Hyper-Dimensional Player

Chapter 765 - 56: Conquering the Ming Cult

The Holy Fire burns.

Within a secret chamber of the Ming Cult, the blazing flames leapt up as if doused with gasoline. As the followers of the cult worshipped around it, the fire soared to a height of thirty feet. From various angles, one could see strange illusions in the fire, as if reflections of a bright pure land were appearing within the Holy Fire.

This was no longer a conventional method of the martial world; it was more akin to a secret sacrificial ritual.

"The raging Holy Fire consumes my broken body.

What joy is there in life, what sorrow in death?

To do good and eliminate evil, only for the sake of light.

Joys and sorrows, all return to dust.

Pity the people of the world, so much suffering to endure!"

Figures knelt before the raging Holy Fire, and at the forefront, a woman with voluptuous curves and dazzling beauty. Even clad in exotic robes, her seductive figure could not be concealed. Around her was an unusual charm, different from the allure of sensual beauty; it resembled more of a solidified spiritual force field, able to directly penetrate the spiritual world of others nearby.

If compared to a job in a Western realm, the spiritual secret techniques of the Holy Mother might resemble those used by a warlock to control others' thoughts.

Beneath the Holy Mother were the Five Miaozi of Ming Cult.

The number five held a particularly special meaning in the Manichaean religion. Da Ming Zun, the supreme deity of the Manichaean faith, symbolizes absolute light. It created the gods through five summons, manifesting its five-layered sacred presence as a form of a five-colored cloud palace.

This is why the Ming Cult, regardless of its evolution, always features structures like Five Miaozi, Five Types of Demons, Five Element Banners, and Five Scattered People.

The Holy Mother is the first summoned deity of Da Ming Zun. In mythology, she collaborated with Pure Wind to create the material world, leading the Twelve Light Kings to protect the Kingdom of Light.

In every generation, the Holy Mother is powerful, possessing unique spiritual secret techniques.

If described in Western terms, the sect hierarch of the Ming Cult is the chosen one of Da Ming Zun in the real world, and the Holy Mother is similarly the chosen one of the Holy Mother God in the real world.

Beneath the Holy Mother are the Bright Envoys, symbols of the Twelve Light Kings' protectors, later evolved into the protectors of the Three Bright Saints. Usually, there are only two, but one of them died in the Western Regions a few years ago, leaving only one, with no replacement found yet.

Beside the Bright Envoy are the Five Miaozi of this generation, corresponding to the five cooperative gods, namely Pure Air, Pure Wind, Bright Power, Pure Water, and Pure Fire. Over time, they evolved into Five Types of Demons, Five Element Banners, and Five Scattered People, but always correspond to the number 'five'.

In mythology, the Five Miaozi collaborated to construct the "Ten Heavens Eight Lands" cosmic system, providing a place for the redemption of human souls.

The Five Mingzi are regarded as the source of human spirituality.

Further down are changes through different eras. The Ming Cult was introduced from Persia, evolved into the Huihe Ming Cult in Huihe, spread during the Tang Dynasty, then entered the Central Plains, transformed into the Central Plains Ming Cult, and eventually merged with the White Lotus Sect and the Maitreya Sect after being severely impacted by the uprising of Fang La.

The ceremony of worshipping the Holy Fire concluded swiftly.

Other followers of the Ming Cult gradually departed, but the Holy Mother remained silent before the blazing Holy Fire. Her voluptuous and beautiful figure cast an elongated shadow in the flames, her eyes fixed on the Holy Fire, seeing something unknown with a hesitant and struggling expression.

"Holy Mother."

The nearby Bright Envoy couldn't help but speak up. He was a middle-aged man of mixed Han and Hu descent from the Western Regions. His voice urgent, he said, "The main altar of the Persian Ming Cult has been destroyed, and countless followers in the Western Regions have suffered casualties. What should we do next?"

After spreading in the Central Plains, the Ming Cult has essentially completed its Sinicization, integrating elements of both Buddhist and Taoist beliefs, and even producing a Sinicized cross-religious god spectrum.

For instance, Shakyamuni is referred to as the Great Sage, the Great Enlightened World-honored Shakyamuni Buddha, while Jesus is called the Great Sage Savior of the World Yishu and Buddha.

However, this amalgamation has not become mainstream.

The voluptuous and beautiful Holy Mother hesitated upon hearing the Bright Envoy's words. Her spiritual force field expanded, soothing the emotions of others, and then she solemnly said, "We absolutely must not panic at this time."

"We have already established ourselves in the Central Plains, so abandoning the Western Regions doesn't matter."

"As for the main altar of the Persian Ming Cult."

"They were never really one of us; a band of refugees who are merely clinging to life."

The Persian Ming Cult could not be more miserable.

Unlike the Ming Cult main altar in the Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, the Persian Ming Cult in this realm essentially fell into a state of exile after Persia's downfall, oppressed to the west by Monotheism and to the east by Islamic forces, ultimately rooting in small Western countries, barely surviving with Uyghur support. They then entered the Central Plains to transform into a Sinicized Ming Cult, eventually reemerging as a powerful force.

But the Persian Ming Cult has long been in dire straits.

The Da Ming Zun Cult evolved from a branch to the main sect, and the un-Sinicized Ming Cult spread in the Western Regions is near extinction.

At this point, a veiled seductive woman spoke up, "Holy Mother."

"Where is Ming Zun now?"

"With the destruction of the main altar of the Persian Ming Cult, now is the optimal time for us to seize the orthodox leadership of the Ming Cult."

The Holy Mother shook her head in silence; first, she didn't know where Ming Zun was now, and second, what point was there in returning to the Western Regions after painstakingly establishing roots in the Central Plains?

To face the immense forces of the Muslim army?

The people of the Central Plains were unaware of the situation in the Western Regions and the Middle East, mistakenly thinking that the Persian Ming Cult was stronger. In reality, after the rise of the Arab Empire, the Persian Ming Cult had already become a group of fleeing refugees.