As Yuan Ming was surveying the circular altar, the two Divine Envoys who had followed him all the way here also stepped up the dais with solemn expressions and placed the Nether Moon God Statue they brought back on the altar.

Afterward, the two of them moved back to an area against the wall, where already stood more than a dozen pairs of men and women wearing the same attire and masks, all standing in solemn silence.

At that moment, Yuan Ming saw a familiar figure walk to the front of the altar.

Despite the fact that he was cloaked in a large black robe and wore a mask, Yuan Ming still recognized him at a glance—it was Xu Che, who had lost contact with him for a long time.

Yuan Ming's gaze darkened as he suppressed the urge to confront Xu Che, wanting to see what exactly they were up to, only to see Xu Che begin to form a strange spell with his hands, interlocking them in front of himself as he chanted some unknown spell.

At the same time, the pairs of men and women surrounding them also began to mimic the same gestures, chanting the spell.

A moment later, Xu Che suddenly raised one hand while drawing a line across the palm with a finger from the other hand.

He immediately made an incision in his palm, letting the blood drip onto the ground.

"Drip-drop"

"Drip-drop"

The droplets of blood, like pearls off a string, fell to the ground, slowly merging into the indented impressions in the earth, seeping bit by bit into the ground.

The next instant, the ground began to glow red as a circular Array with a radius of three zhang lit up from underneath.

As a surge of red light rose, all the flames on the altar's Lotus Lamps turned from gold to red, casting reflections of sinister light upon the statues.

Yuan Ming's eyes sharpened, and he soon saw light emitting from the Divine Statues, as strands of white light began to ascend and converge toward the tall goddess statue in the center.

"Absorbing Desire Power?" Yuan Ming wondered.

Had Xu Che truly betrayed him and converted to the Wu Yue God Sect, offering the Desire Power he had collected to this new deity?

All the white light was absorbed by the pitch-black goddess statue, gradually converging onto the black disc in the goddess statue's hands, illuminating the crescent mark upon it.

The next instant, the crescent mark lit up with a bloody glow as slender beams of light burst forth, each directed at every Nether Moon God Statue below.

"What is this..." Yuan Ming's pupils constricted slightly.

He could tell that the aura within the slender blood-colored light was reminiscent of the pink mist he had seen in the depraved illusion, it was the same substance, only more concentrated here.

So the "baptism" Hu Ji had spoken of was to corrupt his Desire Power and store it within the Nether Moon God Statue.

If he continued his cultivation unaware, the long-term influence of this power would likely lead him to lose his mind eventually.

After returning a small portion of the contaminated Desire Power back to the Nether Moon God Statue, the operational Array ceased.

"Clap, clap..."

At this moment, a clapping sound suddenly echoed in the spacious hall.

A Bald man, bare-chested, slowly emerged from behind the statues, his skin sickly pale, with green veins clearly visible beneath it.

The man was completely bald, but he had an androgynously perfect face, his eyes pitch black with just a hint of red at the bottom, and he wore two large metal hoops in his ears, exuding an indescribable eerie aura.

At his side fluttered seven or eight naked young men and women, with shaved heads like his and the same sickly pale skin.

These young men and women seemed like pets vying for favor in front of him, each twisting their graceful figures, flocking and rubbing against him.

As if being a bit closer to him was a great honor and pleasure.

While holding a strange-looking golden staff, the Bald man, followed by his pets, approached Xu Che.

Xu Che immediately knelt, proclaiming, "Greetings, Honorable Priest."

"Xu Che, since joining our sect, you have done well," the Bald Priest acknowledged, tapping Xu Che's shoulder with the golden staff.

"Thank you for the praise, Honorable Priest, I am deeply humbled. To be favored by you is my great honor. Among all the gods in the world, only the Wu Yue God is the True God, all others are demons, false gods. I swear to worship the True God forever," Xu Che said, still kneeling and not rising, while loudly proclaiming his loyalty.

The Bald Priest seemed very satisfied, nodding as he said,

"Don't worry, the Wu Yue God sees all your sacrifices. We still haven't enough Believers to completely purify the False God of Nether Moon and reclaim it for the True God, it will take some more time. Once the purification is complete, you will receive direct succession from the Wu Yue God and become the new Priest for the entire Black Wind Desert region."

"Thank you for your grace, Honorable Priest, may you bestow upon me the Divine Talisman, to atone for my past sins," Xu Che thanked him, bowing his head in respect.

The bald priest heard this, raised his hand with a wave, and a blood-red talisman shot out, landing on Xu Che's back. The light of the talisman flashed and then completely merged into his body.

"Ugh..."

