, looking at the screen.

He glanced at everyone's reactions and subtly signaled to the painter.

The painter quickly put away the drawing.

The monster disappeared.

Everyone gradually regained their senses and returned to their tasks.

"Your drawing is really impressive " Liu Ping said admiringly.

Indeed.

Why hadn't he thought of learning to draw?

He would try to learn later.

"It's just a resemblance, lacking the actual power of the monster " the painter smiled.

"Yes, luckily that monster has already left—Liu Ping, it has left Dark Mist Town, right?" the team leader asked loudly.

"Yes" Liu Ping understood what he meant and replied loudly.

The atmosphere around seemed to improve a bit.

Liu Ping added, "I'm speaking the truth, that monster has long left here, heading deep into the realm of death."

The team leader glanced at Liu Ping, showing a look of approval.

He and Liu Ping stood beside the painter and had already seen the painter write a small "S" in the sketchbook.

—S-level monster.

Liu Ping said nothing, cooperating to stabilize the team's morale, which was quite perceptive.

And Liu Ping had long noticed the team leader's reaction.

From the other party's actions of trying to cover up, S-level should be a stronger existence than A-level.

—Did they not know this guy is an ancient god?

"Yana, this monster claimed to have allied with you the last time it descended" Liu Ping said quietly.

"Hmph, it looks like that, and it wants to mix with me?" Yana replied.

Liu Ping said, "Strange, then why does it use your name..."

Yana said, "It is an existence from the era of nightmares, having lurked for a long time after its defeat, and now it might have seen some hope... Don't think too much about it, the secrets within are not something you can touch right now."

The two exchanged silently, but then the team leader said loudly:

"By the way, Liu Ping, you are a card master and our guide, take me to see the ruins of the bar, we can discuss the distribution of the battle while we look."

"Okay."

Liu Ping led the team leader toward the bar.

This time, the team leader did not bring along the other subordinates.

The two entered the ruins.

The team leader signaled Liu Ping and said in a low voice, "Guard the entrance for me, I'm going to request reinforcements from the company."

"No problem." Liu Ping stood at the entrance of the ruins.

The team leader hid behind a wall, casually swiped, and a light screen lit up in front of him.

"I am the captain of the tactical assault team, number 02637, requesting a connection to headquarters."

A woman's voice sounded on the screen:

"Your authorization has been approved, please wait for the connection."

A series of noisy sounds followed.

"—Connected."

A scene appeared on the screen.

Wang Wei, covered in wounds, asked coldly "What is it?"

The team leader was taken aback and stammered, "We probably need reinforcements."

"There will be no reinforcements, the divine war has already begun, and the company is under heavy fire," Wang Wei said.

With a casual motion, she shifted the screen to another side.

The entire city was filled with explosions and thick smoke rising from the destruction.

"You all need to find a way to hold Dark Mist Town, that's it" Wang Wei pointed at the screen.

The screen immediately went dark.

The team leader stood there dumbfounded.

After a while, he cursed, "Damn! How am I supposed to hold this!"

Suddenly.

His headset rang again.

"Boss, the second reconstruction team has arrived with the church statue card."

"Ah? Great!"

The team leader and Liu Ping strode out of the bar ruins together.

The two looked up at the sky and saw a large transport plane flying in from the distance.

After a while.

The reconstruction team officially joined the town's defense.

As soon as they arrived, they busied themselves reinforcing the steel city walls, while some were dispatched to set up large long-range attack devices in the town, and they specifically set up a teleportation device to bring over a brand new statue and place it on the flat ground where the church was located.

"This statue needs the power of a card master to activate, I leave it to you," said the team leader.

"I'll give it a try."

Liu Ping placed his hand on the statue of the Goddess of Agony.

Lines of burning small text appeared:

[The other party is confirming your identity.]

[Identity confirmed.]

[Statue activated!]

In an instant, the statue transformed into a beam of light, circling around the church a few times before exploding into a shower of light, like snowflakes, and merging into the church.

The church immediately lit up, and faint sounds could be heard.

Liu Ping pushed the door open and walked into the church.

There, the statue of the Goddess of Agony stood tall in the center of the church, surrounded by candles.

A sacred singing voice echoed in the void, as if many people were standing here, praising and glorifying the goddess.

In front of the goddess statue, two full rows of statues stood, all of different forms of unknown beings.

They guarded the Goddess of Agony.

Yana's voice sounded: "Look, she pays great attention to her presence, do you understand?"

"Why do it this way?"

"Ritual significance—what god's church would dare to overlook the sense of ritual?"

"You want me to pay attention to my presence, is it because you want me to become a god?"

"Don't you want to become powerful? Don't you want people to call you the esteemed Lord Ugly God?" Yana retorted.

"I want to be powerful, but I don't want to be the Ugly God" Liu Ping replied.

At that moment, he suddenly smelled a fragrance.

Following the scent, he walked into a side room, where there was a rectangular redwood table filled with various foods and drinks.

Lines of burning small text appeared in the void:

[Supply dining table.]

[Available for use, each time can supply food for ten people.]

Liu Ping picked up a bowl of meat soup and took a sip, his brow relaxing, and then walked towards the garden.

The garden had a fountain and a small path leading to the lounge.

—This was all the supplies.

In the void, lines of burning small text reappeared:

[You are a saint.]

[Due to your presence, Dark Mist Town now has clergy.]

[The most basic functions of the church have been activated.]

[The statue begins to emit light.]

Liu Ping quickly walked out and returned to the hall, and indeed saw strands of white light emerging from the statue of the Goddess of Agony, illuminating the surroundings, appearing solemn and dignified.

When the light shone on him, a sense of enlightenment immediately arose in Liu Ping's heart.

Under the cover of this light, the eternal night monsters could not attack him.

He thought for a moment and took a few steps back.

—The light immediately stopped shining on him.

It was quite magical.

The light from the statue could only illuminate a maximum distance of three meters around it.

Another piece of information floated in Liu Ping's mind.

—If he could protect this place well and allow more and more souls to join him, then the coverage of this light would expand.

At that moment, a voice from outside the church came from the team leader:

"Counting down five seconds."

"Five,"

"Four,"

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One."

"Eternal night has fallen."

"Repeat, eternal night has fallen!"

"Everyone prepare for battle!"