Chapter 96: Sacrifice: The best carrier of God’s descent.
In the City Lord's Mansion of the Dawn Base, a group of girls wearing garlands and white robes just came out of the chapel.
This is a city blessed by gods, so daily worship is compulsory.
But today everyone is obviously noisier than before, and they even forgot the most basic etiquette that believers are not allowed to make noise or run in public.
The temple deacon just informed them that the Daydream God showed signs of awakening.
From the beginning of global evolution, everything in the Dawn Base was a gift from the Daydream God: fertile farmland, safe homes, and a stable order...
The happy life that people in other bases have worked hard to earn is within the reach of everyone in Dawn Base.
But everything comes at a price.
Twenty years ago, the power of the Daydream Goddess began to weaken and she had to fall into a deep sleep, but her power still protects everyone.
Counting from now on, the god has been sleeping for eighteen years.
The god who protects everyone is finally awakening. How can they not be happy, excited, and envious?
In particular, most of the female believers who are able to enter the City Lord's Mansion are under the age of eighteen. They have only heard of the Daydream God since birth but never seen him in person, and the sacred filter in their hearts is thicker.
But among the chirping, excited girls like birds, there was one girl who walked along the wall with her head down and looked dejected.
Other people’s happiness and expectations have nothing to do with Li Zi.
She was even filled with fear and resistance about the awakening of the Daydream God.
As early as a month ago, her mother, Li Jinyu, the city lord, told her that the Daydream God showed signs of awakening.
At that time, she was as happy as the other girls.
But what followed was a terrible piece of bad news. Her mother told her that it would take a lot of energy to reconstruct the body for the Daydream God to awaken.
Therefore, one must be chosen from among the pure believers as a sacrifice.
As the daughter of the city lord, Li Zi grew up in a pampered environment and was well protected by her mother.
She has delicate skin, beautiful features, and a pair of bright and gentle almond-shaped eyes, like a lotus swaying in the wind on the shimmering lake.
It just so happens that Li Zi is almost eighteen years old, making her the best carrier for God's descent.
When her mother told her these things, the deacon in the church, who was wearing a long dress and half his face was hidden under his hood, was with her, and she meant the same thing.
Li Zi grew up under everyone's supervision, and they all thought that it would be best to give this glorious sacrificial position to Li Zi.
At that time, Li Zi didn't know what sacrifice meant, but when she thought about being able to meet the god she had admired for a long time, she agreed without thinking.
The church deacon got the answer he wanted and left satisfied.
When there was no one around, Li Zi saw her mother crying and hugging her, sobbing.
She had never seen the city lord's mother show such a vulnerable side. She was terrified at the time and her head was buzzing.
Later I learned that the meaning of sacrifice was to let the gods devour her soul and use her body as a base to rebuild the body of the gods.
Simply put, it is one life for another, and this exchange may not be successful.
Li Zi only awakened the most common ability to control water elements, and she really didn't have much talent.
The water ball that was condensed with all the strength was only a little bigger than the palm of your hand.
Not only is it non-aggressive, but its only function may be to moisten your throat when you have no water to drink.
So she has never been interested in going out on adventures.
He had already made up his mind to stay in the church at the base for the rest of his life, relying on his mother to eat and wait for death.
When I get older, I will see if I can get a position as a deacon or a holy nun in a temple.
But now her future, which seemed to have no end in sight, was about to be cut short, and she simply couldn't accept it.
Ever since she got the news that she was going to be a sacrifice, Li Zi has been living in a daze for the past month.
Death is coming at a young age.
She really didn't know what to do.
Her friend Yao Xinyue has always been a fanatical believer in the God of Daydreams. She was the most excited among all the girls and started chatting with everyone as soon as she walked out of the study room.
Now that her mood had calmed down a little, Yao Xinyue noticed that Li Zi was not very sociable today.
She thought about it and realized that Li Zi had been in this state for almost a month.
