Chapter 1164 Such a weak curse
When Aiwas' fingers touched Dongya's waist, he clearly felt Dongya's nervousness.
She didn't dare to avoid Aiwas's touch, but her body instinctively resisted. The subconscious tightening of her abdomen and the tautness of her muscles... were the lingering fears from the previous salt torture.
However, when Aiwass actually touched the petrified flesh, she couldn't help but scream.
A surge of heat instantly spread from the point of contact throughout the body. It was like a scalding hot towel touching the skin. That heat, however, was stored on the surface, but now it was like a needle, slowly and firmly piercing the petrified scales, reaching deeper into the bones and flesh.
And Aiwass also felt very clearly that something had come to life.
It felt like touching a black box filled with bugs. The stinging pain of being bitten, the unfamiliar touch... along with the creepy contact, it spread inward along the fingers that Aiwass and Dongya had touched.
Aiwass used his special vision to clearly see wisps of orange-yellow smoke seeping out from the petrified scales, slowly creeping up his arm along his fingers. Like holding a lit cigarette, the smoke made Aiwass's skin feel noticeably dry and itchy.
"Interesting..."
Aiwass took a mild interest.
There was actually a curse that could affect him. This was no longer a pure curse, but rather had some divine essence mixed in.
——In other words, this power should come from the seventh energy level.
It wasn't just a sixth-level ritualist. The other party also had a matching piece of equipment or a special path feature that allowed him to gain an additional level of priority.
If it weren't for Aiwass's strong resistance to the curse of "Dissolving Soul", he might have succeeded.
But even then, Aiwass wasn't too afraid. As long as the petrification wasn't instantaneous, he could transform into a Sin Beast, relying on the Sin Beast's added curse resistance to resist—and if that wasn't enough, he could switch from Don Quixote to Venezia.
The Sin Beast can easily become immune to this level of curse, and can also use the power of "miracle" to forcibly lift the curse.
But there is no need to be so troublesome about Dongya’s curse right now.
The moment the curse power seeped through Aiwass's skin, Aiwass's golden liquid soul suddenly became brighter.
As Aiwass exerted force, his fingertips turned slightly white, and the liquid soul surged under the skin of his fingers, emitting fine golden light.
In an instant, fine and moist golden mist seeped out from under the skin, completely engulfing the orange-yellow smoke like a tiger, and in turn devoured every trace of curse on the skin, and then penetrated into Dongya's petrified skin.
Just like ink dripping into clean water, it instantly spreads out into a blur. The originally off-white scales and flesh also took on color.
The grayish-white world now has color.
Dongya looked at Aiwas in shock, feeling the severe pain and itching in her waist quickly alleviated and dissipated in the heat.
No chants, no prayers, no potions, no rituals.
Just by touching it, the petrification was lifted!
"...How on earth did they do that?"
This was simply unbelievable to Dongya - it completely exceeded her entire understanding of the profession of priest.
"Oh, that's easy."
The corners of Aiwass' mouth rose slightly.
Dongya was a believer in Huantiansi, a devotee and a transcendent. Her exclamation at the moment amused Aiwass: "Such a weak curse."
Weak...?
Dong Ya was speechless for a moment.
Although Rock Cellar City was a very small city-state, it had a large number of Level 4 Transcendents around the Good Lord. They could challenge any city-state without Level 5 Transcendents, and they wouldn't even have a chance to fight back.
"The gap between the fifth energy level... and the fourth energy level is actually so huge."
Dongya murmured.
She could guess that Aiwas must be at the fifth energy level. This is just like the difference between gods and mortals.
But she did not forget to thank Aiwass——
"I respectfully call upon the Celestial Ring, the Celestial Ring of the Tail, the Celestial Ring of Infinity... May the Celestial Ring of the Tail bless you."
Dongya immediately placed her tail in front of her, knelt respectfully on the ground, and knocked her head on the tip of her tail: "I wish to be your casting stone in the next life."
Aiwass knew that this was the highest etiquette of the snake people, symbolizing placing themselves on the cycle of reincarnation.
——To put it more simply, it means "I will work like a slave for you in the next life."
