Chapter 1071: Chapter 1071: Holy Capital
When we were still far from the town, we encountered the welcoming party rushing out from the town, full of n and won, young and old, in a grand procession. They saw the giant crow approaching rapidly from the sky while still in the town (I must say, after divh transford into a Crow God with a wingspan of two or three hundred ters, covered in a storm of lightning and flas, she indeed beca a very eye-catching road marker; if she flew high enough, you could see her from two hundred kiloters away), and then they ca rushing out joyously to greet us. I believe the Crow God must have granted them the speed of birds: by the ti we were still in the sky, they had just left the town, and when we descended, they had already gathered two kiloters outside the town.
Hundreds of n, won, and children stood several hundred ters away, and when they saw a group of people jumping off the Crow God’s back, they were visibly stunned for a mont; apparently, the concept of “traveling on God” was still not quite understandable for the locals, but seeing Vanilla, Lilina, and Big Sister among us, they still showed relieved expressions: at least the situation wasn’t too unbelievable. I looked at these welcoming people and saw every face brimming with excitent and enthusiasm, genuine emotions from the heart. No matter how bad Lilina’s personality was, she had truly brought good days to these people. The adults in their faces were weathered by years of working in the mines, bearing the marks of labor and life, while most of the children were quite shy, having grown up in the mines, still not very good at greeting strangers. So wore long black robes adorned with two hanging decorations at the front of the chest, which I now knew as the marks of the Crow God Sect, with the colors of the decorations representing their rank in the church. Like Vanilla, who was at the highest level—gold. Of course, Lilina and Little Crow also had similar outfits, but they’re both probably exceptions: one is an embodint of a Foreign God, the other simply the Goddess herself. Why were they joining this hustle…
“Welco, Goddess!” An elderly man with a commanding presence and gray hair (what’s with all the encounters with elderly n lately?) stepped out of the crowd, first bowing to the Silly Bird who was reverting to human form, then respectfully bowing to Vanilla, “Your Holiness, the Pope.”
Vanilla nervously stepped back a little, clearly still not used to such status, and awkwardly returned the greeting with a stiff neck: “Oh, um, thank you for all your hard work these days.” Well, at least she maintained a relatively calm expression when saying these words.
“Great Sages,” the elderly man then turned to Lilina and Big Sister, bowing again with the sa courteous etiquette, and didn’t even overlook the Cat Lady whose na always gets forgotten, “And Your Highness, the Holy Girl, it’s been a tough journey.”
The Cat Lady straightened up, her ears standing tall: “My na is Rabi!” I couldn’t believe my eyes: huh, is she really a Holy Girl? Lilina just loves causing trouble! Does she even have a clear idea of all these divine titles?
But the Divine Clan Tiaozi Five seed quite normal, with Uncle Kenser even nodding slightly, indicating that Lilina’s way of ssing about seed to be quite sothing, at least looked quite fitting.
“He is one of the Grand Priests of the Crow God Sect,” Lilina introduced to through a Spiritual Connection, pointing to the elderly man in front who looked more like a scholar than a mine worker, “He used to be a minor noble, tricked and exiled here, now the most educated person in town, so he had to beco a Grand Priest. Actually, he’s quite reliable, just a bit rigid sotis, and pays great attention to etiquette: even after seventeen years of exile, he hasn’t lost these habits.”
While Lilina was introducing through the Spiritual Connection, her hands didn’t remain idle, pointing at us and introducing to the elder, starting with : “You should rather greet him properly, this is the Father of Gods from the Xyrin Divine System, the Lord of Crow God ntioned in the Divine Canon.” She said this with an unexpectedly prideful face. I was almost taken aback by her serious and earnest deanor. Qianqian gave a respectful glance, then Lilina continued introducing others, “This is Crow God’s Aunt, this is Crow God’s Elder Sister-in-law, this is Crow God’s Second Uncle, this is Crow God’s Third Uncle, this is Crow God’s Sister-in-law, this is Crow God’s Big Cousin, this is Crow God’s Aunt, Crow God’s… Ah!”
