Advent

"Welcome the great God of Light!"

Half an hour later, the Pope gazed devoutly beyond the Crystal Wall World at the vast Outer God who had descended.

When Judgment Day erupted, there had been no time to screen the populace. The giant shelter built by the Great Emperor of Atabia allowed all his subjects to rush inside, and the Pope and the others survived because of it.

They began, as was customary, reporting piece after piece of information to the vast god beyond the wall.

After Judgment Day, the Emperor had fallen.

The Atabian Empire had collapsed like a landslide, and amid the ruins, the people had begun completely submitting to the rule of the Church of Light and establishing a nation.

A new regime and nation had been born!

The entire land was left with only forty billion people. This great extinction had wiped out a full ninety-five percent of the population in one stroke.

The instantaneous burning of the flames had been terrifying beyond words.

The sages who had built the Tower of Babel throughout the kingdom had aroused the fury of the masses. Countless commoners dragged them out.

Those sages began cursing the mob, calling them heartless beasts. Then, after the mob captured the sages and offered them to the Church, the sages quickly surrendered as well.

They were not warriors. Knowing how to read the situation was an essential virtue for sages.

In any case, they were researching no matter whom they followed, and they did not want to die.

Still, some remnants were on the run.

Led by the Imperial Hero Herodotus, the diehards were warriors rather than sages and thus failed to read the situation. They continued hiding in the shadows, adjusting their genetic structures, changing their appearances, disguising themselves as commoners, and hiding among the populace as they prepared to restore the empire.

Li Qing listened in great detail, occasionally revealing a smile.

It seems they did a fine job.

The Pope really was a sensible man. His political maneuvering was superb, and he also knew how to win people's hearts.

After all.

It was impossible for a god like himself to handle everything personally.

He had to remain hidden behind the scenes.

A qualified Church of Light had to know how to win the people's hearts for itself, with its network spread across the entire land.

Hearing this, Li Qing weighed the matter in his heart:

"There are only forty billion survivors left. That fits expectations quite well. After all, at the height of the peak era, there were seventeen trillion people."

He had been continuously improving his superpowers, and he could now control roughly four billion people. He could make one-tenth of the surviving population his dependents.

Because the wild intelligent fungal species could only become his dependents again if they volunteered.

As long as he controlled that one-tenth—the administrative layer—the entire nation would fall into his hands!

After all, ordinary people often made up ninety-nine percent of a civilization, but they played no crucial role in advancing it.

Li Qing did what he said he would do.

He told them to have the forty billion most outstanding people receive the Holy Light's baptism and gaze three days later, becoming the Church's first batch of devout believers.

"Thank you, God of Light!"

"After Judgment Day, we are willing to submit to the great Lord!"

They were actually excited to receive the baptism, seeing it as God's goodwill.

They knew this signified that God would no longer bring down a great extinction. Their days would finally become peaceful.

What they did not know was that their lives now belonged entirely to God.

Li Qing had struck it rich this time!

Those Kingdom Sages were the most elite talents and scientists left after the destruction of the Atabian civilization!

Li Qing stroked his chin. "We can keep doing this in the future."

The number of people he could control was limited.

He could create an enormous population in one stroke, then exterminate them, exterminate them again, and exterminate them yet again. Like raising gu, once only the most elite population remained within the number he could control, he would turn them into his dependents!

That was how quality could be ensured.

The way these Atabians had perished might be worth replicating.

"You may all step back."

The god transmitted his voice from beyond the world:

"My agent—the Sacred Dragon—will descend into this world. It is My representative in the mortal realm, and the Sacred Dragon is the symbol of the Church's divine authority!"

All the believers grew delighted.

"Welcome the descent of God's representative!"

They began to retreat.

Li Qing still checked the area carefully. Only after confirming that there were no living creatures around the small opening did he open the entrance and toss in that imposing-looking but hollow dragon.

Then he closed it again and left.

But he had not truly left.

His consciousness secretly attached itself to the dragon. From the perspective of an onlooker, he observed this civilized world.

At this moment.

They were already welcoming the Sacred Dragon back into the city.

The Pope and the priests stood before the newly built sacred grand cathedral, bowing and praying. Only after they finished did the Sacred Dragon, standing atop the high platform, release its consciousness.

The Sacred Dragon spoke: "After Judgment Day descended, the world became peaceful. There are many worlds under God's mercy. He will no longer observe this world at regular intervals, and I will become God's emissary."

"I will become God's eyes and ears in this mortal realm, listening to the Lord's will and delivering God's decrees."

The Sacred Dragon recalled the words that person had instructed it to say and repeated them:

"God says that in the eras to come, the Church must not interfere with the dynasties. It may supervise the dynasties!"

"The people are free."

"The leaders of nations shall be those with ability. Anyone with sufficient strength may freely stand for election."

"However, from now on, every emperor's ascension shall be by divine right!"

"When the emperor of the earth ascends the throne, the Lord will descend, display divine signs, and bless the new ruler's reign!"

This system guaranteed the civilization's free development.

Meanwhile, divine right meant that after ascending the throne, every emperor would receive Li Qing's baptism and directly become his dependent. Their life and death would be in his hands, leaving no need to fear betrayal.

It could be said to be a remarkably complete system of civilization.

Next.

The Sacred Dragon went with the Pope to a new experimental area, where they observed several sages confined there as they conducted research.

The Sacred Dragon looked at the sages and said, "Your king is dead. You may continue researching whatever you like and advancing civilization. You may even research me."

"Research you?"

The group of sages immediately examined it with curiosity.

But after a while, they all shook their heads. Although its body was huge, it was all surface and no substance.

Why was this dragon's body so backward? What was there to study?

The representative of God had such a weak structure?

The Sacred Dragon grew furious inside.

So what if my technology is garbage?

Of course closed-door construction can't compare with technology developed by all of you humans!

The Sacred Dragon said, "My consciousness is enormous, tens of thousands of times larger than yours. My body is backward only because I wanted to see your terrestrial technology! I can easily control an even larger exoskeletal body. You can build me a true dragon's body."

Very soon.

"How strange. This form..." The scholars also discovered that the dragon possessed an Integrated Consciousness, and excitedly began thinking about how to implant their research and modifications into it.

"It's no wonder it is God's emissary. This kind of consciousness is truly unique!"

"But the body is too weak. It needs to be completely rebuilt."

"I suggest using the Tower of Babel technology. First construct the main skeletal framework, then develop the other branches, and finally put that brain of yours in the driver's seat."

The scholars began researching excitedly.

After visiting the sages, the dragon said to the Pope:

"Tomorrow morning, God will fully descend into this world."

"Judgment Day will enter its final public trial. All the All Living Beings on earth must enter a sealed building and pray!"

"During the prayers, God will rebuild the entire world outside! He will also select the forty billion most elite people to receive the Lord's gift," the dragon said.

When the Pope and the others heard this, they were utterly shocked. "God is going to rebuild the entire world?"

They were so shaken that they could not speak.

Destroying the world and rebuilding an entire world were difficulties of entirely different levels.

"When building the world, all you need to do is pray," the dragon said seriously once more.