I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

It wasn't that he had a particularly good impression of Bai Qingyu, but rather that Luo Qie genuinely believed it.

It is indeed wrong for an subordinate to disobey his superior, but he cannot simply stand there and be killed.

As for why he attacked Rakshasa first, the reason was simple: to protect the Divine Phoenix. Rakshasa appeared and attacked the Divine Phoenix without a word, without even explaining his intentions; of course, he had to retaliate.

The leader of the sect was silent for a moment, then said, “I order you to bring the Divine Phoenix back to the mountain within three days. For your act of insubordination, you shall cut off one of your arms upon returning to the mountain and be confined to the foot of West Mountain for eighty years.”

Upon hearing this, Roche immediately stood up, drew his sword without saying a word, and severed his own left arm without even blinking.

"As ordered."

The leader of the Fate Sect said nothing more, glanced at Bai Qingyu, and then disappeared into the sky above Rakshasa.

Rakshasa's face was contorted with rage and resentment.

How could he not be angry and resentful after being brutally beaten by Roche?

"Hmph, just you wait and see." He left with a harsh remark, clutching his severed arm wound.

Judging from his expression, he was clearly dissatisfied and would definitely find a way to teach Luo Qie a lesson when he returned to the mountain.

Roche picked up his severed arm but didn't reattach it. The leader of the Fate Cult didn't mean for him to cut off his arm as a lesson and then reattach it later. Instead, he meant for Roche to truly give up an arm. If Roche still had that arm after returning to the mountain, he would be in trouble.

In response, Roche sat by the river and used the power of his faith to heal the wound on his severed arm.

After the wound healed, he held the arm in his arms, his eyes glazed over, seemingly lost in thought.

Bai Qingyu saw him take out a steamed bun and start eating it. Her appetite, which she had been struggling to regain for so many days, seemed to have returned at this moment.

"It's a pity about this pot, but luckily, I still have another one."

Bai Qingyu cleaned up the scene and continued cooking, this time making a huge pot. She didn't intend to torment Luo Qie; this was a reward for him. After all, she'd been quite annoyed by that flying dog earlier, which had fried her food at the start and given her that disgusting look.

Bai Qingyu was all too familiar with that look. It wasn't that she was narcissistic, but she dared to say that look was absolutely lewd.

If I go with him, I'll definitely be disgusted.

If I'm weak, I don't even want to think about what will happen to me.

She knew in her heart that although it was called the Divine Phoenix, in reality, those with some strength in the Fate Sect took this identity seriously.

Divine Phoenix? Just a tool.

For that old dog with broken legs, broken arms, and a bald head, defiling the Divine Phoenix would be an exciting thing.

So, Roche felt good about beating the dog.

"A whole pot was wasted, this is all that's left."

Once the pot of ribs was cooked, Luo Qie didn't even want the steamed buns anymore, simply putting them into his ring. After Bai Qingyu finished eating, he didn't even need Bai Qingyu's bowl and chopsticks, grabbing the ribs with his hands and starting to eat.

He wolfed down his food, which means he had tough bones; otherwise, judging from his eating habits, it looked like he wanted to chew the bones up and swallow them whole.

After a brief incident, the human and the demon continued their journey.

The leader of the Ming Sect ordered Luo Qie to bring Bai Qingyu back to the mountains within three days, but this sentence seemed to have little effect on Luo Qie. He continued to walk slowly as usual, and at most told Bai Qingyu not to go to the market.

In fact, after traveling for more than ten days, they were already close to entering the territory of Xizhou.

Once you reach Xizhou, Xishan will not be far away.

Luo Qie knew there was no need to rush. Once they entered Xishan, someone would come to meet them. Three days would be enough, and even if it wasn't, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't force Bai Qingyu to go; at most, it would just be a few days later.

"Xizhou is just ahead."

Two days later, Roche suddenly spoke.

Bai Qingyu gazed into the distance. As she approached Xizhou, she wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the spiritual energy here was thinner than outside. Other places seemed to be no different from the outside.

However, after entering Xizhou, Bai Qingyu realized just how terrifying this place truly was.

I had seen a scene long ago: countless people knelt on the ground, praying for the divine phoenix to send down food. They were clearly emaciated from hunger, and there was barren land not far away, but they were praying for a so-called divine phoenix that they had never seen with their own eyes to send down food.

Bai Qingyu had some knowledge of Xizhou.

Xizhou is quite large, covering almost one-sixth or even one-fifth of the entire continent, making it the largest state.

She kept thinking, with such a vast area, there must be tens of millions of people living here.

However, once Bai Qingyu actually set foot on this land, she realized she had been overthinking things.

At first glance, Xizhou seems no different from the outside world, with its mountains, trees, rivers, and plains.

But when she entered the first city, she was stunned by what she saw.

The county town had no city gates and no name. The city walls were made of piled-up loess and bricks, which were practically nonexistent. There were no soldiers guarding the city gates, nor were there any passing caravans. The whole town seemed like a deserted ancient city.

Upon entering the city, one finds many residents, but their condition is very poor.

Bai Qingyu could only describe them as "walking corpses".

With dark skin and emaciated bodies, many people had severely bulging eyes due to malnutrition or other reasons, their eyes were bloodshot, and they stared blankly at a certain place while muttering something under their breath.

His hair was sparse, revealing patches of scalp; his face was devoid of flesh, skin covering his bones; and his shrunken, withered lips could not fully cover his teeth.

