Chapter 280 God’s Blessing

"Huff! Huff!"

Kevin leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, and the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth had already burned most of the way.

This magic item is somewhat addictive. In addition to being able to burn for a long time and having a mellower taste, it can also reduce various negative conditions of the user to a certain extent.

For example, fatigue, pain... Of course, the reduction will not be very large. After all, under normal circumstances, the effectiveness of magic props is linked to the price. With Kevin's capital, it is impossible for him to smoke any high-end magic cigarettes.

Because the escape is so exciting, the cigarette burns so quickly.

"Let's go, let's go?"

Lauren leaned against the wall, listening to the rolling thunder gradually fading away. Finally, heaved a sigh of relief and slid down slowly along the wall.

"Finally they left, we are safe for now..."

When the others heard this, the tension in their hearts slowly relaxed.

Kevin panted heavily for a moment, then suddenly punched and kicked a brother, angrily saying: "Why don't you say something else? Why don't you say something else! You crow mouth! All my magic props are gone!"

The brother didn't dare to fight back after being beaten, and said aggrievedly: "Boss... I just said it casually, this must be a coincidence, I can't say that there is a..."

"Shut up!"

Everyone glared at this brother, and those who were closer even rushed over to this brother and covered his mouth tightly.

"Stop talking!"

On the ceiling, the shadow clone, who was about to take action, smacked his lips in dissatisfaction.

Kevin calmed down and snorted, "Let's stop here. Today's dungeon is full of weirdness. The magic items and alchemy potions we brought with us have almost been used up. Although there have been no casualties so far, we can't say for sure what will happen next... Let's go back first!"

Lauren was a little unwilling: "We have already reached the third floor..."

Kevin glared at him and said, "Don't you understand the situation? Lauren Kate, you are alone, you can be crazy, but if you want to play with the lives of my brothers, I will kill you now!

What a bullshit elf, so far it is just your one-sided statement, I now suspect that you have evil intentions towards us!"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The shadow clone also realized that he seemed to have gone a bit too far, so he fixed the camera to the ceiling and continued filming, while the shadow clone crawled on the ceiling like a spider.

The method of crawling is also very simple. Just stick your fingers into the stone wall to stabilize your body and move.

Because it is a shadow, theoretically it has no weight, so it can be silent.

Even if his finger pierced through the wall, because he was Ji Ruo's shadow clone, his martial arts foundation was solid, and his use of strength was pure blue, so it wouldn't cause any disturbance.

The shadow clone left this place.

Lauren narrowed his eyes slightly, and his eyes suddenly became dangerous. He said coldly: "It is indeed my fault. I'm sorry Kevin. I will try my best to make up for your losses. Please don't be like this..."

He squinted his eyes to hide the panic in his eyes - if a conflict occurred at this moment, Kevin and his men would be able to crush him with their numbers alone, Lauren knew very well.

This is the third level of the dungeon. Even if he dies here, no one will hold Kevin and the others accountable.

In a dungeon, anything can happen, and the occasional death of a teammate is commonplace.

So Lauren admitted it.

But at this moment——

A crystal clear little bat flew slowly past the two of them. Its body, which seemed to be made of crystal, was shining with a beautiful glow.

"Ice bat?!"

Everyone was stunned.

Isn't the purpose of their trip to find the habitat of the ice bats and wait for Emily and the others to come?

This is where we are?

While I was stunned, a few more ice bats flapped their wings and slowly flew out from the corner.

This ice crystal bat is a special monster. Its entire body is made of ice crystals. It is crystal clear and has a strange chill.

Even the dirty things inside the body can be seen clearly.

The Ice Bat is not made of flesh and blood and has no offensive capabilities. It is one of the few monsters that can be used directly.

Its main function is to provide one of the materials for the nobles to make wine...

Kevin and Lauren stared blankly at the ice bats flying slowly past them. A younger brother cautiously came to the corner and looked around. He said excitedly, "Boss! There are so many ice bats! And there are treasure chests, at least seven or eight!"

"So many treasure chests?" Kevin's eyes lit up, but then he became a little hesitant: "Are they empty again?"

