The Bureau of Religions was different from other organizations. Other than the political management staff in the Shenzhou Government, all of its members were composed of experienced Ancient Warriors.
But the Ancient Warriors on record did not have a direct superior and subordinate relationship with the Bureau of Religions, but instead, it was bounty hunter organization.
Members of the Bureau of Religions used experience points as a reward to issue tasks. Each Ancient Warrior must complete three hard-set tasks each year to accumulate a basic number of points.
Only when a certain amount of experience points had been accumulated, only then would the Ancient Warrior not had to accept compulsory tasks issued by the Bureau of Religions and decided for themselves if they wanted to accept the missions.
After all, the experience points were very attractive to Ancient Warriors. The points could be redeemed for medicinal supplies, treasures, armor, materials for refinement, and other cultivation resources from the Bureau of Religions storehouse.
The previous mission to protect Ding Ning was a compulsory task and it made Ye Duxing very unhappy. But the final result was unexpected. Although she lost her innocence, she broke through the Sky Martial Arts Realm many years earlier than expected.
This made her emotions very complicated. She was unable to balance the gains and losses. Did she lose out? Or did she take advantage of the situation?
But no matter what, it made her very happy that she no longer had to accept compulsory tasks and did not need to constantly keep in touch with the Bureau of Religions and wait for them to issue missions.
At this moment, other than the black-robed man, Long Xiaotian, Feng Ni’er, Zhuo Bufan, and a few others, everyone else had joined the chaotic battle.
After the crowd gathered and injured Ju Zhu, Ju Zhu indeed threw out the Spirit-summoning Flag. The crowd, eyes bloodshot from killing, surged forward. In order to fight for the Spirit-summoning flag, the temporary alliance immediately dissolved and the situation sank into a blood slug-fest.
One after another, warriors blinded by greed gave their lives. Even those closest to them could stab them in the back for the sake of the treasure. No one dared to trust another and each fought for themselves.
Once the Spirit-summoning Flag was in their hands, they became the target of the crowd and could not survive for more than three seconds. However, these Ancient Warriors all believed that once they had possession of the Spirit-summoning flag, they would be able to escape. The struggle went back and forth, resulting in bodies lying across the wild landscape. Screams rang out endlessly and blood stained almost the entire ground.
However, Ding Ning, who was hiding in the Spirit-summoning Flag, was studying the ghost head trapped by the water bubble with great interest.
The beautiful mermaid swan endlessly back and forth by Ding Ning’s side, blowing bubbles as she went. It was as if the space inside the Spirit-summoning Flag was not air but seawater.
The Spirit-summoning Flag was not a space treasure, but it was a strange space created by Gui Sou using a sliver of a ruthless spirit to hold and keep alive fragments of a residual soul.
It was all thanks to the mermaid’s bubble that Ding Ning could stay safely within the Spirit-summoning Flag. There was sufficient air inside the mermaid’s bubble so that he would not suffocate in this space that could only fit a ghost.
“Tianshui, what on earth is this thing?”
Nothing had come of Ding Ning’s long examination and he unconsciously asked the mermaid. He used Tianshui self-righteously as the mermaid’s name.
For some reason, Tianshui could not communicate with Ding Ning in the outside world but within her bubble, they had no problem communicating. “It’s an existence similar to mine.”
“What? Is this ghost also a totem?”
Ding Ning was greatly shocked by this answer and his eyes widened.
But Tianshui blew bubbles and said, with disdain, “How could that be? There is nothing to compare between it and us totems.”
“But you said it’s of a similar existence to you.”
Ding Ning rolled his eyes. His gaze flickered around, not daring to land on the mermaid. He forcibly hid the urge in his heart.
“My god, even if she was a totem, can’t she cover her chest? Is it good to tempt me like this? I’m not Teddy Dog, going after everything even the totem.”
Tianshui tilted her cute head and furrowed her brows. A thoughtful expression appeared on her delicate face and she seemed to be arranging her words. “I don’t know how I was born and I don’t know what kind of life form I am. I can sense an aura that is completely different from that of my type from the ghost’s body.
“Then what kind of life form are you?”
Ding Ning was very interested in the totem. This was such an incredible thing yet he could not understand the reason behind it. This made his heart itch.
“I’m not sure. I only remember some very blurry things. Many, many years ago, there seemed to a lot of… people but they were a lot taller than your type of people. They were about the height of the stone statues and they did not wear clothes like you, only an animal skin wrapped around their waist. Those people would kowtow and pray to me every day for protection. They were… sincere, yes, sincere. Then I felt very comfortable and my strength continuously increased. From then on, I protected them. At that time, I was very powerful, many times more powerful than I am now. I am too weak now.”
Tianshui spoke very slowly, organizing her words the entire time. It was as if she could not accurately describe such a feeling.
However, Ding Ning’s expression became thoughtful. Kowtowed and prayed to every day by a group of people… could it be? Was Tianshui actually a god, and could gain strength from belief?
In the inheritance Xuan Ji left him, there was some inheritance of knowledge. He knew that there were different kinds of gods in the Ethereal World. There was one among them that needed the absorb belief to continuously grow more powerful.
Such spirits cultivated the force of all living things, the goddess of battle was one of them.
This was also why the Xuan Nv tribe drew so much jealousy from the other gods when they guarded the human world for God and enjoyed the worship of humans.
