Chapter 15 Don't be fooled, sir_1

Negris underestimated the desperation of the hungry people for food. Even though he specified a limit to the number of worshippers, the Undead Temple was still overcrowded with civilians who'd rushed to the news. When they heard that only fervent faith could receive the king's aid, everyone eagerly flocked to the altar, intending to show the king their devout belief in the Undead or their hunger.

The crowd nearly made the neglected temple collapse; even the desperate shouts from the Minotaur aunt's family could not maintain order.

The ever-sweeping Silver Skeleton grasped its broomstick backward, the broom's end wrapped in a black mist which transformed into a large double-handed ax. This is the uniqueness of Soul Armor - it can alter its form to serve different purposes.

If you're idle and interested in practicing, it's feasible to form around a hundred and eighty or so versions. With practice, one can shift between them rapidly.

Holding the ax, the Silver Skeleton jumped onto a stone pillar beside the altar, bowed its body, and let out a silent scream from its soul.

The hustle-bustle crowd was unable to hear this wail. They only felt an icy soul-freezing energy surge through their bodies, similar to a chill running down their neck, only tens of times stronger.

Most people froze, shivering.

With the Silver Skeleton's shriek, a fence made out of white bones emerged from the ground of the temple that originally didn't have walls. This fence enclosed the Undead Temple's perimeter.

After being enraged by the Silver Skeleton and encircled by the bone fence, the crowd was reminded that this was the Undead Temple, a resting place for the Undead, not a place they could recklessly create a ruckus.

They obediently formed a queue to worship individually at the altar. When they revealed their sincere faith in the Undead, Ange felt a connection between himself and the worshippers, using the Undead Fire as a bridge, forming a Soul Network.

At this moment, Ange could even hear the inner voices of the others. It was an extraordinary sensation.

Among these prayers, most were 'please give me food'; a few were 'let me live forever'; occasional ones included 'please kill the neighbor's cunning vixen,' 'make the Resting Wind disappear,' etc. This showed Ange how complicated the inner thoughts of Life Species were.

Besides hearing all these voices, the most crucial task for Ange was converting these Faith Elemental Forces. This gave him a feeling of returning to the underground city, guiding the energy into his own body relentlessly.

A Soul Crystal is a solidification of energy produced by an Undead's soul which can be reversed to supplement the soul. Other Undead could also use it, establishing its fundamental equivalence, allowing it to be used as a currency. Any Undead would recognize its value.

Ange could use these energies to supplement his own soul. Previously, due to the need to relocate food, Ange didn't dare use it at will. Having acquired so much now, with the food to Soul Crystal ratio having reached one to one hundred, he could use it freely.

As an endless stream of Soul Energy poured into him, Ange only felt his own rapidly growing strength.

Sometimes change is rather abrupt. The Soul Fire suddenly began to shrink violently. All the flames surged inwards, forming a pulsating sphere. In the process of expansion and contraction, purer streams of Soul Energy coursed through his entire skeletal structure.

Negris noticed Ange's condition and was taken aback. "Soul Heart? I knew your soul was too solid and not like an Ashbone Skeleton. Nearly reaching the Soul Heart stage, soon your skeleton will transform into a golden structure, making you the Golden Skeleton King."

The Golden Skeleton King? It seems pretty powerful. His creator, the City Lord, is a Golden Skeleton King. Does this mean he could create other skeletons like the lord?

...

The Undead Temple's rituals thus became the norm. Devout worshippers who could faithfully offer their Soul Flame were rewarded with one jin of food. They could come every day. Ange transferred around ten tons or twenty thousand jin of food, enough for the temple's consumption for a period.

Not everyone was devout, and not everyone truly believed in the Undead. Among these two hundred people, approximately one hundred could offer their Soul Flame. Those whose belief was not firm wouldn't come again.

After a round of screening, the regular believers amounted to around two hundred people. This was a rather considerable number given the total population of the underground city was just about five thousand people and excluding some races and groups that had their own beliefs, along with some Undead, the total was even less.

Regarding the sudden rise of the Undead Temple, the management level of the underground city had considerable dispute. The Succubus Rina even proposed to prevent believers from attending worship to avoid instability.

However, as soon as she stated this proposal, she was angrily rebuked by Aisike: "Are you mad? I am also a follower of the Undead. Are you going to seal me off, too?"

Aisike is a Necromancer. How can any Necromancer not believe in the Undead?

Rina's heart skipped a beat. She'd completely forgotten about this and what's worse, the identity of the City Lord. The lord is an old Witch and is an Undead himself.

Proposing to seal off the Undead Temple on Witch's territory, Rina thought she must have been mad to make such a proposal.

Feilin, who knew she didn't mean to, consoled her. "Rina had good intentions, merely fearing the sudden appearance of an unstable element that might disrupt the current stability."

Rina nodded like a pecking chicken. Having recently joined this underground city, she wasn't very aware of the Undead Temple. But now she's understood - the Undead Temple is a place to worship the Undead.

Feilin, who knew the inside story, said: "There's no need to worry. The reopening of the temple may well become the most stable pillar of the underground city. Plus, they're continuously distributing grains from the temple which can mitigate our food shortage. It's a fantastic thing. Just pretend it isn't happening and don't disturb them."

Klegg, who sat on the other side, revealed a smile that read 'just as I thought.' He knew it all along. Feilin suddenly brought back loads of grain a few days ago, and now with the sudden reopening of the temple and its distribution of food, anyone with a brain could link the two events. Only the brainless Succubus could be blabbering nonsense.

When everyone reached a consensus, Feilin changed the topic. "How's the idea of using Luminous Moss as a supplement light source for crops coming along?"

Aisike and Rina gazed at each other and lastly turned to Klegg.

Klegg replied: "It failed. It couldn't grow in the fields. Planting it too far would make the light from the Luminous Moss too weak to provide lighting. Only by planting it between two rows of crops can it survive due to its need for a wet environment, which it can't survive in ordinarily. Overwatering will result in root rot and the crops will get damp too. Master, I think this approach is unfeasible."

"Oh? Is that so? But, I've seen someone succeed with that." said Feilin.

"Impossible." The intelligent Goblin denied categorically: "Master, don't tell me you've been deceived by magic? Someone used magic to maintain crop growth temporarily to fool you. Master, you mustn't be fooled."