Xu Che couldn't help but arch his neck high, letting out a low, satisfied growl from deep in his throat, like that of a wild beast.

The black-robed masked people watching around them also let out roars, envy apparent in their eyes.

Yuan Ming saw this and for a moment couldn't discern whether Xu Che had truly defected of his own volition, or if he had been controlled by the strange blood talisman?

By this point, Yuan Ming felt no further need to remain concealed.

The bald priest was likely a Soul Cultivator, and not having detected him after so long, his cultivation probably wasn't that high.

The moment Yuan Ming touched his forehead with two fingers, his powerful Divine Thought surged forth like a tide.

Everyone inside the cave immediately felt the torrent of Divine Power rushing toward them, their faces showing terror.

The Divine Envoys, the naked men and women, including Xu Che, were overwhelmed with countless illusions filling their minds when they came into contact with the flood of Divine Power, as if their Sea of Consciousness was being swallowed whole.

With the next moment, the powerful Divine Power mixed with the force of the Illusion Technique caused their Sea of Consciousness to collapse, one by one their eyes rolling back as they fainted and fell to the ground.

Before passing out, Xu Che glared at Yuan Ming, filled with resentment, as if Yuan Ming was his mortal enemy!

Yuan Ming was taken aback by this; he had shown benevolence in nurturing Xu Che, and even if Xu Che had betrayed him to join the Wu Yue God Sect, his attitude should not have been this way.

The bald priest's eyes showed a brief confusion, but quickly a pink glow rose from the back of his head, and an abnormally strong Divine Power erupted, dispelling Yuan Ming's illusions and restoring clarity to his eyes.

A flicker of surprise crossed Yuan Ming's eyes; the Soul Power released by the bald priest was stronger than his, almost reaching the Sleep Witch Realm. He had truly misjudged.

"It seems that you are Yuan Ming, the one who meddled with the Nether Moon God. Your cultivation appears to be even stronger than what Xu Che has described," said the bald priest with a cold laugh, after looking Yuan Ming up and down.

"It seems like you knew I was coming all along," said Yuan Ming indifferently.

"The Wu Yue God had already given the revelation; you would return to the embrace of the True God ahead of time," the bald priest said as he kicked aside the naked men and women at his feet and took a step forward.

Yuan Ming's eyes narrowed, and then he noticed that the figure of the bald priest, who had taken a step forward, began to blur.

In the next instant, the body of the bald priest split open, and out emerged a bare-chested bald woman and a similarly naked bald man who swiftly moved to Yuan Ming's left and right sides.

Their faces bore some resemblance to the bald priest, but their sexual characteristics were distinctly different. They clung to Yuan Ming's arms like boneless snake women.

Yuan Ming's arms trembled, and black light burst forth from his palms.

Blasts of Soul Destroying Sword Energy surged out, splitting into two and striking the bald woman and the bald man.

Both their bodies were penetrated with large holes, yet there was no blood spurted, and they showed no signs of injury, exhaling murmuring sounds full of bewitching intention.

The sounds were not distinct words, more like a unique, wordless chant, carrying waves of Sound Waves impact, shaking Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

Yuan Ming's eyes instantly glazed over, his body stiffened, and he subconsciously began to chant, saying softly, "Believe in the God of Wuyue, avoid descent into the hell of reincarnation, and achieve eternal freedom..."

Pleased with this, the bald priest took a step closer to Yuan Ming, raising the staff in his hand and aiming it at Yuan Ming's forehead.

"False Gods are not worthy of redemption. Come, return to the embrace of the True God, become a part of the True God," he declared.

However, the moment the staff touched Yuan Ming's forehead, a fierce white light instantly burst out from around him.

In the blink of an eye, as if by the burning of a fierce sun fire, the illusionary forms created by the bald priest were burned to evaporation, vanishing without a trace.

As for the bald priest himself, he was already bound by a series of dark chains around his hands, feet, and neck, hung from a gallows.

"Illusion ... when?" The bald priest, realizing he had been trapped, showed a look of surprise on his face but no signs of panic.

He had always been aware of the waves of Yuan Ming's Divine Soul and had not noticed any particularly violent fluctuations, which usually would indicate whether the other side was using the power of the Divine Soul to launch illusions; this time, however, it had failed.

At that moment, Yuan Ming's figure slowly approached from the side.

"I had initially thought you were a minor character, yet you indeed possess some ability. If you are willing to seek refuge in the Wu Yue God's protection now, I might consider letting you join the sect to manage the preaching affairs across the Black Wind Desert. What do you say?" said the bald priest, his eyes shimmering with a hint of admiration.

"If I'm not mistaken, the one tied up is you. Shouldn't you be the one begging for mercy?" Yuan Ming said leisurely.

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