CHAPTER 774: 192, RULE_2

"You don’t need to understand too much."

Lin Yue said, "What do you two know about the Sun Church? What is the status of a Priest? Where is the headquarters?"

Immediately, Old Master Zhou replied, "The Sun Church was transmitted from the West Continent. It is said to be one of the top ten churches in the West Continent. As for the rest... I am not clear. I just heard that, above Borros, the Priest, there seems to be an Archbishop who once appeared in Beijing."

Lin Yue then looked towards the officer.

"Mr. Lin, let me explain."

The officer said, "I once studied in the West Continent and have some understanding of the top ten churches there."

"Oh?" Lin Yue became interested. "Please, continue."

Communication was not developed in this era, especially between the West Continent and the East Continent, where information was particularly blocked.

Many things could not be investigated just by wanting to.

"Actually, the title of Priest at the Sun Church is not a rank. Borros probably said so to demonstrate his status to Mr. Lin, and it might also have been a threat."

The officer patiently explained, "A Priest represents the ability of Borros to preside over the rites for the Sun Church. At critical moments, he can summon many believers to pray together, which makes it easier to invoke Divine Power from the Sun Monarch. It is Borros’s secondary position. His actual rank is actually that of Bishop of the Sun Church."

Lin Yue nodded slightly.

I see, being a Priest is rather a privilege.

A Divine Contractor who isn’t perfectly aligned with the divine, whose spiritual power isn’t strong enough, but with the aid of many believers praying together, generating a spiritual resonance, can strengthen their connection to the divine.

"Is an Archbishop above a Bishop?" Lin Yue asked again.

"Yes."

The officer said, "An Archbishop is the highest rank in a church, just below the Pope. Together, they even have the authority to impeach the Pope. As far as I know, the Sun Church should have four Archbishops and thirteen Bishops. Borros, having the power of a Priest, should also be considered quite high-ranking among the thirteen Bishops."

He paused, then said, "I am not familiar with Borros, but I have heard from General Zhou that Borros is a Bishop specially sent by the Sun Church to the East Continent, tasked with spreading the faith in the Southwest region in the future."

Lin Yue nodded slightly and asked, "How many people has the Sun Church sent to the East Continent?"

"That..."

The officer hesitated for a moment, then said, "I don’t know exactly, but I know of at least two Archbishops and at least five Bishops."

Lin Yue then asked, "Apart from the Sun Church, which other churches from the West Continent have come?"

"This, I am not sure, but there should be quite a few," the officer said. "And the most powerful church recognized in the West Continent, the Star Sky Church, has also sent people to the East Continent."

Star Sky?

Lin Yue frowned and immediately asked, "Who is the divine entity worshiped by the Star Sky Church?"

"The Mother Goddess of the Starry Sky," the officer said.

Lin Yue’s brow furrowed.

From Xiahou Shou’s memories, the highest order in the Ancient World was divine, equivalent to Proving and Transcending, yet there were significant differences among the divine entities, the lowest being the third-tier deities, and the highest being first-tier deities.

The Sun Monarch was merely a third-tier deity.

Yet, the Mother Goddess of the Starry Sky was a first-tier deity!

However, in the memories of Xiahou Shou during the Harmonization Stage, he also didn’t understand much about the ancient gods.

So...

He didn’t know exactly how much difference there was between the third-tier, second-tier, and first-tier deities, nor did he know if there were higher levels above that.

The Lord of the Ancient Days is a child of the Primal Beginning; if the established first-tier deities are the highest level, wouldn’t that mean they have the power equivalent to that of the Heavenly Demon Ancestor...

The Heavenly Demon Ancestor, the Second Prince, and such divine descendants have power levels that, even without the Dominator Divine Artifact, he could not contend with, able to kill him with a single move even empty-handed.

If a first-tier deity possesses such power, then he must avoid them at all costs.

"For now, I shouldn’t confront the Star Sky Church..."

