"Middlegod?" Sean's expression changed. Although Middlegods were a dime a dozen in Hell during the later part of the original story, in a Material Plane, a Middlegod was among the very strongest beings.
"Yes. My father is on good terms with a divine-level expert from the Church, and he knows a lot about these things," Leilia said. "Before, whether it was the Radiant Church, the Darkness Church, or some other church, they all had divine-level experts. But they were all Lowgods. Our Radiant Church had the most Lowgods, so we were the strongest. Now, though, the Darkness Church has a Middlegod, and everything has changed."
"I see. So that's the crisis facing the Church." Sean nodded. At last, he understood what was going on.
In the original story, nine Paragons fought over the Supreme God Token, the Red Diamond, in the Aokaren Material Plane. The strongest beings in the entire Aokaren Material Plane were a few Middlegods; there wasn't a single Highgod. Middlegods were basically the pinnacle of power in a Material Plane.
Of course, the Yulan Material Plane was special. Perhaps it was because Linley was the chosen one of fate, but it had an absurd number of powerful experts: Beirut, Linley, Bebe, Olivier, and Odin, as well as Bluefire, who was just one step away from becoming a Paragon.
Given the number of Material Planes and the number of Seven-Star Asura experts in the Higher Planes, the odds of a native Seven-Star expert appearing in a Material Plane were practically zero. Even becoming a Highgod in a Material Plane was extremely difficult. Someone like that would probably be at least a Six-Star expert after going to the Higher Planes to cultivate.
There hadn't been a single Middlegod on the Zhongyuan Continent before, but now one had suddenly appeared. The Church, which dominated the continent, would have to face the threat of this Middlegod directly. No god would give up the Power of Faith; it was practically the only way to aid one's cultivation in a Material Plane.
"Right now, all the divine-level experts and most of the Saint-level experts in the Church have gathered in Shengyue City. They're not allowed to leave. We're holding our headquarters at all costs," Leilia said.
"Will this Middlegod from the Darkness Church come straight here to attack Shengyue City?" Sean asked anxiously. Even though he had come from another world, he'd lived here for many years, had made some friends, and had grown fond of the place. Naturally, he didn't want to see it run red with blood. Most importantly, even a trace of energy from a battle between divine-level experts could easily kill a Saint-level expert, let alone him.
"I don't know. Even the divine-level experts in our Church don't know how big the gap is between them and a Middlegod. We can only hope that, together, they'll be able to stop him," Leilia said.
"I doubt it," Sean said with a frown.
Based on what he knew from the original story, a Middlegod's divine power was ten times that of a Lowgod's, and his Divine Domain was stronger too. As for the Mysteries, he'd probably comprehended more, though that depended on whether they were higher or lower Mysteries. In that regard, he'd have an advantage as well. As for fusing Mysteries, the odds were practically zero. The natives of a Material Plane probably wouldn't even have that kind of awareness.
All in all, the gap was just too great. The only hope was that the Radiant Church had enough Lowgods to win through sheer numbers. But the Middlegod could run around and pick them off one by one, making him impossible to deal with. A Middlegod had a greater divine sense range and was faster, while a Lowgod's divine sense couldn't detect a concealed Middlegod. If the Middlegod launched a sneak attack, he'd kill his target every time.
"You don't need to worry too much. The Church is using a secret art to contact the Radiant God Plane. Perhaps the Radiant God Plane will send an expert down," Leilia said.
"We can't count on that. Why did you come tell me all this today?" Sean asked, shaking his head helplessly.
Count on the Divine Planes? Unless this was the early period after the birth of the Sovereigns, when they still valued the Power of Faith, the Sovereigns wouldn't bother with such a trivial matter. And without a Sovereign intervening, what Highgod would spend the lifetime fortune of a Seven-Star Fiend to make a trip to a Material Plane?
But no one in a Material Plane knew any of this.
"My father asked me to tell you," Leilia said. "The Church's plan is for those of us who haven't reached Saint-level but have great talent to leave Shengyue City and seek refuge. If Shengyue City stays safe, then that's good. We'll just treat our time away as a training journey. If something happens, we'll be the last bit of hope for rebuilding the Radiant Church in the future."
"Can't the Church retreat?" Sean asked after a moment's thought. In the original Coiling Dragon story, the Radiant Church had also been attacked by a divine-level expert, but it survived by giving up its territory. If it hadn't run into Linley, it probably wouldn't have been destroyed.
"I don't know. It's not something we should be worrying about, either," Leilia said. "So, what do you think? Shall we leave together?"
"When do we leave?" Sean nodded and asked. The affairs of divine-level experts weren't something he should be concerning himself with right now. If he and Leilia weren't on good terms, he probably wouldn't have learned about this in advance. Of course, given the talent he'd shown, he'd surely be on the evacuation list.
"We can't leave just yet," Leilia said. "People in Shengyue City know who we are. If a few of us go missing, no one will notice, but if all of us disappear, the Darkness Church's spies might catch on. The divine-level expert from the Darkness Church who just broke through to Middlegod probably won't come so soon. My father says they'll definitely send us away ahead of time. Besides, going out now might not be safer than staying in the Holy City."
"True. If we leave now, we'll just become targets," Sean said in agreement. They were all well-known, and once they were outside the city, they wouldn't even have any Saint-level experts with them. The Darkness Church could probably wipe them out by sending a single Saint-level expert.
"I'm telling you this so you can be prepared. If the worst happens, we may be hunted down, so we'll need to stick together," Leilia said, clearly worried.
"Yeah. There's nothing we can do." Sean was just as worried. If the Radiant Church was destroyed, they, the former prodigies, would be the first targets for pursuit. Especially with the Higher Planes involved, if that Middlegod wanted to leave the Material Plane, he would surely wipe out every potential threat in the future.
"That's all for now. Here, take this Spatial Ring. It's not very large, but it can hold the supplies in a whole room." Leilia tossed him a ring.
"Thanks," Sean said gratefully. A Spatial Ring would make things so much more convenient. He could fill it with food and hide in some remote corner; that alone would make him much safer.
"Don't mention it. We might have to flee together someday," Leilia said with a smile.
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