Cataclysm: Undead Dragons and Zero Empire

Chapter 141 The Sanctuary of Death

The Second Great Awakening of psychic powers created lasting ripples throughout human civilization, completely rewriting its fundamental character.

As the initial chaos and novelty gradually subsided, and as people slowly learned to control the newly generated spiritual energy within their bodies, the social rules, lifestyles, and even the trajectory of civilization were quietly undergoing earth-shattering changes.

The first thing to change is the belief system that is etched into the very marrow of human civilization.

There was no longer a need for Terence to lead the priests through underground cities to preach, nor for the Death Party followers to go door-to-door spreading the Lord's teachings.

After those forgotten memories returned, every human being clearly remembered who saved their endangered civilization during the apocalypse, whose grace allowed them to survive on the frozen land and gradually advance into the interstellar age.

People remembered the perseverance of the Church of Terence. That revolution was not some fabricated religious infighting, but rather, when the whole world had forgotten the Lord, someone alone guarded the last flame of faith for humanity.

The streets and alleys of the underground city are no longer filled with questions and discussions about the new doctrines; instead, they are filled with ubiquitous...

Spontaneous prayer.

As people gaze at each other, prayers become greetings, and their pupils turn black, reflecting a faint reddish hue in the sunlight. This vision, shared by all humanity, is called the blessing of God residing in the eyes.

Those who once believed in the Lord hung up a dragon bone emblem or a small statue of a deity in their homes, and recited a prayer as the first and last thing they did each day, calming their hearts to offer thanksgiving and prayers to the Lord.

Whether in underground cities on their home planet, bases in distant star systems, or ships sailing through the sea of ​​stars, wherever there are humans, there is prayer and worship for the Lord.

This led to a complete upheaval in human lifestyles, with meditation replacing sleep and becoming a completely new way for humans to recuperate and thrive.

Once considered a secret practice by the death sect, meditation has now become a daily routine for every human being. People quickly discovered that when they enter a meditative state with a devout heart, their souls become incredibly peaceful under the blessing.

When the soul dwells in the body, consciousness can break free from the body's constraints, fly into the vast cosmos, and roam among the stars.

So almost overnight, humanity bid farewell to sleep habits that had lasted for countless years. When people need a good night's sleep, they enter a meditative state in the most relaxed way on their beds in the bedroom. A short period of meditation is enough to replace the inefficient sleep that used to take several hours.

With the arrival of the era of universal psychic abilities, another strange phenomenon has quietly appeared in every corner of human civilization.

On the streets of the underground city, in the corridors of the space station, and in the plaza of the lunar temple, a grayish-black, cotton-like, translucent substance began to float in the air.

They float lightly in the air, as if dancing in the wind. Humans who have awakened their psychic abilities can see their existence with their naked eyes and touch their physical form with their psychic abilities.

This substance has been named "spiritual dust".

It is widely believed that this is a spiritual substance that naturally condenses after the awakening of psychic energy in the human settlements, as the concentration of psychic energy increases after the awakening of psychic energy in the whole population. It is like the dew that condenses on the leaves in the morning or the mist that rises in the forest.

People soon discovered the wonderful uses of spiritual dust. They collected it and sprinkled it in the room before meditation, which significantly improved the efficiency of spiritual practice. They also applied it to black stone statues, which made it easier for praying believers to resonate with the will of God.

Thus, collecting spiritual dust became another common occurrence in people's daily lives, especially for children who loved to chase the flying spiritual dust in the streets with specially made bottles, just as they chased dandelions and colorful butterflies before the Age of Calamity.

After Terence returned to the surface, amidst this upheaval that swept through the entire civilization, he proposed one of his most iconic designs: to build the "Sanctuary of Death" for the Lord in the large human settlements.

The first Death Sanctuary was built in New Valentine, the place where Terence was assassinated and stopped a hydrogen bomb with his bare hands. It was designed and drafted by Terence himself, and perfected and built by Death Society engineers. It imitated those famous churches in history and was built with planks made of euphoria tree and black stone mined from the mine to create a wood and stone structure.

