"Someone has arrived." Ran Xinyue’s voice suddenly came from behind.

Zhang Rongfang opened his eyes and stood up. With a point of his foot, his body shot out like a falcon, leaping down from the mountain cliff.

As he fell in mid-air in front of the cliff, he occasionally thrust his arm into the mountain wall to decelerate.

At the bottom of the cliff, the Celestial Maiden was leaning quietly against the mountain wall, seemingly admiring the moon or waiting for him.

"You need to be careful, the Thousand Teachings Alliance has lifted the restriction on God worship... once the Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract becomes invalid..."

Zhang Rongfang frowned.

He was well-versed in Daoist scriptures, but unclear about Great Spirit’s closed-off history. There were very few recorded accounts left from those times.

But now wasn’t the time for questions.

He hurriedly dashed into the dark woods on the side.

In the forest, there was a large group of brown-armored axemen, moving stealthily.

Judging by their numbers, there were at least a hundred of them!

The two leaders, one tall and one short, exuded a frightening presence and blood flow speed, indicating they were at least of inner law level Super Grade experts.

"They’re really here! Seems like we’ll have a great haul this time!" The tall one laughed loudly.

He pointed at Zhang Rongfang. "Surround him, men!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gray shadow flashed past him.

The smile on his face froze, maintaining the gesturing stance of pointing, and with a gurgle.

His head dropped from his neck.

A large burst of silver lines exploded, rushing toward Zhang Rongfang as he withdrew his hand.

But unfortunately, it missed.

Behind him, more than a dozen axemen roared angrily, apparently unafraid, raising their weapons towards Zhang Rongfang in front.

Yet, their weapons seemed to chop at phantoms, hitting nothing.

A gray shadow swept past them, blood blooms splattering around.

Zhang Rongfang used the ground as leverage, leaping up, sideways stepping on the tree trunk, bouncing down, and once again pouncing on the remaining axemen.

Half a minute later.

The forest was a scene of blood and gore, with bodies strewn everywhere.

Zhang Rongfang shook off the blood from his hands, turning back the way he came.

This was the fifth wave of attackers in recent days.

Among these people, some were Martial Cultivator followers leading the God worship.

Others were disguised leaders from powerful regions, like Daoist Qingxiao, attempting to gain merit along the way.

And others were simply small factions looking to seize the opportunity to capture someone for rewards from major forces.

Of course, there could also be idiotic cannon fodder sent specifically for probing.

After all, in this era, many were illiterate, and being skilled in martial arts didn’t equate to intelligence.

A bit of tempting reward and asymmetric information could easily lead people to their deaths.

After killing the last person, Zhang Rongfang looked around to confirm there were no survivors, before turning and leaving.

Soon, he returned to the base of the cliff where the Celestial Maiden stood.

"What is this Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract you mentioned earlier?"

He keenly sensed that this could greatly affect the current situation.

The Celestial Maiden seemed distracted, but upon hearing the inquiry, she glanced at him again.

"News just came in, someone from the Thousand Teachings Alliance was the first to break the Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract, releasing the restriction on their God-worshiping warriors."

"What restriction?"

"The world... is going to be chaotic again..." The Celestial Maiden lowered her head, murmuring.

"You haven’t answered my question." Zhang Rongfang pressed again.

"I always felt something was off before... now.... it seems people will change, but they have always been that way. It’s just... they were being restrained." The Celestial Maiden’s expression was vague, becoming oblivious once again.

"Are you okay?" Zhang Rongfang found it somewhat absurd, "Can you tell me what the Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract is?"

"The Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract... I... " The Celestial Maiden slowly returned to her senses. "That’s... an agreement."

"A name itself implies it’s an agreement, can you finish it in one go?" Zhang Rongfang said helplessly.

That’s just how it is when the Extreme Realm flares up.

Emperor Jiang is split, and the Celestial Maiden is forgetful.

Haven’t seen the others, but chances are their issues are not small either.

"That’s... an agreement...." The Celestial Maiden’s eyes were hazy, puffed up her chest, again lost in unknown thoughts.

"...." Zhang Rongfang felt an urge to hit her.

Immediately turning around, he leveraged himself upwards towards the top of the cliff.

Soon, he climbed hundreds of meters to the summit. Finding Ran Xinyue seated in cultivation, he directly repeated the previous question.

"The Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract..." Ran Xinyue upon hearing the inquiry explained, "was a special agreement established by all divine and buddhist forces before Great Spirit was founded. It restrained each other from recklessly preying on humans."

She quickly explained.

"Ten Thousand Teachings represents all the sects at the time. Of course, there were those who did not participate, but they were all exterminated.

And the Shepherd Contract refers to the agreements that must be followed when shepherding mortal believers."

"...What are the specific contents?" Zhang Rongfang’s expression turned solemn.

Ran Xinyue looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Are you sure you will believe what I say? After all, I am now a fugitive wanted by the Great Dao Teaching."

"I have my own judgment," Zhang Rongfang replied.

"Very well." Ran Xinyue nodded, "The content of the Shepherd Contract is very simple, which is...."

"To restrain all God Worshipers from arbitrarily consuming the brains of mortals to enhance the total spiritual line of their sects.

This is also the origin of the saying in later generations that once God Worshipers have worshiped, their power remains unchanged forever.

Because their power cannot grow innately, it is not bestowed by the higher ups anymore."

