Starting with the awakened Poison God: I choose the Master Thief.

The bodies were not in a high state of decomposition, indicating that they had only appeared in the last few days.

"Wait, what's this?"

Chu Ci saw a golden sun pattern on a person's arm, which was the symbol of the Holy See!

"Why are people from the Holy See here?"

Before Chu Ci could think, he suddenly heard a sound coming from afar, so he quickly hid and secretly observed.

"Hey, why do you think Lord Uka needs these corpses for some kind of sacrifice? Those bastards from the Holy See are trapped in the core area and will be wiped out in a few days. Isn't what we're doing completely unnecessary?"

"Shut up! How dare you and I interfere with Lord Uka's orders? If you don't want to be thrown into the sacrificial pool to be melted down, then get to work."

"Tch, I was just saying a few words, why are you taking it so seriously?"

Two men in black approached from a distance. At that moment, the Bloodstained Ancient Ring in Chu Ci's system space suddenly flashed a faint red light.

"Holy crap! Stop messing around!"

"Huh? Who's there! Show yourself!"

Seeing that his hiding place had been exposed, Chu Ci was preparing to escape when the other party suddenly spoke again.

"Hey! Get your ass out here! Damn it, you're just slacking off here instead of working, aren't you?"

what?

Do they consider me one of their own?

With a mix of trepidation and excitement, Chu Ci donned the black cloak he had obtained in the Thieves' City, and simultaneously put on the Bloodstained Ancient Ring on his hand. He slowly exited his stealth state and emerged from the ruins.

"Haha (awkward laugh)...Hello, brothers."

Upon seeing this, the two men in black immediately started swearing.

"Damn it! No wonder there's been so few people lately, turns out they've all been slacking off here. Hurry up and get back to work!"

It was called "working," but it really just involved storing the corpse in a storage ring, so it was done very quickly.

"Hey, judging by your low strength, you must be new here, right? How about this, you take these corpses to Lord Uka, and we'll keep your slacking off a secret?"

As they spoke, Chu Ci took the opportunity to glance at the two of them.

Although we don't know the strength of the other party, those who can come here must be extraordinary, and that so-called Lord Uka must be their leader.

In this situation, saying no could mean losing your life.

"Okay, I'll deliver it."

"Ah, that's right."

The storage ring had just been handed to Chu Ci when, upon looking up, the two men in black had already vanished.

"This strength! I didn't even sense it; the opponent's strength is at least at the second tier."

There's no other way but to go deeper into the area now.

Moreover, those two might not have left yet; they were just pretending to test the waters.

Chu Ci walked deeper into the area.

Just as he expected, the two men in black reappeared after he left.

"So, is this someone I taught?"

"It's not entirely certain yet, but there's a high probability that the Crescent Moon Ancient Ring is involved."

"Never mind then. Anyway, he's already obediently gone back. Given Lord Uka's personality, he'll definitely be in for a world of hurt. Maybe by the time we get back, he'll already be dead."

"That's true. Forget about it. Let's hurry up and go keep watch on the perimeter. Don't let anyone ruin the adults' plans."

Outside the castle ruins, as expected, Chu Ci hadn't encountered a single monster along the way.

Suddenly, several men in black, appearing out of nowhere, blocked his way.

"Who goes there?!"

Chu Ci took out the storage ring.

"They're delivering corpses."

Seeing this, the leader stopped questioning and made way for them.

"Go in."

The only connection between the ruined castle and the outside world is this tall, long staircase.

Looking down from above, the entire ruins of the ancient capital are laid out before your eyes.

He even saw many men in black on the cliffs surrounding the castle, who he assumed were also members of the corrupt cult.

"It seems the entire ruined ancient capital has been completely infiltrated. This place is hundreds of kilometers from the nearest city, Dawn City. What are the Holy See doing here?"

As they continued deeper in, a terrifying energy fluctuation suddenly emanated from the depths.

Reaching the top of an open-air platform with an extremely wide view, Chu Ci looked down and was stunned by the scene before her.

Countless ancient monsters were seen besieging the thousands of people in the center.

The golden sun emblem is proof that this is indeed the army of the Holy See.

The protective shield, symbolizing divine power, protected everyone within it, but it also completely trapped them.

Some tried to break through, but even if they broke through the monster horde, the corrupt cultists hiding in the shadows behind them would attack and kill them.

Whether it's a monster or a human, after death, their bodies will turn into a ball of blood-red light that flies into the sky and eventually flows into a blood-red stone pillar on the high platform, bound by chains.

Men in black kept walking up to the base of the stone pillar, taking out corpses from their storage rings and throwing them into the sacrificial pool. The corpses eventually turned into blood-red energy and flowed into the stone pillar through the iron chains.

At this moment, Chu Ci noticed a figure standing in front of the stone pillar, with a crow perched on his shoulder.

Beside him, a massive skeleton with blue soul fire flickering in its eyes was excitedly watching the blood-red stone pillar.

"Once the energy within this Pillar of Pride is replenished, I will be able to break free from the gods' shackles and leave this ruin forever!"

Ula, standing nearby, reminded him, "You have only gained the favor of the fallen; you have not escaped the bondage of the gods, a shackle that none of us can break free from."

The soul fire in the eyes of the King of the Ancient Capital suddenly surged for a moment, then returned to normal.

"It doesn't matter, as long as I can get out of this awful place."

Uka looked at him with considerable disdain.

"As the king of these monsters, you chose to sacrifice the power of all your people in order to leave. You are truly a selfish king."

The King of the Ancient Capital glanced at him.

"You wouldn't understand this feeling. Every time I'm killed, I'm resurrected. Apart from me, none of my former subjects in the entire ancient capital possess any wisdom. They only know how to obey my orders."

"The gods changed the rules; this place should have been the site of a new nation, but instead it has become the dwelling place of the undead!"

Filled with intense anger, his bony hands clenched tightly.

"Alright, to be honest, I'm not interested in what happened to you. Don't forget our agreement: once you've recovered your strength, you must help me take over the entire Dawn City."

Take Dawn City?! No, is that something I can even be a part of?

We'd better figure out a way to slip away quickly.

Chu Ci was about to run away when a frantic female voice entered his mind.

Please help us!