Chapter 328

In other words, Ryan can accurately identify who truly believes in the Creator and who is pretending; otherwise, at the current rate of expansion, the Primal Church would be riddled with holes.

However, only a very small number of people could be screened and incorporated into the original entity in a short period of time, which was far from enough to meet management needs. Fortunately, Ryan had the support of two and a half empires behind him, so this time he quickly had the witch K open the Chaos Channel and bring some highly loyal talents from Augustus and the Northern Federation.

With these people in place, logistics are secured. The only remaining concern is Sylvia's so-called Southern Continent Stability Conference.

However, Sylvia cannot openly restrict the development of the Primal Church, since she also needs to meet the Creator and not act as a double agent. Therefore, she will most likely use this opportunity to contact the Primal Church, and then have Adele deal with her indirectly.

If we can stall for time long enough, and get Kars to take down as many members of the Pope Faction as possible, things will become much easier.

As for Karls, Ryan certainly didn't intend to trust him. Anyway, there would be plenty of options later, and he could even cooperate with Sylvia to turn the tables and take down Karls and his gang.

Huh? A contract? What's that?

Ryan touched the Sword of Order.

However, Sylvia soon did something that left him speechless: the continental conference, originally scheduled for two days later, was postponed for 'certain reasons,' and the new date would be announced by the Gate of Janus.

It's only because Sylvia is strong that she's capable; if anyone else had done this, they would probably have been crucified long ago.

Ryan didn't let Helen inquire about the reason for the delay, since it wasn't hard to guess; it was probably because of his trip to the Trial Space.

Over the next two weeks, the Primal Church continued its expansion as planned. Shally led the Holy Blood Army into the Kingdom of Oen, intending to replicate the actions of the Kingdom of Loente, first inflicting a wave of casualties to serve as a deterrent, and then directly attacking the royal city to seize power.

However, the Holy Blood Army encountered far greater obstacles this time than before.

The Kingdom of Oen is under the jurisdiction of the Blood Cult, and it already has many madmen who are good at fighting. Moreover, the Holy Blood Army's continued attack has made the major churches realize the original ambition. They originally thought that after the Primal Church took over Lorient, they could develop in peace. Even if they wanted to expand, they would wait at least a few years or a decade.

As a result, less than half a month has passed. If they don't retaliate soon, the Southern Continent will be returned to the Church of the Origin in less than a year.

So, as soon as the Holy Blood Army entered the Kingdom of Oen, a Blood Cult army of 30,000 men came to attack. Then, as if they had planned it, several countries around Lorient launched attacks on Lorient, trying to destroy the territory that the Primal Church had just conquered.

Even if the Holy Blood Army is strong, it only has two or three thousand people. As for the Primal Church, an ancient force that has been lurking in the shadows for thousands of years, they don't care about that. Just because you're ancient doesn't mean you can attack others at will, but others can't attack you.

Ryan naturally didn't expect to scare people away with just the name of the church, but he wasn't worried because the great Grand Duke had already led the Iron Blood Legion over.

When the 50,000 Iron Blood Army entered Lorient from Port of Misi, the situation immediately changed. Who is Magana? She's been fighting on the battlefield since she was a child! Whether you're Blood Cult or the Eye of Dawn, even the Gate of Janus, she'll kill you!

The 50,000 men were divided into three teams by Magana, arranged in a 2-2-1 formation. Everson and Macaos each led 20,000 men, while she personally led 10,000 men, and launched an attack on three neighboring countries that were eager to make a move!

It must be said that although the Southern Continent has many churches and Supernatural Being groups, these churches have not deliberately integrated superhuman power into their armies. The model they adopt is still the simplest one: Supernatural Being skilled in command lead mortal armies into battle, which is similar to the Moonlight Knight Order.

This model is sufficient for dealing with ordinary armies, but it is completely inadequate against the Holy Blood Army and the Iron Blood Legion. Not to mention that these church forces are not like Wildea, which can reliably produce Command professions, and their combat power is greatly reduced.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. They are a church, and even if they develop armed forces, their main focus is on cultivating Supernatural Being, with more emphasis on developing high-level Supernatural Being.

As for military strength, it is mainly cultivated by the countries they control.

Given this line of thinking, and considering that the overall situation in the Southern Continent is the same, and all the major churches are in this state, naturally no one will deliberately try to change it. After all, change requires more cost and effort. Rather than focusing their attention on such matters, the church's higher-ups would prefer to excavate the relics of the gods.

This is the fundamental difference between the church and the empire. In the eyes of the church's leadership, they have only one goal—to go further on the Faith Path and gain God's approval.

"It seems we can take over the Kingdom of Oen in less than half a month."

Above the mist.

Ryan was using Shally's character interface, where the Holy Blood Angel was leading her army to attack a city-state of the Kingdom of Oen.

After this period of battle, the name 'Holy Blood Angel' has begun to spread throughout the Southern Continent. The Southern Continent is a land of faith, and Shally's strength demonstrates the gods' recognition of her. Therefore, Ryan discovered that Shally has recently collected quite a bit of faith.