Yao Xinyue immediately said goodbye to everyone else and asked her neighbors to tell her family that she would be back later.
Then he ran to Li Zi, looked down at her and said, "Li Zi, are you okay? You don't look well."
"I'm fine..." Li Zi shook her head with a pale face.
Her problem wasn't that she was unwell, but that she was dying at the age of adulthood.
But sacrifice is a major matter concerning the entire base.
In order to avoid being influenced by the outside world, the deacon of the church specifically instructed her not to disclose it in advance.
"Anyway, I have nothing to do this afternoon, so I'll stay with you for a while."
Yao Xinyue is a warm-hearted person and is always used to showing kindness to others.
She pinched Li Zi's fingers and looked at them, frowning and saying, "Your eighteenth birthday is in three days, how come you haven't even done a birthday manicure?
The store might be crowded tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, which are Sundays."
Yao Xinyue was not talking about manicures that were purely for decoration, but armor with formations drawn on the nails using active substances extracted from plants unique to Doomsday.
These armor patterns were also given by the God of Daydream when he woke up.
Some can improve defense and prevent evolved species from getting close, while others have added fire, wood, and ice elements. After getting a manicure and then going out to fight, you can deal additional elemental damage.
In addition, there are some patterns whose specific meanings are only known to the armor master, and they will not be easily drawn for others.
Li Zi had long given up hope on this birthday. She wished time would stop and she would never reach her eighteenth birthday.
At this moment, he could only force a stiff smile and said, "I've been reading too much recently and I almost forgot that my birthday is coming soon."
Yao Xinyue felt a little distressed when she heard this, and immediately said, "Are you okay for a while? Let's go get a manicure."
Li Zi thought about it and decided that she was free anyway.
Anyway, the body will die in a few days and will not continue to grow, so getting a manicure before death would be the most cost-effective thing to do.
Since death is the inevitable outcome, she can at least choose to make her fingertips more beautiful.
She nodded and agreed immediately.
Yao Xinyue's family runs an armor store, so she naturally brought Li Zi home.
Everything in the world will affect loyalty to God, so in order to remain pure, one must isolate oneself from all sources of pollution.
Walking absentmindedly on the road, I listened to Yao Xinyue sharing stories of relatives and friends.
Li Zi couldn't help but recall that when she was a child she often went out of the City Lord's Mansion to play.
But after I turned ten, my mother became stricter. She either forbade me from going out, or I had to be accompanied by someone and report in advance if I went out.
The last time she went out alone was three years ago.
When she was almost at the gate of the City Lord's Mansion, Li Zi suddenly remembered that she had decided to go out this time and the guard might not let her out.
But Yao Xinyue kept pulling her forward, and before she could react, they reached the door.
People said that the god of the Dawn Base stayed in the City Lord's Mansion, so they all rushed to live nearby. From time to time, there were fanatics who wanted to sneak in to get close to the god.
Therefore, there are soldiers stationed at the gate of the City Lord's Mansion.
The soldier stationed today is a few years older than Li Zi. He is the youngest son of the church deacon and an old acquaintance of Li Zi.
Seeing her coming over and looking like she wanted to go out, he immediately turned around and flipped through the record sheet.
This is a fixed procedure. Li Zi is a good girl and has never gone out without permission over the years, which makes her very worry-free.
But the soldier frowned at this moment and flipped through the record sheet several times, but seemed unable to find Li Zi's name.
Li Zi twitched her lips and sneered twice. She was just about to say a few words to him to see if she could use their past friendship to exchange for the opportunity to sneak out this time.
Then a slightly older officer came over and whispered a few words into the soldier's ear. The soldier opened his eyes slightly, glanced at Li Zi again, and then began to nod continuously.
He quickly put away the record book and nodded to Li Zi, indicating that she could go out directly.
Li Zi was stunned on the spot, unable to understand what they were talking about. How could they break the rules that had been upheld for years?
