Sacred Souls: Genesis

Chapter 106: Chapter 105: A New Map (Please Recommend!)

The Holy Spirit’s server was undergoing maintenance, and the world of the Tower of Trial was also in maintenance.

This was manifested by the Tower Spirit kicking all the natives out of the plane of the Tower of Trial.

When Jiang Qiao arrived at the plane of the Tower of Trial, the whole Tower of Trial was empty save for the Tower Spirit, who floated in mid-air, somewhat fearfully watching Jiang Qiao’s arrival.

Next to the Tower Spirit was another person, and when the Tower Spirit noticed Jiang Qiao’s appearance, it immediately hid behind that person.

This was a slightly overweight woman who appeared to be in her fifties or sixties. Although not particularly beautiful, just the first glance inexplicably gave off a feeling of kindliness and approachability.

But the woman’s hair was dark green, and some flowers were growing on it.

Earth Mother Goddess?

Without thinking much, Jiang Qiao guessed she might be a god from the world of the natives, possibly the Harvest Goddess or someone like the Earth Mother Goddess, judging by her attire.

“Does the Devouring God prefer this kind of youthful appearance?” she asked the moment she saw Jiang Qiao. “Perhaps I should change my looks.”

“Uh… there’s no need for that. Let’s just start with an introduction.”

Jiang Qiao maintained a certain distance and habitually cast a reconnaissance spell, a habit every player developed after playing Holy Spirit for a long time.

That was the meeting reconnaissance spell, no matter what new thing you see, the first thought that pops into one’s head is only three words: ‘reconnaissance spell’.

Some information about the woman quickly appeared before Jiang Qiao.

‘Name: ???, Level: ?, Description: Seeing so many question marks, it’s best to be careful. We temporarily cannot investigate this world.’

Fine then.

“My believers have given me the name Gai Rui’en, I was born from the land of Herilan, and I am also the incarnation of Herilan’s earth,” she said, giving a very brief self-introduction.

From this, Jiang Qiao roughly understood her identity; Herilan was the name of the native world of the Tower of Trial.

That her name was given by her believers suggested to Jiang Qiao that perhaps it was not this goddess who created the world, but rather the believers of the goddess who created the goddess.

The more believers there were, the more powerful the goddess would become.

“I am Jiang Qiao, the intermediary of the Devouring God, and I’m curious to know your express purpose for seeking us out.”

Jiang Qiao could feel that the Earth Mother Goddess was specifically waiting here for his arrival.

Players had been furiously grinding the Tower of Trial recently, but however one slices it, the wool comes from the sheep; all the holy relics from within the Tower of Trial came from the Tower Spirit.

After the players arrived, the rate of holy relics produced in the Tower of Trial tripled.

If the Earth Mother Goddess had come like a parent seeking to reclaim what was theirs, Jiang Qiao had nothing to fear.

At this stage, although the players’ combat power might not be a match for the Earth Mother Goddess, Jiang Qiao only needed to give up the plane of the Tower of Trial, and the Earth Mother Goddess wouldn’t be able to do anything to the players.

Although it’s a bit cowardly… it’s the best solution.

“I can’t feel any evil thoughts in you, Devouring God is not as malevolent as the legends say, you possess a righteous soul,” the Earth Mother Goddess suddenly said.

Wait a minute… why is she suddenly praising me? I’m the one who brought all the players that bullied her children!

“Specifically… is there something you need?” Jiang Qiao didn’t like to beat around the bush.

The Earth Mother Goddess pondered for a moment and then conjured up a circle of tables and chairs made from trees, while also gesturing for Jiang Qiao to sit down before continuing the conversation.

Jiang Qiao, without any psychological burden, chose a tree stump to sit on while Hai Lan, who had been following him, took up the duty of serving tea and water.

In this world, Jiang Qiao was merely an incarnation; even if something unfortunate happened, at most he would just resurrect, and it was the same for Hai Lan… Hai Lan’s ordinary aura even led the Earth Mother Goddess to mistake her as Jiang Qiao’s maid.

“Throughout the long years, I have been in a state of deep slumber, rarely interfering with the mortal world’s affairs, but something half a year ago forced me to stay awake,” she spoke.

With a wave of the Earth Mother Goddess’s hand, the wooden round table began to sprout trees and grass, which gradually formed a picture like a three-dimensional projection in front of Jiang Qiao.

“In the words of my followers… it’s like cancer,” the Earth Mother Goddess said.

“An incurable disease?” Jiang Qiao heard the Earth Mother Goddess’s words translated by the system, her original words being an untreatable disease, so the system translated it directly to cancer.

“Yes,” the Earth Mother Goddess pointed to a wooden hump on the table and said, “This is an island in our world called Brand Isle. It used to be an insignificant island in the ocean until the energy inside of me began to expand uncontrollably, and this island, as the core, started to draw the energy from within me.”

“Then what?”

Jiang Qiao listened, feeling it was somewhat like the reaction when a star’s life nears its end and begins to expand rapidly, but if looked at from the perspective of life, it seemed somewhat like the mutation of cancer cells.

“The entire island, be it the land, the plants, or the creatures on it, started to crystallize rapidly. After crystallization, these children become extremely violent, and the power they hold exceeds the range they should possess,” said the Earth Mother Goddess.

“What do you want us to do? Investigate the cause of the island’s crystallization?” Jiang Qiao asked.

“I have heard that Devouring God can devour all existence. I hope you can completely… consume this island,” the Earth Mother Goddess paused before adding, “If that’s not possible, I hope you can contain the expansion of the island to the greatest extent.”

This is the new main quest, and it’s an expansion-oriented one at that.

“You trust us just like that?”

If Jiang Qiao remembered correctly, Devouring God was all bad reputation on the star chart, which might be only slightly better than the Obliteration Legion.

“I have been observing your Chosen Ones for a long time; they are all a group of… kind children,” the Earth Mother Goddess spoke with a clear conscience, “Moreover, your soul feels very pure to me. Most importantly, I now can only seek help from the legendary Devouring God, as my incarnation near that island could even be affected.”

The players are all a bunch of kind… children? Big brother, there seems to be something off with your definition of kindness.

“What about the natives on that island, and what if your followers were to land on it?” Jiang Qiao had already begun to consider accepting the commission; this was an opportunity.

But if the crystals on the island truly enhanced one’s strength significantly, those clever humans would certainly not miss the chance, regardless of whether the crystals caused side effects, they would likely try to land on the island.

“Kill them,” the Earth Mother Goddess said these two words with a benevolent tone.

“Are you sure?” Jiang Qiao had assumed the Earth Mother Goddess was the sort of Madonna figure, but it seemed she wasn’t as compassionate towards her followers as she appeared to be.