Desri

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already eight o'clock in the evening.

Suddenly, the highest point of the palace lit up.

Emerald green light radiated downward, and the giant statue in the center of the square also shimmered with a faint halo. This giant statue was of Kolan, revered as the God of Life and Death, who governed both life and death.

At the same time, beautiful divine music echoed throughout the square.

The palace gates opened, and a group of Royal Imperial Guard in golden armor marched forward in perfect unison, like an army of thousands.

The entire square fell silent at once.

Leo, dressed in imperial robes, and Amansa walked toward the giant statue, holding Blake by the hand.

The ceremony to invest the crown prince was beginning!

Everyone in the square, including the Royal Imperial Guard, knelt down one after another.

Then, they paid their respects to the crown prince.

Whether or not one was invested as crown prince made a world of difference in status and influence.

Before the investiture, one was merely a prince without a title; after the investiture, one was second only to the emperor, the heir apparent to the empire, and the future successor to the throne. Even the prime minister had to pay respects to the crown prince; the crown prince was the sovereign, and others were his subjects.

At the same time, the giant stone statue suddenly emitted a voice.

"Blessings to all people!"

The vast voice resonated in everyone's mind.

Then, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. This rain consisted of emerald green droplets, imbued with life energy.

This light drizzle covered every city, town, and village.

Everyone rushed to open spaces, letting the rain fall upon them.

Many even opened their mouths to let the droplets enter.

Instantly, everyone's illnesses were cured.

Even those with wounds found them healed.

"Thank you, God of Life and Death, for your blessing!" everyone shouted uncontrollably.

They all knew this was a blessing from the god they worshipped.

Such blessings did not happen often.

The last time was when the eldest imperial prince was born, and he had received the god's blessing.

This light drizzle lasted only three minutes before ending. However, everyone was satisfied; some even achieved breakthroughs because their illnesses were cured, wounds healed, or hidden injuries removed.

In the Life Castle, Kolan smiled. As a mid-stage god of the Life Law, and with the assistance of the Tree of Life, doing this was quite easy.

His divine sense easily covered the entire empire.

The Death Law is still difficult to break through. I clearly feel like I should be close, yet I am blocked again, Kolan thought to himself.

Both his Saint Realm original body and his Death God Clone were contemplating the Death Law.

With a mid-stage god of the Life Law and a low-stage god of the Death Law, the effect of fusing their divine power was very poor.

Only when the Death Law reached the mid-stage god level would the fusion of mid-stage life divine power and death life divine power be truly powerful, increasing their might by at least tenfold.

Perhaps focusing solely on cultivation is detrimental. Going out for a walk might allow me to draw parallels and gain some insights, Kolan thought to himself.

With this in mind, Kolan's Saint Realm original body flew into the air and left the Life Castle.

Radiant Church.

On the ninth floor of the Radiant Temple.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, the Pope, Kahn, had a hint of worry between his brows.

Ever since he took the position of Pope, Kahn had felt that things were not going smoothly.

Kahn was indeed a Saint-level magus of the light element, but his strength was only at the peak of the Saint Realm; he could not compare to Ernst, and his prestige was naturally far inferior to Ernst's as well.

After finally spending decades straightening out the entire church and establishing initial prestige, Kahn encountered another problem.

That was, the territory of the Holy Union was only so large; how was the Radiant Church to expand its influence?

Developing by crossing the Magical Beast Mountain Range was unrealistic, because the Magical Beast Mountain Range spanned the entire Yulan Continent from north to south, and countless magical beasts lived within it. The central region of the Magical Beast Mountain Range even contained Saint Realm magical beasts; it was not realistic for an army to cross the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Furthermore, even if they managed to open a transport route, one had to know that on the other side of the Magical Beast Mountain Range were the O'Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire!

Behind the O'Brien Empire was the War God, and behind the Yulan Empire was the High Priest.

Neither was someone the Radiant Church could afford to provoke.

Originally, there was the Chaotic Territory where they could develop, and the Radiant Church had set its sights on it, but as a result, a god-level powerhouse was born who established an empire in the Chaotic Territory.

The only place left for the Radiant Church to develop was the territory of the Dark Alliance.

Likewise, the Dark Alliance faced the same dilemma as the Holy Union. Both sides wanted to expand their territory and increase their power of faith, and over the years, wars had broken out between them from time to time.

However, the front lines had not seen any significant changes.

The strength of both sides was evenly matched.

The Radiant Church has Light Angels, but the Dark Church has Fallen Angels as well.

"Sigh, if only our Radiant Church could produce a god-level powerhouse," Kahn rubbed his temples, his head aching.

According to the rules, a term for the Pope of the Radiant Church lasts 500 years, and he was still a long way from stepping down!

"Pope, I have come to bid you farewell." Just then, a person appeared on the ninth floor, his voice echoing.

Upon hearing this, Kahn's expression changed.

He knew who this was—the leader among the ascetics of the Radiant Church, Desri!

Back in the day, Desri had founded the Radiant Church together with Ernst. After Ernst left the Yulan Plane for the Light Divine Realm, Desri became the strongest person in the Radiant Church.

His ability to smoothly control the Radiant Church was inseparable from Desri's help.

"Lord Desri, is it not good here in the Church?!" Kahn tried to persuade him to stay.

"Pope, the Church is fine, but my goal is to pursue godhood." Desri's voice was very calm.

He had a deep friendship with Ernst back then, and the two of them had founded the Radiant Church together.

However, after Ernst left the Yulan Plane, Desri felt as if something was missing. Furthermore, he also wanted to explore the Necropolis of the Gods.

But to explore the Necropolis of the Gods, one had to pledge allegiance to a god to gain the qualifications.

Within the Radiant Church, he had no such opportunity.

The only way was to leave the Radiant Church.

Moreover, Desri discovered that his strength had been growing very slowly in recent years, and he hoped to distance himself from the secular world and find a quiet place to live in seclusion and cultivate.

"You can cultivate in peace within the Church; we will not disturb you easily!" Kahn said hurriedly.

"No!" Desri refused.

Afterward, Desri departed.

Kahn wore a dejected expression.

The strongest Saint Realm expert of the Church had left.

Desri did not linger, leaving with his followers.

Several close brothers and friends who had adventured with him also did not want to stay in the Radiant Church, following him as he left the Church to live in seclusion together.

Desri was resolute; he wanted to pursue godhood.

But right now, he was still a considerable distance away from the limit of the Saint Realm.

He had to cultivate diligently to make his strength even greater.

Leaving the Holy Union, he crossed the Magical Beast Mountain Range directly and arrived at the Kolan Empire.

"Big Brother, will Lord Kolan really be willing to accept us?" a middle-aged man with dazzling golden hair asked in a low voice.

Desri said, "There shouldn't be a problem. Regardless, I met him once before at Baruch's place."

"If he is unwilling, we will go try our luck with the High Priest or the War God!" Desri said.

To enter the Necropolis of the Gods, one must pledge allegiance to a god-level powerhouse.

And among the three human god-level powerhouses, Kolan was the only one he knew.