"Not this time. Those treasure chests are all open. There are so many things inside! They are sparkling and they are obviously treasures!"

Kevin heard this and looked at Lauren.

Lauren smiled and said, "We're here. The ice bats are not aggressive. It's absolutely safe here. We can ambush them first..."

Kevin was silent.

Lauren: “Now that we’re here…”

These four words seem to have some kind of magical power.

"Let's take a look at what's in the treasure chest first!"

On the ceiling, the shadow clone who had retrieved the camera breathed a sigh of relief and continued filming.

…

"Ji Ruo, tell me honestly, do these things have anything to do with you?"

Sheila looked suspicious: "You asked us specifically what we wanted, but we found it in the treasure chest around the corner... and we couldn't even see the treasure chest before."

Ji Ruobai spoke the truth and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I have always been with you and have never left. How could these things have anything to do with me? The Stove God must have heard our prayers and specially prepared gifts for us. Praise the Stove God!"

Emily was curious: "What kind of god is the stove god?"

"The stove god is the great god I believe in." Ji Ruo said seriously, "He loves the people like his own children, controls the incense of thousands of families, and knows all about cooking..."

"Is there such a god?" Sheila asked in confusion. "And are you sure you're not talking about the God of Cooking?"

"No." Ji Ruo said: "Cooking is just one of the functions of the Stove God. He is the best god I have ever seen. He always responds to the believers' prayers and blesses the believers in the dark..."

…

Inside the Xingxuan Cave, Ji Ruo's followers were still watching the "Sky Screen Movie". Upon seeing this scene, they all showed expressions of sudden enlightenment.

"So this is how the gods preach! I've learned something!"

Old Laude wiped his tears and said, "It's all our fault that we died early. Lord Shen has worked so hard and even had to preach in person. Alas..."

…

As Xila listened to Ji Ruo's description, her expression became more and more strange.

She glanced at the two magic scrolls in her hand and suddenly said, "It seems to be just a coincidence. If these two scrolls are really magic scrolls of the dead, I won't believe anything you say. As for now... I guess it's really the God of the Night who is protecting us. Interesting."

"Not about necromancy? Then what are these two scrolls about?"

Ji Ruo asked curiously.

Ji Ruo was not at all surprised that he failed to meet Sheila's expectations.

Because he can't read...

To be more precise, it is the lack of knowledge of the writing system of Mother Earth.

[Common language] can only enable Ji Ruo to listen and speak, but not read and write.

It is equivalent to an illiterate person who can communicate without any obstacles.

Ji Ruo couldn't understand the words on the magic scroll, so he just picked them at random.

"These are two space scrolls..." Sheila flipped through the scrolls and showed off her professionalism as a necromancer. "This scroll can open a small teleportation array, but the range is limited to the dungeon. In other words, after we finish exploring, we can use these two scrolls to quickly return to the upper level. Next time we want to come back, we can also use the scrolls to come down... Ji Ruo, I'll give you one."

Sheila said, "There are three rewards in this treasure chest. The magic bow is more suitable for Emily. Let's split these two space scrolls between us."

Emily pulled the magic bow, and the elemental power automatically gathered and turned into an arrow of light.

Everyone gains something.

"This space scroll should be a fixed reward, right?" Ji Ruo suddenly said, "After all, the difficulty of exploring the ninth floor is not low, and unless we adventurers have space equipment, we have limited supplies to carry with us each time. We can't go through the first eight floors every time we come down, right? Then when will we be able to explore the ninth floor?"

Sheila pondered for a moment: "I think what you said makes sense. For example, this time, we only planned to go to the third floor at first. If nothing unexpected happens, it will only take half a day to go back and forth, so we didn't bring much supplies..."

Emily suddenly said, "Ji Ruo, can you ask the God of the Oven to prepare some food for us? This way we can explore for a while longer!

After all, didn’t you say that the god of fire would always respond to the prayers of his followers? "

"ah?"

Even Ji Ruo was choked by Emily's unconventional way of thinking, but he still pretended to be thinking seriously and said, "It seems feasible. I can give it a try..."