But who was the person that Tianshui spoke of who was as tall as the stone statues? Was it someone of the Tianshui tribe?
Unfortunately, Tianshui’s memory was missing and could not remember the past so she could not give Ding Ning a precise answer.
As for the ghost head and her similar yet completely different existence, Ding Ning had a rough idea. After all, the ghost head and the totem were both forms of life that science could not explain. It was not wrong to say they were similar. However, the totem’s existence depended on receiving worship while the ghost head’s existence depended on devouring other’s essential blood.
Feeling the black and white flames between the two faces on the black-faced buddha, Ding Ning couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. There were too many things he didn’t understand. Was the existence of the Fire of the Underworld another phenomenon that could not be explained by science?
“Oh right, Tianshui, you’re not receiving human worship anymore, doesn’t that mean you’ll become weaker and weaker?”
Ding Ning suddenly thought of an important question and asked nervously. Tianshui carried within her the mermaid’s space and it could bring him endless aid and convenience. He did not want Tianshui to leave him one day.
The mermaid blew bubbles. “It won’t happen, all these years, I’ve eaten the soul of living creatures to barely stay alive but now that I have you, I will grow stronger and stronger.”
“Me? You aren’t planning on eating my soul, right?”
Ding Ning was startled and asked warily.
“How could I do that? I can’t even if I wanted to. Besides, I don’t like eating souls, and I only did that to stay alive.”
A pleased expression appeared on Tianshui’s pretty face. “You’re very special. I only need to lie on your body and I can absorb the power from your body and recover endlessly.”
“Power? What power?”
Ding Ning’s expression was confused. Was the mermaid absorbing power from his body? Why hadn’t he felt anything?
“That… it’s the same as… the power I got from those people who used to kowtow to worship me. I also don’t know why you would have such kind of power in your body.”
Tianshui spoke stutteringly. She did her best to express the kind of power it was but because of the lack of language, she could not explain clearly.
It mimicked the power of worship? Was it… his own prestige?
A light flashed through Ding Ning’s mind and he suddenly thought of a possibility. He had gone viral and had also healed a number of people. The patients felt gratitude toward him and spread his name through word of mouth, and this correspondingly increased his prestige.
If there was anything in his body that was similar to the power of worship, it would be prestige.
“I can’t explain it clearly but I know that if you want to obtain the other totems, you will need to have vast amounts of this kind of power. Otherwise, even if you found the other totems, they will not be willing to submit to you. After all, they are not the same as me. By being in a deep slumber, they still conserved most of their power.”
A solemn expression appeared on Tianshui’s small face and she spoke seriously.
Ding Ning’s eyes brightened. “Do you know where the other totems are?”
“Us totems are able to sense each other but I am too weak right now. Even with a little distance, I can’t sense them anymore. I can only sense where they are after I’ve recovered some of my strength.”
Tianshui shook her head in distress and caused the ripples to rise in the beautiful and alluring scene on her chest. Ding Ning’s mouth went dry and he quickly twisted his head away, not daring to look. “I will help you to quickly regain your strength.”
“Okay!”
Tianshui swung her tail contentedly and swam back and forth. “Oh right, this ghost head is not anything good. Destroy it. I can help you modify this space a little.”
“Modify?”
Ding Ning looked at her with surprise.
“Yes, modify. I can make this space into a waterless space and change it into a storage space. You can’t place living things here, only dead things. It will keep things fresh.”
Tianshui shook her tail happily as if helping Ding Ning made her very happy.
Ding Ning’s eyes lit up. Although he had the mermaid’s space, who would think there’s too much storage space? However, thinking of the Spirit-summoning Flag’s sinister appearance, his head immediately hurt. Without holding much hope, he asked, “Can the outside appearance of the space be changed?”
“Yes, I can change it into a drop of water.”
Tianshui answered carelessly but Ding Ning was wild with joy. Greedily, he asked, “Can the space be expanded?”
“No, although this is created through space materials, the quality is very bad. This size has already reached the limit.”
Tianshui furrowed her brows as if finding it very strange that she mysteriously knew these things.
“Alright, when the battle outside is over, help me modify it.”
Ding Ning suddenly understood by the Spirit-summoning Flag had such a space as this. It seemed that Gui Sou unknowingly obtained some poor quality space ore from somewhere and accidentally excavated this space that could hold ghosts while refining the ghost head.
Although it could not be expanded and that disappointed him slightly, he felt very content as he looked around the fully 30 cubic meters of space. Delightedly, he thought to himself that he could give this space to Luoxue. It would be helpful in her grocery shopping every day. She wouldn’t need to carry big and small bags.
If other people knew that Ding Ning was going to use a priceless mustard space to go grocery shopping, would they be so angry that they would spit blood and scold him for wasting natural resources?
It must be known that the ancient martial world was not without its storage artifacts. The birth of some ancient relics occasionally brought with it some storage artifacts.
Not only where storage artifacts rare, but they were also split into different levels. Currently, the biggest and most treasured storage artifact’s storage space was only about 7 to 8 cubic meters. The smallest was less than half a cubic meter. And that was sufficient to ensure a bloody battle.
A storage artifact of thirty cubic meters. If news of this got out, even the super-powerful warriors who spent most of their life in recluse would not be able to resist coming out and killing for the treasure.
