Yuan Ming looked at the crescent pattern on the disk and couldn't shake off a strange feeling. It seemed familiar, as though he'd seen it somewhere before or someone had described it to him, but he couldn't quite recall.

At that moment, the blood moon pattern on the disk suddenly flashed with light. After absorbing a massive amount of Desire Power, its blood-colored light flared up, emitting an eerie glow that began to cover the body of the Divine Statue.

Yuan Ming's heart stirred as he noticed the most intense blood color was at the chest of the statue, becoming fainter towards the head and feet.

But as time passed, this blood color would inevitably cover the entire statue.

At the same time, he noticed that the fruits in the bowl on the table, originally fresh, were rapidly shriveling up at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if something was absorbing all their moisture.

The Nether Moon God Statue had been tampered with!

Yuan Ming's expression shifted subtly with the realization, and his first instinct was to destroy the statue, but reason told him not to act rashly.

Thus, with great reluctance, he observed the entire prayer process.

When the crowd had dissipated, Yuan Ming called over Hu Ji and his wife again.

"You said this Divine Statue was brought by Xu Che two months ago to replace the original one?" Yuan Ming asked.

"Yes," Hu Ji replied respectfully.

"Was this black disk with the blood moon pattern on it there at that time?" Yuan Ming continued.

"The disk was there at that time, but the blood moon pattern only appeared recently; I thought it was a divine sign," said Hu Ji.

Yuan Ming's gaze darkened; it appeared the abnormalities in the Desire Power were related to the blood moon pattern.

"Do you know where Xu Che is?" he inquired.

"The Divine Envoy is busy spreading the faith and travels between cities; I do not know his current whereabouts," Hu Ji shook his head, answering honestly.

"When he delivered the Divine Statue, did he say anything to you? Or display any strange behaviors?" Yuan Ming pressed further.

"He didn't say much... he just gave us a prayer script and urged us to recite it with sincerity, nothing else," Hu Ji answered, somewhat puzzled. Weren't the actions of the Divine Envoy guided by Yuan Ming? Why was Yuan Ming asking him about it?

Despite his confusion, he did not dare to question, as the prayer script mentioned that doubting the Divine was the greatest disrespect to the Divine, and after death, one would descend into the heart-plucking purgatory.

Yuan Ming knew the prayer script he mentioned must be what everyone had been chanting softly earlier. He had assumed it was something Xu Che concocted to fool people, but now it seemed the matter was not so simple.

Xu Che had either met with an accident or betrayed him.

Whatever the case, Yuan Ming would not ignore it.

"Lord Nether Moon God, do you wish to find Envoy Xu Che?" Hu Ji attempted to ask.

"Can you contact him?" Yuan Ming's brow lifted.

"I cannot, but perhaps other Divine Envoys can," said Hu Ji with a shake of his head.

Yuan Ming paused, surprised. There were other Divine Envoys? Could they be other Cultivator followers?

But he did not voice his question; instead, he merely nodded, signaling Hu Ji to continue.

"At the end of every month, a Divine Envoy comes to collect the statue. Perhaps you could inquire about Xu Che when the next one arrives," Hu Ji suggested.

"Collect the statue?" Yuan Ming frowned.

"Yes, at the end of each month, someone comes to take the statue away, saying it needs to be baptized," Hu Ji said slowly, his face filled with doubt.

He found the Divine in front of him quite strange for being seemingly ignorant of these matters.

"Just so happens, tomorrow is the end of the month, and the two Divine Envoys should be coming," Hu Ji added.

"Very well," Yuan Ming uttered, nodding.

…

The next day, at dusk once more.

Shortly after everyone finished praying and dispersed, two figures streaked in from outside.

The newcomers were cloaked in large black robes with half-moon masks on their faces, one male and one female, both Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

As soon as the two entered Hu Ji's courtyard, they were caught in Yuan Ming's Illusion Technique. Despite Yuan Ming being right in front of them, the pair could not see him at all.

Hu Ji and his wife had already been controlled by Yuan Ming's Illusion Technique, their memories of his presence erased.

After entering the yard, Hu Ji and his wife performed the same kneeling ritual as before, just without the kissing of the shoes.

Throughout the entire process, the two remained silent, not speaking to Hu Ji or his wife at all but just picked up the Divine Statue from the stone table and left.

Yuan Ming followed suit, trailing behind them quietly.

They saw two individuals take away the divine statue from Hu Ji's home and then proceeded to two other courtyards in the city, one of which was the residence of the Wusu City Lord himself.

The Wusu City Lord, at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, turned out to be a faithful believer of the Moon God Sect, not only presenting the Nether Moon God Statue but also a chest of gold and silver treasures.

After taking away these three divine statues, the two Divine Envoys finally left Wusu City.

