A New Covenant

Volcano City.

Before dawn broke, a large group of priests had already packed their belongings, preparing to leave the eastern region of Yinsai and embark on their journey back to the Nine Great Temples.

The temples and various inns and markets in the city were bustling with activity as the priest group's attendants and servants made preparations.

It was evident that the priests were eager to leave this forsaken place.

Fire demons were formidable opponents, and most of the priests weren't nearly as powerful as Food Priest Lan.

Even when facing little fire demons, they were dealing with transcendent beings, elusive adversaries capable of invisibility and fire manipulation.

During this period, the priest group had suffered constant injuries and deaths in their campaign against the fire demons. They had long wished to leave, held back only by Food Priest Lan's overwhelming pressure and the orders of the Yinsai King.

Despite their outward compliance, everyone harbored resentment.

They were the exalted temple priests; even in death, they should die with dignity, not like soldiers lined up on a battlefield.

"That Lan fellow doesn't value our lives at all."

"Sending us to our deaths just to save some commoners."

"Those who come from the Temple of Truth are all madmen."

"Mark my words, he won't last long as the High Priest of the Ice Temple. Who would want to follow such a lunatic?"

Lan had heard many such private comments about him recently, with some even openly speaking ill of him.

He didn't want to say much more; he just wanted to resolve the fire demon disaster.

Lan and his few students weren't preparing to leave; they planned to stay and eradicate the remaining fire demons.

Suddenly, Lan's student rushed into the Yinsai Temple in the city, pointing outside as he spoke.

"Teacher!"

"Something's happened."

Lan grabbed his shoulders: "What is it?"

His student kept pointing outside: "Fire demons, many fire demons have appeared."

Lan immediately looked outside: "Tell the priest group to stop all activities immediately and prepare for battle."

The city was in an uproar, as the commotion this time was particularly large.

The priest group reacted with dismay but had no choice but to abandon their plans to return and gather once more.

It was dawn, and the sky had not yet fully brightened.

Food Priest Lan and the entire priest group hurriedly rushed to the outskirts and the city walls, preparing to meet the incoming enemy.

On the horizon, the great sun began to rise.

One after another, flames rose from the earth, numbering in the thousands.

Some flew up from not far outside the city, some rushed towards the sky from hundreds of miles away, and some even floated out from within Volcano City.

They came from all directions, continuously ascending along the sky.

The priest group nervously guarded inside and outside Volcano City, speculating among themselves about the cause of this scene.

"What's going on with these fire demons?"

"Why did they suddenly burst out with power, flying towards the sky?"

"Is someone summoning them?"

"How is that possible? Fire Demon Haru is already dead."

Most of these were fire demons born after Haru's death, when his power fell into the dark swamp.

The little fire demons, like inverted shooting stars, traced arcs across the sky, gathering towards the heavens.

Before long, the sky was filled with countless "stars."

The clouds in the sky slowly parted, revealing a figure radiating divine light as it descended into the mortal world. Its dazzling radiance outshone the sun, which had barely peeked over the horizon.

"What is that!"

Lan saw a beautiful being.

A powerful existence with the appearance of a divine spirit, its golden robe projecting various beautiful dreams.

The priests on the city walls and below let out exclamations of surprise.

"A spirit?"

"God's emissary."

"Why would a divine messenger appear here?"

All the temple priests present knelt down, some showing anxiety, others displaying devotion.

Regardless of their true feelings, whether genuine devotion or false belief.

In public and private, they were servants of God, and God's emissary was, in every sense, far above them.

The emissary truly represented God's will.

They had to express the utmost respect and prostrate themselves to demonstrate their devotion and faith.

The spirit stepped down on the clouds, as if walking on a staircase extending from God's realm.

The dense "shooting stars" revolved around the spirit, as if conversing with her, emitting whispers.

The mortals on the ground, looking up, could faintly hear the voices of the "star cluster."

The divine emissary touched one of the "shooting stars" with her finger, and instantly all the "stars" burst into brilliant light.

The flames of thousands of little fire demons exploded and twisted.

They transformed into human-like figures, holding hands around the divine emissary, singing strange songs.

Or perhaps, praying to God and the emissary.

"In the name of God's emissary, I establish a covenant with the monster race."

"God grants the wastelands to the monster race, forbidding them from entering the cities and villages of the Trilobite Men and the People of the Abyss."

"From this day forward, you may multiply and thrive as one of the races of this world."

All the fire demons spun faster, and beyond the fire demons, illusory images of other monsters appeared.

Towering stone monsters, strange spheres, peculiar mud beasts, or beings that were simply black liquid.

With the divine emissary's command: "Go forth!"

The little fire demons scattered like countless shooting stars from the sky, rushing towards the wilderness beyond Yinsai.

"Hahaha!"

"Heeheeheehee!"

The priests present could faintly hear laughter like that of children descending from the sky, transforming into shooting stars racing towards the distance.

Disappearing beyond their field of vision.

From now on, monsters could only dwell in the wilderness.

If they approached the cities of the Trilobite Men or the towns of the People of the Abyss, they would encounter an invisible barrier blocking them, preventing them from getting closer and instilling fear in their hearts.

This was due to the oath and agreement made by the ancestors of the monster race to the Crown of Wisdom.

Dream Realm.

The Crown of Wisdom, sealed in the deepest part of the radiant silver moon's God's Grace Stone sphere, suddenly stirred.

Tiny inscriptions appeared on this Divine Artifact.

It was a line of small text, continuing after the Redlichia Covenant.

"God grants the wastelands to the monster race, forbidding them from entering the cities and villages of the Trilobite Men and the People of the Abyss."

As the last word was inscribed, the movement gradually subsided.

Fire demons also possessed intelligent bloodlines and thus fell under the authority of the Crown of Wisdom, in a sense an extension of the Redlichia bloodline.

This covenant would be bound to their bloodline for eternity.

Atop the pyramid temple, Yin Shen set aside the book in his hand and looked back at the dream moon.

"A race of transcendent beings has appeared!"

He smiled at Shelly and said.

"Shelly!"

"A new species has emerged, yet it wasn't created using your power."

"You see, even mortals can create the miracle of life."

Mother of Life Shelly picked up her small conch and wrinkled her nose, making a sound.

"Gurgle gurgle." —

Everything dispersed, the divine emissary and fire demons vanished.

The commoners in the city erupted in thunderous cheers, believing that God had driven these monsters away from their homeland rather than granting a divine covenant to the monster race.

The priests also heaved long sighs of relief; as long as they didn't have to wage a great war against these monsters, all was well.

"Thank the great Yinsai God."

"Divine emissary, we are grateful for your mercy and grace."

"It's over, truly over."

"Those monsters have been banished by God."

The sun gradually rose, its light pouring into the city.

The entire Volcano City was engulfed in celebration, with people rushing onto the streets to congratulate each other. The priests finally relaxed, leading their followers away one by one.

Lan watched this scene unfold, a smile playing on his lips.

He let out a long breath, turned around, and walked into the Yinsai Temple.

The attendant standing at the temple entrance immediately knelt on one knee to greet him.

"Pack up."

"Prepare to return!"

The student behind him nodded: "Very well! I'll make preparations immediately."

Lan added: "We're returning to the Island of Mist."

The students turned back in surprise: "Teacher, aren't we going back to the Ice Temple?"

Lan had come to a decision. He was ready to relinquish his position as High Priest of the Ice Temple and return to assume the role of the second-generation sage of the Temple of Truth.

"We're not going back."

"The Nine Great Temples were never our home, and they were never our true companions."

He looked as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders, his face showing a relaxed expression.

"Only the Temple of Truth."

"That is where we truly belong."