Even more outrageous is that most of these powers of faith actually originated from the Kingdom of Oen.

Shally was fighting the Kingdom of Oen, and afterwards, the people of the Kingdom of Oen were worshipping her?

After Ryan finished rinsing Adele, he pressed Helen down and rinsed her hard again. He still couldn't figure out what had happened, and could only conclude that 'those who believe in the Blood God are all crazy.'

However, the Kingdom of Oen was indeed very strong. The 30,000 troops fought the Holy Blood Army several times. Although they suffered many casualties, their morale did not weaken at all. Fortunately, Grand Duke Magana led 10,000 troops into the Kingdom of Oen, which broke the stalemate.

Ryan discovered that although the Grand Duke was small in stature, he was even more petty. His hatred for Shally from back then was still there. Although he was temporarily cooperating with Shally, he was secretly competing with her. He led the Iron Blood Army forward without stopping. Last night, he even 'took a phone call' to Ryan and vowed to take over the Royal City of Orn before Shally.

Ryan thought to himself, "Grand Duke you're happy, Your Excellency."

In short, with Shally and Magana around, taking over the Kingdom of Oen shouldn't be a problem.

If any further unexpected events occur, then we'll mobilize the higher-ups of the Primal Church, such as a certain witch.

While pondering, Ryan closed the game interface and refocused his attention on the Misty Space.

These past few days he has been sensing the changes in the Misty Space, trying to find a new breakthrough point. After all, the Advancement Fragment have been completely retrieved, and if he wants to break through again, the opportunity should be here.

"What other secrets does this space hold...? It can't just be a way to reflect these stars as light bulbs, can it?"

Ryan lay on the ground, looking at the dark sky above him, where the number of twinkling stars had increased significantly compared to two weeks ago.

He could casually reach out and grab a star, and by sensing its existence, he could 'see' what the target reflected by that star was doing.

However, such observation cannot last too long, especially for those stars with great power. Their owners will subconsciously generate a force that resists space, unless the other party knows that it is the great creator watching them.

"The power provided by believers is indeed inexhaustible, but fundamentally, to improve my strength, I still need to light up more stars. The more stars I have, the stronger I will be. After reaching a stable state, the faith power generated by the stars can continue to provide me with power, but I can no longer break through to a higher level."

"And the process of increasing strength... seems to be completed in an instant, just like lighting up a star. So where does the Faith Power I generate go if my power isn't consumed? Does it enter this space? If the space needs power to maintain itself, does that mean it's also consuming power?"

Ryan tapped his fingers lightly on the ground, his thoughts wandering as he considered one possibility after another.

"Wait a minute, if the stars in this sky reflect every person in reality, then can this Misty Space also be seen as a reflection of the entire Rhea Continent? Perhaps this is the experimental field I simulated before I created the world."

Hmm, calling it an experimental field doesn't quite fit. Ryan feels it's more like a source, because the power here is the fusion of all Faith Path.

Actually, the space where the Witch Society headquarters is located is the same, but the source of power there is not as strong. It may be a space after the mist shattered.

From this perspective, there must be a power connection between him and this space. He can use this connection to mobilize the power of the Misty Space, thereby achieving his goal of changing the Rhea Continent.

Ryan cleared his mind and let his Mental Power spread outwards, trying to cover as many areas as possible. He soon discovered that the range of his mental energy coverage was limited to the areas lit up by stars.

It would be very difficult to extend it further outwards.

"So this hub is a star in the sky? That's possible, since my current power increase relies on it. Come to think of it, Janus seems to have a corresponding star, so what about me? Do I have one?"

Ryan suddenly found the idea fascinating: if the stars mapped by the Creator exist, what does that mean?

Thinking of this, he began to search the sky, but after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find any star that was related to him.

Ryan then turned his gaze to those areas that hadn't been lit up.

Not finding it doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't exist; it could just be that it hasn't been activated yet. Mapping requires certain conditions, and perhaps those conditions simply haven't been met.

Unfortunately, finding unlit stars is extremely difficult.

"If this mapping truly exists, it means the Misty Space wasn't created by me; it's an external object, yet it's connected to my power... What is that? The so-called source of power? Have I obtained an extraordinary treasure?"

I can't figure it out. There are too many mysteries. It's a pity that my past memories are all with the Four Great Outer Gods. Otherwise, if I could retrieve my memories, everything would be much easier.

"The Blood God, the Mysterious One, Chaos... those three gods are definitely hopeless. Not to mention whether I can communicate with them properly, I don't even know where they are. But the God of Desire seems to be watching me the whole time. Maybe I can... no, no, no, Ryan, don't be reckless! It's too dangerous. You might become the first Creation God in history to be completely drained."

Just thinking about his experience of being teleported through the Chaos Space made Ryan's hair stand on end.

He believed the God of Desire didn't want to kill him, but not wanting to kill didn't mean not wanting to do other things.

After all, it's lonely and cold in a small house, right? You'd definitely want to find a companion.

"Sigh, we can only take it one step at a time."

