Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton Chapter 1013

Chapter 1013: Chapter 582: Using the Temple to Strengthen the Soul? Chapter 1013: Chapter 582: Using the Temple to Strengthen the Soul? “Death God's Staff…” Negris muttered enviously and in complete fascination. He too wished for such a Death God's Staff. All Ange said was, “It would be such a waste not to farm this plain,” and he managed to get the land back, coming up with a grandiose excuse.

“Plant a tree, in the Land of the Undying, to demonstrate your devotion. This tree is called a jujube tree, and this one too is called a jujube tree. Do you know why it's named that? It will bear green jujubes, but these are not ordinary green jujubes–these are the crystallization of your faith.”

“Just think about it. When you're hungry and tired in the boundless, desolate Land of the Undying, and suddenly a green jujube tree appears in the distance. When you reach the tree with your last bit of strength, and it drops a few green jujubes for you to feast on, what does that signify?”

“It signifies guidance, redemption, and recognition. The person who planted the jujube tree is providing guidance; your faith is redeemed, and recognized by the Undead God.”

“Now, the trees you devoutly plant could, in the future, guide those wandering souls, redeem their bodies, and return their spirits to the land of peace.”

Anthony hadn't finished his smooth talk when the devout followers could no longer contain themselves, stretching out their hands, “I'll plant, I'll plant! My family has sixteen members; I need sixteen trees. How much? Take the money.”

Anthony hurriedly refused, “No need, no need, no need for money.”

That somewhat familiar believer angrily retorted, “How can it be free? These saplings cost money to get here, don't they? It's not for you, it's my offering to the Undead God to show my devotion. By not taking the money, you're preventing me from making my offering.”

“Ah? I dare not, I dare not; I'll take it then.” So, looking 'reluctantly,' Anthony was stuffed with a large bucket of money, and those jujube tree branches the length of fingers were snatched clean.

Once Anthony had finally extracted himself, Negris had already grabbed him and scornfully said, “Heartless Death God's Staff, all these believers are poor, and yet you still have the nerve to bleed them dry? You even have the gall to have Duruodu act as your shill?”

Anthony looked him over from head to toe, sighed, and said, “And to think, you're one of the Gods.”

“Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you looking down on me? If you don't explain yourself today, I will… I will… I will write you into a book saying that you raped twenty sows.” Negris stuttered for a while before finally coming up with the only thing he thought might threaten Anthony.

This powerless threat made Anthony laugh on the spot, but he still explained:
“Do you think these people, who have the means and leisure to bring their families hundreds of kilometers to attend a festivity akin to a shopping festival, are poor? Ha, you've not seen real poverty, the truly poor. They wouldn't even survive stepping out of their birth village.”

“Those who can afford to attend such festivities are certainly not poor. There's nothing wrong with taking their money–it's the third redistribution of wealth. Using the money collected here to subsidize the real poor and to stimulate their faith is the most sensible approach.”

“Alas, I used to do just that, but often couldn't carry it on halfway. Those damn vermin never subsidized the poor with the money collected; they kept it for themselves, fattening up a bunch of bloated parasites.”

Seizing the opportunity, Negris pressed, “And you still go on with this? Aren't you afraid that those Skeleton Knights will keep it all for themselves?”

“Heh, do you think the Lord will let it go to their benefit?” Anthony countered.

Negris was taken aback, pausing to ponder for a moment before clapping his hands in admiration. From the moment Ange took control of the Soul Network, a relatively fair state had been established, for this Dead Skull practiced the philosophy of equivalent exchange.

His understanding of equivalency was different from normal folk, grounded in his experience of the Lich Underground City, where food and disease were exchanged for faith. Whoever offered him faith, he provided them with food and healing.

As for wealth, status, power, beauty, and the like, he simply didn't respond. This meant that if you were so poor you had no food to eat or too sick to afford treatment, the Undead God would look after you.

Kvada, this is the most, most, most equal god for all the poor and sick.

Oh, no, Ange also bears the God Status of the God of Equality and the Libra, making him the most equal god.

As for those wealthy rich people, if they are starving to death or so sick they can't get up, he will also respond, but if they pray for promotions, honors, or to strike it rich, then Ange definitely won't hear them; he has filtered those out.

With Ange in charge, there's no fear that this chain of faith will break. The rich offer wealth and faith, obtaining the peace of their souls, and that wealth and faith become the power for Ange to cultivate the land.

The produce harvested is then distributed to those poor families, reaping their faith while also storing it to use for disaster relief in times of famine, garnering the faith of those affected by the disaster.

This is the complete chain of faith envisioned by the Gods of Light. Unfortunately, they underestimated human greed, and the chain broke at the link where wealth was supposed to transfer. That wealth didn't make it to the poor but was instead embezzled by priests, paladins, and knights for themselves.

The Priests of Divine Light are also very clear about the consequences of the break in the chain of faith, which could mean everyone goes hungry; but such is human nature, going hungry is a problem for later, being full today is what's important.

Even those who are honorable might worry: if I am honest while others are greedy, then they will have more power and eliminate me. Better I be greedy and powerful first, so when it's time to be honorable, I can be.

“Human nature turns this into a game where those who aren't greedy end up losing,” sighed Anthony.

Negris also sighed and was about to say something when suddenly a cheer erupted in the distance, “It's green, it's green, it's turned green up top!”

“What's turned green?” Everyone squeezed through to have a look, only to see a date tree branch that had been recently planted in a hole in the ground, and astonishingly, a little green sprout had appeared at the tip of the branch.

A plump middle-aged man was kneeling on the ground, excitedly pointing at the date tree branch and shouting, “It's green, it's really green!”

Anthony immediately said loudly, “Oh! My God, my Lord! This honorable gentleman, you are truly devout. Your faith has been heard by the Undead God; you have grown a date tree in the Land of the Undying. What a miraculous and great undertaking! I will erect a monument in your honor to commemorate your deed for future generations to admire.”

“Ah? Really? Can it really be done? Sir, please make sure to use the finest stone, no matter the cost, and make sure my name is engraved nice and big,” the plump middle-aged man said excitedly, clasping Anthony's hand.

With such an example set, those who had received branch cuttings of the date tree scattered in all directions, inserting the branches into the pre-dug holes along both sides of the road before kneeling to pray, hoping the Undead God would feel their faith and hear their voices.

A distance away, Ange, who was cultivating new land, would occasionally hear a voice saying, “Undead God, please accept my offering, and let my date tree sprout,” followed by great torrents of Soul Flame rushing towards him.

Let the date trees sprout, is there really such a good deal? If it were any other request, Ange would have to think it over, but for this, he didn't need to ponder at all. Even without prayer, seeing the branches along the way, he would make them sprout.

So, all the date trees sprouted without exception. For those with firm faith, the sprouting was faster; for those with less conviction, more kneeling was needed, but eventually, the date trees would sprout.

Not only could they sprout, but they would also grow well in the future because after taking control of the Undead Temple, Ange discovered a feature: the temple could draw in the breath of death from a vast area, including the Breathing Soil on the ground. This could replenish the energy of the temple and even turn the Land of the Undying into fertile fields.

Ange cocked his head, considering if this were true, then if he placed his soul on the Undead Holy Fire, could he use the entire temple to strengthen his soul?

Chapter end

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