As he spoke, Ji Ruo put his hands behind his back and fumbled for something in his four-dimensional pocket.

He first needs to make sure whether there is any food in his four-dimensional pocket that is suitable for putting in the treasure chest.

"Ha ha."

Sheila couldn't help laughing and teased, "Emily, you are really thoughtful. Although it is possible, this kind of prayer is absolutely impossible to achieve."

"Why?"

"Because he is a god." Sheila looked at Emily seriously and said, "It is impossible for a god to respond to his believers all the time, even the saints with the highest level of faith are no exception... In the final analysis, whether it is humans or elves, they are just dispensable ants to gods, dust in time.

Maybe the gods will occasionally respond to a believer's prayer because they are bored, but they will never respond all the time.

In the final analysis, we are nothing more than a group of dispensable and lowly creatures to the gods. Apart from providing faith, there is no difference between us and monsters in the eyes of the gods.

In the eyes of God, all beings are equal and equally humble. "

Emily retorted, "Nonsense! The goddess of life I believe in wouldn't be like that! The goddess of life is so nice!"

"Oh?" Sheila looked at Emily deeply: "Maybe."

Ji Ruo took out three incense sticks at some point and began to pray with a pious look on his face.

Emily was curious: "Ji Ruo, what are you doing?"

"I'm praying to the Stove God." Ji Ruo said, and casually inserted three incense sticks into the cracks in the wall in front of him, saying, "Let's go, the Stove God should have heard my prayers, let's hurry up and find the next treasure chest."

Sheila wondered, "You prayed? Didn't you say anything?"

Ji Ruo was surprised and said, "It doesn't count as prayer if you don't speak? As a god, isn't it basic for you to listen to the believers' voices?"

"Of course you can, but this is common sense. The believers of other gods do the same... And you are praying too fast. Can the oven god really hear your prayer?"

Ji Ruo waved his hands and said, "That's other gods. Our stove god doesn't care about these things. After we establish a relationship of faith, we just give him mouthfuls of incense when we pray. We don't care about those nonsense things."

Sheila was shocked: "Are you really a devout believer?!"

Ji Ruo said casually, "Of course. As far as the belief in the stove god is concerned, no one in this world is more determined than me. The form is not important. For faith, the most important thing is sincerity. It is said that sincerity is the key to success. The rest is irrelevant.

Believers who bathe, change clothes and fast for three days before each prayer do not necessarily have a deeper faith.

I have to make so many preparations every time... Is faith such an inconvenient thing? Just show your appreciation for it. That's how faith and prayer are. Man proposes, God disposes."

Sheila was silent.

After a while, with the joint efforts of Ji Ruo, the three killed five damned demons. Because the damned demons looked too ugly, even though there were no obvious fatal injuries on their appearance, Sheila refused to wake them up.

However, Sheila still used magic to extract the bones of the Fallen Demon - without flesh and blood, it looked much more comfortable.

"Open the treasure chest, open the treasure chest!"

Emily opened the treasure chest with great interest, and there were five items inside.

Two of them are the space scrolls obtained before, and the other three are...cakes?

Sheila looked at Ji Ruo in shock.

Ji Ruo pretended to be surprised: "It's actually Peony Cake! Praise the God of Stove!"

"What is a peony cake?" Emily sniffed curiously: "It smells like fresh flowers, so fragrant."

"This is a dessert from my hometown. One of the main ingredients is peony flowers. It tastes like peony flowers and is easy to preserve for a long time."

Ji Ruo picked up a piece of Peony Cake, took a bite, and revealed a happy expression: "Sure enough, it's still the familiar taste!"

"Take a bite, take a bite!" Emily couldn't wait to eat a piece: "Mmm~ So fragrant and sweet, so delicious!"

Silla murmured: "It actually opened..."

"It's normal to find anything in a treasure chest. This is common sense."

“…”

Emily's mouth was full of candy crumbs. She suddenly grabbed Ji Ruo and said excitedly, "Ji Ruo, Ji Ruo, can I also believe in the Goddess of the Oven? My main belief is the Goddess of Life. Would the Goddess of the Oven mind?"