Anyway, it will be some time before we reach the peak of the seventh tier. We'll have to wait until the faith of both the Kingdom of Lorient and Kingdom of Orn is fully gathered.

In addition, Augustus's faith in the Northern Federation also needs to begin to develop. As long as the Northern Continent is completely occupied by the Primal Church, his strength should theoretically reach the ninth rank.

This only takes time, since Vainay and Motis can completely control the narrative, and other church forces can't stir up any trouble. On the other hand, the Twin Empress in the Eastern Continent are still waiting for him, and this matter needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

As long as the Kachia sisters agree, the entire Eastern Continent can rest assured. At that time, all we need to do is accelerate the expansion of the empire and take over the Eastern Continent in one fell swoop.

In any case, the situation in the Southern Continent is currently chaotic, and those church forces probably don't have the spare energy to manage the affairs of their branches.

"Haste makes waste, my Grand Duke. Take your time."

Ryan cleared his thoughts, his consciousness settled, and he withdrew from the Misty Space.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door.

"Ryan, someone's looking for you."

Adele called out from outside the door.

"Who is it?" Ryan walked over to open the door, glanced down at the little girl, and couldn't resist the urge to pick her up and turn her into a mature woman.

"And who else, your old flame Helen?"

"What old flame? Don't talk nonsense." After saying that, Ryan asked again, "Did you come alone?"

"Hmm, the Green Turtle Commander isn't here today."

"Then have her come directly to my room."

Adele scoffed. "Isn't this his old flame? He's not even going to pretend anymore."

Ryan returned to his room and waited a while before Helen came up.

She went inside, turned around and closed the door first, then had Ryan set up a barrier.

"Sylvia is looking for you again?"

Ryan asked.

During this time, he kept having Helen pass on messages, whether true or false, the core message was the same—to keep them hanging on.

Just as he had expected, Sylvia did not return to St. Gero City, but instead wandered around the Southern Continent following the clues given by Ryan, searching for the so-called Primal Church stronghold and the ruins of Balshatt.

Some were not found, and some were found but were useless.

But the clues found revealed some evidence of the existence of Balshatt thousands of years ago.

And the glorious reign of the gods in that era.

Furthermore, Ryan would occasionally tap Sylvia on the head through the Misty Space, which greatly boosted her confidence, almost making her believe that she was the one chosen by Balshatt to carry the divine oracle, the so-called Saintess.

"She wants to see you," Helen said bluntly. "She contacted me recently and asked me to bring you to meet her no matter what."

"Oh?" Ryan smiled slightly. "Finally couldn't hold back?"

The mainland conference didn't take place, and he's been lying low and not making any moves these past few days, which is making Sylvia very uncomfortable.

After realizing that she couldn't directly control Ryan, she changed her approach and had Helen come to Ryan to talk to him remotely.

"So what do you plan to do? If you don't want to see him, I'll just make up an excuse." Helen's mind and body are completely focused on Ryan now; she doesn't know anything about the Pope.

"Why not see her? But not now. She just found you. Wait a bit."

Ryan needed to make Helen reflect an image of herself struggling to find herself; after all, this was a task assigned by His Holiness the Pope, and he couldn't afford to be careless.

The harder she worked, the more attention Sylvia paid, and the better the mole could perform.

Huh? When did I become so knowledgeable about moles?

Seeing that there was still time, Ryan pulled Helen aside for a deeper conversation, and at the end, he inquired about Lista's situation, only to learn that Sylvia had given the order for Lista not to interfere with Helen during this period.

Although Lista was extremely unwilling, it was, after all, the Pope's order.

Two hours later.

After having a pleasant conversation, Ryan finally decided to meet Sylvia.

Helen took out the relic she used for communication and activated it.

As Magic Power surged, Sylvia's phantom appeared in the room.

She wore a pale gold robe, and her long, silver-white hair cascaded down from under her hat brim, obscuring her face. Yet, one could sense a noble and sacred aura emanating from her, and... a great presence.

It's not like we've met before, why are you being so secretive... Ryan politely glanced at him, his expression unchanged, calm, his gaze deep.

"Ryan, we finally meet. You're not hiding this time, are you?" Sylvia asked softly.

"Your Holiness, what are you saying? When have I ever been hiding?" Ryan chuckled. "But you're so busy, how come you have time to come looking for me?"

Sylvia's gaze remained calm. She didn't refute Ryan's words, but she knew in her heart that Ryan was definitely avoiding her. As for why, the reason was quite simple.

On the one hand, there is the rapid rise of the Primal Church; on the other hand, it may also be related to the oracle of Janus.

"Helen, you go out first. I need to talk to Ryan alone."

"Yes."

Helen lowered her head and left the room.

Sylvia didn't see the lingering blush on her face.

Only Ryan and Sylvia were in the room.

"Ryan, I ask you, does the Primal Church truly follow the Creator?" Sylvia's silver eyes pierced through the mist as she gazed at Ryan.

"What you're saying is obvious. Who in the entire Southern Continent doesn't know this?" Ryan said calmly. "Is His Holiness the Pope even asking about something so obvious?"