I should have sensed sothing was wrong from the start! I was just stunned by that “Father of Gods” phrase just now and hadn’t reacted…
“Anyway, that’s the situation,” Lilina said, covering her head and giving a wronged look, before ordering the dumbfounded Crow God believers to head back to the “Holy Capital.” On the way, she started introducing the peculiar social environnt of this Southern region to us, as well as the developnt and status of this origin city of the Crow God.
“Holy Capital,” a na that has only recently beco known to the public, it sounds so grand but few would associate it with a rundown small town of just over a thousand residents, located near an abandoned mine. When this na was finalized, even the townspeople themselves found it sowhat laughable, yet the na has spread nonetheless. Now, several towns near the “Holy Capital” know about the miraculous events suddenly occurring at the long-abandoned “Black Sand Mine.” The stories of miracles are spreading wildly: a holy tree that appeared overnight, an abundance of food and wine bestowed by the gods, a sacred realm that cures all diseases for those who follow the teachings of the Crow God, crops that ripen overnight, and a divine shield that can disperse all invaders with just a single feather. Each story is more fantastical than the last, yet those who recount these tales do so with unwavering conviction, drawing increasing attention from more and more people.
In addition to these miraculous legends, the bearers of these stories have also erged from the “Holy Capital.” Originally residents of the mining town, they now call themselves missionaries. These miners and farrs who have spent most of their lives doing hard labor now don strange robes and carry the Bible of the Crow God (even though most of these novice missionaries can’t write their own nas). They travel throughout the nearby towns, proclaiming the power of the Crow God and providing free dical supplies and food to peasants and the holess. These three things may seem trivial to those coming from the Holy Capital, but they are sorely needed by the surrounding impoverished towns.
The transformation of miners and farrs into missionaries undoubtedly appears awkward. Although they wear scholarly robes and hold books with an air of earnestness, this does not hide their coarseness and the lifestyles they are accustod to. Yes, you can see the new missionaries of the Crow God Sect sitting squatted, and open-chested on roadside stones, preaching the teachings, eating hard biscuits dipped in salt with the surrounding peasants as lunch, and even holding their bibles upside down when praying for divine power. Such behavior makes those from the northern upper society sneer but endears them to the local peasants. Perhaps this is actually beneficial, allowing missionaries of the Crow God Sect to better develop followers among the peasantry. What’s more, their divine power is genuine: even with the bible held upside down, they can still heal all diseases and be imbued with divine strength. What could be more convincing than real miracles? Their markedly peasant deanor only serves to better highlight their power.
Under the dual forces of miracles and missionaries, the Holy Capital has already garnered significant fa. Now, a continuous stream of wanderers from other places are arriving. Most are looking to try their luck because it is said that the Crow God Sect provides free food to passing refugees (a limited supply; after that, one must contribute work to earn living supplies, for surely the Crow God Sect cannot sustain thousands of idlers waiting under the holy tree until they turn moldy). Others co out of curiosity or desperation. Regardless of the reason leading people here, ninety-nine percent of them choose to stay: compared to anywhere else in the southern region, this god-graced place is filled with unbelievable hope. Here, at least you won’t go hungry.
So far, this small town of Holy Capital has accommodated almost twice its original population. The expansion of the town has been brisk, with new construction sites and open-air workshops visible everywhere on the surrounding barren lands, as well as simple tents set up by newcors. Typically, in other places, no one dares to camp outside the city walls overnight because dangerous beasts roam the southern wasteland, with territories occupied by wolf packs larger than human activity areas. Yet here is an exception: the entire mining area is protected by a huge divine shield, which even a northern duchy army would likely be torn to shreds by the storm unleashed by the shield. As long as you are under the shield and accept the teachings of the Crow God, you are safer than anywhere else.
Such significant population movent, and even private city-building, have not attracted attention from any local official departnts, which naturally piques my curiosity. Upon inquiry, I found that this is caused by the unique survival environnt in the southern region.