Walking on the street, Bai Qingyu felt like she was floating, because the street was so dirty, with all sorts of unknown substances, especially a lot of excrement.

Even Roche behind him was floating, which shows how bad the street conditions were.

Worse still, Bai Qingyu passed by a house and saw a dark-skinned, thin mother kneeling and worshipping a portrait of the Divine Phoenix, with her long-dead child in front of her.

The child was no longer human; he had become a dried-up corpse just days after his death.

"May the Divine Phoenix protect me, may the Divine Phoenix save my son."

The mother prayed in this way.

Bai Qingyu fell silent, and so did Luo Qie.

As Bai Qingyu walked forward, he suddenly noticed a commotion in the crowd. He took to the air and discovered that it was a disciple of the Ming Sect who was distributing a bucket of black, unidentified, pasty food to the people, giving each person a bowl and no more.

The people knelt down and gave thanks, holding bowls filled with black goo, believing it to be food bestowed by the divine phoenix.

Drops of faith began to emanate from these people and drift into the distance.

Bai Qingyu couldn't help but think about how this place looked like a living hell.

What about Tianyang Palace, which claims to serve the country, the people, and the world?

Don't they do anything about it?

Please vote for me, sob sob sob

Volume 1: Chapter 111 Roche's Past and the Goddess Mikoto

Looking at the hellish scene before her, Bai Qingyu felt a mix of emotions, especially seeing these people eating while shouting "Divine Phoenix," when in fact, the Divine Phoenix was herself. Once her anger subsided, only a sense of melancholy remained.

What difference is there between these people being alive and dead? They are merely tools for others to exploit their faith; their lives are worse than death.

Bai Qingyu noticed that some disciples of the Ming Sect were walking around the city, carrying away the corpses of the dead people by the roadside, and then giving women with children a pill of unknown purpose, most likely for supplementing the nutrition of newborns.

Given these conditions, if they don't resort to some underhanded tactics, perhaps only one out of ten cubs will survive. At this rate, it won't be long before there aren't many people left in Xizhou.

The common people are used to extract faith power, and faith power can be said to be the foundation of the Fate Cult. Without faith power, this meager spiritual energy simply cannot support the Fate Cult's large number of disciples.

Similar pills were not only given to infants, but also to young and middle-aged men and women, as well as some pregnant women.

The elderly, regardless of gender, were ignored, as were children as young as ten or teen. They had no elixirs to consume because reproduction was not yet their time, and their bodies were too weak to use them. The black, mushy food they were given wouldn't starve them.

The people that the sect sought to protect were only a specific group among the common people.

“Your Fate Cult has no reason not to be destroyed. How can you bear such heinous crimes!” Bai Qingyu said to Luo Qie beside him.

"Even after all this, they haven't been labeled as a demonic sect. I really don't understand. What's the difference between this and raising livestock? Raising people like livestock, and in such a huge number at that, it's really too good for your sect leader that all this karma hasn't killed him."

Bai Qingyu initially doubted whether the Fate Sect would incur karmic retribution for doing this, but now he is 100% certain.

Absolutely, and the number is unimaginably large.

In comparison, the things that other evil cults did to drive them out were simply child's play.

Other demonic sects, even the largest one, the Heavenly Sect, are only different from the righteous sects in their beliefs; they would never do something as cruel as treating the people like livestock.

Roche remained silent. He had seen this scene since he was a child, or rather, he had come from this group of people. He had once been one of those who drank this black, gooey food.

Later, due to some events, he was chosen by the leader of the Fate Sect and brought back to West Mountain to cultivate, where he has remained ever since.

Bai Qingyu went down and used her demonic power to retrieve some of the black paste. Before she even got close, she could smell a strong sour odor. This stuff was not only disgusting to look at, but it also smelled even worse. She had no idea what it was made of.

"How pathetic, just keep going."

Bai Qingyu frowned and left the small town with Luo Qie.

This is only the first city. How many cities are there in the vast Western Continent? Only in the Western Continent can one see such a hell on earth.

Apart from the cultivators of the Ming Sect, there are no other cultivators in Xizhou, because there is nothing worth coming here. The spiritual energy is scarce, the people are living a life worse than death, and the cultivators of the Ming Sect are extremely domineering and xenophobic.

Bai Qingyu was certain that Tianyang Palace knew everything about the situation in Xizhou.

Solving this problem is harder than climbing to heaven. Over the centuries, the people of Xizhou have become accustomed to it. They have no schools and no cultural heritage. From birth, they are instilled with the belief that they can obtain everything by worshipping the Divine Phoenix.

It could be said that the people of Xizhou and the people of the outside world are almost becoming two different kinds of people.

Even if the people in the outside world live in worse conditions, they are still much better off than the people of Xizhou.

Therefore, solving the problem in Xizhou is extremely difficult.

Bai Qingyu left the city and walked on the desolate land. After calming down, she thought about many things.

Eliminate the Life Cult?

It is possible to do so, but what happens after it is eradicated?

Without faith, how many people in Xizhou can survive?

They've even forgotten how to farm, they know nothing, all they do is pray to the Divine Phoenix for anything. Without the Fate Sect, how will they survive?

How much energy does Tianyang Palace have to take care of so many people?

This is the largest state, with a population of at least several million, if not tens of millions as one might imagine.

All the disciples of Tianyang Palace stopped cultivating and came here specifically to teach these people how to live, hoping that they might be able to achieve their goal.

But is that even possible?

If you really want to save the people of Xizhou, there are only two paths you can take.