Yuan Ming originally thought that they would return directly, but to his surprise, they went to several nearby cities, retrieved a few more divine statues, and did not return to their lair until late at night.

It was a nameless temple built into a mountain cliff.

The mountain gate, not much different from ordinary temples, was inlaid into the mountain side like an archway.

The red lacquer door studded with copper nails was open outward, revealing a deep passage that led directly into the cliffside, with flickering flames visible within.

The two Divine Envoys entered, and Yuan Ming took out a grey cloak, then cast the Hidden Element Technique to conceal his aura and followed them in.

The corridor, one zhang high and two zhang wide, was clearly man-made, with fire basins hanging from the walls every fifteen steps, casting patches of light and shadow that endowed the place with a mystical ambience.

After advancing inward for over a hundred yards, Yuan Ming followed them into a spacious stone chamber.

The walls of the chamber were painted with various scenes of goddesses flying through the heavens and the worship of deities. On the left and right sides, as well as directly ahead, stood bizarre-looking divine statues.

On the left, there was a statue of an angry muscular figure with black skin and hair standing on end, bare-chested and eyes wide open, holding a treasure basin in one hand and a golden mace in the other, looking fierce and menacing.

On the right, stood a three-headed, six-armed Armored Evil Ghost holding chains, shackles, and scimitars as torture instruments, looking even more terrifying and dreadful.

Only the statue directly in front was a reclining figure with an exposed chest and flowing hair, with a kind and compassionate face, holding a lotus, indistinguishable as male or female, exuding a look of sorrow.

The appearance of these divine statues was quite different from the Immortals Yuan Ming knew of, and he wondered if they were unique deities worshiped only in the Black Wind Desert.

However, when his gaze landed on the chest of the reclined statue, his eyes suddenly fixed on a particular spot.

There on its chest was a pattern of two overlapping moons.

Yuan Ming recognized this pattern; it was the mark of the Wuyue Sect.

No wonder he had felt a strangely familiar sense of oddity when he first saw that black disc and the crescent mark.

"Is this related to the Wuyue Sect?" Yuan Ming couldn't help wondering in surprise.

Before he could figure it out, he saw the two people turn around and walk towards the statue on the left.

Yuan Ming followed the two, and behind the statue, he discovered a cave entrance as tall as a person built into the wall next to the statue.

Just stepping into the entrance of the cave, Yuan Ming sensed the presence of a forbidding aura, although the techniques used were not very sophisticated.

He muttered to himself, and his body surfaced with strands of black light, gradually becoming semi-transparent and stepping forward as if his body, like a Spiritual Body, passed through the forbidden barrier.

This was the Void Transformation Technique, a secret technique transcribed on the White Jade Plate from the Six Desires Venerable, which could temporarily turn the Physical Body into a ghostly form, passing through Forbidden Light Screens.

Yuan Ming, a novice in practice, could only barely wield the basics of the Void Transformation Technique, but it was more than enough to pass through the crude prohibition before him.

After walking several dozen steps further in, the path ahead suddenly brightened up.

Yuan Ming, following the two men who were deceived by his Illusion Technique, entered a spacious stone chamber and was immediately met with blinding Golden Light.

Inside, everything shimmered brightly, reflecting the luster of all manner of gold and gemstones. Piles of golden sand and Gold Coins littered the ground like leaves and soil, adorned with colorful jewelry and jade artifacts.

To an ordinary mortal, this would be a stupendous wealth, yet in Yuan Ming's eyes, it was no different from dirt.

However, a few Magic Artifacts placed on the shelves in the corner could still catch his attention, but that was about it.

Seeing that the two Divine Envoys casually dumped the treasure presented by the Wusu City Lord into the pile of gold and silver before exiting the chamber, Yuan Ming followed them once more.

This time, the two headed towards the benevolent-looking Divine Statue in the center, behind which was another cave.

This passage was even longer, and before they reached the end, intermittent voices could already be heard from inside.

Listened to those voices sounded somewhat familiar to Yuan Ming, could it be Xu Che's voice?

When they arrived at the entrance of the cave, the two men stepped in, while Yuan Ming stopped at the doorway and carefully peeked inside.

The space outside the cave was enormous, the size of seven or eight rooms, and was also brightly lit.

However, unlike the previous place where gold and silver treasures were stored, in the center of this area stood a towering three-zhang-tall black statue.

The statue resembled a young Goddess in royal attire, with a fan-shaped adornment atop her head, hair tied up high, eyes covered with a black ribbon, hands slightly outstretched in front, exuding a domineering presence.

In one of her palms rested a black disc, etched with the crescent mark of the Wuyue Sect.

At the feet of the black Goddess statue, on a round altar, were placed palm-sized Golden Lotus Lamps, each with a Nether Moon God Statue positioned behind it.

A rough count by Yuan Ming revealed there were startlingly more than three hundred.

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