Is it to tell the soldiers that they are about to become sacrifices and will not live for many days, so they should be more merciful and do whatever they want?
Li Zi was stimulated by her own wild thoughts and began to feel humiliated.
But she has been a good person for too long, living a life without any desires or demands. Now she is feeling angry, but she doesn't know where to vent it.
However, Yao Xinyue didn't think so much.
Seeing that she was allowed to go, she cheered happily and immediately pulled Li Zi out, fearing that she would be slow.
This was just a small episode, but it made Li Zi feel confused.
They went straight to Yao Xinyue's house. When they arrived, Li Zi greeted her friend's mother.
Yao Xinyue inherited her mother's personality, and her aunt spoke much more enthusiastically than Yao Xinyue.
"Hey, it's Xiaozi. It's been a long time since we last met. I always hear Yueyue talking about you. You've grown so big now. What year were you born? I remember you're older than Yueyue."
It felt good to be cared for. Li Zi smiled and said, "Well, my eighteenth birthday is coming soon."
Who knew that just as she uttered this sentence, Yao Xinyue's mother stopped finishing the armor polish and murmured, "Eighteen! It's gone so fast..."
Yao Xinyue put her things away, took out a thick book and stuffed it into Li Zi's hand: "Stop chatting, Li Zi, you come and pick the challenge A pattern and see if there is anything you like.
But remember to look at the attributes and try to find something that's somewhat useful. Combat bonuses, for example, are completely useless since you're not going out to fight. Take your pick, I'll treat you today!"
After saying this, she chuckled again, turned around and winked at her mother, "Mom, can I not charge you today? I'll make up for the material cost."
"Ah, let's just consider making this armor as a birthday gift from Auntie..." Yao Xinyue's mother came out of her daze and sneered, "I'll cover the cost of the materials, Yueyue, come and help me tidy up the desk."
The fact that the city lord's daughter was eighteen years old reminded the woman of some bad rumors about the gods.
But she thought that now that the gods had been asleep for many years, some procedures could be simplified.
Yao Xinyue didn't understand what was going on, so she walked over and helped while chatting with her mother.
Suddenly she remembered something and happily hugged her mother's arm, shaking it excitedly, "Mom, guess what the teacher told us today! It's great news!"
Before her mother could speak, she continued, "The Daydream God is about to awaken! You'd never guess it!!"
However, Yao Xinyue's mother was not as happy as she had imagined.
Her expression changed again and again. Finally, she walked over and took the book from Li Zi's hand. She asked in a gentle tone, "Xiao Zi, do you know about that rumor?"
She didn't ask what she knew, but Li Zi guessed it immediately.
She hummed, "I found out a month in advance. The rumors are true."
Sadness quickly filled Yao Xinyue's mother's eyes. She took a deep breath, pulled Li Zi up and walked towards the manicure place.
"Then there's no need to read all this. I know what to do for you, that."
The slender wolf hair brush changed in her hands. She dipped the brush into many colors in turn, but the strokes were still clear and precise.
There is no change in the mottled texture, and the drawn pattern is very delicate and clear.
These are things that other armor masters cannot achieve even after years of hard training.
So Yao Xinyue’s mother is the best armor master in the entire Dawn Base.
A few hours later, Li Zi looked at the pattern on the nail and couldn't help but feel curious.
The base color is nude, and the whole pattern is composed of green and white.
At first glance, it looks like clouds and peaks stacked up on top of each other, and the patterns on each surface are different.
The supernatural manicurists in the City Lord's Mansion are the best at naming dishes. No matter what the dish is, they can praise it to perfection.
But Yao Xinyue's mother obviously didn't have this habit. Li Zi looked at it curiously for a long time and couldn't help asking, "What function does this have?"
Yao Xinyue's mother used the excuse of asking Yao Xinyue to go out and buy some fruit for everyone to eat together, but in fact she was sending her away.