"Of course not." Ji Ruo grinned, "The stove god never rejects believers. All you have to do is burn incense to him."

"Let me believe it too!"

Sheila hesitated for a moment: "Then I will..."

In a corner not far behind the three of them, a god muttered in shock, "How is this possible? I clearly didn't put any food in the treasure chest... Who is the stove god? Is he also in Lahapa? Or is he really that powerful?"

Seeing that the three were about to start the "ritual", the Heterodox God gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, Lahapa is my territory. I have been managing it for so many years and finally have a priest...Snake God, although I don't know you, you have crossed the line!

Trying to snatch my followers from my house... Impossible!"

As he spoke, the Allogold Mineral God stomped his foot.

'Boom~'

There was a loud bang and smoke filled the sky.

Ji Ruo, who had just finished distributing incense, looked up in surprise.

But then the wall behind the treasure chest suddenly collapsed, revealing a secret room hidden behind it.

On the stairs is a statue made entirely of various metals, with a small pickaxe hanging from its waist. There is divine light surrounding its body, but it has no definite facial features.

"God's blessing?!" the two girls cried out in amazement.

Sheila was even more incredulous: "The magic pick on the waist is not for fighting... This is... a side job given by God?!"

Ji Ruo was overjoyed when he saw it. He took out a small clay statue from somewhere, rushed to the top of the stairs, and placed the clay statue of unknown appearance next to the metal statue. He said happily: "Look what I found? A wild shrine! It must be the Stove God who is watching me. He knew you wanted to become believers, so he prepared it specially. Praise the Stove God!"

Second girl: “???”

No matter how you look at it, this wild shrine is not prepared by the stove god, right?!

The real owner is still here!

"Come and burn incense, remember to praise the stove god in your heart~"

In the corner, the Allium God's teeth are almost broken. What's wrong with this human? Is he sick?

"Human, you——"

He was going to go out and stop it.

Suddenly, a pitch-black hand pressed down the Metametal God.

Although his palm was slender, it possessed unimaginable terrifying strength, and was able to pin the Miner God to the spot, unable to move.

The Mineral God turned around in shock and saw a face that was as dark as a flowing shadow. He couldn't tell whose face it was.

The situation was like this - the Mineral God was peeking at Ji Ruo and the other two in the corner, and the shadow clone was peeking at the Mineral God in the corner behind him.

When the shadow clone saw that the Mineral God was about to take action, he held him down first, and when the Mineral God turned around to look at him, he shook his head slightly.

"What are you—"

The Mineral God asked in shock, but before he could finish his words, his shadow clone covered his mouth.

'Phew!'

The shadow clone raised a finger and gestured at its featureless face.

Although he didn't hear the sound, the Mineral God knew that the shadow clone wanted him to stop talking.

'Come with me.'

The shadow clone hooked his finger and dragged the Mineral God away without waiting for his reply.

It's just a shadow, but its power is so terrifying that even gods cannot resist it!

Ji glanced at the corner where the Mineral God had been hiding before without leaving a trace, and then looked away.

He didn't notice that Sheila also glanced at that location secretly.

Ji Ruo clapped his hands: "Come on, kneel down first... on both knees."

"Why don't you kneel?" Sheila asked.

"I have already established a faith relationship with the stove god, so I don't need to kneel anymore." Ji Ruo said happily. What's the point of kneeling to myself?

"But you said that the God of the Fire doesn't care about this... and why the knees?"

The people of Earth Mother Continent have a different view on kneeling than the people of Daxia. For them, kneeling on one knee may be more important.

"Hey, it's just a formality, it's the first time!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, I can't wait!" Emily urged: "Ji Ruo, teach us the prayer!"

"In fact, there is no specific prayer... The main thing is to burn incense with piety, praise the stove god for being handsome, praise the stove god for being powerful... Be sincere, sincerity will work, this is very important!"

Sheila looked odd.

Is this really prayer?!

"Great God of Stove, your handsomeness is rare in the world..." The innocent Emily began to pray with a pious look on her face.

The corners of Xila's mouth twitched. She took a deep breath, lit the incense, and under Ji Ruo's instruction, began her first worship of the Stove God.

…