The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 1313

Chapter 1311
The Age of Fire, let it be extinguished by water
What Ai Huasi needed to do was very simple.
It was to decompress the Sin Thorns and obtain the authority of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy from them.
Decompressing the information in the Sin Thorn state… putting aside the scale, wasn’t this exactly what the Candlemaster had done in the past?
—This was a feat akin to “Recreating the world”.
Ai Huasi flew into mid-air, murmuring in a low voice, the dark golden radiance in his pupils shining brilliantly, “Flames can burn the Sin Thorns, allowing the sealed information to evaporate… Thus, the era of the ancients ended with fire, and our era began with fire.”
Behind him, pure white wings gradually unfurled, making him look like a god.
It was precisely because of this that the Candlemaster, symbolizing the First Flame, could decompress the Sin Thorns; while the taboo, symbolizing the sea, possessed the world-ending power to transform all things into Sin Thorns.
But that was not absolute destruction.
Rather, it was “Remembrance”—
“To this day, I finally understand… why the Candlemaster emphasized the importance of leaving behind the Sin Thorns buried beneath the Anxi Desert.”
Ai Huasi tilted his head up and slowly said, “Because of worry.”
Lily was stunned upon hearing this.
To Lily, Ai Huasi’s words were very strange.
It didn’t sound like he was talking to Lily, but rather to himself… or perhaps, to someone watching from afar whom she couldn’t see.
“When the Candlemaster first made this decision, the world was just beginning. The Material Realm had just been formed, and there was not much life on this earth. Looking at the barren world, He would have worried about the return of the Twilight Seed, which was perfectly normal…
“What if the Twilight Seed returned? What if they decompressed all the embers of the former era, and before they could develop to store themselves away for refuge, twilight were to strike again… Wouldn’t that mean that the dormant pre-civilization would be completely destroyed by themselves?
“Therefore, the Candlemaster did not approve of decompressing all the Sin Thorns. If the world were to be destroyed again… whether due to man-made disasters or natural calamities, after everything turned into nothingness, at least this tiny ember would still exist in the world.
“Perhaps, after a very, very long time… there would be a new ‘Candlemaster’, who would once again come to this world, bringing new fire and light.”
“Afterward, the bonfires of civilization gradually ignited on the ground, and one race after another rose. Society developed to its peak, and then was suddenly destroyed; the world fell into an eternal cycle of reincarnation, and the long night arrived…
“—Now, the long night is about to break.”
As he spoke, Sin Thorns began to grow on Ai Huasi’s body.
Black Sin Thorns grew from his entire body—he gradually condensed into his previous form, the Thorny Giant. Ai Huasi’s increasingly deep and muffled voice emanated from within the surrounding Sin Thorns, “And the so-called ‘taboos’ are the ancient technologies of the ancients that have been contaminated by the void. Of course, this includes the Mystical Art of transforming people into Sin Thorns.”
Although the Sin Eater Beast could control Sin Thorns and devour them… it could not “create Sin Thorns.”
When Ai Huasi had previously transformed his foster father’s sins into Sin Thorns and absorbed them as part of his own power, he subconsciously thought this was one of the abilities of the Sin Eater Beast.
But now, looking back carefully…
—In the attribute panel of the Sin Eater Beast, there was no mention of creating Sin Thorns!
Rather, for the Illuminator… their souls would transform into Sin Thorns, and they could grow white flowers and bear the fruit of Sin Thorns.
The profession of Illuminator came from the inheritance of ancient elves—an inheritance that was now broken. And the knowledge of the ancient elves was passed down from the second Sky-Piercing Tower where the Geometric Heavenly Envoy resided, which was precisely the ancient mechanism where the Winged One mages studied pre-civilization technology!
Why did the inheritance of the Illuminator break?
Why did the second King of Winged Ones ultimately obtain the Heavenly Envoy Fragment of “Sin and Punishment”?
What did the snake use to bewitch Lucifer onto the path of transcendence?
There was only one answer—
“If you add an unforgivable great sin, plus a portion of the principle of creation… that is the taboo.”
Sin Thorns could ignore the power of other paths and disintegrate all path powers; the power of Sin Thorns could transform others into Sin Thorns, regardless of their energy level; Sin Thorns stored certain information that could be preserved for an extremely long time…
—And this power, doesn’t this era also possess it?
