"Thank you for the tea, sir. I still don’t know how I should address you."
"I am just an old man, nameless and untitled. People call me the Grand Sage."
"Grand Sage, I presume you know why I have come."
"Indeed. I have long known that the Xiensa Evil God is leading many evil curses to bring chaos to the world."
"If that’s the case, Senior, why don’t you intervene to save the world? With your strength, surely you can deal with this Xiensa Evil God."
"I could have, if it were the old me. Unfortunately, I can no longer do so."
"My power actually comes from the power of the gods. As the gods abandoned this continent, my own power has gradually waned. Now, I can barely sustain my life within this enchantment, isolating myself from the passage of time. If I were to step outside, I would immediately age and die."
"Why would the gods abandon this continent?"
Chen Mo also remembered what the Priest in Qiluo Town had mentioned: it was only after the Goddess of Harvest ceased her work that the villagers turned to an Evil God, leading to the current outcome.
"The gods grew weary of humanity’s insatiable greed.
"With the Goddess of Harvest, people merely needed to sow seeds and wait idly year-round for bountiful harvests.
"With the Goddess of Fortune helping everyone avoid misfortune, people lived smooth and easy lives, gradually becoming arrogant, conceited, and losing themselves.
"With the Goddess of Love..."
After the Grand Sage had enumerated the deeds of all the gods as if counting family treasures, he continued, "With the help of the gods, humans lived prosperous and happy lives. This continued for a very long time, causing people to gradually take everything for granted.
"They no longer frequented the shrines to worship with the same diligence as before. Day after day, they lived without gratitude, idled their time away, and wasted their lives.
"Ultimately, they angered the gods, who abandoned them completely."
The old sage sighed and went on, "Once the gods departed, and with no Divine Power to block disasters, calamities immediately descended with a vengeance. This left people at a complete loss. Even if they then remembered to pray to the gods, it was all for naught.
"The gods had long since abandoned this continent; no god would answer their prayers anymore.
"Having lived under the daily protection of the gods, humans had gradually lost their ability to cope with disasters. How could they possibly handle such sudden upheaval?
"Thus, they began to panic, praying indiscriminately to anything they could.
"The only thing such actions could ultimately attract were those opportunistic evil curses with ulterior motives!"
And humans, unaware of their own folly, remained immersed in the prosperous life brought by the blessings of the gods.
"Instead of relying on those ethereal gods, what humans truly need to rely on is themselves."
"What the Hero says is quite right. In fact, I spoke with the gods before they departed.
"They said the same thing: when the people of this continent remember how humans are supposed to survive, perhaps the gods will return to spread faith and hope once more.
"Their existence was merely to help people reduce the harm from calamities, not to let humans become self-indulgent and cease to strive for improvement."
"These gods certainly have their principles."
"Actually, it is also for the sake of their own faith. When humans become so lazy that they can’t even be bothered to pray, then the gods can no longer receive the Power of Faith from them."
"To put it plainly, it’s a matter of mutual fulfillment."
The Grand Sage nodded. "That is indeed how gods and humans should coexist. When one party becomes overly reliant on the other, it is not a good thing for either side."
"But now, the entire world is tainted by evil curses. Even if people realize their past mistakes and wish to reflect on their actions, I’m afraid it’s very difficult for them to find the chance."
"Originally, I too believed this land was finished. But a few days ago, I had a dream, and I realized that there might still be hope for this world."
"It’s just a dream. Why would you take it so seriously?"
"Actually, at my level of attainment, I no longer fall asleep or dream easily. Once I do dream, it is usually a prophetic one. While I can’t say it’s entirely accurate, at least half of what occurs in the dream will come to pass.
"For instance, this time I dreamed that a Hero would come to save the world. However, I wasn’t sure if it would be a three-star or a five-star Hero."
"No wonder you exclaimed that your dream had come entirely true when you first saw me."
Chen Mo immediately said with a smile, "Rather than saying I can save the world, it’s more accurate to say I need your cooperation. For instance, I am currently facing this strange Xiensa Evil God, and I must rely on your Experience if I am to have a way to deal with it."
"The Xiensa Evil God is one of the Evil Gods living in the Ancient Abyss. It possesses a body of defilement and can corrupt any entity that consumes its flesh and blood. Its bathing place, the Xiensa Evil God’s Pool, is a pool of defiled, malevolent water. This pool water alone is enough to transform any who drink it into a Xiensa Evil God’s Body."
"To counteract the defiling effect of the water from the Xiensa Evil God’s Pool, one needs to find the purest Energy in the world."
"The purest Energy? What is that?"
"The blood of a Holy Maiden who is a virgin."
"So many people have been affected by the defiled water. How much blood would that require?"
"That’s not quite the case. One only needs to find three Holy Maidens who are still virgins. If their blood is dripped together into the source of the Earth Spring, then all water sources in the entire world will gain the power of purification. At that point, water from any source can become Purifying Holy Water to counteract the defiled water."
"Purifying Holy Water?"
Upon hearing this name, Chen Mo immediately thought of his own turbid Heart of God. His turbid Heart of God still needed four more bottles of Purifying Holy Water. Could it be that this Purifying Holy Water, created by three Holy Maidens together, was the Saintess’ Spring he sought—one of those very items?
"Grand Sage, where should I go to find these three Holy Maidens?"
"The three Holy Maidens are in the Shrine of Gods located on three different continents. You can find them quickly if you wear the Sage’s Ring."
Saying this, the Grand Sage gave Chen Mo three sets of coordinates.
"By the way, Senior, just cleansing the defiled water only treats the symptoms. If the Xiensa Evil God doesn’t die, it will still make a comeback, won’t it?"
"It’s no use. The Xiensa Evil God’s Divine Power is exceedingly strong; we simply cannot truly kill it! Moreover, its true body is still trapped at the bottom of the Ancient Abyss. What has come out is merely a sliver of its separated soul. We only need to eliminate this sliver of soul and then remind all the people of this continent not to believe in the Xiensa Evil God anymore. That way, disaster can be averted."
"I understand now. So, how powerful is this sliver of soul?"
"Given the Xiensa Evil God’s power, this sliver of soul is at least comparable to a lesser Demon God. Its combat strength is certainly not trivial; it will absolutely not be easy to deal with!"
"It seems I will have to come and ask for your guidance again then. I shall first go and find the three Holy Maidens."