The south is a barren lawless land where most grains cannot be grown, rivers are scarce, and the largest plain region is unsuitably a desert area with soil mixed with tals harmful to crops and humans. The only economic sources in the entire southern region are a few limited kinds of minerals. For hundreds of years, the northern duchies have treated this place as a mineral outpost and a dumping ground for various wastes—including serious criminals, destitute nobles who lost political battles, and of course, slaves exiled here to mine. There are makeshift towns gathered overnight due to mineral veins everywhere here, as well as derelict human settlents where mining has dried up. “Exile,” “slaves,” “lifelong outcasts,” these three systems have accumulated countless holess in the southern region. These people are shipped to mines en masse as tools, and their fate is tied to the veins for life. When minerals are depleted, the authorities don’t even bother to disperse these outcasts—they rely relocate local overseers and soldiers and their valuables, leaving most outcasts to fend for themselves. Of course, out of so-called noble “benevolence,” they leave a year’s worth of food supplies or so, and issue the remaining civilians a “mine free mining permit,” allowing them to freely extract whatever is left in abandoned mines—if they can still find anything at all.
This is the absurd survival status of the southern region. One might say that every world has its own set of rules.
The southern region lacks distinct jurisdictional boundaries. Nominally governed by northern duchies, such governance has beco a re formality. The increasing number of southern exiles has, in turn, weakened the control power of the northern duchies over this area. This embarrassing situation is the result of centuries of accumulation, and now, this place has essentially beco a land of self-governance…uh, there are no kings, but it is indeed self-sufficient. Thus, such a chaotic social environnt has provided Lilina an opportunity, and of course, also granted the soon-to-rise half-dragon race a chance.
A crowd ca out to greet us, not only the clergy of the Holy Capital (well…it still feels a bit awkward to say these words outright!) but also ordinary town residents, and even children running around with adults. This shows that the Crow God Sect still lacks organization. After all, the main mbers of this sect are concentrated within the ranks of farrs and miners. This is not classism—the personnel composition is undeniably insufficient for a sect’s developnt. Lilina believes the current imdiate task is not only to expand the Crow God’s influence but also to recruit intellectuals and the nobilities into the faith. The forr can provide huge help in compiling doctrines and preaching in upper society, while the latter can open many doors for the Crow God Sect in various fields. A batch of carefully selected missionaries has already been sent to the North, and according to the reports back, their progress is promising. The best news is that the Holy Capital will soon have a group of teachers who can teach children to read—sothing much needed here.
Lilina dismissed the bustling followers and civilians trailing behind us and led us on a tour of this rapidly constructing town. Currently, the Holy Capital feels like an enlarged version of the Sen Tu Dark Alley District: dilapidated, chaotic, old, and entirely unplanned.
The entire town resembles the peel of an orange from above, with large areas separated by expanses of wasteland, with no order, only connecting in the middle. Except for the circle of relatively good buildings around the town’s central square, everywhere else is a so-called “pile of houses” — dilapidated wooden and stone houses are built chaotically with few straight roads visible. Gray and black are the main colors of this small town, as houses and road surfaces are covered with black-grey ore dust from the mines; the surface is paved with gravel that is a byproduct of the mining, and this is still considered a relatively good area. In more places the road surfaces haven’t been dealt with at all, with exposed dirt that is pitted and full of black, greasy wastewater.
“Southern mining towns are all like this,” Big Sister sighed, “The people who built these towns had only one requirent: just survive. There’s no more support from the Northern Duchy anyway, and even if they build it up, there’s no more economic value, so it ends up like this. Those large houses in the center of the town were once for overseers and soldiers; they were the local emperors of the mining towns, sent by the Northern Duchy to escort slaves and exiled criminals, supervise mining operations, and left without hesitation when the mines beca depleted.”
“But now it’s completely different!” Lilina cheerfully pointed to the side, where there was a construction site, and a whole bunch of seriously collapsed houses were being torn down. Dozens of strong townspeople were preparing to build new houses; they were cutting large timber and stone blocks on-site in the wasteland using… using iron sheets and even their palms?!
