Chapter 365: The Ritual
Perhaps because he knew Xu Zhi was “highly gifted,” the priest handed the items he had been organizing to the man who had opened the door and personally began introducing the congregation to her.
Most of what he said went in one ear and out the other.
It was largely the usual rhetoric used to fool people, mixed with lengthy descriptions of how oppressed and miserable the drifters of the lower district were.
Xu Zhi appeared to nod along repeatedly, but in reality, her mind was elsewhere.
Most of her attention remained focused on the Lost Land.
Only after the priest finally finished his long-winded speech did he lead her upstairs.
The second floor seemed to serve as both a storage area and living quarters.
Only one person stood guard there—a boy who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.
He appeared somewhat malnourished and was probably a drifter of little significance before joining the congregation.
What caught Xu Zhi’s attention was that his mind still seemed relatively clear.
The moment he heard footsteps on the stairs, a trace of alertness and caution appeared in his eyes.
“Du Cheng, come here. Let me introduce you.”
The priest gestured toward him.
“This is our newest member. She’s about to join us. Her name is—”
The priest suddenly paused.
Only then did he realize that after speaking for so long, he had never actually asked for Xu Zhi’s name.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Zhi replied,
“My surname is Ling. I only have a surname, no given name.”
It was nonsense.
But not entirely nonsense.
After all, wasn’t the Spirit Body technically surnamed Ling?
The priest nodded and did not bother questioning whether she was telling the truth.
The names of lower-district drifters came in every imaginable variety.
Some didn’t even have surnames.
Others named themselves after mechanical components.
Single-character names were also common.
“Take her to an empty room,” the priest instructed Du Cheng.
“She’ll stay there from now on. Tomorrow night, she’ll officially join us.”
After speaking to Du Cheng, the priest turned back to Xu Zhi.
“Get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow’s ritual is important.”
“Don’t stay up wandering around all night.”
There was obvious meaning hidden beneath those words.
The priest clearly did not trust her.
He was warning her not to snoop around the building or attempt to escape.
Xu Zhi nodded absentmindedly.
“Don’t worry, Father. I won’t even step outside my room tonight.”
She truly had no interest in investigating what these Cup followers were plotting or hiding.
She had genuinely come here to join them.
That night, Xu Zhi lay on the bed and closed her eyes.
Although this Spirit Body was technically an ordinary human, it had been infused with an enormous amount of extraordinary energy.
As a result, its innate talent was exceptionally high.
Even without stepping onto the extraordinary path, Xu Zhi could vaguely sense, through instinct alone, that she was being watched.
Apparently, the believers here did not trust her.
Xu Zhi merely smiled indifferently.
Then she shifted most of her attention back to the Lost Land.
Less than four hours had passed since the Spirit Body completed everything.
It was now the darkest part of the night.
Nothing unusual seemed to have happened during that time.
At least, nothing except the fog.
The mist covering the ground had grown steadily denser.
During the day, it had only reached a person’s calves.
Now it had risen high enough to swallow an entire person.
Xu Zhi had no intention of finding out what it felt like inside that fog.
The Spirit Body still had important matters to deal with, and this was hardly the time to tempt fate in the Lost Land.
About half an hour later, the fog thickened even further.
Even the moonlight seemed veiled behind a thin layer of gauze, becoming hazy and dim.
It was at that moment that Xu Zhi finally sensed something unusual.
Or rather—
She sensed something familiar.
The air gradually became colder.
Under the moonlight, the trees seemed to grow taller and taller.
Their swaying shadows resembled either the claws of monsters or loyal guardians standing watch.
Xu Zhi’s heart skipped a beat.
She recognized this feeling.
She had already suspected where it came from and expected to encounter it somewhere within the Lost Land.
What surprised her was that she could sense its presence even here.
No.
This could no longer be considered the shallow regions.
Without teammates slowing her down, she had traveled at remarkable speed and had already surpassed the depth she reached during her previous visit.
The mark of Midnight on her palm grew slightly warm.
Fortunately, only a faint trace of Midnight’s aura existed here.
As expected.
Midnight truly existed somewhere in the depths of the Lost Land.
Just like within the Federation, it only descended after nightfall.
If she wanted to reach the depths of the Lost Land, then Midnight was something she could never avoid.
“What terrible news…”
The reason native creatures rarely ventured out at night was probably because they could sense Midnight’s presence.
They knew that traveling after dark might lead them into another world entirely.
After all, Midnight belonged to the dead.
To lose oneself within Midnight was to risk becoming yet another fresh grave in its domain.
“The aura is weak. The true Midnight should be much deeper inside the Lost Land. I might not go that far this time.”
She had no idea what punishment Midnight might inflict upon her.
Regardless, caution was essential.
For the rest of the night, Xu Zhi remained quietly perched in the tree.
Only when the first rays of dawn illuminated the treetops did she finally sense Midnight’s aura fading away.
The sounds of insects and birds gradually returned to the forest.
Xu Zhi once again resumed her journey toward her followers.
Most extraordinary beings entered the Lost Land primarily for its vast extraordinary resources.
Xu Zhi also lacked resources.
However, she wanted to reunite with her followers as quickly as possible.
As a result, she ignored extraordinary plants and passed up opportunities to hunt extraordinary creatures.
The Lost Land was simply too vast.
Despite traveling at a respectable pace, two full days of movement had only carried her beyond the very outermost regions.
She was still technically within the perimeter.
Fortunately, the distance between her and her followers continued shrinking.
If nothing unexpected happened, she should be able to meet Xiao Zhen before Midnight descended tomorrow night.
Xu Zhi spent the entire day traveling.
Meanwhile, behind her, something unusual was occurring at every entrance to the Lost Land.
Large groups of investigators were suddenly entering in wave after wave.
These Lost Land investigators, cultivated by various factions, normally only mobilized in large numbers when major events occurred or when some extremely rare resource was needed.
Yet never before had such a massive operation taken place.
Many people who witnessed the scene began speculating.
Had some extraordinary treasure been discovered within the Lost Land?
Others made even bolder claims.
Perhaps it was related to Ascension.
Otherwise, why would so many investigators be deployed at once?
Even when a new Proxy had suddenly emerged within the Lost Land, the various factions had never sent out so many investigators simultaneously.
Something major had definitely happened.
This became the unanimous conclusion among the extraordinary community.
Lotus City.
Lower District.
“Do not resist.”
“Do not be afraid.”
“God is merely watching you.”
Inside the dimly lit building, Xu Zhi controlled the Spirit Body as it sat within a familiar-looking ritual array.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a Cup-attributed circuit.
The circuit appeared to have been inscribed using a mixture of blood and extraordinary materials.
At its eight points stood eight burning red candles.
The Spirit Body sat at the center.
Directly before her, at the uppermost point of the circuit, were three portions of blood food.
To Xu Zhi, however, these offerings were rather mediocre.
They were not even one-tenth as valuable as the blood food that had mysteriously appeared beside her bed in the past.
Life as a Cup follower in the lower district seemed rather difficult.
Standing before her, the priest chanted hymns of praise.
In his hand was a blood-red goblet filled to the brim with blood.
When the hymn reached a particular verse, he suddenly raised the goblet and scattered its contents across the circuit.
Instantly, the relatively simple circuit activated.
A faint crimson glow began to spread across its lines.