That was the signature ability of the forbidden path, Star Ice!
“The age of devouring sin shall end here!”
Ai Huasi said, raising his left hand, “If the Age of Fire is to be destroyed, it must be extinguished by water—”
A pure white flame emerged, and then began to burn along the Sin Thorns spreading from his body.
In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a burning giant.
And as Ai Huasi burned, power continuously decompressed from the burning Sin Thorns. Surging mana condensed in the void—those smoke wisps did not evaporate but turned into black clouds, enveloping the flame giant.
—That was the power of the Great Abyss, which Ai Huasi had previously transformed into Sin Thorns, serving as the framework for Ai Huasi’s resurrection!
That Heavenly Envoy Fragment of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, which had inexplicably disappeared, existed within Ai Huasi in this manner!
And as Ai Huasi burned with fire, he clearly felt the divinity on his body gradually weakening. His emotionless and indifferent pupils gradually regained a trace of humanity, showing a flicker of life.
Or rather… Ai Huasi had released a portion of the divinity that did not originally belong to him.
“…Why must you do this?”
A faint sigh echoed by Ai Huasi’s ear, “Why not use this power to fight against the void?”
It was a voice almost identical to Ai Huasi’s.
This was the residual consciousness of the Great Abyss—not its soul, but the memory from when it briefly conversed with Ai Huasi upon its death!
This was the parting gift the Great Abyss had given Ai Huasi!
The Great Abyss had hidden its Heavenly Envoy Fragment within Ai Huasi, preparing a life-saving contingency for him. It was like an heir receiving the most precious item when a player quits.
Ai Huasi merely smiled, “Keeping it as hidden backup energy… is unlucky.”
As he spoke, a white shell, like a pearl oyster, slowly condensed from the left hand that Ai Huasi held up.
【Heavenly Envoy Fragment—Fragment of the Abyss and Taboo】
【—The laws of the Abyss and Taboo, the remnants of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s power. Used appropriately, there is a chance to become an Abyss Heavenly Envoy or a Taboo Heavenly Envoy.】
“So, you want to use them to save these ignorant people?”
The residual consciousness of the Great Abyss, half pitying, half disgusted, asked, “I left you the authority of a Heavenly Envoy… to save your life.
“With its power, if you fail… at least this world will be completely frozen into Star Ice…”
It did not possess complete thinking ability, only instinctive reactions.
And Ai Huasi, having shared some memories with the Great Abyss, naturally knew why the Great Abyss so loathed the Anxi people.
—The endless sacrifices by the Lord of Good, in a certain sense, were a sealing ritual.
The essence of the Great Abyss was also a part of Ai Shiping. How could He crave blood sacrifices?
The art of sacrifice came from the forbidden principles inherited by the Great Abyss. It was the reason for the Great Abyss’s birth, and the source of its bestiality and demonic nature. The constant sacrifices meant its existence was constantly recognized, thus it could never truly develop humanity…
It was like feeding a giant, ferocious beast with blood.
It seemed to tame it, but it was also nurturing its wildness.
They could have performed sacrifices in a clean manner—for instance, voluntary sacrifice. But they did not utilize these “clean sacrifices,” precisely because the Lords of Good, amidst their loyalty to the Great Abyss, also harbored malice.
—They did not want a true, sober god above them. Just as they did not want an Anxi King above them.
To the Abyss Heavenly Envoy, these Lords of Good were like rebellious ministers constantly feeding themselves a numbing drug, and the commoners who knew nothing but continued to worship and hate Him were deceived fools.
Their actions essentially delayed the resurrection of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy.
Not only was the Lord of Good imprisoned by the Great Abyss in this generational fate—the Great Abyss was also imprisoned by the Lords of Good and their subjects in a state of semi-consciousness!
Perhaps it was precisely for this reason that, in the original timeline… the Abyss Heavenly Envoy furiously destroyed all of Anxi.
Ai Huasi did not respond to the Heavenly Envoy.
He simply smiled silently, allowing countless burning Sin Thorns to forcefully pry open the shell like tentacles and stab into it—
(End of Chapter)