When they were the only two people in the store, she spoke solemnly, “Heavy protection, the power is released from the inside out, from the top down, I use it to temporarily lock your soul.
That way, you won't die right away when the sacrifice is officially made."
Li Zi swallowed, feeling a little more at ease. "Auntie, do you know anything else about sacrifice?"
"I don't know, I just remember when I was little someone disappeared because of this, and that person was my friend.
I remember she disappeared for almost a month, and when I asked about it, they said her soul had dissipated. So later I found this armor pattern, hoping it would be useful."
Li Zi couldn't help but look at her in surprise.
The people of the Dawn Base have an increasing faith in the gods.
Therefore, the doctrines and etiquette that the elders believe in are completely on a different level compared to those of these young girls.
But what Yao Xinyue's mother did and said were not something she could say at her age.
Li Zi kept this point firmly in mind.
Yao Xinyue happened to come back from shopping, and Li Zi wanted to leave. She smiled at the two of them and said, "You must remember to come to my coming-of-age ceremony. Maybe the Daydream God will wake up by then."
After saying goodbye to the two of them, she thought about it and decided not to go back to the City Lord's Mansion directly.
Li Zi didn't want to take this opportunity to avoid sacrifice.
For decades since entering the evolutionary era, the entire base has been blessed with the mercy and favor of the Daydream God.
The gods allow everyone to survive well in the end times and maintain the glory of the past era.
As the daughter of the city lord, it is actually a good deal to exchange her life for it.
She was just sad that she was going to die at such a young age, not refusing to be sacrificed.
After finally getting out, she wanted to see the world again.
When a person is strolling on the street, time passes very slowly.
Li Zi passed by many stalls selling items along the way, and saw many children kneeling in front of their homes chanting scriptures, as well as parents chanting scriptures with their children.
It's not a scene you see every day.
She guessed that when the deacon of the church told the believers that the God of Daydreams was about to awaken, all the churches in the city also announced this at the same time.
These days are a time of carnival and celebration for everyone.
Looking at all kinds of people, Li Zi's mood became much calmer and she was no longer afraid.
She decided to consider the changes in everyone in the city as a blessing in her heart.
As a birthday blessing for the city lord's daughter who is about to come of age.
She walked aimlessly along the riverbank. When it got dark, she felt hungry. She searched her pockets and found that she had no money. She pouted and walked back reluctantly.
When she was about to reach the City Lord's Mansion, she saw that it was brightly lit and crowded with people coming and going.
As they got closer, Li Zi heard someone shout, "The city lord's daughter is back!"
Immediately afterwards, the well-trained army rushed up and surrounded her.
The church deacon also came over hypocritically, touching her here and patting her there.
As if he really cared about her: "Li Zi, where have you been? Why didn't you tell us when you went out? We were so worried about you!"
Li Zi pushed her hand away, snorting coldly and curling her lips. "Are you worried that I'll run away? I won't run away. I promised you that I would be a sacrifice."
The noise they made looking for someone was so loud that many people around were watching.
I saw her say something that couldn't be told to anyone.
The deacon of the temple reacted quickly, covering her mouth and dragging her towards the City Lord's Mansion. They looked extremely embarrassed as they ran away, completely forgetting all the doctrines and etiquette.
When there were no outsiders around, the deacon of the temple stood still with a frown on his face and said sullenly, "You haven't told anyone else that you're going to offer sacrifices to the gods in a few days, right?"
Li Zi shook her head calmly, "No, I got a manicure and then took a stroll by the river. Many people saw me. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask."
She certainly didn't say it herself, but it doesn't count if others guessed it.
"That's good." The deacon's mood calmed down, and he patted her head in a friendly manner. His usual kind expression reappeared, "My dear child, it's your honor to be God's carrier."
Li Zi nodded noncommittally, leaving the butler behind and heading to the kitchen alone: "I'm hungry, let's go eat."
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The third CP has finally begun!