Revelation of the Way of Heaven

Chapter 421 Great God's Blessing

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The Pantheon was managed by a group of shamans who practiced their faith. Depending on their roles, the shamans were divided into trainee shamans, official shamans, temple priests, high priests, and divine agents. Official shamans were responsible for ordinary sacrifices and prayers, while major matters such as burning petitions and filing lawsuits could only be handled by temple priests or even high priests.

Qin Xiaochuan followed the village chief to a side hall where he met a temple master, whom everyone in the temple called Master Yun. Master Yun was sitting behind a desk, flipping through a notebook. From his appearance, it was easy to tell that he was an owl spirit. He was tall and slender, about thirty years old, with a black beak and owl ears. His face was covered with fine downy feathers, and his eyes were the brown color of an owl, sharp yet with a hint of eeriness, as if he could see through everything. He wore a black robe embroidered with exquisite divine patterns and held a staff in his hand, exuding an air of majesty.

"You want to burn petitions to sue your guardian deity?" Upon hearing the village chief's words, Master Yun frowned slightly, clearly indicating that even these high-ranking shamans had to treat this matter with caution.

"I know this is not a good thing. If we hadn't really had no other choice, we would never have taken this step. I'm troubling you, Headmaster Yun, to do us a favor and help Lingxi Village find a way to survive," the village chief explained, bowing his head.

"If General Fubo is indeed at fault and has violated the covenant between gods and humans, we will naturally help you," said Master Yun calmly. "Tell me the whole story in detail first, and I'll see if it's necessary to take this step."

So the village chief recounted everything that had happened in the village over the years.

Upon hearing the village chief's words, Master Yun's expression turned serious. He said, "In that case, General Fubo has indeed gone too far. Not only has he failed to fulfill his duties, but he has also dared to harm the villagers at will, which is a serious violation of the Heavenly Rules. I will accept your petition." As he spoke, he pulled out a yellow paper from the table.

Then, he picked up the vermilion pen and wrote on the yellow paper, "Respectfully presented to the Holy Lord of the Nine Heavens Cloud Palace, the Great Lord of Fate."

"The plaintiff," asked Headmaster Yun as he wrote.

"North of Yunze, east of Tiantongji, lies Lingxi Village, home to all its residents," the village chief replied respectfully.

"The defendant."

"North of Yunze, there is General Fubo, the guardian deity of the eastern waters of Tiantongji."

Then, Master Yun listed General Fubo's misdeeds on a piece of paper, and at the end, he wrote: "I humbly beseech Your Majesty to have mercy, send an envoy to investigate, and clarify the divine law. If the villagers are guilty, I am willing to accept divine punishment; if Fubo is wicked, I beg for divine judgment. Every word we have said is true, and if there is any falsehood, I am willing to accept the punishment of thunder."

"Alright, you all wait here and put your fingerprints on the paper." Master Yun handed the yellow paper with the written petition to the village chief, and the village chief and the others immediately pressed their thumbprints as instructed.

Master Yun put away the yellow paper and stuffed it into a bamboo tube, saying, "Tomorrow at noon I will hold a prayer ceremony outside the main hall. Come and burn incense and offer your gifts then, and don't be negligent."

"I understand, I dare not be negligent!" The village chief immediately bowed respectfully. "Thank you for your trouble, Your Excellency."

After paying the relevant fees, the village chief and others left the Pantheon. Qin Xiaochuan and the others did not leave with them, but returned to the front of Master Yun. Qin Xiaochuan cupped his hands to Master Yun, who was registering in the notebook, and said, "Excuse me, Master Yun, I wonder if I can ask you a question."

Qin Xiaochuan respectfully said, "We have urgent business to discuss with the Grand Master of Fate. Is there any way to do so?"

Upon hearing Qin Xiaochuan's words, Master Yun stopped his work, looked up at Qin Xiaochuan, and frowned, saying, "Who are you, daring to pay homage to the Grand Master of Fate? Don't you know that the Grand Master of Fate holds an extremely esteemed position, not one that ordinary people can be so disrespectful to?"

"We know, but it's a very important matter, and we have to see him in person," Qin Xiaochuan explained patiently.

Master Yun stared at Qin Xiaochuan, a yellow glint flashing in his eyes, before his face immediately turned cold. He said, "So you're not from Yunmengze. Even we Masters can only dream of seeing the Great Master of Fate, let alone you outsiders. Tell me honestly, what are your intentions in paying homage to the Great Master of Fate?"

Qin Xiaochuan was about to explain when Han Kexin coldly said, "Forget it. I don't think his rank is high enough to know. Let's go find someone who does."

Qin Xiaochuan thought about it and agreed, so he didn't say anything more. He cupped his hands in greeting to Headmaster Yun and turned to leave.

"Halt!" Master Yun suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up, shouting, "Don't even think about leaving the Pantheon until you reveal your intentions."

Qin Xiaochuan didn't turn his head, but simply called out "Kaiming".

"Understood." At this moment, Kaiming, who had transformed into a child, only glanced at the Cloud Master before causing him to fall into a deep sleep.

"If we do this, it will be very troublesome when he wakes up," Guo Shiyi said worriedly.

"It seems we have no choice but to seek out the High Priests. Hopefully, they can provide us with some useful information," Qin Xiaochuan said as he walked out of the side hall. High Priests are usually elder-level shamans who serve the chief god. They are few in number and hold a very high position in the Pantheon, second only to the gods.

"What if they know but refuse to tell us?" Guo Shiyi asked.

Qin Xiaochuan didn't answer her question, but instead asked Kaiming, "Kaiming, can your hypnosis techniques get people to say what we want to know?"

"Unless the other party is consciously guarding their inner secrets, it's generally possible," Kaiming said.

"What exactly constitutes a conscious act of defense?" Guo Shiyi asked curiously.

Kaiming explained, "Everyone has some secrets that need to be buried deep in their heart forever. They may want to forget them, but their memories will keep reminding them. So they can only subconsciously tell themselves not to think about them anymore. Over time, they encrypt these memories. Unless they themselves are willing to reveal these secrets, no one else can pry into them."

"So, how to meet the Great Master of Fate shouldn't be a secret that needs to be guarded against all the time, right?" Guo Shiyi said.

The high priests usually live a secluded life, but one of them is on duty in the main temple every day. So, the only way to find a high priest is to go to the main temple. Qin Xiaochuan and the others walked toward the main temple while talking. In the Pantheon, priests of different ranks wear clothes of different colors. High priests usually wear light purple silk robes, so they are easy to distinguish in the crowd.