No matter where the sanctuary is located, it will always enshrine a dragon bone statue similar to that of the Moon Temple in the center. An ever-burning lamp will always be lit on the altar in front of the statue. The lamp oil is mixed with black stone powder and the resin of the Anle Tree, and when it burns, it will emit a fragrance that can soothe the soul.

When the sanctuary was completed, Terence led the priests in a ceremony, offering prayers to the Lord, and a strange sight occurred.

The spiritual dust of the entire city seemed to be summoned and converged on the sanctuary, forming a spiraling gray-black tornado. Countless black thorns spontaneously grew from the foundation of the sanctuary, winding upwards along the walls and entangling the entire sanctuary.

These thorns, with their sharp and hard spikes, intertwined branches resembling rising and burning flames, did not damage a single brick or tile of the sanctuary. Instead, they acted as the most loyal guardians, protecting the entire sanctuary.

After these thorns grew, the concentration of spiritual energy around the entire sanctuary instantly increased, forming a natural spiritual energy field. People found that after entering the sanctuary, they felt as if they were being watched over by the Lord from high above.

The flow of spiritual energy becomes incredibly smooth, and believers who meditate and practice within it experience a significant increase in their understanding of the path of death.

Soon, the trend of building sanctuaries of death spread to every corner of human civilization, to the point that trees of peace became a scarce resource. Sanctuaries of all sizes sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and after devout prayers, they would spontaneously grow black thorns, becoming landmark buildings in every settlement.

Each sanctuary of death serves the dual function of spiritual practice and ritual.

The city management committee will create a schedule to organize citizens to take turns entering the sanctuary for spiritual practice, so that everyone can enjoy the rich spiritual environment of the sanctuary and offer their devotion to the Lord.

Besides its role in spiritual practice, the Sanctuary of Death has another, more sacred and solemn function: it is the resting place of heroes and the Hall of Heroes of human civilization.

Unlike the cemeteries built around the Tree of Peace in the city, only heroes who have made outstanding contributions to human civilization are qualified to be buried in the Sanctuary of Death.

Beneath the sanctuary lies a solemn and majestic tomb, its walls carved with neat rectangular stone grooves, and covered with leaves of the Anjou tree and black stone powder.

The first hero to be buried in the Sanctuary of Death was Dr. Aaron, the captain of the Faraway VII, whose remains were returned by the swarm of bees.

This scientist, who gazed at the stars and explored the boundaries of the universe for human civilization, sacrificed his life when attacked by the Ironheart Extinction Creatures. He transmitted firsthand battlefield data back to his home planet, allowing human civilization to truly understand this cold, mechanical enemy for the first time.

On the day of the burial ceremony, the entire human civilization watched the entire process via live stream. Terence personally presided over the ceremony, placing Dr. Aaron's remains in the stone trough as a hero, just as the sages of the Death Sect returned to the tree in the crypt of the Tree of Peace.

The black thorns slowly closed in, enveloping the body in the stone trough, weaving together to form a black cocoon. The hero's body would not decay within it, and their souls would not dissipate, but would become one with the entire sanctuary, in the presence of the Lord, and find eternal peace under the Lord's will.

At the end of the ceremony, Terence stood before the altar in the sanctuary and completed the first soul summoning in front of everyone.

He channeled his psionic energy into the eternal lamp on the altar, chanting a prayer. Instantly, black and red flames surged from the lamp, spreading along the thorns into the underground tomb. A semi-transparent psionic phantom slowly rose from the black cocoon and appeared in the center of the sanctuary.

That was the phantom of Dr. Aaron's soul, bowing respectfully to the cult leader Terence, who was performing the soul-summoning ceremony for him before the altar.

People thus understand that death is never the end, there is no need to fear death, no need to fear the unknown stars and sea, their families and children, the heroes who gave their lives for human civilization will never truly leave them, but will accompany and protect the civilization they love in another form.

These sanctuaries of death became spiritual totems and inextinguishable beacons of human civilization, like scattered sparks across the land, tightly connecting the faith, souls, and hopes for the future of all humankind.

The eternal flame burns day and night in the sanctuary, the black thorns thrive, and the spirit of the hero shines forever.

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