A raven's size is about a circle larger than an ordinary crow, completely black, but its head is snowy white.

Each raven can contribute less than 100 milliliters of raven's blood, but each large wooden basin doesn't need to be filled; about ten centimeters of raven's blood is sufficient, requiring the blood of over a hundred ravens to complete one basin.

Raven Saintess Shafuri's method of slaughtering these ravens is skillful: cut the throat—exsanguinate—toss aside, forming a routine.

These bled-out ravens are not wasted; villagers quickly collect them into wooden baskets under the supervision of Cold Crow Halberd Warriors, taking them outside the village for processing, plucking feathers and gutting, then splitting them in half to prepare for tonight's dinner.

Soon, Wang Xuan was brought beside the Tower of the Raven, where Church Deacon David glanced at the busy Saintess Shafuri before leaning toward Wang Xuan's ear and speaking softly.

"That is Lady Saintess. She is preparing the initiation ceremony for you all."

"After soaking in the raven's blood, and performing some simple rituals, you will truly become a member of the Church, basking in the endless divine radiance spread by the God of Ravens."

"Now, please remain calm and patient, and quietly wait for Lady Saintess to finish the preparations."

David's face held a tinge of frenzy, and he spoke in a beguiling tone.

Wang Xuan nodded, not daring to make much noise, just standing there watching Raven Saintess Shafuri bleed one raven after another. Though it was just raven blood, Wang Xuan still found it somewhat strange.

A ritual using blood as a medium—just thinking about it felt somewhat unsettling.

But this is, after all, an Otherworld where even various undead monsters and fantastical creatures can exist, so an heretic church using raven's blood as a ritual medium is not surprising.

As Wang Xuan obediently waited on the side, four or five more people were brought from other directions within the village, all gathered beside Wang Xuan, making a total of six people including himself.

The six of them examined each other, with both men and women, black and white people, as well as Asians.

Wang Xuan glimpsed briefly, realizing that the five people brought here were all Lords, which puzzled him.

The expressions of the other Lords were similar, all filled with deep confusion, yet no one dared to speak up.

"Are these guys aiming for the same thing as I am?"

"Do they also intend to use joining the Church as a way to hitch a ride and muddle through?"

Wang Xuan pondered to himself, faintly feeling something was off, but due to the circumstances, they did not choose to communicate, as there was a Church Deacon watching them at their backs.

Moreover, the Raven Saintess was preparing the ritual in front of them, making them not dare to act rashly.

Patiently waiting for nearly an hour, the six wooden basins were finally ready.

Each basin held approximately over ten kilograms of raven's blood, exuding a warm metallic scent.

It was already a little past four in the afternoon, and the weather was quite unusual; overcast clouds made the sky appear dim, a breeze had picked up earlier, spreading the metallic aroma.

Wang Xuan had seen the final challenge announcement before, but it didn't matter much to him; all he wanted was to quickly attach himself to the Calamity Raven Church. He believed that with his glib tongue and ability to cajole, once he got inside the Church, he could quickly ascend to a high position.

It was unclear whether he underestimated the indigenous people or overestimated himself, but after fooling some naive Lords, he had developed a peculiar confidence.

Among the other few Lords, some were confused, some serious, and one blonde Lord kept glancing around, seemingly contemplating escape.

After all, some of these Lords were captured like Wang Xuan while scavenging during outings, and others were caught failing in stealthy operations; not everyone shared Wang Xuan's intent to infiltrate the Church. Most of them were solely thinking about escaping.

However, all the surrounding buildings had been occupied by heavily armored Church Shooters, and adjacent to them, on the Tower of the Raven, were dozens of Calamity Mages, with teams of Cold Crow Halberd Warriors and Deacons behind them.

Though these Lords had some combat-related tools in their storage grids, they were still unsure about escaping under such strict vigilance from the village.

So now they could only follow the arrangements of the Calamity Raven Church and then look for opportunities.

Each harbored their own thoughts, but all without exception hoped to achieve their goals after completing the initiation ritual.

After all the basins were filled with an adequate amount of raven's blood, Shafuri cut her fingertip again.

Into each basin, she squeezed a drop of her blood, mixed with peculiar blue-white speckles of power, emitting a faint chill.

As a Saintess, Shafuri had fused with the Raven Spirit from a young age, her blood containing some divine nature of the Raven Deity; albeit faint, it's considered a special casting material.

The magic array the Church set up at the Burial Ground for suppressing undead also needed her blood as auxiliary material, which is why her blood looked somewhat different from a normal person's blood.

After the blood was dripped, the raven's blood in those basins began to ripple.

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