Chapter 514 — Human Temple

Moments later, Liora was the only living being standing in the once populous Orion Tribe.

Whether it was the villagers or the village itself, all traces of them had been erased, becoming sacrifices or evaporating during the earlier confrontation.

A rhombus-shaped crystal floated in Liora’s palm.

Several intricate patterns squirmed across its surface, while the agonized screams of a wailing soul echoed from inside of it.

Listening to its screams, Liora snorted, and a powerful pressure erupted from her body.

"I could kill you while you were still alive, much less now that you’re just a remnant soul."

The moment her words fell, the lingering traces of the God of Hunting were wiped out.

Only the rhombus-shaped crystal remained, more sacred in appearance but also slightly weaker.

"No wonder I previously felt that the power in the Curse of the Gods was somewhat familiar. Is it the power of faith?", she whispered, playing with the crystal in her hand.

"Can this thing be considered a different type of Godhead?"

There were many power systems whose practitioners claimed to be Gods.

Some were weak, and some were powerful.

The weakest "Gods" were equivalent to Young Devils, while some might possess the power of Princes of the Demon World.

In the past, Liora had purchased the Godheads of several elemental Gods, devouring them to push her Devil Technique to its limit.

As a result, she was quite familiar with the power of faith, though she had never truly studied it.

"The power of Awakeners, the strength of the demons, both integrated using the power of faith...", Liora muttered as she examined the crystal.

"This guy is strange. He can be considered both a human and a demon, and, though slightly embarrassing to admit, he is also a ’real’ God."

"At least, he exists as a result of people’s faith."

Having come into contact with such a strange creature, Liora’s interest in research seemed to have been rekindled.

She really wished to find another God, take out her equipment, and begin slicing them apart.

Unfortunately, now was not the time.

Raising her head and staring toward the horizon, Liora noticed that several beings were rushing toward this place.

"Do the natives have a way to communicate with each other? Or did they grow alarmed by the earlier fight?", Liora pondered, though it ultimately did not matter.

Having just arrived in the secret realm and already stirred up trouble, she had no intention of confronting the secret realm’s powerhouses for now.

Not until she became familiar with this secret realm’s information, at least.

With that in mind, she didn’t linger.

Her World of Heart unfolded and wiped out any remaining traces of her having been here before it was used as a hub to teleport away.

Within moments, Liora’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Only the devastated land remained, the place where the Orion Tribe had been in the past.

It had only been a few hours since Liora arrived at the Blood Forest Realm.

Yet during this short period of time, a tribe that had existed for tens of thousands of years had completely disappeared.

No one knew if this was a mere coincidence or the start of something far bigger and far greater.

--

The next morning, a young-looking woman opened her eyes within the habitat of a recently deceased demon.

Staring at the crystal beside her and recalling the memories she had just devoured, Liora softly exhaled.

"I see..."

"As expected, the Blood Forest Realm deserves its terrifying reputation."

"It’s no wonder there is a mortality rate of 99.98% for anyone who dares to come here. This realm is extremely unfriendly toward outside creatures."

During the earlier confrontation, Liora had managed to pick up several souls of the Orion Tribe’s members, including that of the Tribe Chief.

After devouring these souls, she had managed to obtain a portion of their memories.

This gave her a rough understanding of the Blood Forest Realm.

Such information was not accessible in the Information World—at least not with her current authority.

Just as Ohara had previously mentioned, the Orion Tribe was indeed the largest human settlement near the Twilight Forest.

But taking the entire continent into account, their tribe was nothing.

The Twilight Forest was on the eastern side of this world, in a relatively remote place where powerful beings seldom visited.

As one moved closer to the west, the tribes and people they would encounter would only grow stronger.

More importantly, the Gods they worshiped became more majestic and holy.

"This world has created a strange symbiosis system between the Gods and the humans. Every human settlement worships its own God. The more powerful the settlement, the more powerful its God will be."

Of course, the opposite was also true. The more powerful the God, the more safety they could grant to their believers, which would in turn attract people to settle there.

With that thought, Liora’s eyes narrowed.

"The most powerful faction on the continent is the Human Temple."

"Every tribe and human settlement is nominally under its control.", she rubbed her chin.

"They claim to be the inheritors of the Human Emperor, an ancient powerhouse. Their goal is simple: to fight against the Otherworld Demons trying to invade and corrupt their world."

Seeing such information, Liora’s expression grew strange.

Otherworld Demons.

Didn’t this term refer to people like her? Or rather, to the people from their universe.

Organizing her thoughts, she continued digesting the memories.

"The influence of the Human Temple does not end there."

"Not long after the arrival of the Otherworld Demons, methods to detect them were passed down from this force and widely disseminated."

"As long as an Otherworld Demon shows up, even a newborn kid will be able to detect them."

Liora’s doubt about how the tribe members had immediately learned of her true identity was finally solved.

Several minutes later, she was finally finished digesting the information.

Her understanding of the realm deepened.

Even so, she didn’t rush to leave this place.

She had noticed something during the earlier fight.

The first space within her body had finally been filled to the brink with Cosmic Energy.

At the moment, all she needed was a single thought, and she would be able to advance to Rank 6. At least, one of her many talents would.