Lin Yue became inwardly cautious, "If the Star Sky Church is pushed to desperation and attempts a last-ditch effort to call down the very essence of the Mother Goddess of the Starry Sky, then it would be troublesome."

He could guess... led by the Pope, combining many believers to pray together under spiritual resonance, if at no cost spared, it might indeed be possible to make a divine entity manifest in body?

His advantage was that he didn’t need other believers’ assistance; he could perfectly align with the divine on his own.

Then, Lin Yue asked the officer a few more questions, confirmed there wasn’t much useful information left, and then calmed down.

"Old Master Zhou."

Lin Yue looked at Old Master Zhou and said, "I need to collect as much gold as possible, the more the better."

"You also need gold?" Old Master Zhou was surprised.

What Borros had requested was gold, which seemed to be meant for use as an offering for sacrifice, rather than out of greed.

"Gold is the most cost-effective," Lin Yue said casually. "I need about two thousand catties of gold."

"Two thousand catties?"

Old Master Zhou breathed a sigh of relief internally, "Although it’s a large amount, the current price of gold is low, I will have someone prepare it immediately."

Two thousand catties of gold, which is six hundred thousand taels, wasn’t considered excessive.

Even compared with the enormous amount demanded by Marshal Lu, he found it somewhat of a relief.

"Good." Lin Yue nodded slightly, "Just have it delivered to the front door of the Lin Family mansion."

He needed gold, naturally also as an offering for himself.

His true form, like many divine beings, was concealed by the world’s rules; he could project his will but was unable to interfere with physical phenomena in the world.

This included absorbing the Essence from nature, which had likewise become an extravagant hope.

That is to say, once consumed, it could not be replenished.

The ways to replenish power were essentially limited to two methods—

First, when a Divine Contractor summoned him, extending his power into reality, he could take the opportunity to plunder some Essence.

But that period was too short, and not much Essence could be plundered in any event; it was only a temporary relief.

Second, was through sacrificing offerings.

The offerings could be tangible goods like gold, silver, jade, and jewels, or they could be blood and flesh, or even the most crucial—life itself.

Each divine being required different offerings because they had different efficiencies in absorbing different offerings.

Different divine beings mastered different Paths of Transcendence, each having different inner worlds; even inert objects could be reverted to their original state, transformed into Essence.

Of course, life was a ’universal currency’ that most divine beings could transform into Essence.

Lin Yue possessed the Ultimate Path, and theoretically, he could accept any offering.

However, according to calculations, transforming gold into Essence was the most efficient.

The consumption of his true self in this instance was also very small; in fact, he did not actually need two thousand catties of gold.

It was just that he had consumed some of his own power for experiments over the past few months, and that was why he needed two thousand catties of gold for replenishment.

With these two thousand catties of gold as an offering, his true self could be completely replenished.

Clearly, the Sun Monarch also had the greatest need for gold, and Marshal Lu was relying on Borros’s actions, which was why they were plundering gold everywhere.

"Does Mr. Lin need anything else?"

Old Master Zhou couldn’t help but say, "Or perhaps I could have more gold prepared, as Mr. Lin deserves our gratitude for rescuing Yihai City from Water and Fire."

Lin Yue glanced at him and said indifferently, "If you want to prepare extra, then go ahead and prepare more."

Upon hearing this, Old Master Zhou showed a slight smile and immediately nodded, "Yes."

Then, Lin Yue turned to the military officer and asked, "What’s your surname?"

The officer immediately responded respectfully, "My surname is Chen."

"Borros must have signed other agreements with you, right?" Lin Yue asked.

"Like each of your soldiers offering up their lifespan at a critical moment?"

"Yes, there is such an article," the officer nodded slightly.

"Can you make your entire army treat him the same way they treat me?" Lin Yue asked.

The officer hesitated for a moment, then clenched his teeth and said, "Yes!"

"Very good."

Lin Yue smiled and said, "From today onward, you are the new Marshal Chen."

...