"Consuming brains!?" Zhang Rongfang’s pupils contracted, instantly recalling the scene he must experience when worshiping—a silver line piercing into his forehead, merging into his brain.

"Yes. In fact...the reason I joined the Rebellion Society is also because I knew the truth." Ran Xinyue said softly.

"All gods and Buddhas live by consuming brains. The only difference is that in great sects, the consumption of brains is extremely secretive, with each person’s consumption being minimal and helping stimulate regeneration, so many people do not realize it and thus it ends."

"But the smaller the sect, the more obvious their consumption of brains becomes. This is also why many followers of small sects become increasingly fanatic over time.

Because if the brain is consumed too much and cannot regenerate in time, it will be depleted...."

"....." Zhang Rongfang’s face was stunned, momentarily unable to speak.

"Are you very surprised?" Ran Xinyue smiled, "Actually, you shouldn’t be surprised. During that chaotic era, followers were the foundation of gods and Buddhas’ worship, so everyone fought each other to exterminate each other’s followers."

"The Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract initially restrained divine warriors, spiritual veins, and spirit generals from completely consuming mortals in one go. After all, such behavior would severely impact the foundation of gods and Buddhas."

"Later, the Shepherd Contract was amended once more because the upper echelons discovered that if God Worshipers were allowed to consume mortals freely, uncontrollable situations would inevitably arise.

So, they simply forbade any consumption. This capability of God Worshipers was directly sealed, making it unusable.

Since then, the people have been able to recuperate, and the population has grown. Coupled with the fact that after the Great Spirit was established, it continuously expanded its territory from outside, incorporating more and more populations. This has resulted in the current situation."

"The Ten Thousand Teachings Shepherd Contract..." Zhang Rongfang repeated the name once, "So you’re saying that consuming a large amount of brains in one go during worship can enhance one’s own power?"

"No, but by consuming brains, they can rapidly strengthen the gods and Buddhas worshiped by the sect, and then receive rewards and promotions to improve their power.

Simply worshiping and consuming brains only grants temporary recovery power.

Additionally, the number of worships is also limited, requiring a considerable amount of brain consumption at all times, so the number of God Worshipers each sect can sustain is fixed.

Moreover, the higher the level of the God Worshiper, the more brains they need. It’s equivalent to their food." Ran Xinyue answered.

She seemed somewhat puzzled.

"Didn’t you know any of this?"

"No one ever told me...." Zhang Rongfang shook his head.

"...Then why did you fall out with the Great Dao Teaching without knowing anything?" Ran Xinyue widened her eyes, somewhat unable to comprehend.

It was precisely because of this cruel truth that the Righteous Alliance has always had its footing.

"I...just didn’t want to worship gods." Zhang Rongfang was silent for a moment, then replied. "Having something drilling into my brain, I felt it was unsafe."

Ran Xinyue was left speechless.

This reason... is quite delicate....

"The Shepherd Contract was established back then out of fear of unrestrained retaliatory hunting of mortals in each other’s regions, which would ultimately lead to no food for anyone. But now.... If this agreement is broken, Spirit Flying Church must step in to suppress the violators. And if it cannot be suppressed..."

Suddenly, her expression changed, as if she had thought of something.

"No, that’s not right! The Great Dao Teaching was previously cut off from the lower echelons’ senses by some method used by Sect Leader Yue Dewen. At this moment... Spirit Flying Heaven probably doesn’t even know the Shepherd Contract has been broken!"

"So... if this was planned from the beginning...." For a moment, Ran Xinyue’s heart turned icy cold.

Zhang Rongfang also caught the meaning within her words.

"Are you saying...." His expression became shaken as well.

"Do you think, with Yue Dewen’s calculations, he wouldn’t know that the Thousand Teachings Alliance, when pushed to the brink, would do such a thing? He isolates Spirit Flying Heaven’s senses and doesn’t act himself.... Creating such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.... This is clearly waiting for the isolation period to end, for all god sects to maximize their strength, and then challenge Spirit Flying Church together...hiss..." Ran Xinyue instantly understood everything.

"Such a ruthless heart! Such a vicious plan!!" Her heart was filled with coldness.

Zhang Rongfang also understood, but his expression remained stern, unmoving.

"Using countless lives as the cost of changing the state religion... as the stepping stones to the pinnacle... I don’t believe Yue Shi would do such a thing! That can’t possibly be his true intention!"

"What wouldn’t he do?" Ran Xinyue gritted her teeth, "In front of you, he is a good mentor, but in front of others... do you know why Palace Master Jin Yuyan doesn’t like him?"

"..... Yue Shi is not such a cruel person." Zhang Rongfang was silent for a moment, still shaking his head.

"If not, I can’t figure out what kind of trump card he has to dare challenge Spirit Flying Church and change heaven and earth!" Ran Xinyue replied in a deep voice. "Now it seems, there are quite a few forces secretly cooperating with Yue Dewen in isolating Spirit Flying Church."

"Everything you said is speculation, I don’t believe it." Zhang Rongfang said solemnly.

He asked himself, he wasn’t a kind-hearted person, and he definitely wouldn’t hesitate to kill.

But to use countless strangers’ lives as a cost, just to pursue his ambition to climb higher.

He couldn’t do it.

Because it was too heavy.

Whether successful or not, such scheming would inevitably carry countless hatred.

In changing others’ destinies, his own destiny would inevitably be changed permanently as well.