How should I put it...
...It was quite polite, but when Aiwass heard "May the Ring of the Tail protect you", he felt uncomfortable all over.
"The next life..."
Although Aiwass knew that, as a third-level priestess, Dongya knew almost nothing, he still sighed and swallowed the second half of his words as a sign of respect for her faith.
——There will no longer be that kind of afterlife.
At this time, the two temple guards were so frightened that they didn't even dare to move.
They pretended to be corpses, hoping Aiwass would forget their existence—not only was this man the descendant of their own apostle, but he was also an incredibly powerful fifth-level transcendent. Even the curse that petrified a city seemed so fragile before him that it looked like a joke...
But unfortunately, Aiwass has not forgotten them.
Aiwass glanced at them and asked, "According to your rules, how should we deal with people who disrespect me like this?"
Even though they were obeying her orders, Dong Ya, who was kneeling on the ground, said without hesitation: "Honey torture should be applied."
"What is honey torture?"
Aiwass frowned, feeling surprised and speechless about the various messy criminal laws in Anxi.
The ritualist Ibn explained, "It's about covering the body with honey and ants, then hanging it up to dry."
"… Making jerky?"
Aiwass was a little overwhelmed.
But he noticed that Ibn's expression was very serious: "Yes."
"...Is that what I guessed?" Aiwass was surprised.
"yes."
Ibn nodded. "Although food is less scarce in Parthia than water...it's still difficult for ordinary people to obtain. This 'candied blood' fetches a high price."
"Do the Parthians...consider cannibalism common sense?"
Aiwas frowned, realizing that he had underestimated the barbarity of the ancient Parthia Empire.
Upon hearing this, Ibn couldn't help but let out a pitiful sneer—it wasn't a mockery of Aiwass, but a pity for his own past and his homeland: "Sir, this desert is not a place dominated by humans like Avalon and Star Antimony.
"Here, there are humans, lizardmen, snakemen, harpies, dwarves, elves, trolls, goblins, and even dragons... you name it. Cannibalism might be a taboo, but what about another race? Whether it's lizardmen, harpies, snakemen, or trolls, none of them refuse to eat humans... and harpies have always been on the human diet. Trolls accept all of these races—they love this 'blood preserves' the most, and they usually pair it with the best cactus wine.
"In this sinful desert, elves are called 'vegetarians.' This isn't a derogatory term, but rather one of awe and distance—for only elves won't eat other races. And here... fresh vegetables are extremely expensive. Much more expensive than those for humans."
"Vegetarian? But..."
Aiwass was halfway through his speech when he suddenly realized something.
——No wonder Ibn said there is no shortage of food in this desert.
Aiwass looked at the two snakemen on the ground.
They huddled together, not daring to move. Even when they were discussing how to execute them and the words of the snake-eating people, they still did not dare to resist.
Seeing this scene, Aiwass, who was obviously offended, felt a surge of anger in his heart.
I feel sorry for their misfortune...and I am angry at their lack of resistance.
The purpose of his coming to Anxi was, firstly, because the benevolent master of Holy Spring City invited him by name, which made Aiwas curious and vigilant to know what evil he was planning; secondly, he planned to prevent the coming of Yuan Tiansi from causing the death of millions of people, as well as the chain reaction caused by such a large-scale death.
But now, Aiwas suddenly understood why the cardinal stayed in repose all year round.
—Because no devotee can turn a blind eye to this.
"In that case..."
Aiwass glanced at the two snakemen and said solemnly in his not-so-fluent ancient Parthian language, "I forgive them."
"yes."
Dongya didn't ask why Aiwass did this, nor did she question or express gratitude. Instead, she accepted Aiwass's words as a matter of course.
Because no matter what, the strong are always right.
They can choose mercy or cruelty. They can kill or save. They can let people die or let them live. Other people's lives, freedom, everything, all swing only between their thoughts.
Here, strength triumphs over authority. Beast triumphs over love. Day triumphs over beast. Taboo triumphs over dusk. Hunting triumphs over adaptation.
——This is the most core rule of this desert.
(End of this chapter)
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