Chapter 357: The City of Divine Favor

Wu Qingsong hoped that the knowledge Boulder had compiled about shamans would allow the Xuanyuan Church’s priests to master at least basic healing and a few offensive spells. If they succeeded, the Knights’ Order and the Church would seamlessly complement each other, ensuring that nothing on the Northern Wastelands could stand in the way of Xuanyuan’s expansion.

But reality was harsh.

Perhaps it was because priests could not use the methods originally meant for communicating with nature spirits to reach the nonexistent god, Xuanyuan. Perhaps it was due to their lack of comprehension or simply that they lacked the innate talent needed to become supernatural beings in this world.

Even when Wu Qingsong personally provided them with modified holy emblems to assist them, not a single priest awakened the powers he had hoped for.

However, more and more mousefolk, who had now tasted the happiness of their new lives, were becoming devout believers. Because of this, every Xuanyuan temple was now able to send selected girls to the Xuanyuan Church for testing every week.

Maybe it was because the mousefolk of the Northern Wastelands had not experienced the mass extermination of talented individuals, unlike other races. The number of ratgirls who successfully awakened abilities far exceeded those from Ogrimmar.

With such a massive population base, the Sisterhood, which served as the Knights’ Order’s reserve corps, grew rapidly.

It expanded so much that Wu Qingsong had to raise the selection standards, eliminating many girls who would have easily qualified in Orgrimmar, but now could only be recorded as reserves.

But what made him even more delighted was that, after several years, the first non-rat beastwoman finally passed the tests and joined the Sisterhood.

Nagrand had truly been blessed by the gods.

As more and more beastmen came to Nagrand to work or trade, information about the city began spreading across the Northern Wastelands near the Icy Sea.

A few years ago, this land had been nothing but an uninhabited swamp, a desolate wasteland where only birds nested.

But now?

It had become one of the greatest cities on the wastelands—boasting endless farmlands, straight roads, a labyrinth of irrigation canals, hundreds of windmills, dozens of workshops, and thousands of wooden houses.

The beastfolk couldn’t understand how this was possible.

So, in the end, they accepted the only explanation that made sense to them.

Nagrand was a city blessed by the gods.

The evidence was right in front of their eyes.

No matter how much tribal chiefs, elders, and shamans tried to suppress and discredit this idea, they could not change what people could see with their own eyes.

And so, more and more beastfolk began to accept this belief.

Otherwise, how else could they explain how all this appeared in such a short time?

How could they explain why the legendary Seven Tribe Alliance had vanished without ever even catching sight of Nagrand?

Even some tribal chiefs were beginning to accept it.

They already knew that Nagrand hiring their warriors as laborers was a scheme.

More than one beastman had secretly converted to Xuanyuan’s faith, then returned to their tribes with the Church’s support, demanding to bring their hostage relatives to Nagrand to live a better life.

More and more Nagrand goods were flowing into wasteland tribes, making life easier and more comfortable—but at the same time, it was slowly undermining the authority of tribal leaders.

“Why do the rats get to live well, but we don’t?”

More and more beastmen were whispering these doubts, and tribal leaders could do nothing to stop them.

At this point, even the idea of forming another tribal alliance against Nagrand was impossible.

Once the belief that Nagrand was a city blessed by the gods took root, it naturally began changing people’s minds.

Of course, all beastmen still believed their ancestral spirits watched over their tribes.

But among them, there were always those who had suffered misfortunes, or those from weak clans, who started to doubt.

“If our ancestors really exist, why have they never answered our prayers?”

These beastmen watched as mousefolk, who were once weaker and more helpless than they were, moved to Nagrand, converted to Xuanyuan’s faith, and suddenly began living better lives.

This reality shook their faith.

And when the belief that Nagrand was blessed by the gods became common knowledge, they finally made their choice.

By the time Nagran’s fourth winter arrived, its population had grown to nearly 200,000.

Of those, 190,000 were rats from all across the Icy Sea region.

But more notably, nearly 5,000 beastfolk from various races had also chosen to settle in Nagrand, changing their faith and starting new lives.

The remaining few thousand were laborers sent by their tribes to work and earn goods.

And from among these new immigrants, came the first minkgirl to join the Sisterhood.

Nagrand was still the rat nest that Ram had once mocked, but at last, the change Wu Qingsong had been waiting for had begun.

After Boulder’s magic formation was completed, Wu Qingsong could finally leave Nagrand behind for the first time in years and return to Gale Island.

Xiela and Ram’s pregnant bellies were growing by the day, making movement difficult. But with Nina, Liuli, Feya, and the Knights’ Order standing guard, Nagrand was well-protected—at least from anything short of an elven attack.

After carefully arranging his affairs, Wu Qingsong and Ling set off on their journey.

This time, he brought along three of the most talented mouse priests, as well as a mouse girl with innate holy magic abilities.

Though Nagrand had a massive population, Gale Island, with 100,000 people and a race of natural mages, the Gale Harpies, remained a critical piece of his plans.

Their aircraft once again took off under the cover of night, avoiding the Calamity Gate’s territory by flying west, then turning directly south.

Upon reaching the southernmost tip of the continent, they headed straight east.

As the first light of dawn touched the horizon, they arrived at Gale Island.

The early-rising harpies immediately spotted the aircraft.

There was no mistaking this unique flying machine. It was probably the only one in the world.

A squad of harpy warriors swiftly approached, escorting them to a smooth landing on the bay’s sandy shore.

“Lord Tagraedi!”

Before they even reached the palace, Wu Qingsong and Ling were met by the Gale Queen and her ministers.

This made Wu Qingsong immediately realize something serious was happening.

“Don’t worry,” he told the harpies. “Your Majesty, what has happened?”

“You’ve finally returned,” the Gale Queen said, regaining her usual composure as she met Wu Qingsong’s gaze.

“Come to the shoreline with us,” she continued. “Once we get there, you’ll understand.”