chapter 9

The town outside the Valley of the Tragic Dead was not a random place he had chosen, but part of his original plan.

Kennington Village was too remote, and there were only common beasts in the surrounding forests, which was not a good place for his believers to train.

Due to the presence of other gods, there were many churches or temples built for other gods in the Prime Material Plane. They were shrouded in divine power, and without believers in the corresponding location, it would be difficult to observe them with the Divine Eye alone.

Moreover, places without divine power were quite poor, making it a beginner's village.

Still, Xi Wei spent some time to find a few decent spots in the Prime Material Plane.

And the Valley of the Tragic Dead was one of them.

As a world with gods, the cliché-sounding 'War of Gods and Demons' had certainly happened before. The God of Games had yet to be born at the time, so Xi Wei wasn't too sure about the specifics. However, from the marks of the world's laws left in his divinity, it seemed that countless planes of the world had been embroiled in the flames of war, and the battle had been quite fierce.

It was also because that war had almost rebooted the entire world that the Trinity of Creation had completely isolated the divine realm from other planes, forbidding the gods from going to other planes.

As the link between the two continents, the Valley of the Tragic Dead, which spanned over a hundred kilometers, was one of the sites of the divine war. It was here that Lord Hades slew the Ancient God of Death, seizing the power of death and the netherworld from him.

When the Ancient God of Death fell, it released a large amount of death aura, killing almost half of the living beings in the Prime Material Plane.

Even after thousands of years, the gray fog formed by the death aura still shrouded the sky above the Valley of the Tragic Dead, turning it into a forbidden ground for all living beings and completely cutting off all communication between the two continents.

Xi Wei did not intend to let his believers challenge the remains of the Ancient God so soon, but due to the presence of the Ancient God of Death's corpse and the thick aura of death, the space within the Valley of the Tragic Dead seemed to be distorted to a certain extent, causing millions of undead creatures to appear within the valley. Even in the areas where the aura of death did not cover, there were still many undead monsters roaming around.

The number of undead creatures kept increasing, and their natural hatred towards the living caused them to leave the Valley of the Tragic Dead in packs to attack the surrounding human villages and towns.

Because of this, the empire had no choice but to spend a large amount of money every year to organize an army to exterminate the undead. It was not that the empire did not want to directly solve the source of the problem, but unfortunately, the current mainstream gods could not interfere with the power of death, so there was nothing they could do in the face of the gray fog of death.

Even if he used all his divine power to create protective talismans for his believers, it would only protect one or two people from dying in the mist. That number was not enough against the undead monsters that roamed the Valley of the Tragic Dead.

Lord Hades was also autistic. His personality was one of the rare loners among the deities. He never communicated with other deities, so naturally, he could not be bothered to deal with this situation.

In the end, the Valley of the Tragic Dead could only exist in its current form. Some of the more optimistic clerics of the Brilliant White Church believed that the mist of death would disperse in three or four thousand years …

However, to the other deities, this place that was' poisonous to consume but a pity to abandon 'was an ideal location for Xi Wei to set up a beginner's village. He could farm monsters endlessly and have an almost inexhaustible supply of resources, so he did not have to worry about killing too many affecting the ecological balance. Moreover, the undead here ranged from skeletons and zombies to the Headless Horsemen and Bone Dragons. It could be said to be a complete chain of monsters that would gradually grow stronger, so there was no need to worry about the players leveling up in the future!

Other than that, although it was a little bit of a test of luck, the Valley of the Tragic Dead was still the battlefield of the great war between gods and demons. There might be some good stuff inside (like divine artifacts or broken divinities?). It existed.

Taking a step back, even if there was nothing valuable inside, there would at least be the remains of an ancient god. As long as he could get his hands on it through the hands of the Players, Xi Wei believed that his divinity would definitely improve to a whole new level!

"But before that, I need to make some preparations," Xi Wei muttered to himself. "If I wait for those kids to come all the way here only to have to face the Lord's sword, then I really won't be able to face them."

☆

Angora Faust was the third son of the Silver Eagle Duke, Horan Faust. As the youngest son in the family, he naturally had no chance to inherit his father's title. Even so, the old duke would not let his son, who had noble blood flowing in his veins, become a peasant.

However, Angora was not skilled in martial arts, so he could not become a knight and fight for glory on the battlefield.

Although he followed the old duke and became a believer of the God of War, Kratos, no matter how hard he tried, he could not use Combat Aura. He was just a shallow believer, and could not become a priest in the Temple of Glory to serve the gods.

When Angora was about to reach adulthood, he was beaten to the ground by his second brother, who had never been on good terms with him and could awaken Combat Aura without much effort. He completely lost his faith in Kratos and became a non-believer without anyone knowing.

It was fortunate that the old duke treated his children well. Once he understood that Angora had no other talents, he paid a small price to obtain the title of baron for Angora, as well as a piece of land at the edge of the Empire.

Even if it was a small town outside the Valley of the Tragic Dead, which was known as the 'Purple Gate', which was feared by everyone, he could at least be considered a noble. In the old duke's own words, being a noble in a place that was' a little 'dangerous was better than being a peasant.

Sitting in the bumpy carriage, Angora felt that his future was bleak.

It was said that undead creatures would appear in the Valley of the Tragic Dead every year and attack the surrounding towns and villages. Although he was a lord, he was probably not much safer than the civilians around him in that kind of environment.

Just as Angora was feeling lost about his future, the old coachman outside the carriage suddenly screamed, "Bandits! There are bandits here! Young Master, hurry up … Ah —! "

The loyal old coachman's voice faded away after a scream. Angora's entire body was trembling — he had never imagined that he would die before he even reached his territory.

'God, if you really exist, please give me a little hope …'

In his despair, he begged in his heart.

At that moment —