I finally noticed this curious detail: a bare-chested, dark-faced uncle placed a block of wood on a stand, then raised his right hand and prayed loudly, “Gah! Mighty Crow God above! Grant your believer the strength of iron and the blessing of the magical sword!” Then slash, a cold light flashed — indeed a cold light flashed — along the edge of his hand which was suffused with a tallic sheen, extending half a ter outward, slicing through the wood under this tallic cold light.
I: “…”
“There is a lack of tools here, but the construction speed is faster than any other town,” Vanilla said happily, her face flushed. She rarely spoke, but couldn’t help herself this ti, “Everyone relies on the Crow God’s blessing to beco imnsely strong, with steel added to the body; even the most robust tools can’t compare to the power gained from a prayer. The only pity is not everyone gains the needed strength, and there still aren’t enough people who can participate in construction.”
I nodded: “I know, praying to this silly bird is sowhat like a lottery. You never know what kind of enhancent you’ll get.”
Little Crow puffed out her cheeks when she heard calling her a silly bird: “Gah!” She still understood what silly bird ant.
The town was filled with scenes of enthusiastic labor everywhere: rebuilding houses, repairing roads, crafting tools. If there is anything distinct about this shabby abandoned town compared to other places in the South, it’s that every single person here bursts with inner passion and joy, hopeful and motivated for the first ti to build their own hos, confidently believing they will eventually create a prosperous holand with their own hands. Along the way, almost everyone we t stopped to greet us: of course, their greetings were directed at Little Crow and Vanilla. I don’t know how Lilina managed it; she actually succeeded in granting the silly bird and Vanilla such high prestige. If the Crow God itself was a majestic deity, this would be easy to explain, but as it stands, the Crow God usually only eats, sleeps, and acts cute, occasionally bowing down and picking up little stones or collecting sticks to build a nest. Can such a figure truly gather prestige?
Ultimately, one must say Lilina is quite adept at fooling people.
Finally, following the town’s only main road, we arrived at the Central Square, the town’s “Holy Land.” Only the town’s original inhabitants can co close; newcors “pilgrims” from elsewhere are temporarily restricted to the outskirts. Even food is gathered here and delivered externally, because it houses the two most important Holy Artifacts of the Crow God Sect: the Holy Tree and Crow God Feathers. No one dares to let unknown individuals approach casually. Around the square, we saw the first “Church Knights” organized by townspeople, impressive indeed: these church knights wielding pitchforks and miner’s picks are absolutely unprecedented.
“Their combat power is not inferior to the strongest Barbarian Beast Knights from the north; the Church Knight Commander’s thrown pitchfork can penetrate a giant stone wall fifteen ters thick,” Lilina whispered as she nodded in greeting to those Crow God warriors cloaked in black robes. “Although things are a bit rundown now, their weaponry will be crafted soon enough. Everything here is being built rapidly. By then, the Crow God Sect’s Knight Order will be the world’s strongest soldiers. Imagine, strength greater than a mammoth, able to instantly cast Shadow Arrows and Lightning Chains… The Crow God’s power leans towards combat.”
Lean towards combat… I suddenly thought of whether the Crow God Sect could align with the Ravens…
Just then, a burst of excited shouting from nearby interrupted my thoughts. Following the sound, I saw a group of children running out of the alley ahead, and our team’s Cat Lady happily greeted them.
“Rabi Teacher! You’re back!”
“Teacher, is the big city fun?”
“Teacher teacher, we’ve finished writing those characters!”
A bunch of ragged yet particularly cheerful children skipped around, shouting noisily, and we were montarily stunned. It was then that Lilina seed to suddenly rember, realizing: “Oh, I forgot to ntion, this cat is one of only two teachers in the town now, responsible for teaching children how to read and write, the other teacher being the old man with strict rules we saw earlier.”
Lin Xue bead: “Wow, you really can’t tell, that cat is quite close to children, usually like a silent gourd.”
“Only that group of kids rembers her na.” Big Sister covered her face, unable to suppress a sigh.
Everyone: “…” (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welco to visit Qidian (qidian) and cast recomndation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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